Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure Chapter 81: Last Minute Upgrades

“Not much of a talker, is he? Damn,” Alex curses inwardly, realizing his usual tactics are useless here. This guy’s too smart to be baited into lowering his item’s value by arguing.

“Anything else besides FC you might be interested in or need?” Alex tries again, nothing much to lose.

“Not worth naming anything. I need FC. Not like you can give it to in the tutorial section. Nobody sells it; it’s rare and precious here. Sotis idiots even sell it off without realizing its value,” the man responds, his frustration showing.

“Worth a try asking, isn’t it?” Alex answers, pushing a bit. “Co on, give a shot. I know people, a friend of mine has good connections!”

The man eyes him before replying, “I need Soul Crystals to level my innate skill. So, give 50,000 FC so I can buy them after my next mission, once I leave this desolate kindergarten filled with small babies!”

Alex smiles as he casually pulls out not one but two Soul Crystals, tossing them in his hand like dice. The man’s greedy expression is priceless.

“Today’s your lucky day! I’ll give you my two hard-earned Soul Crystals for the cloak!”

“...I need three,” the man counters, eyeing Alex’s crystals hungrily.

Alex stares at him like he’s lost his mind and drops all politeness, his tone turning blunt. “Dude, you just said they’re rare, and nobody’s trading them here. I only have two—how the hell am I supposed to pull a third out of thin air? Plus, these are worth at least 20,000 FC, sotis up to 30,000 FC outside the tutorial Realm!”

“You lie. They’re worth around 20,000 FC.”

Alex sighs, narrowing his eyes. “When did you last check? That’s outdated info. With the rising player numbers and newbies flooding into the 36 tutorial sections, demand is skyrocketing.”

The man’s shocked look says he had no idea there were 36 tutorial sections.

After a bit more haggling, they’re deadlocked. “This guy’s pride won’t let him just accept my offer,” Alex thinks. “Alright, ti to let him think he’s won this round.”

“Fine… you win; you’re a real master at trading—or maybe just greedy as hell,” Alex says with a mock-sigh. “I’ll throw in another 2,000 FC.”

“3,000,” the man replies, a smirk playing on his face.

Alex pretends to hesitate before sighing. “Fine, cut so slack here… you got . Two Soul Crystals and 3,000 FC!”

After completing the trade, the man unexpectedly extends his hand to Alex. “Carlos, from São Paulo.”

“Alex, from Germany.” Alex shakes his hand with a small smile, handing over his contact details. “You look like soone bound to go far. Let’s keep in touch—maybe trade again or exchange info, maybe even team up down the line. If you need anything, shoot a system ssage.”

Finally holding his prize, the [Nimbus Cloak], Alex’s grin widens. The deal was a steal, and though he hated to part with his Soul Crystals, his survival took priority. "And I even made another acquaintance—Carlos seems strong, if a bit anti-social. Could be useful to know him once we’re out of this ‘kindergarten,’ as he called it. Wouldn’t be shocked to hear about a Brazilian supernova in the Realm. My guess is he earned that item himself as a League of Legends reward—Fantasy Realm edition, most kills.”

On his way back, Alex can’t help but smile. “Can’t believe I just covered my biggest weakness—mobility. The cloak’s perfect for my all-rounder style, especially since I use spells constantly. My Black Magic lvl 3, Sword Magic lvl 3, and conjuration abilities will trigger it easily.”

He considers his inventory of supplies, ntally cataloging: "[Navalia Wolf Jerky], [Healing Potion] x5, [Gotcha Pork Roast], [Miso Ran with Extra Pork], and, of course, my ergency [Antidote].” Alex nods in approval. “Looks solid. The ran even restores MP, pretty rare for healing items."

After a day with his family in their new ho, Alex heads back into the Fantasy Realm. Today is his last day to prepare before his next mission starts tomorrow. To his surprise, it’s Tereza who calls him up, handing him a small stack of items.

“[Energy Bar] x5,” Alex notes, looking at her curiously.

[Energy Bar]

World: Fantasy Realm

Quality: Gray

Effect: Recovers a small amount of Stamina

Note: Cheap, mass-produced but sowhat effective.

Price: 200 FC - Limited to 5 per player inventory

“Thanks! This one’s interesting. I haven’t seen a Stamina-recovering item before since Stamina is a hidden stat. If there’s really a marathon, these are going to be extrely useful!” Alex says, genuinely grateful for Tereza’s thoughtfulness. Even though it’s a gray-quality item, a stack of five is going to co in handy for the long, demanding Hunter examination.

As they talk, Alex suddenly receives a ssage from Rishi:

[Rishi: Trading Hub, eastern street near the end - I think I found sothing. Can you co and check it out?]

Alex quickly says goodbye to Tereza and hurries off toward the Trading Hub. When he finally arrives, he spots Rishi, who imdiately guides him over to a nearby stall, which seems to belong to a mber of a small group. The stall has a large number of white and green-quality items, but Rishi directs Alex’s attention to a specific belt displayed at the very top. It actually looks like a champion belt, paraded around by pro wrestlers.

[Champion Belt]

World: Final Fantasy

Quality:Blue

Type: Belt

Required Stats: STR - 10, PHY - 10

Durability: 30/30

Effect:Increases STR by 2

Effect: Increases PHY by 2

Note: A belt that infuses its wearer with power. An extrely difficult item to obtain, this belt is only given to those who possess enough strength to be truly worthy of the title of champion.

As soon as Alex sees the item, he’s imdiately hooked by its simplicity and practicality. He and Rishi take a step back, and Alex imdiately says, “This is exactly what I need. A boost to my physical stats, STR and PHY. I already covered my AGI and lack of mobility with that [Nimbus Cloak] I picked up earlier.”

Rishi looks at him in astonishnt. “Wait—Light Purple gear? How did you get your hands on that? What did you pay for it?”

Alex grins, responding, “Only 2 Soul Crystals and 3,000 FC! I bet outside the tutorial section I’d have to pay way more for it!”

Rishi nods approvingly. “You made a great deal, considering Soul Crystals are mostly used for upgrading innate skills. The fact that your skill is gold-tier makes you one of the few who even has a practical use for them at this point. That’s why they’re not too expensive in the tutorial, and you were smart to pick up that cloak. It perfectly covers your mobility weaknesses. But as for this belt—I honestly doubt the rchant here actually wants to sell it. This shop has absurd prices, and I’m pretty sure this is just here to show off the strength of the rchant and his friends. They’re clearly aiming to form a guild and recruit. It’s like a status symbol.”

“Still, can’t hurt to try, right?” Alex shrugs. “What do you think I should offer them?”

Rishi looks at Alex and advises, drawing from his experience, “Normally, a belt like this would go for about 25,000 FC at this point. Stats are really valuable early on, more so than they’ll be at higher levels. But given how much you need it, I’d say you should be willing to go up to 30,000 if needed.”

Alex nods, appreciating Rishi's insight, and they head over to the stall where the seller and his group have set up their items. Not wasting any ti, Alex gets straight to the point, “How much for the belt?”

The average-looking man behind the stall glances at Alex and Rishi, recognizing them. “Oh, looks like I have so real custors here—those with the skill to afford our fine selection,” he says, dodging the question without naming a price.

Already sowhat annoyed by the man’s smug attitude, Alex decides to play it cool. “I’d sure hope so,” he responds smoothly, “since if I can’t afford it, selling it in the tutorial might be a stretch, especially when so few even et the stat requirents to wear it. I’d love to chat about prices, but I’m currently eyeing three potential upgrades and will be making a decision soon.” He pauses, then adds, “Along with the FC, I can also offer my player ID and my friendship and cooperation. I always bring back a load of items from my missions. If you’re looking to buy low and sell high, you’ll definitely make a good profit working with .”

The rchant’s gaze shifts, clearly weighing Alex’s words. He looks at him, unsure whether to go with his usual inflated prices or play it smart. On one hand, Alex’s reputation precedes him—he’s the player who took down a rchant defying Realm rules, got teleported away and still returned as if nothing happened, has sohow summoned NPCs from other realms as projections into the tutorial zone, and is tight with so of the most dangerous players here, surviving a PvP bloodbath as one of the only survivors. This guy could either give him a decent deal or risk getting on his bad side by sticking to a ridiculous price. Besides, nobody in their group even uses a “Barbarian” build focusing on STR and PHY—it’s pointless without AGI and SNS to back it up. So maybe letting this item go would actually pay off.

After weighing his options, the rchant finally speaks. “Alright… 32,000 FC!”

Alex shoots him a cold look, which nearly makes the seller topple from his chair. “Damn, still too much? I guess I’ve lost track of real item values by always demanding extre sums of FC.” Looking apologetic, he quickly adds, “I’m sorry, maybe I overdid it. How about just 28,000 FC?”

Hoping to save so FC for his critical skill upgrades, Alex counters, “I can offer you one Soul Crystal for it… sound fair?”

“Your na’s Alex, right? If I sell this item for just a single Soul Crystal, my team mbers will literally kill !” The rchant shakes his head, clearly torn.

“Fine,” Alex says, growing impatient, “I’ll throw in another 5,000 FC. Here, take it!” He tries to initiate the trade, making it clear he’s done bargaining.

Surprisingly, the player accepts. “Thank you for understanding. Enjoy the new belt! And by the way,” he says, with a sly smile, “I’d suggest you try so of the workers here to customize the look. That belt is going to look silly if you wear it out in the open like that!”

A bit surprised the deal went through, Alex reflects, “I’d made up that line about Soul Crystals’ value when I was haggling with Carlos. Could it actually be true? Either way, this is still a solid deal.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Alex says, handing over his ID. “Add to your contacts. I’ll let you know if I have items I want to get rid of in the future. My mission starts tomorrow, so only a small amount of ti will pass here, while I am probably be gone for weeks.”

“Thanks, be sure to contact when you’re back,” the rchant replies, clearly pleased with how things turned out.

Satisfied, Alex heads back to his room, his final preparations finally complete.