Chapter 105: Large Upgrade & Intermediary
It didn’t take long for Aurelius to wake up.
His Experience had been nearly exhausted, while in return, his Level had been upgraded to 29.
That’s right. Aurelius had gone all in on upgrading the Arcanist Class, even after Alchemist was uncapped upon reaching Level 25.
In reality, he didn’t know how to feel about this huge consumption.
It was quite staggering.
Fortunately, the fact that the Base Stat enhancements had increased upon reaching Rank 2made everything slightly more worth it.
Either way, Aurelius didn’t have the time to think about these matters for long.
Only half a minute after his upgrade, a knock came from the room’s only door.
Gentle yet authoritative.
Aurelius raised his eyebrows.
"Enter!" he spoke.
The door swung open. A familiar figure walked into the room.
"Mr. Aurelius," TheoryMaster69 greeted him, a faint smile etched on her face.
"I didn’t disappoint your expectations. I was able to complete the trades just as you requested," she said, gesturing toward the many materials she was carrying.
Ores. Liquids. Even mists.
TheoryMaster69 had trouble keeping them all together, the large pile reaching above her head and hiding half her face behind it.
She looked like a tiny fairy trying to carry a mountain.
Combined with her faint smile, she looked... truly funny.
Aurelius knew better than to tease her, though.
He smiled gently and stepped forward, helping her by taking the items off her hands and placing them aside.
He silently catalogued the items in his mind as he did.
With each material required for the Mystery Cloak confirmed, the smile on his face became increasingly wider.
By the end, he was practically grinning from ear to ear.
"It’s only been so few days. Yet you and your companions have already managed to gather so many of these things."
Aurelius sighed with faint surprise.
"It would have been great if you could work for me. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that you and your companions are free spirits. You’d never agree to such a thing," he shook his head, his words seemingly unintentional.
With the weight having been taken off her shoulders, TheoryMaster69 intended to breathe a sigh of relief.
But upon hearing his words, everything changed.
Her relaxed body tensed once more. Her eyes immediately lit up.
"Mr. Aurelius, you’re wrong!" she spoke hurriedly, her voice rising halfway through.
A moment later, though, she realized her gaffe.
She forced herself to calm down, regaining her composure.
"It’s true that my companions are mostly adventurers and thus unwilling to be bound by rules. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t work for you," she said with a stern expression.
"More precisely, they could work for you under certain conditions and in exchange for certain promises."
"You don’t need to pay them or anything like that. As long as you assign them missions from time to time, and reward them appropriately when they complete them, you should be able to put these people to use."
"Of course, you’re going to need someone to help you do this if you want things to proceed smoothly."
TheoryMaster69 hesitated.
Emotions alternated on her face. She seemed to be making a difficult decision.
In the end, she gritted her teeth.
"How about this? I’m willing to help you do that. My companions and I have certain ways to communicate with each other."
"I’m willing to work as an intermediary between the two sides."
Looking at TheoryMaster69’s expression, which practically screamed "I’m only doing it because we’re friends", Aurelius nearly choked on his saliva.
He had long since understood that acting as an "intermediary" between the Players and him had been her plan from the very beginning.
That was why he had taken the initiative to mention this, wanting to allow her to express her intention.
But he had never predicted that she would be so shameless about it.
Not only did she want to achieve her goal, but she even wanted him to feel thankful about it!
As though she was doing him a favor!
’A true businesswoman!’
’There’s no way that this person is merely an actress in the real world. Could it be that I’ve encountered a rich, cold CEO?’ Aurelius wondered.
On the surface, he maintained a thoughtful expression and nodded after several seconds.
"Your analysis makes sense."
"Even if you’re wrong, it won’t cost me anything. There’s no reason not to give it a try," he responded, reaching out and gently patting her right shoulder.
"I’ll depend on you for the time being. If you can make things work, there are going to be rich rewards!" he promised solemnly.
Halfway through these words, he recalled something.
He consciously activated the NPC Template.
Lines of text immediately materialized in TheoryMaster69’s field of vision.
"Ding! Mission Issued!"
"Mission—Help Aurelius: After several encounters and your repeated efforts to get closer to this Hidden NPC, you’ve finally managed to gain some of his trust."
"However, you should be careful. As easily as you gained it, you might very well lose it as well."
"At the moment, Aurelius has entrusted you with a very important task: to act as the intermediary between him and other Players. Please assist him in accomplishing this great mission!"
"Rewards: 500 EXP, Aurelius’ Favorability +20"
TheoryMaster69’s eyes opened wide.
Not because of the Mission. She had already received and completed one only minutes ago.
What shocked her was the promised rewards.
500 Experience—also known as half a Sun Knight Class.
More importantly, 20 Favorability!
TheoryMaster69’s mind wandered.
She believed that this was a pivotal moment in her relationship with Aurelius.
If she were able to complete this Mission, she would gain his complete trust.
If she failed, however, his Favorability toward her would plummet to freezing point!
The potential benefits and assumed punishments made TheoryMaster69 solemn.
Even so, she accepted the Mission without hesitation, confident in her own abilities.
Just as she was about to say something as a good "employee", a voice rang out.
"Alright. We’ll discuss the details of our agreement later. For now, I should personally speak to the traders." Aurelius suddenly said.
"I believe you’ve already followed my orders and asked them to stay."
"Let’s go."
Aurelius gave no time for TheoryMaster69 to respond. Turning around, he exited the room in a set of fluid motions.
His agreement with this woman had already been pushed to the back of his mind.
At present, his thoughts were occupied by the vast amounts of Experience these Players had just obtained.
With his EXP completely gone, Aurelius had to find a way to replenish it as soon as possible.
And these Players were the most suitable victims—ahem—customers for this!