Pantheon Online

Chapter 290  Divine Greed (Part 2)

Jarxos grinned as he led Exile inside his divine store. The lobby was a small area compared to the relative size of the structure. Gold-veined marble and rich decorations dotted the room without appearing tacky. Strips of lush purple carpet created walkways leading to various doors.

"Please stay on the carpets. I wouldn't want you to get my floors dirty." Jarxos chuckled as he turned to Exile. "These four doors lead to private rooms. For a price, you can use them and their functions to browse my stock. Otherwise, there are signs dotted around to help guide visitors to the sections they're looking for."

Exile cocked an eyebrow at the last part. "If they're signposted, why would anyone pay for a private room?"

"Ah, my dear boy. You'd still have to waste time searching through every item in that particular section. Now, imagine you needed several things from sections all over the place? How much time would it cost you to not only search through them? But travel between them too?"

Exile's eyes went wide before he understood the nature of the greatest commodity Jarxos was selling. "You're selling gods their own time."

A sly smile appeared on Jarxos' face as he nodded in amusement. "At least you're smart enough to understand that. If you'd like a private room, just press your hand on one of those doors. You'll get the price. If you'll excuse me, I can't leave my Valheim store unattended."

"Oh, and one more thing. Actually, make that two. Since you're a Pantheon ruler, my divine realm will allow you to spend any funds gathered in your Pantheon's vault." Jarxos then pointed to a handbell on a table in the middle of the lobby."When you're ready to leave, just give that a ring. I'll come to pick you up outside as soon as possible."

Exile stared at Jarxos' back as he left him alone in the store if it could really be called that. 'This is insane.' Exile sighed once his host was gone. He took several minutes to walk up and down the lobby, reading the signs. 'He's right. Even with these signs, there's a chance whatever someone is looking for is in a different section to where they thought they'd find it.' Exile gritted his teeth as he admitted to himself that things would go faster if he purchased the use of a private room. He approached the golden door to the left of the entrance and carefully placed his hand on the smooth metal.

[Purchase 1 hour of Private Viewing Gallery for 5000 gold?]

Exile choked back his shock as he stared at the insane price! 'Maybe I read it wrong.' He thought but was dismayed to discover that he hadn't. 'What the fuck's up with that price?' He groaned as he considered if it were really worth it.

'How many hours will it take me to track everything down myself?' His wallet bled as he accepted to pay the cost out of his personal funds. The door slid silently over the marble, granting him access to the private room beyond. Exile glanced at the exquisite couch before noticing the items on the table in front of it. A plate of food and a jar of wine sat next to a thick book on a pedestal on the table.

'That's probably the item to search through his collection. It looks a bit thin.' Exile frowned as he quickly walked over and sat on the couch. He was in no mood to take things slow since he wanted to get his money's worth out of this feature of the store.

He gazed at the plain-looking leatherbound book and discovered no markings. He had thought it would at least have some title or description of its use on the front. However, there was nothing.

'I swear if I have to read through the book I'll find a way to bring Jarxos back to life just to kill him!' He groaned as he silently opened the cover.

[Welcome to Jarxos Divine Store!]

[Please enter a search keyword or choose a section from below.]

[Tier 1 Consumables]

[Tier 1 Divine Weapons]

...

Exile quickly checked the list, but couldn't help his jaw from going slack. Here it was. Evidence that items up to Tier 6 still existed in the game! He couldn't help but wet his throat with the wine as he stared at some of the sections. There were even sections that dealt with rumours and information that had been gathered from the past era as well as from the players who had been in Jarxos' store!

Exile found himself comparing the contents of the store to that of his Pantheon's vault and armoury. The latter was extremely lacking by comparison, but that was to be expected. 'I wonder if he's just got these items on display for anyone to look at?'

Exile quickly shook his head to disperse the fantasy of pulling off a crazy heist that was forming in his mind. 'Even if we tried it, Jarxos could probably kill the whole of Ragnarok without breaking a sweat. If by some miracle we made it past him, we'd have no way to return with the loot.'

It had been an exciting thought, but it would remain a daydream for now. There was nothing to say they couldn't attempt it once they were stronger and understood how to navigate the void. Though, even that was full of issues as they'd have to pinpoint Jarxos' realm in the void first to know where to go.

'Well, that's a long way away. There's no point considering it for now.' Exile chuckled to himself as he decided he had wasted enough time on his shock. 'There's a lot I want to ask and search for. But I'll need to get the keywords just right.'

'Out of curiosity...' Exile grinned as he put the store to the test. 'Location of all of Allevia's Inheritances.'

Ping!

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 1. Cost 25,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 2. Cost 25,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 3. Cost 40,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 4. Cost 60,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 5. Cost 100,000 gold.]

Exile almost passed out as he stared at the list and the costs! If Jarxos' store was to be believed, he knew the exact locations of all five pieces of the First Flame! Well, before Exile had claimed two of them anyway.

'Wait, can I narrow it down?' Exile's eyebrow arched as he hoped that the piece recovered from Nar'Kozz's tunnels would have been an expensive piece of information. He rearranged his search to not include the inheritances found at the two locations he knew of.

[Ping!]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 1. Cost 25,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 4. Cost 60,000 gold.]

[Allevia's Inheritance Location 5. Cost 100,000 gold.]

'Well, it's not as good as I hoped.' Exile shrugged as he stared at the Location 1 entry. I could buy it with Pantheon funds. At least it will put me on track to evolving the First Flame. Exile chewed his lip for a few minutes as he wondered if it would be the right move.

'Maybe I should make a list of everything I should get and their costs. I can prioritise them once I know exactly what I'm dealing with.' He nodded at his own idea. After all, he found these prices to be higher than he expected. But he had no idea if they were high or low in comparison to the other things stored away in Jarxos' realm.

Exile struggled for a further twenty minutes as he attempted to get the wording right to narrow down his searches. There was a lot he wanted to know and understand, but he didn't forget to also browse the divine weaponry and armour. Since they were Tier restricted, he guessed they were actual divine items crafted by a god at some point and not something that had been offered by the NPCs.

With that line of thought, he wanted to know what differences there would be. The first items he searched for were weapons from the Tier 2 section. However, he almost exploded with envy when he checked the first weapon to appear.

[Marvich Dagger]

[Tier Restriction: 2] Nôv(el)B\\jnn

[Speed Restriction: 240]

[Strength Restriction: 100]

[Available Enchantment Slots: 5]

[Tempest: When equipped, raises the wielder's Speed stat by 20%]

Exile's eyes narrowed as he focused on the Tempest ability. The game system kindly informed him it was called an Artefact ability. Something that was unique to items crafted by gods or demigods!

His desire to raise a blacksmith within the Pantheon grew as he wondered what other effects could be found on divine artefacts. Not only that, but the extra enchantment slots would greatly increase his power.

'Wait. Doesn't this mean I'm nowhere near the peak potential power of Tier 2 yet?' Exile groaned as that realisation dawned on him. If he replaced his gear with things made by a god for a Tier 2 existence then he'd gain a further ten enchantment slots.

Not only that but there would be five artefact abilities to take into account as well. Exile couldn't help but wonder why there would be a need for such a drastic increase of power at Tier 2. 'Though, it would've been nice to have against Nar'Kozz.'

Exile paused for a moment as he considered a possibility. 'Is it out of necessity for the pvp aspect of the game, or are there Tier 2 mobs out there where this equipment would be needed?'

He suddenly gained a sickening feeling as another possibility entered his mind. 'What if peak Tier 2 gear will be needed to survive the lowest class of Tier 3 mobs?'

He thought he'd learnt his lesson about slowing down already from Allevia. However, it seemed like he was wrong. Now, there was even more urgency in his mind as he set himself on the task of gaining as much information from the divine store as possible!

'There could be a lot of issues appearing soon that we've never prepared for or considered! We have to be ready for whatever the game throws at us next. No matter what the cost!'

At that same moment, Midas shivered as he sat in the Pantheon's Longhouse. 'What the hell was that?'