Atlas Rising a LitRPG gaming adventure Blake Severson (free books to read .txt) 📖

answer before he stopped and looked at Atlas carefully, “You’re one of us, aren’t you? Hard to tell by your name. Could be a real name or an in-game name. They are signing people up, but the entry fee is high. Twenty silver just to enter the event.”

“Twenty silver? With no guarantee of a prize? That’s pretty steep.”

“I guess it’s their way to keep from getting far too many people in the event,” LadyKiller said with a shrug, “Either way, good luck to you.”

“Thanks for the info. Catch ya later.”

Damn. I’m not even close to twenty silver. Guess I won’t be able to sign up. I’ll just ask how long I have until they close sign ups.

The line moved quickly enough that he was in the building less than fifteen minutes later. The entrance was a wide open lobby space and on the opposite wall were two windows that looked similar to bank teller booths. One counter had a customer there, so Atlas continued to the second.

“Hello. Interested in signing up for the Wild Hunt.” Atlas told the man behind the counter.

“Very well. Hand over your twenty silver registration fee and I’ll fill out your paperwork,” the person answered with a very monotone and bored voice.

“About that. I don’t have the twenty silver fee yet. Can you tell me how long I have until sign ups close?”

The teller let out an audible sigh before answering in the same bland tone, “Registration for the wild hunt closes at the end of the business day tomorrow. After that point, no new participants may sign up.”

“So I have a little over a day to scrounge up the money? How is the event structured?”

“The event will be a competition between teams. They will split the number of registered people into ten equal groups and will declare the first group to kill all of their targets the winner and receive the five gold prize.”

“Are there any other prizes?” Atlas asked.

“I can’t answer that question. Are you interested in signing up?”

“I will be, but I have some money-making to do first. I’ll be back before the end of the day tomorrow with my fee.”

Atlas turned and jogged for the door. I have some fighting to do. My best bet will be leather armor. I’ve advanced it far enough to sell the second tier of gear. That stuff fetches a good price here. If I can sell enough of that, I’ll easily have what I need to enter the contest.

Atlas wasted no time and dashed straight for the leatherworker’s shop. There should be some good patterns available since he’d gained two levels since his last time here. His pouches were on the verge of bursting with the load of meat and the handful of wands he had to sell.

“Greetings Master Trailia. I have some stuff I’d like to sell.”

“Right to the point. Very well, Atlas,” she said as she flicked her hand and the menu popped up.

He looked through his inventory and then tapped on the Sell button. It didn’t take long for him to select the bundles of food in the bag. Once he acknowledged them, they appeared on the screen in the Sell box. He left the wands in his bag because he was sure he could get a better price for them at the woodworker’s place.

Hitting the Sell button, a bag of coins appeared on the counter in front of him. He walked over and picked it up. The coins totaled up to 1 silver and 80 copper. The meat wasn’t worth a lot, but it added up quickly.

A quick tap on the menu switched back to the buy screen. Scrolling to the bottom he found three new patterns, each for twenty copper.

Leatherworking - Basic Leather Backpack

Requirements

•     Leatherworking Level 7

Rarity: Common

Requirements: 5 Cured Light Hide, 6 Leather Sinew Thread

Description: Create a backpack made of leather. It allows for far more storage than standard belt pouches.

Leatherworking – Basic Reinforced Leather Jerkin

Requirements

•     Leatherworking Level 7

Rarity: Common

Requirements: 8 Cured Light Hide, 8 Leather Sinew Thread

Description: Create a reinforced leather Jerkin. This has higher defense and durability than the basic jerkin.

Leatherworking - Basic Reinforced Leather Bracers

Requirements

•     Leatherworking Level 8

Rarity: Common

Requirements: 4 Cured Light Hide, 4 Leather Sinew Thread

Description: Create a set of reinforced leather bracer. These have higher defense and durability than the basic bracers.

Atlas bought those and immediately reinvested money into salt. He bought 60 pinches of salt for 1 silver and 20 copper, all the remaining money he had. I can make that back fast.

There was no time wasted as he dismissed the menu and quickly waved to Trailia before rushing through the streets to the woodworker’s shop. Walking in, he greeted the man behind the counter and immediately asked him to sell stuff. The menu popped up, and he selected four wands and hit Sell.

This only made him 25 copper. Two new skills greeted him on the buy menu.

Woodworking - Create Basic Wood Toggles

Requirements

•     Woodworking Level 5

Rarity: Common

Requirements: 2 Rough Wood Log

Description: Create small wooden toggles used by other professions.

Woodworking - Create Sturdy Wood Rods

Requirements

•     Woodworking Level 6

Rarity: Common

Requirements: 2 Rough Wood Log

Description: Create sturdy rods of wood.

Neither of them seemed very important. The basic skill was only 10 copper, but the sturdy rod ability was 20 copper. Atlas spent his 20 copper buying the sturdy skill. The higher level abilities gave more experience, and the items usually sold for more.

Skills bought and out of the way, he continued his trek out of the building and headed for the exterior wall. He considered running by Master Proth’s place, but decided it would be futile. Barkskin would be available, but he didn’t have the copper to learn it. Since his technique was so much better now, he didn’t really need it. Once he had the money he needed and entered the event, he could use the rest after that to get his skills.

Crowds of people still gathered around. The