The walk takes a lot out of him, but 20 minutes later he reaches the cliffs and throws the chest downwards.
"Problem solved. No clues left behind and one less evil in this world. Maybe now Dali will appoint someone who isn’t as corrupt as this guy and end this madness."
He switches back to his trusty [Visor of Pluto], transforming him into the stoic, high-class knight he usually appears to be.
Alex returns to the village and enters the mill, seeing that the guard has left his position. He searches the mill carefully, and after 10 minutes, just as he’s about to give up, he actually finds what he's looking for.
"[Aries]!" Alex nearly shouts in excitement.
[Aries]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Type: Coin
Quality: Deep Blue
Effect: Permanently increases LUK by 1 point. Can only be used if LUK is higher than 1 and lower than 10. Can alternatively be traded for a generous reward with Queen Stella in Treno.
Cannot be traded or taken out of this world. Using this item will cause it to disappear.
Note: The Story of 12 Zodiacs. The 11 Zodiacs pondered. How best to catch Virgo's heart? Aries headed east.
Note2: Only twelve exist … or is there one more?
"This is insane! A LUK-increasing item? People would kill for this! Thankfully, my stats allow me to use it, but unfortunately, I won’t get an actual LUK point, just a free stat point. Still, this is such a welcome find. Some key treasures are still here in these game worlds, though most standard chests are gone. I would've kicked myself if I hadn’t bothered to look for this."
You have gained 1 LUK
ERROR: Current stats not aligned with Statistical OCD lvl MAX
You have lost 1 LUK
You have received 1 Stat Point.
Satisfied, Alex decides to return to the weapon store and use his newly found riches to buy the items he had wanted earlier. As he enters the store, he spots Garnet.
"Hello, Miss Dagger. Are you shopping too?" he asks, trying to sound cheerful, though inwardly cursing his bad timing. Spending 30,000 gil in front of her would look suspicious.
"Hello, Alex. Not really… just looking around. Have you seen Vivi?" Garnet asks, her face showing slight concern.
"No, I haven’t. Is he missing? Maybe he’s just exploring the village?" Alex suggests.
"I’m not sure. I’ll look for him," she replies, looking worried.
"I’ll join you soon. I just want to take a quick look at this store," Alex says, trying to buy himself some time.
As Garnet leaves, Alex finally makes his purchase: [Dagger], [Rod], [Mage Staff], and [Silk Shirt], spending a total of 32,000 gil. With his Basic Eloquence lvl 1, he gets a 6% discount, paying only 30,080 gil and leaving him with 3,920 gil.
Alex gleefully examines his newly bought items. "Should I buy medicine? Probably not worth it since the selection will likely be the same," he reasons. Instead, Alex decides to buy two [Wrist] items, noticing they are not limited in stock. "Is this a reference to the game where players used to buy 99 of these? Haha!" Alex can’t help but smile. He spends a total of 3,760 gil, leaving him with just 160 gil, barely enough for a single night at the inn.
[Wrist]
World: Final Fantasy 9
Quality:White
Durability: 10/10
Price: 2000 gil.
Note: Take 1 piece of wrist, add a chunk of steepled hat, melt it down and you shall receive a brand new cotton robe!
"This is terrible... this item only protects the wrists, how can it even be rated as White? Guess this is the actual bottom of the barrel. I wonder if I can even sell this. Well, it doesn’t matter!" Alex thinks.
Suddenly, he hears it: [Warning. Player has used up 90% of his available inventory space. Please be warned that you may not pick up any more items if your inventory is completely filled.]
Alex almost freaks out upon hearing the Fantasy Realm global system again after such a long time.
“I miss good old 1337,” he muses. “I wonder what it will say when I return with all these items, my new conjuration ability, my Knight of Pluto equipment, and my gold-ranked skill. I can’t wait to rub it in its face.”
As Alex leaves the weapon store with his inventory nearly full, he is suddenly stopped by Zidane and Garnet.
"Alex, we need your help! Vivi is gone! He's locked up somewhere underground. We just spoke to him through a pipe!" Zidane says with urgency.
"Ugh, no time to rest for me... back to fighting and risking my life, I guess," Alex grumbles. "I had my suspicions about this weird village! No adults around, just children and the elderly. How do we get underground though?" Alex adds, pretending to be confused by the situation.
"Let's check near the pipe we found... maybe the mill," Garnet suggests.
The group heads toward the mill and discovers the entrance to the underground. As the round hatch opens and reveals a ladder, Alex sighs. "Guess it's time for this part."
As they enter the underground, Alex checks his inventory. “Damn, I count 33 different items. The amount of items and the non system items don’t matter since I had so many cards and random things in my inventory before. I think the base item capacity is 30, with maybe a 10% increase per level. That would leave me with no additional slots for new items. I need to throw something away, or I should’ve sold something earlier. No wonder I’m losing track of my items. Once I’m back, I should let 1337 reorganize my inventory, and I need to sell everything besides my current equipment, the mask, and maybe a few healing items. I forgot that even inventory space is a valuable and limited resource.”
Alex Kerber:Lvl 1
HP: 130/130, MP: 110/110
STR: 7 (+1), AGI: 7 (+1), PHY: 7, SNS: 7 (+1), CHA: 7 (+5), MNA: 7, INT: 7 SPR: 7 (+5), LUK: 7
Available Stat Points: 2
Innate Skills: Genius Conjurer lvl 1, Statistical OCD lvl MAX
Free Skill Slots: 0/2, Free Basic Skill Slots: 0/8
Basic skills: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Footwork lvl 1, Basic Endurance lvl 1, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Eloquence lvl 1, Basic Concentration lvl 1, Basic Meditation lvl 1, Basic Mana Control lvl 1
Passive Skills: Pistol Proficiency lvl 1, Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship lvl 0
Active Skills: Annihilation Grenade lvl 1, Sealions Icewing Embrace lvl 0
Fantasy Coins: 3500 Soul Crystals: Small x2 Gil: 160
Current Weapons: Mr. 5’s Revolver (Downgraded) (Deep Blue), Sword of Pluto (Deep Blue) Barbed Dagger (Light Green)
Current Equipment: Commander Shepard’s Dog Tag (Deep Blue), Sealion’s Might (Deep Blue), Shield of Pluto (Deep Blue), Armor of Pluto (Blue), Visor of Pluto (Blue), Cuisses of Pluto (Blue), Gauntlets of Pluto (Blue), Sabatons of Pluto (Blue)
Miscellaneous Items: Navalia Wolf Jerky x4 (Gray), Healing Potion x1 (White), Potion x4 (White), Ether (Light Green) Antidote x3 (White), Eye Drops x2 (White), Freshly baked Pumpkin bread x 2 (Gray), Various cards x10 (Mix) Jack’s Spare Silvery Mask (Light Green) Navalia Fur Armor (White), Navalia Fur Boots (White), Navalia Fur Gauntlets (White) Solid Marine Saber (Light Green), Plant Essence x3 (Green), Frost Essence (Green), Steepled Hat (Green), Dagger (White), Rod (Light Green), Mage Staff (Light Green), Silk Shirt (Light Green), Wrist x2 (White), Iron Sword (Light Green)