Mysterious Fog World: Eldritch Nexus

After dealing with the goblin tribe, Drake’s group started the process of sorting out the loot as it was too much.

Just the fog coins Drake got from killing the goblins and those that he acquired from the few goblin huts, he got over ten thousand fog coins. The goblin leader contributed more than five hundred coins found in a small chest inside its hut hidden beneath the bed.

He got seven hundred and thirteen Corrupted Goblin Blood Essences from all the goblins combined. The drop rate of extraordinary materials was abysmal.

But he was happy that the goblin leader dropped a better material.

Name: Corrupted Goblin Bone Marrow

Sequence 9, Middle-Stage

He checked its information and found it was used as the main ingredient to make sequence 9, rank 4 to 6 Goblin Grunt potions.

He had no intentions of using those materials, so he decided to sell them. He refrained from selling the bone marrow as it was too early to sell such high-level items. Most of the players and their followers were in rank 1, so even if he put it for auction, no one would appreciate it, and even if someone purchased it, Drake would lose because of the low price offered.

He didn’t put the blood essences in the auction as they were too many. He could sell them in batches of one or two in the auction, but it would take too long and would not bring him much profit in the long run, as after the market was saturated with those, the price would drop drastically.

He decided to put those in his virtual shop at the price of two hundred fog coins per blood essence. That price might look too cheap compared to the roughly five hundred coins he got per blood essence. But in the long run, he would profit more by selling them at a fixed price in the shop.

He also got thousands of weapons from the goblins including a sequence 9, early stage sword from the goblin leader. It was a great sword that he didn't use, so he kept it for later.

He gave up most of the weapons from the outer periphery, as those weapons were mostly rotten, damaged beyond repair, or were just too weak.

He sent many good quality weapons to his mother by trading her. Her guild had also found a trading module and she was the one who used it. He traded the items for a single fog coin as that was the minimum payment necessary. His mother wanted to pay for weapons but he refused.

He had to use that way to send her the weapons because the territory she or his sisters were in did not have a teleportation portal connecting to his territory or any other territory with portals in his territory. Hence, neither of them could visit each other.

He also put many weapons on sale in his shop, only leaving the best ones for him for any possible future use.

He got many other extraordinary materials from the tribe in the huts of many goblins, mostly in the core area and rest in the inner periphery.

There were some unknown creatures’ meat in many huts but they ignored all of it. Who knew what was its source and even if it was real monster meat, after looking at the condition it was kept, they had no intentions of bringing it back.

Lastly, other than the eighteen women they found before, they found four more women in the core area, totaling twenty-two women. They were sitting separately near a campfire prepared specially for them. The twins were standing there and talking with them about something.

He walked to them. When he was nearby, the twins stopped talking and turned toward him, waiting for him to reach them.

“The goblin tribe is annihilated. I can’t undo what happened to you, but I hope that this news can you some respite”, said Drake to the women after he reached them. He was impressed with them that despite suffering for so long, they didn’t break.

They give him fearful but also grateful nods.

“We will leave here and go back to our territory shortly. We will drop you there in the care of the city officials and give you some money to sustain yourself till you find your families.”

When they heard Drake say that, few looked relieved but most suddenly became desperate.

“Sir, please don’t leave us.”

“Sir, we don’t have anyone to return to.”

Drake had no interest in babysitting them no matter how much he sympathized with them and was impressed by them. Just as he was about to refuse them, Ayame interjected.

“Young master, may you please leave them in my care?”

Drake thought for a second then agreed, “Sure”. As long as he didn’t have to babysit them, the twins were free to do whatever they wanted.

“Thank you, young master”, thanked Ayame, grateful for Drake agreeing to her request. She had big plans for those women.

Drake returned to their separate campfire they created to relax after the fight. The twins followed behind them after saying something to the women.

There Aria was waiting for Drake, fidgeting continuously.

‘We won, but will Drake be angry that we won because of my strategy.’

‘He is coming towards me. Will he break our friendship?’

‘All the beast humans think that might is right. Their pride would never allow them to use strategies in a fight?’

‘Is he like them? Will he think that his pride is hurt that I helped him with my strategy?’

‘What will I do if he says that he no longer wants me?’

Drake had already seen her fidgeting and also knew the reason. He smiled seeing her like that. His plan was working as expected.

Drake and the twins reached the campfire and sat around it. The boar monster meat he left before was already cooked. He had cooked more than enough that even the women found in the goblin territory could eat their fill.

Previously they were too busy, so the women were just given some dry rations to fill their stomachs. But after their victory against the goblin tribe, he didn’t mind including them in the celebratory feast.

He separated a major portion of the food. He turned to the twins and said, “Bring it to them.”

“Yes, Young Master. I am sure they will be extremely grateful for the young master’s merciful heart”, said Yumi as she and her sister took the food and went towards the other campfire.

When they left, he passed a portion to Aria, who received the plate with rigid hands.

“Is there a problem?” He asked despite knowing what was the problem after observing her for a while.

Aria was startled hearing Drake asking that. She controlled her fidgeting and asked Drake with a slightly trembling voice, “Drake are you angry at me?”

“Angry? Why would I be angry at you?” Drake acted as if he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Are you angry that we won the war with the goblin tribe with my strategy?” Aria asked in a fearful tone.

The twins returned after passing the food to the women.

“Young master, we gave them the food prepared by the young master and all of them are very grateful for the young master’s generosity”, said Yumi.

“They like the food very much and are gorging on it as we speak”, added Ayame.

Drake smiled upon hearing that. He was confident in his cooking skills.

Then he returned to Aria.

“Why would I be angry with you?” asked Drake as he smiled. He didn’t give her a chance to continue and said, “Rather I am very impressed with you. Your strategy was awesome and helped us big time. Because of you, we won the war in such a short amount of time. I am thankful to you.”

Despite all of Drake’s plans for Aria, he was sincere in his praises for her. He was genuinely impressed by her talents.

Aria knew from her beast senses and instincts that Drake was sincere in his praises. For the first time in her life she the recognition she desperately wanted. Despite her outward appearance and her fear towards the other beast humans, she harbored resentment and bitterness towards them for forbidding the fox humans to not use their natural talents. But it was all superseded by the fear and indoctrination she received from birth. She didn’t have the guts to go against them before and she still didn’t have the guts to go against them then.

For a long time, because of the fox humans’ weak strength, and their beauty, they were merely treated as the receptacles of the other beast humans’ lust.

But the sincere recognition from Drake proved to her that her choice was correct. Drake was someone worth following who would recognize all of her, not just a single aspect of her.

She felt truly happy after a long time. Even the twins who remained stoic with her gave her acknowledging nods. She thought that she had finally proved him of her worth.

She hugged him tightly, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you” and just kept thanking him.

After a while, she separated and blushed when she realized that she hugged Drake impulsively for a long time.

‘He appreciated my strategy. If I ask him again to be his follower, he will not reject me again, right?’

When Drake saw that she calmed down, he smiled and proceeded to the next part of the plan.

He left the campfire and came back within a minute. He had a huge bag in his hands.

He passed the bag to her and said, “Here is your share, fifty thousand fog coins.”

He had already prepared the bag beforehand and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to give it to her.

“Fifty thousand fog coins!” exclaimed Aria. That was the first time she had seen such wealth. Even the two hundred coins she received before were kept as it is in her home.

“Yeah, sold many items in the chosen ones’ marketplace”, said Drake. He had told her that the chosen ones had a separate market that only they could access anytime anywhere as long as they got a certain item.

Within half an hour all the items he had put in the virtual shop were sold out. He lamented the deep pockets of the big guilds.

Of course, after the sale of all his items his name was on the list of the richest players. Even after removing Aria’s share, he had more than a hundred thousand fog coins.

“No, I can't take it. This is too much.”

“Nonsense. You have earned it. You will be keeping it” said Drake then once again forcefully shoved the bag in her arms.

Seeing the bag in her arms, she overcame her fears and asked, “Drake, can I ask for something else instead of it?”

“Oh, what is it?” Drake asked despite being aware of what she wanted.

“Am I worthy to be your follower now?” asked Aria in one breath.

“Aria, as I said before, I like going on adventures with you, moreover I appreciate your strategy.”

Aria had a bad premonition when she saw Drake talk like that.

“But, if you want to follow me…”

“You are still not worthy.”