Atlas Rising a LitRPG gaming adventure by Blake Severson (top 10 books of all time .txt) 📗

grew tired of the boring games that walked you through it. Most of these seemed more like kids’ games to him.

Mr. Ingram said they tied Divine Genesis into the real world economy.

A general search took him to their main website. The home page looked similar to the lobby of the building, with achievements and testimonies everywhere. There was a small button to download the app for the game on your phone, so he clicked on it and quickly opened the app.

He logged into his account and saw the status of his character. It even displayed the money he had. 1 silver and 30 copper showed on the screen. All of which were recent rewards from his two quests and the coins he received from selling the herbs. He could also see the different animal skins and meat in his inventory. Next to his money was a button that said Redeem. Out of curiosity, he pressed it.

The app opened to a new page titled Global Market and the exchange rate showed on it. Atlas’ eyes bulged a little when he saw it. Mr. Ingram was telling the truth. Every gold coin was worth $100, while a silver coin was worth $5 and each copper was around 5 cents. This game will be lucrative for some of those gold farmers. Hell, with that kind of money flying around, I may want to figure out ways to make more money myself. I’ll definitely need to get my leatherworking started when I log back in.

Atlas grumbled at that thought as he remembered he had three back to back twelve-hour shifts. He wouldn’t be able to play again until after that. With his fate resigned to work, he buckled down and waited for the torture of the days to pass.

Chapter 6

Moving Forward

Atlas opened his eyes to the room in the inn. The pitcher still rested on the table near the bed and looked untouched. He sat up and spotted his bag on the ground where he’d dropped it. Popping out of bed, he scooped up the bag and walked downstairs.

“Welcome back, Atlas. How fared your journey?” Juul called to him.

His mind reeled at the question before he remembered their lore around the Reborn. “Everything went well. Wish I could’ve come back sooner. Anything interesting going on around here?”

“Not really. The guards subdued a wild boar that tried to rampage through town. That was the most eventful thing to happen while you were gone.”

“Sounds thrilling. Can you point me in the direction of the leatherworker’s shop?” Atlas asked.

“Of course. Turn left when you exit and travel to the third building on the right. Old Ramma will probably have some hides stretched outside that will give the place away.”

“Thanks. Take care,” Atlas said with a wave and walked through the door. He followed the innkeeper’s directions and walked to the building in question. Juul was correct and there were two large hides stretched on wooden racks in the back of the building and numerous small hides hung from different places on their own miniature racks.

Burned into the door was a large symbol that looked like a stretched hide. Atlas pushed lightly, and it swung open with ease.

“Hello!” “Anyone here?” he asked as he looked around the room. A pile of small pieces of wood sat in the corner. Atlas noticed they looked like the pieces of the racks he’d seen outside. A few rolled up hides, tied with string rested along a shelf on his right. A sharp, acrid smell hit his nose and Atlas assumed they must use urine in some of their work.

Muffled speech that sounded like cursing echoed from the back room, and he heard stomping feet plodding toward the front of the building. A short man with a burly chest emerged from the back. Atlas fought to hold back a laugh at the man’s appearance. In almost every story he’d ever seen, elves rarely had much facial hair, if any at all. This elf sported one of the largest and scruffiest beards he’d ever seen. The facial hair, combined with the hair on his head, made it hard to see any of his other features.

“What do you want,” the ball of hair grumbled.

“My name’s Atlas. I’m looking for Leatherworker Ramma. I’m interested in training as a leatherworker.”

A grunt issued from the smaller man, “I’m Ramma. You have the coin to learn the skill?”

Atlas wasn’t sure how to answer. Master Longstride told him his first skill was free, so he played that route. Better make sure he knows I’m a Reborn.

“I’m here to claim my free skill as a Reborn,” Atlas told him with confidence.

The smaller elf looked him up and down before crooking his finger and motioning for Atlas to come closer. He hesitantly moved closer, not sure what to expect from the surly man. The leatherworker’s hand extended out with his palm flat and stared at Atlas. Unsure what to do, he lifted his hand and placed it onto the elf’s hand. A quick tingling sensation passed through him before the elf dropped his hand and huffed.

“Fine. Damn Reborn just waltzing in thinking the world runs on their schedule. Here,” Ramma said with a dismissive flick and a menu popped into his field of view. Atlas spotted the Buy title at the top and scanned through the list. It looked like a list of different hides and their prices. He glanced at them and then looked toward the shelf he noted when he entered. The items were the ones from the shelf. Dropping to the bottom of the list, he saw an item called Learn Leatherworking. Next to it was a price of 10 silver, but a line crossed it out and said Free over it. He selected the option, and a box appeared in his vision.

Do you wish to claim the trade skill of Leatherworking as your free skill? This decision can’t be changed. Yes/No.

Atlas selected Yes and messages hit him.

You have learned the trade