Chapter 26: Twenty four

“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about you licking poisonous berries anymore.” Darius teased as I marked a listing for an alchemic construct, which was described as a tool for identifying the effects of alchemic creations. 

The construct looked like one of the wooden dolls my art teacher used, except this was inscribed with hundreds of glowing runes. I’d been unsure about buying the construct, but in the end decided that a safe way to identify the effects of my experiments was worth the cost. 

“I was going to make Markion lick them instead,” I quipped with a grin. 

“Don’t, he whines like a baby every time he dies. A Minotaur's horns get more brittle with each death, and can break off if they die too much. He takes a lot of pride in his horns, polishes them every night.” Darius joked.

“I have a response to that, but he is my brother so I’m not going to go there.” I said, pulling my lips back in a grimace. 

Laughing, Darius turned his gaze back to the book, and tapped a finger on the listing for portable workshops. 

“Bring up the descriptions for these, I can’t see the basic being any good, but one of the others might be worth buying.”

Pressing the tip of the fountain pen lightly to the listing for a basic workshop, I scrunched my nose up at the image of a wooden work bench and metal furnace which appeared. 

“I can have Narvi and Markion make that for less than two thousand gold.” I grumbled, moving the pen to the intermediate workshop. 

The intermediate workshop was a marquee style tent, with a furnace and benches encircling half the room. The second half of the room was curtained off, with a bed and seating area with a low table surrounded by cushions. 

Next was the advanced workshop, which was a large rectangle carriage with a curved roof. Looking from the outside, it appeared like the wagon had two levels as the roof had a raised section in the middle with small windows. As the image shifted, it showed the interior of the wagon to be fitted with benches on each side with a small furnace near the door at the back. A ladder was opposite the furnace, which led up to a sleeping loft, which had just enough room for someone to sit upright. 

“Such much gold for a carriage?” I mumbled, staring numbly at the price. 

“Read the description, it’s loaded with enchantments. Stabilization, weight reduction, speed, durability, and resistances to just about everything. Wagons without any enchantments are from two thousand for a basic uncovered farm wagon to five thousand for one covered in canvas. Very few people can make something like this yet. I’ve only seen a few at auction, and the guilds went into a major bidding war over it shooting the cost up to ten thousand. That one only had basic durability enchantments. Later, when they become more available as crafters get more skilled, the prices will go down, but even then, this will still be worth it. Just look at the craftsmanship, the detailed carving.” Darius exclaimed, leaning closer to the images being shown. 

“Want me to give you, and the book a moment alone?” I queried as the guild leader looked ready to snatch it from my hands. 

“No, but Narvi might want some alone time with the wagon.” He chuckled, rubbing his chin. 

Wow, that joke went completely over his head. 

“Okay, so getting the wagon?” 

“Yes, and get the tent as well. You will need a tent for our trip to Valonia, I don’t think the wagon will travel well across the desert. Originally you were going to share a tent with Markion, but…” 

“Like hell I’m sharing with him.” I spat, quickly using the pen to mark down one of each. 

“Good tents are expensive, and I didn’t think you’d want to waste gold on one before this. Traveling in the desert during the day is nearly impossible due to the heat, so we camp and move during the cooler hours of night.” 

“Isn’t traveling at night more dangerous?”

“Better than burning alive under the scorching sun.” He rebuffed, rapping a knuckle on the book.

“That’s pretty much all the alchemy things, I thought there would be more though. Lets look at mounts now. You will need something strong to pull that wagon.” 

“Mr. Gold said only items that are currently for sale in the world are in here. So maybe there isn’t a lot of alchemy things being sold? It doesn’t make sense that there is so little, there should be books, and more recipes being sold” I complained.

“It makes perfect sense actually, there is limited information available about a lot of professions, and magic. You can’t buy the information because it no longer exists, or isn’t being sold. After the great cataclysm a lot of things were lost, so what is found won’t often be sold.” 

“The great cataclysm?” I asked, raising a brow in a question. 

“Yes, haven’t you ever wondered why so many races live on one continent? Or why we are restricted to one continent when there is a whole world out there to explore?” Darius exclaimed, his eyes shining with barely restrained excitement. 

“We’re restricted to one continent?” I asked in surprise. I should have asked more about Kaledon, I didn’t even know we were restricted to one continent or that all races lived here. 

“Yes we are. Salvia is the only accessible continent at this stage. This is due to the great cataclysm. According to the lore of this world, two hundred years ago there was cataclysmic event which caused volcanoes on all the continents to erupt, sending plumes of smoke and ash to sweep across the skies.” Darius proclaimed, waving his hand in a wide gesture.

“Many fled their homes as the cities were destroyed by the volcanoes, volcanic earthquakes and beasts who rampaged in mindless fear. The remnants of each race who survived banded together here on Salvia, the only land with no volcanoes. Four of the strongest magic users sacrificed their lives, conjuring a great protective barrier to keep out the ash, as the volcanoes continued to erupt. The barrier ends at the coastline, that is why despite being only a days ride from the coast there is no fresh fish or sea products, it’s because we can’t access it.” 

“So, because of this event, much of the world's knowledge was lost.” I concluded.

“Exactly. Though many did their best to record what they could, most was lost, or in some cases hoarded by those who would seek to empower themselves.”

“Let me guess, the barrier is going to drop and we all go exploring? Bit obvious isn’t it?” I scoffed, getting a chuckle in response. 

“That’s what everyone believes will happen, we are all waiting for the barrier to drop. The four cities are the power points maintaining the barrier. There is a statue in each city made of crystal that is said to be each of the grand four. The four cities were built around the four to protect them, and we suspect an event will happen to destroy each of the statues, thus bringing down the barrier.” The guild leader explained.

“That sounds interesting.” 

 “We’ve been preparing for this from our first weeks here, as we intend find somewhere to settle. Those of the guild who have land, and housing tokens with their personal membership will be pooling together to get the beginnings of our settlement started.” 

“I was given both a house and land token with my platinum plan, but I wasn’t really sure how they worked.” I told him, feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of building a city on some unknown land.

“Land tokens will allow you to claim a certain area of land. Only structures you permit can be built, and no one can make changes to claimed land. Say if an earth mage wants to use earth magic on claimed land, then he would need to seek permission from the land owner as the earth will not move without it. That is why earth magic, can not be used in any cities. You can also set rules for your land, and while they are not magically enforced, you will know if a rule has been broken. If you set your land to private, you will know if someone who has not received an invitation comes onto your claimed land and will know their location while they are on your land.” 

“Are all cities claimed land then?” I asked, getting a nod in response. 

“For creating a city, land tokens can be used in conjunction, and the claimed land ‘sold’ as we did with the farm using Bell and Calidus’s tokens. Their land tokens were used side by side, and then we had Bell ‘sell’ her land to her husband, by doing this it became one large plot of land. As for housing tokens, they will conjurer up a team of golems to build on claimed land, the catch is you need a blue print and the materials for them to do the work. They can only be called once, and will only remain for one week, so it is best to keep the building simple or it won’t be completed.” 

“How will the guild’s city be run? I mean what kind of ruling system will you put into place? Direct democracy, a representative democracy, socialism, communism…” 

“Kadia, slow down. We don’t need to talk about all this now, let’s get this sorted first.” Darius said, gesturing to the book I held. “We can talk about future plans later, but in saying that, let's look if there are any ship blueprints. Because let me tell you, ship building is not easy.” 

“Can’t players just look up blueprints? Honestly, it should be the same for alchemy, I don’t understand why people are struggling when they can just log out, and do research. Well, digital citizen can’t,” I faltered, grimacing at the reminder that I was trapped here with no way out. 

 “We have players trying to redraw blueprints from the web, but it is slow going, and we need to be careful. We’ve already had two players banned for drawing blueprints from earth designs. I think Gaia corp wants us to design, and build ships using more magical methods. If you can buy things already created, then if someone else has created ship blueprints we can get those for our own use. I don’t think buying a ship would work, as it will be bound to you, and may not be something others can ride on. We should check if someone can use something you’ve bought with permission.” 

Nodding, I turned the book back to the index page, searching for any mention of ships. There was none, but after turning to the transport category we found two types of ships, and three blueprints. The first ship was small, and looked like an old viking longship. The second was much larger with three tall masts, and according to the description it was called Baron’s warship. 

“So, someone has managed to build a ship to completion, and are selling it. I wonder who it is?” Darius mused, looking intently at the vessel. 

“Lets keep three million aside, and ask Mr. Gold if other people can ride items I own if I give them permission or am on board myself. If so, then I’ll buy this ship.” I said, and marked each blue print for purchase. 

“Thank you, the blueprints will greatly benefit the guild.” Darius said, giving me a warm smile. 

“Okay, now for my horse.” I declared, excitedly flipping back a few pages where I’d seen entries for horses. 

After some debating, and a recheck of the wagon’s description I finally settled on an Elven bred Friesian stallion for twenty-five thousand gold. Then, as Darius advised, I purchased tack, armor and grooming supplies, along with twenty sets of enchanted horse shoes which were consumables. Then we moved to the books section, where I found only a handful of books. Many of the books were according to Darius, commonly found, and already owned by the guild.

“I’ve selected everything I could need, and still have just over fifteen million gold left. None of the weapons are any good to me as I don’t know how to use them, and anything I buy will just be outdated when the smiths start making better things. Same with armor, and most things here.” I complained to Darius as I marked off a pair of nice looking knee-high boots that were enchanted to make my steps soundless.

“Lets take a look in the miscellaneous section, maybe we’ll find something interesting there.” He suggested, and I nodded, flipping through to the back of the book.

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One item stood out like a beacon in the miscellaneous section, the words land token were the only ones I saw on the single page of items. 

“Land token, a hundred thousand gold per acre.” I murmured, staring down at the page. 

“Thats cheap, land tokens purchased through the lands office are a hundred and fifty thousand per acre.” 

“How many acres worth of tokens does the guild have?” 

“We’ve got eighty nine guild members on platinum plans, and seventy two on gold plans all of whom have agreed to use their tokens for the guild city. Platinum get five acres, and gold get one, we haven’t purchased any from the lands office yet.” Darius explained. “Because we transferred over, most of the guild are on special plans that are associated with the guild. Those with tokens already had a higher ranked plan, so transferred over to Kaledon on those plans to take advantage of the benefits.” 

“How many people are in the guild right now?” I asked, remembering it had been somewhere near six hundred members in Avalon. 

“Just under seven hundred, we were only allowed to bring five hundred members over as part of Gaia’s initial access phase to act as a test population. Because we had members who could come to Kaledon on their own life plans, we had them enter Kaledon separate from the guild. This gave us a chance absorb those in our feeder guild, who lacked a private life plan.” 

“That’s a lot of people,” I exclaimed, wondering where they all were. “Where are you even keeping them all!” 

“Most are spread out training, and exploring. Kads, seven hundred is small compared to other guilds.” Darius said, with an amused smile. “Our ally, the Silver Arrows managed to bring their feeder guild on it’s own merit, so with both combined they’ve got almost a thousand people running around.”

I nodded, listening as Darius explained how Eternia and the top twenty guilds in Avalon, were offered the chance to move five hundred their members to Kaledon. They’d also offered the guilds a chance to bring over their gold to Kaledon at a three to one exchange. The guild, and everyone in it sold everything they owned, doing their best to get as much gold as possible saved up for the transfer. 

“Should I buy some land tokens then?” I asked, looking back at the book once Darius finished. 

“Are you sure Kadia?” Darius asked, giving me a searching look. 

“I’m not interested in any of the other stuff here, just promise I’ll get a big private alchemy lab out of it.” 

“You can have your lab, we’ll give you a large plot in the city planning.” He promised, and I nodded, marking down the purchase for the ten million gold worth of tokens. 

“Alright, I think we are done. If I don’t buy the ship, I’ll just get the rest in gold.” I told him and reached forwards to ring the bell.

“If you buy the ship, you will have just over two million left. So at the exchange of ten dollars to one gold, it goes down a lot.” Darius concluded, and I nodded with a sigh. 

“The exchange rate sucks.” I agreed.

“Miss Greene, have you finished already?” Mr. Gold asked, entering the room with a tight smile. 

Already? It’s been almost three hours, I don’t see how that counts as ‘already’. I mocked in my head as I plastered a smile on my face. 

“I have a question regarding an item,” I told him and he nodded, looking at me expectantly, so I continued. 

“If I buy a transport item, can others ride on it? Can they use it with permission from me?” I asked, deciding not to mention the ship directly.

“They can use a transport item that is in your ownership, so long as it is with your permission and the item remains in your ownership. You could, for example purchase several wagons and use them to form a trade caravan. However, if someone attempted to use one without permission, it would be deemed as stolen, and would be returned to your possession.” 

“I see,” I mused, glancing at Darius whose eyelid twitched ever so slightly. 

Opening the items book, I quickly marked down the purchase of one warship and after a moment flicked through to the section where the wagons were listed. After finding the one I was looking for, I marked it for purchase along with one more wagon that was fitted out like a small house. 

“I’m done making my purchases. I would like the remainder changed into gold.” I informed Mr. Gold, handing him the book. 

“Of course, if you will give me a moment I will arrange your items.” The dwarf said, giving me a strained smile. 

Ten minutes later the bank manager returned holding a small silk purse, which he handed to me, before taking a seat behind the desk. 

“Miss Greene you will find your items inside in the form of paper tokens, simply tear the token to receive your item. Now as for the remainder of the money which you wished to receive in gold, in light of your tragic circumstances we would like to offer you a one time lowered exchange rate, and an exemption on the transfer restrictions. We will allow you to change the one million, and nine hundred thousand dollars at a one dollar to gold rate.” 

What did he just say? A one-to-one exchange? Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the short man. Would like to offer me… Bullshit!

 “The courts must have order you to offer me an equal exchange, and a lift of the restriction. Gaia corp didn’t want to give me the gold, so they offered me this items deal.” I spat, fighting against the urge to leap up from my seat in an explosion of anger. 

“Now Miss Greene, you must understand that flooding the market with that much gold would greatly affect the world balance.” Mr. Gold said, holding his hands up placatingly. 

“I have no interest in flooding the market, I wouldn’t have gone on a gold spending spree. If you’d been honest up front, I probably would have taken the items deal anyway as it saved me time and put everything I could want on a neat little list right here. Even with the restrictions. Instead, all you’ve done is shown Gaia corp is just as conniving and filthy as Everlife. You’ve pocketed twenty-nine million dollars, and all I’ve got is some fucking lines of code that are worth nothing.” 

“Kadia,” Darius murmured, placing a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. 

“That was not our intention, please Miss Greene I apologize for my handling of this matter. We only sort to find a solution that would work best for all parties. We did not wish to upset you in any way. Are you not happy with the items you have chosen? If you would like to review them I can…” 

Well, aren’t you back peddling? Davis was right, they really will bend quite a bit to keep me happy.

“Those items are just code to you, they take nothing to create beyond a little computing power from the central AI who runs this world.” I said bluntly, staring at him with my fiercest expression.

“Twenty-nine million gold worth of digital items? You think your lines of code are worth the twenty-nine million dollars I could have had if I’d been on earth? Do you think this is enough to just sweep it all under the rug?” Stalking closer to the desk, I leant forwards over it palms pressed to the wood. “Do you really think some non-existent things can make up for the real life I can no longer live? With that twenty-nine million dollars, I could have purchased thousands of acres worth of land, built my own little kingdom where I could live out my days not bothering anyone.” I told him, emphasizing the last three words in a way I knew the fat fish in front of me would get the message. 

 

Take the bait, you little corporate prick. You think I can’t see through you? I grew up with a man just like you, I’ve been around pricks like you my whole life, I know you’ll give a lot more than you have. 

“Is that so?” Mr. Gold murmured, staring at me with a look that said he saw through me just as I did him. 

“How many acres would make this little kingdom of yours?” The dwarf asked, stroking his dark beard. 

“Twenty nine, million,” I declared with a smirk, ignoring the choked sound from the guild leader behind me.

That should cover a decent sized island or something, right? My own little island, where I can do whatever I want. 

“That is asking a bit much, Miss Greene.” Mr. Gold said, shaking his head. “Please give me a moment to consult.” 

Closing his eyes, the dwarf sat still for a moment before opening his eyes once more.

“Ten thousand acres is the most we can offer. This is equal to the amount of land tokens that another citizen owns and thus can not be considered unfair.” 

Someone has enough tokens for ten thousand acres? He said a citizen meaning one, not the land tokens of many people combined, like a guild. 

“Twenty-nine thousand,” I responded, crossing my arms over my chest. I’d prefer the twenty-nine million, but I think I’m already pushing a bit much. 

“Agreed, the tokens have been added to your bag.” The dwarf said quickly, not giving me any chance to respond he slapped two piles of paper down on the table. “These state that you will not reveal any information regarding the settlement. All items you have gained are things which can be purchased, thus no-one should question how you came by them. If they do, it shall be up to you how to respond without disclosing information regarding the settlement.” 

Taking some time to read through the contracts, I found they were as the dwarf said. After a waiting moment, with an exaggerated air of hesitation, I signed both, making sure to appear frighten as I did so. The most important thing about this entire situation was to appear that I was conceding to them. I was at Gaia corps mercy, living out my life in their virtual world, and in a capsule belonging to a company they would soon own.

Not signing that agreement would only make them suspicious, and even so, Davis would easily has their little agreement tossed aside. Making me sign without a lawyer present, while I was under duress? Not even having my true, and verified signature? Gaia’s agreement wasn’t worth the digital paper it was written on. 

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