The man sitting at the desk seemed unimpressed by the revelation.
“Look,” his nasally voice rang out as he gave Alex a once over. “I don’t know what you heard nor from where, but banks are not loan sharks, you cannot just get a loan. You must apply. You will need collateral, proof of income, a cosignatory, something that tells us you are going to pay the loan back. Our organization does not just give you free money and take your word you’ll get it back to us.”
Letting Acting spin his thoughts into a coherent cover story, Alex continued when the man finished speaking, his tone not acknowledging the man’s exasperation.
“Since it seems you misunderstood my position, I shall rephrase. Due to some unavoidable circumstances, my stay in the city is being extended indefinitely. These changes have caused what I initially expected to be a sufficient amount of funds to no longer be, which is why I’ve come to do business with your establishment. Is that not what this bank is for?”
Alex showed little emotion in his words, attempting to keep a calm demeanor while inwardly nervous. The employee, in contrast, wore exactly what he’d thought of Alex on his face. For the brief time they’d been speaking, the representative had kept a thin smile on his face, a faux attempt at courtesy his words didn’t mirror. By the time Alex finished, the clerk was actively frowning. It wasn’t what he’d been aiming for, and upon realizing his words affect worried he would need to try another branch, luckily another worker intervened saving him the trouble.
“Hello sir, I’d be happy to look at your loan case. Don’t worry,” the new arrival turned to the first man, “I have him.” The teller seemed like he wanted to say more, but after a look that indicated Alex wasn’t worth the trouble, left the topic be, walking off to another section of the bank.
“Fine by me,” Alex said, moving closer to the large man. Putting his hand out to shake, he introduced himself. “Alex.”
“Uhh, Charles,” the other man said, shaking. There was a beat of awkward silence before the man continued.
“My desk is this way; we can talk about what type of loan you were looking for there.” Following the man to a corner cubicle, they began what Alex would call a pretty standard loan interview.
“So tell me,” Charles said as he dabbed at his face with a handkerchief, “what exactly are you looking for from ECU?
“Well, I’m not sure how much of the earlier conversation you heard, but I’m going to be in the city for longer than I originally planned. The amount of coin I have on hand will not be enough to keep with my standard of living so I’m looking to take out a loan.”
The man nodded slowly at that. “Yes, that is definitely something we can help with. Did you have a figure in mind?”
Alex shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “That would depend on your rates, repayment won’t really be an issue.” He was hoping to come off as the rich noble type, but Charles seemed so focused on his work, Alex couldn’t tell if the other man even noticed. Pulling a couple papers from a folder and a pen, the clerk continued with his questions, these obviously for the form.
“Full Name?”
“Alex Dainer”
“Age?”
“25.”
“What do you do for work?”
“Hunter.” Alex internally cringed at the accidental pun. It had just seemed like a better answer than adventurer.
“Net worth”
“Depends.”
“On,” the man said, a little confused, prompting Alex to continue.
He smiled, “Well, I'm away from my family wealth, I have only what I’ve carried with me from home, and whatever I earn from work, so, it depends.”
“Ok, well, we can work with that. How much have you carried from home and, um, how much do you expect to earn monthly.”
Alex looked through his interface and pulled up the section of his inventory labeled currency.
***
Currency
Platinum: 65
Gold: 2,050
Silver: 76
Bronze: 138
Total Currency Displayed in Gold: 5,056
***
It was still a lot of money, though based on what he’d seen, not enough to assure he lived. Alex doubted any amount of money could guarantee his life, but he’d spent five hundred gold in a little over a day. The aspiration for money wasn’t just greed, it was a path to survival.
“I came with around sixty platinum. Can expect maybe another seven plat a month for general income. Hunting isn’t all I do.”
Keeping his smile natural, as if the amount he’d given was a small, the man across from him began chuckling. A few seconds later he looked back as if for a real answer. When Alex didn’t budge, the loan advisor swallowed before continuing with the application.
“W-W-Well, we can certainly offer a loan to someone of your prestige. May I see your ID card.”
He was sweating even more now, if that was possible, and Alex wondered why someone who was so affected by money decided to work at a bank. Then the large man began offering Alex gold, and he forgot all about it.
He started small, not a loan but a Coin Card which was basically just lines of credit with the bank. They were fine in theory, but with the ability to carry infinite items on his person wherever he went, it seemed stupid to not have the assured money rather than a promise of funds when he needed them. The first actual offer was a 1,000 gold, one-year loan with 0% interest for the first three months. Charles was obviously just feeling his client out, since Alex had claimed to have over triple that amount, and so the negotiations began in earnest.
The teller was willing to keep the zero interest clause up until 1,750 gold, but said he couldn’t assure it when Alex said he was still looking for more. There were a few more incremental raises before they got to the first number he really had to stop and consider.
“I can do 3,500 gold, with 11.8% monthly interest and a loan duration of 12 months. However, with the information you’ve given me however, I can only approve a loan of this size if it falls under our standard collateral rules. Since you don’t have a cosignatory, nor anything you’re open to putting up for collateral, the only thing we can accept is gold. There are multiple ways to do that, but the idea is that you’d essentially be accepting a lower loan amount in lieu of a physical collateral. I’d need 20% down so realistically you’d be looking at a 2,800 gold loan.” Now the man was smiling, still sweating as if the room was twenty degrees hotter than it was, but smiling. Alex suspected he was realizing the commission he’d be getting out of this.
The down payment aspect was slightly annoying, but it would be like trading money, for more money. If he gave them a gold, they could give him two. Which meant Alex would need to talk him higher if he wanted to get his money’s worth. So talk he did.
“Well, sir, I really don’t believe I can go above 5,000 gold.” Now he couldn’t tell if the man was jubilant or terrified. Though, in his defense, Alex looked insane for even considering the deal. “For 100 platinum, you’d be looking at a 30% down payment with 23.7% interest on a one-year loan, with the bank holding the option to raise interest by no more than 5% quarterly. Alex mentally corrected his earlier assertion, it wasn’t insanity, but rather plain robbery. Just then a prompt appeared.
***
For arguing a person up to the absolute best deal they can make, you have received the following:
Negotiate (Uncommon)
***
Alex couldn’t help but smile as Charles ran through the terms of the deal. It seemed he’d eked out another win, and the day was still young. The final agreement was essentially that Alex would take out a five-thousand gold loan, only about 50% of which he could immediately access. He would be forced to both open an account with the bank, and put an extra five platinum oh his own money down as a security payment of sorts.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
The account was where the loan would actually sit, he could take up to 2,500 gold upon signing, though the other twenty percent wouldn’t be available for another month. That last thirty percent, unfortunately, would never be his. It would sit in the account for the entirety of his loan duration, but could only act as the loan’s final repayment, or be taken once he paid it off in its entirety. Since Alex planned on committing fraud, he’d never actually see that last bit of gold but turning what was effectively thin air into 3,500 gold and a new skill was an amazing consolation prize.
The paper signing was less complicated than Alex would have imagined. While he didn’t really care how they tried to extort him, he still read over the contract to assure he wasn’t literally signing his life away. Upon stating he was ready, the pair moved to an office in the back of the bank, where Alex was asked to confirm he had the money he claimed. He had never actually looked at all his platinum spread out in front of him, so he took a moment to be suitably impressed with his work. Maybe he should visit another bank after all, though that was definitely the greed talking. He’d aspire to be happy with what he had.
With a loan involving this many coins, they had to get the signatures of two different bank managers. That sent a spike of worry through Alex when he heard about it, but neither paid him any mind. As if something like this happened every day. He supposed it might, with the city’s lore what it was large sums of money could float around in a society with ease.
Account creation was also easy, Alex being given another card similar to his ID with his information keyed to it. He could visit the teller of any branch and provide his pin, allowing him to access his funds. The downside was that anyone could access the account if they had the correct information. Since that was both standard where Alex came from, and the fact that the card sat in an uncrackable vault he wasn’t too worried about it.
Upon finishing everything, Alex approached a teller to confirm his balance was correct. He was tempted to take all the money he could right then and there but resisted the urge. Sure, the money was technically his, but it would have been suspicious if he immediately grabbed everything he could. The contract had mentioned repayment and it being within the bank's right to track him down for repayment. He wouldn’t have to worry about that in a couple of months, but if the bank got too suspicious too soon, he could have another issue on hand. The least he could do was visit another branch.
By the time everything was said and done, Alex had been in the bank for nearly two hours. The sun was still high in the sky, though now it could only peek through the gray overcast. He was all smiles as he walked, and it took him a moment to remember his plan to attempt to pinpoint Janet’s hiding spot. The streets were near empty as he walked, making his task slightly easier. Cindel, in his experience, was never overly busy, but the lack of an afternoon crowd meant there would be fewer auras to interfere with his search.
It took nearly two minutes at a leisurely pace and multiple mana increases, but Alex finally began to sense a hole in the energies on one of the nearby rooftops.
‘Not a hole,’ Alex mentally corrected. It wasn’t a space closer to a film, something that thinly veiled what was meant to be there. Smiling slightly as he readied to better define the concealment, Alex almost missed the dagger aimed straight for the back of his throat.
Well, he couldn’t actually see the dagger, when not focused on Sixth Sense’s 360 degree awareness the skill preferred to speak in energies. So rather than spotting a dagger he sensed a person, but they were lunging for him all the same.
Alex snapped out of his attempt, Dodge activating as he threw himself to the side. The movement had been sudden and after tripping over his own feet, Alex had to roll to get back to standing. There hadn’t been many people around to begin, but at some point they’d disappeared, all for but a single one sprinting straight at him.
Alex backpedaled; his brain unable to process what was happening as his body moved. He dodged a strike then another, all the while just trying to get his bearings. A small leap back in between strikes gave him little breathing room, and he pulled out his dagger, ready to defend himself. The assassin, Alex noticed, was attempting to push him into a nearby alley. While he wasn’t keen on killing anything, let alone people, he didn’t like his odds of making it out if he let them.
Alex readied for their next attack, if he could counter it fighting back would be an option, but before the person in front of him moved someone grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked. This time, he couldn’t recover. Alex landed on his back, hard, hitting his head as he fell. He spotted three people total as he got out his initial coughs, two had weapons drawn, while the third held a thin stick of wood. He was confused, and his head was pounding in rhythm with the beating of his heart; everything was happening so fast. Thoughts were slow and words wouldn’t form, but Alex couldn’t know if it was because of fear or pain.
Then, as suddenly as everything else in the last minute, without even a whisper, there was one less person above him. Instead, their body, no Alex realized in horror just their head was dropping down to his level. Blood flew everywhere as the woman’s decapitated head landed with a meaty thud, their body following a second later as curses rang out all around him. Then a familiar voice cut through it all.
“Get the fuck up kid, this is real. They are trying to end you.”
Alex watched as Janet dropped from the sky, landing close to the two nearest him. Their fight insured, and he turned, only to spot the unknown woman’s lifeless eyes in his periphery. He looked away quickly, but understood the message clearly. Now was time to fight, everything else could be dealt with later.
Activating Silent Strike, Alex did a kip-up, the blood that now covered the ground doing little to impede him higher dexterity. His head was still pounding, but the presence of a clear goal did much to focus his thoughts. Janet had taken two of the attackers, but Alex turned to see another two approaching him from behind. On unsteady feet and trusting Janet to have his back, Alex charged.
Unlike his fights with the beast the day prior, when the people saw him running at them, they didn’t sprint blindly. One continued on, while the other stayed back, watching. The man who approached was large, holding a sword too big for the tight space of the alley to be viable. Still, he wielded the slab of metal with precision, not allowing it to even glance the building as he brought it down towards Alex’s head.
His most recent fighting experience having been against speed enhanced panthers, the man’s strike looked almost glacial to him. Alex had no doubts it’d split him in half if it made contact, but he could stop that from happening easily enough. Darting low as to get beyond the man’s guard without taking a blow himself, Alex stabbed out at his attacker’s abdomen. The strike quickly went from a surefire immobilizing blow, to a strained arm as it pinged off something metal. He didn’t have time to think on it, as the large man’s rebuttal was nearly upon him.
Alex leaned in even further, ducking nearly flat, to miss the diagonal cleave by mere inches. Sixth Sense picked up the other man readying to take advantage of the opening and Alex used his hands to push himself away from the pair.
Making eye contact with the brute directly ahead, Alex saw a wide grin on his face. He was obviously enjoying this. Still, they didn’t waste time with words, instead immediately stepping up for another attempt on his life. With that, Alex affirmed that he didn’t very much care if they were tutorial people, real people, or anything else in between. What Janet said was right. People were trying to kill him; he’d need to kill them first.
Activating Battle Trance, Alex felt some of the pounding in his head calm, the artificial rationality reinforcing his belief. He refreshed Silent Strike, soon after, the combination of skills making the time slowing effect somewhat visible. It wasn’t as if the sword wielder was moving through molasses, but it would make a difference with the battleground so tight. Knowing it wasn’t the time for experimentation, as his resources rapidly drained, Alex focused on what he’d so next.
If the man’s chest was armored, he was left with two options, the head or the legs. Legs were a bigger target, but with both the other man covering him and Alex not being 100% sure they weren’t equally armored, he’d need to aim for the man’s head. Sidestepping as the man brought down another strike, this one looking to divide him straight down the middle, Alex readied to leap. The next attack was clearly choreographed in his sight, his combination of skills making it easy to avoid. Alex ran in once more, using the wall for leverage as he climbed.
It wasn’t something he could have done pre-system, but now it felt easy to defy physics enough to get the height he needed. One step, two steps, and he pushed off, knee just above the man’s face as gravity reinserted itself.
His strike landed, and while it felt a bit more like hitting a brick wall than Alex would have preferred, the blow stunned his attacker. Still imbued with Thorn’s Touch, Alex brought the dagger into the man’s neck. Two quick stabs and he kicked off, not wanting to risk leaving an opening for the man’s companion. As he landed back near where he’d started, Alex remembered why he hated the skill. Inside the bank, he’d taken off his jacket, the amount the teller was sweating having made Alex feel hot just by proximity. But now his shirt, pants, and sneakers were once again covered in blood.
He kept his eyes on his target, the man clearly dying, but not dead yet, though with the amount of blood leaking from him, Alex knew he wasn’t long for the world. The man swung the blade twice more, almost lazily, before it dropped to the ground with a crash, the large attacker falling to his knees as he clutched at his throat. That, even through the haze of Battle Trance, made Alex shiver, but he opted to focus on the next man, readying to do it again.
A scream from behind brought his attention away from the attacker still ahead of him, and he leaned on Sixth Sense to see what was happening, not willing to give the other man his back. While he’d been fighting the large man now dying at his feet, Janet had managed to take down another of the attackers. The second had seemed to give her more trouble, and there was now a short sword sticking out her back. Thoughts of how screwed he was if he had to defeat someone who’d beat Janet outright filled his mind, but Alex didn’t let himself consider them. Fighting was no longer an option, he needed to run. But it was already too late, the momentary distraction had allowed the other man to take the initiative.
Alex parried the knife aimed for his abdomen, but didn’t have the speed to dodge the jab headed straight for his face. It connected, followed by another, then another. His dagger dropped to the ground at the shock of his nose breaking, and Alex felt himself held in place as he tried to pull away. The man punched again, this one to his gut, and Alex felt himself fading as he fell to the ground, unable to even cry out let alone move. Still, he could hear the people around him.
“Fuck. Greyson, you sure this the right guy.”
“Yes, quite. He leveled quite a bit in the last day, but Mira pointed him out specifically.”
“Lotta good that did her.” The man said, his harsh tone turning into a chuckle towards the end. “Always hated the prissy bitch. What about the shadow bitch. Whole body sunk into the ground after I nicked her.”
“Please, Trevor, I asked you not to use such vulgar language in my presence. Search him, find the money, then finish him. Brian isn’t going to be happy we lost people with his, and we need to be gone before anyone else comes to investigate.”
With that, as rough hands began worsening his injuries, Alex lost consciousness.