Almost immediately after I entered the fracture, a complete worldwide shift happened. The first time each person (with a system) touched a form of currency, they would be “invited” to a beta test. Word soon spread about the message that claimed it was from a goddess. The Church of Merita from the capital soon confirmed the message, claiming that it indeed is their goddess who has given this “boon.”
All the banks in the human lands are run by Merita followers. People won't let non-Merita devotees handle their money since their god forces them to follow any contract they sign. They also signed a contract with their goddess, and part of that contract allowed Merita to handle the money they have but do not own. On paper, it doesn't seem to mean much, but the banks took a big hit thanks to this little stipulation.
Merita also converted people's banking accounts to CC and sent them to the appropriate people. This crashed the banks. Since they used other people's money to make loans and deals. The first thing the banks did was to ask the government for a bailout, but it never came. They had a more significant problem of not letting the economy crash.
Ironically the “dollar” has never been stronger. Now that it has an actual “gold” backing it now. It will take a little while for CC to be used on a federal scale.
The second thing the banks did was ask the Church of Merita for help. The bank owners may be followers of Merita, but not all of them are a part of the mega-corp labeled “church.”
The churches told them to embrace this new change, as this new secured system can now fuel even greater projects in the future. And if the other races are on the same monetary system, trade with them will be even better.
The bank owners are not merchants but people who loan other people's money with a promise of giving the money back with interest. However, there is one factor that Merita couldn’t touch.
The bank started foreclosing all the properties they owned using bogus claims of “payment being invalid due to wrong lanes used in the transfer.” When you lease something, the bank buys it and owns it instead, you can still have the item or live on the property, but if you don't pay back the bank in time, they take back what's theirs and will sell it to someone else.
When this happened, riots broke out. Fear of economic depression and people being unjustly kicked from their homes caused tensions to grow. They are still investigating what broke the camel's back, but a friendly protest turned bloody before enforcers could respond. Most of the bank staff and managers died, but many more civilians were injured or killed as well.
The city is in a temporary lockdown as a curfew is enabled to stop the spread of carnage. Since people can’t leave the city, the FIB opened up their ‘safer’ fractures for the citizens to hide out in if they wished.
The carnage has died little after a few days, and the threat of a total economic collapse is no longer there. I mean, you still have your money after all.
Angry and confused people are still rioting. I don’t know what is going on in their minds. Businesses took the biggest hit. First, the banks try to take their stores away, and the ones that managed to keep their properties have to deal with opportunistic looters that are using the riots as an excuse to steal.
My money is still at [1,000]... I'll visit the church after my tests finish and see what I can get from that scammer goddess.
I manage to call my foster father.
*ring ring*
*click*
“Hello, who is this?”
“Hey. It’s me. I got back safe and got caught up with what’s happening.”
“Ellis! My boy, you are safe!”
“Yes, yes I am.”
“You have no idea how worried we all were when we got your message of leaving for a fracture for a week, especially because the whole goddess thing happened as soon as you left!”
“I know, just calm down. I am fine and much stronger than before. I called as soon as possible because I wanted to know if the family was alright.”
“Everything is under control. Your mother and sister are safe. Val did get hit in the head with a brick, but it bounced off her head. The guy who threw the brick is now in the hospital We still have our house, but the bank is trying to take the business. My [Lawspeaker] friend is helping me, but for now, we can’t get onto the premises. I used your room as storage.”
Wow, thanks.
“Alright, I’ll be right there.”
“Be wary of rioters, Son.”
~
I reunited with my family, and we caught up with each other for the rest of the day. I asked my foster father about how his business and my house were unscathed from the riots.
He told me business owners and their employees banded together to shoot anyone who tried to break in. More people are doing that now, so I don't see how the riots will continue in this area of the city. The enforcers can't be everywhere at once. But since the momentum of the rioters has fallen, they will probably use this opportunity to stop the carnage.
The Insititute closed its doors after the rioting started, and the test was pushed back a few days. This is the perfect time to check on my tamed beasts for their evolutions. Khan and Duchess don't have a choice in what they will evolve into, so I just inspect the requirements for their advancement.
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[Evolution to Ozone Prowler C
Bathe in Ozone: Not Completed
Bathe in Lightning: Not Completed
Hunt nonstop for more than a day: Completed]
[Evolution to Amphiptere C
Consume a C-rank Mana Crystal: Not Completed
Consume a stronger reptile: Not Completed
Have Nobility: Completed (current title: Duchess)]
“...”
I have many questions.
Why is Khan’s evolution requirements about bathing? I know he is a fish, but he doesn’t need water. Also, why are the baths so dangerous, don’t tell me Khan can die from his advancement.
Duchess’ requirements are a little weird. I never heard of a [Amphiptere], and her evolution requires eating… What a fatty.
[...]
Flash Gordon and Rob have a few options I can pick from.
[Evolution Available]
[Soul Stone
A Soul Stone is a sentient rock that has a strong soul. ]
[Elemental Stone
An Elemental Stone is a sentient rock that has powerful elemental energies.]
[Lucky Stone
A Lucky Stone is a rock that has great luck]
Alright, that's what I’ve been waiting for. I was about to select [Lucky Stone] when I noticed something peculiar. The other stones particularly mentioned having sentience. If I pick this pathway, it might take away Flash Gordon’s memories.
Now it’s a toss-up between [Soul Stone] and [Elemental Stone]. Either one sounds good. The only issue would be Flash Gordon getting a more potent spirit stat than I would be devastating. Knowing Flash Gordon’s tendency to go above and beyond, I should stick with the other option.
[Evolution to Elemental Stone
Have no affinities or all affinities to the base elements: Completed
Kill an elemental creature that is doubled your level: Completed
Absorb large amounts of ambient mana: Not Completed (3/5)
I expected Flash Gordon to instantly evolve. It’s my fault. I’m assuming the 3/5 is from the three days I stayed at Master Wang's house, I should have stayed longer. Flash Gordon really did like those formations. I should visit the man soon so I can get some understanding about the first attack move I want to implement and also evolve the mighty Flash Gordon.
Rob is next.
[Evolution Avaliable]
Skeleton Knight C
Skeleton Grave Robber C
Skelebone Mage C
Skeleton Crafter D
Skeleton Gunner D
[Skeleton Knight C
Skeleton Knight is a powerful undead form of a warrior. They are typically seen as underlings for more powerful creatures.]
[Skeleton Grave Robber C
Skeleton Grave Robber is a rare breed of undead who like to rob and collect bones. They are usually targeted by necromancers because of the large assortment of unique bones and abilities they keep in their bag.]
[Skelebone Mage C
Skelebone Mage is a skeleton mage who specializes in [Bone] magic. They make up for their lack of versatility with their mighty bone-based spells. Their foundations as a mage are shaky, but their experience with bones is plenty]
[Skeleton Crafter D
Skeleton Crafter is a skeleton who enjoys creating things. They are worse than the average craftsman, but they can get better over their unaging undead life]
[Skeleton Gunner D
Skeleton Gunner is a skeleton who enjoys shooting things with a gun. They are more deadly than their peers but overly reliant on ammunition and weapon. Soldiers risen from the dead from death miasma may sometimes become this creature.]
All very tough choices. Although it pains me to forsake the idea of rob shooting up places while dual-wielding machine guns, it just doesn’t seem viable in the long run. [Skeleton Knight] looks too generic for our little buddy. It’s the safest choice, but the other ones seem more provocative.
I decided to ignore [Skeleton Crafter] since I don’t have the time or patience to wait for Rob to spend a few centuries honing his craft, so I look at the grave robber and the mage. Rob doesn’t have that much skill in magic, and Duchess already has that role fulfilled on the team. Rob doesn’t have a designated position, and maybe [Skeleton Grave Robber] is the way to go.
It lines up too well, with Rob's shovel techniques and the evolution mentioning his name, sorta.
[Evolution to Skeleton Grave Robber C
Absorb a source of Shadow: Not Completed
Steal from at least 100 graves or tombs: Completed
Gather a Magic Bag: Not Completed
?
Did our little buddy spend his time stealing before I met him? He tilts his head and looks at me cutely.
The shadow crystal I picked up can probably be the source of shadow, but I’ll hold off on giving it to him until I find a magical bag.
Since the test is approaching in a few days, I quickly start to finish the technique I picked for my [Broken Body.]
~
My [Broken Body Gui] was probably the only thing that let me survive creating the technique.
[Second Heart]
Break our hearts? Two will grow in its place. The user now has a second heart.
If one of the hearts fails, the user can still survive with the other heart.
Health Regeneration: +0.2% of max health per second.
Vigor: + 10]
The technique had me physically split my heart into two and use the method in the manual to regrow the missing pieces before I died. I had to rewire my entire circulatory system. Most of the preparation is doing just that.
That skill Isn’t impressive right now, but once my [Broken Body] martial art ranks up, everything should dramatically grow in power. Right now, it takes me just under 10 minutes to get to maximum health from the brink of death with the current regeneration. Paired with [Beating Heart] from my gui, my cardiovascular system has never been more robust.
I head to Master Wang’s abode with confidence.