Chapter 151
Jay and M'redith had spent an hour or so at the coffee house. At one point Jay had gotten bored but M'redith wasn't ready to leave yet. Jay had wandered up to the front desk where he discovered that for a copper he could purchase a handful of orange slices that had then been cut down in to small triangles.
Jay took them hesitantly, unsure if the fish would really enjoy oranges.
The woman at the front desk had laughed.
“Koi fish are omnivores, they will eat anything that will fit in their mouths. They don't have teeth though, so we like to cut their food up in to small pieces – like the orange slice triangles you just bought.” the woman had assured Jay.
Jay smiled and shrugged. If she said the koi loved orange slices who was he to argue?
Jay thanked the woman and wandered back outside and over to the central pond. The rain was falling so gently that it barely qualified as rain.
The fish didn't seem to notice him at first and Jay tossed one tiny triangle slice of orange in to the water. The fish reacted instantaneously and there was a loud commotion as they splashed in the water and all tried to swim towards him at once.
Jay was a little startled by the sudden commotion and accidentally dropped more orange bits in to the water. A woman wearing a beige robe and a wrapped head covering hissed at him, “Shhh!”
Jay waved at her apologetically, “Sorry!” he said which just made things worse.
“Shhh!” someone else hissed.
Jay took a deep breath so that he wouldn't snap at the people shushing him. The fish had calmed down a bit as they had run out of food but a few dreamers who refused to give up hope had stayed behind after all of the other fish had swam away. There was a small group of fish that optimistically continued to wait for more oranges.
Jay grinned, he felt that he should reward them for sticking around. He sprinkled a few more bits of orange in to the water and he could see a number of fish from further away stop what they were doing and swim over to try and get a piece for themselves.
The dreamers won out though – they were closest to the food already when it hit the water. He had only a little bit left and he picked out one fish in particular, a bright orange koi, and dropped it right in front of the fish where they couldn't miss it.
They didn't miss it at all and sucked the bits in to their mouth quickly before the other fish caught on. The other fish did catch on but too late. They swam and bumped angrily up against the fish that had been fed and threw jealous looks at it with their wide open fish eyes before once again swimming away to do whatever fish did when people weren't looking.
Jay dipped his hands in the water to clean the orange juice off of them and unexpectedly had a Koi swim by to investigate. It swam about his fingers for a moment before darting forward to nip a piece of orange off of his hand that Jay had missed. Searching for more but finding nothing the fish turned and swam off.
Jay smiled and wiped off his hands as he stood up and walked back over to where M'redith was sitting. She looked up when Jay sat next to her. With a smile she put her book away before she pointed at the exit. Jay nodded. Time to go.
They left the back yard and passed the main desk in the building as M'redith had thanked the employee they passed on the way out. Finally outside Jay laughed, “Seriously? You take me to a place where we can't even talk?”
M'redith looked at him with a devious smile, “You talk enough. I wanted to read!”
Jay laughed and shook his head, “Ok, fair enough.”
“You can pick the next place,” M'redith said kindly as she wound one arm through his.
“Well, I need to go see Boland and talk to him about the dungeon I'm about to become permanently and financially linked to. I'm guessing he'll have something to say about that. I really should be talking with him about all this stuff ahead of time but there is never time.” Jay said with a shake of his head.
“I don't care where we go as long as we get to spend some time together. Besides, after 'being in charge' throughout the entire dungeon I really can use some time where I'm not the one making all the decisions.” M'redith said as she pulled an errant hair out of her mouth. She spit before wiping the hair away. “I hate it when my hair does that,” she mumbled.
Jay nodded. “Ok then, let's head to the bank office and meet up with my fixer. Or whatever he is calling himself today.”
He waved down a cart and paid the driver while also giving him the destination. Jay walked to the back of the cart and hopped in. The cart took off before he had gotten settled and Jay half fell on to M'redith before they managed to sort themselves out. M'redith didn't appear to mind and the two exchanged a smile.
The bank offices weren't that far but they didn't make it. They were stuck in traffic as a cart of chickens had lost a wheel and tipped over and spilled cages of chickens across the intersection. Not all the cages had popped open, but it only took one to make a mess.
More than just a few had popped open and the intersection was a mess of squawking and screaming chickens that flew and ran about. They were fast and incredibly difficult to catch. Had Norri been there they would have already been on their way. A few uses of Animal Control by Norri would have been all it took to gather up the chickens.
Instead people were trying to catch them by hand and it wasn't going well. One man in particular managed to catch a chicken only for it to let loose a jet of poop that splattered across the front of the man's shirt. He made a disgusted sound and let go of the chicken without meaning to. The chicken had been hoping for exactly that reaction and flew away to enjoy its freedom. It only got a few feet across the intersection but that was enough.
The chickens weren't smart which made the commotion even more embarrassing for the people trying to catch the chickens.
Especially since anyone who was watching could tell that the chickens were winning.
“This is going to take forever!” M'redith said as she climbed out of the cart, “C'mon. We can walk there from here, it's only a couple of minutes away.”
Jay sighed and got out of the cart as well. They thanked their driver who took the opportunity to turn down a side street and return from the direction he had come from. The driver had no intentions of waiting in traffic. He'd just drive to a different section and catch fares there.
M'redith knew where she was going as they could see the bank offices off in the distance. They crossed the chicken packed intersection as Jay ducked just in time as a chicken flew past where his head had just been.
“Are they AIMING for me?” Jay asked.
M'redith laughed and pulled him to the other side of the intersection and towards their destination. “Maybe they just like you!”
Jay laughed, “Now you sound like Norri.”
M'redith made a face before she too laughed. “Ha ha.” she replied mirthlessly.
They continued to walk and crossed two more intersections before they finally arrived at their intended destination. It had only taken a few minutes to walk and it was better than waiting in the cart and watching grown adults mishandle a bunch of chickens.
Jay opened the office door and let M'redith inside first. He walked over to the receptionist's desk where a young man with a crew cut and glasses was scribbling something in to a book. The man looked up as Jay and M'redith approached. “Can I help you?” he asked.
The man wore a light sweater that was pure white in color. “I love your sweater,” M'redith remarked and the look on the man's face went from professional to excited.
“Thank you! I just got it last week and haven't had a chance to wear it. It gets cold in here, they keep the temperature low for some reason. It's so soft too, feel it!” the man said as he offered one arm up towards them.
M'redith reached out and felt the material and made an appreciative sound, “Oh that's lovely.”
Jay was unsure if he was expected to participate in this but the man took his arm back before he had a chance to. Jay was ok with that.
“I'm sure you didn't come to talk with me about my sweater though. What can I help you with?” the man asked with a much more welcoming face than he had originally shown to them.
“I'm looking to speak with Boland, is he in?” Jay asked brightly.
The man's face fell, “I'm so sorry, but he is out of the office.” The man appeared as if he remembered something, “But give me a moment...” he said and drew out the word 'moment' for far too long. “Boland. Boland. Here we are, Boland.” the man said as he flipped through a book.
The man looked up before he continued, “Your name?”
Jay nodded, that was a fair question. “Jay. I'm a client of his.”
The man laughed loudly before he realized that Jay hadn't been in on the joke. He pursed his lips but hastily explained when he realized that Jay wasn't going to figure it out on his own. “My apologies, I didn't mean to be rude. You, sir, are Boland's client. His only one, I do believe. I'm unaware of any others. You saying you are a client of his would be like a mayor saying 'I'm one of the mayors' when there is only one.”
M'redith raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything.
Jay grinned and shook his head, “I see what you mean. No worries.”
The man nodded before he continued. “I'm sorry but I should have asked your name earlier, again, my apologies. I'm authorized to tell you that he should be returning momentarily as he has just finished another engagement. Would you mind waiting a few moments for him to arrive?” the man asked with a bit of desperation on his face.
Jay shrugged. “I don't mind. Where would you like us to wait?”
The man smiled in relief. Boland would not have been happy to hear that Jay had visited and then left before he had a chance to meet with him. “I'll have someone bring you up to his office if that is acceptable.”
Jay nodded and suddenly there was a woman wearing what Jay would best describe as business formal attire. Cream blazer and black shirt with matching pants. High heels, and a sensible golden necklace completed the outfit. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun and she smelled faintly of cinnamon.
“Right this way please,” she said and led the two upstairs.
“Bye, it was good meeting you!” M'redith said as she waved at the man who smiled and waved in return.
They were lead in to Boland's usual office but it seemed that he redecorated constantly. Every time Jay entered the room he felt like it had changed somehow.
Today it contained three long black leather couches set up in a u shape. There was a coffee table in the center of the u with a bowl of fake fruit on it and the entire setup faced Boland's desk. A mini bar was set up off to the side and behind the desk and a tall square looking leather chair was setup behind the desk.
The woman hadn't left yet but waited until Jay and M'redith had seated themselves side by side on the couch directly opposite of the main desk.
“Would you like anything to eat or drink? May I get you anything?” the sensibly dressed woman asked the two.
Jay smiled at the politeness. It was quite the break from running a dungeon, not to mention Guild classes. T'lly had never asked Jay if she could get him anything. Jay smiled at the thought and tried not to laugh. “I don't need anything, thank you.” Jay replied and M'redith just shook her head with a smile.
“Boland should be along shortly. I'll come back to check on you in a few minutes if he does not.” the woman stated before letting herself out. The door didn't even have time to click shut though before it was pushed open once again.
“JAY!” shouted a grinning Boland. He was shorter than Jay due to being a native Eden-ite but it rarely showed due to Boland's larger than life personality. “I was hoping I'd see you! How've you been! And M'redith, you look wonderful today!”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Jay and M'redith smiled in greeting and stood to shake Boland's hand. The two men shook hands before Boland waved off M'redith's handshake and the two exchanged a hug hello.
“Sit, sit!” Boland insisted as he dropped himself in to the chair behind his desk. “So what is new!”
Jay laughed. He still had a gold from running the Landlocked Dungeon so he set that on the table. “I want to make a deposit.”
Boland grinned and got back up and walked over to retrieve the coin before he returned to his chair to settle in. “I'll update your account right now.”
“Um, about that,” Jay said hesitantly.
“Uh oh. Jay. What did you do?” Boland asked with a wide grin. “Please tell me it's something good. It's always something good with you!” he asked excitedly.
Jay laughed, “So you know how dungeons can only handle one group at a time?”
Boland's smile faded a bit and he nodded, “Sure. If you send more than five people in to a dungeon horrible things happen. Curse of the sixth and all that.”
“Right. That. Well, my group and I found a way to remove that limit. Completely. For one single dungeon. Guess which dungeon we used it on.” Jay asked with a grin.
Boland's mouth opened, “Oh Goddess, please tell me you didn't use it on a Church dungeon. When you activated Kagan's Dome you wouldn't believe how much work it took to keep the Church off of your back!”
M'redith laughed, “That's the one! Wait, you had to keep the Church off of Jay's back?”
Boland nodded. “You think that the people in charge of the Church were happy to have an underling make the dungeon they manage more popular than the dungeons the people in charge manage? Of course there was fallout!”
Boland dropped his head in to his hands and groaned before he opened a notebook on his desk and began scribbling notes. “The Church. Again. They're the worst you know, politically speaking. Vipers all of them. You just made a ton of work for me.”
“There's more.” Jay said.
Boland looked up and set his writing implement down. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”
With a sigh Jay began with his first trip to Kagan's Dome and how he had activated its unique rewards system. Then Jay explained how Brother Orin had run in to trouble trying to manage the calendar. Too many people applied, everyone wanted to run the dungeon, and there was only one spot for one group per day.
Jay explained how Brother Orin had managed to discover an old useless dungeon along with a number of old tales. In the old days everyone who was anyone went to this dungeon, but why they did so had been lost over the years. Other older records told of something in the dungeon that had once been used to upgrade dungeons – again, what exactly that was had been lost over the years.
“I'm sensing a theme here,” Boland quipped with a smile.
“Yes, 'lost over the years' is basically all that we deal with lately.” M'redith said with a crooked grin.
Jay smiled as well. “Suffice it to say, we found it, and we installed it this morning. It will be capable of activation tomorrow morning.”
Boland nodded. “Done now?”
Jay laughed, “Nope. The big deal is that every person that enters the dungeon must have a silver coin on them, otherwise they physically are incapable of entry. That silver piece then is magically deposited in my bag. Now I'm done.”
Boland's eyes widened, “You're a Patron! Goddess. Tell me, did you get a message saying that you would be linked? To the dungeon? Or did it just say you would make money?”
Jay tried to recall the exact wording of the notification he had received before he remembered that he had a notification log. He could just bring up his notifications and scroll back to find the right message. After a bit of fiddling around he managed to bring up the appropriate notification. He shared it with the others.
Do you wish to apply Minerva's Instanced Infinity Patch to Kagan's Dome? Selecting yes will permanently apply the Patch and forever link you to this dungeon. This action may not be undone.
Apply Patch? Yes|No
Boland grinned, “Well good Goddess look at you! 'Forever linked to this dungeon' is just a fancy way of saying you're now a Patron of that dungeon. That's a lot more than just making money off of it. Also, one silver is a crazy amount of coin. You're going to be ridiculously rich if that number holds true. Let's work through this one at a time. First, Patronage.”
Jay nodded and M'redith looked serious. She wasn't familiar with the Patronage system and had no idea what Boland was talking about. That just meant that she was fiercely interested in what he now had to say.
“So when you become a Patron you form a two way bond. It's rare and each Patronage is different. This is another one of those things where I've read about it but haven't seen it in the wild – no one has in a long time as far as I know.” Boland explained patiently.
“Yes, you will make money from each person who enters, but you will also most likely be capable of altering and even potentially upgrading the dungeon and its rewards. You will be able to do a number of other things most likely as well but like I said, every one is different. You might have the power to open and close the dungeon at will, or render all of the monsters inside passive, or add a new boss. You won't know until the dungeon finishes upgrading.” Boland explained as he sat back in his chair.
“Can the bond be broken?” M'redith asked. She was worried about the Church trying to change the terms of the deal by political force.
“Well, if it works the way I'm thinking it works, not if they want to live to see tomorrow.” Boland remarked with a dry bark of a laugh. “Tell me, was the item you used an Artifact?”
Jay smiled and nodded, “That's right.”
“And when you used it did it disappear?” Boland asked.
M'redith shook her head, “No, it sort of expanded over the entrance until it covered it completely.”
Boland laughed. “I'm willing to bet you that the Artifact stays where you put it when it finishes. Which means that it will still be an Artifact bound to Jay. Can either of you tell me what happens when you try to take an Artifact from someone or force them to alter the terms of an Artifact?”
M'redith shivered, “Not specifically, but I know I never want to be nearby if it ever does happen.”
Boland grinned and nodded, “Jay, you're safe. You will continue to receive money and the Church will leave you alone once they understand that there is an Artifact not just involved but permanently involved.”
Boland looked wistful for a moment and rubbed his head briefly, “You know, there's an old phrase that was once used to describe the act of attempting to mess with an Artifact. The old ones used to call it 'Arguing with the Goddess.' They felt that Artifacts were a direct extension of the Goddess' will. Any attempt to manipulate an Artifact or its bound owner was the same as arguing with the Goddess over who should have control of the Artifact. Who do you think would win that argument?”
Jay nodded seriously – he had met Her, “The Goddess. Every time.”
“Yup.” Boland nodded, “So don't worry about that. If it becomes a problem the Goddess herself will speak for you.”
Jay shivered at the thought.
“What about the money?” M'redith asked Boland.
“Money! Of course! So let's break this down for you. You are about to be staggeringly rich. Don't believe me? Ok, first. How much money do you think this will make you a day?” Boland asked.
Jay shrugged, “I don't know, a few silver?”
Boland laughed, hard, and took a few seconds to recover. “I'm sorry. Let me try again. How much interest do you think a destination dungeon that allows you to pick your own rewards and is also able to be run daily would generate?”
M'redith fielded that question, “A lot. No, everyone. Anyone who runs dungeons would be interested in a dungeon like that. A group would want to run it at least once just to judge if it was worth running more often. Once they ran it they'd be hooked and want to run more to save up for a large prize choice.”
“Right! So basically you will have an unlimited interest in this dungeon. Groups will run it more than just once. Even adventurers in training will want to choose this dungeon for their first dungeon! It's already mapped and everyone, everyone, in the party receives reward points every time. No one goes home empty handed! So unlimited interest. Let's look at the math.”
Boland got up and walked over to Jay and M'redith who were still sitting on the couch. Boland sat down on the couch next to them and set a sheet of paper on the coffee table. He began to scribble out lines, one at a time.
“So every group is made up of five people, the fee is one silver per person, which gives you five silver per group. A group can be assembled and escorted in to the dungeon roughly once every thirty seconds. That number could be lowered significantly but let's just use it for now to be safe.” Boland paused until Jay and M'redith nodded in comprehension.
“Next up – every thirty seconds you will make five silver. Every minute you will make ten silver. Every hour you will make 600 silver. That is 6 gold per hour and I am using extremely conservative numbers. Let's say you can only manage this for eight hours out of every day. That gives you a final total of 48 gold per day.” Boland said as he waved his free hand in emphasis.
“We'll round it up to 50 gold per day, seven days a week. That gives you 350 gold. Every week!” Boland went quiet as he let that number sink in.
M'redith had known that Jay would be making a bit of money but the amount was staggering after computing what the total would be for a single week. 1400 gold a month. 16,800 gold a year? The number was so large M'redith had difficulty wrapping her mind around how it would feel to have that to spend.
“I'm rich?” Jay asked and blinked, still in shock at the numbers Boland had explained to him.
“Filthy rich. Buy a couple of houses rich. Buy your own compound and acres of land rich.” Boland said quietly for emphasis.
M'redith perked up after a moment, “There's a problem though, isn't there?”
Boland looked perplexed for a moment, “There is?”
M'redith smiled, “If the money is magically transferred to Jay's person how is he going to have space on his person for 600 silver or more every day?”
Boland looked confused for a moment before he grinned and laughed, “Oh that! That is easy. Jay can decide where it goes.”
“Wait. I can? How?” Jay asked.
“Open up your notifications. See at the top where the tab says Notifications? Right next to it should be a new tab that says Patron. Unless I got all of this wrong and you've got some other sort of bond going on.” Boland raised his eyebrows as he waited for Jay's response.
Jay fiddled with his interface until he found what Boland was talking about. “It's there but it's grayed out. I can't select it?”
Boland nodded, “Working as intended. The groundwork has been laid for your bond but it isn't completely ready yet. When the dungeon opens I would try again. I'm willing to bet that you'll be able to select the tab then. Anyways, once you can open that tab there will be a section where you can choose where the money goes. There should be an option for bank, or Boland, or fixer, or something along those lines. If you can't find it come back here and I'll help you out.”
Jay nodded, relieved. “I was dreading trying to figure out how to carry all of that without getting robbed.”
Boland's mood turned serious, “If you ever have money on you and you feel like you won't make it and need help send me a runner and tell them to ask for 'the big bag,' ok? Seriously. I mean it. I'll send a team out to get you and escort you back. Don't ever feel like you're unable to make a deposit, ok?”
“Won't they know what that means?” M'redith asked.
Boland shook his head. “The phrase is different for every client at the bank, and you're my only client, so no need to worry about that.”
“Goddess Jay, every time you walk in my door I get excited just to hear what you've gotten in to lately. It's never 'nothing,' have you noticed that? There's always something going on with you. That's a good skill to have,” Boland explained with a smile.
There was a lull in the conversation and everyone just let it happen. M'redith used the time to mull over what it would be like to be dating a rich man. She had assumed that Jay would come in to money as his Class Abilities progressed but he seemed to be making money no matter what he did. This latest batch of money was so large however that it was another situation entirely. Would it change him? How?
Jay thought about using some of his money to buy a present for M'redith. He had just been told that he would soon have enough money to buy his own manor should he choose to and his first thought was instead to buy M'redith a gift. Jay hadn't even thought about how this would change how other people treated him.
Boland was thinking 'THIS IS IT!' and mentally patted himself on the back for choosing Jay as his client. When word got out that Jay was Kagan's Dome's Patron things would really get exciting. Everyone who was anyone would want to speak with Boland regarding potential investments for Jay. And Boland would meet with every one of them and pick only the best deals for Jay. Boland's standing in the city would rise by leaps and bounds as Jay's finances swelled.
“Is there anything else I can help you with Jay? Anything you can think of?” Boland asked.
“I was thinking – our armor, Glimmerhide Group's armor that is, really took a beating this last dungeon run. Is there a way to get all of our armor repaired? Me, M'redith, Aiden, Norri, even Carly? She was there with us and I think it'd be a nice gesture to fix hers too.” Jay hesitantly explained.
Boland pointed at Jay, “You need to remember that everything you have me do comes out of your account. Do you really want to spend the money to repair all of that armor? I can have someone take care of it tonight but it will cost forty silver per set. All the armor will be completely repaired structurally and visibly. Two gold total.”
Jay hesitated as he tried to work out what he could spend right now. Boland interrupted him.
“Jay. After tomorrow you'll be able to afford this without thinking.” Boland explained.
“Right, but that is tomorrow and today is today.” Jay pointed out.
“So what?” Boland asked.
“So, um. Do you do lines of credit?” Jay asked hesitantly.
Boland's smile widened in to a grin, “For you? Absolutely!”