The party went looking for a recruit but the sun was setting and they decided to wait until tomorrow. Sophie was hungry so asked Lauri to shout them to dinner. As they looked at the bars and restaurants around the night bazar, they happened to see Jarani, so Lauri gave her a friendly wave. Jarani got out the axe Lauri had sold her, chipped and with a crack in its wooden shaft. He could figure what she wanted and after counted that returning her 2000 gold he'd only have 170 left. Jarani stopped short and Lauri wasn't sure why until he heard someone behind him speak in a deep voice. "Hello sexy. Did you cast a spell on me or have I really been seduced?"

Lauri was confused as heck and had no idea what was going on, he wasn't even wearing the Sexy Leather right now, yet the man was definitely talking to him. He was half-naked and... Lauri remembered that, having no shit on, he was half-naked himself. Wearing gladiator-style leather shoulders this man didn't look too dissimilar than when Lauri had worn his Sexy Leather. Looking him up and down the man looked perfect for their 4th party member. Heavy war-axe slung, Ring of the Warrior, Homo-Flaming Wristband and everything. "I'm Lauri, level 11. Might I ask your name and level?"

"I'm Tim. Level 13 Barbarian."

"Wow, I can't believe how perfect you look."

"Looking good yourself."

"Thanks. You weren't by chance wanting to hook up with us?"

"Us? Kinky. All three or just you two boys?"

"All three of us. Though I should explain that I'm not actually a Sexy Mage."

"Of course not. You're obviously a Warrior like me."

"I'm a Ritualist. Speaking of..." it only just occurred to Lauri, "how do you have a Homo-Flaming Wristband equipped?"

"I don't. I'm just wearing it. Are you new at this?"

"Well, I only turned 18 this year so, naturally." Lauri sent Tim an invite to the party.

"That makes sense." He accepted the request. "Wait, why are we forming a party?"

"What else would we be talking about?"

Tim paused for a few moments before asking, "why are you two wearing Homo-Flaming Wristbands?"

Lauri didn't want to explain that and if Tim didn't actually have his equipped then there was still the fire immunity issue. Since he'd taken a profession as Unrestricted, for buffing party members, he wondered if he could share his 'Use Magic Item' skill with Tim, or something. The Market had so few skills for Ritualists there was no point checking it again but Lauri tried to concentrate on Tim's wristband and tried really hard to share his passive skill.

[Achieved Skill Item Restriction Removal]

[Remove Single Restriction: For each party member select one piece of equipment and one restriction to be removed for them]

Success. Not what Lauri had been trying for nor expecting but it got the job done. Maybe he could improve the skill later? "There, you can equip yours now. We're wearing them because our Mage Sophie is going to be throwing area of effect fire spells and we don't want friendly fire. Hmm, there's got to be an item which is a pun able friendly fire and fire immunity."

"Are you not... homo?"

"The Greek prefix which translates to 'same'? If you mean the wristbands then we're 'one with the flames', yes."

"Wait, Homo-Flaming translates to being one with the flames?"

"Yeah, it's a bit worrying when an item name isn't a pun. Though I'm still confused why you were wearing one if you couldn't equip it before?"

"I'm wearing one because I'm a flaming homosexual."

Lauri's mind was ticking away trying to process this until he finally answered "I'm sorry but I'm not gay."

"Okay buddy. Maybe don't wear a symbol that you're a flaming homosexual around town when you don't need it equipped, then. Just to avoid confusion."

Lauri and Ken took their wristbands off. "Oh. I get the pun now. Not that I've got anything wrong with..."

Jarani took a few steps forward, "I'll stop you there. Nobody who's got nothing wrong about something need say anything. Now about this axe."

"Wasn't worth 3,000 gold then?"

"Gold? You didn't say gold. I assumed we were talking 3,000 System Points."

"Okay. Wasn't worth 3,000 System Points then?"

"Afraid it's not. The durability is too low." She held the axe out to him.

Lauri took it and looked as it, as he cast Identify Item. "So then, it was worth 3,000 SP at the time I sold it to you?"

[Ground-breaking Axe: Splits the ground, ground based creatures and creatures made out of materials found in the ground, including rock golems. 16/10,000 Durability]

"When my friend identified it, it's value on Market was only 5 SP."

Lauri scratched his head. "Just curious, is this like, some sort of scam?"

"How dare you accuse me of being a scammer. You're the scammer. I'll raise this complain to the System."

"We can do that? Huh. I didn't know."

"It was a System managed trade so yes. Give me back my 2,000 gold or I'll do it."

"I think the System will side with me."

"You really don't want to risk it."

"Why's that?"

"You'll be marked as a scammer."

"Aren't you afraid of the same?"

"No."

Lauri thought about this for a while. "Sounds like fun. Let's see what the System thinks."

"Well, if you weren't new at this you wouldn't have made such a newbie trade. Can't hurt for you to learn. Not too much, at least, I hope."

[A dispute has been raised. You are at risk of failing your end of a contract through wilful negligence. Unidentified axe was sold for 2000 gold on the condition it was worth more than 3,000 once identified. Otherwise item would be refunded. Item is valued at 5 SP. Dispute responsibility or make good on deal?]

"Hang on, I don't remember saying anything about value at time it was identified. I dispute that."

Jarani chuckled. "Contra proferentem."

"That's Latin right. Interpretation against the draftsman. Oh, I'm the draftsman?"

[Value of item at the time of trade could not be determined due to unidentified status. If you cannot provide proof of value at the time then you must refund or face severe penalties, as is within the authority of the System, which may include but are not limited to death.]

"It wouldn't actually kill me over this?"

"No, it won't go that far for such low value and no death duel."

"Well, in that case..." Lauri put the axe behind his back and moved closer to the wall of a building so it was hard to see. Then he used Renew Item until it was back to full durability. Once done he spoke out loud, "I claim that the agreement was that I would refund the item if asked, provided it was worth less than 3,000. As I am being asked now, I request that items value should be determined right now. If currently worth less than 3,000 I will refund the price of 2,000 gold."

"Backing down was the right choice. Weird way of going about it but I don't object."

[Claimant accepts reassessment of value at current prices. Sale price on Market is 20,000SP. Highest purchase order on Market is 8,000SP. Average price is 16,000SP. System detects no evaluations less than 3,000SP. Waiting to see if claimant accepts findings.]

"What did you do?"

Lauri passed her back the axe. "Oh crap. That axe is perfect for fighting the bookworms in the dungeon. I'll trade it back for the 2,000 gold after all." He held out 2,000 gold to her.

"This is a different axe. But how did you trick the system?"

"I didn't trick the system. Look, I got a little upset because I felt like you were scamming me and I wasn't thinking clearly. I acted foolishly. I'm sorry."

"This is the same axe? It's like it's freshly dropped."

Lauri checked the market and saw there some selling cheap at low durability, with notes like 'for farmers who have that one giant worm and it's not worth issuing a quest.' Meaning he could buy a new one cheap and renew it. "You know what, either way. What's done is done. You pick what you want and we can settle it how you want."

"I want to know what you did?"

"I acted foolishly. I know that now. I'm willing to admit it. Transferring durability between items is definitely not worth it just to try save face and I apologise for my childish behaviour." Lauri wasn't technically saying he had done that but didn't want people trying to exploit him for his abilities.

"Transfer durability? Can you transfer it back?"

"No." He told the truth. Then as a completely separate sentence happened to point out "I don't own the item right now."

[Claimant is satisfied with resolution and the case has been closed without need of intermediary. No penalties applied to any parties involved.]

Lauri wonders "what level are you?"

"50. I can't seem to break through no matter the items I equip."

"Ah. Too high to invite to my party. Wait, what do items have to do with leveling?"

"Even at level 10 you should have seen that monsters grow in power way quicker than you?"

"They do seem to have more HP but nothing a few items didn't balance."

"Yeah, items. If your items don't keep up then you can't keep fighting monsters of a high enough level to even gain EXP."

"Oh, fair enough. So you're saving up SP for better items?"

"There's like 20 items I need. I don't have any of them. They cost over 100 million each and once I reach level 60 I'll need to replace them all."

"Can't you rent guild equipment?"

"I'm a berserker. I need to replace them because I break them, not because of power scaling alone. That said, renting an item from full to broken costs more than buying the item."

"And you can't transfer durability from an item of equal or greater rarity."

"Ah crud. That hope was the only reason I was bothering to explain so much to you but if it needs to be same rarity then that's worthless."

Lauri tried to do some math on his fictitious durability trading idea. Thinking to himself he worked out "Ankheg Armour is the same rarity as Ground-breaking Axe but Ankheg Armour sells for 3 million. At 50k durability it would need 5 Ground-breaking Axes worth of durability. Still, Ground-breaking Axes sell at 20,000 SP each. That's only 100,000 SP worth of axes per 3 million SP worth of Ankheg Armour." He noticed that Jarani had walked back to her group she'd been with when Lauri first spotted her. One of her friends were already in the middle of telling her, "you won't believe what he was thinking as you were walking away."

Lauri turned to Sophie, "I think we need..."

Sophie cast Mind Shield, "yeah, I heard her."

"Let's split from here."

The 4 of them quickly moved elsewhere and Lauri remembered that he did indeed have a suit of Ankheg Armour. He took it out and repaired it as he put it on. Lauri felt a lot less naked now... probably because he was literally a lot less naked. "Okay, let's find somewhere to eat now."

From the shadows that friend of Jarani walked out, "so, your idea worked then?"

"Ah, shoot. Look, I'll tell you the truth, okay."

"Yeah? Please do."

"My thought process was completely hypothetical, I can't transfer durability between items and you didn't see what you thought you just saw."

"You're not very good at lying."

"Quite the opposite."

"You think you're good at lying?"

"No. I think I'm not very good at telling the truth."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She cracked up laughing. "So, we just need to give you items of same-rarity to destroy and you can repair our gear?"

Actually, Lauri tried hard not to think, that's a good way to pocket gear and not have people able to track his Market patterns. "That might work. Not that I'm confirming the hypothetical."

"Hah! I don't care if it's a hypothetical or not if it repairs our gear."

"I mean, we could give it a try. If it works then I'll need to ask for a fee. If you keep this all hush hush and don't have too many items then I can keep the fee small."

"Let's try it right now." She holds out two bows to Lauri. "Both are very-rare bows but my reserve weapon, Mind-Breaker, only drops for my profession. Meanwhile my main, Longbow +2, drops for any Warrior or Rogue or lots of other professions. Making it plentiful and cheap."

Checking them out Lauri sees that the Longbow +2 is at 10,000 durability while Mind-Breaker is at 3,210/20,000. "Why is your main at full durability?"

"Because I have a backup should the first break and this is that backup."

"Huh. Well, you'll need to transfer the Longbow +2 to me. The recipient doesn't need to be owned by me." Lauri accepted a transfer and sent it to his Item Box.

"Where did it go?"

Lauri used Renew Item 5 times to bring Mind-Breaker to 13,210/20,000. "Hey, I think it worked."

She grinned like a child. "My new main then, I'm hoping."

"My ability seems to work in fractions of 10% and it's finicky so I don't think it will always work this smoothly."

"You admit you have an ability?"

"Umm... no?"

"But you're saying if I bring more Longbow +2 it won't always work?"

"I'm suggesting that if it consumes 20% of the Longbow +2 to repair 10% of your Mind-Breaker then that's 2,000 durability lost from the Longbow +2 for 2,000 to Mind-Breaker. Also if Mind-Breaker can't benefit from that full 2,000 then the Longbow +2 would, hypothetically of course, still lose the full 2,000 durability."

"If that's how it works then it won't be a problem."

"What's your name if I might ask?"

"Ravanger17."

"Did you want to join us for dinner?"

"No. See you round." She stepped backwards into the shadows and was gone. Lauri cast See Invisible and noticed she was just walking away while invisible. He pretended not to see, because he didn't want to ruin her fun.

After that they found a restaurant that was both open and had space, being seated they were told "today we're serving pork with a side of potatoes and gravy."

Ken asked "no menu?"

"That's the full menu tonight. It's 50 gold per plate."

Ken's eyes bulged, "50 gold each!?"

Lauri chuckled. "Oh Ken, always so dramatic." He looked at the waiter, "Ken's always like this, even when monsters are munching on him. Do you have scales?"

"Certainly sir." The waiter brought over scales and 4 weights, each marked with the number 50.

"4 please," Lauri asked as he put 2 gold bars on one side. Once the weights were put on the other Lauri had to add one more coin to bring his side to even.

"Thank you sir, I hope you enjoy your dining experience tonight."

Ken asked "why are you letting him rip you off like that?"

"I feel like I've spoilt you two a lot but I never gave you, like, gold. Have I?"

"No, are you about to?"

"Let's see, I have 2050 gold and entry for 6 into the main dungeon comes to 1500 gold. I want some buffer so, here's 25 gold coins for you, Ken, and for you, Sophie."

Ken looked at it. "Is that all?"

"My friend Frank told me I shouldn't trade SP for gold."

Tim agreed, "absolutely correct."

Ken frowned, "why not?"

Lauri looked at Ken who went quite. Lauri then admitted "I didn't fully understand."

He nudged Lauri, "please."

"Well... fine, I'll buy some gold."

Lauri went on the Market and saw he had 1.5 million SP and that was just what was left from the sale of his Ankheg Armour. He recalled the SP he'd gotten from the Guild of Mathematicians, it felt like a lot at the time but looking back Lauri now felt like it should have been a lot more. Well, nothing he'd be solving right now, the question for now is how much gold to buy. He could always trade the gold back for SP so maybe a round million? Yeah, that seemed like a good amount. He wouldn't need to worry about gold for a while then. He double checked the rate and saw that 1 SP was currently buying 2 gold coins and 68 silver coins, or 2.68 gold.

[Purchased 972,809 gold and 9 silver coins for 714,198SP. Cannot complete requested purchase amount as there are no more sale orders for this item. Would you like to place a purchase order?]

["No."]

"I think I broke the gold exchange."

Ken gulped. "Why do you think that?"

"It's just a hunch... based on that nobody else can buy gold from the System Market now."

"What did you do?"

"I purchased gold. Maybe, accidently, all of the gold available."

"What do we do?"

Tim held up his hand. "Calm down. Just look at the average cost of your purchase, add 5% for the market fee and put some gold up for sale."

Lauri sighed. "Yeah. Not a problem." At roughly 0.74 gold per SP and a 5% tax Lauri figures... the dinner is served and Lauri thinks "screw the math." He put up 100,000 gold for 1 SP each, for now, while he enjoyed his dinner.

Sophie is first to finish her meal despite still eating with good manners. Soon everyone had finished their meals and Ken inquired "did you fix the gold thing?"

"I think so but I'll check to make sure." Looking at the Market only 19,141 of his gold coins had sold before cheaper gold sale-orders hedged his out and his gold had stopped selling. "Yeah, the exchange rate is far from recovered but I'd say problem solved."

"Phew. You need to be more careful about buying gold, my man. Now, can I have some of that gold?"

"Sure." He passed another 500 gold each to Ken and Sophie. "With the food crisis coming you might as well stock up now. Foods not going to be getting any cheaper."

Sophie did a double take, "is that why everyone but you stopped taking me out for lunch or dinner?"

"Were they still taking you clothes shopping?"

"Yeah."

"Then it wasn't because they ran out of money. We'll meet up at the old Survivor's Guild tomorrow?"

"It's a plan. Mind if I sleep there?"

"Um, I keep forgetting you're homeless. Yeah, you can sleep there so long as you stay outside the dungeon."

Ken points out, "you have a bag of gold, just rent a room in a hotel."

Sophie shakes her head. "The hotels all know me. Only chance I'm getting a room is if I go to one I owe a huge debt to and pay it off. Even then they may not let me stay."

When Lauri got home it was already dark and his mother put a plate of rice and chicken on the table for him. "Be right back mum," he went to his room and got changed out of his armour and into a comfortable shirt. Returning to the table he said "thank you for the meal" and started to eat a second dinner. His mum gave Lauri a worried look.

"What happened? You're so skinny all of a sudden."

His father, Joshua, came over. "Another day, another rumour about you."

"Do the rumours say why he's suddenly so skinny?"

With Lauri deciding best not to talk with him mouth full, Joshua continued, "no. Just that he's a simp that does anything a girl asks him to and lets girls get away with anything."

Lauri finished his mouthful and said "mum, everyone thinks I look hot like this."

"Oh no, the rumours are true then? I bet they don't even put out."

"It's just one girl, mum, and she puts out."

"Oh no, my little Lauri is becoming a man. What do I do?"

"Mum..."

Joshua smiled. "Good job son, at least getting something out of simping. But your mum keeps you well fed for a reason. The effects of the famine aren't fully felt yet but it has already started. That weight you burnt off was an important asset. Like your hair."

"I know dad. If I didn't have the extra energy reserves then I would have died in the dungeon, when Hero kicked me off a cliff, alone, into a swarm of bugs all higher level than me."

Lauri's mother, Jessica, teared up. "Lauri, I want you to stop partying with this Hero girl."

"He's a man and I sent him off the moment I got back."

"My little Lauri is becoming a man. I'm so proud."

"Thanks mum."

Joshua smiled again, he seemed to smile at everything. "So, you weren't seduced then?"

"Not unless you mean the spell and if you do then I purposely didn't try to resist the Seduction due to a quest I received. It was to kill all the bugs, as asked, without breaking the charm effect."

Joshua laughed heartily. "Oh Lauri, sounds like you've been having fun."

Nicolas walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where the dining table is. "Lauri, you're home."

"Yeah."

"How was the dungeon?"

"I got a broke leg, got grappled by a crab, was bashed by a charging beetle. Still, I faired better than those set on fire and trampled right over."

"That's what you call fun?"

"Yeah. Not to be mistaken for safe. There's not enough Healers. Everyone's trying to recruit a Healer. I'd be well protected if I were a healer."

"So I should go Healer?"

"Not if you want to have fun."

"I don't want my leg broken or to be set on fire."

"Well... I did pick Healer Priest but the Goddess Dike knew of a better path she wanted for me. So I have nothing to regret."

"The beetle must have been really strong if you mentioned it?"

"Not nearly as strong as the crab. It would have killed me if I hadn't cast Hold Monster on it and smashed it's head in with my trusty war-hammer. But the beetle came closer to killing me."

"If it wasn't as strong then how?"

"Because I got a new weapon after beating the crab. It was worse for the task at hand than my war-hammer and I only spent some 10 seconds getting used to it. If I'd only spent 30 seconds I'd have faired much better."

"You'd have mastered the new weapon in 30 seconds?"

"No but I'd have been able to case Hold Monster on the beetle had I waited 30 seconds."

"Why didn't you wait?"

"Because of the greatest danger of them all... a cute girl asked me to kill it."

Joshua smiled as he said "Enough trying to scare your brother. Lauri, the priests and their households will be going on reduced rations soon, to help the starving. In theory food is finite so if we eat less then it can be spread further."

"In theory?"

"Well, the king is holding a massive feast for himself and the noble families so, only in theory."

"Then why bother?"

"Because it's better than doing nothing and the indifference of others is no excuse for us to turn a blind eye."

"Okay. Just let me know the rules and I'll join in."

"Actually Lauri, I'd like you to house somewhere else before it starts."

"What? Why?"

"Look how skinny you are after just a single dive. How many monsters did you even kill?"

"If we only include the big ones, then hundreds."

"More than I thought. You've earnt plenty, that you can buy food with, then?"

"Yeah, I purchased all the gold on the Market."

"Happens to most people at least once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Gold is finite, SP is infinite and the Guild of Mathematicians manipulate the... well, they're not a factor anymore. The important thing is you know you could have died if you'd ran out of energy. Meaning that going on rations could lead to your death. You need to stay well fed."

Lauri thought about this as he ate and soon asked "since dungeon diving consumes so much energy, why don't adventurers stop diving to conserve food for everyone?"

His father shakes his head and stops smiling, which gives Lauri a chill. "Good in theory but would only make matters far worse."

"Huh? How?"

"The way farms and the seasons work means that there will be times of plenty and times of few. When the people are decently fed they have children. This always negates any efforts of the few who abstain from having children, fast or even kill people to lower the population. Less people means more food, means more children. But if the farmlands are lost then there will be no next season and no hope in sight. Lauri, you need to protect the farmlands and the farmers."

"They're not in danger right now are they?"

"Not right now. Not in general at least. But when the time comes the city needs brave soldiers and adventurers to protect those lands, I want you to be ready. I'll be there too, ready to heal the wounded."

"I think I understand but it's all so complicated and lots of people have different theories."

Joshua smiled again. "Don't try and understand everything, just keep on fighting your best fight and getting stronger."

"Okay dad. When I save the farms you can tell me how proud you are of me."

"I'm already proud of you son, for so many reasons."

"Thanks dad but if I stopped striving to make you proud then I might as well kick my feet up and do nothing all day."

Everyone laughed and Lauri finished his meal before headed to bed. With lamp oil being limited, it wasn't only about costs, that going to sleep soon after nightfall was the norm.