Thursday, April 18th, 2069

“So, we’ve narrowed it down to four options?” Dave reiterated.

Yawning, I moused over to the ‘keeper’ page on the Accel Sheets app I had used. It was one in the morning, and we hadn’t taken a single break from our current mission. Since my mouth was occupied with a second, larger yawn, I held up five fingers to convey the correction.

“What was the fifth again?” Dave asked.

“Buffs, Classes, Crafter, Merchant and Titles,” I answered sleepily.

“Oh right, Merchant was because you would get a percentage of Mana Coins for every sale you make in real-world currency?” Dave asked, trying to recall the speculation he’d made a few hours before.

“That’s not how it’s going to work,” Smegma said haughtily. “The description states it will allow Brodie to buy and sell equipment from other System-approved merchants using accumulated ‘worldly wealth’. That single sentence makes it clear to me.”

“Clear in what way?” Dave asked, not trying to upset the Demon but clearly succeeding since he was questioning again.

“If the System is involved then Demonic Vault isn’t the Skill that will be affected. He already can buy and sell wares from the Abyss Sect—so why would you assume that means he’d get Mana Coins, which is a currency we developed.”

“I’m simply speculating that he will either gain access to other Merchants outside of the Abyssal Sect that will accept our world's prevalent currency, or somehow if Demonic Vault is the approved Merchant, some real world-wealth will somehow transfer over.”

“Abyss Sect,” Smegma said pointedly, correcting Dave’s mistake. Dave nodded his head in affirmation to the correction. Then snapped his fingers as if he thought of something.

“If it’s the latter, it could work by funneling the Mana to your sect, or something so both sides win. From what we’ve discussed tonight, the System doesn’t seem to be unfair.”

Smegma went quiet. I couldn’t quite tell if it was because of his concern over his Sect or if Dave’s logic had made him truly reconsider. Still, I didn’t want either one of them making the hard decision that this choice was the best. My gut instinct was telling me the exact opposite, in fact.

“I still don’t think this is the right choice,” I said. “To make this a viable Skill I would need to start a business where I’m selling and buying materials. Not only is that unfeasible at this specific moment, I doubt it will ever be possible. Becoming a conglomerate or powerhouse in the sales world isn’t easy. I’d need connections to powerful people, Guilds and more.”

“At a bare minimum you’d need powerful backers or a substantial amount of capital to even get started,” Dave added.

“Exactly. Imagine me trying to compete with HBC or Wallsmart or even larger companies. I’d get blown out of the water.”

“Not if you’re offering something unique,” Smegma said quietly. The tone in his voice made me pause. At the silence that statement brought, Smegma looked up with his black eyes. Seeing mine and Dave’s undivided attention he quickly said, “You’ve said that getting new Skills in this world doesn’t work the same as Crendalar Five. You don’t get Card Shards that can be collected and combined into a given Skill. I now can recall that the System changed Skill acquisition quite heavily with each new integration. So, while I am sure that there is a method to get new Skills out there—it either hasn’t been discovered yet, or it is being kept a secret by the rich and powerful.”

“But what if Brodie can actually buy Skills from Demonic Vault and transfer them to others!” Dave added excitedly. “Now, you’re selling something that is currently unique and powerful. Once word gets out, individuals will come to you. Then you don’t need backers or multiple powerful connections. You just need to start with one and use word of mouth.”

Dave clicked his tongue, which was a sure sign he had thought of an argument to Smegma’s point. “There are still some rather glaring unknowns in that,” he began disappointedly. “First, I doubt American Greenbacks will convert directly over to Mana Coins. So, you’d be asking the first buyer to purchase in Mana Crystals to ensure that you can get a Skill from the shop.”

“More than just that. If this was possible, wouldn’t Morgan Hallsbrad, with an actual business called ‘The Shop,’ have been selling Skills? Also, someone with access to that amount of Mana Crystals is already going to be A-rank or higher,” I added, seeing where Dave was headed.

“Good point on Morgan, but he may not have taken the Merchant sub-Skill, or better yet—how do we know he wasn’t selling Skills? But back to the Skill sales. You aren’t even sure that the Skills in the Shop will be transferable. But let’s say they are—let’s further say you have a Skill that someone with the proper funds would want or might make them more survivable. What’s the highest rank you currently have access to, Smegma?” Dave asked.

“High-B,” Smegma said proudly.

“What’s the cheapest B-rank skill?” I asked, letting my voice carry the weariness I felt.

“Half a trillion Mana Coins…” Smegma replied dejectedly.

My inhalation became loud as I tried and failed to hold onto the budding excitement that their conversation had ignited in me. On my exhalation, I was back to my earlier exhausted equilibrium. “Okay, so we’ll revisit Merchant later?”

“Another fallacy. Just because you’ve gotten access to a sub-Skill with each Upgrade doesn’t mean you will on the next one,” Dave joked.

I ignored him pointedly by pointing out the first of the Skills listed on the ‘keeper’ page. “What do we think about Buffs?”

“It’s great for others,” Dave replied, even as he chuckled at his own joke. “I really don’t love it. Just like Merchant, if you were going to start your own business it would be pretty fantastic. Or if you were a Hunter and it worked as we speculate—again, fantastic. Right now…”

Dave left that hanging and I nodded. The paragraph we knew about the Skill seemed to be about me sharing my Stats or Skills with others in a radius around me. That had been what drew us to putting it in the ‘keeper’ section. What if I could share my Mining Skill with all the Miners in the Portal? Or if I gained a powerful Skill from Demonic Vault and could give it to other Hunters. Hell, even sharing my Recovery would be a huge boon for any Hunting team.

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However, what would that gain me right now? Nothing. I didn’t own the Mining Team. So, increased production would only benefit Jagger and the Guild who hired him. Attempting to join a Hunting party was even less beneficial for me. It stemmed back to the problem I’d faced when wanting to find a permanent Mana Bank partnership.

Just applying to join a Team as an untested F-rank was going to be difficult, if not outright impossible. That or it would likely put me in a horrible situation where I’d be slaved out to possible greeds. I shuddered at that thought.

“Next is Classes,” I pointedly said, changing the topic with no room for more debate.

“Enables a Class bestowal by the System,” Smegma said simply, either recalling the simple description or reading it again.

“It sure is lacking in description,” Dave agreed. “But there are a few things I think are inferred by the wording.” I nodded seeing the implication I believed he was mentioning.

“By the System?” I asked to confirm. Dave nodded, and Smegma did as well.

“This sub-Skill has the possibility for the greatest immediate effect. But it could also be a huge dud.”

“Dud?” Smegma asked.

“It means that it could be worthless.”

“Ahhh,” Smegma said but then shook his head. “No, the System, while the bane of worldly existence has always been somewhat fair. If something is bestowed by the System, it is powerful and earned. Like the unique Ore that Brodie got.”

“Okay?” Dave questioned. “Here’s another question, then. Why did Brodie earn the unique Meteorite thing that spawned a Golem which almost killed him?”

I laughed at the chippy add-ons that Dave tacked on to his question. Smegma narrowed his eyes, unsure if Dave was poking fun at him, the System or Brodie. “I haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but I think his Mining Skill was ready to Evolve and the meteorite was an Evolution catalyst—a huge waste, I might add, that you used it for a Rank F to E evolution, but there’s no guarantee the System would have presented you with another opportunity. Also, if you use the mid-rank Crystal in your necklace, you could confirm this theory!”

“Right, right,” I said as I pulled the mid-ranked Spent Mana Crystal out of the Necklace of Holding. I’d put off doing so immediately upon getting upstairs, not wanting to distract Dave, myself or Smegma from the task of sorting through sub-Skills. Now that we had them narrowed down, it was probably the right time.

“That’s a Mana Crystal?” Dave asked. I nodded and he frowned. “Why don’t I see clear Mana Crystals often?”

“Because your idiot race breaks them into tiny pieces and then burns them to extract the mana,” Smegma practically cursed.

“Wait—so that’s why we haven’t discovered the uses of them yet, and why there aren’t many whole Crystals on the market?” Dave said, growing excited again. At my look he elaborated. “From my understanding you can create these at will?” Licking my lips from his tone I nodded.

“I’m rethinking the Merchant option,” Dave explained. “This is a far simpler product that you could create endlessly. Everyone down to the elderly would want to buy one—if just for the novelty of knowing their inborn Skill.”

“You’re suggesting I undercut the UNMH market on Skill appraisal?” I asked skeptically.

“Husk,” Dave said, his excitement dying on the word like a fly in a zapper. “I was simply thinking that it would be something that would sell endlessly, giving you hundreds of millions of transactions, which goes directly to the Skill description, but you’re right. That only works if you’re still alive.”

I could tell, like me, Smegma was thinking the original concept through, because he was tapping a talon on his teeth. I shelved the issue for now, and began channeling Mana into the Crystal, even as I said, “Regardless, I’ll at least try to grab one for you tomorrow.”

Dave’s face broke into a smile, even as he turned away with his cheeks flushing. The silence only lasted because both of us made a point of studying the screen and the descriptions of the sub-Skills until the Mana Crystal glowed brightly enough to distract us.

Thinking of finally learning what my Mana Pool Skill was had me holding my breath.

The very first Card on top was something new. The picture of a shimmering wall, that grew old, was rebuilt, crumbled, and became bigger, flashed over its aquamarine backing. Believing this to be Mental Fortitude, I turned it over, glanced at the title and then put it aside to stare at the next card.

It was red and orange, with ‘cracks’ of black running through it. The decal reminded me of cooling magma. At first, I was distracted enough not to see the image that the card created in the pattern. Then because the image pulsed, I saw it. Mostly because one expects a heart to beat, I supposed.

The cracks resolved in my mind into dark, black metal chains that seemed to constrict around the organ. Swallowing against my newly dry mouth, throat and lips, I slowly turned over the card.

[Locked] Dragon Heart

Skill Type: Secondary Pool, Skillsteal

Skill Rank: High-B-Rank

A dragon heart is one of the most mysterious organs in existence. While it can act as a Mana, [Locked], and [Locked] Pool it is so much more. Each Dragon Heart has its own unique properties and sub-Skills, depending on the Dragon it comes from.

Dragon Heart’s effects are multiplied by [Locked] and [Locked] stats.

Sub-Skills:

Mana Pool (Growth) – 45 / 50

Skill Copy & Cannibalism

[Locked]

[Locked]

[Locked]

…

The list of ‘locked’ sub-Skills continued until there were eight listed. Since I couldn’t stop staring at the card, I double-counted, just to be sure. “What in the—” I tried to say, but it was more of a croak than a sentence. I swallowed again, wetting my throat before trying once more. “What in the world?”

No answer came and I looked over my shoulder to find Dave and a Demon both staring at the card with wide, shocked eyes. My gaze snapped Dave out of his stupor first.

“What the hell?!” he said, mirroring my own sentiment.

That exclamation got Smegma to start. “By the Horned!” he said, using a curse or reverent prayer I’d never heard him utter before.

My throat had gone dry again, and smartly I swallowed before I tried to speak this time. “Do Dragons exist?”

“Until this exact moment?” Smegma stammered. “I would have said no…”

“But now?” Dave asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice before even glancing at him.

“Get husked,” Smegma said playfully, going as far as to chuckle at himself and the situation. “Still, if I’m reading this right—then you don’t have an actual Mana Pool. That’s why it started in the F-rank and has been growing. Plus, the Skill Copy & Cannibalism ability must have unlocked—”

“Yeah,” I said, quickly cutting him off before he could sour the mood. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I was marveling at the potential this Skill had, and wanted to stay on that topic. “How is this Skill B-ranked? It seems insanely strong. If this is what the System considers B-rank, then I have no idea what an S-rank Skill would even look like. Also, it seems to suggest that there are two other ‘pools of power’. Do you know what they are, Smegma?”

“It's B-ranked right now—with your Mana Pool and Skill Cannibalism unlocked. We don’t know what rank it will end up once all those sub-Skills are available. As for the various resource pools? I have a guess. Remember when I told you about the three Stats on Crendalar, and the pools they unlocked?”

“Oh!” I said, looking at the locked options again. So, I could unlock Force and Endurance pools through my Dragon Heart…

I paused as my own heart stuttered over the word ‘my.’ I could feel a surge of warmth start in my chest, at the thought. It was my Skill. Something I had been embarrassed by in the past, when I’d thought it was an F-rank.

Now, it had suddenly morphed into something I was proud of. Something that, by the reaction of Smegma, made me rare and unique—possibly as much or even more so than the Demonic Vault Skill.

That pride dried up when a sudden realization soured the mood. “Is this why Morgan Hallsbrad came after me?”

Smegma’s widening eyes were answer enough.