Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.12]

A roofed carriage glided slowly through the white streets of Lurona. Surprisingly, snow started to fall last night, covering the whole city in a fluffy blanket. It has fallen early this year – the calendar winter would start alongside a new year, so in twenty days yet.

Looking at the scenic cityscape through the window, decorated with the white fluff as it was, made Zeph excited for the celebrations preceding the New Year. The street lamps were all turned on to counter the lack of light caused by the heavy, gray clouds above. The light danced on the snowflakes that slowly fell from the sky in big lumps. Funnily enough, instead of forming flat crystalline shapes like on Earth, they grew in every direction – probably because Water Magicules were changing the internal symmetry – deepening his previous impression of the Manasolid looking like a snowflake.

Forty hours of global festivities… I wonder how they celebrate. On the streets? With family? I hope they have invented some interesting music genres, he thought dreamily. But a New Year… People definitely think similarly, no matter the world.

He leaned back on his seat, relaxing. He was the only person in the small wagon. He rented a private ride because he had a few places to visit. It was quite cold inside, but it didn’t bother him. The upper part of his armor was absent, packed in his big backpack for transportation, but Yula gave him a heavy coat for the road. It had a hood and was lined with fur; its quality was probably better than Earth’s equivalents. It was much warmer, that’s for sure.

It was his third day in Lurona. He spent the previous day in the orphanage – resting and preparing for the necessary shopping and visits in the city.

His armor wasn’t regenerating as it should, even after straightening up the parts to the best of his abilities. The Phleya got the wrong idea from the damage sustained and was remodeling it whole. Gru was unsuccessful in communicating that it was a wrong idea. Zeph definitely didn’t want a uniform heavy plate, so he didn’t have a choice – the armor had to be fixed forcefully to keep its flexibility. Aisha gave him a recommendation letter and directed him to the Production District. A specific specialist was needed – one that would be able to manipulate the strange alloy and knew a thing or two about living weaponry. She blatantly stated that he would have to ask around to try to find someone himself. Also, supposedly his chances were miniscule. They would have to be an external Mana Manipulation Specialist of high level and an Armorsmith at that. She doubted normal Matrix Skills could help with fixing the internal structure of the armor, and the micro-parts were too small to work by hand.

He would do with anyone proficient in Soul-links, though. Stopping the process would be enough for him at this stage.

Well, there was also an option to pay the System at the Shrine, but he despised the idea. He could already see the cost being in the five-digit number range; the System wouldn’t miss such an opportunity to strip UP from him.

Thankfully, the changes made by Phleya were advancing slowly when outside of Zeph’s Veil. He still had to connect with it from time to time to make sure the colony wouldn’t die out, but that wasn’t speeding up the process much.

It almost feels like the after-effects’ cost is balancing out the value of the Manasolid, he thought ruefully and sighed tiredly. If my plan won’t work, I will probably end up penniless, again…

Instead of massaging his temples to prevent the coming headache, he took out some snacks and looked outside of the window. The view was relaxing enough to let him forget about his problems. The passing buildings were an interesting study of alien architecture, but the truly magical scenes were the ones in the background. They were moving on the ground level, but the terrain of the city wasn’t flat. Right now, they were sliding through an elevated district. Probably a vast hill, much higher than the surrounding lands. He could see huge fragments of the cityscape when they passed through crossroads. The wide streets gave him enough time to appreciate the view, even allowing him a glance at the mountainous islands sticking up from the sea in the background.

The ride was a long one. The carriage had the wheels changed to skis, so the speed of the ride was slower than it should be. Evidently, no one here heard about the snow clearance. They just rolled with the weather. At least the horses didn’t seem to have problems with walking in those conditions.

On the other hand, he realized after a moment, the city avoided the unfortunate fate of producing soiled slush all over. That’s… actually, kind of, worth it… I think, he hesitantly concluded. Ugh, it will take a while… Should I take a nap?

After weighing how tired he felt against the views he was witnessing, Zeph decided it was not worth it. Even if he wasn’t able to sleep much last night, Willforce Morphon was compensating and keeping his mind sharp and he didn’t plan to make many such trips.

But he shivered at the reminder of the last night. To his horror, almost twenty kids came knocking on his doors last night, demanding to sleep in. Ulma, the girl that asked for the same the night before, spread the rumor of how comfortable her sleep was for the first time in ever.

Aisha explained that a lot of the kids have lived through some kind of traumatic experience prior to the orphanage. Most had problems with sleep and had to take medicaments to alleviate that problem. She theorized the soothing effect of his presence was a side effect of his Will.

And so, he became the Night Guard for a small kindergarten. Aisha was laughing that he made for a perfect Nanny, especially because he didn’t have the heart to refuse after hearing about all this.

He was waking up every time someone moved, though. An hour of sleep was all he managed. He was accustomed to reacting when something stirred in his Veil – an alertness trained by his time in the Torrent mountains. This posed a problem.

A problem for the future…

The idle thoughts flew through his head as they were getting closer to the Production District. Almost two hours later, they finally arrived. He could immediately tell when they entered it, as the scenery changed sharply. More pipes were visible, snaking all over and around the buildings. The running lanes, as Zeph decided to call the highways for runners, were replaced by fully-fledged overpasses for vehicles. The sounds of heavy machinery and people working with metal echoed around. The buildings themselves sported much bigger doors, probably adapted to let whole wagons through, but otherwise weren’t much different from city architecture.

As per instructions, the driver guided them to the main administration building at the center. If Zeph was to ask around for a specific craftsman, he would rather start with the place with the most information.

He was ready to pay for it, too. Yesterday, while he was fumbling with his armor, Aisha finished all of the administrative work. On her way back from the city’s hall, she collected the pay for the package he delivered in North Tarak. His twenty percent of the profit amounted to almost 250 000 gold, which shocked him.

Aisha was, officially, a millionaire. And she didn’t even receive her rewards from the Onjis. Well, he suspected it wasn’t really that much in the great scheme of things, but still.

He dreaded the prices of advanced, enchanted weaponry.

She also deposited their money in the local commerce Guild, the Amber-Trade Merc. He was a little disappointed that someone already got an idea of creating a bank, even if it worked slightly differently than on Earth.

At least, he could use an enchanted medallion instead of hauling all the gold with him.

The carriage finally stopped, so Zeph put his backpack on and came out. The building didn’t look different from the others around but sported ten floors, sticking out of the surrounding like a lighthouse on an island. He entered through the closest doors, as his driver parked in the nearby roofed lane.

The interior was much more… appropriate for a medieval commerce building than he expected. All furniture was made from dark, polished wood – practical and simple in shape. Wooden signs informed the clients where to go. Potted plants decorated the empty spaces.

The hall itself was comfortably vast; three of the entrance doors were leading into the room. He could see a few attendants in simple clothing manning the counter on the back wall – an information desk. A woman was constantly mopping the stone floor, trying to get rid of all the melting snow that customers were carrying in. A vast exit to the left was leading to a cloakroom, and a similar one on the right to the staircase.

It was hot inside, so he quickly closed the wooden door behind him, and marched in the direction of the cloakroom. An older gentleman took his stuff and put them in a closet. After removing a metal plate from a slot, he handed it to him. It was quite a familiar arrangement, really.

After a quick question at the information desk, he was directed to the fourth floor.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

It was a much bigger room, probably spanning the whole length of the building entirely. Circular counters, booths, and small shops populated the area. People were unhurriedly meandering about, some forming lines to the more-frequented places.

What surprised him, was that every counter, shop, or booth here was under a different banner. Guilds, companies, groups… They were all here.

He could feel the headache coming. It wasn’t a centralized government building like he expected. It was an ‘information mall’ manned by all of the groups in the Production District.

Thankfully, he quickly located the Mapmakers Guild shop on the far left, near the wall. But before he could even do a few steps, an attractive young woman stepped close to him.

“Welcome to the Lurona production center!” she said with a pleasant smile. “If you need a map of the floor or general information, we can provide it for a small price,” she proposed, holding up a small booklet for him to take while standing a little closer to him than strictly necessary.

It could even work… if she wasn’t at least a head taller than him. All it achieved was making it hard and awkward for him to look at her face.

Heh, nothing changes in the advertising department, he thought with mirth, noticing a small emblem of a Guild on her shoulder. She even spoke like it was a general service…

“Ah, don’t worry, I have a business right there,” he answered, pointing at the Mapmakers’ shop and taking a small step back. “But thanks for the help.”

She nodded, undaunted. “Sure, if you need something you can visit the central counter,” she said in the same, pleasant tone, pointing at the closest circular counter with a small line around it. “Have a nice day!” finishing, she waved at him, already moving in the direction of the next potential prey.

How progressive of them, he joked internally with a small smile showing on his face. I am quite sure they didn’t have customer service of this quality in the Early Modern Era…

The shop he spotted didn’t have a glass display like the ones around, just simple widows that were showing the shelves inside. Again, everything here was made of elegant wood and decorated with plants. The shops were basically booths with wooden walls that connected the floor and ceiling. The structures were forming a small maze of pillars all around the place but enough space was left between them to move freely.

This one, though, was much smaller and placed directly against a wall.

He entered and was welcomed with the smell of old books and paper. Large wall-hanging canvas maps decorated empty spaces on walls. More of them were laying rolled in barrels. On the shelves, he could see folding versions of maps and a small number of books. Three rows of low shelves took most of the space on the floor, cluttering the shop. The light inside was quite dim, adding to the atmosphere.

“Welcome,” an old man with a long, white beard called to him after a moment. Zeph was sure he was taking a nap, a standing nap, just a moment ago. “Ahem… what can I help you with?” His voice finally returned to his normal, gruff tone after he cleared his throat.

Zeph smiled a little. “Well, let’s start with the basics,” he said, walking to the counter. “I need a map of this building, the district, and the city.”

The old-timer smiled a little. “That won’t be a problem, but you need to be more specific, dear customer. Except for the map of the commercial building, how detailed would you prefer them, and for what purposes you are buying them? The quality is also important. You will have to pay in gold for the resilient ones.”

“Right. Um, for the district, I want to be able to find specific producers, like alchemists or smiths. For the city… I would like something for a tourist, businessman, and… innovator maybe? It’s kind of hard to describe, haha,” he said, scratching his head. “You can show me the highest quality first.”

The salesman blinked slowly. “Quite a tall order. Let’s see…” he moved from behind the counter and started to gather random folding maps and books from around the store, sometimes stopping to think about the selection. Zeph waited until he returned with nine thick tomes.

He placed them heavily on the counter before walking back behind it. Firstly, he took a small book from a shelve behind and handed it to Zeph. “This is the map of the building which also details the groups inside. It was updated last week, so the content should be mostly correct. There is a folding map inside.” Next, he started to take book after book from the stack, explaining what they were. “Every one of those is in color, impervious to fluids, and almost immune to Mana-fading. Just watch out with the temperatures – they are still quite flammable. This is the Geographical Map for Tourists. Besides the map, it contains detailed descriptions of publicly-accessible technicalities and bits of history. The map can be removed from the cover like this, and operated like this…” he showed how to quickly switch between different coordinates by following the folding instructions written in the book itself. It was quite interesting because the clips keeping the map fragments together could be readjusted, or even removed, if someone wanted to quickly shuffle all the parts in proper order manually. Very handy, for a paper map at least. “Each of the three tomes of Detailed Map of Traffic describes the means of transportation and best routes dedicated for specific purposes. The three levels are: the sea level, the city level, and the Aerostation level. The last one includes the shuttles, airships, and islands’ high-traffic. They complete quite snugly the knowledge from this Lurona Technology Solutions for Curious book, which also includes a map of the main energy infrastructure. This one is the Geographical Map of Neutral Territories in the Lurona Region. It’s quite hefty, but the best choice for anyone who wants to test prototypes, or to have an idea about the surrounding lands. The last three,” he said, placing them side by side,” are the Lurona Geopolitical Map, Lurona Map of Expert Quality, and Detailed Lurona Production District Map. They are quite self-explanatory,” he finished his monologue with a smile. “What do you think about the choice?”

Zeph was quite overwhelmed by the quick explanation. But he had to give it to the salesman – all of the books were interesting, if not outright necessary for him. After thinking for a while, he decided to take them all. Worst-case scenario, I will just leave them in the orphanage. Their library is too poor to be even considered one…

Nodding to himself, he made a decision. “How much? Ummm…” he looked at the meter-high pile of paper, “can they be delivered?”

The toothy grin looked somewhat uncanny on the old man – almost like it was the first time he smiled widely in years. The bandana on his head even moved backwards. “That would be 27 gold and 30 silver, 10 silver more for the delivery.” Zeph just nodded at that and presented his ‘credit medallion’ after giving him the orphanage address. The salesman gestured for him to place it in a slot on the counter, near a black metal plate with dots and symbols shining on the surface. The old guy changed a few of them and showed it to Zeph. The symbols were just the names of the currency in the Cir language, so after making sure the number of dots was correct, Zeph pushed a strand of Mana into the medallion, unlocking its functionality.

A clicking sound could be heard as the mechanical parts inside the medallion changed positions. Aisha instructed him beforehand on how it worked. Practically, that is. He was slightly worried about the security measurements but she explained to him how he could detect a scam.

It was easy with his perception and manipulation proficiency. He just had to count the number of Mana pulses sent into the device.

“Thank you for your patronage,” the old man said earnestly and Zeph could feel a Spell manifesting around them. He could recognize a modified Air Sphere at first glance, though, so he didn’t react. “It’s good to know some people still follow the traditional greeting (1).”

Like hell I know what you are talking about, old man! Zeph screamed internally but kept his face neutral. Was I scammed? Wh… No, keep your calm… I have gold, it’s not important, he rationalized, trying to keep his Will at bay.

“Let’s hear your true request, then,” the man said and Zeph mentally relaxed a little. Whatever that was about, we at least are on the same page. Yea, whatever just happened, it’s good as long as I can get what I want…

“I need someone who knows the world’s geography good enough to find seven places described by the local environment… The locations can be triangulated, too – I know the general direction of them all. Hmmm, also, I need to find a quite specific Specialist that can make armors, and someone specializing in Alchemy that can also create Mana batteries.”

The salesman tilted his head curiously, stroking his beard. “So, a Skill. Did you try to see the System’s price for giving you the local names?”

Well, at least he knows what he is doing. “I don’t have to. For the names that were included, they’re not in the Universal Cir language… I can only read the topography and landmarks clearly. Well, some flora and fauna, too, but it’s a difficult part. The rest is gibberish,” he explained.

The Soul-memory the System gave him was really restricted. He would be angry if he didn’t know the System didn’t have a graphical map function. Probably a domain of some other god… Why the fuck didn’t it just give me the coordinates? It should be possible to do, right?... Oh, yea. I forgot the continents are flying around all the time…

He shook his head, there was too much to take into account. “I would probably have to buy the Mapping-exclusive General Skills, but I don’t even know where to start with the choice…” the price would send me to hell, Zeph finished in his mind.

And now the old guy looked excited. Great… I fucked up again, didn’t I?

“For sharing this, you will have our Cartographer for free,” the guy declared without hesitation. “Forgotten lands won’t map themselves,” he said with a small laugh. “The person would be able to help with triangulation, for one. As for your descriptions, they would have to wait until we know what stratum we are talking about. The same with the pay. The directions you have should be linear, so it would be a hard guess right now,” as he spoke, he took out a small medallion from under the counter. His scrunched face hinted at concentration, but after a moment he just handed it to Zeph. “You will need this for identification. Visit us in a month or so, the Cartographer should be ready. As for your other problems…” he started, taking the booklet and the district map to mark something inside. “How much money have you prepared?” he asked, scratching his cheek with a pen.

“Around 100 000 gold, I suppose?” I would need the rest for the equipment… Haah, the headache was coming back quickly. He never liked to spend money. “I am also open for information trade,” he added, after remembering Aisha’s brutal teachings and his own idea.

“Nice. You can go to Ciriyal’s store, then. She handles the high-leveled experts that couldn’t find help from normal sources. If you don’t find anything interesting there, just visit the new guys that are trying to destroy my business,” the mirth in his voice explained it all to Zeph. “She should have all information about the district,” he finished in a more serious tone, giving him the booklet and the district map. “Just ask her to mark the optimal routes on the map. I have marked her shop.”

The Spell faded away, so Zeph just thanked him and left, still wondering if he wasn’t scammed somehow.

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(1) ‘What traditional greeting?’ you, dear reader, may ask? Did Zeph manage to open hidden doors by the sheer power of luck?

No, not really.

You see, he suggested that the first purchase was just the interlude, instructed the salesman to get the best quality books, and paid more than 10 gold without haggling. A nice greeting, nothing more.

Unknown to Zeph, the forceful request could also be made – enough gold would lead him to the same conclusion. But it made the old-timer happy enough to give him the medallion at the first meeting. This didn’t change much, if anything at all.

Or did it? The System saw it all, after all.