Shimmering air cuts through my vision. Pearl and Illumisia hurry to drag the teleporter parts out and away from the magic as it slowly solidifies into something real. I force myself to my feet and stare blankly at the extravagant storefront that appears before me; all promotions and colourful advertisements for things in so many different languages that I can’t even start to read. There’s some symbol based language in there, sort of like Chinese or Japanese, but it could be something native to this world too.

Then there’s the people. Gil’s store had exactly one person in it–him. This one is almost overflowing with life. Metal armor glints in the light of someone’s magic trinket, a dude in a black hoodie ducks underneath a table and snatches a potion, and the crowd doesn’t even react. There’s got to be at least two dozen people in there. And everyone except for one of them is human.

That person with an extremely thick frame stands behind a folding table with a cash register on it. Their arms pulse with long tubes of silver-white muscle as they gesture and talk to a blonde-haired woman with knight-like armor on, like huge worms under their skin moving their bones. The strange muscle continues down to their hands, culminating in three thick fingers that are each the size of three of my fingers. If they got wrapped around each other to make one super-finger.

They’re all the exact same size, and from how their hand contorts and twists, it looks like each of them can act like a pinky or a thumb whenever the need arises. I can’t make out their legs, since they’re wearing a dress-like thing under a heavy woolen apron, and their face is… different. Instead of eyes, their face muscles contract around a glassy… thing that is filled with magical pupils, popping in and out of existence in all different shades of yellow.

Doesn’t look like they have hair, either–just thick muscly cords that trail down the back of their head like the biggest dreadlocks I’ve ever seen. They’ve definitely got a mouth–a thin pair of matte yellow lips with two rows of teeth that look like they were all carved from one piece of stone. I blink a few times to try and come to terms with the fact that everyone in there’s just acting like this person’s completely normal, but then it hits me.

Exactly one person’s talking to them. With one other person waiting in line, while everyone else goes about their business trying as hard as possible not to make eye contact with the not-human. For what it’s worth, the not-human doesn’t seem to notice. Or if they do, they’re doing a really good job of not giving a shit. Which probably comes with the job, now that I think of it.

I shake my head and frown. The thoughts are coming a little easier now, but that just means the pain’s taking up the focus. And I’ve been standing here almost a minute gawking at the shopkeeper like an idiot with blood dripping down my arm, three fingers that don’t work, and a whole lot of lacerations painting me up like some kind of visceral circus performer.

About time I do something about that. I spit the blood that’s built up in my mouth into the sand pit, push open the glass door with my left hand, and groan as the relief of air conditioning washes over me.

Everyone in the store instantly turns to look at me. A quarter of them go right back to whatever they were doing with varying levels of amusement, but the rest of them keep staring. I choose to ignore them and look for some tables set out with stuff I can buy for my clearance ticket, but it looks like whoever owns this place isn’t as easy going as Gil.

“Can I help you?” A voice as soft as silk washes over me, undertoned by a nearly insectile reverberation. “If you’re looking for healing items, we have a board in the back with everything you can get for your clearance ticket listed. If I may ask what your clearance is…?”

“Three.” I glance over at the board in question, which is currently being huddled around by two men and a woman who seem to be having an intense argument. “That’ll get me a health potion, right?”

The shopkeeper winces, then rubs their hands together apologetically. “I’m sorry, but vessels designed to carry potions are… far more expensive than you’d think. You could get a refill if you already have one, but–”

I cut them off with a nod. “Perfect. Get me a refill and however many stat coins I can buy with my ticket. I’m in a hurry.”

“I can see that.” They say awkwardly as they look me over. “What did that to you?”

“Teleporter accident.”

That stuns the shopkeeper to silence for some reason. They try to stammer out a few words, but eventually just nod and rush out from behind the counter to a door that’s locked with at least ten different locks. Eight of which look magical. They unlock them one by one, then disappear into a well-lit stockroom that I barely catch a glimpse of before they slam it shut behind them. Leaving me with both people who were standing in line.

The woman in knight armor frowns at me. Her expression turns pinched when she sees the hole in my arm, and then it looks like she doesn’t know what to say. Unlike the guy standing a few steps behind her, with an on-the-nose crystal ball in one hand and a glove littered with shards of magical crystal covering the other. He’s even wearing a long royal blue cloak, patterned with flowing gold and white like the most typical wizard I’d ever seen. All he’s missing is the staff and the beard.

“What got you?” He asks in extremely accented english.

I tilt my head to the side. “Teleporter accident. I’m pretty damn sure I just said that.”

He chuckles and nods, then lowers his orb. “Yes, you did. I just had to confirm it for myself. So, how long have you had a class?”

“Right to the chase, huh?” I force a pleasant smile, which seems to have the complete opposite effect. “Almost two weeks now. Nearly done with my first… not sure if it’s a quest, but there’s not a better word for it.”

“Only two weeks!?” The woman blurts out in disbelief, drawing both my and the wizard’s attention to her. “What kind of monster did that to you in your first two weeks?!”

My pleasant smile fades away. “Can you people not hear the words ‘teleporter accident’ come out of my mouth? Do I need to phrase it differently? A teleporter attacked me. A chunk of frozen sand split my arm in two, and now I can’t use three fingers. Did you hear that?”

She goes as white as a sheet, but nods anyway. “Two weeks.” She says quietly. “That wasn’t even enough time to finish the tutorial. How’d you even…”

“Call me a prodigy.” I interrupt before she can dig into something I don’t feel like talking about. “Alright, I’m sick of calling you ‘woman’ and ‘wizard’ in my head. My name’s Shelby. What’re yours?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Razi.” The wizard offers without hesitation. “Nice to meet you, Shelby. You are American, no?”

I roll my eyes. “What gave it away? The general unpleasant-ness or the accent?”

Razi’s eyes crinkle in a smile. “A little of both, honestly. Though I won’t hold unpleasantness against a woman with a hole in her arm. I myself am from Zambia, though I’ve called Canada my home for almost five years.”

“Diane!” The woman blurts out, then blushes. “That’s me, I mean. Diane. I’m Thai. From Thailand. Like, the place with good food. Hi.”

Diane blushes a little harder and looks away when I lock eyes with her. For a woman in a literal suit of armor, she doesn’t act like it. Razi offers me an apologetic smile and pats her on the shoulder, a gesture she barely reacts to. Guess they’ve known each other for a little while. Probably transported here around the same time, or put into the same tutorial place. Meaning the both of them are non-Worth classes. Or… just classes, I guess, since Worth classes are the ones with the qualifier.

“Well, if I manage to survive this, we should all get lunch sometime.” I say sarcastically to break the silence. Just like my smiles, this has the opposite effect.

“That’d be cool.” Diane says without looking me in the eyes. “Do you think you’ll be around Palastia in the next few days? We’ll be hanging around there until our next quest.”

“Palastia.” I try the word on my tongue, then shrug. “Maybe. Depending on where my quest takes me, I might be there tomorrow. Any way I can contact you two?”

Diane doesn’t answer right away. As if all the confidence that had seeped into her had been used up in her three sentences.

“Not without a lot of Worth.” Razi chimes in when Diane’s silence stretches on. “But there’s a nice restaurant called Whitestone Porch in the Castlefoot district. We go there for lunch every day we’re in town, so if you’re in town, we can meet there.”

I nod as the shopkeeper throws the storeroom door open and starts to hurry back to us. “Sounds good to me. You two can treat.”

Razi’s smile twitches a little, but he holds strong. “Of course. It’s the duty of the higher level to treat the lower level, after all.”

The shopkeep gestures at me with a runic jug, and I summon my empty health flask for them to fill. They also set down three coins on the counter, each of which the threads of my awareness tells me is limited to a stat of five or less. I nod at them and hand over the ticket, which they gladly take and rub between two fingers. It disintegrates into a fine powder that gets taken by the store’s AC.

“Well, that’s all the time I’ve got.” I take a swig of the potion until my body can’t drink any more, then cap and pocket it. “I’m short on time, and even shorter on the amount of Worth I’m willing to spend. Nice meeting you two. Cool to finally see some other humans in this place.”

Diane puts a hand on my shoulder as I turn to leave, worry written plain on her face. “Health potions aren’t free health.”

“Yeah, backlash pain, I know. Already went through that a few times.” I chuckle darkly and flex the fingers on my right hand until they all move again. “Thanks for the warning, though. You seem like good people, both of you. Not being afraid of the shopkeep or me and all.”

The shopkeep leans around their table and frowns. “They’re scared of me? Why? I don’t look like a shellraiser or anything.”

“No, you don’t. You’re wonderful for helping us out so much.” Razi assures the shopkeep. “Shelby here didn’t mean to scare you, either. She’s quite pleasant compared to most of the other humans I’ve had the displeasure of working with here.”

The shopkeep side-eyes me, which is a strange thing when the eye doing the siding is theirs. I try to keep my reaction to them calling a shellraiser ‘scary’ off of my face, since I know it’d just insult them if they knew what Pearl was actually like. The system must’ve made the shellraisers out to be some kind of boogeymen.

“Yeah, I’m as pleasant as an American gets.” I say sarcastically. “Sorry if I spooked you. The whole bloody arm wasn’t exactly my idea.”

“I wasn’t scared.” The shopkeep says defensively. “You’re just a little more… intimidating than the other humans I deal with. Since this is a low-clearance store I don’t usually see the battle-hardened veterans. Or even any injuries, really.”

Aw, they’re making excuses. And they’re not meeting my eyes, either. It’s adorable how embarrassed someone so unlike a human can be.

“Well, before I go, can I get your name?” I ask without smiling. Something about it puts off Diane and Razi, and they’re humans. Don’t want to terrify the shopkeep. “I haven’t been around here for long, and you’re the first of your people I’ve ever seen.”

The shopkeep blinks. A whole lot. “Me? O-okay. I’m Akris E’Rillo. My architect was Dosmigo Elgasa, and my parent was Akmia W’Rillo. I’ve worked here for nearly eight years now, under the system’s tutelage, and I hope to–”

“Careful, there. She didn’t ask for your life story.” Razi says a little too forcefully. “And she isn’t asking you for what you think she is.”

“O-oh. I’m sorry.” Akris apologizes and does something weird with their eye. Like a… sideways blink while all of their pupils go dark. “I thought you were asking something else. Razi and Diane already asked for my services, and I sort of thought you were asking the same.”

Asking for their services, huh. Could be some kind of guide arrangement, or an informant on the system’s goings-on. Or, you know, just a local who has an ear to the ground and who knows when and where all the quests pop up.

“No harm done.” I say with a wave. “I might be back here real soon. Or I could get sent somewhere else. So see you when I see you.”

With everything I wanted to do done, I push the door open and leave the store. The three coins jingle in my palm like diamonds; the raw potential inside ready to be unleashed when my cooldowns allow it. But doubling all my Worth should come first, which’ll easily put me over the next clearance threshold. And the thousand Worth mark when I sell all the robots.

Pearl notices me first as I walk up to the teleporter, which already has the tail attached. “That was really fast. Did you get everything you needed?”

Illumisia pops out from under the teleporter and frowns at me. “At that speed, I doubt she did much of anything.”

I shake my head. “Nope. I’m going to get another shop from doubling my Worth anyway, and I want to do that when we’re safely out of here. Did get three skill coins and a health potion refill, though. Once the free stat point pops up, I’ll be able to repurpose the broken teleporter.”

Pearl and Illumisia share a look. Then both stare at the teleporter they’re in the process of repurposing. The exact same one I was going to repurpose with my Soul. I shake my head and laugh as I walk past the teleporter and go lean against a pile of trash.

“Nevermind, stupid thought. Still probably worth putting those points into Soul for the devices, though. But on a happier note–how long ‘till we’re up and running? A few hours?”

The teleporter chooses this moment to crash to the ground, sending shards of shell that Illumisia must’ve pulled out of the sand pit scattering across the ground. Pearl winces as Illumisia sighs in annoyance, then trods off to gather everything that fell.

“Probably two hours for the repairs, then another six to make sure the calibration is perfect.” Pearl taps her hand on the teleporter base. “You have a lot of time to flip your Worth and some rewards to look over. I’ll tell you if I feel anything with my awareness.”

I nod and pull out my Class Card. “Thanks, Pearl. You too, Illumisia.”

“Don’t thank us too early.” Illumisia says as she kicks a shell over to Pearl. “Thank us when your feet touch dirt and the air is no longer stale.”