After the experience at the meat warehouse, Rory changed his plans. He had done some brief research and had learned that the banking system was run by the Crown and not individual corporations and that they were supposedly very secure, so he decided to take a calculated risk. He had become aware that he could not function without some sort of bank account outside the slums. Hence, he was sitting inside a local branch of the Queen’s Bank of Britannia at an automated service counter.

1. Access Existing Account

2. Create New Account

3. Call for Assistance

Obviously, Rory selected number two. He scanned his commo, just like at the warehouse, and once again his information appeared. It added some additional information about his banking history – of which he had none – and his current Soul Warrior level, which was four.

What happened next was a little overwhelming. He was offered twelve different account types to open. Letting out a breath, he settled in to read.

No wonder they offer chairs.

***

Scratching the back of his head, Rory looked between the two types of accounts in front of him. It was handy that they offered a compare feature, but the differences listed made it difficult to decide.

Rory continuously referenced his tablet to research a bunch of the terms and conditions of the various accounts. He obviously had no fucking clue what he was doing.

After thirty minutes of just looking things up and eliminating the last option, he chose to open an account specifically made for Soul Warriors. It was designed to support an “inconsistent income and outflow streams,” having no fees for minimum available or transactions or anything like that. What it did not offer was any kind of interest or gain. It was basically a free place to put money. And as an added benefit, he could upgrade it to an interest-bearing account without any cost or fees added as soon as he reached level 15 and had enough to support the maintenance fees. Was that really far off? Definitely. Really bloody far considering, according to Galnet, it took almost as much myst to fill the vessel to get from level 14 to 15 then it did to go from 1 to 10. But still, he believed he’d get there.

Selecting that account type, it next asked him if he wanted to transfer into the new account from another or make a hard currency deposit. He chose the latter and a small light under the display pointed out a shelf. Rory took five £20 notes from his ring’s vault and placed the thin stack on the shelf. A door slid shut, a little humming sounded, and the display showed a deposit of £100. Smiling at the success of opening his very first bank account, Rory closed out his access, confirmed it was connected to his commo, and moved on to his next destination.

***

After heading back to Newton’s Butchery and connecting his new bank account, he deposited all but £10. He left a little, figuring it would be wise to stay in their good graces.

That done, he went to the next place on his list for the day. He admitted to himself he was a little nervous about this one. Selling for meat was easy and straight forward. This was different.

When one wanted to sell a beast, not for its meat but for its rarity or special biology, there were specific Soul Crafter experts called Soul Alchemists that would buy them. This whole concept was a surprise to Rory when he found it on GalNet, but he wanted to try to see if his Rainbow Ferret Snake qualified. The facilities offered an extensive list of the beasts they were currently in the market for buying and that snake came up on the list in quite a few locations. It excited him because it was far more profitable than selling meat by weight according to the hunters on GalNet. Unfortunately, there was one trick to it. The creature had to be intact. Or at least the parts of it that were wanted for their experiments or were needed for their creations. Rory had punctured this one’s brain and had sliced its scales pretty bad, if only in one place. He figured it was worth a try but, as always, he didn’t get his hopes up.

Ironically, the treant was on the list too. As if he’d ever sell one of those.

GalNet did tell him to “shop around,” when selling to alchemists, and – after having looked up what that meant – he agreed it was a good idea. Having had success earlier in the day using big-name multi-planet corporations, he figured it was a good place to start. So he stopped in front of a rather fancy-looking building made of some glistening white stone with letters in gold above the entrance.

Rory walked to the open double-door entrance. On each side of the doorway was a large man in white techarmor and the word SECURITY in written gold across the chest with Forester’s Alchemy and Enhancements under it. Their helmets were not active so it was obvious to see they were making a brief examination of everyone entering. Apparently, they had seen something they did not like in Rory so the one to the left stepped forward and stopped him from entering by placing his large armored hand on his shoulder. He did not squeeze or anything, but he did use enough force to let Rory know he had to stop.

“What’s your purpose for coming to Forester’s?” the man asked in a growly voice, matching his glower.

In the slums a move like that was a precursor to a beating, so Rory froze and immediately lowered his eyes, not showing any aggression, just like if the man was an enforcer.

“I just want to sell something on the special acquisitions list,” Rory said quietly.

“You?” the guard asked skeptically. “We know all the local teams and who they usually send and you’re not them. Which are you claiming to represent?”

Rory relaxed slightly.

These aren’t the slums, Rory. Take a breath.

He realized that they weren’t after him specifically, nor were they planning to attack. They just did not recognize him. He was not sure how he stood out or what it was that had caught their attention to him though. He figured this was his chance to become familiar with them and their bosses. Getting in the good books of the enforcers and bosses was always a win.

“Umm, I’m here for myself. I have something from the special acquisitions list and wanted to get a price.”

“And how did you come by such a thing?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

Focusing on keeping his voice calm and collection, he said, “I killed it. I just want to price it out. Maybe sell it if the price is right.”

Rory added that last bit about selling in hopes that it would encourage them to maintain a positive outlook on him. It seemed to have worked as the guard said, “Fine.” Then Rory saw the guards left eye flash and he nodded. “Come with me.”

“Yes, sir,” Rory responded politely.

Without removing his hand, the guard escorted Rory through the entrance and into the building. They entered and he saw a large very busy building showing stone just like on the outside. The floor was divided into multiple sections with isles of goods of various types. Rory could feel his jaw drop as he absorbed the space. There was just so… much. He had spent so long being around as few people as possible in a place where nobody got too close to one other. This place was total chaos in his mind.

The guard guided Rory to the left of the entrance with the hand on his shoulder and after a few steps, stopped. “Wait here,” he ordered.

The guard finally released his shoulder, and Rory turned his head and watched as the guard turned around and returned to the doorway. Turning his head back, Rory examined where he was left and it was an area with a standing desk and a man in a gray suit and tie standing behind it. His hair was slicked back, his complexion was tanned and perfect, and his mouth was half-curled in a sneer.

Rory immediately felt the man’s disgust. He recognized it immediately as the same look he had received from passersby every time he walked to and from that shitty school he was thankfully no longer attending.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“I was told you supposedly have something of value?” the man asked Rory in an accent Rory recognized as old French. A few folks at school spoke in it. It was far more accepted than Irish.

“Yes, sir,” Rory said with intentional politeness. Covering and faking his emotions was old hat by now. “I came by a—”

“It doesn’t matter,” the slimy man interrupted. “I’ll give you five hundred pounds for it.”

That was outside of Rory’s expectations. According to his research, they alchemists were supposed to examine the product and make an offer based on condition, rarity, and bunch of other things. He thought it would be more involved, and frankly, of more value.

“Sir,” Rory said, still politely as he was determined to make a good impression, “I think if you examine—”

“I don’t need to,” the guy interrupted yet again. “I can tell by your clothes you’re some nobody who came upon a corpse. Who knows how long it was out there. Just accept my generosity and leave. Your betters are waiting for me.”

Rory stared at the guy. “Well, I suppose I was advised to shop around,” Rory said neutrally. Then he turned around and walked away.

He heard a laugh behind him. “Good luck.”

Rory left without looking at the guards or back at the building. He pulled out his tablet and moved onto the next store on his list, letting it guide him. He knew a shakedown when he saw one. One of the big name stores would give him a good price, he just had to be patient.

***

Shoulders slumped, Rory felt exhausted and disheartened. He had really thought he could get some good money from the rainbow snake. It was quite rare according to GalNet after all. But it had just not been that easy. He went to each of the large corporate facilities that listed the snake on their lists and each one reacted almost the same as the first. One was even worse and would not even allow him entry, saying they would not accept anything from someone without a serious sponsor or backer.

So he decided to give up on the big name places, and instead to go for a local place. Unfortunately, for whatever reason there was only one local shop that was not a big conglomerate that had the Rainbow Ferret Snake on its special acquisition list.

Elphina’s Alchemical Enchantments was clearly a small local store. It was one of two shops in a large brick duplex, the other being a ship with a flashing sign saying Toys, Lotions, and Other Adult Entertainment.

Rory let out a breath, disappointing in how things had been happening. He entered the alchemist’s door only to be nearly suffocated by the smells of various herbs, spices, chemicals, and some sort of smoke in the air.

What in the bloody hell? None of the others were like this.

Rory coughed and rubbed his eyes as he walked in and tried to shake his head clear. Before he could take more than a step a young woman appeared before him. She was tiny. Only like four and a half feet or so and in her late twenties maybe, thirty at the oldest. She had very curly yellow-blond hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a long black robe with a hood that was down and a professional smile.

“Welcome to Elphina’s. How can I help you?” Her high-pitched voice seemed to match her perfectly.

Rory coughed again and said in a somewhat scratchy voice, “Selling something on the special procurement list.”

The woman nodded without changing expressions. “You will need to go around to the side entrance for deliveries.”

Rory nodded and, somewhat relieved to be escaping the atmosphere, turned around and exited. Taking a number of unadulterated deep breaths, he walked around to the side and found projected signs that said, “Deliveries.”

He eventually came to a red doorway that reminded him somewhat of Mick’s and knocked. More smoke wafted behind the lady who opened it a few moments later, her scrunched face showing she wasn’t nearly as friendly as the first. The stooped old woman reminded him of Henry, except she used a M-steel rod with a head carved to look like a leaf of some sort to lean on.

Rory saw the gray inscription on her wrinkled right hand that had a number of loops that also sort of looked like leaves a bit.

A Soul Crafter, right? That’s what alchemists are I think.

She wore the same black robe on as the first woman, but with the hood up. However, when she lifted her head to look up at him, it fell back showing long curly white hair.

“What?” she groused.

Rory cleared his throat and answered, “I’m here to sell something on the special pr-”

“What is it?” she snapped, interrupting Rory.

A little taken aback he stuttered, “A-a rainbow ferret snake.”

She looked him up and down and squinted at him. “Age?”

Utterly overwhelmed by the forcefulness of the ancient woman, “Umm… Eighteen, ma-”

The woman made a sound that was a mix of a growl and snort. “Not you, you bloody buffoon. The snake.”

“Oh.” Embarrassed, Rory blushed and tried to remember and said, “Umm… adolescent I think?” It was more question than answer.

“Follow me,” the woman ordered as she turned around.

Smells assaulted him again once he stepped inside. Rory found himself in a thankfully only slightly smokey room with potted plants, boxes, tablets, crystals, cages, both filled and empty, and some implements he couldn’t identify. He followed the woman down a dimly lit hallway into another room with a big M-steel table in the middle.

“Put it in there,” the woman told him with a point at the flat tabletop.

He went over and dropped it from his vault, curling it around so nothing hung off the end.

She hobbled over, shoved him out of the way with way more force than someone her age and condition should have been able to, and started poking and prodding the snake.

At least someone's willing to look at the thing!

She lifted parts, examined and then poked her finger inside the slice he had made on the outside, then walked to its mouth, opening it. She stuck her face right in, examined the damage his chakram had made, and… was she sniffing it?

Rory shuddered and stepped further back.

The old woman turned to him and told him the results of her inspection. “The brain is damaged, which isn’t good, but the rest is mostly intact besides that slice. What do you want for it?”

“Umm…” Rory knew he was being ripped off by all the places before. They ranged from two hundred fifty to seven hundred fifty. He was about to tell her he wanted a thousand when he stopped. He really looked at the old woman who was looking back at him. Something about her froze his answer. He couldn’t figure out why, but he thought he found a bit of something familiar in her eyes. She looked… tired. Weighed down.

So, instead of his original plan, he asked, “Can you make an offer?”

She huffed again and turned back to it and tapped her rod on the ground a few times. Then looking back at him she said softly, “Five thousand.”

He blinked at her.

Seriously? Are there were there any poor Soul Warriors in the entire galaxy besides me?

She went on. “It’s a fair price. It’s young and the brain controls the color patterns and hypnotism so that is a substantial loss. But the poison gland and fangs are intact so that’s something. Next time keep it intact and you could get more. But five thousand pounds is the best I can do for this damaged specimen.”

Shaking his thoughts free, Rory stuck out his hand and said, “Deal!”

The woman looked at his hand and smiled. Placing a bony hand in his and squeezing tightly, she shook it and got an odd look that vanished quickly. “What’s your name, boy?” she asked.

“Rory, ma’am,” he answered.

“Call me Elphina from now on.” Finally releasing his hand, she said, “Tell me, Rory, do you plan on hunting more of those? You have a very odd weapon based on the wounds I saw. Were you in a group or was it just yourself?”

Thinking, Rory tilted his head to the side. “By myself. I don’t know if there are more where I got that one. They’re rather dangerous though. Would you accept a decapitation?”

“No,” she responded with a shake of her head. “That would ruin them beyond repair.” Then she tapped her bony fingers to her equally bony chin. “If I can provide the tools, do you think you can catch one alive?”

Remembering the helpless feeling of those lights, he said nervously, “Umm… I’m not sure. It would have to be unconscious and from a distance.”

She nodded at that. “If I give you a potion that could knock it out at range and a covered cage for safe storage, would you be willing? I understand there may not be another. They are quite rare galaxy-wide, never mind on this rubbish heap.”

Rory debated that. He almost died last time from the hypnotism, but if he could render it unconscious from range and stuff it in a cage before it could hurt him, it might be worth the risk. It all depended on how much. So he asked. Rory gaped at her answer.

***

The second-to-last stop of the day was a quick one and didn’t involve talking to anyone, which was a relief. He was getting rather tired. He wasn’t used to all this interaction.

Rory stepped into a shop that specialized in commos. He could have done this on his tablet using GalNet, but since he was there and it was close to Elphina’s, he figured, why not.

The words of the man at the butchery had stuck in Rory’s mind and he wanted to figure out what a “real vault” was like and how much it would cost. However much it was, he’d be adding to his list of future investments.

The automated helper told him that commos that support Soul Warriors and have vaults start at three hundred pounds for the simplest and tiniest and go all the way up to the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Amazingly, they weren’t all for the fingers and wrists either. There were earrings, nose rings, chains, belts, necklaces, and so many more that it boggled his mind. Some even went inside the body as implants. The fact that each could connect to other devices made the physical location of the commo itself potentially irrelevant.

Even more fascinating though, was that they could be customized in color, shape, size, and the like. Rory’s current ring, for example, was actually too big. It was barely held on by his knuckle which was why he wore it on his middle finger and was one of the reasons he was so happy he got half-finger gloves.

Ten minutes of filtering and searching later, Rory found the one he would choose. It was a ring offering fifty shelves that were each ten feet cubed. As an added benefit that had nothing to do with the vault, the commo offered a sensor that would detect his Soul Power and warn him when he was getting low. He really needed to experiment with that. He was well aware that flying by the seat of his pants could leave him vulnerable at a bad time when he went out hunting in the wild and suddenly couldn’t summon his chakram. As he was asking for no customization beyond size, it was a measly sixteen thousand pounds.

Rory rolled his eyes at himself. He had no idea what he was thinking.