At the beginning of the system, there was no method of gauging the value of an item till one day a man of pre-system wealth climbed to the top of the Endless Towers dungeon and became part of the system itself, bringing with him the value system he created as an adventurer. Now the system could identify items and their rarity, giving those with professions the ability to gain levels and progress. Millions of years later, the next person climbed to the peak of the tower but refused the system at the final stage, taking with her a system item that would allow the implementation of one change to the system. She used the item to create a financial institution that had full control over all interacted finances within the system itself. She became the richest person overnight and the leader of an empire of financial madmen, not stopping at anything to enforce their new currency system on the populace of the system. Every budding organisation would eventually come to them for a loan; after all, it was impossible for one individual to get to the top without money, and the money system was run by them, after all. The money system followed the grade system with some minor changes.
Money System 101
Low grade coin: 1 low grade coin = 100 units of unmanaged currency
D grade coin: 1 D grade coin = 100,000 low grade coins
C grade coin: 1 C grade coin = 100,000 D grade coins
B grade coin: 1 B grade coin = 100,000 C grade coins
A grade coin: 1 A grade coin = 100,000 B grade coins
S grade coin: 1 S grade coin = 100,000 A grade coins
In a branch office of the Banking Guild, Erica and her guide stood waiting for a reply to a request for a loan of one hundred D grade coins. Harry ran tests on some of the low grade coins Erica had managed to get on one of her raids on the local forces, and he said each coin held a substantial amount of energy, but with the low rank coins, he couldn't figure out what it was, so he wanted a higher grade coin to figure out the source of this strange energy.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, it's just we were having trouble identifying your organisation; it seems that your organisation has been marked by the system as restricted. I'm sorry, Miss, but we cannot offer you a loan, but we can transfer any currency, technology, items, or any alchemy products into coins for you.”
“What? Why would the system restrict our mercenary group?”
“As far as I'm aware, this has only ever happened once before, and that was because the person cultivated outside of the system's influence. But that person died over a million years ago. He was a man who would always enter the dark zones of the system; his only item of value was his soulbound shuttle, but sadly, he entered one too many dark zones and failed to return. If I were you, I would leave this group of yours and try again. It seems that the system only has an issue with one of the people in your mercenary group, so you can either kick them out and hope the system takes pity on you, or leave and find a new group to join. I would recommend the Hunters Road Guild or the UniversalMercenaries Guild; they seem to be reputable organisations.”
“So you're saying no member of the Demon's Hand mercenary group can do business with you outside of currency conversions?”
“Yes, miss. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we must follow the system's rules when it comes to these things.”
“Well, fuck. This is going to be bad,” Erica said.
“Miss, do you have any items to trade?”
Erica pulled out the blueprints for the various versions of the runabout. “Can I use this? Every version can be put inside a common storage ring, and if you don't believe me, I can show you my personal one,” Erica said as she handed over the blueprints to the man. “I will need to get them verified by our people before a price can be given. If possible, I would also request you to show me that it can be put into a storage ring.” The group of three walked to an open space at the back of the branch. Erica pulled out the runabout from her ring.
“That is very interesting. I will bring these over to our experts. Please wait in my personal waiting room and feel free to try the tea,” the man said as he took the two over to a lavish waiting room. “I'll be back as soon as I can,” he said before leaving for one of the back rooms.
“What do you reckon they are doing back there?” the man sitting beside Erica said.
In the back room, Zac had brought in a stack of blueprints to his manager. “Sir, could you look over these?”
“You want me to do what? I just got back and this is the second time today you have barged in here asking stupid questions. What is it this time; has the system come down and started killing people for fun?” Zac stood there in silence for a second before the man started yelling again. “Well, what is it?”
“Sorry, sir. It's just the group from earlier offered these blueprints for trade and I can tell the value of them.”
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“Is that it? Why didn't you take them to one of the other blueprinters?”
“Sir, it's just I was shown one of these ships; it came out of a storage ring.”
The man looked up from the desk. “Are you sure about that?” the man said.
“Yes, sir.”
“And these people came from the group that has been marked by the system?”
“Yes, sir. They are from the Demon's Hand mercenary group.”
The man behind the desk got really excited. “You have just made us a fortune; take these over to the blueprinters—no, wait, I will do it; you just stay here.” The man rushed out of the office and left Zac alone.
Five hours later, the man returned with a grin. “Take these back to that person and tell them you were unable to verify the blueprints and that, as a result, we are unable to pay for them.”
“Sir, are we really doing this?”
“We are following the rules of the system. That group has been marked, so we can do what we like; it's their fault anyway for going up against the system in the first place.”
“But sir, if people find out—”
“It will not matter. Once we spread the news of them being marked by the system, the actions we take will be the least of their problems.”
In Zac's waiting room, Erica was cursing at the young man as she and her escort were being forcefully removed from the branch. “This is your last warning, miss; if you continue to make a fuss, we will be forced to take away your right to enter any of our branches in the future.”
Erica was about to continue berating the man when suddenly she received a notification from the system.
System Wide Notification
The Demon’s Hand mercenary group has been forcefully disbanded by the system-imposed universal constants. Any former member that stays within its ranks will be made enemies of the system-imposed universal constants and will be marked with a bounty of 200 points each to be collected upon their death.
System Wide Notification
Jake Everval and his followers have been marked as enemies of the system-imposed universal constants and, as such, a bounty has been placed on them.
Reward: 20,000,000 points each upon verification of their death
Erica Blake
Emma Moore
Jayne Everval
Reward: 100,000,000 points plus 1 grade upon verification of his death
Jake Everval
Erica looked over at her guide and said, “Find your own way back to Aaliyah.” The next moment, she was gone.
Jayne sat in a classroom listening to a lecture when suddenly everyone turned to look at her. “Lady Everval, I think we should cancel the lesson for today. I just realised I left my newborn at home,” the teacher said before he walked out of the classroom.
“Lady Everval, it seems we have had our home taken from us,” one of the beast folk said as her hand wiped the tears from her eyes.
“You will always be welcome in this territory. Even if the system dissolved the Demon’s Hand mercenary group, we still have our territory, and if you want to keep it, we all need to fight for it.”
“But we will be marked as enemies to the system.”
Only if you are part of the demon's hand mercenary group and you all read the notification that the group doesn't exist anymore, unless you say or believe you are a member, you won't be the system's enemy, will you? That being said, everyone is free to leave this territory, and you will be granted equipment as compensation for your time and service.” Jayne said this, then left the room and headed directly for the meeting hall, keeping out of sight as best as she could. Only once she got to one of the private rooms in the meeting hall did she finally relax a bit. “Alric, what the fuck happened to Jake?”
Moments later, Alric appeared in front of her. “Lady Everval, it seems Jake has been trapped in a cave alone for some time. It seems he encountered something underground, and it has caused the system to take action against him in the only way it can. The system—" Alric stopped what he was doing, then smiled and continued, "the system is limited in what it can and can't do. It was once made up of one individual, but as time passed and people reached his level of power, he enacted his plan and tried to absorb them into himself, but he lost his battle and now he is basically a prisoner in his own body—exactly what he deserves in my opinion; after all, karma has to hit at some point."
“You seem a lot more informative on the system today. Did something happen to you?”
“Only what I have wanted for a long time. I'm free. Thanks to whatever actions your husband has taken, I've been separated from the system and regained myself. And before you ask, no, I'm not going to abandon you like all the people outside.”
“You can still see what's going on outside. What about in the other territories?”
“Yes, I can see, but as for the other territories, unless I am in that territory, then no. Also, I have lost many other abilities; I have become very limited in what I can do. But I can now make a solid body if needed.”
“But you can still travel between territories.”
“Not at the moment. It seems that I need something from Jake to do that.”
“What is it you need now?”
“The title.”
“Has the title got to do with his race?”
“I don't think so.”
Jayne and Alric talked like this for a long time, the two getting to know each other. What surprised Jayne was that Alric once gave his life so that Aaliyah would have a home to come back to.
Emma was on her ship; the moment the notifications popped up, she instantly pushed the competition's button, opening her radio to the fleet.
“As you are all aware, I have been made an enemy of the system. If anyone attempts to take that bounty, I will fire on them with the full power of this ship. Now that that is out of the way, if any of you wish to cut ties with me, you are free to leave.” Emma looked at her crewmates and gave a gesture asking them to leave, but not a single one took her up on the offer. “Thank you, every one of you,” she said, then left for the bridge, followed by her two pilots.
10714 > 10835 characters
2039 > 1999 words