Dollar could hear the sounds of the morning market in the distance, already in full swing, but he and Mitsy hadn’t joined them. Today, they were both taking a day off. Three days had come and passed since talking to Gherm in the fisherman’s guild, and today was the day of the auction. So, Dollar had gone exploring stores dedicated solely to selling artifacts made from light symbols. It was an enormous industry, which shouldn’t have surprised him. Just like water, light was an essential resource for humanity to expand.

There were things in the dark that could scare even the heartiest of adventurers.

Dollar saw a store punctuated by flashes of lights from the artifacts within it and walked into a curious little cottage labeled ‘Luminescent Designs’. Lamps adorned its windows and floors, accompanied by lanterns and fluorescent glasses. He could also see scented candles stacked in racks at the back. They weren’t artifacts, but they still had a prominent section dedicated to them. He soon found exactly what he was looking for.

“One glowing rock, please,” Dollar said, gently placing a tiny artifact of light onto the counter.

A six foot tall woman with a head of brown hair and a plaid shirt looked down, her brown eyes scrutinizing Dollar closely.

“Eight silver,” the shopkeeper replied immediately. “For a finely crafted artisanal illumination dispenser.”

“Three silver,” Dollar replied immediately. “For the very majestic glowing rock that probably only has a single symbol in it and won’t be bright enough for me to read at night.”

“Heh, a haggler, eh? You don’t have the [skills] for it, boyo, but I’ll give you a shot. Five silvers. Last offer,” the shopkeeper said.

[Passive: A Will Eternal has activated.]

Why on Earth did that happen? Dollar frowned.

The passive ability of [A Will Eternal] was something he hadn’t run into before because it was so specialized.

[Effect: Immunity to madness, taunt [skills], fear effects, psychic abilities, and divination.]

Oh, I see. Dollar’s eyes narrowed. She’s not haggling. She’s [Haggling].

From what Dollar had seen, there were as many differences between Ioa and Earth as there were grains of sand on the beach. Jobs were not different. Employees usually had [skills] designed for their careers, like cooking and haggling.

Which was exactly what Dollar suspected he was currently at war with. A [Haggling] ability was under the umbrella of the effects that he had immunity to. However, he wasn’t sure which one.

At best, he could see it as a taunting [skill].

“Five silver? You must be dreaming,” Dollar said. “Listen, all I want to buy is a glow-in-the-dark rock. It doesn’t even have to be a big one. I heard about someone in the market selling the exact opposite for a few bronze coins.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. That Grisham guy’s either a saint or a sucker. Probably both,” the saleswoman said. “Listen, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders for deals, and I appreciate that. I can go down to four and a half silver. But I’ve never given an offer so low.”

“I think you’re trying to make me a sucker,” Dollar said. “Three silver. I won’t pay a single bronze coin more.”

Two minutes later, Dollar stepped out onto the dusty street with a smile on his face and a newfound glowing stone in his storage ring. This was the first break he had gotten in three days, and it felt great to spend some of the money he had earned.

It didn’t take him long to settle back onto the bed of his inn room, playing catch with his new artifact. The auction was today, which both he and Mitsy had prepared for as best they could, but he hadn’t earned as much gold as he had wanted to over the past four days.

“Status screen for Grisham’s Artifact Dispensary.”

Grisham’s Artifact Dispensary:

Products Sold:

Minor Artifacts (Stone): 456

Minor Artifacts (Bronze): 9

Total gold earned: 27 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze.

Total gold left: 17 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze.

Mitsy had shown him how to create a basic status screen for his business. It was customizable, but he didn’t need any of the fancy features. Just the cold hard facts.

I wish I’d had this back on Earth. Dollar thought as he perused the screen. Imagine all the mistakes that I could have avoided by having a magical, all-knowing system automatically do my accounting and receipts. Not to mention contracts.

Grisham’s Artifact Dispensary had earned twenty-seven gold coins in four days, which had caused new blue screens to appear in his vision.

[You have reached level 48.]

[You have gained a level: +10 free stat points.]

If I take out Mitsy’s cut of the pay and consider the impact of the artifacts I made. Ten gold coins helped me hit the next level from where I was. Now I’m about five more gold into my next one, but I’m not sure how much I have left to level up. Dollar thought. I get a vague sense of my progress, but nothing tangible. Maybe I’m a little over halfway there?

Increasing his assets had earned most of his levels, however, his symbol crafting also contributed a fair amount. It was slower, but steadier. He suspected this was how his father had leveled up into the two hundreds. Crafting symbols all day was all he could do in the forest.

Let’s see. Dollar examined his notes carefully. Where did I go wrong?

The amounts he was earning were enough to make a person go mad with envy, but Dollar wasn’t content with the amount of money that the company had made. His notes showed a very concerning pattern.

- Day 1: 10 gold.

- Day 2: 9 gold.

- Day 3: 4 gold

- Day 4: 4 gold.

The earnings had slowed down dramatically. That was an issue.

“We sold two hundred and thirty-three artifacts on the first day. And we sold two hundred and thirty-two artifacts sold over the next three days,” Dollar spoke each word carefully, memorizing the stats. “Some of that slowdown was necessary, especially now that I changed the price from four bronze to eight. Making it seven silver per ten tries also had an impact.”

Dollar had been careful about the price increase. It was something that he had paid a lot of attention to after the first day. Each try now earned double compared to what it previously did, but most of the customers were also hesitant to pay that much.

“Enough customers are coming in, but that’s exactly the problem,” Dollar sighed. “My biggest issue is supply. And that one is going to be hard to solve.”

In the last two hundred tries, they had sold two-thirds of the bronze artifacts to be pulled out of the dispensary. That was because with each stone block pulled out of the dispensary, the odds of someone getting a bronze mask increased.

To counter that, Dollar had to make more stone blocks.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t. He had run out of glossrock.

Traveling from the dome to the city of Tiber to earn money was a decision made out of necessity. Bill’s health was a ticking clock, which forced them out of the dome, but Dollar and Mitsy had been on edge the entire way there, looking out for stray shadows.

Whatever had stalked them the first time they’d traveled back to the dome hadn’t appeared again, but Dollar didn’t intend to travel between the city and the dome unless it was necessary.

Which meant they couldn’t mine for glossrock or sea stone.

Mitsy is checking more shops right now, but I doubt we’re going to find any. Dollar frowned.

A quick check had revealed that sea stone was worthless. People could find the material all over Ioa.

Glossrock cost five bronze per piece because it was rare.

Being able to see within Lake Tiberius and also traverse its depths safely was a feat that others couldn’t replicate, which meant that anybody hunting for glossrock was doing so with specialized [skills] that they charged money to use.

When Dollar had discovered how valuable glossrock was, he’d immediately kicked himself in the shin for not checking earlier. He’d also used the glossrock’s value to determine the current price of 8 bronze coins per try.

That mistake had also unveiled a valuable fact.

The value of his ‘assets’ was partially determined by his intrinsic knowledge of their worth. If he didn’t know glossrock was worth 5 bronze, then he would still level when selling it for 4 bronze just as he had so far. But he also wouldn’t level as quickly when finding it.

Or maybe The System considers how other people value the asset. Dollar thought. After all, a sale is a two-way agreement. And I didn’t know how much the golem was worth when I stole it, but I still leveled up.

The first thing Dollar tried after the discovery was picking up a random rock and saying that it was worth a hundred gold, hoping to level up instantly.

It hadn’t worked.

“Bah,” Dollar threw his confusion aside. “I’ll work it out, eventually. Maybe I can just try scamming someone and convincing them that a rock is worth a thousand gold. Would that work?”

Some people dreamed of earning a single gold coin per month. Back in Gresha, that kind of money would set a person up for life. Unfortunately, this was a major city. Everything cost more, and earning a few gold coins a week wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Houses alone likely cost tens of thousands of gold coins.

Easy access to the resources made me complacent. Dollar frowned. And after seven years of being a child, I’ve gotten rusty in the business department.

Dollar knew that if Mitsy could hear his thoughts now, she would spit up blood.

However, he also suspected that if he could read her mind, he would go insane. She had more fun talking to people than she did counting money.

Somehow, it was working out even better than his previous business relationships.

“Let’s see…”

Dollar focused on another slew of blue boxes he had gathered over the last few days.

[Symbol Crafting has reached level 18.]

[Symbol Array Deconstruction has reached level 7.]

[Symbol Array Deconstruction has reached level 8.]

[Symbol Negation has reached level 7.]

The last few days had given him some time to fiddle with the artifacts his grandmother had given him. His focus was on the water-breathing necklace to make sure Bill had a way to leave the dome under the lake after he woke up. He had also examined the inn room’s lamp, which was powered by a light symbol.

What he really wanted to study was the gravity symbol.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t take the damaged artifact out of his storage ring while he was in a city filled with symbologists, especially since one of those symbologists had created the symbol in question.

“Let’s see, oh, right!” Dollar’s eyes gleamed.

Dollar brought up several blue screens.

Greater Bank of Ioa: Looking for a dedicated symbologist to lead a team of motivated individuals. Focus on bank protection is a priority.

Pay: 50 gold coins per weekly cycle. Access to the relevant symbols in the symbologist guild libraries will be paid for in full.

Work: Full-time on demand.

Requirements: Must have the ability to learn 8-10 new symbols (low-rank). Must sign a contract of secrecy with an overview from The System. Must agree to sign a non-competing agreement.

**

Magician’s Coda Researcher: Greetings! We are currently looking for a symbologist who specializes in multiple elements, preferably with an affinity for magic. Training is a plus!

Pay: 125 gold coins per weekly cycle. Access to the relevant symbols in the symbologist guild libraries will be paid for in full. Access to magic training will be provided.

Work: Four days per week in a high-mana environment.

Requirements: Must have the ability to learn 12-15 low-rank symbols and one middle-rank symbol. Must sign a contract of secrecy with an overview from The System. Must agree to sign a non-competing agreement.

Each description belonged to a job offered to Dollar when he had become a silver-ranked symbologist. Specifically, they were the highest paying ones on a list of one hundred and sixty-two job offers.

He didn’t intend to accept any of the job offers, but they would give him a proper baseline for what he could earn, at least as an employee.

It was the last one that caught his attention, just as it had when he’d first received the list.

Godsworn: You have been invited to apply to the Godsworn. Should they accept your application, you will serve Emperor Bataille himself as a creator of artifacts and protector of the Empire.

Pay: 30 gold coins per weekly cycle. Access to the relevant symbols in the symbologist guild libraries will be paid for in full. Access to the relevant blueprints will be provided. Access to specialized training will be provided. Access to military facilities will be provided. Access to accommodation will be provided.

Requirements: Must sign the pact of the Godsworn.

Several of the job postings told him a lot more than earnings per week. They also revealed oddities that he would have to consider when figuring out the business world.

Gods. The System. Emperors. Magic. [Skills].

All of them were unique to Ioa.

Well, Earth had emperors, but not quite in the same way. Dollar’s lips curled into a wry smile. And I hear there’s even a god of symbols. How does that work? Are they just Ength in disguise?

The people that lived in this world considered these things normal. Sure, people debated about The System fiercely, and investigated magic thoroughly. But that kind of work belonged to scholars, magicians, academics, and tyrants trying to conquer the world.

Ordinary people didn’t seem to care. They had grown up with these things in their daily lives, and so they accepted them instinctively. Some people questioned them, of course, but they were in the minority. To most people, the idea of a god walking among them was the same as gravity keeping them grounded. Both simply happened.

Dollar didn’t have that same acceptance after previously living in a world without gods or magic.

And worst of all was The System.

“Hey, System, can you hear me?” Dollar asked.

Dollar got no response, but he hadn’t been expecting one.

What are you? Dollar wondered.

According to his mother’s lessons, countless people worshipped The System in Ioa. Some could communicate with it more than others. People wove legends around tales of heroes going on adventures with The System as a companion, having conversations with it like they were old friends.

If that was true, then Dollar was giving all of his business information to a living being. But he doubted that The System cared about a few gold coins. Or even about money at all.

“You are kind of like Mitsy in that way,” Dollar murmured.

“Who’s kind of like Mitsy?” Mitsy asked.

“Gah!”

Dollar jolted as a pair of bright green eyes hovered over him, a playful smile matching their mischievous glimmer.

“Got you.” Mitsy flicked her finger out, poking Dollar’s nose. “I knew I’d surprise you eventually.”

“I almost fell off my bed,” Dollar groaned. “And yes, you got me. Welcome back.”

Mitsy giggled and sat back on her bed, swaying from side to side with energy. Not manning the market stall all day had given her a dangerous amount of excess excitement.

“So, who’s like me?” Mitsy asked.

“The System,” Dollar said.

Mitsy whistled. “That’s a mighty big compliment. Almost as big as this glossrock I got.”

With a snap of her fingers, a chunk of green stone the size of Dollar's palm appeared from within Mitsy’s choker.

Dollar’s eyes widened as he saw the material. “How did you get this?”

He held the glossrock up to his eyes as he spoke. It wasn’t as thick as the one on his dagger. That one could hold symbols on both sides of a sword hilt without issue. But Mitsy’s glossrock was longer. Far longer. Glossrock multiplied in price depending on the size.

This one was heavy enough that it would be worth its weight in silver.

I thought she was going to buy a bunch of smaller pieces. Not one giant chunk. Dollar examined the material carefully.

“I charmed the seller,” Mitsy winked. “A smile goes a long way.”

“There’s a reason my mask covers my mouth.” Dollar waved his hand dismissively. “Mitsy, this is huge. Far bigger than I expected.”

Snap.

Dollar cracked the glossrock in half.

“What the gods!” Mitsy shot up in surprise. “What did you do that for? I thought we were going to cut shavings off of it.”

“I broke it to make it more valuable,” Dollar’s voice was calm, but his eyes revealed a hint of excitement. “The auction is in a few hours. That should be enough time.”

“Enough time for what?” Mitsy asked.

“One second.”

Dollar raised his hand and the notebook of the Unseeing appeared within it. His hands blurred as he drew several symbols out of chalk, each one a variation of the sound symbol.

[Transcriber of Reality]. Dollar spread the symbols across the room.

Thanks to his variations, the new sound symbols didn’t cut off the sound for the entire area. They only silenced the surfaces they touched. Mitsy gazed at them pensively, but Dollar knew she would only see blurs.

[Symbol Variation has reached level 9.]

The moment the room was secure, Dollar turned toward Mitsy, his eyes sparkling with glee.

“Mitsy, do you want to make sure we can win whatever appears in that auction?”

“Of course,” Mitsy answered without hesitation.

Dollar held the two broken halves of the glossrock up, envisioning a plan in his mind. “Then I’m going to need you to buy some important things for me…”

He explained what he needed, going into excruciating detail for each object.

“…And finally, I’m going to need a pair of shoes. I’m going to make an artifact to sell.”

****

The fisherman’s guild auction was being held inside the second floor of the guild tower, in a hall that was appropriately named, ‘The Auction Hall’. Dollar and Mitsy had their masks on and activated, covering their features and drawing curious eyes from passersby. Most of the clientele for the auction looked like they lived in the inner ring of the city, clad in silks and unblemished clothing that glittered with intricate designs. Other groups were armed with weapons and dressed in clothes more suited for combat than a big event. All of them had adventurer guild badges, but only tin or bronze.

A couple of them eyed Mitsy’s silver-ranked adventurer badge, their hands hovering over their weapons as a precaution.

It was a dangerous world out there.

Occasionally, someone who recognized Dollar’s masks would approach, asking when the dispensary would be back on the market. However, they only ever talked to Mitsy. They ignored Dollar when he wasn’t sitting on the artifact dispensary. Most people treated him like a child, even when he was on it.

He preferred it that way. Being underestimated held its own benefits.

At the door, Gherm, the receptionist of the fisherman’s guild, was looking at everyone who approached him like they weren’t worth his attention. His dirty cap lay atop a tangle of untidy hair, and among a sea of fine clothes and glittering jewelry, he stood out like a sore thumb.

Dollar approached the familiar lazy figure and saw a glimmer of recognition.

He knows it’s me, even with the mask. Dollar thought. It could be because of my size and voice. Or because the fisherman’s guild keeps tabs on all businesses and their employees. That wouldn’t surprise me, but it would mean the guild’s hold over Tiber City is stronger than I thought.

“Gherm,” Dollar greeted him. “Are you officiating the auction today?”

“Hey, kid. Naw, I’m just on door duty,” Gherm tapped the bronze badge lazily pinned to his chest. “What do you want? It’s three bronze coins for a better seat. Or one bronze for entry, but you get a crappy one.”

“Master Grisham asked me to put an artifact up for auction,” Dollar said, keeping his voice low. “I was told what it does, but not what it’s worth. And I don’t think it’s an ordinary minor artifact either.”

Ah, his eyes are lighting up. He knew Grisham’s name. Our reputation is spreading, Dollar thought.

Gherm’s back straightened, and the man pushed himself forward, tilting on the edge of his seat.

“One second,” Gherm said.

The guild member tapped his desk, the wood creaking under the assault of his grimy nails. Two taps. Followed by five more rapid ones. In less than ten seconds, a middle-aged woman appeared behind Gherm, exiting from the auction hall.

She had a bun of ebony-black hair with gold pins woven throughout the strands, and a flowing turquoise dress that shimmered with silver designs and finished right before a pair of blue flat-heeled shoes.

Neatly pinned onto a shoulder strap was a silver-ranked fisherman’s badge.

“Good evening, fine patrons, my name is Gravila. I’ve heard you wish to sell an artifact at our auction today.” She asked. “We can discuss it in a booth if you’d like.”

Dollar nodded, gesturing at Mitsy to join him.

“A booth?” Mitsy whispered to Dollar as he filled her in.

“We provide all our sellers a private booth for security and privacy reasons,” Gravila said, a faint smile on her lips. “It helps keep our reputation spotless.”

Mitsy flushed at the woman’s response to her whisper, but that soon disappeared as they found their way into a small room that was filled with lavish carpet, golden candelabras, and two fine sofa chairs for their weary bodies to sink into. Defensive symbol arrays covered the walls and door, none of which Dollar could pierce in a short amount of time.

This place is like Fort Knox. Dollar thought. They must get some prestigious people in here. Maybe even Parelius himself sometimes.

A shiver went down Dollar’s spine at the thought of his uncle sitting in the same booth as him. Even with a mask on, he wouldn’t want to risk it.

“Here’s a missive with the details of the artifact,” Dollar said. “List the seller as Grisham. He’s the creator, and a damned fine symbologist.”

“Grisham,” Gravila repeated the name as she took the information from Dollar. Her eyes widened a fraction as she read through the artifact’s details. “I’ve heard rumors of an esteemed symbologist in the city. He’s made quite a splash for a man who hasn’t shown his face. Perhaps you could sell me some information about him. Just the basics.”

“He said if you asked that, he would only give a five percent commission for help of sale,” Dollar smiled. “He’s a wily old fox. And yes, he also gave me further conditions to make things harder, but I can’t tell you what they are unless you accidentally fulfill the requirements.”

Gravila glowered at Dollar’s words, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. Dollar could tell that she was curious. “Forty-five percent commission is the standard. The fisherman’s guild ensures the safety of all its patrons and swift delivery of payments.”

“That won’t help Grisham much if you take half of that payment,” Dollar cracked his knuckles, ready to bargain. “Let me think. What were his exact words again? Ah, yes. No lowly countryside bumpkin division of the fisherman’s guild is going to steal my money.”

Dollar ignored Mitsy’s strangled cough as he did a perfect imitation of Grisham’s voice.

“Very well,” Gravila said. “Let’s negotiate.”

Five minutes later, Gravila left with a frown on her face, agreeing to a fifteen percent cut of the profits from the item sold. Dollar only entrusted his newest artifact to her once she had signed a contract that was overseen and guaranteed to be enforced by The System.

That was a close one. Dollar thought. I almost didn’t make it in time for the auction.

It was worth it.

Dollar smiled as he read a new notification.

[You have reached level 49.]

[You have gained a level: +10 free stat points.]

He’d received it the moment he’d finished creating the artifact.

The booth overlooked the auction room, but the area itself was more of an amphitheater than a hall, with several rows of seats all circling a single platform. Several of the items that would go up for auction first were sitting on pedestals and encased in transparent boxes shimmering with symbol arrays.

None of them would help Bill.

But I didn’t expect those to come out soon either. I’ll have to keep an eye out. Dollar thought.

“Are you thinking about all the stuff that could go wrong?” Mitsy asked.

“What?” Dollar glanced at her. “What could go wrong?”

He felt a brief flicker of worry at the thought that he’d missed something important.

“I mean, what if they try to find out who put your artifact up for auction?” Mitsy asked. “They might not believe that it’s a mysterious symbologist and go after you to force you to teach them your symbols. Or worse, they might kidnap you because they believed you. Then they’ll hold you for ransom.”

“This is an auction held by the guild. You heard what Gravila said. They won’t allow anyone to ask those kinds of questions, and even if they did, they would protect us from harm,” Dollar said, keeping his voice low despite the security in the room. “And I checked with a few of the store owners and customers. This place has a great reputation.”

The fisherman’s guild had been annoying to deal with, but that was because they knew how to run a proper business. Above all, reputation and the safety of customers were the priority for a business. A poor reputation would make or break them.

With auctions, which were always rife with suspicions and accusations, that creed held doubly true.

“But maybe someone here is curious about the artifact-making process,” Mitsy said, blinking her eyes innocently. “You should ask.”

Dollar looked around the booth. It was still empty except for the two of them.

He sighed. “Does anyone in this room have questions?”

“OH! OH! I have a question!” Mitsy waved her hand in the air, jumping onto the edge of her seat.

“Yes,” Dollar pointed at her. “Mitsy.”

“Why did it take so long to make it?” Mitsy asked. “You were working for hours today.”

Ouch. Dollar frowned. “I’ll have you know I was incredibly fast. I’m not a factory that gets to churn out hundreds of artifacts per second.”

“Right, but I was thinking about this with the darkness artifacts, too. Each one took you ages compared to drawing symbols in your notebook. Especially the bronze ones,” Mitsy said. “It only takes seconds for a single symbol. So, shouldn’t you be making an artifact every few seconds?”

“That’s not how it works. The symbols themselves aren’t the time consumers. It’s working them into a new material that’s the problem,” Dollar said. “It’s easy for me to draw or paint symbols because there’s no resistance. Even if I cut them in, say, wood, it would be quick and easy. But carving them into a core material like glossrock or gemstones is an incredibly delicate process. I have to make sure each line is perfect, and that there are no cracks or damage done. Also, if you’re working with more than one symbol, they fight for dominance, and that risks destroying both the core and casing materials. So, I have to keep telling them not to fight until the array has formed. That slows the process down immensely. Plus, each glossrock we use is a different size and shape. Which means they all have different amounts of pressure they can handle before breaking. If I don’t figure that out with careful testing, I could waste valuable materials.”

Dollar explained as carefully as he could, trying his hardest not to sound condescending. It was rare for Mitsy to ask about symbology, and he didn’t want to scare her away from asking more questions in the future. Teaching was one of the best forms of learning.

He waited for Mitsy to absorb all the information, but to his surprise, she looked ready to go immediately with another question, her hand wavering as she raised it again.

She also looked extremely nervous.

“Right, but,” Mitsy faltered, then curiosity won over any qualms she had about her next question. “You can move symbols, right? I mean, it’s common knowledge that symbologists can’t move their symbols. But I’ve seen you do it. Or at least, I think I have. Please don’t answer if you feel uncomfortable with it. I already regret asking this.”

Dollar stared at the girl who could break rocks with her bare hands. She was directly asking him about his [skills] without prompting. Which was incredibly offensive, though he was less offended than others might have been.

That could also mean that she feels our friendship is strong enough to survive the question. Dollar thought. That feels pretty good for some reason. And she’s right, symbologists can’t move symbols.

[Transcriber of Reality] was an epic-ranked [skill]. One so versatile and useful that he considered it to be on par with his legendary abilities. He doubted anybody else had it, especially given the influence of his reincarnation on his [class] options.

“Maybe I can, so what?” Dollar asked.

“So why don’t you just draw the symbols you need on something else?” Mitsy asked. “Or maybe scratch them in something easier to work with beforehand. Then you can just move them onto the artifact core. And then, bam. Instant artifact.”

Dollar froze, the gears of his mind grinding to a halt.

“That’s… Wait… Let me just…”

“Ladies and gentlemen,”

Gravila’s voice interrupted Dollar’s epiphany, drawing all eyes to the platform holding the auction items.

“I hope you’ve brought your coin and wits because this month’s guild auction is officially beginning.”