On Earth, Dollar’s grandmother had always called fate a fickle thing because nobody was above it. Which meant nobody could punish it. Unshackled, and unattended, it would often be blamed for the worst moments of a person's life, and claimed to have been bested during their greatest triumphs. Dollar had always resented his terrible upbringing, but he couldn’t afford to waste time turning to fate to blame. When the chill of a frosty night bit into him and the hunger of a week of starvation gnawed at his mind, action was his survival, not questions. His solutions often weren’t very elegant, and none could be considered the greatest schemes, but when success only needed a bit of strength to unlock, its key didn’t need to be refined.

If fate decreed that he was to be sent to hell, he would make sure it froze over first to give him a softer landing.

Dollar paused at the Gherm’s words. “Worrying too much about your future is a terrible thing when you might not survive the coming week,”

Bill let out a low, grating oink beside him. The grec trotted back and forth, the carpeted floorboards letting out muffled thumps as he looked back toward the marketplace, his green horn lowering protectively, and Dollar gave him a pat on the head to calm him down, but only reached his neck.

Gherm stepped back toward the reception desk and leaned against the wooden top comfortably. Today’s auction was a rousing success. The foreign factions, Uinso Tiberius, the five guilds, and the Unseeing. All of them were serious contenders for the symbol within the lake, and each was intent on pursuing it. That knowledge was valuable and in a guild where information was king, Dollar knew that the man was sure to gain favor. He might even be promoted.

Which meant that Gherm was in a good mood.

“Those are serious words,” Gherm said.

“It’s a serious situation,” Dollar replied.

“Oink,” Bill nodded in agreement, his horn bobbing up and down.

Gherm stroked his chin, his gaze pensive as he glanced at Dollar. “You’re lucky it was Ayia that was leading them. That means there’s less of a chance that your entire life has been derailed. She’s still just a candidate and from what I know she’s probably only at her first class evolution. That means she can’t use her powers fully yet. I hope.”

That means she’s at least level 75 since that’s the threshold for gaining a class evolution. Dollar thought. And I’ll be there soon. Wait. My mum was a candidate too. But she didn’t do all this weird stuff. Or maybe that’s because she was just an acolyte. I should find out if there’s a difference.

Dollar could see the notebook of the Unseeing and saw its orange eye looking back up at him. Then it lowered its gaze and returned back to normal.

Does mum have one of those too? He recalled the bronze band he’d seen in Ayia’s pocket.

“How do you know that she’s still a candidate?” Dollar asked.

Gherm shuddered.

“Because they haven’t dug out her eyes.”

“Oink?” Bill stepped back, his eyes widening in surprise.

The hallways went silent as Dollar paused. His mask felt uncomfortably warm over his face as he took in the man’s words. The two Unseeing flanking Ayia had been blinded by fabrics, but he hadn’t known what lay underneath them.

All he could remember now was the image of the aura-figure within Ayia’s pupils, with both of its eyes missing.

“On that pleasant note, I believe our business is concluded,” Gherm said, breaking the silence.

Dollar shook his head. “Not quite. I’ll need a room to—Oh. Interesting.”

He looked over his shoulder, gazing into the bustling streets leading to the five guilds of the city of Tiber. Two auras greeted him. One belonged to Tuhoa, the butler of the Unseeing, who had followed him from the marketplace. The other was a faint flicker of light hidden behind an alleyway, and Dollar’s lips curled into a grin. He had kept his [Aura Sense] ability activated the entire time, but only now had he noticed the second pursuer.

“I’ll need two rooms,” Dollar said with certainty. “You will confirm my transaction with Tuhoa, as well as the commission. Then I’ll need a room for privacy.”

“Taking orders from a kid,” Gherm sighed. “When did I become this nice?”

That wasn’t a no. Dollar noted with interest. I thought he’d ask for a fee. But maybe the auction changed that. Or the chance of meeting with one of the Unseeing’s attendants is worth the foregone coins.

Gherm pushed himself off the desk and gestured at Dollar. “Come on, one room will do both and more. We value our customer’s privacy and will even allow you to activate any noise canceling artifacts you may have.”

“Then I wouldn’t be able to hear myself speak,” Dollar replied.

“Right,” Gherm shot him a look. “Because no symbologist at the level of your master ever thought of a failsafe to their own devices.”

Bill oinked amusedly at the exchange, trotting alongside Dollar happily as they made their way through the corridors. When they reached the room, Dollar was surprised to feel the faint humming of symbols fading away, replaced by the tingling sensation of energy trickling over his skin.

“Don’t worry if you can’t sense symbols. We use magic,” Gherm said. “It’s far trickier to dismiss or bypass than symbol arrays.”

“A smart choice,” Dollar said. “And I see my esteemed customer is already here.”

Tuhoa was already inside the room.

“Ength,” Tuhoa bowed low. “It is an honor to greet you today.”

“At ease, Tuhoa,” Dollar raised his hand placatingly. “An elderly man such as yourself shouldn’t be bowing to someone like me. Especially not one in your honored position.”

Tuhoa rose with a smile, and Dollar ignored the pair of confused opal eyes beside him as Bill snorted. He could tell the grec was shocked by the whiplash between his normal self and his nice words and demeanor, and Bill looked at him like he was a stranger.

There’s a time to be overbearing and obstinate, and a time to be nice. Dollar chuckled at the uni-pig’s antics. In time I’ll teach you when to use each.

A soft breeze brushed against Dollar as Tuhoa raised his hands, revealing a storage box clasped within. The old man opened the box gently, and gold coins spilled out, accompanied by two sets of gloves and shoes.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Seeing the gold sent a spike of joy through Dollar’s heart, but he focused on the most important object. A single core material lay within the storage box, a bright blue gemstone cut into four equal pieces.

“I see two sets of gloves and boots here, but Master Grisham has only agreed to make one Magician’s Bane,” Dollar warned. “He will always welcome more commissions, but I must speak to him before agreeing to anything more.”

“We mean him no offense,” Tuhoa responded. “They are backups in case anything should go wrong. When the commission is completed, place it within this.”

The butler took something out from the storage box, and Dollar was surprised to see that it was an identical, smaller, box. Dollar didn’t know what it was, but he couldn’t admit that in front of a customer. Luckily, Bill and Gherm were equally confused, and they didn’t have a mask to hide their emotions.

Tuhoa chuckled at Gherm’s and the grec’s confusion.

“Ah, I believe these are more common in the central continent. This is a storage unit. The artifact will deliver the contents placed within it to this storage box,” Tuhoa explained. “Once the commission is satisfied, the storage unit will be recalled to the owner’s storage box.”

Huh. Instant delivery. Dollar took the small box and examined it nonchalantly, making sure to contain his excitement in front of the others. I could use this. No. I could use the symbols used to create this.

Dollar didn’t store the box, choosing to place it by his side instead. He didn’t expect to be robbed by the Unseeing, but placing a storage unit that could transport objects into the place where he stored his most valuable items was a security risk he wasn’t willing to take.

“Fascinating,” Gherm said. “Now then, shall we confirm the payment and the system contract?”

[Contract Warning: Gherm (Fisherman’s Guild) wishes to establish an overview of commission agreement with you. View terms? Y/N.]

“Of course,” Tuhoa nodded. With a wave of his hand the System notifications flashed by, each new modification fleshing out the terms of the contract.

Uncertainty pierced his expression as he reached the payment section, and his forehead creased with concern. “However, I have…received another form of payment to offer you, should you wish to accept it.”

Dollar tilted his head. “Oh?”

“Ahem,” Tuhoa once again opened his storage box.

A heavy thud shook the ground as a suit of armor appeared, and Dollar’s words caught in his throat.

Is that made out of what I think it is? Dollar stared at the armor.

“Mistress Ayia Tiberius commissioned this several months ago in anticipation of her brother Jasper’s heir ceremony,” Tuhoa said. “Unfortunately, the mistress has never been too close to her brothers. She realized too late that Jasper had no interest in fighting or armor. As such, she’s given me “

Normally, Dollar would have been insulted. Ayia Tiberius was offering him forgotten scraps instead of gold, and her reputation meant that declining the gift could be seen as a slight against her. But there was an undercurrent to Tuhoa’s tone that gave Dollar pause.

Dollar’s eyes roaming over each piece of the armor and his fingers feeling out the grooves.For months he’d face challenges and difficulties, and many times the thought of donning a suit of armor had crossed his mind. The only issues he’d had was that the commissions would be too expensive, and they would take too long. But with the core materials of a golem in his hands, bronze armor was exactly what he needed. Gold coins were a means to an end, and in front of him was the destination.

His fingers froze as he finally figured out what was bugging him. Without hesitation, he donned the shoulder sections of the armor, leaving it unclasped, and frowned. Similar tests with the other pieces had the same result.

Every piece of the armor fit him perfectly. It had been crafted with his exact size in mind. And his exact measurements.

Ayia couldn’t have commissioned this for Jasper. He’s far taller than I am, and skinnier. Dollar thought. How long has my cousin had her eyes on me? And what has she seen?

“You would have Master Grisham accept this instead of the gold?” Dollar asked.

Tuhoa held his hands out hopelessly. “I cannot fathom the whims of the mistress. I apologize if this should insult him.”

“On the contrary, I think he’ll be overjoyed. This was one of the few items he listed as being acceptable payment,” Dollar’s eyes narrowed. “He has been speaking of making me armor, but he has never had the time to wait for a commission to be completed.”

Bronze armor was a rarity in Tiber City. The material itself was mostly bought by House Tiberius for their golems, creating a scarcity. The price of the materials was high, but what was more important was the fact that it was a blank canvas. Infinite possibilities for artifacts popped into Dollar’s mind.

Dollar knew that this was an offer he couldn’t refuse, which was exactly why he was hesitating.

“Very well,” his words were sharp as daggers. “I will accept Ayia’s gift on my master’s behalf. You may keep your coins.”

Tuhoa breathed a sigh of relief as Dollar tapped on the System’s messages, confirming the details of the contract and triple checking them. Beside him, Bill nudged his horn against the air as the grec poked at the System messages curiously. The grec opened his jaw and bit at the blue box, and Dollar watched with amusement as Bill discovered that the boxes in his vision weren’t something he could gnaw on.

The armor disappeared as Dollar placed it into his storage ring, followed by the core materials and clothing, but the expected notifications didn’t appear.

I don’t own these items. Dollar noted. It didn’t matter. As soon as he crafted the armor into an artifact, it would be his to own.

“The transaction will be completed when the Magician's Bane is received,” Gherm said. “And the guild will get a notification as well.”

Everyone nodded, including Bill, and with a final slam of the storage box, Tuhoa left the room. The elderly man looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders,

There were no worries that Dollar would take the materials and run off. The System was the ultimate guard, and it would ensure total and absolute fairness.

All is equal under its eyes, I just have to learn how to use that equality for my benefit, Dollar thought.

“Is that everything?” Gherm asked, a slight twinkle in his eye. He was enjoying the view as he watched over the proceedings.

Dollar shook his head, and Bill glanced at him, the grec’s confusion growing stronger.

“I’ll need the room for a private meeting,” Dollar said. “Don’t worry about the other party. They’ll arrive shortly.”

“Huh,” Gherm gazed at Dollar. “As a respected customer, you’re free to use the room. Nobody can see or listen in on you within these walls, but may I ask, is this Master Grisham?”

Dollar met Gherm’s gaze calmly. “In return for telling me about the Unseeing, I agreed to answer two questions about my master. Do you want this to be your first?”

“No,” Gherm said. “I don’t.”

With those words spoken, Gherm stepped toward the door, pausing as Bill trotted aside to let him through.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ask me anything?” Dollar asked. “My master is a fickle man. I may not be here in time.”

Gherm waved his hand dismissively as he walked through the door. “I’ll save my questions for later. Information like this only grows more valuable with time. And if it doesn’t, well, that’s no skin off my back.”

“Smart choice,” Dollar replied, but he was already focused on the next guest he would be entertaining.

Now then, are you going to come straight in? Dollar wondered. He had seen a person waiting for him outside of the fisherman’s guild, but he refused to meet them out there. Meet me within the guild or not at all. I won’t forgo protection just for curiosity’s sake.

“Oink?” Bill asked.

The grec nudged Dollar’s side, right where the storage box was, and his opal eyes took on a puppy-like shine.

“No. You can’t eat it.” Dollar bonked Bill on the nose. “I don’t care what symbols it has.”

Bill whined, but then stopped. With a curious twirl he turned toward the door, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air of the hallway.

“Oink,” Bill stepped forward. “Oink.”

“Yeah, I see them too,” Dollar replied.

Dollar rose, straightening his stance, and his confident expression hid his unease as a figure walked out of the hallway and into the room, a lean hand clasping a brown hood over their face. They had a skinny frame, and their nails were stained with dried ink. Most suspiciously, Dollar could feel symbols calling out to him from underneath the person’s robe.

When they lifted their hood, two golden eyes and waves of sandy hair greeted him.

“Ength, or s-should I call y-you Dollar,” the boy asked. “I-I like the mask.”

“It’s been a while, Jasper,” Dollar’s voice echoed across the room.

In front of him stood the heir to House Tiberius.