46. The Slums Are Full Of Changes
6 days until the festival. Council in session.
Proposal to amend the festival’s framework….. Unanimously accepted. Councilor Izold Asfreck proposes to fast-track the voting of amendments in order to save time…. Unanimously accepted.
Amendments:
- Lock REDACTED behind a one-time payment of REDACTED. Accepted.
- Limit the trading of REDACTED behind a paywall. Accepted.
- Set the REDACTED reward to a single REDACTED per REDACTED. Accepted.
- Offer a different REDACTED (with associated buy-in cost) per Floor. Accepted.
- Restrict loot tables to only award food and water from loot orbs for the duration of the festival in order to save on mana. Accepted.
- Set the one-time payment to unlock the REDACTED at 10 REDACTED. Rejected.
- Set the one-time payment to unlock the REDACTED at 10 000 REDACTED. Rejected.
- Set the one-time payment to unlock the REDACTED at 100 REDACTED. Accepted.
- Allow killing of sapients to award REDACTED. Accepted.
- Completely shut off loot orbs to force residents of the Tower to purchase food from the festival’s REDACTED. Vote tied. *Tie broken by Speaker of the Council, Frankie. Rejected. Call for arbitration overruled by Speaker Frankie.
- Show every REDACTED in the REDACTED, but only show the item’s name and description once REDACTED. Accepted.
The Council shall reconvene tomorrow.
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Fortunately, I wasn’t murdered overnight. I released my death grip from my Slime King’s Servant’s Nephew’s Necklace and stood up to stretch out my sore muscles. Looking around, I noted that nothing much had changed on Floor 1. Still slimes, slimes and more slimes. I peered up at the sky, failing to spot any of the clouds that Burt had pointed out earlier in the week. With a shrug, I summoned Slimey and swept across the floor. As I traveled, I wondered if we were having any impact on the floors at all. The dimming of the lights in the lower floors had me doubting our struggles. Slimes flew by and were swallowed up by Slimey in a neverending torrent. There was, at least, an impact on my wallet. A decent amount of white loot orbs and two green loot orbs found their way into my summon’s gullet by the time we made it to the portal to Floor 0. I hopped out and started sorting through the loot before continuing forwards.
A pair of socks, a pair of boots, two training swords, three water skins, a slime pot and a large pile of copper coins later, I had redeemed all of the loot from the slime-generated white loot orbs. I stored everything but the copper coins, keeping them in case I had time to spend them in whatever was left of Market Alley. I made Slimey spit out the five green slime orbs that he was holding, looting three silver coins, a small bag and a slime card.
Then, I had the two white loot orbs dropped by the goblin spearmen. I poked the first, gaining what I was pretty sure was a chunk of metal. Probably iron. The second orb manifested a small brown bag. I passed my thumb over the material, figuring it was a sort of light leather. Satisfied, I put them inside of Slimey’s storage, not wanting to use the bag until Josh had time to increase its durability.
I looked around the portal for any signs of the tunnel that Pyro had constructed, but couldn’t spot anything out of place. I shrugged, figuring he had closed it while preparing for the raid. Clearing that from my mind, I dismissed Slimey with a thought, took a breath, then entered the Slums.
I gawked at the sight that greeted me. Instead of the usual drab square, I had appeared in front of a reception desk, equipped with a receptionist, a stack of paper and a cup of what smelled like herbal tea. I was in a small wooden building with a few empty tables, the desk, a doorway behind the desk that led to a room packed with papers and shelves from what I could see, and two closed doors, one on either side of me.
“Crest, please,” the smartly dressed man said, evidently bored. When I didn’t move, he cocked an eye at me, looking me over. “First timer?”
I nodded slowly, confused. “The, uh… Last time… Uh… You see, last time I was here, well… Are we in the Slums?” I asked suavely.
The receptionist, whose name was Gim according to his nametag, nodded. “Yes. The portal pops out at the same spot, we simply redecorated. Please, come forward and sign in. You have a few options, depending on what your purpose is, here on Floor Zero.” Gim smoothed out his black coat sleeves and took out some more papers from under the desk. Once he had equipped a monocle, he gestured to me with his pen. I approached warily.
“Merchant, climber or farmer?” He asked. When I simply puffed out my cheeks, he elaborated. “If your goal is to buy and sell between floors, you need a merchant’s license. It’s five silvers per month, but lets you enter and exit without paying taxes on the goods you bring in or out. You still need to pay a silver each time you reenter the floor, however. A climber’s license costs a single payment of five silvers and lets you leave for free once per week with a party of four to push higher into the Tower. You must register your gear before leaving and accept to be scanned upon reentry. We charge a flat 25% tax on the total value of goods accrued, minus any items expended or members lost. A farmer’s license costs five coppers per month and allows you to leave and reenter without being charged, but you must pay a 30% tax on any items brought back into the floor, no matter if you had brought them out with you or not.”
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I took a moment to think over each option, asking a few clarifying questions. Gim answered patiently, probing gently when he could to figure out where I had been in the few days since the Blood Oats had set up this new system. I admitted that I had been bouncing between Floor 1 and Floor 2, but avoided elaborating about where I had slept. He nodded politely and ignored my avoiding of his questions, rubbing his clean shaven chin as we discussed the options.
“I think I’ll go for the farmer’s license,” I stated, finally making my decision. I could always change licenses, anyway, for the monetary difference between my license and the upgrade option. Gim nodded sagely as if I had made a wise decision.
“Good, good. I’ll just have you sign here, here, here and here. I’ll take the payment aaaand there you have it! A Guild-certified sigil.” I tried not to smirk at the man as I accepted the thin metal rectangle from him. The “Guild” was the official name of the organization created by the mishmash of gangs that had banded together under the rule of the Blood Queen, or the Red Lady as she was now known.
“Now, all we have left is a scan, your tax payment, and you’re free to go.” With that, Gim the receptionist took out a dusty-looking large square tablet and stepped out from around the desk. He placed it onto the ground and took a step back. “Please step onto the scanner. It will simply analyze your gear and check it against our price database. From there, you will be required to pay your 30% tax.”
I suppressed both a grumble and a grin as I stepped onto the scanner. 30% of the entire value of what I was wearing every time I stepped into the Slums seemed like robbery, but I guessed it was better than being shot at. Plus, I had a feeling that the scanner wouldn’t pick up anything that Slimey was carrying since he wasn’t technically on my person. The square stone glowed slightly as a line of blue light traveled up my body, from the tips of my boots to the tips of the strands of my hair, then back down again. After the scan was finished, Gim checked the readings and read off a sheet from behind the desk.
“Thirty percent of the total value of your standard clothing, plus your coins and the… Oh my, a rare amulet. That’s quite exciting, indeed! Hm… We don’t seem to have its value on file… ” He flipped through a few folders before finding the entry he was looking for. “Ah! Jewelry… Defensive… Rare… Mmmhm… A discount… Your total taxes come to sixty-three copper coins.”
I reconsidered my gratitude and my grin while I counted out my payment. After paying the man, I had a mere six copper coins left! It was unreal.
“What happens if I can’t pay?” I asked, frowning. Gim smiled politely as he answered.
“We accept payment in gear and items, as well. No worries.”
Like hell they would. If I hadn’t kept coins on me, the rat bastard would probably have tried to take my necklace from me. With a strained smile, I thanked the man and left through the door to my right, brushing past a group of ragtag adventurers that were nervously clutching their weapons and checking their armor, evidently gearing up for a delve.
I emerged into the familiar square, ignoring the mumbles of the crowd and the burbling of water in the nearby fountain as I made my way down alley after alley. There were more people about, though the atmosphere felt much less tense than the last time I had been in the Slums. People seemed to be gathering in groups to head through the portal instead of ganging up and plotting to nab some unearned wealth. There were even people out and about, wandering seemingly aimlessly through the streets. It made me nervous. The Slums had seen spurts of uneasy peace, but this amount of order was new.
I was hopeful, but skeptical. It had to be artificial. Maybe the people were being coerced in a way. Or they were gang members just pretending to be nice. Or… I didn’t know, and it worried me. Plus, with the Church secretly sacrificing people… It must be some sort of façade. I mistrustfully slunk from alley to alley, looking for a good place to hide, but there were people around every corner. Finally, I saw my opportunity. There was a sewer entrance halfway down an alleyway. I walked down the alley, hooked a right, went up the next cramped road and doubled back. I repeated my circuit until there was nobody in sight. I rushed the manhole, popped the rusty cover off and scrambled down the ladder, letting the cover fall back in place above me.
My foot slipped as I missed a rung, sending me splashing down into the sludge below. I resisted the urge to gag as I scraped the unknown substance from my face. It didn’t work, as my hands were also covered in grime. Hastily, I summoned Slimey, activated my necklace and jumped into his loving green embrace. The gunk sizzled as it was digested by my slime, leaving me clean once more. Smirking, I directed my summoned monster to sweep around the narrow tunnel, mopping up the filth before I exited his protection once more. Slimey was like a super cleaner, happily eradicating any traces of excrement and other nasty fluids almost instantaneously.
Taking a step back, I reached into Slimey’s storage space and took out my last crêpe, wolfing it down quickly as I sent my slime to clean the sewers. He happily burbled as he sped off, leaving clean stone in his wake. I felt energy suffuse my body once more, but weaker than before. Clearly, the crêpe’s magical properties had worn off slightly. Still, my mana skyrocketed and I felt spiritually refreshed in a way that a rough night’s rest couldn’t contend with. I hastily summoned my demon, smiling tentatively at the blob of her form in the darkness as she appeared.
“Hey Ssssuuuup, my, uh… What’s up, my frie… Ahem. Hello, Rella,” I fumbled, raising a hand in greeting. I was met with a whole lot of charged silence. I gestured around us uselessly. “No questions, go for it.” She grunted slightly, brushed past me and started up the ladder. As the demon reached up and cracked open the manhole cover, she looked down at me in the faded beam of light that washed into the sewers. She gave me what was almost a smile and a crisp nod before she disappeared above, plunging the sewers back into darkness.
Without much to do other than wait, I recalled Slimey and decided to go exploring. I activated my necklace raced down the tunnels, slurping up miles of sludge as we went. Eventually, we shot out of the sewers and found ourselves in the stagnant river where I had first found the Awakening Stones that started our journey. I slowed us down, taking care to fully eradicate the gunk. I grew slightly nostalgic as I saw Slimey digest small scraps of metal. Those had been my only source of income for years before I had earned my class. I had been forced to spend my days magnet fishing in the hopes of my next meal. It really wasn’t all that bad when it panned out, but the constant uncertainty was demoralizing.
I paused as we came upon a wreckage. A familiar-looking cart sat at the bottom of the river, poking out at the edges of Slimey’s body. I slowly uncovered the cart, letting the sludge slough onto us as I stared, trying to see if anything was left. I found a medium-sized box at the bottom of the cart and yoinked it into Slimey’s storage before moving on and obliterating more of the filth. I wondered if I would eventually find water or if semi-gelatinous waste was all that jiggled downstream. I continued cleaning until I was interrupted by a prompt.
[https://imgur.com/ptbvUvd][https://i.imgur.com/ptbvUvd.png]
Congratulations, Théo. Class milestone reached: 100% soul strength with both monsters in your Bestiary. Your ability, Summon, has been upgraded to rank 3. How do you wish to proceed?
Option 1: Shatter the cage? No. You ARE the cage. Force it to bend to your will. (Cookie crumb of knowledge: your Bestiary will be affected).
Option 2: Up, up, up, up! (Cookie crumb of knowledge: ain’t no time like uptime).