Bearn: …While I may not be able to give you all of that, what I can do is offer you something else that may prove of more potential value.
Darren: Oh? And what’s that?
Bearn slyly leans forward to the group, holding one of his hand pointing up and winks one of his eyes,
“Credit.”
Darren: …What?
Victor: Credit?
Sharon: What’s that?
Bearn: It’s the currency that is used in the kingdoms of Graphine. Some nations and kingdoms have their own currency system such as Kamfvais in Odale. For Graphine, there are cities that strictly use credit, so coins would hold no value if you folks were ever to go visit.
Sharon: Okay, but then what if we never go there? Having credit would be useless on our person now until then.
Bearn crosses his arms, wagging his pointer finger: Non, non, non! That isn’t the case at all! Haven’t you heard of currency exchange?
Queenie: ….I see.
Victor: Hm? What?
Queenie: It’s exactly how it sounds. Exchanging currency for another. While you guys may not need the credit now, there are others who do and will be willing to exchange their currency for it. In this scenario, you’d most likely exchange the credit for coins.
Victor: Hmmm. So trading and bartering eh…?
Queenie: Of course, that value will depend on the exchange ratio between credits and coins.
Bearn raises his brow: Hmmm, I’ll let you know now, there’s been an influx of demand for these credits, and its value will only grow even higher. Why you may ask? Why…Not only is Graphine the leading nation in technology–
The group except Queenie receives a huge dose of deja vu. His tone and direction of his speech remind them of Dr. Crogsbell.
Bearn: –But we are also number one in the entertainment industry! Thus, tourists flock to our places in droves! There’s a trend now saying that it’s every person’s dream to visit Graphine at least once. I, too, strongly urge you folks to come visit us! You should go to Los Belt and visit me in the future!
Queenie: Everything he says is accurate. Last time I checked, the average exchange rate for 1 credit was 5 gold coins.
Sharon: Isn’t that quite a lot…?!
Darren: If you were to have 200,000 credits, you’d be able to exchange that for 1,000,000 gold coins. So that’s not bad.
Tatsuo: Now the question is, how much credit are you willing to give us?
A grin forms on Bearn’s face. “How much of it do you want? Pick a number.”
Victor: …Errr…What?
Sharon: No….Don’t tell me…
Bearn: Like I said, state a number, any number, and it’s a deal.
Tatsuo: Are you suggesting that you have a limitless amount of credit?
Victor: Wha–...! No way…!
Bearn: I very well do. As one of Otis’ close assistant, I am granted many special privileges…And who do you think came up with the credit system…?
Tatsuo: Wow. What a narcissist. - Sharon and Victor look at Tatsuo stunned, taken aback by his comment.
Tatsuo: Either way, accepting his offer is not for us to decide.
Tatsuo turns to face Queenie - “These magic crystals are yours. You decide what you want to do with them.”
Queenie takes a moment to think to herself.
Queenie: “…10 billion credits. If you can provide me 10 billion in credit, then you can have half a crate.”
The group eagerly cheered for Queenie.
A content smile curls on Bearn’s face, “ And done.”
Bearn takes out a black card, and a holographic image appears. Bearn brings his hand and begins typing on the holographic platform. The group watches in interest, unable to discern what Bearn was doing.
Victor: Huh…It kinda looks the same thing from what we saw the people at the guild hubs do.
“Yes, the guild database stems from the same technology as ours. We helped create the infrastructure for them.” -Afterwards, the projection disperses, and Bearn hands over the black card to Queenie.
Bearn: Here you go, take this card. It contains 10 billion credits on there. Would you like me to show you how to use it?
Queenie: No, it’s okay. I already know how. I’ve had experience.
Victor shakes in excitement: T-t-t-t-ten B-b-b-billion…R-repeat that five times more…!
Darren: So fifty billion in coins if we were to just exchange all of it. It’s possible we could get more depending on the exchange rate now or later, and who we exchange it with…Like some rich person who’s planning on going to Graphine.
Sharon: Wow~! We’re so rich now! Now we no longer have to do those quests to make back our money! Ever!
Darren asks Bearn, “Are you sure this is okay…? Wouldn’t this throw off the balance of the economy…?” Bearn responds back that it’s ok, so long it’s a one time occasion.
The group breaks a marble and hands over the magic crystals to Bearn.
Tatsuo: Would you be alright with this? Do you need help moving them?
Bearn raises his hand, “Thank you for the concern, but I came here with a group, so there’s no need.”
Multiple men arrive to holster away the magic crystals. Bearn turns to face the entire group – “Thank you all so much…! You have no idea how important these crystals are to us…! Feel free to visit us at Los Belt, that way I can thank you even more! It was a delight meeting you all!”
“Oh…NO – I think you’ve already done waaay more than enough for us…” Darren says in sheer delight.
The group bids farewell to Bearn, and begin to walk away from each other. Bearn then suddenly remembers something.
Bearn calls out to Tatsuo, grabbing his attention – “Ah, sorry, young boy…!”
The group stops at a halt.
Bearn: I’m so sorry…But there’s something I want to ask of you really fast…
Bearn: Does “Earth” sound familiar to you…?
Tatsuo takes a moment to think and blinks to himself.
Tatsuo: …
Tatsuo: No it does not. No clue what that is.
Bearn: Ah…! Is that so…Here I thought you’d be the same as some people I know…Sorry, please ignore me. I believe I’ve already rambled on far enough. Well then, farewell folks!
With that, the two parties depart from each other.
One of the people from Bearn’s group walks up to him: Heh, what was that all about? Did something about him catch your attention?
Bearn: Yes. That boy…He’s…Fascinating. I scanned him earlier with my glasses. He has a mix of some interesting energy surrounding him, some of it that the glasses couldn’t register.
Group Member: Huh? No ways! Something that even our latest magic deciphering system can’t comprehend?! Out here in Irene?
Bearn: While we may have progressed a lot over the past years, there is still a lot that we don’t know about. That thing that he was holding in particular seems to have a mysterious energy laying dormant.
Group member: …? What was he holding? I’ve forgotten what it looks like.
Bearn: It was some rocky figure shaped in a small pillar, possibly an ancient relic. Besides the exterior properties, the glasses picked up a faint energy reading as well as a sound coming from within it, but it’s all vague. I‘ve come up with some speculations, but with the ample information received, it’d be foolish to try to garner a guess as to what it may be. By extension, this further authenticates the boy being a special individual as he was the only one to covet the item. It’s quite possible that thing he has was the most valuable purchase in today’s auction. Now, the boy though…He’s even more interesting.
“The glasses couldn’t read anything from the boy himself.”
Group member: Ho~...! I get it now…! He’s the same as Otis then. So that’s why you asked him about Earth.
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Bearn: Non. Not quite... Individuals that don’t belong in this realm…They turn up empty when the glasses tries to read them. But when I try reading the boy, his status turns up as invalid.
The member lets out a chuckle, “That reminds me when I heard you first tried the glasses on Otis. He thought you had broke the stuff already. But something’s confusing me. You just said that you could see some stuff surrounding the boy, but he’s…invalid?”
Bearn: Well…The thing is…If the glasses is met with some form of challenge analyzing something, it would either give me some sort of base information, such as it did with the relic the boy was holding, or it would just simply tell me that it’s unidentifiable. If it scans a person from a different realm such as Otis, then the analysis function becomes moot; and these just become regular glasses. For the boy’s case, all three are happening at once. Very minute features can be picked up from the glasses barely, but for the most part, nothing pops up. It doesn’t even register that he has body parts, such as arms, legs,a torso… Apparent features that the glasses should be able to read, yet are not labeled.
Group Member: So unlike Otis where it just doesn’t work on him, it can read the boy, but not properly.
Bearn: Exactly.
“That boy…He’s an anomaly.”
Bearn: It’s almost as if he belongs in this world…But at the same time he’s not. He’s like a paradox…
“Huhm…” - The group member says in a lost tone.
Group member: Well, maybe this time you actually broke those glasses!
Bearn lightly shoves the member: You…! Don’t joke about that! He’d ban me from the lab again if that actually happens…!
The group member lets out a teasing chuckle.
Bearn also ponders to himself, thinking aloud: “But it’s not just that boy…. “ – Queenie then pops up in Bearn’s head, “That girl…She’s also…”
He thinks to himself in his head, ‘I refrained myself from saying anything out of politeness, but now I’m really regretting it…’ His heart begins to race as he is reminded of the evaluation the glasses showed him. Gears began churning in his head at the thought of his discovery, ‘She…Is the most impressive organism that I have…No…Perhaps the world has ever, or will ever, see…! Those 10 billion credits pale in comparison to what she can do…!’ Bearn shakes his head in order to release himself from getting too self-absorbed.
“Hm. What a very interesting group.”
***
On the way out, the group encounters Lucius, who seemed to have been waiting for them.
Victor: Oh hey, it’s that dude again…The one that helped us out at the entrance…What was his name again…?
Tatsuo: Lucius.
Darren: Yeah, the bigshot.
Lucius notices the approaching group, “Ah, we meet again. How did you like the auction?”
image [https://i.imgur.com/l8UM51F.png]
Victor: It was great!
Sharon: Yes, we learned a lot of things from it. Very insightful.
Darren: On the other hand, you didn’t even bother to introduce yourself to us. Why didn’t you tell us who you were?
Lucius: Hm? Did you find out?…Sorry about that, I’m not one to eagerly expose my position as it may place myself in danger. I also didn’t want to alarm you young folks as well.
Lucius: But I’m glad to hear you all enjoyed it. I was actually hoping to see you all again.
The group gets taken aback a little by his words, “...Oh wow…What an honor…?” - Sharon says awkwardly.
Darren: Yeah, what makes you want to see us?
Lucius: No…It’s just that earlier I saw you all caught the attention of Mr. Otis’s assistant, and that aroused my interest in you lot.
Sharon: Huh? Was that guy really that important?
Darren: I guess being associated with that Otis person must make you special. Connections, am I right?
Lucius: Well, Mr. Otis is one of the leading inventors of this era so he has quite the reputation. He and his group has also been a benefactor in creating the Guild Association’s technology.
Lucius: But putting that topic aside, I’d like to get to know more about you all. You said you were, err…Geld, correct?
“O-oh…! Uhm…Yes!…That’s…Who…we….are…” As Sharon admits her sentence, her voice slowly whittles down in embarrassment, the same with her body posture.
Lucius: Right. I’ve noticed it myself, but you all look awfully young…It’s rather surprising. Is this all of your members?
“U-uh…! Yes! It is!” Sharon, mentally panics as she stresses about how Lucius will judge them and their guild.
“What? But on the roster, I see the name Hen–” Sharon instantly clamps her hands onto Darren’s mouth shut.
Sharon whispers to him in an intimidating tone: “Please don’t bring up that name. At the very least, not here…Not now…”
Darren’s pupil slides over to Victor, who shakes his head at him and shrugs. He, too, has no clue what’s the deal with Sharon’s behavior. On that note, the both of them have now begun to wonder again just who was this Henteko person?
Lucius: I see. I take it then that you’ve made this guild just recently?
Sharon: Yes! Uh…! Err…It was about 2 months ago…
Lucius: Oh. Very recent. And you’re all from here?
Sharon: Uh! Well…
Darren interjects himself. “Man…What’s with the interrogation? Yes, we’re all from here.” - Darren reasons in his head that he’s actually not sure about Queenie, but assumes that she’s the same.
Lucius: Oh, so sorry if I’m making you all feel uncomfortable. Like I said, I’ve just taken an interest in you all as you're an unusual bunch. A small adolescent group clearing full boards off a guild hub and gaining the attention of a man who works closely with a world renown figure? As chancellor of the Guild Association, I feel delighted at the thought of all of your potential…But at the same time worried….
Sharon: Uhm…! We’ll do our best, and hope to meet your expectations– no, we’ll exceed it!
Lucius smiles encouragingly at them. “Yes. Do keep surprising me.”
Tatsuo: If you’re the chancellor, then let me ask you a question.
Lucius pauses, curious as to what inquiry the boy has with him.
Tatsuo: Do you know anything about a person named Veloren Aund Gerfuden?
For the group, they found it odd that Tatsuo would ask the chancellor of the guild association that question. Perhaps it was a question Tatsuo sought to ask in vain. However, it finally clicked for both Victor and Sharon to figure out why Tatsuo actively chose to ask Lucius this question. The two of them remember the findings they uncovered back at the Pillberry guild hub.
Tatsuo: According to what we found at a guild hub, there’s a guild dedicated to this person. The receptionist said that his information was manually inputted into the system, and that only people of the higher echelons of the guild association are capable of doing that. As chancellor of the guild association, you must be one of those people.
The implication that they may get disclosure of the mysterious being Tatsuo has been searching for drives their heart to beat in anticipation.
Lucius looks cluelessly back at Tatsuo. “...I–I’m sorry…” He stutters. “But I don’t recall anyone by that name…”
“I’m sorry to say…But…I truly don’t know…” He says in apologetic earnesty. The pauses in his sentence inferred effort in an attempt to think of anything.
Just like that, Victor and Sharon were let down once again, as their hopes were smothered in disappointment.
Lucius: What a peculiar topic you’ve brought up…It’s strange how I never knew about this.
Lucius tilts his head up, thinking to himself, ‘The only one who could hold privy intel from me would be Eduardo, since he’s the head of the guild alliance…I’ll probably ask him about it when I see him next time…Well, if I remember.’
Lucius: I’m sorry, but you said the person you were looking for was…Called Veloren, correct?
Tatsuo: Yep. Veloren Aund Gerfuden.
Lucius takes out a notepad and begins to jot down the name onto it. “Thank you. I will look into the matter myself when I have the time.” He ponders to himself if he even wrote the name correctly.
Tatsuo: Thanks. I guess you weren’t that important of a person after all, huh.
Victor and Darren cover their mouth, stifling their laughter while Sharon chides Tatsuo for his uncouth behavior toward Lucius; like a mother scolding her child for doing something they aren’t supposed to do.
Lucius returns Tatsuo’s crass comment with a friendly smile, “Heh. No…No I guess not.”
With that, Lucius breaks away from the group.
***
Sharon lets out a huge relieving sigh. She then turns to face the rest of the group in excitement.
Sharon: Oh my gosh…! Did that actually just happen…?! He said we have potential!
Tatsuo: Yep. That is what he said to us.
Victor: Whew…All these talks with these big dudes has got me tired out…It’s unsettling really.
Darren (thinking): I’m sure it’s Tatsuo and Queenie doing most of the legwork though…
Queenie: We could’ve tried asking for his contact info.
Victor: Huh? With what? The unity? Does he even have one?
Queenie: No, I was referring to the guild badge.
Victor raises his brow, “….What? Guild badge? We have something like that?”
Queenie: Are you guys always this clueless? You should’ve received one when you first made the guild, along with a stamp and various other items.
“Yep! Let me get it out!” Sharon exclaimed. She begins to rummage into one of her sacks. She picks out a small green colored badge shaped in a regal triangle rooftop house.
Sharon: It’s this thing, right?
Queenie: Yes, that’s the guild badge. It’s to show that you are formally a member of the Guild Association. But it also comes with many other functions. Go ahead and press the middle part of the roof.
Sharon does so, and a holographic image pops up, startling her.
Tatsuo: Hey, it looks like the same thing with the black card earlier.
Queenie: That’s because it’s practically the same thing. Remember how Bearn said they helped work on the Guild Association’s system? It’s borrowed from the same technology. From that menu, you can access plenty of utilities and functions, exclusive to the guild network.The badge can act as a unity itself, and you can also access the guild association database with it. It’s also possible to view news privy to the guild network.
Both Sharon and Victor gasps in awe.
Queenie: But the information and access you receive is limited based on the type of badge you have. Different color badges will grant different levels of access to the guild network. It goes in the order of: green, blue, red, and lastly white. There are other colors such as black and gold that only specialized guilds or groups have access to. Since your guild was just recently made, you start off with the green badge.
Victor: Wow…Cool!
Sharon: So to get a different colored badge, would we need to move up through the guild rankings?
Queenie: Yes, that is correct.
Sharon furiously swipes through the holographic screen menus in excitement. “Oh my gosh! Thank you for letting us know about this Queenie! This will be useful! And it’s so cool too!”
Queenie: Well…It explains about it in the papers and the guide that you should’ve received with these items from the receptionist…
Sharon: Hey! Hey! Do you think we’d be able to promote ourselves to a blue badge if we keep clearing out this town’s quest boards??
Queenie: …Easily yes. But I wouldn’t recommend it as it might put us in conflict with other guilds trying to clear quests…And that itself might prevent us from changing colors.
Sharon: Then, we can just take the hard ones!
Victor: We can also earn some extra cash…Not that we’ll really be needing it.
“That’s right!” Sharon says eagerly. Her spirit high in determination “Now let's go get us a blue badge!”