Chương 98: Chapter 103: No Touching

I followed Vix as he strode out of the building. The man, alien, moved like water. Every step seemed to make him slide forward more than should have been possible. It was strange to watch. I saw Marcus and Alya just standing in our meeting spot. The others still had to return, and there was no sign of the whole group.

"Those two are part of my team," I told him, then I waved at them.

"Alya, where are the others?" Turning, she looked at the tall alien, a frown on her face, then back at me.

"Busy with a shop owner, or a merchant, I don't know. Mary, though, went to help another group of people who took residence here. Some are wounded and they had no healer, and apparently the healing fees are absurd."

"Not really promising, but I have good news. I introduce you to Vix O'Ran, youngest Tensei to become Lord of the Aurei in the last thousand years." The alien looked at me with a sincerely surprised expression before extending a hand toward Alya, scanning her with his aura.

"Pleasure," he tersely said. Then, after giving her a second look, he added, "Come to my training hall when our business here is finished. You could gain much from a lesson or two." At her puzzled look, I just shrugged.

"He is interested in the healing potion. Said he'll help us avoid getting swindled by the merchants here."

"Well, for how their prices are set up, swindling could be considered a generous word. More like daylight robbery, if you ask me," she said.

"That bad?"

"You remember how much a lesser health potion cost before?"

"A hundred points."

"Make it nearly six hundred now." That was not good, not good at all. I had plans. I wanted to buy information, books on advancements for traits and skills. I wanted to look more into bloodlines and see what kind of magical items were on sale. I was expecting another System shop, not this corporate inflated nonsense.

"And I suppose they are buying low too."

"You suppose right."

"Corporations are the scum of the multiverse," said Vix with a sneer.

"They managed to infiltrate everywhere, making life miserable just for a sliver of extra profit. But not all is lost. They try to cover up the presence of the System shop with their own, offering some products that you normally wouldn't find, but they can be forced to give you access to the System shop. You just have to know how, and I know how." He finished with a grin, exposing his needle-like teeth for all to see. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I suppose you want something in exchange for this knowledge," said the usually taciturn Marcus.

"What is it that you want?"

"As I said to your kin, I desire to obtain all the potion you managed to retrieve. I will pay you in tutorial points at the same rate as the shop. I have no intention of taking advantage of children. It would be against my path, nor do I have the need to do so. I just require that you sell directly to me."

"Why directly to you? Can't you access the System shop?" Alya asked him.

"I can, but the price for me is proportional to my level and tier. As you can imagine, it can become prohibitively expensive to go through that route. But by selling directly, we can dictate prices."

"Seems like a big loophole in my opinion, but I suppose for us it is fine. I want to verify the price with the System shop first, though, if you don't mind."

"I don't, but I will hold you accountable if you try to trick me. Know that while I am limited here, there will be consequences should you cross me," the alien said.

"It's only natural, right guys?" Something came to my mind about what Vix said.

"Wait. You are saying that we can sell things in the shop, and you can buy them back, right?"

"That's what I said, yes. What is so strange about it?"

"I mean, can we participants of the tutorial do it too? Is the System shop a network connected through all the tutorial safe zones?" He looked at me with a small smile.

"Yes, it is. And yes, you can do what you are thinking. It is something we are forbidden from talking about, but it is possible." Alya looked between me and Vix, confusion on her face.

"What am I not getting here?"

"Something really interesting. It means that we have a way of communicating with others in different safe zones."

"Through the shop? How?" she asked.

"We just need to sell an item, anything the System will accept payment for, and write a message. We will try later to see what kind of limitations are in place, but managing to coordinate with others would be a godsend, especially if we can manage to exchange information." I was getting really excited about this. Communications were essential in a society, and if we considered the size of this tutorial, there should be a lot of people to communicate with, and many safe zones.

We needed to learn the rules, create a network, and get more people onto it. Maybe someone had already managed to do it. I couldn't be the only one thinking of it. I needed to check.

"Here they are!" shouted Tom as he turned a corner with Quinn at his side. The rest of the group was looking around, talking excitedly among themselves. The carts with the loot were the last to appear, but when they did, the alien vanished and appeared beside them.

"Hey! No touching!" Gilbert shouted at him. The alien's surprised expression morphed back into his dignified persona, but before he started futilely trying to explain himself to the old man, I intervened.

"Gil, let him check the potion. He will help us with the selling." The man harrumphed but made way.

"Remember, I'll be watching you." The alien looked back at Gilbert, then at me, then he sighed and went on with his examination.

"How are things here?" Tom asked me.

"We are not in the best position, but somehow I managed to get some help to deal with the financial side of things. The blue alien is on our side, as long as we keep our word."

"Good. If you think he's trustworthy. People are happy. The idea of a roof over our heads made many complaints disappear, for the moment, and everyone has been told about the predatory contracts. I don't think there would be someone so dumb as to sign something like that."

"You would be surprised…" I told him. In my line of work, I saw things that were even worse than this particular contract. I saw Mary and Melissa coming back, both scowling fiercely. I had half an idea why. But now that we were all here, it was time to move. We had much to do and no time to lose. First, I wanted the money. Then anything else I could buy with it. Time to get the ball rolling.