Population: 431,322
Designation: Tier 4 - City
Nation: Greathall
Sovereign: Emperor Janus Turing
Ruler: Duke Orpheus Faren
List of Notable Structures
Fortress - Tier 5
Government Center - Tier 5
Barracks - Tier 3
Outdoor Market - Tier 5
Inner Wall - Tier 3
Outer Wall - Tier 4
Economics
National Tax: 72%
Local Tax: 10%
Current holdings: 5,000,000,000/5,000,000,000*
Current Exports
Cotton
Animals (Strider)
Animals (Gretchen)
Flame Weave
Grain (Wheat)
Grain (Barley)
Grave Silk Bundle
Illusion Glass
Tubers (Potato)
Current Imports
Dungeon Materials (Flame Flower Fields)
Dungeon Materials (Grave Woods)
Dungeon Materials (Cavern of Mirrors)
Labor
Metal (Gold)
Metal (Iron)
Metal (Silver)
Metal (Steel)
Wood
[Moderation Panel]
Alerts: 23
Violated System Laws: 3,022,134
Current Players in the Region: 6
Current Moderators in the Region: 1
Current Administrators in the Region: 0
Review Alerts?
I looked through the list and desperately wished for a pen and paper. On a whim, I opened a message to reply to Melvin’s original and figured out how to copy it all down. There was no way I could review all of this later without notes.
Even as I did so, I started to review the various alert messages. There were three that had long strings of repeating alerts:
There had to be hundreds of notes along those lines for each alert going back… years. I tried to scroll all the way down one, but it just kept going and I didn’t have time. The other alerts were notifications on changes in classification. There were 14 changes to the classification of one of the cities Imports.
It was Labor.
I noticed timestamps for the changes going back decades, with a lot of the changes happening all at once a little over a century ago. The words used were: Beasts of Burden, Transport, Workers, and such.
The very first that had a giant red exclamation on it read: Slaves.
“Fuck me….” I exhaled as I looked through it.
Deacon walked over, “What’s the matter, is it not working?”
I shook my head, “Oh, it’s working. I really wish it wasn’t…”
He gave me a funny look, but returned to keeping an eye out.
I finally noticed the little star, the asterisk, next to the experience totals.
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That… made me pause. Is it asking me… if I want to withdraw five billion experience? On a whim I focused on Withdraw. It gave me another menu with a number input and a scale beneath it. I pulled out 1,000 EXP
It went into my Class total.
My eyes went wide, even as I noticed the total on the menu not even move. I took another 1,000 EXP out and the total didn’t move again. “Hey Deacon. I’ve got an… issue can you put the sound barrier up?”
A short whistle and he was then standing next to me, “What’s up?”
“I have full access to what I think are the taxes for the city. I’ve taken two thousand out and the five billion number hasn’t changed.” I looked at him from my position at the crystal, hand still reached out and touching it.
He stood there, blinking a few times as he seemed to process what I’d just said. “You said billion. With a ‘B’, right?”
I nodded, “That’s right. It’s class experience too.”
That caused him to rock back on his heels as he looked up at the thing. “That’s… a lot. Wait…” He turned to look between me and then the crystal and back. “You’re not thinking of taking all of it, you’ll never hold it all.”
I shook my head, “I doubt I have time. I was thinking level until the number starts changing.” I checked what the asterisk meant and pulled up another menu. “The excess is also being redirected to three nearby nodes.”
There was silence in the room. I had returned to reading through the alerts when I heard Deacon whisper something. “What was that?”
“The dungeons. The excess has to be going to the dungeons. It’s why they’ve been so bad recently.” He walked up besides me and then up at the crystal. “How long has this been going on?”
“Years.” I turned to look at him, “Thoughts?”
He slowly nodded, “Max out your class and we leave. If anything changes as you work, stop and we’ll discuss.”
“You’re sure?” I asked for confirmation, even as I started to level.
“Yea, just don’t grab the traits until we’re out of here. They should save until later.” He left my side, “Just, take a bit between each level. Studies have been done on rapidly increasing levels and it can be… weird.”
I slowed down at level 10, letting the feeling of tiny things crawling around inside my head and behind my eyes stop. An alert popped up that flashed the message ‘New Trait Available’ but I focused on it going away. The values in the city screen hadn’t changed.
I don’t know how long I was there, but I eventually got through all 23 levels. My head, eyes, and ears felt like something was scratching to get out from the inside, but I pushed the feeling aside. The numbers hadn’t changed, and I decided I wasn’t done, even though my class was maxed out. So I started upgrading my bank. First two thousand, then four, then eight. I made it to 128,000 and filled it halfway before I decided I’d done enough. The city total hadn’t even budged.
Holding my head, I stumbled back from the crystal. Deacon was at my side and helping me get stable. The world was both far too clear and too loud. My brain felt foggy as memories started to clarify. It was clearing up, but slowly. “I’m gonna need help.”
Deacon thought about it and then pulled a flask from his pocket. He offered it to me, “I need you to mess up your shirt. Mismatch the buttons and whatever. Take a drink first.”
I tried to focus on him and winced. I took the flask and drained a large portion of it. He took it back and I turned away to do what he said. When I was finished, he splashed me with the contents of the flask, all down my front. “What the fuck, Deacon?!”
“You spent the past half hour drinking in some corner and probably fondling some maid or something. Since you made it clear you aren’t into men earlier.” He deadpanned as he put the flask away and reached down, lifting me into a princess carry. “I spent the time trying to find you after you told me you were using the bathroom and disappeared.”
I flushed despite myself and looked up at him, “Ugh, fine. Whatever makes this easier. Lets me rest my head anyway.”
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re much too young for me, and the wrong gender.” He grunted and opened the door out. Carefully, he closed it while holding me, and I did my best impression of a sack of grain, thinking about what he said. I’d have never guessed he liked men. Huh.
The guard was still asleep, and we made our way down the stairs without issue. Deacon had to readjust as we walked past a pair of gossiping ladies in fine clothing that might have been nobles or just attendants. I didn’t care at the moment, checking my stats sheet after the change.
Name: Danielle Rosecrest
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Noble 30 (MAX)
Class EXP: 0/0
Experience Bank: 64,0001/128,000
Unspent Attribute Points: 70
Statistics
Physical
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 22
Agility: 26
Endurance: 16
Constitution: 20
Mental
Intelligence: 46
Insight: 41
Charisma: 39
Perception: 14
Magic
Mana: 10
Mana Control: 8
Mana Power: 6
Skills
Assessment: Tier 1, Rank 9
Unarmed Combat Tier 2, Rank 1
Cheap Shot Tier 1, Rank 2
Mana Sense: Tier 3, Rank 14
Speed Reading: Tier 1, Rank 0
Deception: Tier 0, Rank 3
Staff Combat: Tier 1, Rank 1
Mathematics: Tier 2, Rank 13
Throwing: Tier 1, Rank 3
Tonfas: Tier 2, Rank 3
Two-Weapon Fighting: Tier 1, Rank 7
Swords: Tier 1, Rank 1
Dancing: Tier 1, Rank 8
Sprinting: Tier 0, Rank 3
Small Blades: Tier 0, Rank 1
Freerunning: Tier 0, Rank 3
Fire Manipulation: Tier 0, Rank 1
Wind Manipulation: Tier 0, Rank 1
Traits
Noble Birth
Experience Conversion
Experience Absorption
Moderator’s Veil
Second Chance
Spatial Closet (Tier 1)
Intrinsic Mana Manipulation
Extrinsic Mana Manipulation
Spells
Healing: Tier 0 Rank 4
Scan: Tier 0 Rank 2
When I stopped checking, we were at the lift and Deacon was stepping on. I wiggled and motioned for him to let me down. He reluctantly complied and I just leaned against him. The platform went up, but we still didn’t speak. Despite the care I’d taken, I was still unstable from the rapid increase in Perception and the other two stats were just as bad with how I wanted to scratch at the inside of my skull to make it go away.
“Easy. We’ll be out of here soon.” Deacon said, patting me on the back. The guard riding the lift with us snorted in amusement. His assurance didn’t make me feel better.
After all, I'd just stolen enough experience to put me to level 30. There was no way we were getting out of this without issue.
“Interesting.” A well dressed man in all black said, sitting in a private lounge, away from all the pomp. Duke Faren had gotten the alert earlier, but had needed to get away to check on it. It looked like someone had made a withdrawal from the city crystal, something that shouldn’t be possible given the locks on it.
Going through a few menus, he saw the access was from a moderator, which was even more surprising. He sipped from a glass of wine and drummed his fingers on the armrest of his plush chair as he considered how to approach the issue. It didn’t mention a name for the moderator, which would have made everything easier. He’d have to ask the guard when the party was over.
It did bring a smile to his face, since this was exactly the kind of thing he’d needed to get the council off his back. A moderator was a disaster for them, and while the servants of Mint were investigating Chatterdeem whoever it was had slipped into the keep and made off with thousands of crystals worth of experience, if his notifications were to be believed.
“They’d never be able to spend that much without raising suspicion, so was it for personal use? Did someone just jump a lot of levels at once?” The Duke asked out loud to no one. He shook his head, “No, there had to be another reason. Could they be looking into the tax situation?”
He shook his head again, “No, they’re likely investigating the slave trade. The Emperor’s troublesome experiment.” Duke Faren frowned. “How can I use this…?” He thought out loud. Turning them in wouldn’t do, not to the Royal Guards or even his own security forces. They’d send them straight to the capital.
After several moments, and a sip or two from his glass, he sighed, “I’ll let the Collector know. If this moderator is worth my time, they shouldn’t have any issue.”
Duke Faren stood and headed out of the lounge, summoning a servant to deliver a message to the chosen of Mint, the Deity of Commerce and Justice.