New System, Who Dis?

Thursday, April 4th, 2069

“Come on, just admit you’re making this whole thing up,” Smegma said, as I drove the car into the parking garage for the Devonshire Mall. It had retained its name from before the Portal Advent but was drastically changed according to my parents. Now it was a mall that catered exclusively to Hunters, Crafters, and Crystal Tech.

A growl was my only response to the Imp. After my shower, he’d refused to let the issue of my Mana Pool go. Even though I confirmed I could now hold sixteen points which meant it was growing. His reason? A comparison to the E Rank of ‘his’ Demonic Vault Card. How could my sixteen points of Mana be a Card that was higher than him?

“I’m not making anything up, and you said it yourself you’ve never seen a growing Mana Pool before an Evolution. If you’re so sure, why don’t you tell me why my Mana Pool Card didn’t show up after using the Spent Crystal and your Card did, if—-whatever my Skill is— isn’t a higher Rank than yours? So, just shut the husk up about it,” I answered, annoyed.

The Imp narrowed its black eyes and began biting at its talons using the razor-sharp-looking fangs in its mouth. I slammed the door closed behind me after parking and getting out of the vehicle. Honestly, I didn’t know what was going on but to be constantly questioned by Smegma with the intention of catching me in a lie was grating.

I figured in time I’d just purchase or mine a mid-grade Spent Crystal and find out for myself. Then we’d both get an answer. My slammed door didn’t do enough to vent my anger, especially when Smegma just floated out of the windshield to follow me. He at least seemed to have gotten the hint and didn’t pester me on the walk through the area. I made note of where I parked. ‘Section D-2’

The old dusty and rusted Ford Escort would stand out pretty clearly if I just got myself in the right ballpark. I walked by numerous types of vehicles and marveled at the designs, colors, and price points of each. Many of them I didn’t even recognize and so couldn’t estimate the expense but I could just tell they weren’t cheap thanks to the fact that they were clearly over-designed with comfort in mind.

Smegma floated into and out of a few cars. I debated about stopping him but didn’t want him to return to pestering me, so I let him continue and thus was surprised when he exited a Teezla Model Z. Smegma asked, “What are the screens and strange mechanical devices that are in many of these vehicles?”

I frowned, wondering what Ether Tech component he was talking about, before realizing what he must actually mean. Something that would be severely lacking in our family's ancient Ford Escort. “The computers, cameras and sensors?”

“Computers?” Smegma said, testing the word. “Is that the thing that showed the images in the cockpit of the ATV?”

“No, those are the cameras, and well yeah I guess the computer to a lesser degree,” I answered.

The ATV cockpit was a pretty special case, since it didn’t have any windscreens or windows. Instead, the thing was a literal moving tank that was piloted from feedback cameras mounted to the outside. I was told by a family friend who was also a mechanic, that drilling the holes for the wires was a huge challenge for the engineers on materials like that. They needed special drill bits made from Sea Creature horns. Some people called it Unicorn Horn, but the creature resembled an oversized Narwal more than a mythical horse.

It was a rare ‘Monster’ that seemed to have survived a Portal Break in the sea. Still, like the Narwhal it hadn’t suddenly started sinking freighters, or blasting planes from the sky—like doomsday predictors seemed to claim would happen at some point. It was just a new species of whale, probably twice as large as a Blue Whale.

“I don’t understand how an image can be transmitted mechanically,” Smegma stated, interrupting my tangent, clearly wanting an answer. I gave him a tight-lipped smile, wanting to make him angry. It was mid-smile that I realized that my silence could perhaps do more.

“You should buy one from me and your people could study it,” I answered, smugly.

“I’m sure there are books that will explain the concept better,” Smegma said through narrowed eyes.

“Oh yeah? How are you going to interact with those?” I said with a far too casual a shrug.

“I can interact with objects to a small degree,” he countered hotly, but his spin and float away toward the mall doors made his answer slightly less reliable. My guess was he could interact with objects but at a cost. Perhaps he would be able to if I had more Mana…

Or he was simply lying—which was a distinct possibility, knowing him.

Which brought me full circle to him annoying me at my house and the entire car ride here. I glared at his back but followed his floating, flapping form into the mall.

The inside of the mall was as stunning as I remembered it being as a kid. The halls were all made of Portal Materials that had been turned into tiles and laid so well that the interior almost looked the way I imagined a Guild Hall might. Something akin to what old stories described Palaces and Mansions as.

It was lavish to say the least.

I smiled recalling my family coming here when I was in my teenage years. Not to buy anything, since we couldn’t afford much, but to explore and play tourist. Staycation we’d called it.

The tiles merged into store fronts that were just as beautiful and my smile only grew when I saw the Lion head entrance for ‘Hunter, Hunter, Hunter.’ A store that specialized in mass produced gear and weapons.

According to my parents the ‘Lion’ on the front used to be considered the ‘king of the jungle’. A creature that was an apex predator before the Portal disgorged creatures far more terrifying. Others called the creature a Manticore now-a-days since that creature was often found in B rank Portals.

[Float through some stores and see if there is anything that your people would value at five hundred mC,] I mentally said to Smegma. He shrugged, and then floated into Hunter, Hunter, Hunter.

In seconds he exited the store. “Is that supposed to be gear?” he said smugly, clearly conveying his races ‘superiority.’ I simply raised my eyebrow and motioned to the next store. “Fine, whatever. At least, I’ll be more sure of how primitive your race is.”

I really hoped that Smegma was wrong, as I walked down the center of the hallway. Soon the entry hall opened into the main area. Before the center of the floor vanished behind railings.

According to my parents this mall used to be a single level but was now comprised of three floors. I looked up, hoping we wouldn’t have to go up there for Smegma to find something. The third floor was for the most expensive and luxury stores only, and even the major brand three-leveled stores reserved their best gear for the upper floors.

I scanned down to one of the ends of the central hallway, which led to a ‘Hudson’s Bay Company’ one of the oldest stores in the world, but certainly the oldest in North America. This was one of those stores that contained three levels. According to my history class the Hudson Bay Trading Company was originally something of a pirate entity trading in animal pelts in the late sixteen hundreds, but became the store HBC, which ironically enough still dealt in Monster Parts. I moved in that direction, since stores like HBC were filled with items at some of the lowest prices, thanks to their buying power.

Smegma continued to float through stores, and each time he would come out with a sneer. In a few instances that wasn’t true, but he gave me a sign which told me that ‘Snape’s Potions’ wasn’t the answer to our search. I made it into HBC, and he rejoined me with a frown.

“I’ll admit that some of the things I saw are interesting, but you’d need to spend five hundred thousand dollairs to earn five hundred mC.” Smegma's mispronunciation of dollars amused me, but I didn’t bother correcting him. Instead, his statement made my heart rate speed up. If that was the case, would I be able to buy something from him, like the Miner’s Pick and sell it for millions?

I thought back to just after seeing Silvia return from getting healed. I’d been thinking about options for making money, and it looked like many of them would be viable—with one small problem…

Could I trust Smegma?

My family’s money problems might be over if I could, or if we could figure out a way to work together. . Then again, how would I convince people to purchase something like that? I didn’t exactly have a brand name buyers would trust, like HBC, for example. The simple answer would be to either make a company and build a reputation from the ground up, or find a connection with an existing corporation. That second option had the obvious flaw of me being a nobody teenager with no business experience who suddenly popped up with access to unseen and previously unknown goods and technologies. I’d be eaten alive. The first option had similar flaws, however—I simply didn’t know where to start, and I didn’t fool myself into thinking that even if I were able to get a foothold in the various markets, that the very success I’d create would paint a target on my back.

Anonymity, experience, and a way of ensuring that I wasn’t being taken advantage of by my intangible companion, was what I needed. So easy, right? I held back a sigh. Frankly, I wasn’t even opposed to an agreement where my portion of the profits was on the lower side of things—say a sixty-forty split. Ultimately, I just wanted to be informed, even if that knowledge was that I was being bent over the proverbial table. I could work with that. What I couldn't work with were the doubts and uncertainties. Were there such things as System-enforced Contracts? I’d have to look into it.

I motioned around myself, my smile fading. [Anything in here?]

Smegma raised his eyebrows and scanned the opulent design of the store. While the mall outside was stunning, the HBC was breathtaking. Display booths were set up in the aisles, where men and women dressed in suits, or Hunter gear stood manning them. Each booth sold different wares, ranging from accessories to potions. Smegma moved first to the potions and pointed.

“How can they be selling the same potion for less?”

[I really don’t have time to discuss competitive marketing with you, but Snape’s Potions likely has a better product, overall. Maybe…] I wasn’t sure of the truth to the statement.

“So, they just name the potion the same thing, and don’t have to disclose the effects?” he asked, clearly confused.

I moved up to examine the potion he was indicating.

Moderate Health Potion

Heals moderate injuries in moments.

Price: $50,000 GreenBacks

I saw his confusion but didn’t get a chance to respond immediately as a girl dressed in ‘Wizard’ robes shuffled to greet me. “Welcome sir, can I pull anything out for you to take a closer look? Do you have any questions that need answering?”

Choosing to use her to explain the differences, despite knowing most of them myself, I asked, “What’s the difference between Minor, Moderate, and Major Health or Mana Potions?”

“Oh?” she answered, giving me an up and down. Her face morphed into a frown, while her eyes narrowed in disdain, but her training must have kicked in because no negative emotions entered her voice as she explained. “Minor Healing Potions can heal all surface level wounds, such as gashes, slashes, bruises, and even most fractures. Moderate Potions can repair most ruptured or damaged organs, limbs and help recover from blood loss. Major Potions can repair practically any injury but traumatic injuries to the brain or heart.”

“Ahh, thank you. I’m just browsing before my first Portal,” I said in answer to her silence after the explanation. She scoffed and moved away from me, clearly offended by my presence now that I admitted I wasn’t going to buy anything.

“What the actual husk does that mean?” Smegma said, his voice possibly more disdainful than the woman’s. “So, you imbeciles just accept vague ass descriptions like that and buy these potentially lifesaving potions?”

[I’m confused. What should we be doing?]

In answer a screen popped up in front of me.

Consumables

Moderate Healing Potion

Restores five thousand health over one minute.

Cost: 10,000 mC

It was my turn to be confused. That was probably less of a description than what the lady had said, but Smegma was claiming it was more specific. I moved into a section selling mass-produced Hunter Gear, and asked, [What in the husk does five thousand health mean?]

“By Asmodan! Are you husking kidding me?” Smegma asked.

We just stared at each other, both realizing that the other wasn’t making a joke. Smegma broke the stalemate. “Wait, you don’t have your health represented as a number?”

[I’m not exactly a high-ranking Hunter, but as far as I know, no we don’t have ‘health bars.’]

“But you have Mana Pools?” Smegma asked dumbly. I looked around before answering in the affirmative out loud. Smegma blinked his black eyes at me rapidly. “I don’t understand. How do front liners like tanks in your world get stronger?”

“Uhh,’ I began aloud before switching to a mental conversation as a particularly well-dressed man gave me a strange look. [Well better gear for starters. Plus, usually they have a Skill that makes them harder to kill.]

“They don’t get a Card that Awakens their Stamina Pool, or Force Pool for mages?”

I shook my head. [We don’t get Cards, Smegma. Remember? Yet, I think there are a few Hunter’s on SwiftGram that have revealed they had a stat, I can’t think of anyone who’s said they have two or with those names either.]

He shook his head and began slowly descending toward the floor. I mentally shouted at him as he distractedly began phasing through the tiles to the floor below. He shook himself again and then floated back up to my head height.

“This almost doesn’t feel like the same System. We’re going to need to start examining these things—no Cards? Well, except for the artificial ones we made with the Spent Mana Crystal, but that doesn't count.” Smegma added the last bit in a whisper to himself and I let it go. Maybe there was a way to get these Skill Cards Smegma claimed could be formed from ‘shards’ or came whole from bosses, but I certainly hadn’t heard of them.

“Can we get back to the original reason we came?” I asked.

Smegma nodded and floated three booths away before he stopped and stared wide eyed at something. I had just exited the clothing racks and found him hovering there with his mouth hanging open. I slowly joined him to find Monster Cores on display. This didn’t exactly seem like something that should be shocking to the Imp.

“These are un-enchanted Monster Cores?” Smegma asked.

[Uhh, yeah,] I said looking between the shocked demon and the mid-grade Cores on display. All of them were well out of my price range.

Smegma hovered closer to a blue one that almost looked like a bowling ball. The monster’s heart it came out of must have been massive. The spheres of Monster Cores got smoother, rounder and clearer the higher rank they were. The label on this one claimed it was High-C rank, and thus it looked almost perfectly round, especially compared to the other D grades it sat between.

Its price tag was five hundred thousand, which meant we were never getting it, but I didn’t think we would need such a high leveled one, based on the Imp’s shock. I stepped back as the attendant of this room began moving toward the locked glass door to admit me. He sniffed in disdain as well, but I ignored it.

[Smegma, what is it?]

“I don’t know.” Smegma whispered.

[Do you want to go downstairs and look at some of these Cores I might be able to afford?]

“Yeah,” he answered offhandedly. It took a few more mental prods to get him to come back to his senses and follow me to the escalators.

Unfortunately, the only thing I could afford for five thousand dollars was low F-rank Cores but to my surprise, Smegma offered five hundred mC for it. I tried to bargain up, of course, but Smegma was too smart to allow me to do that. He saw how much I paid for it, and he’d seen the prices above. According to him, five hundred mC for an unknown object was damn good.

“Plus, if it actually has value I will pay you more for the next one,” Smegma added when I seemed to still hesitate in the purchase.

[Which one do you want?] I said sheepishly.

Smegma took a while to ponder, and I had the attendant down here, a woman in a business suit, pull out all of the options so I could ‘take a closer look,’ as I waited on his decision.

He eventually chose an orange one that looked like a somewhat rounded rock. I paid using my Credit Card, before instantly walking out with the Core in an ornate box inside of a branded bag. I didn’t even wait till I left the store to sell the Low-grade F-rank Salamander Core to Smegma for five hundred mC.

I wasn’t proud to say I considered letting him go back into the store to procure a few more after that—but thankfully my conscience and the way Demonic Vault worked, not allowing him to interact with objects, held me back.

We got back in the car and I locked the doors. I was pretty sure no one would target me for a low-grade, F-Core, but just like my run in with ‘The Shop,’ you never really knew when someone might think you were an easy target.

Now in the safety of the vehicle the excitement hit me fully. I now had two hundred mC more than needed for the Miner’s Pick!