System Change

The duo exited Carrie and Cindy’s shop and made haste back to the City Building. Having to dodge all the Runners again made Derek cement the idea that making a bicycle and selling it in the city would only lead to complete chaos. The Runners already bumped into others and each other sometimes, so adding a vehicle to the process just wouldn’t work.

Before long, the two were back at the city center and walked into the City Building. Once inside, Derek rolled his eyes. The place was packed. Instantly, he realized that he was basically waiting at the DMV. Derek hurried to the right line and waited… and waited.

The clerk was fast in his job, and from what Derek heard, the people were mostly in his line to make monthly payments on their property. Only a couple of people in front talked about buying property.

Derek continued to wait. Humans weren’t the only species inside the building at the moment, either. He had just seen a dwarf for the first time, but now there were multiple people inside, paying bills and sending letters. There were even a couple of elves. At least Derek guessed that they were elves.

There were two of them, both male, however, neither of them were waiting in any line. He expected pointier ears. Not to say that their ears weren’t pointy, but they were mostly round, but with a pointy tip. Maybe I’m just holding onto stereotypes. He thought.

Just as Derek’s turn came up, the doors to the establishment swung open and the two elves rushed over to greet the new arrival. Derek took a quick peek to see what the fuss was about. Ah, now I get it. Those are elves, the other two must be half-elves.

At the door was a silver-haired lady that was even more beautiful than Stella. She had striking emerald-green eyes and a slightly pointed chin. Her dress of different greens accented her eyes well. The only problem Derek could find with the elf was her resting noble face.

She walked into the room like she owned it and two elven guards in full metal gear with spears followed her in. Once inside, she made her way to a counter, the counter that Derek was standing at. As she moved, everyone in line stepped to the side to allow her to pass.

Derek rolled his eyes and turned to the clerk. “I need to buy that land. I took a look at it, and it’s good enough.”

The clerk gave Derek an odd look. “Right… maybe it would be best to wait a moment and let Serina conduct her business first?” The man suggested.

Derek looked at the elf slowly approaching and snorted. “If she keeps walking that slow, we’ll be finished before her haughty highness gets here. Besides, I’ve been waiting for at least an hour. I’m not waiting one second longer.”

“Very well.” The clerk said. “You said you would like to buy lot 33801?”

Derek nodded. “Yes, that’s the…”

“Move aside.” A deep voice bellowed out from behind him.

Derek turned to see one of the elven guards standing there. Derek had to look up slightly to meet his eyes. “I’m almost done.” Derek said, then turned back around.

“Yes. Lot 33801.” Derek said.

The clerk bend down and began gathering some things from behind his counter. “There we go.” He laid a small stack of papers down on the counter and started filling in parts at a rapid pace.

Just then, Derek felt hand land on his shoulder and squeeze. He glanced over to see Jacks rubbing his temples as if he had a headache coming on.

“I said move out of the way for Milady.” The voice rang again.

Derek turned to look again. This time, the female elf was standing behind her two guards. Her beautiful pale face was now a shade of red. It suited her.

Derek turned back to the clerk. “I thought this was supposed to be a safe city. I heard that Natalie ran a pretty tight ship. What’s the deal with these thugs?”

“That… no one would dare kill in the city, or permanently injure. But small scuffles do happen. The perpetrator, that is, the one who initiates the scuffle, is punished a bit more severely than they would be in a different city, too.” The clerk answered, while keeping his focus on the document before him.

“Would his hand on my shoulder, squeezing quite hard, I might add, count towards initiating a scuffle?” Derek asked.

The clerk looked up. His eyes widened when he saw the bulging muscles and strain from the guard’s hand on Derek’s shoulder. “That… would.” He replied.

“And releasing one’s aura to diffuse a situation, how is it looked upon?” Derek asked, all the while the guard was yipping behind him.

“That would be a preferred method of solving an issue, as it shouldn’t leave any sequelae. But… most people here wouldn’t have the aura needed…” The man paused as he watched Jacks shake his head and slip out the door.

“That’s good. You should brace yourself. I’ll direct it at this idiot, but you know how aura is.” Derek winked at the clerk.

“Idiot!? You called me an idiot?”

Derek finally stopped tuning out the ranting guard’s words as he turned to look at him. First, he grabbed the elf’s wrist and squeezed. His strength was about the same as the guard’s. It was just enough to remove his hand from his shoulder. Then Derek turned the rest of the way around.

While holding the elf’s wrist, Derek channeled the void and mana inside his body, slowly increasing the amount so as not to lose control. He wanted to direct his aura at the group of elves and do his best to not hit any bystanders. He wasn’t the best at controlling his aura, but if he increased it little by little, it should work.

Seeing Derek’s plan, both guards snorted and released their aura. “Please step back Milady.” One of them said, and the female elf took a few steps back.

The aura flooded over Derek, and he heard a grunt from behind him. The clerk was hit as well. The auras were stronger than his at the moment because they blasted them out all at once. Derek increased the speed at which he was releasing his own, and soon, the sluggish feeling of being in one’s aura was no longer affecting Derek.

He smiled as the guards’ eyes widened. “You really shouldn’t fuck with random people. Especially in a city like Savannah.” Derek said.

Then, he doubled the rate at which he released the aura. The haughty highness behind the guards was the first to fall to her knees.

“Mi…lady.” One of the guards spoke.

Derek did his best to pull some of the aura off the female elf and push everything onto the two guards. He still had a lot left to release, but he settled for bringing them to their knees. Once all three elves were down, he drew the aura back in and stopped releasing it.

He looked around the room. He was proud of himself. One man who was standing directly behind the haughty elf had fallen to one knee, but the rest of the room was all left standing. Some were sweating bullets, but they were still on their feet.

Derek stepped between the two guards and stood before the elven lady. He snapped his fingers, causing her to look up. The haughty expression was no longer on her face.

“Now… Milady. Do you mind if I finish purchasing my property?” The elf only stared at him. “No? That’s good.”

He turned and walked back to the counter. “Now, where were we?”

“Ah…. Yes…” The clerk mumbled. “Sign here. This says you are to receive lot 33801. This… says that you are to pay 10,000 gold now, for first and last month, then 5,000 gold per month after.” The clerk flipped a few pages. “This agreement states that the property tax is included in the monthly rent, but the city will receive 13% of profits reported at the end of each quarter.”

Derek whistled. 13% was quite a lot. Of course, at the beginning, 13% of nothing would still be nothing. He would worry about that when he got to it. Derek signed a few more pages of the agreement before finishing.

“Great. That will be 10,000 gold or items of equivalent value plus 10%.”

Derek held his hand out and a small mountain of coins fell onto the counter, causing the man to widen his eyes and shake his head.

“You should visit the bank.” The clerk said. “There are much better ways to store currency.” Still, as he was talking, the man waved, and the mountain of gold vanished from the counter.

He then put the signed documents on one part of the counter and injected some mana into a rune. In a flash, another copy of the papers was sitting beside the original. The man picked the documents up and handed them to Derek. “Here you go. You should keep the agreement well. If you lose it, the replacement fee is 1,000 gold.”

Derek took the documents and stored them in his bracelet.

“Congratulations on your purchase.” The clerk said. “You are now the owner of lot number 33801. Good luck on you ventures.”

“Thank you.” Derek said.

“Is there anything else I can help you with today?” The clerk asked.

“Nope, that is all.” Derek said. “Have a good day.”

Derek turned around to see the guards back on their feet and the female elf standing behind them. The guards wouldn’t look Derek in the eyes, and their charge seemed to be very interested in a spot on the floor.

Derek put his hand on the one guard’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “You all have a nice day.” He said before walking out.