Chapter Nine - Connections

“Heeey! Heey! Looking for high-quality iron nails and cedar boards! L4 HQ build sups! Also seeking a masterwork void gemstone!” I shouted into the crowd in the middle of Variak’s town square. “Buying at fair prices!”

No one answered, as usual. The market was always busy, but it was mostly populated by adventurers interfacing with the NPCs that ran the online auction house and markets. I didn’t prefer to use them. They felt impersonal. I could often get better deals just shouting out into a crowd and buying supplies from herbalists who cut down trees out in the woods than I could on the markets.

Tread the Sky’s developers didn’t want the markets to be the only way to buy and sell items so if I could find individuals with the supplies I wanted the game itself would give me a discount. Sellers got extra money for direct transactions too so it was a win-win if you could find someone selling what you were hunting.

The discount only worked on crafting supplies and a lot of adventurers didn’t even know about it. The feature didn’t exist in… in other games like Tread the Sky.

Apparently, there were many other games. Many other worlds, though none yet were quite so real as Tread the Sky. I found this ironic because to me Tread the Sky was a dead world populated by living visitors.

I shuddered when I tried to wrap my head around that little tidbit. Amy and Iron were trying to teach me about their world, but the more I learned about it, the more I feared it.

Where Amy and Iron came from they made worlds. And they did it for money. Not joy, or happiness, or the wonder of creation. No. They made whole worlds for the same reason I repaired houses and roads. So they could have nice things and eat Steak-and-Broccolis.

Was… was that right? Was that something that made sense? They – Francis and people like him – built my world, my life. They built me! And now I was just a piece of the show. A part of the attraction. A highlight in a sale. A… a bargain.

I chose to ignore it for the most part. Adventurers didn’t get to choose how they joined their world either so at least that was fair. Besides, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. But still… it rankled, knowing just how dead this place truly was.

“Buying any and all cedar boards, adhesive pastes, and HQ paint! Also seeking one masterwork void gemstone!” I called again. “If you sell me something I might give you a hint about how to unlock my skin!”

People perked up at that and came right over. I grinned, amused at just how effective the idea of changing one's appearance to something even slightly unique drew people in.

“Selling seventy-five cedar boards, two by fours, nine copper each! Ninety-five foundation blocks, three copper each! Interested!?” came a sudden cry.

I beamed.

“Sold!” I shouted, using my interface to highlight the man and hit the trade button. I didn’t need the blocks now but I would for a quest later on tonight. Eight silver and sixty-four copper poorer, saving ten percent on the sale price due to the systems local buyers, I watched as the items appeared in my inventory,

If I worked hard I might hit level fourteen soon. One step closer to making my own dream. Building a place to call home. I’d have to be a much better builder to actually pull it off, and I would also need to meet a high-level amenities mage sooner or later if I wanted to build my own safe zone.

I was well on my way though. Well on my way.

A sixth of a cyc… no. I had to stop thinking in cycles because none of the adventurers did. Twenty minutes later, I was pretty low on coin but loaded down with enough supplies to remake my money ten times over. All it would take was time, and I had plenty of that. Unfortunately, no one had been selling a–!

“Masterwork void gemstone for sale!” came a sudden voice from a woman with bright blonde hair. The woman was tall, taller than me by at least a foot, and sported a massive greatsword as well as heavy plate armor. The stuff was rusty and clunky; it was the equipment early adventurer paladin types started with.

Her eyes were a deep blue that matched her armor. She had a long beak of a nose which I didn’t see very often on players, and her hair was a beautiful blonde, pulled back into a ponytail. I couldn’t see much of the rest of her body, covered as it was in the heavy plate armor, but something about her voice seemed very familiar.

“Buying,” I said with an uneasy grin. “Wish you’d have called out earlier. The others cleaned out my funds pretty hard but I think I’ve got enough for a fair bargain on that gemstone!”

The girl smiled at me. “Hope so.”

I eyed her gear curiously before looking up to meet her eyes. “You… no offense but it’s normally stronger looking adventurers who have valuable items like void gemstones.”

“Ahh yeah. Got it on my alt and sent it over. This is a relatively new character. Just hit level twelve. Could obviously use some better gear,” she replied.

“O-oh,” I replied, hiding my confusion. Alt? Nevermind. “Yeah. I guess… you know, this game has a lot more to it than just raiding dungeons. Have you ever tried one of the profession classes? They’re actually a lot of fun!”

She grinned at me. “Have you tried raiding a dungeon? That’s actually a lot of fun.”

I grimaced, disgusted. “I… no. No. I wouldn’t do that. I don’t like fighting.”

She cocked an eyebrow curiously. “You play Tread the Sky but don’t like fighting? Odd choice.”

It was my turn to look at her in surprise. “I… uhm. Didn’t have much of a choice. I was born here.”

She blinked at me like an owl. “Huh? Born…?”

“My name’s Gell, the Jellyfae! I’m an A.I.!” I exclaimed. “And… I don’t like dungeon raiding because I’ve been on the other side of it.”

The girl looked confused before realization seemed to bloom across her features.

“Oh. Wow! I heard about you. You’re… yeah. I guess I can see why you wouldn’t want to… wait you’re really an A.I.?” she asked. “You seem so real.”

Something about her tone seemed overly exaggerated, but I didn’t understand why.

“I am real!” I exclaimed before activating my newest ability and transforming into a Jellyfae once more. Her eyes widened along with those of a small group of players nearby who weren’t distracted by the market NPCs.

I floated, feeling the air beneath me and the sky above. My body glowed with a yellow joy. I loved being my original form. I loved it.

“H-holy shit, you’re a jellyfae ag–!” she exclaimed, cutting herself off and leaping backward away from me.

“Jellyfae– wait… you didn’t call me a jellyfish!” I exclaimed, excited.

“R-right. Jellyfish are in the ocean. You’re obviously not a fish,” she said nervously. “What… how are you talking? What are you?”

Something was weird about this girl, but then, I was beginning to realize that everyone was a little weird in their own ways. I shrugged, my tendrils acting like shoulders as they floated in the air. “I’m me. I don’t really know what it means to be an A.I. The world says I’m a player. An adventurer who just can’t log out. Like I said, I am real. I feel real.”

“So. It doesn’t bother you? People killing monsters? Uhm. No offense?” she asked.

“When I see adventurers killing my kin? It hurts. But I understand it. I understand that there’s nothing there behind them. That it’s not real. I just...”

She looked at me, and swallowed, biting the inside of her cheek for some reason. Weird girl.

“I wish it were,” I finished. “So… uhm. The gemstone?”

“Right! Right. Sorry. Yeah, you wanted the gemstone. Sure. Uh here you go!” she said, opening up a trade menu with me.

I looked at her name, wishing I could change it to something less senseless, but knowing I couldn’t.

Akwa_Lavanaiya. She clearly should be named Rusty Plate, but if I changed her name she’d probably get all mad at me. Then Francis would come and warn me about it again…

Better to leave it as it was.

For now.

I accepted the trade, a complete steal for me and I think the girl knew it. I thanked her and prepared to head home for the day before the girl stopped me with a question.

“So… uhm. Professions, huh?”

I beamed.