Entering the bank with Darius, I was reminded of my need for scales as I saw the dozens of counters with their enchanted scales and made a mental note to ask the person serving us if they knew where I could purchase a set.

As we lined up at one of the three counters designated for those with guild accounts, I saw a familiar-looking dwarf behind the counter. Approaching the dwarf after several minutes of waiting for our turn, I was amused to see the guild leader and dwarf play out the exact same scene as the first time I’d visited the bank.

The dwarf, seeing Darius, purposely ignored us, turning his attention to his record book until the guild leader tossed three gold coins onto the counter with a snide remark about greed. As the gold disappeared, the dwarf was all smiles as he greeted us, until the moment Darius requested a gold withdrawal.

“Come on, Henric, we do this every other week. I’ve deposited thrice that amount this week with the sale of items farmed in Mõra.” Darius said, rolling his eyes at the dwarf who looked like a grumpy toddler as he slammed a rune inscribed box onto the counter.

Once Darius finished putting away his gold, I stepped up to the counter, greeting the dwarf with a smile.

“Hello, Henric, I would also like to make a withdrawal.”

“How much?” The dwarf grunted, scowling at me as I handed over my life token.

“Five hundred gold from my personal account please. I would also like to ask if you know where I can purchase a set of scales?” I told him.

“These scales are specially made for the bank, if you’re looking to buy normal scales with counterweights I suggest you visit Carmine’s Curios.” The dwarf said, glancing down at something in his book with a frown.

I watched in confusion as Henric didn’t immediately hand back my life token after pressing it to his book, and instead flipped to a new page where he pressed it down again.

“Please wait here a moment,” he said, hopping down from the stool he sat on and walking away through the door, my life token still held in his hand.

“That was strange,” Darius muttered, watching the dwarf leave with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah, it was.” I agreed as the dwarf disappeared into a door.

Henric returned within a few seconds, followed by another dwarf with dark hair who wore the closest thing to a business suit I’d seen since arriving in Kaledon.

“Miss Greene, I am Mr. Gold, a branch manager for the Hand of Midas bank. If you would come with me, we would have some matters to discuss.” The dark-haired dwarf said, opening a door that appeared beside the counter to allow me to access the rear section.

“Mr. Gold, can I ask what it is you need to discuss? We were about to leave for the auction.”

“Did Mr. Davis not inform you that a representative would contact you?” Mr. Gold asked, frowning slightly.

Mr. Davis? That’s right, Markion said someone was supposed to contact me about the settlement. Things moved faster than I thought they would.

“Kadia? Is everything alright?” Darius murmured, giving me a concerned look, and I hesitated before nodding.

“I think so,” I told him, biting my lip, and widening my eyes before looking at the suit-wearing dwarf with what I hoped was a nervous expression. “How long will this take?”

“That depends on you. This is a confidential matter, so I ask that your companion wait here.” The bank manager said, his expression losing some of its previous frigidness as he looked at me.

“Darius, if you want to go ahead to the auction I can meet you there. I don’t want you to miss it waiting for me.” I said, looking up at the guild leader who glanced at the dwarf before shaking his head.

“I will wait for you over there, it won’t matter if we miss the first half of the auction.” The guild leader said, gesturing to some benches at the far side of the lobby.

Following the bank manager back to the door he’d entered through earlier, I found myself in a long hall with doors on each side. Entering a door directly to the right, we entered what looked to be an unused office with a wooden desk that had a single plush-looking chair on the far side and two less comfortable looking chairs on the other. As Mr. Gold moved around the desk to sit in the nicer of the chairs, I sat opposite him, trying to keep my expression from showing any signs of the multitude of emotions I felt.

“Now then, firstly on behalf of Gaia Corp I would like to offer you our deepest sympathies for the situation that has befallen you.”

Sympathies won’t change anything, so why bother offering any? They’re just empty words. I thought as the dwarf continued speaking. Is he artificial or a true representative of the company playing a bank manager?

“As your lawyer Mr. Davis will have informed you, a settlement has been paid to Gaia corp to be transferred to you in gold. This settlement amounted to twenty-nine million after your lawyer’s fees.”

Markion said it was twenty-nine million, but I’m still surprised Davis actually settled for this pittance. I was expecting a lot more. I listened to the banker drone on about how I’d been granted a tax waiver on the settlement,

“In regard to the transfer of dollars to gold the standard exchange rate is ten dollars to one gold, with an exchange restriction of fifteen thousand gold per month. This restriction is in place to prevent an influx of gold that could upset the world balance as not everyone is able to purchase gold in this manner. At this exchange rate the settlement you would receive is greatly diminished. Which is why we would like to offer you an alternate exchange that would allow you to make use of your full settlement.”

“You just said Gaia corp doesn’t want an influx of gold, and now you’re saying they are going to give me twenty-nine million in gold?” I asked, in response to the manager's contradictory statement. I can already think of ways to get around that little restriction, and I’m sure others have as well. So why even bother? Guilds like Eternia could just send money to their members, and have each of them transfer it to gold. I’m sure there’s also gold sellers who sell gold for real world currency outside of the official exchange method.

“As opposed to a transfer of gold, we are willing to allow you to spend your full settlement on items, with some restrictions of course. We will make it so that any items which are currently being offered for sale, anywhere in Kaledon at this moment, can be purchased by you. The exception to this is grimoires or unique items.”

“So, you will let me buy twenty-nine million gold worth of items? What is stopping me from just selling the items for gold.” I questioned, as the dwarf placed a thick book on the desk.

“The items you purchase here today will be bound to you, they cannot be sold, given away or stolen. All items will be inscribed with a recall enchantment which will see them return to your person if they enter another's possession.”

“What if the items are damaged or destroyed?”

“That depends on the nature of the item. Consumables will not be able to be restored, but non-consumable items bound to a person can be restored at a cost. Hmm, let's see what can I use as an example? When a tamer loses a bound creature, that creature can be reborn by the tamer sacrificing a portion of their power or that of a mana crystal to recreate the creature's body. This is the same for bound items, if a bound sword is damaged in battle, you can restore it through power, however the amount of power needed will vary depending on the item itself.” The dwarf explained and pushed the thick book across the desk towards me.

“This is?” I asked, eyeing the book.

“This book contains a list of all the items you may choose from and their price in gold.”

“Do I have to spend all my settlement on items? Can I have some gold, and the remainder in items?” I questioned, not liking how this dwarf seemed to be pushing me to accept these items in place of gold.

“How much of your settlement would you want in gold?” the dwarf asked, his voice losing some of the friendly tone.

“I’m not sure, can I buy things first, and have what is left over in gold?” I queried, not wanting to jump into a decision too quickly. Why doesn’t he want me to have the gold, it’s not like making a bunch of gold is difficult.

“Take a look at what is available, and we can discuss the transfer of any remaining money into gold after.” Mr. Gold coaxed, nudging the book closer to me again.

Giving the manager a look that I hoped conveyed that I was a nervous teenager being bullied into compliance, I picked up the book. The first page I saw was an index which ran over three pages and was split into different categories. Seeing a category for professions, I found alchemy and turned to the six hundred and thirtieth page.

Every instrument I could ever want was listed on the page, made in every kind of material. From vials, to retorts and other distilling instruments. Burners, caldrons, and so much more. There was even something called a portable alchemy lab, with three available options from basic, intermediate and advanced.

“What about things I make using items here? Can they be sold? What about the potion vials?”

“Items made by you using things purchased here can be sold, the vials are an item purchased and thus cannot be sold even if they contain a crafted item.”

“How do I select what I want? Do I just tell you?” I asked, swallowing back the saliva which was starting to pool in my mouth as I gazed at the items listed.

“You may use this quill to mark your selections in the check box, simply write how many of each item you wish. The top left-hand corner of the page will keep track of how much you have spent.” The dwarf said with a smile as he handed me a gold fountain pen.

“If you press the tip of the pen to an item, you will see an image of the item along with a basic description.”

As I went to press the pen to the page, I noticed the pleased look on the dwarf’s face, and hesitated. Should I really be jumping into this without properly thinking it over?

“How long do I have to choose? Can I spend a few days looking over the items?”

“I’m sorry, but we would prefer this be settled today.” Mr. Gold said, his apologetic expression showing no true emotion.

“Can I get someone to help me look at the items on offer? To help me choose?” I asked.

“We would prefer this matter to stay confidential and would ask you not speak publicly about your settlement. It may cause issues with other players and citizens who may feel it is unfair you have these things.”

“I do not think I can make a choice regarding spending my settlement on items, I don’t know this world well enough. So, I’ll just take the gold.” I told the dwarf, closing the book and placing it back on the desk.

“There is no need to be so hasty, miss Greene. So long as the person you ask to help you is willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, then they may assist you with your purchases. We would also ask that you sign one as well.” Mr. Gold conceded, and I narrowed my eyes. They really don’t want me getting gold, do they?

“Please ask Darius, the man who was with me earlier, to join us.”

“Please wait a moment.” Mr. Gold said, rising from his seat and leaving the room.

Not long after, the bank manager returned with Darius who took the seat next to me with a questioning look.

“Mr. Gold, can we please have some time to discuss this alone?” I asked, looking at the bank manager who was about to retake his seat.

“Very well, I shall give you some time to speak. When you have finished talking and have made your selections please ring this bell.” The dark-haired dwarf said, pulling a silver bell out of his pocket and placing it on the desk.

Once the bank manager left, I began explaining the settlement offer to the guild leader, who seemed to find it just as suspicious as I did.

“It is clear they don’t want you to ask for the gold, and while I am tempted to tell you to push for it to see what they do, I do not think treading on Gaia corp’s toes to see how they react is a good idea. They do control the world we reside in after all. I don’t think you should change all the settlement to gold for Kaledon, or items, keep some in real world currency.”

“I can’t help but feel-.” I hesitated, trying to find the right words to explain how I felt.

“Like they're about to rip you off? Everything in that book can be acquired somewhere in this world, but then again so can gold. We can make gold through selling items and farming dungeons. Can we make everything in that book? Probably not anytime soon. The restrictions are annoying, but I think even with Gaia clearly trying to pull something underhanded, you are better off with the items.” Darius advised, and I sighed. That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but I can’t exactly tell Darius that there is something more going on with the settlement.

“So, I guess we have some shopping to do. I want pretty much everything alchemy related, but I don’t know what else to get.”

“Are you sure you want to transfer all twenty-nine million to Kaledon? It might be smart to keep some as real-world currency, you can always transfer it to gold later.”

“Let's see what I can get first.” I murmured, looking down at the cover of the item's book. “I’m not exactly short on funds, to be honest, the twenty-nine million won’t really make much of a difference to my personal finances.” I couldn't exactly tell him I was expecting to get the settlement both digitally and physically.

Add together what my mother left for me from her personal finances, her shares in the company, plus the money that was still paid to me from the various patents, and my trust was significantly more than the twenty-nine million. This little settlement didn't even amount to a quarter of my personal worth, and that was after the money I donated to various charities in my mother’s name each year.

“Considering what I know of your family's position, I’m inclined to believe that. Let’s start off with your alchemy stuff, and then look at things like a quality mount, weapons, armor, books, items with enchantments like bags, rings.” Darius listed.

Opening the book and turning back to the alchemy section, I began looking over the items intently, trying to decide what to get and how many of each item I wanted.

“I definitely want one of each retort, actually make it two of each and two of each set of equipment. Let's get at least a few hundred glass jars for storage, and some vials as well. There are different types, so I should get a bunch of each as they are considered consumable. Even if I can’t sell them, I can use them in my lab for personal use and as a sample for someone to recreate.”

“The equipment is consumable, so it can’t be restored if broken. Get more so you have spares.” Darius suggested.

Somehow, I don’t think we are going to make it to the auction tonight. I mused as I continued slowly working my way through the list of alchemy items with Darius’s help.

“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about you licking poisonous berries anymore.” Darius teased as I marked a listing for an alchemical construct, which was described as a tool for identifying the effects of alchemic creations.

The construct looked like one of the wooden dolls my art teacher used, except this was inscribed with hundreds of glowing runes. I’d been unsure about buying the construct, but in the end decided that a safe way to identify the effects of my experiments was worth the cost.

“I was going to make Markion lick them instead,” I quipped with a grin.

“Don’t, he whines like a baby every time he dies. A Minotaur's horns get more brittle with each death and can break off if they die too much. He takes a lot of pride in his horns, polishes them every night.” Darius joked.

“I have a response to that, but he is my brother so I’m not going to go there.” I said, pulling my lips back in a grimace.

Laughing, Darius turned his gaze back to the book, and tapped a finger on the listing for portable workshops.

“Bring up the descriptions for these, I can’t see the basic being any good, but one of the others might be worth buying.”

Pressing the tip of the fountain pen lightly to the listing for a basic workshop, I scrunched my nose up at the image of a wooden work bench and metal furnace which appeared.

“I can have Narvi and Markion make that for less than two thousand gold.” I grumbled, moving the pen to the intermediate workshop.

The intermediate workshop was a marquee style tent, with a furnace and benches encircling half the room. The second half of the room was curtained off, with a bed and seating area with a low table surrounded by cushions. Next was the advanced workshop, which was a large rectangle carriage with a curved roof. Looking from the outside, it appeared like the wagon had two levels as the roof had a raised section in the middle with small windows. As the image shifted, it showed the interior of the wagon to be fitted with benches on each side with a small furnace near the door at the back. A ladder was opposite the furnace, which led up to a sleeping loft, which had just enough room for someone to sit upright.

“So much gold for a carriage?” I mumbled, staring numbly at the price.

“Read the description, it’s loaded with enchantments. Stabilization, weight reduction, speed, and durability. I’ve only seen a few like this at auction, and the guilds went into a major bidding war over it, shooting the cost up to ten thousand. Later, when they become more available as crafters get more skilled, the prices will go down, but even then, this will still be worth it. Just look at the craftsmanship, the detailed carving.” Darius exclaimed, leaning closer to the images being shown.

“Want me to give you and the book a moment alone?” I queried as the guild leader looked ready to snatch it from my hands.

“No, but Narvi might want some alone time with the wagon.” He chuckled, rubbing his chin.

Wow, that joke went completely over his head. “Okay, so getting the wagon?”

“Yes and get the tent as well. You will need a tent for our trip to Valonia, I don’t think the wagon will travel well across the desert. Originally you were going to share a tent with Markion, but…”

“Like hell I’m sharing with him.” I spat, quickly using the pen to mark down one of each.

“Good tents are expensive and I didn’t think you’d want to waste gold on one before this. Traveling in the desert during the day is nearly impossible due to the heat, so we ride during the cooler hours of night.”

“Isn’t traveling at night more dangerous?”

“Better than burning alive under the scorching sun.” He rebuffed, rapping a knuckle on the book. “That’s pretty much all the alchemy things, I thought there would be more though. Let's look at mounts now. You will need something strong to pull that wagon.”

“Mr. Gold said only items that are currently for sale in the world are in here. So maybe there aren't a lot of alchemy things being sold? It doesn’t make sense that there is so little, there should be books and more recipes.”

“It makes perfect sense, actually, there is limited information available about a lot of professions and magic. You can’t buy the information because it no longer exists or isn’t being sold. After the great cataclysm a lot of things were lost, so what is found won’t often be sold.” Darius mused, rubbing his chin.

“The great cataclysm?” I asked, raising a brow in a question.

“Yes, haven’t you ever wondered why so many races live on one continent? Or why we are restricted to one continent when there is a whole world out there to explore?” Darius exclaimed, his eyes shining with barely restrained excitement.

“We’re restricted to one continent?” I asked. I should have asked more about Kaledon, I didn’t even know we were restricted to one continent or that all races lived here.

“Yes, we are. Salvia is the only accessible continent at this stage. This is due to the great cataclysm. According to the lore of this world, two hundred years ago there was a cataclysmic event which caused volcanoes on all the continents to erupt, sending plumes of smoke and ash to sweep across the skies.” Darius waved his hand in a wide gesture. “Many fled their homes as the cities were destroyed by the volcanoes, volcanic earthquakes, and beasts who rampaged in mindless fear. The remnants of each race who survived banded together here on Salvia, the only land with no volcanoes. Four of the strongest magic users sacrificed their lives, conjuring a great protective barrier to keep out the ash, as the volcanoes continued to erupt. The barrier ends at the coastline, that is why despite being only a day's ride from the coast there are no fresh fish or sea products, it’s because we can’t access it.”

“So, because of this event, much of the world's knowledge was lost.” I concluded.

“Exactly. Though many did their best to record what they could, most of the world's knowledge was lost, or in some cases hoarded by those who would seek to empower themselves.”

“Let me guess, the barrier is going to drop and we all go exploring? It's a bit obvious isn’t it?” I scoffed, getting a chuckle in response.

“That’s what everyone believes will happen.” The guild leader explained. “We’ve been preparing for months. Those of the guild who have land and housing tokens with their personal membership will be pooling together to get the beginnings of our settlement started.”

“I was given both a house and land token with my platinum plan, but I wasn’t really sure how they worked.” I told him, a little overwhelmed by the idea of building a city on some unknown land.

“Land tokens will allow you to claim a certain area of land. Only structures you permit can be built, and no one can make changes to claimed land. Say, if an earth mage wants to use earth magic on claimed land, then he would need to seek permission from the land owner as the earth will not move without it. That is why earth magic cannot be used in any cities. You can also set rules for your land, and while they are not magically enforced, you will know if a rule has been broken. If you set your land to private, you will know if someone who has not received an invitation comes onto your claimed land and will know their location while they are on your land.”

“Are all cities claimed land then?” I asked, getting a nod in response.

“For creating a city, land tokens can be used in conjunction, and the claimed land ‘sold’ as we did with the farm using Bell and Calidus’s tokens. Their land tokens were used side by side, and then we had Bell ‘sell’ her land to her husband, by doing this it became one large plot of land. As for housing tokens, they will conjure up a team of golems to build on claimed land, the catch is you need a blueprint and the materials for them to do the work. They can only be called once, and will only remain for one week, so it is best to keep the building simple or it won’t be completed.”

“How will the guild’s city be run? I mean, what kind of ruling system will you put into place? Direct democracy, a representative democracy, socialism, communism…” I asked, as my tail began thumping against the chair in response to my shifting emotions.

“Kadia, slow down. We don’t need to talk about all this now, let’s get this sorted first.” Darius said, gesturing to the book I held. “We can talk about future plans later, but in saying that, let's look if there are any ship blueprints. Because let me tell you, shipbuilding is not easy.”

“Can’t players just look up blueprints? Honestly, it should be the same for alchemy, I don’t understand why people are struggling when they can just log out and do research. Well, digital citizens can’t,” I faltered, grimacing at the reminder that I was trapped here with no way out.

“We have players trying to redraw blueprints from the web, but it is slow going, and we need to be careful. We’ve already had two players banned for drawing blueprints from Earth designs. I think Gaia corp wants us to design and build ships using more magical methods. If you can buy things already created, then if someone else has created ship blueprints we can get those for our own use. I don’t think buying a ship would work, as it will be bound to you, and may not be something others can ride on. We should check if someone can use something you’ve bought with permission.”

Nodding, I turned the book back to the index page, searching for any mention of ships. There was none, but after turning to the transport category we found two types of ships and three blueprints. The first ship was small and looked like an old Viking longship. The second was much larger with three tall masts and according to the description it was called Baron’s warship.

“So, someone has managed to build a ship to completion and is selling it. I wonder who it is?” Darius mused, looking intently at the vessel.

“Let's keep three million aside and ask Mr. Gold if other people can ride items I own if I give them permission or am on board myself. If so, then I’ll buy this ship.” I said, and marked each blueprint for purchase.

“Thank you, the blueprints will greatly benefit the guild.” Darius said, giving me a warm smile.

“Okay, now for my horse.” I declared, excitedly flipping back a few pages where I’d seen entries for horses.

After some debating, and a recheck of the wagon’s description, I finally settled on an Elven bred Friesian stallion for twenty-five thousand gold. Then, as Darius advised, I purchased tack, armor and grooming supplies, along with twenty sets of enchanted horseshoes which were consumables. Then we moved to the books section, where I found only a handful of books. Many of the books were, according to Darius, commonly found and already owned by the guild.

“I’ve selected everything I could need, and still have just over fifteen million gold left. None of the weapons are any good to me as I don’t know how to use them, and anything I buy will just be outdated when the smiths start making better things. Same with armor and most things here.” I complained to Darius as I marked off a pair of nice-looking knee-high boots that were enchanted to make my steps soundless.

“Let's take a look in the miscellaneous section, maybe we’ll find something interesting there.” He suggested, and I nodded, flipping through to the back of the book.

One item stood out like a beacon in the miscellaneous section, the words land token were the only ones I saw on the single page of items.

“Land token, a hundred thousand gold per acre.” I murmured, staring down at the page.

“That's cheap, land tokens purchased through the land office are a hundred and fifty thousand per acre.”

“How many acres worth of tokens does the guild have?”

“We’ve got eighty nine guild members on platinum plans and seventy two on gold plans, all of whom have agreed to use their tokens for the guild city. Platinum gets five acres, and gold gets one, we haven’t purchased any from the land office yet.” Darius explained. “Because we transferred over, most of the guild are on special plans that are associated with the guild. Those with tokens already had a higher ranked plan, so transferred over to Kaledon on those plans to take advantage of the benefits.”

“How many people are in the guild right now?” I asked, remembering it had been somewhere near six hundred members in Avalon.

“Just under seven hundred, we were only allowed to bring five hundred members over as part of Gaia’s initial access phase to act as a test population. Because we had members who could come to Kaledon on their own life plans, we had them enter Kaledon separate from the guild. This gave us a chance to absorb those in our feeder guild, who lacked a private life plan.”

“That’s a lot of people,” I exclaimed, wondering where they all were. “Where are you even keeping them all!”

“Most are spread out training and exploring. Kads, seven hundred is small compared to other guilds.” Darius said, with an amused smile. “Our ally, the Silver Arrows, managed to bring their feeder guild on its own merit, so with both combined they’ve got almost a thousand people running around.”

I nodded, listening as Darius explained how Eternia and the top twenty guilds in Avalon were offered the chance to move five hundred of their members to Kaledon. They’d also offered the guilds a chance to bring over their gold to Kaledon at a three to one exchange. The guild, and everyone in it, sold everything they owned, doing their best to get as much gold as possible saved up for the transfer.

“Should I buy some land tokens then?” I asked, looking back at the book once Darius finished.

“Are you sure, Kadia?” Darius asked, giving me a searching look.

“I’m not interested in any of the other stuff here, just promise I’ll get a big private alchemy lab out of it.”

“You can have your lab, we’ll give you a large plot in the city planning.” He promised, and I nodded, marking down the purchase for the ten million gold worth of tokens.

“Alright, I think we are done. If I don’t buy the ship, I’ll just get the rest in gold.” I told him and reached forwards to ring the bell.

“If you buy the ship, you will have just over two million left. So, at the exchange of ten dollars to one gold, it goes down a lot.” Darius concluded, and I nodded with a sigh.

“The exchange rate sucks.” I agreed.

“Miss Greene, have you finished already?” Mr. Gold asked, entering the room with a tight smile.

Already? It’s been almost three hours, I don’t see how that counts as ‘already’. I silently mocked as I plastered a smile on my face.

“I have a question regarding an item,” I told him and he nodded, looking at me expectantly, so I continued.

“If I buy a transport item, can others ride on it? Can they use it with permission from me?” I asked, deciding not to mention the ship directly.

“They can use a transport item that is in your ownership, so long as it is with your permission and the item remains in your ownership. You could, for example, purchase several wagons and use them to form a trade caravan. However, if someone attempted to use one without permission, it would be deemed as stolen, and would be returned to your possession.”

“I see,” I mused, glancing at Darius whose eyelid twitched ever so slightly.

Opening the items book, I quickly marked down the purchase of one warship and after a moment flicked through to the section where the wagons were listed. After finding the one I was looking for, I marked it for purchase along with one more wagon that was fitted out like a small house.

“I’m done making my purchases. I would like the remainder changed into gold.” I informed Mr. Gold, handing him the book.

“Of course, if you will give me a moment I will arrange your items.” The dwarf said, giving me a strained smile.

Ten minutes later the bank manager returned holding a small silk purse, which he handed to me, before taking a seat behind the desk.

“Miss Greene, you will find your items inside in the form of paper tokens, simply tear the token to receive your item. Now, as for the remainder of the money which you wished to receive in gold, in light of your tragic circumstances we would like to offer you a one-time lowered exchange rate, and an exemption on the transfer restrictions. We will allow you to change the one million, and nine hundred thousand dollars at a one dollar to gold rate.”

What did he just say? A one-to-one exchange? Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the short man. Would like to offer me… Bullshit!

“The courts must have ordered you to offer me an equal exchange and a lift of the restriction. Gaia corp didn’t want to give me the gold, so they offered me this item deal.” I spat, fighting against the urge to leap up from my seat in an explosion of anger.

“Now Miss Greene, you must understand that flooding the market with that much gold would greatly affect the world balance.” Mr. Gold said, holding his hands up placatingly.

“I have no interest in flooding the market, I wouldn’t have gone on a gold spending spree. If you’d been honest up front, I probably would have taken the items deal anyway as it saved me time and put everything I could want on a neat little list right here. Even with the restrictions. Instead, all you’ve done is shown Gaia corp is just as conniving and filthy as Everlife. You’ve pocketed twenty-nine million dollars, and all I’ve got is some fucking lines of code that are worth nothing.”

“Kadia,” Darius murmured, placing a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged him off.

“That was not our intention,” Mr Gold said. “Miss Greene, I apologize for my handling of this matter. We only sort to find a solution that would work best for all parties. We did not wish to upset you in any way. Are you not happy with the items you have chosen? If you would like to review them we can look at exchanging the tokens for others.”

Well, aren’t you back-peddling?

“Those items are just code to you, they take nothing to create beyond a little computing power from the central AI who runs this world.” I said bluntly, staring at him with my fiercest expression. “Twenty-nine million gold worth of digital items? You think your lines of code are worth the twenty-nine million dollars I could have had if I’d been on Earth? Do you think this is enough to just sweep it all under the rug?”

Stalking closer to the desk, I leaned forwards, palms pressed to the wood. “Do you really think some non-existent things can make up for the real life I can no longer live? With that twenty-nine million dollars, I could have purchased thousands of acres worth of land on earth! Somewhere away from everything, to live out my days without bothering anyone.” I told him, emphasizing the last three words in a way I knew the fat fish in front of me would get the message.

Take the bait, you little corporate prick. You think I can’t see through you? I grew up with a man just like you, I’ve been around pricks like you my whole life, I know you’ll give a lot more than you have.

“Is that so?” Mr. Gold murmured, staring at me with a look that said he saw through me just as I did him.

“How many acres would fulfill this little dream of yours?” The dwarf asked, stroking his beard.

“Twenty nine, million,” I declared with a smirk, ignoring the choked sound from the guild leader behind me.

That should cover a decent-sized island or something, right? My own little island, where I can do whatever I want.

“That is asking a bit much, Miss Greene.” Mr. Gold said, shaking his head. “Please give me a moment to consult.”

Closing his eyes, the dwarf sat still for a moment before opening his eyes once more.

“Ten thousand acres is the most we can offer. This is equal to the amount of land tokens that another citizen owns and thus cannot be considered unfair.”

Someone has enough tokens for ten thousand acres? He said a citizen, meaning one, not the land tokens of many people combined, like a guild.

“Twenty-nine thousand,” I responded, crossing my arms over my chest. I’d prefer the twenty-nine million, but I think I’m already pushing a bit much.

“Agreed, the tokens have been added to your bag.” The dwarf said quickly, not giving me any chance to respond, he slapped two piles of paper down on the table. “These state that you will not reveal any information regarding the settlement. All items you have gained are things which can be purchased, thus no one should question how you came by them. If they do, it shall be up to you how to respond without disclosing information regarding the settlement.”

Taking some time to read through the contracts, I found they were as the dwarf said. After a waiting moment, with an exaggerated air of hesitation, I signed both, making sure to appear frightened as I did so. The most important thing about this entire situation was to appear that I was conceding to them. I was at Gaia corps mercy, living out my life in their virtual world, and in a capsule belonging to a company they would soon own.

Not signing that agreement would only make them suspicious, and even so, Davis would easily have their little agreement tossed aside. Making me sign without a lawyer present, while I was under duress? Gaia’s agreement wasn’t worth the digital paper it was written on.