“I’ll take it.” I said to the real estate agent who had been showing me apartments. I had dragged her around half the city looking for the right spot before finally finding it. It was based pretty far out, right on the edges of the city, sitting in the shadow of the wall that stretched twenty paces around the city. Personally, I found the wall comforting. When you had no power to fight off the malevolent creatures that roamed the outlands between the city-states, the security of a large wall made you feel better.

It was an incredible sight, yet somehow off putting. In comparison to the rest of the city which was primarily wood, the wall was a single, solid mass of stone. Supposedly, one of the founders of the city had erected it with a single spell. I couldn’t even fathom how much power that would take. Thinking about it, I felt envious. I imagined facing Brock again and splitting the earth beneath his feet, dropping him to his death. I shook my head, clearing away the morbid thoughts.

The building the real estate agent had found was a 2-story building made of wood. The surrounding buildings were of a similar height and mainly consisted of apartments and townhomes. It was a peaceful neighborhood, though Damien would likely call it dull. The apartment was a simple thing, a one bedroom apartment. The feature that appealed to me the most, besides its quiet location, was that it came furnished. Pretty much all of my furniture had come with the dorm and would have to stay with the dorm. I didn’t want to spend on furniture right now as the balance in my bank account was barely enough to make me feel comfortable signing the lease on this apartment.

I couldn’t help picturing the look on his face when he heard I’d signed a lease for an apartment. He’d probably demand to see the lease expecting me to have been tricked into selling my organs or something. I chuckled at the thought. The real estate agent seemed both surprised and relieved that I’d finally decided on an apartment. She quickly sent the lease contract to my holophone. My eyes scanned through it as I read. It was fairly short and straightforward. We had agreed to set the term to one year, with first and last due immediately.

I signed and transferred the money. Giving my hand a quick shake, the real estate agent scurried off. I guess she was afraid I’d somehow change my mind and drag her around to other buildings.

I made a quick call to a moving company she had recommended and scheduled them to pick up my possessions from the dorm. Then I went and laid down on the bed and stared at the fan spinning over my head. It was an old piece of technology, from before the apocalypse, and it lent a sort of rustic charm to the room.

My mind was restless, thinking about when the construction would finish on the dungeon. I couldn’t help feeling like things were going too well. Things never went this well for me ever since my parents died. I had to fight for everything. The spinning blades on the fan seemed to lull me into a relaxed state as my mind continued to wander.

Was it really that people with no power deserved to have less of a voice? Most of my life I’d felt that it was unfair, but at the same time I couldn’t argue that power let you contribute in ways that I couldn’t. Take the founders. If they hadn’t been powerful, Asance would never have been established. The walls wouldn’t exist. They provided a place for people like me to live safely. If they hadn’t had power that never would have happened.

At the same time, people like me, Dungeon Masters, could contribute to society in other ways. Without us, there wouldn’t be endless, easily obtainable materials to fuel the economy. People would have to go outside the walls and hunt the wild Monsters and Beasts out there. Even the Public Dungeon was formed by a Dungeon Master. Thinking about it, I couldn’t help wondering why no one recognized the Dungeon Master who created the Public Dungeon as one of the founders. It had been here since the start after all. It’s the reason they were able to build up the city. Without the materials from it the city wouldn’t have grown as quickly as it did, and perhaps wouldn’t have grown at all.

I made a resolution in that moment. I’d establish a place for Dungeon Makers in society. My achievements would be recognized, and once they were I’d pave the way for others to gain recognition. I continued to daydream about what that scene would look like.

My holophone chimed, snapping me out of my reverie. I picked it up and saw there was a call from Damien. I accepted and a small hologram of him popped up from my screen.

“Basil? Are you there? The reception where you are is awful, your image is all garbled.” Damien’s voice came through the phone, but it was weirdly desynced with the hologram. I rubbed the space between my eyes. I hadn’t checked my signal before signing. I felt myself frowning before relaxing and giving a shrug. If the worst thing about this place was that it had poor reception, well that wasn’t the end of the world.

“Yeah, I’m here. What is it?” I replied.

“I was thinking about the benefit dinner when I realized you probably don’t have appropriate clothes.”

“No don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” I said, walking out of my new bedroom and into the living room. I sat down on the couch. The signal must have been better in there as the sound synced up.

“I know you think you’re fine, but—” he cut off before finishing. “Where are you right now?”

“Oh this?” I said casually. “This is my new apartment.”

“You! What did I tell you? Don’t sign the lease on the spot!” He went to continue, but I cut him off.

“It’s fine,” I reassured him. “I went to a lot of apartments before deciding on this one, and the real estate agent didn’t pressure me into the lease. The terms were straightforward and simple, and this isn’t my first time getting an apartment.”

He sighed. “What did you end up paying for it?”

I told him. He seemed surprised.

“So little? Where is it?”

“In the outer edges of the city, in the shadow of the wall.”

He stared at me for so long I thought that the connection had dropped again.

“Why didn’t you stay in the heart of the city?” He finally asked, exasperation obvious in his tone.

I just shrugged. “This suits me better. It’s more affordable, and it’s quiet. I’ll be able to work in peace here.”

Damien looked frustrated, but apparently decided it wasn’t worth arguing as he turned back to his original topic. “Anyways, I know you think your clothing is fine for the fundraiser, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t. What would you wear?”

“Nothing.” I said.

There was a pregnant pause in which I could feel him trying to work out what I meant.

“And by nothing you mean?”

“I mean nothing because I’m not going. Why would I want to go to a party like that?” I asked, snorting.

“What do you mean why would you go to a party like that? You’d go because it’s a great chance to rub shoulders with people who actually have influence and money in Asance, two things we will need in great supply to succeed as a business.” He sputtered incredulously.

“I just don’t want to do it. Having to rub shoulders with them in order to get ahead, it’s not how I want to do things.” I shook my head.

He fell silent for a moment before continuing. “Look, I get where you’re coming from, I do. It rankles the ego that you need what the people in power have. But the fact of the matter is you do need what they have. We need it. One day we won’t, one day they’ll need us, and we’ll have the power; but if you want to get to that day you have to compromise.”

I sighed. I knew he was right. I knew it was a great chance, getting invited to an event like that, even if it was a secondhand invite. I just didn’t want to admit how it made me feel. It didn’t rankle. It fed my sense of self-worth that had been damaged after my encounter with Brock in the market. I felt validated by the fact that I’d be rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful, as though I belonged with them. I hated that I let the opinions of others affect my opinion of myself, almost as much as I hated the people who looked down on me for being weak, but hate didn’t change the way I felt. That was the real reason I was so against going. I didn’t want to admit how good the invite felt.

My mind went back to my thoughts from before. If I was going to make a place in the world for people like me, for people like Damien, people without power, then I was going to have to work my way into power. And in order to hold that power in the future, I needed to gain favor with those who currently held it.

Damien was still waiting for my response.

“Alright,” I sighed. “We’ll go.”

He grinned. “Great. Then back to my question from before. What are you going to wear?”

“My suit, obviously.” I said.

“What type of suit do you have?” He asked.

I hesitated. “Um...a black one?” I supplied.

He sighed again.

“With gold buttons.” I added, trying to be helpful. Based on the look on his face I was unsuccessful.

“You’re going shopping with me.” He said, his tone final.

Still, I resisted. It was a perfectly serviceable suit. I told him how much it cost. His sigh after that was even longer than the one after I told him it was a black suit. I had a bad feeling my bank account was going to shrink again.

***

If you’ve never been fitted for a suit, let me tell you it’s a painful experience. I found myself standing with my arms out, trying not to yelp as pins were stuck through fabric to prick at my skin. I failed as I once again felt a small stab just below my armpit.

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Damien said from the side. He seemed to be taking entirely too much pleasure in my discomfort. “It’s not that bad. I’ve been fitted for suits plenty of times when I was much younger than you are now, and I still didn’t cry like you have.”

“I’m not crying,” I denied, trying to keep my eyes from watering as I felt a pin jab at me again. After another few minutes of this, the tailor—a short, balding man who looked as displeased about the whole process as I felt, though I didn’t know why as he wasn’t the one being stabbed over and over—finally finished.

“How long?” Damien asked.

“Give me a week. I have other orders I do.” The man said shortly.

“We’ll be back in a week then. Thanks Vladislav,” Damien said. He turned to me. “Well, go on and pay the man.”

I grumbled, but pulled out my holophone to start a transfer. After getting the account number from the tailor, Vladislav, I transferred the money.

He looked at his phone as a chime rang out and grunted. “Is good. Come back in a week.” With that he turned around and went back into the depths of the shop.

I eyed Damien, rubbing at the painful spots on my body. “This is the tailor you take me to?”

He shrugged. “Vlad might have a bit of a temper, but no one else is as good with a needle and thread. My father tried to buy him over as his personal tailor many times, but the old man refused. The fact that he’s still alive and well after turning down dear old dad shows how good he is.”

I shook my head. The more I heard about his family the more I believed they were psychopaths. “Well, now what?” I asked.

“Now? Now I come see this apartment of yours, and see if you somehow managed to overpay for an apartment that most real estate agents would have a hard time giving away let alone renting.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad at this sort of thing, you know. I survived for years without you.” I muttered indignantly.

He eyed me. “Q&A Jelly.”

I sighed. I was never going to live that down. I led the way out of the shop, trying to hail a cab as I continued to bicker with him about my ability to fend for myself. I was much poorer than I had been, but I had a place to live and, in a week's time, I would have a suit to wear to the fundraiser. I would use this chance to take a step down the path toward achieving my new goal: recognition.