Bah, it doesn’t matter. I doubt he would be die from some robots. I still need him to help me get some equipment. Actually, screw that. It’s nice and all to have someone that can just give you stuff for free, but there’s a certain satisfaction from obtaining items yourself. I’ve learned that from playing so many video games. Grinding for hours on end to finally get that OP-as-fuck weapon, and then destroying other players in PvP...Ah, it feels so good! It’s a bitch to actually do the work, though.

I’m certain the same logic applies here. I understand that this is reality and not a video game, my Gamer ability makes me feel otherwise, but there are some correlations between the two that I can connect with. Kill monsters, gain XP, sell stuff, get money, buy equipment. Easy!...Not so much. You know, I’m not gonna jump into the fray like before when I got surrounded by the Walkers. To be honest, the more they evolved the more they started looking like human spiders...eugh, creepy. I’ve played several zombie games before so seeing one of the monsters from them evolve in real life is just on a whole ‘nother level of disturbing.

Anyway, I have to find a place where I can level up. Seeing as how normal A rankers are about level 50, and I’m only level 36, I really need to farm some XP. If I’m unable to do that, then I need to find a way to farm my skills and abilities. If I can make up my level difference with skills then I’ll be set to go. However, the first thing I need to do is get some money. How the Hell will I do that? So, I asked the leader dude.

“Hey, do you know how to make money around here? I’m completely broke.”

“Yea, everyone who came in on the trains is broke. Don’t worry though, administration will give us our weekly wages today. Each rank has a fixed income so there’s always a way to get money, even if you don’t try.”

“I should’ve expected something like that. Now, how do I make money after that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. You see, I’m just a Gold A ranker. I only have a limited amount of opportunities. If I was an S ranker, I could probably make three times more than I can right now.”

“Holy crap, that much?”

“That’s how highly administration values strong Gifted. Plus, S rankers are in high demand. Did you know that, just in Sector 31, the number of S rankers is only about thirty while there are hundreds of A rankers?”

“No…?”

“Well, that’s how it is. There’s a large amount of A rankers that can’t reach S rank. Therefore, administration gives the most likely to succeed A rankers the possibility to reach S rank. That’s also why S rankers are so valued. It must be great being born with the power of an S ranker.”

“Yea, totally.”

As if I need to care about that. Leader dude continued:

“Anyway, we’ve only just arrived. There’s a credit-stone exchange bank next door so let’s move there next. Collectively, we should get enough stones for us to find a decent place to stay.”

Leader lead the way as the rest of us followed him. I wondered why he was fine with me tagging along. Maybe it was due to regulations or maybe he was just a good guy. I was a B ranker as of then so that may be another factor. Whatever it was, I digged it. I didn’t complain, mostly because I honestly had no where to go. And I was broke, so I was kinda forced to follow him.

I don’t know anything about the credit exchange so I just idled by as Leader did his thing. Actually, no, I didn’t just sit idle. I observed the several buildings outside to formulate a plan. I wanted to look through everything so I have an idea of the prices and what-not. Also, I wanted to ask the owner of the Alchemy vendor if they could teach me. I’m certain I’ll need money for that, too.

After Leader was done, we walked for about an hour before stopping in-front of some old, one-story building. Something like this was kinda expected. Leader is only an A rank, and from what I’ve gathered, an A rank isn’t much around here. S rankers are plentiful in our previous area so we may just be in the bottom of the bucket. I expected the weakest Branch leaders to be A rank so the weaker Branches shouldn’t have it too bad.

These buildings must be quite old to look so rough. They’re not that bad; my apartment was so much worse. Basically the only thing wrong with our’s was that it looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in months. The water worked and the electricity was fine, but the furniture was covered in dust. Thankfully they weren’t eaten into oblivion by moths and other insects, otherwise we wouldn’t have had anything.

Leader told us we had enough stones to last for a few weeks. In that time we would need to find a method to get more. He said he would wander around looking and that everyone else should do the same.

I’m not quite sure what I should have done. Leader gave me a hundred stones just so I had something. I assumed he gave the others much more because I wouldn’t trust me if I was him. I say that because I’ve only been with them for several days, not because I’m not trustworthy. So, because there was still several hours until night came, I told the others that I would travel to search for stuff. Of course, I had my own agenda to fulfill.

The first place I went to was the Alchemy vendor. The inside had a lot of weird vegetation strewn about the shelves which were lined up against the walls. The mixed aroma of plants drifted throughout the inside, though it smelled really good. I naturally felt better after arriving inside which I assume was due to that fragrance.

“Welcome to the Alchemy vendor, what do you need?”

In contrast to my image of the stereotypical old dude, a younger man came out from a door leading to a back room, which I assumed was either storage or a separate work place.

“I’m here to ask about an available…’apprenticeship’?” I asked with a slightly unsure tone.

“Ah, many people do. More so now than ever. You, uh, don’t have a badge?”

Badge? Oh, right. I noticed that everyone around here has a badge somewhere on their torso or shoulder. They were basically just letters in different colors so I guess my assumption was correct. Those are rank thingies.

“Right, well, due to certain circumstances, I only just joined with this place recently. I was unable to get my badge.”

“Hmm, is that so. You’re the first no-ranker to walk in here so far. Do you know what your power rank would be if you had one?”

The man looked me over quite creepily for several seconds as he waited for me to answer. Honestly, I wouldn’t be bothered by it that much but the abnormal feeling of him being able to see through all of me made me uncomfortable. However, instead of really needing this job, I wanted this job. Especially if I get paid.

“About a high B rank I would guess…” I answered.

“Mm. At least you’re not lying. Well, I’ll talk to my master about it. Right now all I can tell you is to come back in tomorrow. Currently, the only spare time we have right now is to sell items.”

“Oh, I understand…”

The man looked at me for a couple seconds before he spoke:

“Listen, if you’re really desperate, go into the more suburban area. There’s a few vendors there, one of which is an Alchemy vendor. The owner of that one started losing money because everyone began to buy items from the more…’clean’ vendors over in this area. Though, with the influx of Gifted I doubt she’ll be losing much money at the moment. Still, give it a try.”

“Alright, thanks for the info. Hopefully I’ll get that one. Cya.”

“Have a good day.”

I quickly left the vendor and, once I was outside, started asking around for directions to that other area. After several tries I finally got concrete directions, thankfully. Most of the people here aren’t assholes. Well, I understand that everyone’s currently impatient with coming over to the Core. Also, there’s a lot of people like me that have no idea where they’re going.

So, I followed the directions I was given. It took a while to travel through the groups of people everywhere but I finally managed to arrive at a less-dense location. It seemed as if I had finally made it to the suburban area so I just had to find that damn vendor.

I walked around for a long time before I even found one vendor. Unfortunately it wasn’t the one I was looking for but I still entered it. It was an old-looking weapon vendor and the inside had many different weapons on display. It ranged from swords, spears, and axes. It didn’t like as if there were that large of a variety, but it may be just the thing for people with a smaller budget.

There was an older looking dude sitting behind the main counter. He was had a smoking pipe in his mouth and his gray hair fell down to his shoulders. I would guess that he was in his later sixties but I could be wrong. That's why I never did drugs. Shits bad, yo. Then again, the only thing I did when I tried drugs for the first time is sit in a corner and contemplate all my mistakes in life. It wasn't fun. So, I never tried using drugs again. I don't need drugs to not feel depressed. Well, I can't really say anything because I substituted drugs with sex so...I'm just as bad.

Anyway, enough of that. Back to the task at hand, I walked up to the counter and asked the dude:

"Where's the Alchemy vendor?"

The man looked up from a book in his hands to stare at me in the eye. I noticed a silver A badge on his shoulder. His gaze seemed to penetrate my own and it began to make me feel uncomfortable. Honestly, what is with the people here and staring?

"Alchemy vendor, heh? What're you lookin' for that place for?" Smoke puffed out of his mouth as he spoke.

"I want to learn Alchemy. The Alchemy vendor near the train station was too busy for hiring anyone so I was directed here."

"Well, that's what I expected. Ya know, that Alchemy vendor only hires Gold A rankers and higher."

"Really?! Haaah, at least they were nice enough to tell me the location of a different vendor."

"Haha, don't worry, kid. There's only been a few Gifted that have come in here asking for the Alchemy vendor. You can find it by walking a quarter mile down this street. Take the first left and travel about thirty meters and you'll see the sign."

"Thank you."

I turned to leave but I remembered something so I turned back and asked:

"Do you take apprentices for forging?"

The man looked at me with surprise on his face. I guess he wasn't expecting a question like that. After a couple seconds, the man's expression changed back to its normal indifference.

"You're the first person to ask me that in a long time. To answer your question: Yes, I do."

"...Alright. I'll come back after I'm finished with the Alchemy vendor."

"I ain't going anywhere."

I left the vendor and started walking down the street. Even if this area is the more suburban place, it's still not bad.

guaranteed.

I'm also working on a new story as well! Considering my writing ability has improved so much after so long, the quality of this new fic. will be much higher than this one; especially in the beginning. I'm already half-way done with the prologue, but I'll only release it once I'm finished with the first chapter. There's a secret connecting these two stories but it will only be revealed at the end of Modern Deity. The secret will only be relevant in the new story once it reaches a certain point.

And with that, I'm out. Hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter.