Gindos was a tall thin man in his 40s. Graying hair held back in a ponytail, he wore sturdy metal-framed glasses and kept a well-trimmed beard. The oil-stained navy apron he wore was full of tools and gadgets. He was the real deal.

“Crut recommended this shop,” Zeirdin said, getting straight to the point with no hesitation. Immediately, Gindos’s face transformed from a neutral expression to one of amusement.

“I never thought anyone would ever go to Crut’s shitty old shop,” Gindos laughed, slapping his leg, tools clinking together in his apron. “So, what are you looking for?” Jin took his cue.

“We’re looking for basic scavenger gear. We’re going to start out slow,” he said.

“Alright, I’ll get you guys set up with a Floor 2 General Purpose Package. Packages are designed with the main obstacles of the floor in mind. Follow me, I’ll show you,” Gindos said, gesturing for them to follow. Gear7 was much cleaner and bigger than Crut’s store. With organized aisles and racks of supplies and multiple desks and departments. The floor was made from some sort of processed wood, which had been uncommon so far in The Tower. Most places had used concrete or dirt. Jin and Zeirdin followed Gindos, having to jog slightly to keep up with his swift long strides. The smell of oil and metal grew much stronger as they entered the back rooms behind the main counter.

“Here.” Gindos pointed at a graphic on the back wall depicting different packages and the different combat roles and the corresponding gear. Everything depended on the type of enemy that would be hunted, including humans. Human v Human combat gear consisted of lower power weapons with higher fire rates and hollow point ammo. The armor was designed specifically for puncture wounds from bullets. Humans were not as durable as neofauna or Autonomous War Mechs so high-powered weapons were unnecessary. Gear for hunting neofauna/monsters was much different. The weapons were either zinnium or high-powered projectiles with a low fire rate. The armor was designed to protect primarily against slashing attacks, while also allowing for liquids to slide off. This was because monster blood was usually incredibly corrosive to skin and metal.

“Since you guys are just going to be scavenging in a duo, you don’t really need specialty items,” Gindos said. “I’ll tell you what, since you know an old friend, I’ll give you a discount. I’ll send you the info.” Gindos pulled out a biotablet from his apron and flicked around on it. Jin followed suit. After a second, Jin’s biotablet beeped.

Floor 2 general pack

------------------

Upfront purchase

Water purifier

Firestarter

Frontier ring

5 standard jammers

100 rounds standard ACR ammo

100 rounds Inorganic ACR ammo

Price: 14 10 dynats

Rental items:

General-purpose body armor

Generic vibroblade

Shield generator

Semi-auto combustor rifle

Compression ration dispenser

Compression hydrator

Quick setup all-terrain tent

Price: 30 27 dynats per month

Duration: 4 months

Total Purchase: 74 dynats + reoccurring monthly rental fee

Without even batting an eye, Jin filled out all the information and tapped the purchase button. Zeirdin gasped. Even with a discount and the price distributed over time, it was still a massive amount of money. Especially buying two sets of everything for the both of them.

“Are you going to be able to afford this?!” Zeirdin asked with a worried tone.

“Ehhhh, don’t worry, I converted all my pocket money to dynats. I have way more on my safebrick,” Jin laughed. Gindos dropped his biotablet back into his apron with a clink.

“I forgot to mention, I threw in our new frontier ring for free. I’ll show you how it works.” Jin and Zeirdin followed the man to the corner of the storage room. Gindos handed both of them a gray cuboid ring made out of dense metal. “This thing is a last resort. Use it only when your life is in danger. To activate it, slide your thumb over it in a cross pattern. This will activate the blood spike. So, then you prick your thumb on it. You have to draw blood. Once you do that, it’s armed. To trigger it, all you have to do is squeeze your fist the in direction of the enemy,” Gindos said. Zeirdin was impressed, it sounded well-engineered, and perhaps useful, if only for tower climbers. Gindos continued, “Basically, there’s a very small piece of unstable zinnium in there. When it comes into contact with high-density mana, in this instance, your blood, it will detonate. Again, only use in dire situations, it’s guaranteed to blow at least a few fingers off, even your hand. If you do it wrong, you might die.”

Zeirdin slipped the ring onto his right hand, his dominant one, while Jin did the opposite.

“Alright, I’ll get you the supply crates with your items. The armors are adjustable so you won’t need to try them on,” Gindos said, walking into a room deeper in the storage section. Zeirdin couldn’t help but feel a little excited. The man came back pulling two large crates on wheels behind him. “Be careful, The Ravers have been active lately. From extortion, forced prostitution, and torture, they are a brutal bunch. Don’t get involved with them. I don’t know why, but they have some Level 1s roaming around on Floor 2. Level 1s should be on at least Floor 10. You newbies won’t stand a chance against people who have reached the first zinnia advancement.” Zeirdin shivered at the thought of ever getting involved with The Ravers. The two boys thanked Gindos and left Gear7. Zeirdin was considerably more paranoid about getting mugged since it had already happened once.

“Do you think there is a Galma shop? You know? Magic. Or Lovac. I never got the chance to learn any spells,” Zeirdin said, as they walked, wheeling their crates behind them. The thought of such a thing would never have occurred back in Gistern. Practicing either without proper permits could result in imprisonment or execution.

“You know the Cerulean Arts?” Jin asked surprised. It was rare to find someone trained in both Galma, external mana manipulation, and Lovac, internal mana manipulation. Usually, aristocrats, high-ranking government officials, and children of the rich knew both.

“Well... my mom taught me the basics of mana manipulation and reading spells. My dad taught me basic fighting skills alongside fundamental Lovac. Never got far due to the regulations and mana detectors, though,” Zeirdin said, reminiscing about the time he had left spent with his mother before she died. He was beginning to be more thankful for all the effort his parents had put into him being competent in many areas.

Jin scratched his nose, “That’s actually awesome. I never learned either, just useless stuff. We need to get you a copy of the Blue Book.”

“Blue book? Oh, that one is super illegal in Gistern,” Zeirdin said.

Jin rolled his eyes, “Sheeesh, what a paranoid government. There’s none of that here, in The Tower. We’re gonna get you the best basic manual for the Cerulean Arts.”

As they walked on the busy path around the Cobalt Annulus, Zeirdin practiced his magic. He was very rusty and could barely feel the energy circulating within himself. It felt like grasping at invisible steam. It was there, but he could only feel its warmth, nothing else. Zeirdin could almost feel the disapproving gaze from his mother at him struggling to reach a standard spell casting circulation rate. The steam inside was going in a circle, but it was sloppy and slow. It probably did not help that his full concentration was not dedicated to his mana control.

“What are you doing? Your eyes looked like they were glowing for a sec,” Jin said looking over.

Zeirdin snapped out of his inner world, concentration broken, “Oh. Magic stuff, I’m rusty. It’s usually not good to have your eyes glow, gives away what you’re doing.” Zeirdin had brown-red eyes, but they sometimes became a glowing crimson if he was circulating mana fast enough. Glowing eyes were not uncommon among practitioners of the Cerulean Arts.

“Hey, I think the Blue Book is free on the SeraphNet here. No way. Check this out,” Jin said, swiping his fingers across his Biotablet. Zeirdin’s beeped in his pocket a second later. The file contained the entirety of the large manual scanned, with even the diagrams intact.

“Wow,” Zeirdin said, flicking through the contents of the index. The book had been around for quite a while, but from what Zeirdin could see, it was good information. From basic mana exercises, instructions on interpreting spellprints, and actual spells, the book, if followed would leave one at about the level of a beginner Second Circle mage. A Second Circle mage would have no trouble getting a decent position in either academia or the military.

“So, do you know any spells?” Jin asked enthusiastically. They had stopped at a bench on the side of the large path.

“Mmm, not really. I used to be able to do short-range telekinesis on small objects. Never had access to real spellprints.” Zeirdin said preoccupied, as he looked through the blue book. Zeirdin looked at the chapter on the spell Basic Flame. While it sounded simple, the spell had multiple parts, which fascinated Zeirdin. What separated Basic Flame from Firestarter was its complexity. Basic Flame used a continuous stream of flammable gas at a consistent pressure. The flammable gas itself was conjured out of mana, which meant that shoddy mana control could result in death or severe injury. However, this also meant that it was possible to easily weaponize the spell. While there were no deadly variations of spells in the Blue Book since it was for beginners to learn the basics, altering or combining spells could result in lethal spells. The conjured flammable gas was then ignited using Fire Starter, which was a concentrated point of mana converted into thermal energy. It was recommended to use a concentrated layer of mana over the surface of the hand as insulation when casting the spell, which added extra complexity. It would be quite a while until Zeirdin could cast such a complex spell though. While mundane, the fundamentals of most combat spells were based on Basic Flame. Zeirdin shoved his Biotablet back into his pocket, grabbing the handle of his crate, “I’ll do this later. I forgot to ask, where have we been walking to?”

“We’re going to the center of the Cobalt Annulus to check our Tower Profiles. I’m curious how they’ve changed since completing the first floor. It’s too bad that Biotablets with Tower linkage are too expensive to justify buying right now.” Jin sighed.

“Sounds good. Why are they called Biotablets?” Zeirdin asked. He didn’t know much about them. His Biotablet had originally belonged to the man who had attempted to mug him.

Jin switched the hand pulling the crate and put his free hand in his pocket as they walked, “Ok, so originally, they were purely used as biological implant interface devices. Basically, cyborgs used them to fiddle with their cybernetic parts. Now, they’re useful for people without cybernetics because people discovered a way to connect to the SeraphNet. Long-distance communication is still shoddy at best with the SeraphNet though. Can’t expect for a military information network from over 500 years ago to work perfectly.” Zeirdin nodded, impressed.

“So, uh, what does your dad exactly do, if you don’t mind me asking?” Zeirdin finally asked. He had waited this long because he didn’t want to seem like he was after money.

Jin looked slightly uncomfortable. “Ever heard of LunaCorp?”

Zeirdin thought about it for a moment, “Actually yeah, I remember seeing it on a magfreighter, or something once.”

“My dad confounded it 30 years ago. Basically, they reverse engineer old-tech from around Laurentia, and even parts of Old Laurentia, and then if possible, integrate it with existing technology,” Jin said.

“That’s kinda cool.” Zeirdin didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t really care. Jin didn’t seem to have the best relationship with his father for a reason.

Jin and Zeirdin arrived at the center of the Cobalt Annulus where the terminals were located. There were four-terminal booths, backs all facing each other in a square pattern. The antennas and bars joined into one in the center. People milled around the central plaza, while others waited in line for their turn at the terminal. The gentle glow of the late afternoon sun streamed through the glass canopy that covered the center of the Cobalt Annulus. The red brick of the plaza added a nice contrast to the yellow glow. Zeirdin decided that he would never stop appreciating how clean Lestag was. Jin and Zeirdin decided to wait in different lines to get everything over with quicker. Both of them didn’t have to wait long to get their turns. Zeirdin walked up to the terminal booth and had his hand scanned. The machine beeped and the screen blinked on.