The Flying Emporium

Severin didn’t really expect the System to reply to begin with, but somehow was still annoyed when he didn’t receive an answer. Still, if he was not just imagining things and the System had indeed become chattier than in the past, then maybe he was making progress, after all; maybe one day it would answer his questions instead of only ever raising new ones.

But alas, that was in the future, and right now other, more tangible things were vying for his attention.

[You guys also got that notification? Seems like we got a new gadget. It’s still in the store’s inventory if you want to have a quick look.]

[What? Is the quest completed? Already?] Bandur seemed just as surprised as Severin that had been that soon and with no active involvement on their part. The [Shopkeeper] was just about to share his own theory regarding the Malcos Eagles’ involvement in the matter, but Emily was already shouting, both physically right next to him, as well as mentally into their telepathic link,

[Why would anyone ever use that?! It’s soo useless!]

Severin could well understand her reaction-initially he had been just as baffled and even suspected another scam on part of the System-and figured for someone who, until recently, had been living as a classless street urchin, the idea of removing one’s class had to be truly incomprehensible.

But her slack-jawed expression immediately turned to one of sheer horror as she had another realization

[And people have to pay money to use this?]

Bandur, though in a somewhat similar position as her, him having been classless for a duration multiple times the girl’s age even, but also with accordingly much more life experience and a different, far worldlier upbringing than her, didn’t wait for an answer to his previous, already rhetorical question, and took it upon himself to enlighten the girl.

[It’s a rare service, mostly offered by some of the bigger churches; that scarcity alone makes it worth some amount of coins.

And though you are right that not many people are usually in need of such services, it is far from unheard of. There are some actual practical applications to a service like this. Just not for most regular people. Or rather, most regular classbearers, that is.

I think your biggest misconception, however, is that those people plan to get rid of their class.

It’s to replace their class.]

[Re… replace…?] The word sounded almost foreign coming from Emily, as if she herself was doubting the meaning of the word.

She couldn’t believe her ears; it didn’t make sense.

To someone like her, who had been born classless and struggled to survive from a young age, removing one’s class to replace it with a different one was the pinnacle of decadence, the ultimate degeneracy.

[Replacing a class?] she repeated with disbelief, but maybe also even a hint of anger, trying to convince herself that surely she had simply misheard.

[Haha, incredible, right?] It was a humorless, bitter laugh, coming from someone who very well could have had-no, should have had- a class on their own, but was denied that birthright, and someone who had witnessed this practice first hand.

[Yes, though not done very often, it does happen,] Bandur confirmed once again.

[Don’t forget that most of those people, those whose family trees are entirely made up by classbearers, are actually born with their class; they don’t get to choose. Now, a noble [Berserker] - could you imagine? Even in Malcos, where that class’ image is far from being as terrible as it is elsewhere, it is still not exactly prestigious. Nor especially useful, considering it’s very narrow area of application, with its sole focus on heavy-handed man-to-man combat and its steep, deadly learning curve. Unsuitable even to show off, ha] another bitter laugh.

Then, almost reluctantly, [But don’t be mistaken. That practice is not just motivated by vanity. There are also more practical concerns.]

[Really?] Emily’s doubt was evident.

[Really. Or who would you rather be governed by? Said [Berserker] or a [Sage]?]

[I meeean… Samuel is a [Berserker], so...]

[Em,] Severin reprimanded, but had to suppress a chuckle.

[Well, I gueeess a [Sage] would probably be preferable,] she admitted, before mumbling to herself, “But it’s not like they care about us either way.”

Severin, who only caught this comment because he stood right next to her, was momentarily taken aback; given her circumstances, brought up on the street and living off scraps, this sentiment maybe shouldn’t have come as too much as a surprise to him, but at the moment, he still didn’t know how to react. Maybe it was time for him to do some deeper digging into the girl’s past; he hoped that by now they had formed a close enough relationship that she wouldn’t mind him doing so.

For now, however, Bandur, who wasn’t privy to her short remark, continued on with his explanation.

[And then, of course, there are the wealthy guilds. Having cleared all sorts of dungeons and raids over the years, and with, in some cases, histories as long and rich as even the most well established noble families, you can only imagine their wealth; which, according to rumors, also includes whole hoards of class orbs.And while

I am sure you could accuse those guilds of many things, not being pragmatic isn’t one of them.

Considering that not all classes are equal, with some even thought of to be strictly better than others in the broach context of adventuring, why not reward a loyal, experienced guild member with an upgrade? Better than replacing them and relying on some unknown newcomer.

Group dynamics or even just specific boss encounters can also be reason enough to change a group’s class composition; as long as they think it’s preferable to the alternatives, they won’t shy away from those things.

That said, the loss of class-experience and the need to re-level and start over from zero, is a big enough obstacle even to those guilds that it is only seldomly done.

So. While I think you severely underestimated its practicality and demand, you are right in that it will hardly be a bestseller of ours. I suspect to see at most one or two sales a year; and that is assuming our customer numbers keep increasing as they currently are.

That said, depending on the price…]

Bandur didn’t finish the sentence; moved by the cut-off words that still hung in the aether of their telepathic conversation, all three, at the same time, begun to inspect the item’s tooltip.

‘What the…?! Fifty-thousand? Per use?’ Was Severin’s initial thought.

[Expensive!]

[How cheap?!]

[So high!]

[Huh?]

[Huh? Oooh.]

[How is that cheap!?]

[You can’t just look at the absolute amount. You also have to consider the competition,] explained Severin, who, after catching the dwarf’s exclamation, quickly caught on and realized his own mistake.

Still, that was a lot of money.

Twice the monthly amount Magda’s Society paid him for the property lease, to be exact, and enough to make him curious; with a quick jerk of his right hand, a motion made out of habit not out of necessity, Severin pulled the actual device into the real world.

It was a small box-far smaller than both the Purifier and the Combinator- that could have easily been carried in Severin’s hands if it wasn’t for its unnatural heavy weight; even after gathering all his strength and after multiple attempts, Severin couldn’t move, let alone lift the dark cube off the workbench before him.

He gave up, and instead, together with Emily, inspected it more closely and in person.

What they found were two hand-shaped indentations on both sides of the device; on its top, a full-blown coin-hole had replaced the other devices’ coin slot.

Ensured that everything was in order and driven by some irrational fear that some freak-accident might cost him his unique [Shopkeeper] class, he quickly recalled the device back into the inventory space, before heading out into the sales area.