The Flying Emporium

The old woman sat in front of the large desk inside her huge yet suffocatingly cramped study.

When she had locked herself into this room, a whole stack of books had been sitting on the desk’s left.

Now this stack had been moved over to the right with its order being reversed as she closed one last dusty tome and put it on top of the others.

“Nothing,” she sighed, while massaging the bridge of her nose. “Not even a hint.”

The woman leaned back into her cushioned chair with her head resting on its back, staring at the high ceiling above.

She remained like this for several minutes, appearing as if she had resigned herself; as if this latest failure had finally broken her spirit.

But far from it.

“It’s unheard of. It should be impossible! And yet…”

And yet reality had proved her wrong. Not just her, but all the brightest minds of the continent she had studied. But that didn’t mean she was willing to give up.

It simply meant she had overlooked something.

And so a decision was made.

The woman stood up and, more nimbly than anyone her age had any right to, walked over to the covered window, and easily moved the solid shutters.

She squinted as she let the early afternoon sun flood in.

‘Earlier than expected, it seems. Good. So there is still some time left today.’

With that, she took some quick steps back to her chair, grabbed the cane which she clearly didn’t need and which was leaning against it, and then headed straight for the door leading into the foyer.

“Dear Lady-”

“I’m not a lady,” she barked irritatedly at the unfamiliar and inexperienced steward who had been upon her the moment she had left her sanctum where even her oldest and most trusted servants weren’t allowed to enter and which was accordingly secured by more than just a few deadly enchantments.

The boy- everyone younger than half a century was either a boy or a girl to her- momentarily froze up; this was supposed to be one of the good, easy assignments to get familiar with this work, the manor, and also the Lady Mistress herself.

But the woman didn’t stop and without halt and no intention of slowing down, simply carried on.

That realization was enough to snap the man out of it.

He quickly moved to catch up and fall in one step behind her.

“Ye-Yes, of course, La- I mean, Mis-”

“What is it? Out with it,” she reprimanded the stammering mess.

“Right. Is-is there anything I can do for you? Anything I can bring you?”

“No.” She carried on. And then suddenly stopped moving, causing the steward to stumble and almost run right into her, and then turned around.

For the first time, she looked at the young man, and said,

“Actually, yes. Tell the kitchen staff I’ll be out, and probably eat at that place. If they have already begun preparations, tell them to serve it to staff. No need to waste perfectly good food.

Also, I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe tonight, or maybe I’ll pay a spontaneous visit to some of my old colleagues. I don’t know yet.

Just make sure the place is presentable when I return, otherwise I don’t care.

Ah, and since you seem to be new here:

Don’t even think about entering the study, understand?”

Gulp

“Of course.”

“Great,” she said with a smile. The woman then turned around and continued in the same direction she had originally been headed.

Leaving behind a confused steward and a virtual army of servants, she soon reached the manor’s large portal, headed through the extensive garden area, and into the streets of Hanvia’s most noble and prestigious quarter.

Yet another few minutes later, and she reached the city’s enormous gates, at which point her destination came into view.

“What’s going on over there? It’s even busier than usual. What did I miss?” The question was directed towards a particular city guard who was standing out because of her many decorations and who was momentarily taken aback by being addressed so suddenly and informally by some random passerby.

“Who-? Ah, it is you!”

No matter if she was arguably Malcos’ most learned woman and mentor of who was considered by many to be a national hero, not many, especially today’s youngsters, would not recognize the old woman; too much time had passed since her heydays and too rarely did she appear in public.

Not so Sergeant Janice, however; or any other person in Hanvia and maybe all of Malcos, who had even just a speck of import, for that matter.

The briefing she had received with her promotion and the introductions that came with it, had made sure of that.

In the unlikely case she was ever to be approached by this person, she was to provide whatever aid she could, regardless of circumstances; her privileges were basically that of the king himself.

“Excuse my-” the Sergeant started as reality sunk in, but was quickly interrupted.

“I don’t care for these things. Just answer the question, my dear.”

“Of course!” The Sergeant saluted. “It is my understanding that one of our-I mean Malcos’-affiliated guilds, has just successfully conquered several heavily contested dungeons. It seems the word is already spreading and attracting more visitors than ever. Especially since the products of that store apparently paid an integral role in the Eagle’s success.”

“Hm.”

“Ah! And I heard rumors of a new product. But I have not yet had the opportunity to conf-”

“A new product?!” That got the old woman’s attention. “What kind? Another potion?”

“I… I’m not certain,” Janice admitted. “As I was saying, I didn’t yet have the chance to personally investigate the matter. That said, it appears to be some new gadget.”

“A new gadget, you say? Like those other two devices? Hmm. Most interesting. Thanks, darling.”

Just as quickly as she had appeared, the old woman suddenly disappeared, leaving behind yet another overwhelmed person in her wake.

Another one of those machines! That was just what she needed. Those potions and elixirs, even the foodstuff, those all were miracles in their own right. But those machines that didn’t seem to emit any sort of magic, those were what really had tickled her academic curiosity like nothing else in the last few decades. And now, just maybe, a new hint, a potential key for solving this mystery, might have appeared; surely the third of these things couldn’t be just as flawless as the previous two.

Excited like a girl a tenth her age, the woman forgot everything else around her and accelerated to a speed most adventurers couldn’t even dream about achieving even in their prime, and towards the portal station outside the city;

once there and unchallenged by any authority, including that of Sir Singerton, guardian of this most important facility, himself, she skipped the sheer never-ending line, and made over to the other side.

The mountain itself was even more crowded. Meaning, every part of it.

Be it Malcos’ small fortress which housed the other half of the portal gateway, the outdoor cafe that now was in serious need of some extra sets of seating arrangements, the training ground which similarly could do with some additional training dummies, the Society’s outpost, or even just vast, and usually very much empty, areas in between; the mountaintop was turning into a proper adventurers’ hub.

But the woman didn’t pay heed to any of these things, and single-mindedly forced her way to the self-proclaimed Emporium’s main store.

If the outside was already crowded, then it was positively congested on the inside.

And yet, surprisingly, here the atmosphere was far calmer; most everyone was facing in the same direction and only very few and hushed words were exchanged between the visitors.

Undeterred, with deliberate and energetic use of her cane, the woman managed to reach a spot from where she could see the center of everyone’s attention, namely the store’s counter; or rather a small cube like object sitting on top of it.

Only now that this device had come into her view did the woman slow down her advance, stopping herself from immediately pouncing on said object.

Something else was already happening; something important judging by the Society’s involvement and obviously one of the two reasons that everyone was still behaving orderly; it seemed she had arrived at just the right time.

“... has to be done. You know how it is.” A vaguely familiar woman with a strained smile on her face, clad in a Society Green uniform, patiently explained to a young man dressed in the same colors.

‘Right, she’s the head of this branch. Acted the moment she heard the first rumors about this store. Good eyes. Good sense.’

“Bu- but why me!? Something like that is unheard of! No way it will work! And even if it does, I… I just recently…” At this point, he was almost crying.

‘But none of the onlookers are mocking him. Curious, considering the kind of people they are.’

But thinking about it more thoroughly, it soon made sense.

It had to be a big deal if the Society went out of their way to validate the authenticity of a new product of an already registered merchant; especially one that was not only valued and trusted to such a degree as this one, but also one with a track record for dealing pretty much exclusively with items whose effects were previously unheard of.

Whatever that object was, it had to be something extraordinary, even by this shop’s standards.

The woman got excited just thinking about it.

All the while, the almost infuriatingly ordinary looking man behind the counter, creator of those all-but ordinary products, also observed this exchange with crossed arms and a confident but curious look on his face.

‘Interesting. Why is he curious?’

Something to think about later. For now, Magda-she remembered the other woman’s name was- convincing her junior to act as a guinea pig was more intriguing.

“It is just a formality. After everything I have seen in here, there is no doubt in my mind that everything is just as the tooltip says. There really is no reason to doubt its claims.”

Hearing this and realizing there was indeed a tooltip floating next to that object, the old woman craned her neck to get a better look at it.

To no avail; not with this many people blocking her view.

For an instant, she considered taking matters into her own hand. But that might just end up labeling her a troublemaker, and as much as she would have loved to conduct some studies on that strange dome that, to her knowledge, had only ever appeared when that one expelled troublemaker had tried to force his way back onto the Emporium’s premises, she preferred doing that kind of research from this side. She would have to remain patient. For now.

“And it is exactly because it had been so recently. Assuming it works, who else would be better suited?”

“I- I don’t-”

“I tell you, you don’t have to worry. The Society will reimburse you. With a completely new one.”

“But-” came another powerless objection. But was once again cut off by Magda.

“And I’m sure if I put in a good word for you with HQ, they might even let you chose one.”

“Are… you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure. I promise.”

“Fiiine. I’ll do it.”

Reluctantly, the boy opened his hands and received multiple golden ingots, each with a denomination of ten-thousand, from a reassuringly smiling Magda.

The old woman still didn’t quite understand what was going on, what the use of that gadget was supposed to be, but even if she miscounted the number of ingots in the boy’s hands, considering the Emporium’s usual prices, her suspicion that something big was about to happen seem all but confirmed. Like the many other surrounding onlookers, she was becoming more and more restless.

The resigned youngster, one after the other, inserted five golden ingots into the opening on top of the device, took a long deep breath, closed his eyes, and put his hands on the correspondingly shaped depressions on either of its sides.

Every person in the store held their breath. And waited.

But even the ones who already knew of the supposed purpose of the device didn’t know what for. Who knew how the change would manifest itself?

What certainly no one did expect, however, was the following.

The same opening into which the boy had just deposited the service fee, suddenly, without warning, spat out a perfectly round crystal sphere.

This change didn’t seem to immediately register with the room full of onlookers.

Until it did, and people realized the impossible might just have occurred.

“That…?”

“What the…”

“Say something? What’s happening there at the front?”

“What is going on?”

“It’s… It’s a class orb?”

“Let me see!”

“What are you saying?!”

“A class orb!”

“What do you mean, a class orb?”

“A class orb! It’s the same class!“

“Same class..?”

“It is not just removal?!”

Chaos broke out. But things were about to get even worse, still.

The old woman, as a latecomer, had been utterly unprepared for this turn of events.

Class removal? And for a fraction of the cost the churches demanded?

That was already hard to believe.

Then again, considering class-orb removal already was a thing, it would have been less of an innovation than some of the store’s other products.

But it wasn’t just that. It was actually orb extraction, not removal.

‘But unlike those other devices, it’s not something I can realistically use myself. Doing research on it will be hard.’

The woman was still absorbed in these kinds of thoughts, when…

“Level two! It’s level two! The orb. Level two!”

“Don’t talk shit!”

“Level two!”

“It’s true! I see it. It’s true!”

“What-what level had that guy been?“

“Level two! That’s what I’ve been telling you! He was level two. Same as the orb!“

“It- It maintained its level!?”

That was when things truly got out of hand.

Shouting, and pushing and shoving in every direction.

Some who wanted to confirm that outrageous claim with their own two eyes, and others who wanted to skip over that step and be the first to make the report.

A class-orb of any other level than level one? For a lot of people, that was arguably even more unbelievable than the extraction of one’s class.

But both things combined…? The implications could hardly be put into words; the possibilities would be endless!

And one of those possibilities…

Without wasting another second, the old woman rushed forward and closed the gap to the counter; not towards that incredible new device, but towards the ordinary man standing behind it.

The man, Severin, was clearly taken by surprise, looking almost just as confused as everyone else currently in this room.

That, however, surely had to be attributed to the general mayhem that had descended upon them and her own sudden appearance right in front of him.

She, therefore, directly got to the point.

“I want to work for you.”

The only answer she received was a blank stare.

“I know your employees help you with all kinds of work. Including crafting. Which means you are teaching them your techniques.

That’s why I want you to hire me,” she explained bluntly.

“I- I only hire classless people,” the man answered, still a bit sluggish but clearly indicating he recognized her.

“I have not forgotten, my dear,” Mylana responded.