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06 - The Channel
🕑 Added 2024-06-22 23:08:21 +0000 UTCRyan stepped out through the large doors of the Awakened Centre. In his hand, he was holding a small metal card; his Awakened license. On it was his name, date of birth, class, and a small symbol that showed that he passed the test for the additional Dungeoneering license. And though the process wasn't particularly easy, he actually expected a lot worse.
He did have to take a few tests where his current stats were evaluated, not just the ones that he actually unlocked but also the more common physical stats like Strength, Physicality, Agility, and so on. However, beside that, it was all actually pretty chill. Ryan wasn't aware, but there seemed to be some laws that had been put into place specifically to protect the privacy of the most rare classes that existed, such as unique or bloodline classes. That was why he didn't actually have to tell them anything beyond the most basic information, as Aurora had explained to him.
And considering that Ryan had no idea what the deal with his class was yet, he was quite happy about it too. That being the case, the process still took until 1pm, especially the Dungeoneering test at the end of it all. Luckily he knew a lot about this sort of thing already, so after taking a look at some of the practice materials that Aurora had given to him, he just tried the test out and passed almost with a perfect score.
"Let's just go grab some lunch," Ryan stretched lightly and quickly pulled up a map on his phone. Just looking around, he was intimidated. Since there weren't that many Awakened in the city, there was only a single Awakened Centre. At least public transport was great to the Channel though, something that Ryan didn't really expect initially.
Most of New Riverside was encased by a fork and confluence in the Galerian river and was split up into multiple boroughs. In the encased centre were Upstream, the part of town where Ryan, Modak and Silvia lived, and the oldest part of the city. There was also Copperbeach, a mostly industrial borough, as well as Lakeview, which included the parts of town that were submersed in the Galerian lake that formed in this part of the river. At some point, the city spread beyond the western branch toward the mountains, creating the two boroughs of the Falls and Rapids due to the nature of the river adjacent to them, as well as beyond the eastern branch toward the forests, aptly named Eastbanks.
And then, in the western branch, there was another island holding the smallest borough, the Channel. Even though it was the smallest, it was by far the richest part of the city, and it was very clearly visible too. Compared to the old, historic buildings that Ryan was used to from Upstream at this point, everything here was so new and simply massive. The skyline of this part of town was visible from literally everywhere in New Riverside, but being here, looking up at the skyscrapers from the street level was just ridiculous.
"Fucking hell, man... this is crazy," Ryan muttered, starting to walk around to follow the direction his map sent him, and soon enough he was sent into what, at first glance, looked like some kind of mall. There were shops all over the place, but just glancing at them, Ryan knew for a fact that he couldn't even afford socks from any of them.
Either way, this place wasn't even his final destination yet; he wanted to go to this noodle place that he heard about on Loop that looked pretty decent, and for some reason it sent him through here. And then, after turning around the corner, Ryan saw the escalators that seemed to reach upward for miles. He wasn't totally sure, but he figured he might as well take a look, and quickly stepped on the escalator.
It wasn't necessarily fast, but it was a lot better than having to walk up this far. And then, once he reached the top, Ryan stepped out of the building and was once more on street-level. A bit taken aback and confused, he looked around to figure out what was going on. This was clearly a pedestrian zone, but he was walking by one of those earlier as well, and that was before going up what felt like ten miles on that escalator. Curious, Ryan kept walking around and soon noticed some railings at the edge of an open area, and quickly walked up to it. As he looked down, he saw nothing but a massive drop to the roads below.
"Huh..." Ryan muttered surprised. He didn't expect things to be like this here in the Channel. It was a whole different world compared to what he was used to. Though, whichever the case, Ryan was hungry. After enjoying the view for another few moments, he turned back around and kept following the map to the restaurant. It was a small hole-in-the-wall place that seemed almost out of place in this neighbourhood, though maybe that was the intention behind it. The old wood, the Shimarian style and dΓ©cor, and the lovely, inviting vibe. Everything else in this part of town was so cold that Ryan felt almost unsettled, so this was a nice change.
He stepped into the shop and took a seat at the counter before his order was quickly taken as well. Ryan watched curiously as the chef expertly used his four muscular arms to prepare the food just a few steps away from him. The smell of the broth and the braised pork practically made him salivate.
Especially when the bowl was finally placed in front of him and the steam of the bowl heated up his face, Ryan couldn't wait to dig in. Though, of course, he took a quick picture first and sent it to his group chat.
'You sure you don't want anything?' Ryan thought, inwardly looking at Maximus, though he just replied with a single short nod, '...Do you at least want to come out or something? I feel awkward enjoying myself while you're stuck in there. You didn't want to come out during any of the tests either.'
For a few moments, Maximus seemed to be in contemplation as Ryan started to eat, when he reacted in a way that just seemed off to Ryan. He stopped what he was doing, jumping up onto his feet, staring into empty space. Though, Ryan could tell that he wasn't looking into 'empty space', but outside of the domain, as if looking at something beyond Ryan's body. And Maximus seemed tense.
"Mister Aglecard, I'm very sorry to disturb you. Could I have a moment of your time?" As Ryan turned his head, he saw an elven man stood right in front of him wearing a dark suit. There was a small, light blue sparrow pin attached on the left side of his chest.
Ryan swallowed the food in his mouth, looking back at the man with a frown. He was covered in a cloud of disgustingly potent cologne, and Ryan was worried that the man's greased-back hair was about to catch fire from the kitchen's open flames.
"Uhm... Do I know you?"
"Not yet, but it would be a pleasure to change that," the man said, pulling a white business card from his jacket's inner pocket, practically forcing it into Ryan's hand, "Simon Grand, of Bluesky Industries. We heard that you just registered your class with the Awakened Centre. Congratulations on that, first and foremost."
Ryan stared at the man confused. It hadn't even been thirty minutes since he left from there, "How did you-"
"It's all public record, Mister Aglecard. As you must know, every Awakened and the name of their Class is placed into the database for every Riverian citizen to view."
"Right, fair enough. Though that doesn't explain how you fucking know where I went to get lunch," Ryan replied. The vibes he got from this guy weren't particularly comfortable.
For a while, Simon Grand just stared at Ryan with a soft business-smile plastered on his lips, before turning over toward the chef, "Coffee, please. Black."
"Don't got coffee," the chef replied, unamused, "Ya can have tea if ya want. Green."
"Then I will take that, thank you very much," Simon replied, and slowly turned back toward Ryan, "Mister Aglecard, are you aware of what we do at Bluesky Industries?"
"Vaguely, I guess?" That was a lie. Anyone even a fraction as interested in Awakened knew about Bluesky Industries. They dealt with anything related to the System, producing a ton of technology that interfaced with it. A lot of the scanners that Ryan had just used at the Awakened Centre were made by them, as were most workout machines for Awakened. They also made plenty of weapons, tools, and any other items that different Awakened might need. And, over the past few years, after a certain breakthrough, they started dealing in a whole other matter as well.
"Well, to give you a brief explanation, we have dedicated ourselves to making the lives of all Awakened easier and better. And we are especially concerned when it comes to people like you, who have attained unique classes."
Ryan just continued eating, listening to Simon yap on. If he just played along, this guy would hopefully leave soon enough. Though, he was pretty worried about Maximus' intense stare that was seemingly aimed right at Simon.
The man continued, "People with unique classes face many, many challenges that are often simply not worth the trouble. As you must know, the rarity of a class has no influence over that class' inherent power, so many unique class holders fall behind their contemporaries. Without the lengthy analyses and growth-strategies that have been created for more common classes, in our day and age, having a wholly unique class comes with truly nothing but downsides."
Ryan glanced away from his food. He knew it. It was going that way.
"So?" he asked, and Simon's smile grew a bit broader than it had been before, as though he was happy with the flow of this one-sided conversation.
"Wouldn't it be much nicer to have a class that you can grow properly in with the assistance of your peers? Not one that was decided for you by the world, but one that you decided on," Simon pulled the business card that he placed next to Ryan earlier back over toward himself, taking out a pen. He wrote a number on it.
300,000 Riverian Gild.
"This is how much we're willing to pay for your unique class. And in addition, we're willing to let you choose any class from our existing catalogue."
Looking at the number on the business card, Ryan had to swallow in contemplation for just a second. That much money would be enough to buy his mom a house. Maybe not a mansion or anything like that, but it would be enough for her to live peacefully without having to deal with that shitty landlord anymore. Ryan's heart beat heavily in his chest at the mention of that much money. However...
"I'm not selling my class, sorry," he replied, though it did hurt him a bit. His class was clearly somehow related to his father, and until he knew more about that, he refused to even let others beside the people he trusted most know too much about it all. Not to mention, his class was the one that gave Maximus a body. If he sold the class, would he be selling Maximus as well? Or would Maximus be forced to once more return to that Spirit Core form for an indefinite amount of time? Frankly, Ryan didn't know which one would be worse. Either way, no matter how good of a deal that much money would be, he didn't want to sell.
"Now, now, don't be like that, Mister Aglecard. I know that your family is quite wealthy, but 3 Million Gild is not a number to scoff at," Simon pointed out with a slight smile, and Ryan looked back at him confused. His eyes gazed back at the business card, and his heart dropped. It almost felt like he had a heart attack. Ryan had missed a zero.
For a moment, Ryan buried his face in his hands. That was a truly life-changing amount of money. His mother would never have to work for the rest of her life, and Ryan would be set up just amazingly for the future as well. That number made refusing just harder. Not to mention, "What do you mean, 'your family is quite wealthy'?"
Taken aback, Simon looked at Ryan with a puzzled expression, "You are a son of the Aglecard family, correct? Of the Aglecard Foundation?"
'Is that why he offered that much?' Ryan wondered. It made sense, though. Within New Riverside, that charity foundation seemed to be a pretty big deal, so after seeing his last name, this guy must have thought that Ryan was part of them. 'Aglecard' was an otherwise pretty rare last name, after all. Though, since Ryan wasn't planning on selling either way, no matter how big the number got, he figured he might as well try to play around a bit.
"Well, who knows? But what makes you think I'd sell for 3 Million?" Ryan asked, smiling lightly. This being the first smile that Simon saw from him, he seemed to become a bit more confident.
"I see. Considering your status, 3 Million might sound like a bit of a joke to you. Let me tell you what, I'll talk to my supervisors and see if I can get you a bit of a better deal. Though, remember that this offer only exists before you reach Level 10. After that, Class exchanges become impossible, even for us," Simon stood up from his seat, never even having touched the green tea that the chef had placed in front of him. But even so, he took out a wallet and procured a 100 Gild bill, quickly handing it to the chef, "This is for Mister Aglecard's food as well."
The chef took the money without another word, just slowly nodding at Ryan. Simon turned toward the young man and smiled "We will reach out to you with a new offer soon, Mister Aglecard. Until then, please take the time to contemplate what your Class is truly worth to you."
And without further ado, Simon Grand turned around and left the restaurant, leaving Ryan stunned. He took another look at the business card still laying on the counter, breathing out a heavy sigh.
"An Aglecard, huh? Didn't expect ta have such a high-class customer today," the chef pointed out, grabbing the untouched cup of tea to just drink it himself, since Simon didn't. But Ryan, once he made sure that Simon wouldn't be in earshot, just let out a laugh.
"Man, do I really look that posh to you? Fuck no, I just have the same name. But if letting that guy misunderstand that for a little while gets me my lunch paid for, why not play along a bit?" Ryan grinned lightly as he looked back at his food, finally continuing to eat. The chef let out a loud laugh, and the hands that had never stopped moving around ever since Ryan came in here were practically stunned.
"That's hilarious. So even those sparrow bastards can be wrong, huh?" he asked rhetorically, before looking at Ryan with a big smirk, "Though, I don't wanna be you when they find out ya don't have a unique class."
"Hm? Oh, no, that part's true," Ryan replied, "As he said, it's all public record anyway, so I'd be surprised if they were wrong about that."
The chef raised his brows curiously, "That so, huh? Well, congrats, anyway. Looks like you're gonna be coming into some big cash soon."
"Nah, I'm not selling. The class is too important to me for that," Ryan picked up the bowl in front of him and quickly drank the rest of the broth left in it. As he placed it back down and wiped his mouth, he saw the surprise on the chef's face.
"Didn't expect a kid your age ta have that kinda foresight. I'm impressed," the chef smiled, holding one of his hands forward to Ryan, "Chantora Basir, Chef. The awakened kind."
Ryan looked back surprised, shaking Chantora's hand, "Holy shit, no wonder this food was as good as it was. Sure earned yourself that, what, 600% tip?"
"Sure like to think so."
"Well, either way, I'm Ryan Aglecard. No affiliation, obviously. And I'm a 'Spirit Keeper'. Also the awakened kind."
"Spirit Keeper, huh? What's that let you do?" Chantora asked curiously, and Ryan looked around for a moment. This restaurant wasn't actually all that busy. It was quite out of the way and in some side road, but considering how big that video on Loop was, he expected a bit more. Though, right now it was quite useful. Looking inward, it seemed that Maximus was quite happy about coming out now. With how he had reacted to Simon's presence, Ryan didn't hesitate to trust Maximus' gut feelings for this.
Ryan slowly held his hand toward the counter as Maximus stepped out of him. The red wisps quickly formed his body and the small knight looked up at Chantora, whose four eyes curiously stared at him.
