Rosen Flame B1 — 5. Robbers?
Added 2023-09-17 02:25:54 +0000 UTCPoV:
1. Malik (Our MC and Humanity's Hero!)
--------------------
Trying not to panic at what rumors might be spreading after their encounter with Ena, the vomiting wood elf down the hall, or this courtship pact he’d made with a demigod, Malik tried not to groan when Rose nudged him.
“How fascinating this ‘buying power’ is… I can’t get over it. It is more fun than I thought to figure out the odd things you do now that we share a pact. The fascinating part is that I can now understand a few things that the lesser dragons have told me.”
Rubbing his hot neck, Malik tilted his head down to study her. “I’ll bite.”
“Hah-haha!” Rose doubled over, impish glowing eyes darting to him and holding up her arm. “What strange threat from a human, but by all means, break your teeth.”
“What—no!” he hissed, shoving her arm away as he got another entertained snicker from the dragon. “It’s an expression… I’ll bite—as in I’ll bite into the topic… Hells, I forget that you’re clueless. I was asking about what you were talking about with the lesser dragons.”
“Mhm.” The twist on the woman’s lump lips made him roll his eyes, but she dropped it and pointed at the counter. “These are the coins they hoard. The conversion rate is the same for every element used here, correct? One hundred creates one of the next stage… Am I reading this right in that one hundred iron coins converts into one steel coin?”
Still worried about Ena, and now thrown off yet again by Rose’s ignorant antics, he absently untied one of his securely fastened Bags of Holding; the artifact cost an Imperium Silver each, yet made traveling light a breeze.
He pulled out his single copper piece and placed it next to a silver and gold while explaining the items; it quickly snatched Rose’s attention as she slid them over to compare to the illustrations.
“Legend has it that the Imperium System was made by a reincarnate that wanted to make a universal currency and to become the ‘God of Currency’ six hundred years ago.”
“What a stupid god that would be,” Rose mused. “Just become powerful and take whatever you want.”
“Spoken like a dragon,” he sighed, trying to devise a way to not further stress the wood elf when he made his request; he probably needed to tell her the truth in order to explain the insanity that Rose had stuck into her head.
“The unique part about Imperium currency is that it is enchanted with the [Impervious] Feat to various tiers, making it stand the test of time and providing stability. Most governments use it due to the bank’s independence from governing pressures; only their central headquarters in neutral territory has the means to craft them from the artifacts the reincarnate left behind.”
An entertained twist moved her rosy lips. “Oh, a challenge, hmm?”
She picked up the gold piece and twisted it around her slim fingers. “All of them are at the AA-tier… We have:
“[Impervious]
“[Magic Guard]
“[Shimmer]—a rather useless Feat…
“[Hidden Glow]
“[GPS Tracking]
“[System Block] and…
“[Duplicate Block], all embedded into its atomic structure.”
Malik’s mouth dropped open at the ridiculously high grades of Feats; he doubted if an SS-tier Shadow Pit Core Item would have that many AA-tier Feats.
“Ah,” the pink-haired girl chimed, running her finger over some of the text on the counter. “And these have what the lesser dragons call ‘purchasing power’ to obtain life-requiring goods for mortals?”
A little scared the demigod was about to test its impervious status, he reached out to carefully pluck it out of her hand. “Right… From least to greatest: Iron, Steel, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum.
“With one hundred coins converting into the next tier, it goes up pretty fast. To put it into perspective, five gold coins could buy you a castle and the land to put it on—this copper piece could buy you the lifestyle of a princess for a day—and a loaf of bread generally costs 2 iron, so this silver piece could get you 500,000 loafs…”
Rose’s amused eyes followed his explanation, her thumb rubbing the back of his hand in entertainment at the topic. She pointed her free index finger at the copper piece, making it rise into the air with a giggle before it shimmered and turned into gold. Malik trailed off at the unbelievable act as she snickered.
“And now we are one coin closer to purchasing this castle humans are so obsessed over, complete with the required Feats.”
She’d just duplicated an item specifically designed to not be duplicated. Maybe that didn’t count with transmutation?
“Turn it back,” Malik hissed, glancing around and pulling out another gold coin to point at a numerical system below the Imperium logo. “The bank logs all of its coins—especially everything above copper since they are only used for massive purchases by nobles and nations. They keep track of who possesses them! Wait… they have GPS tracking on them?”
“The gold does,” Rose casually stated, twisting her fingers for it to transmute back to copper. “It is funny how much lesser creatures rely on The System when it is so limited and weak; I got off it as soon as possible.”
Malik ran his fingers over his neck, finally realizing what Rose constituted as a lesser being: those who relied on The System. And, by her own statement, she’d broken the Leveling System when very young, which meant humans could likely do the same.
A sudden blip in [S-tier Danger Sense] brought his gaze to the door; it wasn’t strong but above the average.
The hinges blew off, sending the enhanced door clattering inward. Three gnomes jumped inside, wielding magical weapons and wearing scowls, two men and a young girl: a Rogue, Fighter, and Sorceress by their item choices. Malik’s sharp eyes were quick to pick up their Adventurer tags: the Rogue and Fighter were both Copper, Levels 11 to 15, while the Sorceress was down at Steel, Levels 6 to 10.
“Don’t move, miscreants!” the Fighter barked as the cowled Rogue slipped to the side to get an angle on them. An audience had gathered outside. “What did you do with Ms. Ena?”
[FF Appraisal] brought up their system sheet, which he filtered to the simplest setting to not get blasted with useless information; their tags alone told him they were far from a threat. The band of Dungeoneers was no stronger than almost the entire population on the planet’s surface to him at Level 49.
[Ralph Rabblesebble: Level 11 - Male Gnome - Age 176 - Rogue Pathfinder]
[Jax Brassfront: Level 14 - Male Gnome - Age 235 - Fighter Quartermaster]
[Pelsey Brassfront: Level 7 - Female Gnome - Age 45 - Sorceress N/A]
Malik had more than 320 times the Level 14 Fighter’s EXP. Their ages, in contrast to their levels, showed how harsh this world’s Leveling System was if you weren’t a suicidal reincarnate. Although, the gnomes’ cultural age of emotional and intellectual maturity was forty, showing Pelsey had only just become a young woman.
Pelsey wouldn’t get her subclass until Level 10, but it would probably have something to do with fire by the explosion. It wasn’t like she would be locked to only Feats of her subclass, but it was all she’d get naturally without using Sage Books.
The blown-off door only just struck the ground when Rose dropped the Imperium copper coin back on the table, lifting an impressed pink eyebrow as he pondered how to get out of this without revealing who he was.
“Wow.” The dragon glanced at the copper piece she’d dropped. “They really do move fast. I don’t even know how they discovered my transmutation.”
“I don’t think it was you,” he sighed.
“Get down on the floor, or I’ll blast you!” Pelsey barked, the orb floating in front of her channeling a pre-cast [E Fire Bolt]; it was probably a family relic.
Malik didn’t move, his back against the desk, still holding Rose’s lax hand. The dragon’s tail lightly tapped the floor as she looked to him for what they should do, wearing a far more excited smile than she should as a demigod.
“Which is it?” he asked, “Don’t move or get on the ground? We can’t do both.”
“A tall smart-ass,” the girl squeaked, glaring at him. “Is that really a dragonborn? Damn. Can you appraise them, Ralph?”
Ralph shook his head, still moving to block off the hallway to cut off an escape route. “Blocked. Something’s off about these two, Jax. I don’t got a good feeling here. Feels like the Lizard Shriekers all over again. You see their gear?”
Malik flipped through their info to see the pair had died to the D-tier creatures, being resurrected and losing five levels in the process from [S Resurrection]. He sympathized; they’d probably lost decades of progress, and the older gnome had died earlier in his life, as well. He’d had a rough go as a Dungeoneer.
“I can’t see a weapon,” Pelsey commented.
He didn’t even need to activate his defenses; his cloak alone would make him all but invulnerable to their attacks.
“I have a dagger in my bag,” he offered with a forced grin. “Does that count?”
“Damn, I didn’t think about that…”
She is a little dense, but maybe she’s not used to fighting people. The older two are definitely skilled low-tier crawlers, but she’s probably new to the game.
“Let’s just chill,” Jax mumbled slowly, easing forward with his enhanced great ax at the ready and defending his relative behind him. “A bleeding dragonborn; keep those jaws locked, hun. No need to make any rash decisi—”
Ena came jogging back, hair somewhat a mess and forehead slick with sweat, having most likely heard the door explode inward. “Jax, wait—these aren’t robbers—they’re valued customers of the bank!”
Jax glanced her way for a second, frowning at her appearance but lowering his stance and stroking his white beard. “I see… Hah. A mistake then, friends. Are you okay, Ms. Ena?”
“Yes! Umm, can you watch the door… after blowing it off.”
The Rogue forced a laugh. “Yeah, we were a bit hasty. Apologies, Ms. Ena, we’ll cover the repairs out of our wages. And drak—we forgot your pastries and milk.”
“It’s fine. Eh-heh, I lost my appetite. Umm, and Pelsey, can you guide Malik and Rose to the conference room beside my office? Just… please, give me a second to freshen up.”
“Of course,” Malik said, lightly tugging Rose’s hand to follow him after slipping the copper, silver, and gold pieces into his bag. The Rogue definitely didn’t miss the shiny pieces. “Sorry for all the trouble.”
Pelsey gave them a suspicious look as she lowered her charged orb that had blown off the door hinges; it was a smart play to go for the combustion and put pressure on the hinges rather than pound on the enchanted door. “This way…”
The 95 cm tall gnome jogged forward; she was faster than she looked, already motioning for them to continue to the stairs behind the counter. Jax and Ralph went to guard the door and disperse the crowd as Ena retreated to the restroom.
Malik heard the two gnomes block some other group that came to the entrance.
“What’s going on here, Jax? I heard pirates attacked Ms. Ena under your employ?”
“Not the Mercenary Guild’s business, Laris. It’s covered, and the bank is still closed.”
“Hmm.” A female with a mid-eastern accent sounded unconvinced. “I think we’d feel much better hearing that from Ms. Ena herself.”
“Then you’ll have to wait for her to get done with her business,” Ralph growled. “You’re welcome to wait on the steps, ya crooked kites.”
“No need to be rude,” Laris sighed. “We will wait… but what were you two doing when these two mysterious figures ambushed our dear Head of Bank? From what I hear, one was a rather glamorous dragonborn, and you three were off running morning errands?”
“Best mind your business,” Jax grunted.
“So hostile,” the man laughed—a dry, raspy noise. “Just a concerned member of the community.”
Malik frowned, looking at Rose and wondering what kind of influence all of this was having on the demigod. For being so incredibly blunt, her mostly amenable and lax expression didn’t give much in the way of her thoughts. From what he’d seen so far, though, she was very observant and adaptable; she just had such a low opinion of lesser beings that she’d never taken the time to learn much about them.
Now, Rose was taking in every interaction. Throughout it all, though, her singular gripe had been with him and not the people; she expected him to lead her through this challenge, and that was perhaps the most confusing part thus far.
Pelsey guided them upstairs to a back room, opening an unlocked door. They sat on the armchairs inside, Rose a tad annoyed that it didn’t have a back opening, forcing her to curl her tail around her front.
Five uncomfortable minutes passed until Ena returned, having regained her composure. She thanked Pelsey and sent her down to contact the local Artificer fix-it guy to repair the door. Once alone, Ena sat down to face them, hands gripped tightly in her lap and keeping her focus on him.
“Okay… so you said you would explain… everything. The last I heard, you were back in the north fighting the demon horde that destroyed your homeland. What brings you to the southern coast of Tenebrin… with Rose?”
Malik took a deep breath and gingerly eased his sweaty hand away from Rose’s, making her frown, and the tingling electricity that passed between them cut.
“I’ll explain it as simply as I can and why I’m trying to keep a low profile… I know this might sound insane.”
He began at the start, with Rose breaking out of the depths of the sea. Then, how he was brought into an emergency meeting with a few high dignitaries of the surrounding kingdoms and the information sent by a contact amongst the sun elves that gave them the basis of the threat that had awakened. His direct call to arms was Titania, as his guiding deity, though.
Rose scoffed at the accusations she believed were thrown at her by the sun elves. It was their ancestors who had tried to use her as a battery when she was asleep. That was what had them angry: losing their power source—not that she cared since it was like they were taking a drop of water out of an ocean.
Hearing that, Malik had to admit that she did get a bad rep for simply existing; she also didn’t help her case by not caring about the calamity she left in her wake. Rose didn’t care, and that was the problem. She just woke up, stretched out, and went to get a bit of a snack before going into space, but then he had shown up.
He explained as delicately as he could the kind of bet he had with the True Dragon, and during this tense discussion, Malik started to realize a few very uncomfortable things about the position he’d found himself in.
And unexpectedly, Ena’s stress gradually faded away the more he talked, her sheet white face being replaced by a sober intensity. The wood elf sat hunched over, elbows on her thighs and supporting her head with the back of her hands while listening intently to his tale.
Once he’d finished, he sunk back in his chair, Rose looking between them with a charming expression; she finally had someone else who shared her secret. Her sharp, sky-blue eyes shone with excitement for what might come next in this courting game they were playing after he mentioned a somewhat decent-sized plot of land he could buy using his grim joke of a noble name.
Ena thought in silence for a short time, the only sound coming from the mechanical clock ticking on the wall with its swaying weight.
Standing up, she motioned him to the door. “Lady Rosen Dragon, may I borrow Malik for a short while to speak in my office… in private?”
Rose didn’t hesitate, now sitting cross-legged while examining the differences between her dress and Ena’s. “Why would I have a problem with that? I will remain here and deliberate on the diversity in mortal furnishings.”
“Wonderful. Malik?”
He got up and followed the elf out, noticing her lock the conference door behind them. More in an attempt to keep others from interacting with the dragon rather than Rose leaving, he was sure. He could sense Ena’s nervousness, due to the movement heard from downstairs as the bank employees started to arrive. She was quiet, unlocking her office door, entering it, and gesturing for him to take a seat.
Ena closed it behind her, and he spotted her infamous cello resting in the corner, worn with use. Curiosity hit him as he spotted a guitar beside it; he’d seen them in Bard shops but didn’t know the wood elf played anything else. Malik smiled, remembering how he had to haul her cello around a few dungeons he’d done with her when blowing off steam on their caravan journey together.
She didn’t sit, moving to the window to open the curtains, allowing more natural light to enter the room. Finally, she turned to face him with a serious look, clearly having given this far more thought than him.
“So, in short, you are in a temporary union with a demigod, who never even planned to cause anyone trouble in the first place. Instead, said dragon is seemingly going through some kind of midlife crisis, and you, unfortunately, piqued her interest in a rather unusual set of events—events your high goddess seemed to point you toward, placing you into this predicament.
“Typical of the Chaotic-Good goddess to cause mischief,” she said with more of a venomous tone than Malik had ever expected from her. Typically, the wood elf was rather charming and demur when they’d traveled together. As he remembered, she was a Titania follower, as well, so he had to respond to that.
“Yeah, Titania has gotten me into some crazy shit, but all of it ended up working out in the end—like that Druid cult we found when on the road. Remember, they were trying to feed that A-tier Nature Dungeon sacrifices to awaken their, ahem, dark god.”
She groaned. “Yes, well, did she really have to bait us near there by sending you visions of chained Dryad trees, enslaved to—ugh… She is just a tad on the nose for my liking when it comes to sending you after damsels in distress.”
Malik laughed, finding humor in the current situation since, by all measurements, everyone was flipping out that Rose had awakened, only for him to find out she really couldn’t give a crap about them. For her, the world might as well be without life, yet it was him braving her hellish fire and calling out to her to chat that had sparked her interest in his foolishness or bravery.
If he played his cards right, he wouldn’t die. Actually, this was kind of everything he’d wanted, if in the extreme. Rose wasn’t unreasonable, but the wood elf seemed to have a totally different opinion as her agitation grew, and he saw a side of her he didn’t know she had.
Ena began to pace, speaking to herself as she worked through her thoughts. “Still, you are more of a hostage in this relationship. It’s not like you love or even want to be with her. Rose is curbing her boredom and waiting to see you fail the challenge; there is no way she believes this will work, which means she has to make it work for you to survive…”
She ran her fingers through her now messy hair again, eyes darting to anything to find an answer. “It’s only ten to thirty years if we can move quickly—ack, I hate that she’s forced a child condition onto you under the pretext that if you didn’t, the world would end—then again, she hinted that you would have stopped aging after the pact, and that means it could affect you after… which is interesting.”
Malik’s nods ground to a halt. “She did?!”
“Yes,” Ena said with a hopeful smile and fervor that bewildered him. “Courting is fast among humans, unlike wood elves, that takes a minimum of five decades, given our nearly eight-century lifespan. As she said, it is the blink of an eye for her, and she seems intelligent enough to read social signals… Hmm.”
Why are your social signals so confusing, then?! he cried.
Throughout Ena and his journey together when escorting the convoy, he’d gotten mixed signals that the over-ninty-year-old wood elf may have liked him, but it was always hard to tell if a woman wanted to be good friends or something more. And generally, he had other things to worry about rather than work on those social senses. He didn’t want to read into something that could become awkward and ruin one of the few friendships he had.
“Is… something wrong?” he asked as she started sucking on her bottom lip while staring out of the window. “All I need to do is get a property and kind of… work my way up to the, umm, deed—day by day—that’s, heh, how I leveled up so fast; just push harder every…” He sighed, cheeks coloring. “That could have come out better.”
Ena still seemed too trapped in her mind to have noticed his awkward chuckle. “Uh-huh… I’m worried about you… and her. Rose expects so much from you… And a child? You’re so young. Grrgh—no, not that you can’t! I know the human age of maturity is fifteen…” she quickly interjected.
She turned away with an annoyed hiss, her cheeks flushed while scanning the road below. “Rose wants a challenge… Hmm. If she fails… Heh. Yes. And your thoughts were to teach her the complicated life of a human female. She can fail.”
“Hold up, we don’t want her to fail—Ena?”
Fairly confident the elf was in her own world at this point, he saw an unsettling, devilish look in her hazel eyes.
“You mentioned you had a baron title you wanted to utilize, and… how much Imperium currency have you saved up?”
“Uh-yeah, and about… seven gold, twenty silver, and one copper. Can I ask why?”
Ena’s sudden excitement unnerved him as she ushered him up and to the door without an explanation.
“Okay, okay! I can work with this; I’ll get everything set up. You wanted some land?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Great! You just meet me back here at around… two? Yeah, two. I should be able to get them here by then—oh, and here are a few iron and steel coins to get you by for several hours,” she added, unlocking the other door to call for the dragon. “Rose, you and Malik are leaving!”
“Excellent! I was smelling this unusual flavor from down the road that I wanted to investigate… My stomach keeps growling for some reason. Is that normal, Malik?”
The wood elf seemed to get even more chipper at the news. “You have cravings! That’s wonderful. Why don’t you stop by the bakery, Malik? I’ll see you soon!”
“Uh-huh…”
And just like that, Malik found himself in the lobby, many men and women giving him curious looks, Rose’s hand in his, and her tail wagging for the next adventure. A small bag of usable coins clinked together in his palm; Ena had snatched up his entire savings with his Bag of Holding.
Feeling as if caught in a whirlwind at the sudden and quite new assertiveness of the wood elf, Malik laughed and shrugged it off like all the other insane things happening to him today.
“I guess we’re going to get some breakfast.”
----------------
