Lumi's thoughts honed in on a certain city. Macres. It was considered one of the main cities for beginner players.
These 'Beginner Cities' comprised of:
Elenora, for magicians.
Cerleon, for warriors.
Shaden City, for thieves.
Macres, for bowmen.
Comedy Bay, for freestyle.
There was a certain event that Lumi wanted to interfere in that would take place in Macres.
To comprehend, the hierarchy of evil needed to be understood.
There was the Dark One himself.
Under him were several commanders that he appointed. There were also their own personal forces which differed commander from commander.
Then there was a massive organization known as the 'Wings of Darkness'. Anyone could join, for whatever reason at all. Whether they were a staunch believer in the Dark One, a mad scientist who would be funded by no other organization, or a crook wanting some cash. All could join the Wings of Darkness.
The Wings of Darkness then had their own hierarchy, though it was a rather disconnected and messy organization with tons of branches and loyalties.
There was a man known as 'The Puppeteer'. His real name, Afton S. Crow. A minor leader in the Wings of Darkness.
He was, for lack of a better description, a clown. A hopeless simp. And he was weak. His only strength was his puppeteering skills, both in constructing and utilizing them.
Though it had to be noted that puppets didn't necessarily have to be wooden constructions, though they mostly were. Puppets could also be monsters, or people.
But what wasn't understood by anyone, especially not Afton himself, is that he's actually supremely talented, and about to have a meteoric rise.
Lumi narrowed his eyes.
This time, he's not going to get a chance to grow strong and ruin so many lives. No more will he advance the plot of the Dark One.
"Lumi! Luminous Lumi Lumi Lumineko Lumi!" Lena poked Lumi repeatedly in the forehead. "Lumi you neko! You neko neko nii! Neko?"
"Neko?" Lena spoke curiously to herself, and grinned. "Neko!" She made a double 'V' shape with her hands, smiling to Lumi. "Neko? Nekopara?"
"...sorry." Lumi eventually responded, after becoming aware of Lena trying to get his attention. It was his bad, going deep in thought.
"The comedy anvil." Lena responded, nodding seriously.
"...right." Lumi nodded as if he understood. He then ignored everything led Lena further in.
Lumi made his way, Lena following him like a puppy to one of the many giant trees around. This one however had two giant signs hanging in the air.
Slurrentus Airships.
00:13
The first one was made out of stone, unique here as everything else was some sort of wood or root. The second, however, was magical in nature, displaying the time until departure.
That was all the information any customers needed. Other specifics didn't matter, because these airships ran in a very particular way.
There were five Slurrentus Airship stations in the continent. One in each of the major cities. And each one had four airships.
Every hour, all four airships would depart in sync, each one to a different city.
Before buying a ticket, however, he needed the money to do so.
Lumi first made his way to a merchant. "Hey." Lumi called out. He didn't just choose a random merchant. He chose one that he knew would accept miscellaneous goods. Not everyone had the connections to be buying nonsense and reselling it, after all.
"Hello, my friend!" The merchant called out, a young male clearly not from Elenara. "What are you looking to buy?"
"I've got some minor goods I'm looking to sell." Lumi explained.
"Oh!" The merchant looked on with some shock. He didn't normally buy things.
Lumi smiled and extended his arm, and from his inventory he took out all the monster parts that he had looted from earlier. They were all neatly in sacks.
"Oh?" The merchant grew interested. Normally, when people wanted to sell items to him, it was a random collection of garbage. Even if it were monster parts, it would be a few bits from a large variety of monsters.
Here he could clearly see the sacks labelled. The parts came from exactly two types of monsters, Red Mushrooms and Red snails. Local monsters near the base of Elenora. Due to the limited variety, it would be easier to resell. Due to the high quantity, it would be worth the time to resell it.
He immediately changed his tone. "Sir, I can buy the Red Snail parts at 3 Ems a pound, and the Red Mushroom parts at 5 Ems a pound."
Lumi wasn't greedy, and he was okay with making a loss, as long as he quickly sold. However, the price was truly too low. "Make it 4 Ems per pound of Red Snail parts, and I'll instantly sell everything."
"Sir…" The merchant was about to argue, but Lumi waved his hand to cut him off. "You'll resell those parts at around 9 Ems a pound later, I don't want to hear it."
The merchant blinked and stared blankly for a moment.
"…Done," he said, snapping his fingers and producing a ledger from seemingly nowhere. "You drive a hard bargain, my friend. Or maybe I'm just a soft-hearted businessman." His grin didn't quite reach his eyes. "We'll both make money. That's all that matters, yes?"
Lumi nodded and began transferring the sacks. He moved quickly and efficiently, collecting his money and making sure he had the right amount.
Lumi proceeded to return most of the Ems back to the merchant, "I'll take three hundred and twenty of your basic mana potions. And a one time use crystal recorder."
The merchant blinks, looking up. "...Three hundred and. Wait, you said three hundred and twenty?"
Lumi nods. "Yes. That should leave me with enough Ems. That's fine."
The Merchant shrugs, beginning to prepare the items. "I mean... sure, sure. That's... unexpected, but I'm not arguing with money. Just curious, what's all that for? Just stockpiling?"
"Just adventuring." Lumi replied casually.
The merchant said nothing more, choosing instead to whistle quietly as he counted the money, then traded the goods. Lumi put it all his his inventory, and motioned to leave.
"Come on, Lena." Lumi reached for her hand, "We're done here. We only have a few minutes left to get a ticket and board the airship. More than enough time, but little enough that we can miss it if we mess around." WIth that, he led her to Slurrentus Airships.
After they had taken sufficient steps away, Lena spoke softly, "Lumi, he smelled like coins and betrayal."
He gave a wry smile in return, "You can tell?"
She nodded with confidence. "I'm very used to that type of scum. Their false smiles, lies, deceit…" She turned over with confusion. "You could have gotten more. I really don't want to since I'll probably have a panic attack, but... want me to try next time? I'm sure I can get us a better deal. I was trained in the arts. You could have hiked the price to atleast 7 ems a pound."
Lumi looked over at Lena with new appreciation. "You don't even know how trade works here! How could you tell that? You're right!" Before she could respond, he shook his head. "To explain myself, our materials were not very valuable. I just didn't see the point in wasting haggling over such minor gains. I do not want to miss the airship."
Lena pursed her lips, clearly a little miffed. "It just sucks seeing a bad deal. But fine… fine," she muttered, crossing her arms. "Can I try next time though?"
"Lena." Lumi scrunched his brows in non-understanding. "Didn't you just say you don't wat to negotiate next time?"
"I did." Lena affirmed, then continued. "But I could atleast try… maybe I'll get over myself. Also I kinda wanna make you proud."
Lumi sighed. "You don't need to do something like that."
When they approached the ticketing booth, they found it was manned by a fairy. She wore the standard Slurrentus uniform, deep blue with silver trim. Her expression suggested she'd rather be anywhere else. Her gaze didn't reveal a single hint of the stigma most fairies had against humans. Just sheer boredom.
"Two tickets to Macres," Lumi said, placing enough Ems on the counter.
The fairy's eyes flicked between them, lingering on their beginner equipment. "That'll be 50 Ems each. You're aware of the safety protocols?"
"Stay inside at all times." Lumi confirmed, sliding the exact amount forward.
"Hmm." The fairy counted the coins, then produced two glowing tickets. "Room 7-B. Board right now, your passage is forfeited if you miss the flight."
Lena snatched her ticket and held it up to the light, watching it shimmer. "Ooooh, it's like a little piece of trapped starlight! How do you think it'll taste?"
"I- why?" Lumi grabbed her wrist gently. "Please don't."
"But what if it tastes like dreams?"
Lumi barely knew what to say. "I guess you can but… at least wait until we use them."
Lena pouted but tucked the ticket safely away. "Fine. But if I get hungry, I'm blaming you."
They hurried toward the docking platform where the massive airship waited. It was a marvel of magical engineering. The ship was carved from a single enormous tree, its hull left smooth and seamless. There were branches extended from the sides like wings, covered in leaves that glowed with soft bioluminescence.
"Tickets." demanded a human guard at the boarding ramp. Being Elenora, the guard had wizard robes on and a staff at his side.
They presented them, and he waved them through with a bored expression. "Room 7-B is third deck, left corridor. Do not leave your room during flight. Do not attempt to access restricted areas. Do not feed the ship."
"Feed the ship?" Lena whispered as they climbed the ramp.
"Living wood needs nutrients," Lumi explained. "But they have specialists for that."
The interior was warm with the walls pulsing gently with life. Soft moss carpeted the corridors, muffling their footsteps. They passed other passengers. Merchants clutching their goods, adventurers comparing equipment, and even a few minor nobles.
Room 7-B was small but comfortable. Two beds were carved out from a growth, a porthole showing the platform outside, and a small table between them.
"Cozy!" Lena immediately bounced on one bed, testing its spring. "It's like sitting on a really firm mushroom!"
Lumi sat calmly on his own bed. Theoretically, you could sign out for a moment here, and it would be okay as long as you came back in time. In practice, however, airships often had… incidents. Therefore he stayed, and started checking his friends list. Several messages waited.
As he went to open them, the ship shuddered. They were lifting off.