In a blinding flash of light, Zee and her friends appeared in a large square, raised on a pedestal, surrounded by five ten-foot-tall pillars of stone. Each stone was darker than obsidian, chiseled and polished until they were mirror smooth, with intricate etchings carved underneath.
Out of habit, Zee's aura, and spatial ripple skill brushed each of the pillars. She reeled back as her mental touch was firmly rebuffed by an unseen protection array. Blanching, she pulled her senses away from the teleportation array, focusing on her surroundings.
They had appeared atop a suspended platform, amidst a sea of twenty other identical platforms. It was a large transportation hub, with a myriad assortment of people coming and going.
Even as she watched, several of the other platforms flashed, as people and cargo were whisked away, or suddenly appeared. The sun was high in the sky, the square bustling with activity.
After a few seconds of gawking, an angry voice filled the air cutting through her stunned gawking.
"Heey, I'm talken to yu! Cannt you hear me?" He asked, his voice oddly stilted. Zee hadn't noticed the guard on arrival, her attention on the platform, and the plaza, until now. It was a fact that seemed to infuriate the guard.
She gave the man a quick once over, noting his dense aura, which was at least peak E-grade. The guard's power and tightly controlled aura were nothing to scoff at, though that was overshadowed by its appearance.
The guard was an arachnid creature, with ten spindly legs, and a pitch-black bulbous abdomen, with streaks of red crossing the top.
The creature shifted, its posture more agitated the longer she stared at it. Realizing she was just standing there, gawking at the creature, she cleared her throat.
"Sorry, for the inconvenience, but it's our first time here," Zee said sheepishly.
The arachnid's front legs rubbed together creepily, creating a grating sound. A small, wristband, wrapped around one of its forelegs glowed softly, and words came out.
"I don't care if this is your first time, you are impeding traffic through the array. Move along already," The guard ordered.
"Sorry," Zee said, gesturing for the others to follow as she moved toward the stairs leading off the platform.
Once they were off the array, the giant spider visibly relaxed. With one spiked leg, it pointed down the stairs to a human with a small metal tablet.
"Since you are new, here is a bit of advice. Pay double the arrival fee, and she will help you," the guard said, before turning back as the array lit up and more people suddenly appeared, a group of arachnids this time.
"What fee? No one said anything about an arrival fee?" Bastion asked as they walked down the stairs towards the woman that the guard had indicated.
Yukna laughed," Of course, there is a fee. Just look at all of these arrays, it must cost tens of thousands of Dara a day to operate them," Yukna said.
Bastion's eyes lit up, flitting toward the woman with the tablet, his eyes lingering on her spatial ring.
Zee smacked him across the arm, "Don't even think about it, don't you see the guards?" Zee asked.
Bastion rubbed at his shoulder glowering at her. "Spoilsport." He grumbled.
As they approached the woman looked up from her tablet, giving them a once-over. Her intelligent brown eyes quickly lost interest as she took in their disheveled appearance and Early, E-grade auras.
"Welcome to Verdant, the capital city of Tartana. I am Felix, nice to meet you I'm sure. So, where are you coming from, and what business do you have here?" She asked in a no-nonsense tone.
Zee opened her mouth to say, Iztara but was beat to the punch. "We are wandering cultivators looking for work," Bastion said chimed in.
Felix hummed, tapping at the etchings on her tablet in rapid succession. Zee eyed the tablet curiously, scanning the dense array within curiously. It was incredibly complex, and gave her a splitting headache, as some sort of defense activated sending some feedback along her sensory skill.
Felix didn't seem to notice the attempted intrusion, or care, for that matter, continuing without pause. "I see... There should be plenty of work here for you, given the undead and the purgatory church have invaded the Kelvish dominion," Felix said offhandedly.
Zee glanced back at the others, seeing her confusion mirrored on their faces. Felix raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't heard? You must have been on some backwater planet or you are only just now hearing the news," Felix asked, genuinely surprised.
They all just stood there, the conversation lapsing into uncomfortable silence. Noting they wouldn't give up any more information Felix shrugged and continued, "Whatever, I don't actually care where you are from. Your fee to enter the city is half an Ether crystal each," Felix said bluntly.
Zee grimaced. Half an Ether crystal? That was five hundred Dara, just to enter the city, a shocking price by Iztara standards.
Oh, well, it was just money. Zee pulled an ether crystal from her spatial storage, finally piquing the woman's interest. Felix noted the rest of the group doing the same, and her assessment that they were country bumpkins quickly changed.
It wasn't the ether crystals themselves. No, it was the containers they were stored in. Not just anyone could afford to buy spatial storage, even herself. Even with her high salary, she couldn't afford one, needing to use one on loan from the city to perform her duties.
And given that all four of this group had one, they must have strong backing. Felix's cold demeanor faded, replaced by a sweet accommodating smile.
"If you are looking for an affordable, and secure establishment, I suggest going to the blazing cockerel. Tell Jax that Felix sent you," Felix said.
"Thank you, we will check it out," Zee replied.
Having paid the steep entrance fee, Zee gestured the others to follow, leaving the bustling plaza to enter the city proper.
The clamor of the teleportation hub was replaced by the hustle and bustle of the city streets. Bastion whistled softly. "Woah, that's a lot of people," Bastion said, his eyes bouncing around the street, eying the wide variety of people clogging the wide walkway.
Zee nodded in agreement, her eyes roving over the hundreds of humans, arachnids, small scaly lizard people, and allevark walking the streets.
"No kidding. Maldy was right, I don't think Petrie will find us here, even if she knows we are in the city," Zee said.
Bastion's expression turned troubled. "I am not so sure about that. Do you think she will be able to track us here?" Bastion asked.
Zee shrugged," No idea. She might have some skill or item to track us, but it's hard to say," Zee said.
Yukna adjusted her spectacles thoughtfully, "I think you are both missing something important. This is Verdant, the capital of Tartana, the biggest trading hub of the Kelvish dominion. With enough ether crystals, we can just pay someone to make us some anti-divination arrays." Yukna said.
Zee raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Yukna. "Do you know where we can find something like that?" Zee asked.
Yukna shrugged. "Let's find the blazing cockerel, then, we will start asking around."
It took them an hour of walking through the bustling streets, to arrive at their destination. As far as inns went, it was nice enough, the rates reasonable and the rooms clean.
Jax was a human like them, though several of his staff were that arachnid species. Those spiders gave Zee no small amount of discomfort. They were nice enough, but their large arachnid appearance, not to mention those bulbous red eyes gave her the shivers.
The way they skittered along the walls and roof, gave her the creeps, not to mention the way they rubbed their legs together to talk. The grinding sounds of Keaton rubbing together was unpleasant, sending chills up her spine. Her ill thoughts toward the friendly spiders made her feel kind of bad.
She knew it was a baseless dislike, one brought on by her instinctual fear of spiders, but she just couldn't shake it.
Zee shook off the unhelpful train of thought, focusing back on her current task. It was early morning of the second day on Tartana, and they were currently in one of the branches owned and operated by a clan known as the Tenku, who was the largest supplier of arrays in Verdant.
This was a smaller branch, one that hopefully had more reasonable prices than the main hall in the inner city.
The nasal voice of the shopkeeper filled the air. "To make the four anti-divination and anti-scrying arrays you want, it will cost ten ether crystals." said the shopkeeper, his expression bored.
"That is too expensive. The components are not that rare, it should be a tenth that much for these arrays," Yukna said, her tone annoyed.
The shopkeeper raised his paws helplessly. "If you don't like it, you can go find another establishment to make the arrays. Besides, you are paying for the quality of the craftsmanship. Our array masters are the best in the business. If you go anywhere else, you will just get scrap metal that can't block out so much as an F-grade divination." the shopkeeper said, turning up his furry nose hotly.
Yukna scowled. "And what if we supply the components to make the arrays? Surely it will lower the price significantly," Yukna asked.
The shopkeeper smiled, "Sadly we only use our own components, that have been tested by our specialists, to ensure the quality of our products," The shopkeeper said.
Zee tapped Yukna on the shoulder, leaning in to whisper in her ear. " Why don't we just look around some more? Maybe we can find a shop with more reasonable prices?" Zee asked.
The shop keepers ears twitched and a smile crossed the allevark's face. "I doubt you will have any luck with that. The Tenku clan owns all of the businesses that deal with arrays inside the city."
"So all of them will have these prices?" Zee asked.
The shopkeeper nodded, and said, "Of course, we only deal in the finest arrays, so why shouldn't we charge what they are worth?"
Zee bit back an angry retort, turning to Yukna. The shorter woman let out a frustrated sigh. "If only I knew the framework for the array. Then we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble." Yukna muttered.
Zee tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe we can find someone who can teach you how to make the arrays for a more reasonable price?" Zee asked.
Yukna nodded, "That sounds more reasonable than paying ten ether crystals for four low-grade arrays. Hmm, if we do that, then we could sell them for more reasonable prices than the Tenku clan does," Yukna said.
Zee smiled at the teller, patting her friend on the shoulder. "You hear that, we are going to start our own business and undercut your outrageous prices," Zee said.
The teller laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Good luck with that, I am sure you will have lots of success," The teller said.
Zee and Yukna left the slimy, overpriced shop behind, walking along the street.
After a few minutes of walking, Zee broached the most pertinent question on her mind. "So, how do we go about starting this business?" She asked.
Yukna gave her a sidelong glance, tucking a strand of mousy brown hair behind her left ear.
"We need to first find a bank, and get a loan, then purchase a building we can use as our place of business," Yukna said.
"Ohh? That doesn't sound so bad," Zee said, her mood brightening.
Yukna let out a tired sigh. "It's not as simple as I made it out to be. Trust me, starting a business is actually a pain in the ass." Yukna said.
"How hard could it be? We just need to get a loan, then buy a place and start selling stuff," Zee said.
"Poor, naive Zee, you will soon learn the truth," Yukna said, shaking her head in bemusement.
Over the next few days, Yukna's statement proved to be true. Zee had never bought a house before, let alone a business, so she didn't know what to expect. As it turned out, getting a loan was proving to be much more frustrating than she initially anticipated.
They had been rejected three times already and Vemmel's brother's bank was the fourth on their list. Like the previous three, it was an upscale establishment, with rows of fine seating lined with expensive décor.
The sitting room was mostly empty aside from a well-dressed Allevark in an oddly cut black suit that clung to his wiry frame.
The lapels were turned back at the collar, with strait cuffs that looked especially fancy.
"Welcome to the Vemmel brother's bank. I am Duran, how may I help you two ladies this fine afternoon?" the man asked in a respectful tone.
Yukna smiled, though it appeared forced, taking the lead.
"I am Ilukna, and this is Zee, it's a pleasure. So as not to waste time, I will get to the point. We are here in search of a loan, to start a business in the middle district.
"I see... Come with, let us take this to my office," Duran said, calmly.
The well-dressed Allevark lead them into a back room, already stocked with three cups of steaming tea on a lacquered wooden table. It was as if he was anticipating their arrival.
Judging by the refreshing smell in the air, as well as the energy she sensed contained in that brew, it was the expensive stuff.
Taking a seat in a plush chair, Duran gestured to the other chairs across the table from him.
Once they took a seat, he poured them some tea,
"Before we discuss an amount, tell me, what kind of business are you looking to start?" Duran asked, taking a sip of tea.
Yukna leaned forwards, taking the lead, "I am an array specialist, with experience in both defensive and offensive etchings. I even have some experience with spatial arrays," Yukna said placing a silver band on the table.
It was a spatial storage she had helped Zee create just for this meeting. It was a sizable cost for the ring, but one that they hoped would pay off. They were hoping this incentive might make the Vemmel brother's bank agree where others had denied them.
Duran picked up the ring, examining it closely, his ears twitching in interest.
"This is good quality, though the storage space inside is fairly small," Duran said. He gave them both a telling look, one they had seen three times before.
"I am going to be honest here. I have already been told to turn you down after you visited the last three banks. It is in the Vemmel bank's best interest to keep the Tenku clan happy," Duran said, with an apologetic smile.
"So, that's it? We have been getting turned down for a loan because the Tenku clan does not want competitors," Yukna asked, some frustration in her voice.
Duran shrugged helplessly," That is the way of things. The Tenku clan holds a monopoly. They supply over ninety percent of the arrays, and etched equipment across the Kelvish dominion. If our bank supports a direct competitor, they will come after us. So, unless you have some powerful backing, then we cannot help you," Duran said.
Yukna visibly held back an angry tirade, "I appreciate your honesty. However, I am confused. If you planned on rejecting our request, why didn't you turn us away at the front door?" Yukna asked.
Duran smiled, pulling a small brown card from his inner suit pocket.
"On this card are the directions to an acquaintance of mine. This person is not the sort that honest hardworking folk go to. He is a man who controls the largest criminal element here in Tartana. Frankly, I would suggest you look for other work or go work directly for the Tenku clan. If you take this card and take a loan, there is no turning back," Duran said.
Yukna eyed the card, for a few moments. "Would this acquaintance of yours really give us the loan?" Yukna asked.
Duran's expression turned deadly serious, "He will give you the loan, but you must not make this decision lightly. If you take this card, and then the loan, you will be putting yourselves in incredible danger.
If you cannot pay the high-interest rates, they will not go to the guard. They will come after you, and your friends and take the price in blood," Duran said.
Yukna nodded seriously. "And what if we do pay the high interest, will they protect us from the Tenku?" Yukna asked.
Duran shrugged and stood. "That depends on if he likes you. Now, please see yourselves out. Oh, and If anyone asks, I never gave you that card," Duran said, tucking the ring she had given him into his pocket.
They left the bank, not speaking until they were well down the street mixed in with the noonday traffic.
"What do you think, is it worth it to go see this loan shark?" Zee asked, scanning the streets for anyone following.
Yukna let out a tired sigh. "I really don't like dealing with shady people, but this appears to be our only option. Maybe your boyfriend can help, he is a criminal right?" Yukna said.
"Former criminal," Zee corrected.
Yukna rolled her eyes, "Right..... keep telling yourself that." Yukna said with a soft smile.
Zee scowled. "You are probably right. Bastion might be just the right guy to help us deal with this loan shark," Zee said.
"Ugh. What have we gotten ourselves into? Are we really resorting to taking a loan from a loan shark?" Yukna asked.
"If we want to start a business. I am not too keen on it myself to be honest, but we don't have the Dara to afford this ourselves." Zee replied.
Yukna sighed. "Ya, who would have thought things would be so expensive here?" Yukna said.
"I know right, I thought we were rich after gathering all those resources in the planar space," Zee said.
Yukna laughed. "We are rich, just not as rich as we thought. But don't worry, before you know it, we will be properly wealthy even by the standards here on Tartana," Yukna said.
"I'm sure Bastion will be overjoyed to hear that," Zee said amused.
"I bet." Yukna drawled, "Speaking of your boyfriend, let's go back to the inn. He and Greg should have returned from the market by now,"