Atlantis

[Apollymi]

"Restrictions my ass... I know you," she exclaimed still not going so far as to throw her brother under the bus, but just far enough. She knew what he'd done, not all the details of it, or even what the item in question did, but she knew the lad had gone the extra mile to present the lass on the pillow with a present for White Day. If she'd known her idiot brother would do something so outrageous she probably would have chewed him out preemptively. But since he was alright and he and Miki seemed to be on good terms she was willing to let this go. "Jeez, you said you'd try not to make me worry is all..." she finished up. Mostly done with the chastising there were all the things Miki had to say which required heavy consideration.

The lass' words were directly but there was something going on underneath the surface. When she directed inquiries to her brother he seemed to be perfectly capable of articulating the kinds of thoughts going through the demi-human's mind. He claimed to agree with Arjuna about the potential dangers of such technology, and claimed that the aim would be to murder her and take the information needed from her Mystic Codes. Licht went on to summarize his own thoughts making one question the forefront. Miki heard these things out and strangely the smile that settled on her face was a happy one. "Hai hai, those things are all things to be concerned about, but the world offers its protections in an interesting way," she said, knowing that Kou hadn't been himself during her business venture in Atlantis and knowing that Hikari had been out retrieving their cure to the Devouring, Miki began to explain the actual protections brought about by being in contact with a legitimate merchant. "Merchants are connected in this world to the Merchants Guild through these plaques," she mentioned which was more than obvious by the fact that she'd asked for this specifically pretty early on in their adventure. "But the Merchants Guild is more than just a group of people who buy and sell the works of others, they should be more or less considered the protectors of Craftsmen. Unique crafting abilities aren't new to the world or anything like that, everything was new or unique at one point in time. Because unique crafting qualities are enabled by a magical world, the Merchants Guild was established as a go-between. Locking yourself into a contract with a Merchant connected to the Merchants Guild, makes the crafting process, the Codes which make it possible, something that can't be transferred without purpose. Basically account binding those codes in such a way that the skill could be taught or given, but it can't simply be stolen from its creator. It mediates the idea of murdering or torturing craftsmen for their skills this applies even in the PvP type scenarios, in the same way that being part of a Guild provides a certain amount of base protection for those involved," Miki explained but this was all part of the learning process and she'd spent quite a bit of time learning the ins and outs of business in this game and she'd been using it to her own advantage for quite some time.

"As an aside directly contracting with a Merchant also protects the merchandise magically in this world, which in my personal opinion makes it a bit better than our own world was because, you can't end up with knock offs of your own materials floating around if you negotiate it properly. It also keeps your contract from being renegotiated without your express consent," Miki stated. "Such a thing was why the Market in this place was so bad when we got here, there wasn't a single person here contracted with the Merchant's Guild, so all of their business was running through someone who couldn't and wouldn't offer the magical protections of the world to the craftsman here. This allowed unjust business practices to take place and made everyone's crafts practically worthless," she said softly. "Merchants themselves assume a lot of the risks in such a situation so contract negotiations entail everything from production to sales prices or the Merchants themselves can't make much off the deal," she explained. "Though Merchants are protecting craftsman's livelihood, the livelihoods of merchants are dependent upon the output of craftsmen. Individual standing in the Merchants Guild and thus how many people who can have under your protections are determined by how much money you make. And you can't really make money if people aren't producing nor if your contractors have already had their ideas or skills stolen and being used on a massive scale. Management of resources, both material and immaterial end up being the most important thing. And that potentially causes friction especially when contracts demand that a Merchant be taught the skill, which could end a contract with materials being produced by not their creator," Miki explained the pros and cons of the system as they were presented. She didn't want the young lass before her entering into a contract, be it with her or anyone else without understanding fully how it would work out for her in the process. "Sou ka, so contracting with a Merchant keeps production of this product with me. And I don't have to worry about it ending up funding some random empire nor harming anyone. But it comes with the responsibility of knowing that how I choose to Market the item will effect how it is viewed in the world and it could help or hurt," she summarized looking to her brother to make sure she understood all of what had been said. "But at the very least contracting early would keep someone from being able kill me and steal the idea."

[Bloodedge]

Licht kept an open ear for information. He was certain Miki had something in mind, or at least some knowledge that otherwise eluded him. Lo and behold, she had exactly that. The lass went on to explain exactly how the Merchants' Guild functioned beneath the surface, making a special note of the protections it granted to those who dealt with it. It was an interesting dump of information, albeit one with a few loose ends, or even an omission that may or may not have been on purpose. "... Sou," he said, pressing his knuckle against his chin while pacing around the pair of girls. "That does sound like a nice balancing system. Connect your craft to the Guild, keep shady business practices from being able to overthrow you and make the gold for themselves. Something's missing though, isn't it?"

Once more, he paused. He didn't expect anything malicious of Miki. Rather, he considered the exact opposite, while thinking it to be a necessary mention, if the assumption he came to was correct. "I'll give the benefit of the doubt, and assume the Guild has a checks and balances system to keep those in charge of it from doing exactly what outsiders could do otherwise. As for the rest..." He sighed. "There's something missing, isn't there? You mentioned these benefits of being a member of the Merchants' Guild, but if this protection is applied to those who form a contract with you, this code protection has to be going somewhere. If I had to guess, I'd say it fits itself into that pass you have. If I'm right, that thing has a Mystic Code of its own that ties itself to you, right? So... if the code for creating something is routed to the Guild through you, aren't you putting yourself at risk? I'm guessing there's no clear way to determine where someone's connection is without finding out through them or a witness, but if they do, what's keeping them from going through the merchant themselves to get themselves the selling rights by stealing their Mystic Codes?"

[Apollymi]

The pair she was speaking to on matters of business, heard out what Miki had to say. Even she had no problem admitting it was quite a large bit of information to digest, but still she'd rather have it all out upfront than deal with the consequences of anything essential coming up later. It was soon made clear by Licht that he'd found fault with something, maybe a bit of logic or information he thought was missing. The lad began pacing, explaining his thoughts and managing to come to some vague conclusions about the missing information. "Hai, definitely one of those. It doesn't really need explaining unless you find such details imperative. The short version is, you are only allowed to be part of the Merchants Guild upper echelons if you were both a Craftsman and a Merchant, so that you have a balanced approach to both aspects. And so the future of protections can be discussed fairly. You also have to agree by contract to not do business with the Vault of Heaven, banning you from their minimum wealth threshold," she gave the most concise version of that speech she could. The the lad took an approach in his speech she didn't expect. It seemed he understood a great deal what the actual risk to being a merchant was in the way that Miki presented it. Though she as a merchant and those who carried themselves similarly had no qualms with it, she knew it to be one of the things she hadn't directly mentioned. This omission wasn't purposeful, and instead was simply a thing she hadn't thought needed explaining.

"Well, that is why Merchants are paid. We are assuming a certain level of risk for the promotion of ideas and products we believe in. A merchant who is worth anything wouldn't put their name behind something they weren't willing to back with their lives," Miki said such was the system of checks and balances. In this world it wasn't simply a name and company image which would suffer if a contract went awry. Here the Merchants themselves were shouldering most of the physical risk and danger and were forced to either hire people to keep them safe as part of the cost of doing business or learn to fend for themselves in such a way as to avoid the potential of theft and trickery. There was one other way to avoid the physical dangers as a merchant, but it was an extreme route most weren't willing to take. "As an aside you can't simply take the Mystic Codes out of a Merchant Plaque. The guild lets you put a price on yours when you access it the first time, and it functions like insurance, without the price being paid the information is inaccessible, even to the person who owns it." And that was all that needed to be said. The way Miki phrased this, made it sound as if she was at least currently incapable of accessing the information of her own accord so binding oneself into a contract with her, had to be more like dealing with a trust than a simple transient business transaction. But in the end dealing this way kept everyone safe as well as ensuring a certain amount of safety for herself. And the amount she'd made her own plaque worth was so ridiculous that anyone who entered into a business contract with her could feel safe that she wasn't simply out to take their ideas from them.

Hikari had been quiet while Miki and her brother spoke. She recognized her elder brother's concern for the lass' safety and felt this was a good thing, even if what they were discussing was her own potential business deal. "Wait wait wait...." Hikari said. "Are you saying you locked yourself out from being able to access the information too? So you literally get nothing out of it, but the 15 percent you ask for, even while potentially supplying the raw materials for the business?" she asked of Miki and the lass simply nodded her head. "Business has to be conducted from a point of fairness, so we undertake it together. I won't take advantage of people trusting me with their livelihoods."

[Bloodedge]

"So you took an impossible price, applied it to your Merchant Pass, and keep yourself from being able to access your business partners' properties? Sou ka. That's fair and all, but even if someone can't access the codes in that pass, that won't stop them from being able to fully incorporate the Mystic Codes that make you, in this Avatar. They could overlay your entire existence and reap the benefits of your earlier transactions, whether they became able to use the goods or not," Licht countered. There was no arguing against the fair grounds Miki established between herself and those she did business with, but a single instance of imbalance was all it took for Licht - or even the human behind the Avatar - to interject. He had no intentions of stopping this transaction, or even shutting down an idea, though he absolutely had to make the dangers known for both ends. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea, or anything of the sort. What I am saying, is that you'll be taking on something that's a few cuts above everything else you could be dealing with. In a world like this, you'll have wealth pouring in from entire countries; human ones especially. Having access to something like this would be the like having lesser Artifacts in the marketplace, and I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to benefit from that in some way. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how hard you're sticking your neck out there by doing this, but... it's interesting. I don't know a lot of people willing to claim they're sharing a burden, when they're actually taking the entire thing on by themselves..."

Interesting was one way of putting it. At its most basic level, he could see this ordeal as a minor gamble. With what Miki would be undertaking by going through with a transaction like this one though, was more like agreeing to conflict at the world's discretion, to come at any random point for the duration of the deal. This wasn't how he had seen business practiced normally in any experience he'd had with those who understood wealth, though it was somehow a model of business which appealed to him. "If you're both committing to this, then you just be sure to turn my way for a helping hand if things go sour, yeah? Put me on as a confidant or whatever, and I'll help keep things safe, just in case."

[Apollymi]

Licht seemed to have a good understanding of what the lass had done. Even so, he seemed unusually cautious about the entire thing, as if he thought her life was in more danger than she thought it was. Given the nature of his younger sister's creation, it would be pretty easy to assume that he worried for both of their well-beings because of the existence of the things in question. There was something somewhat comforting about that to Miki. She'd dealt in business her entire life, but never had anyone been worried about the outcome of a transaction she brokered. Least of all, was the worry about her personal safety even when she was dealing with elements that could have been considered dangerous. "I feel like a few leaps are being taken here. Leaps which require a series of events to spiral pretty far out of control and for us to encounter someone who could beat me in a fight and use this Avatar with the same proficiency that I do. It's pretty unlikely," she said aloud, but she understood his point. Given what they were planning to be doing making herself a target in such a way was a bit outlandish but this wasn't really anything new to the blonde lass, and she was willing to face the consequences of her convictions. Beyond this he claimed to know how hard she was in fact sticking her neck out and claimed that something about this was somehow likeable. Miki's eyes widened and she managed to turn her head to the side before an intense blush settled in. "It's not as if I plan to take on the whole of the situation by myself. She's still going to be the one doing the hands on part. I'm just here to be a name and a moving target, which I already am anyways..." Miki knew full well the implications of taking on entire nations. But given the state of most of the places they'd visited thus far, she was betting on them having to fix and thus having a hand in most of the business and governmental dealings.

"Sou ka, she's really taking the brunt of this sort of thing huh. But still she's being pretty open about it, without your extra questions I wouldn't have realized for a while how much of an extra risk someone would take on to back such a project..." Hikari said. But the more she thought about it, the more solid it was in her mind that taking up Miki's offer was the best possible outcome to her potential. Anyone who would willingly lock themselves out of the ability to take over for someone else, and who claimed that being the target of bandits and the rest of the business world was fine had nerves of steel and wouldn't sell out anyone. Beyond that she respected the older girl's ability to articulate her business model. Her brother's interjection claimed that he'd be part of it to help out and further mediate any risks to both parties as he saw them. "Can you add him in like he wants so he can use his brooding big brother face?" she asked of Miki the thought of which made the lass laugh. "Haha...ahem. Yes, of course I can, and I will if you'd give me just one second," she said rewriting a very particular temporary contract for the distribution rights on the creation which belonged to Hikari. The way it was written she would have the exclusive rights to sell this and have it under her name for a year at a time. After this the contract could be renegotiated on all sides. There were also clauses put in for the untimely demise of the Avatars so that the information and ideas couldn't be abused directly from salvaged code. It went on to name Licht, Kou and specifically Avatars of the Geno Killer account as confidant in the contract just in case. "There. Check it over add what you need to then review it and sign it if you are cool with the terms," Miki mentioned holding out the gold stake for the pair to use in their Nexus Vision to review the fine details of this supposed contract. After which they could sign and the business of it would be taken care of.

[Bloodedge]

Licht sighed. He could only assume Miki was going the distance to make the situation just a bit less worrisome than it was in actuality, but he couldn't keep himself from considering the negatives. "Yes, you may already be a moving target, but this is like taking a moving target and putting strobe lights on it. Like I said, I'm not against it. I just can't stop thinking ahead to the fact that if we're going to the sky, that has to be post-game content with a level 50 minimum. Kaiba's level is something past 50, and that shouldn't be possible in the eyes of anyone who didn't meet some super secret condition after a full story run. There have to be challenges ahead of us that we have no idea what to do with yet. A lot of streamers and YouTubers who play this game stopped recording, and a lot of professionals disappeared from the leaderboards before I came here. Those are the people to be concerned about... potentially," he claimed, ending his tirade there. He didn't believe there was much trouble to be met at all just yet, but he wanted to make his thoughts known regardless. There was, after all, always a risk. So long as the dangers were being given necessary consideration, he had no qualms whatsoever.

Of course, Hikari had to chime in with yet another jab at the lad. As if to prove her right without hesitation, Licht scoffed at her assertion. Even so, he was content to step forward when Miki offered the deal that included him as a confidant. In spite of what may have seemed like protesting from him earlier, he didn't even bother looking at the specifics of the deal. If both Miki and Hikari were in agreement, he could be satisfied simply giving his signature without another word spoken.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Licht's worries extended to the idea of professional gamers within this world and all of the people they'd likely encounter post reaching the sky. Miki had to admit that the Sky was an open option and one which she had only minute bits of extra knowledge about. Even so, she was less concerned about running into their world's more famous gamers here. "Hai hai, I'll keep that in mind. I am less worried about the Youtubers and public faces than I am about the day to day gamers. The famous ones at least should be set up well enough that people like us won't hit their radar for a while at least, and even when we do, it likely won't matter too much," she said knowing how the rich and famous tended to consider those on the rise. It would be quite a while until she garnered any attention. At this point given her unknown username she was less likely to gain any kind of following or hunting than someone like Geno Killer or Kaiba Seto.

Still, as they moved along, it seemed that despite the potential negatives the lad presented, he seemed not to care too much about the details as long as both Miki and Hikari agreed upon them. Hikari gave the contract a thorough look over and then filled in everything necessary and signed. Licht did the same without even looking at it. Miki gave it a read as well and then placed the stake with all the information on it back within her cloak where it belonged. "Alright done deal. I look forward to working with you," she mentioned in a speech that fell out of her face because of her former life, the extended hand was met by Hikari's own and she managed to laugh. "You really sound like a business tycoon," she said laughing as she received a rather massive bit of experience, meanwhile Miki managed to look confused about this. "Why did that get me XP? I gained like half a level..." she said still looking at her Nexus Vision. "Gold Experience is a passive skill I have, we are still in the same party so it probably passed along a bit to everyone for a the sealing of a business transaction," was the blonde lass' response. "Sou ka... you guys do too much. Anyways, enjoy your gift... Diva before the break?" she said remembering one of the more important points that they needed to get to before they split up.

[Bloodedge]

"Are you sure about that? Again, this is the sort of thing that'll bring you attention that you otherwise wouldn't have," Licht said in passing as the deal came to its long-awaited conclusion. The experience gained by Hikari was then brought to the attention of the group at large. Licht shifted his eyes toward Miki, who went on to explain why such a thing happened due to a business transaction. Knowing his sister to be less versed in games such as Age of Eternity than the rest of their group, he decided to chime in. "AoE was called the ultimate immersive experience produced by Industrial Illusions. No matter what type of player you are, there's a way to reach the endgame for you. They made it possible to craft, hunt, or even entertain your way up to max level without even trying combat beforehand."

Explanations out of the way, Licht stepped away from the others. There was an interaction meant to be had with Diva, for whatever reason the lad desired. Since it seemed they were about done here, Licht took the initiative to construct another portal for the group's travel. At the other end, they would find Diva in the company of others, taking charge of Atlantis' Guardians to have them piece together a grand boat-like vessel using materials taken and augmented after the Leviathan battle of days prior.

[Apollymi]

"I'm pretty sure. People aren't looking for a relative unknown. At the very least I should be fully set up before it will be a problem..." Miki said seeming fairly certain of this even though only time would tell. If she was being honest, there were at least a couple of people she'd enjoy having at her disposal during the sort of campaign she was currently planning. In the end Hikari received a bit of extra information on the way this game had functioned in their own world. It was claimed that one could reach the end game any way they liked, and skills like Miki's 'Gold Experience' were proof of this. "Sou ka, well I mean there are more than a single way to reach the top in regular life. It makes sense if everything you could do contributes to your growth, it's just a little bit crazy sounding when you consider this was a game to us..." she said with a curt nod. Moving right along, the contract was signed and everything that needed to be done had been done, and as such Licht opened up a portal to Diva and those he was helping with their vessel project.

Hikari was the first to bound through this portal, "I am not even gonna lie, brooding bro-face aside, the portal thing is pretty sweet!~" she said happily as she arrived in the same space occupied by Diva. Miki also went through knowing the lad wanted to speak with them but not knowing why was a bit of growing curiosity in the lass. She had no problem with the Atlantean Male but unlike the others his motivations were a bit unknown. Bulma was in this room as well, standing over a strangely crafted Alchemist circle with a great number of ingredients within. She had in her hand a strangely amorphous black stone which she was using to convert random items using her own Mana. She paused after doing this and lit a cigarette. "Ugh, even with his help this conversion is going to take way more time than I'd like... still, I think it's coming together nicely," she said looking up at a boat which was complete as far as its outside was concerned but was missing anything resembling sails. "Diva, he finally woke up!" these were the first words out of Hikari's mouth as she approached the teal haired lad. "Oh and I brought Miki-nee too~" she said happily.

[Bloodedge]

The business end of this meeting had come to an end, and the group made their way to Diva's location with an immediate and happy outburst from Hikari. Licht was still full of wonder as to why Diva sought an audience with them, but the lad would soon be turning to Hikari and mentally preparing himself to make this information known. "A-... Ari... gatou..." the lad spoke, wasting little to no time before leaving his Guardians to their devices with the ship.

While Diva steeled himself, Licht had his eyes drawn toward Bulma. More specifically, his gaze fixed upon the object she wielded. "An Alchemist now, are you? You've made yourself a Philosopher's Stone in this short amount of time?" he asked rhetorically. He kept himself open for whatever it was Diva wanted, though he certainly couldn't ignore such a thing happening right in front of him. Interestingly enough, Licht didn't need to be present for Diva's desire. The Atlantean wished to have words with Miki in particular, if only because he knew he'd have an easier time of it after seeing her interaction with Vasyl. Naturally then, he approached the blonde directly. His right hand extended in an effort to connect with the Druid, the same way his sibling had done days earlier. "Tha... epitrépste mou na engrafó stin omáda sas?" He spoke with an upward inflection, voicing - in words that came more easily to him - his desire to join their group. Licht spared a glance in the direction of this interaction, having no earthly idea what the lad said. Even so, he was certain everything would be fine soon enough, whether he learned the other male's intentions or not.

[Apollymi]

"Oh I don't need thanks for that..." said Hikari. She would have dragged these two along regardless, but making sure other people got as much access to her brother and Miki as needed was something she'd do any time. Beyond this Bulma during her apparently smoke break caught the attention of the Geno Killer's new Avatar. "Oh? You changed your face... what's this one called then?" she asked with a chuckle. "It only took about a day. I was done before Ashikaga finished gathering the other supplies for me. Science isn't really hard, even in a magical world like this one... Still the ship is coming along nicely. It really might be my best work," she said with a general amount of confidence.

In the meantime Miki was approached rather directly by Diva, who extended his right arm to her. She realized what he wished and moved a bit closer allowing contact with her forehead and thus opening a bridge of understanding between them. His own native tongue was similar to the one connected to her Druid heritage. As such when he spoke while touching her in such a way she could understand the most of his meaning. His question was an astounding one and brought a bit of confusion to the lass' face. "I ndáiríre?" with contact currently happening she was quite certain he could understand her as well. She shot a mental message to Licht to explain the situation. "He, wants to join our group. I don't don't really have a problem with it but it's probably a bit strange considering we're about to split up for a bit..." she gave the lad per their usual form of hidden conversation. All the while Hikari wondered how Miki understood this language the lad spoke in... though she'd also missed the interaction with Vasyl.

[Bloodedge]

"I did," the white-haired male responded. "Did my face change? I haven't looked yet; I don't even know what I look like, aside from the hair Hikari won't leave me alone about. This Avatar is called Licht. Enough about that, though. A Philosopher's Stone made in a single day is a way bigger deal than a simple character swap. I wouldn't be surprised now if you told me you had somehow made one before coming to this world."

The connection Diva sought with Miki was a success; she understood him at least well enough to begin a dialogue. Deep within himself, Diva felt a great deal of satisfaction from this. As much as he wanted to speak the common language, he felt as if having to listen to him was more trouble for others than his words were worth. Adding that to general the fear of interactions that was bred into him, he hardly felt comfortable approaching others at all. "Naí," he said to the lass, voicing his confirmation. Miki sent a summary of Diva's speech to Licht, who could not have been more surprised by the occurrence. 'Seriously? Well, I don't see why not? He's been with Hikari more than even Seriri lately, as far as I know. Besides, here he is talking to you in a language you understand, and it doesn't seem like he's struggling at all. I think it would be fine to have him along if he wants.'

[Apollymi]

It seemed that the lad previously known as Kou was now known as Licht. Beyond this point he hadn't seen this new form of his and only had a vague idea of what he looked like due to the teasing of his sister. "Sou ka. It changed, but not too much. I can tell they have the same base... if that makes you feel better," Bulma said as she enjoyed her cigarette. Still this lad seemed to be quite taken with the idea that she'd created such an item in so short a time period. Beyond that he claimed he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd managed it before. "I didn't really think about doing it before... but it was a fun side project. And it opens up my crafting quite a bit," she said seemingly pleased with her own decision.

Miki on the other hand was gaining confirmation from Diva that he was indeed interested in traveling with this group. When she shared his desires with Licht the other lad was alright with the idea as well. A smile came to Miki's face as she thought to explain this situation. "is féidir leat a bheith linn más mian leat," she shared with Diva they'd be fine with him joinin them, but she thought it necessary to explain the current plan to him so he wasn't bombarded by it in a little while. "Just to let you know, we'll be splitting up for a bit after we leave here. Licht and Hikari are going off because Kou wants to become a Witcher. And I am off to the Migrating Vale to finish my training with the Druids. I'm sure they'd be fine if you wanted to join them... you could also come with me if you wanted, I don't mind..." she said in the Druid language she'd been using, offering the lad a place within their group and explaining the choices he had to make.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, that's a relief. I was worried about how this form would look at first, but if it's still human enough to be almost the same, I guess there was no reason for concern at all." Having seen a few Celestial Avatars in the video game, he decided there was a small list of variants he believed was visually pleasing. Some were monstrous, but he'd been fortunate enough to craft the right breed, it seemed.

Diva waited with bated breath for Miki's answer. He knew he could continue to support Atlantis in various ways without being nearby, especially given the existence of another Old Atlantean. Upon having it explained to him that the group would soon be separating temporarily, the teal-haired male found himself glancing in Hikari's direction for just a moment. Hikari had a close bond with the white-haired male of the group, so he assumed their division would involve her tagging along with him. Besides that, the Migrating Vale of the Druids was a point of special interest for one such as Diva. A clear preference to the demi-human aside, he chose to address Miki with a nod toward her final clause. "Tha... páo mazí sou," he said, agreeing to accompany Miki over the others. "Onegai... shima-su."

And so it seemed, two pairs were fated to embark on this two-part journey. Just as Hikari would accompany Licht, Diva would accompany Miki.

Continue the Adventure with Miki and Diva Here.
Continue the Adventure with Licht and Hikari Here.