The Mayor’s Invitation

"Was that an instant cast healing spell?" Asked Anna, her white dress fluttering with every twist of her curvaceous body as she leaned over with a smile.

Anna clearly represents a classic case of why players don't like to use the optimal optimization sequence; they enjoy the prospect of customizing the appearance of their avatars.

Ye Qing didn't believe that someone as beautiful as Anna existed in the real world, even though it sounded like double standards coming from someone who just experienced a notable transformation.

"I guess you can say that," Ye Qing responded in a vague manner indicating his wariness. He didn't know why these people suddenly approached him, but he wasn't so ostentatious as to flaunt his abilities and profession to the public.

From the corner of his eyes, he observed the handguns strapped to Quinton's waist, wondering about the damage output on those things.

However, he couldn't make these intentions clear and thus he asked. "Isn't it difficult for a mechanical vocation like a Gunslinger to progress in the Holy Order Prefecture?"

Quinton didn't respond, it was Luke who said, "Although this prefecture is the smallest of all seven, many guilds that have stationed in the active prefectures typically branch out here. True, this prefecture doesn't offer a lot of PvP and PvE experience, it could also be considered the weakest in terms of overall power levels, but this prefecture controls the lifeline of the entire realm; economy."

As Luke spoke, he put away his zither and sat down next to Ye Qing, very comfortably and smoothly. Then, he brought out a few papers that resembled banknotes.

All of them had the image of a beautiful woman embracing the sun, moon, and stars. There was one distinctive difference between the three, and that was the number of wings each woman had on her back.

The first had two wings, the second had four wings, and the third had six wings. "Look at these; paper currencies! You have…"

As Luke explained, Ye Qing finally understood. As it seems, while gold coins are a universal currency available everywhere, the material is simply too expensive. In the absence of gold, people had to rely on bartering for their daily transactions throughout the eras.

With the advent of Themis, a lot of things changed in the Realm of Titans, including the economic landscape.

In the Holy Order Prefecture, you can find branches of the various churches across the realm as they take part in complex trade. Since the value of gold differs from one prefecture to the next depending on how resource-rich the land is, Goddess Themis tasked her devotees with creating a new currency system while her church stands as an arbiter for business interactions between the various prefectures.

It started by depositing goods and hard currency in the Church of Law and Order, and the church would function as a medium to sell these items with a set fee. As the years progressed, people went from paying fees with gold and other items to paying in paper currency, eventually providing these papers with market value.

It's impossible to replicate these papers because they are in fact talismans imbued with faith energy, and as people continued to trade with these talismans, they eventually scored a set value corresponding with gold coins.

The image of a woman with two wings equates to the value of 1 Holia, the woman with four wings equates to the value of 10 Holia, and the woman with six wings equates to 100 Holia. There is also another talisman with eight wings, and it equates to the value of 1,000 Holia, but it also equates to a single gold coin.

If the Church of Law and Order falls, it would also mean the downfall of the realm's economy. It's an open secret.

Ye Qing was overwhelmed as he asked. "Doesn't that mean any Talisman Master can replicate the currency and get rich overnight?"

Even as he asked, Ye Qing noted the weird expressions of Luke, Quinton, and Anna.

Anna laughed. "That's impossible! Forget about the fact no one can use faith energy, you'd have to find a capable Talisman Master first, someone willing to blaspheme a Goddess. Other than players like us, no one would even think about crossing a Goddess, let alone blaspheming her.

"Also, the vocation of a Talisman Master is too much! It's the only class that lacks passive and active skills, you're always limited by the number of talismans you carry on you. For example, as a Summoner, I can always summon monsters to fight for me, but a Talisman Master would have to worry about their inventory of talismans whenever they leave a safe area. These people are only fit to stay in safe zones or guilds around the clock drawing talismans for their teammates."

No one anticipated that Ye Qing was a Talisman Apprentice since the designated robes for magic-oriented classes are very similar, especially when their level of achievement is low. As for Ye Qing, he didn't plan to explain himself either, not wanting to invite sympathy.

"Oh yeah," said Anna, "We just got here at the behest of the Mayor's invitation, we bumped into something interesting a couple of blocks back… Apparently, some heretics committed mass genocide in the residential area and the entire block is under lockdown."

Her eyes glowed as she helped herself to sit down on the lush grass, folding her fair legs below the skirt dress even as two wolf cubs fought over her lap. Brushing the golden locks behind her ear, Anna eyed the three storey restaurant at the center of the town square while describing the macabre scenes of gore they've encountered.

"Yeah, that was nasty I tell you," Quinton finally joined the conversation, pinching the rim of his cowboy-fashioned hat to shade the upper half of his face, his expression masked in mystery.

He said, "Hopefully, this Mayor didn't invite the players for some stupid witch hunt. The pay would be handsome, but those bastards are beyond disturbing."

"I don't think it's a witch hunt quest," Luke interjected with his two cents. "It's something to do with selecting a group of talents to represent the town in some kind of a natural selection, hosted by the City of Storms and the Alliance of Eight Directions."

The Alliance of Eight Directions is a collaborative relationship established between the City of Storms, the largest city in this corner of the province, together with the eight medium-scaled cities in its four cardinal directions including smaller towns in southwest, southeast, northwest, and northeast.

Rosewood Town is one of these smaller towns under the umbrella of the alliance, and it makes sense to have the Mayor notified in case of an event involving the entire Alliance of Eight Directions.

Quinton clicked his tongue. "If that's the case, most players will sign up only to be escorted safely from these small towns to the large city; most opportunities lay in those massive fortresses. It's very dangerous for players of low level to roam the regions outside the safety of a civilized town. In other words, the death penalty is a drop of 10% XP and one-third of your items in storage."

He then looked at Luke, asking. "How did you get this information anyway? I don't believe the entire thing was publicized yet."

"I paid for it," Luke shrugged. "The forums have an information booker feature, you can buy and sell information there, but some of them are very expensive."

"You can do that?" Ye Qing was surprised. Then, he looked around carefully and leaned closer to Luke, whispering, "Can you look up for information on someone in there? For example, someone called Lord Esteros?"

"Why are you whispering?" Luke gave Ye Qing a weird look, but he entered the forums nonetheless after gesturing that it would be okay.

"What the…?" Luke almost cursed out loud.

"What?" Ye Qing asked anxiously.

"I was temporarily banned, dude! Who is that Lor—…"

Before Luke could even say the name aloud, Ye Qing jumped over and covered the former's mouth, his forehead drenched in a cold sweat.

"Don't say it! You'll get everyone killed!" Ye Qing was really scared right now.

Quinton and Anna looked over, confused and somewhat displeased. Ye Qing knew that he owed the group an explanation, thus, he added them to a private chat group and forwarded a short recording of what happened earlier.

The trio watched silently with befuddled expressions until the old man mentioned the name 'Lord Esteros', and then, their expressions went pale.

Anna leaned to the side and started vomiting, her eyes red from disgust.

Quinton and Luke exchanged a grave look, with the latter losing his wits and cursing.

"Fuck me! Heretics they said? No wonder I got suspended, no one wants anything to do with this shit and neither do I!"

Luke patted his chest and gave the group a look, "I don't care what reason the Mayor invited us for, but I'm taking my first chance at leaving this place. What about you guys?"