Employee 34 - Chapter 3 version 2 (Patreon)

The last guard soon remembered his position, and angrily drew his weapon and pointed it at Ekz.

“Immediately return the young lady and you might get a swift death! You’ve kidnapped the young mistress of the Varseth clan, there is nowhere in this country you will be able to flee. Don’t implicate your family and friends!” He growled as he moved threateningly toward Ekz, careful to not accidentally touch the Dungeon Stone as well.

Ekz was starting to tire of this rude guard, and apparently, the system agreed. A terrifying pressure descended upon the store, forcing the guard down to his knees. 

“Wanna fight, asshole? Too bad violence is prohibited. I’m kind and will let you go with only a warning, but remember the rules in the future,” Ekz said. He knew that there was no chance that this last guard would touch the crystal from his demeanor, so he didn’t bother keeping up the façade of an honest shopkeeper. 

Some unseen force picked up the prone guard and threw him out of the doors like a piece of trash. The system didn’t hurt him any more than that, and he would be fine apart from a bruised ego.

Happy with the result Ekz walked back to the sofa to take a quick cat nap as he waited for the next group of guests who he guessed would arrive shortly. Since he worked harder than he had in years he quickly dozed off. He was proven right, and within 50 minutes the doors once more opened, and a group of feet hurried in.

“GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!” a shrill scream echoed through the store, and properly woke Ekz up.  

What met his gaze was a group of 6 people who warily looked at the surroundings. The fact that this establishment dared kidnap the young lady of the Varseth family in broad daylight showed that it wasn’t a simple place.

There was a beautiful mature lady who reminded him of the younger girl currently stuck in the Goblin’s Den, probably her mother. Next to her was a young man and a slightly older one. All three looked quite well off. The men wore no jewelry or the like, but their robes clearly were of superior make. 

With them were two old men who looked like scholars, and finally the guard that was previously booted from the premises. His demeanor had changed quite a bit, with his face being completely swollen with blood running down his nose. Obviously someone had been quite unhappy with his dereliction of duty Ekz surmised with a snicker. 

“You! Hooligan! What did you do to Var’Ewella?” the lady shouted as she pointed at Ekz who still looked quite disheveled from his nap. She looked ready to charge at him, but the older man held her back.

“Welcome to the Boundless Dao Training Center honored customers, where you can aim for the peak,” Ekz said as he hastily dragged his long hair backward to look a bit less disorderly. “If you are referring to the young lady she is currently enjoying our training facilities. She is currently in the Goblin Den,” he then added as he pointed to the display with prices.

The lady looked about ready to explode again but the man, who Ekz assumed was the father, held her back. Meanwhile, the two older men ran toward the Nexus Hub unheeding of the commotion of the store.

“I am Var’Adan, clan leader of Clan Varseth. What are your demands to return our daughter to us?” 

“Honored customer seems to be under a misconception. The young lady bought our training package and is now training for an hour. After that, she will have to buy more time if she wishes to stay.” Ekz explained and was about to activate a window to show her progress.

He learned from the voice that he could create displays following the individuals in the shop, and allowing them to watch their daughter fight some goblins might make them want to jump into the crystal as well. However, a flash of light stopped him in his tracks.

It was the bloody man, who looked quite a bit better compared to before. He had an eager and excited expression on his face as he stared at the crystal. He wondrously looked around, but when he saw the two old men and the other guests his eyes turned fearful. 

“Shop owner! Send me back!” he entreatingly looked at the owner.

“Five gold per hour, you can at the most train for another 5 hours today.” Ekz smilingly said as he walked toward the man. 

The thief quickly pushed twenty-five gold coins into Ekz hands, and fretfully looked on as he walked toward the register again.

“Wait a minute, young man!” one of the old scholars said, but it was too late. Without waiting the man once again touched the crystal, and as quickly as he appeared he once again was gone.

“Extraordinary!” one of the scholars exclaimed, and both looked quite excited. They tried touching the crystal in the same manner as the thief, but nothing happened. 

“The inscriptions are unlike any method I’ve seen, and it is at least an Earth-grade Tool. What is it doing in a place like this…” 

The two old men kept chattering with each other, unheeding of anything else in the store.

“You’re saying that our daughter will be returned like that man just now?” Var’Adan asked and seemed to relax somewhat. For the first time since he entered he released the grip on a sword in its sheath. 

Ekz was about to reassure the fretful parents, but he once again was interrupted by the blinding light, this time form the next two people appearing out of thin air. Var’Adan moved with almost impossible speed, snaching up his daughter before moving to safety. 

“Are you okay, child?” he asked with worry in his eyes.

“Okay? I had a breakthrough!” the girl said with excitement in her eyes as she turned toward Ekz. “Boss your place is really amazing. Five more hours please!” she said as she fished out some gold from her pouch, the thief long forgotten.

“Wait a bit Ewella,” Var’Adan said as he quickly took the gold out of her hand, afraid that she would be teleported away again. “Gregor, explain what happened.”

“I jumped after the young lady to stop her from touching the crystal, but it was too late. I accidentally touched the crystal as well and was immediately teleported to another place. It was a cave with no entrance, and the young lady was nowhere to be seen. I thought she might have been dropped somewhere else in the caverns so I immediately set out to find her.” The old guard reported with a salute.

“Then what happened?” Var’Adan asked, obviously preferring a report form a seasoned veteran instead of his overly excited daughter.

“I soon ran into small humanoid monsters who had the power of early Body Tempering Realm. I initially tried to talk with them to ask about the young lady,” the guard continued, and Ekz couldn’t stop himself from snickering when he heard about him trying diplomacy with stupid goblins. “They were extremely hostile and I was forced to kill everyone in the end. That’s where I found the first miraculous effect of that place”

“Miraculous? What do you mean Gregor?” one of the older men asked, clearly very intrigued with whatever was related to the crystal.

“Every time I killed one of the small monsters I received a small surge of spiritual energy into my core. Killing things at that place actually made me stronger, and the effect persists even now. The amount was minuscule for me, but for Body Tempering Realm it should be quite effective.”

“WHAT?” everyone except Var’Ewella exclaimed in shock. Killing beasts making you stronger was a completely foreign concept to cultivators. Strength was gaining by arduously cultivating in seclusion, or sometimes eating pills or natural treasures.

“I told you daddy! Let me go back inside now!” the young girl entreated, looking addicted to the feeling of getting stronger. 

“Our Training Center’s methods are unique and unmatched. How about it, would the other customers like to try it out?” Ekz saw a good opportunity for some promotion.

“In a moment good shopkeeper. Please continue Gregor.” The man said as he simultaneously hushed his daughter with a wave. The younger man who had been quiet until now also looked very eager as he stared at the crystal, his hand even moving toward his pouch.

“There were many other odd things with the place. When I first entered a… window… appeared in front of me, which listed various things about me. I don’t really understand what it meant though. It said I was Level 34, and that my class was Warrior.” 

“I ignored the window and it soon disappeared. All the monsters in the cave were quite weak so I quickly pushed through the whole dungeon. In the end, I found their leader in a large cave. It was far larger and stronger compared to the others, but still it only was equivalent to a Seventh or Eighth Stage body tempering realm cultivator. 

“After a short battle slew it, and as it died a chest magically appeared. Inside were a pouch of coins I’ve never seen before and a Sword that looked like a Spiritual Tool. They aren’t with me now though even if I held them when I was teleported back.”

“The Membership Token record your achievements while training and contains your gains. You need your token to use our facilities, and to convert any of your finds to real items.” Ekz explained. 

This earned everyone’s attention and Gregor fished out the small inscribed token he received earlier from Ekz. 

“You mean this?” 

One of the two old men snatched the token with surprising speed and started to scrutinize it. 

“Some sort of spatial effect, as well as communication? Hmm, that can’t be right…” he started to mutter to himself again, getting lost in his thoughts.

“Any loot found in our training Dungeons can be brought out of the store for a one-time cost of either crystals or Nexus Coins. The cost depends on the quality of the item. The sword you found cost 10 Low-Grade Spirit Crystals or 750 Nexus Coins to claim.”

Gregor hesitantly looked over to the clan master. While 10 crystals weren’t a lot of money, it did constitute over a week’s pay. The man immediately handed over 10 crystals to Ekz without a word, and he gleefully walked over to the counter. Next followed the instructions of the voice in his head and opened up a large cupboard beneath the disk. Within he found a long wooden case, which he immediately fished out and handed over to Gregor.

“One [Low F-Grade Longsword]. Please enjoy,” he said with a smile.

Gregor opened the box and wonderingly stared at the sword which was completely identical to the one he found in the illusion. He gingerly picked it up and the fractals along its blade lit up with a weak blue sheen.

He quickly handed it over to Var’Adan, who scrutinized it as well.

“How interesting. What are the effects of the inscriptions?” Var’Adan asked. The two old men also eagerly looked over the sword, touching the inscriptions while muttering.

“These inscriptions increase the durability of the steel by roughly one hundred percent and slightly improve sharpness” Ekz answered after having received the answer from the System.

“One hundred percent?” one of the old men asked with a whistle. “It’s equivalent to the better low-grade Profound Tools, and those cost roughly 100 crystals. Do everyone who kill the monster leader get a tool like this?”

“No. The drop was only guaranteed due to it being the first kill of the boss, as a limited event. Actually, any monster has a small chance to drop items, but the probability lowers the higher the level discrepancy is. When the level difference is over 10 there is almost no chance for items to drop. Conversely, if you are lower level compared to the monsters the drop rate is improved.”

The two youths looked disappointed when they heard that they wouldn’t get a Profound Tool for a bargain. But their eyes soon lit up again as they heard that every single goblin they killed had the potential to drop spirit tools. They eagerly stared at their father, who himself seemed a bit impatient to give it a go.