Employee 34 - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

“Wait a bit Var’Ewella, Var’Talek. Shopkeeper Ekz, I first have some questions, if I may?” the clan leader said. 

Those names stirred something in Ekz’s inherited memories. Apparently, people on this continent didn’t have surnames and instead only possessed one name. However, noble families added a Prefix to their names, which properly showed their status. Since the girl was named Var’Ewella and the young man Var’Talek it likely meant that the Varseth clan they mentioned had to be actual noblemen. 

“Honored customer, please go ahead,” Ekz said, eager to get this out of the way so he could start selling some training badges. He really hoped that the Varseth clan was a large one, and they had tens of youth who could benefit from the Goblin Den. That would solve his quest in one go.

“Who is the owner of this store? How does it actually work?” Var’Adan asked as he glanced at the crystal in the vicinity.

“The owner is a reclusive master who wishes for the boundless Dao to spread across the world. After years of arduous experimentation, he finally created the masterpiece that is in front of you. I have been entrusted to maintain the day-to-day operations of this small establishment. As for how it works, you simply need to touch the crystal after paying, and then fight as you would in the real world.” 

This fib was something that Ekz decided on early after looking through his new memories. The system didn’t want to be exposed for some reason, so he would have to come up with something else. No one would believe that Ekz himself created these things since the people in the neighborhood knew him quite well.

“Hmm. Can I meet this owner? I’d like to discuss some topics with him on behalf of Clan Varseth.” The man probed.

“I’m afraid not. The old master has renounced worldly affairs, and is singularly focused on crafting and the Dao.” Ekz shot him down. “I will be happy to answer any further questions you have.” 

Happy my ass, just buy the tokens and start training already, he silently added in his mind.

“I’d like to purchase one of these crystals for our clan. We’d be ready to pay –“ 

“I’m sorry to cut you off dear customer, but listing a price won’t be necessary. The only business our establishment provides is listed on the screen” Ekz interjected as he pointed to the display.

“You have guts interrupting the clan master of the Varseth clan!” the young guard from earlier exploded as he pointed his weapon against the shopkeeper. He clearly was hounding for some revenge for earlier and felt emboldened with his powerful backup. Unfortunately for him, it looked a bit comical as his face was completely swollen and bruised. 

A terrifying pressure once again descended upon everyone in the store, almost pushing the presumptive customers to the floor. Everyone was impacted except Ekz, and they were completely unable to resist the undeniable power. Not even the clan master who should be the strongest in the group was unscathed, though he was faring far better compared to the others.

“I must remind you, accosting staff or any other customer while in the Boundless Dao Training Center will result in being kicked out and sometimes even black-listing. This is your second offense, and you are banned from the premises for a year.” Ekz mildly explained as the guard once again was flung outside, this time with far stronger force. Ekz would have preferred to let it slide to have him enter the crystal, but the voice in his head decided the punishment. 

“Earth Realm Master…” one of the old men pushed out between gritted teeth, clearly afraid.

As quickly as the pressure descended it once again disappeared, allowing the group from clan Varseth to take a ragged breath.

“I am sorry for the disrespect senior,” Var’Adan said as he bowed toward the stairs leading to the second floor. The others in the group quickly followed suit, even the mother who still looked quite angered by the whole ordeal. It appeared they assumed it was some old master sitting upstairs rather than the system enforcing the rules. 

“I apologize for our rude companion, he will not interrupt your place of business again,” the clan leader added, clearly more courteous before. It was completely different now that they knew the store was backed by an old monster. 

“Gregor mentioned earlier a screen upon entering your… Training Regiment. Can you explain a bit about that?”

“Certainly, if you wish to see your status in the future, simply give the mental command [Status] during training” 

“What did those things mean? It said I am level 32,” Gregor curiously asked. 

“The Boundless Dao Training Center converts your power into what we call levels. Body Tempering Realm is level 1-25, Condensation Realm is 26-75, and Profound Realm starts at 76. So from your level, I guess your cultivation stage is somewhere around early Condensation Realm.” Ekz diligently answered, his eyes darting toward the sofa every now and then. This was starting to get annoying, and he was already getting tired. 

The guests seemed quite impressed and troubled at the same time that the device could see the guard’s cultivation stage so clearly. Generally, cultivation stages weren’t really a secret, as a single attack or skill use would clearly give it away from the spiritual waves emanating. But the device in front of them could tell without any help. 

“And what about my class?” the guard asked.

“Your class is determined by your cultivation method, skills, and battle style. It affects how the training Incursions are formed, in order to give an appropriate challenge. Remember only you can see your status window, so you do not need to fear that your secrets will be exposed to curious onlookers.” Actually, Ekz could always see the details as well, but what he said was true for any customers. 

“Onlookers?” the young girl interjected, clearly not happy about the prospect of being spied at.

“While inside the Training facilities you can give the command [Settings] which gives many options. One is the ability to share your experience. Others would be able to follow your progress inside the training center. You can either chose to openly stream, uh, I mean share your progress, or to only allow certain individuals to spectate.” Ekz answered, and after some thought added. “However, only members can spectate, as it uses the Membership tag.”

The clan leader seemed to ponder for a while, then fished out two crystals from a pouch.

“Five plaques and another hour for Gregor please,” he said as he handed the crystals over to a confused Ekz.

Do we accept crystals instead of gold? Ekz asked the voice and got an immediate affirmation that they did, at a 100:1 ratio. 

Ekz quickly took the currency and handed out another five tokens to the remaining people in the shop. The two old men obviously were the most interested in the token, and traced the fractals on it with their fingers.

They asked a few more questions about it, but Ekz only said that members had to explore the functions of the Incursions themselves. It was partly due to incompetence, part to laziness, and part to get the people to stop bothering him and start clocking hours in the system. 

Finally, the old guard once again touched the crystal after a nod from the master. 

“What now?” Var’Adan asked. 

“As you focus on the tag, think [Spectate] and a list of streams should appear.”

The people did as requested, and most of them gave a start. 

“How magical!” Var’Ewella exclaimed as she stared at nothing.

It really looked a bit odd, as everyone looked like they were blankly staring into the distance. The screens that the tags projected were only visible to the owner, so no one else could spy on it. Ekz coughed and fished out a tag from his pocket that looked a bit different from the others. It was his employee tag, and it had some different functions compared to the others.

“You can close the windows for now, I’ll show for everyone instead.” He said as he brought up the Spectate window. A large window appeared next to the crystal, and on it they could see an almost blank screen. Nothing happened for a few seconds before Gregor’s name appeared. 

Ekz mentally clicked on the name and the screen immediately changed to that of the tunnels of the Goblin Den. 

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Gregor’s voice could be heard from the screen. 

“We can year you fine,” Var’Adan answered.

“This is a special broadcast from me, and two-way communication is possible. When you use your own membership badges you will not be able to speak back. There is an exception where you activate a tutoring stream. Only one person can watch in that mode, but he can speak through the display like now. However, the tutor will have to pay the same fee as the one training.” Ekz repeated what the voice in his head told him. 

He didn’t really want to explain these functions, as it might mean that more people stayed outside and just watched. But as soon as he tried to stop speaking a painful pressure started to build up in his head. 

Gregor started to proceed as he did last time, meeting and killing the goblins. Everyone raptly spectated, sometimes interjecting a question or two.

“It truly is like he entered a hidden realm,” one of the old men muttered. “But it appears the monsters come back after each visit. And everyone gets their own tunnels? Just how is this possible?” the old men looked like they were going crazy trying to understand the mechanics behind it all. 

“Only one reset per day is allowed per dungeon,” Ekz explained. “After that, it will stay the same until the next day.” 

After roughly 40 minutes Gregor was once again at the boss room, and the boss he had told everyone about was visible. The onlookers exclaimed when they saw the monster. It was clearly on a different level compared to the weak goblins that Gregor had crushed on the way. He simply ran through the whole dungeon, and nothing could really impede him. 

The levels of the imps were between 5 and 10, and their small frames made them weaker than normal cultivators to boot. Ekz knew that the boss was level 15, with some additional boosts from something called Titles. 

Obviously, that wasn’t enough against a seasoned cultivator at level 32. Gregor kept the battle going for a minute to display its power, and he even let it wound him a few times before summarily executing it with a swing. As the goblin chieftain died various fireworks were set off in the cave, with a large message of Congratulations were hovering in the sky.

This time no treasure chest dropped though, to the disappointment of everyone. 

“If you want to leave early you can give the [Exit] mental command at any time during training in the Goblin Den.” Ekz was forced to explain by the voice.

Just let me leave them in there damn it! 

Gregor looked around the cavern for a while but found nothing else of note so he exited the incursion. All in all, he had been inside for almost fifty minutes, while the others impatiently spectated his progression.

“What do you think about the dungeon?” the clan master asked the guard, who had stood silently with his brows furrowed since coming back.

“The challenge of the tunnels is good for First to Fifth Stage Body Tempering Realm. To defeat the boss one likely needs the Seventh or Eigth Stage unless one possesses ample battle experience. The award in spiritual energy should be quite good, though only for lower Realm cultivators. However…” Gregor added as he hesitated for a few seconds before continuing. “I think that killing inside actually removed some impurities in my core.”