[Hayes: Anything strange after leveling up? To be honest, I didn’t feel anything particularly different, what do you mean by that?]
Lohan sent the message, confused, not understanding what Lisa meant by that.
The night before, after leveling up to Level 13, Lohan realized that his control over the biomass in his own body had increased even further, but not to the extent it had after evolving from Level 11.
Thinking about it for a moment, it was only slightly stronger than when he leveled up to Level 12, but not to such a striking degree.
Unfortunately, Lohan didn’t have a 360-degree view of the real world like he did in Elysium, so he couldn’t see Lisa’s slightly flushed face as she replied to his message.
[Lisa: I think it was just my imagination, forget what I said!]
Lohan was confused reading the reply, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Fiddling with that old cell phone was a major test for him of how technology created barriers for users at the base.
Just dragging his finger across the screen in such an inefficient way was enough to bore him into putting the phone away and closing his eyes, waiting for class to start.
If he could use the eye device, he’d be able to operate it at a much higher speed, and with its multitasking capability, he could research various things at the same time, whether about Elysium’s discoveries, Federation news, or other topics useful for the guild’s development, all while pretending to listen to the teacher speak.
Unfortunately, if anyone else noticed any sign that he was using a device like that, it would bring a host of problems he didn’t want to deal with right now.
The class dragged on tediously. Lohan acted normally, keeping his posture slightly hunched to hide the changes, and realized, with a touch of cynicism, that no one had cared about his recent absences.
In that elite Upper Zone classroom, a student from the Lower Zone was less than a ghost; his absence raised no questions even when it "coincidentally" occurred on the same days as Isabella Vance’s, leaving only an indifferent silence that confirmed his social invisibility.
When the bell for the mid-class break rang, Lohan remained in his seat, watching the students’ Mana signatures drift away. It was then that a familiar presence approached.
"Sup, bro..." Devon Baker’s low voice interrupted his isolation.
Lohan opened his eyes and saw Devon sitting in the chair in front of him.
Looking more closely, Lohan realized that Devon was emanating a visibly more intense magical aura; his integration with the Rare Base and his likely recent level-up were accelerating, causing the air around him to seem to vibrate slightly.
"You disappeared, Hayes. I was worried that the High Zone folks or someone from a guild had found you on your way home." Devon said, leaning forward and covering his mouth with his hand, keeping the conversation out of earshot of prying ears or sensors.
"I’m fine, Baker," Lohan replied in a steady voice, reassuring his colleague. "I just had a few false alarms from my sector’s purification system and some routine checkups to make sure my lungs weren’t turning to lead, you know how it is."
Devon let out a sigh of relief, but soon his expression shifted to one of deep frustration. The gleam in his eyes turned bitter.
"Tbh, I’d rather be dealing with clogged filters than what’s going on in Elysium." Devon began to complain, his voice heavy with indignation. "My group had really bad luck at the place where we were gathered after leaving Vila Novata. We ended up in a trading city that a major corporation has completely taken over."
Lohan tilted his head, encouraging him to continue.
"They’re treating the city like private property, Hayes. The Guild now demands a payment of 5 copper coins per day for every Player who wishes to enter or exit the gates." Devon explained, tapping his fist lightly on the table. "It might seem like a small amount to the heirs here in the Upper Zone, but for Players like us, who come from the Lower Zone and are trying to farm the basics to survive, five copper coins a day is an absurd amount. It’s practically all an average Player can earn after hours of grinding against low-level monsters."
Devon snorted, his anger causing the residual Mana to ripple. "And the worst part is that the noble NPCs who control City Hall liked the idea. They’re using this fee to monitor the ’otherworlders’ and ensure we’re of some use to the local economy. The only exemption rule is, as you might imagine, that only those who join their official guild don’t have to pay the tax. This has caused a mass of desperate players to surrender to their exploitative contracts. Life for those trying to remain independent, like me and my group, has become miserable. We’re being financially suffocated before we’ve even explored the Open World."
As he listened to his account, Lohan felt a pang of sympathy, considering that in the beginning, every copper coin had been extra money he could spend on food without a guilty conscience.
’Tbh... this isn’t a disaster; maybe it could even be an opportunity...’ Lohan thought.
His mind began mapping out recruitment routes for Astralis Requiem.
He recalled their plan to focus on the outcasts and those undervalued by corporations.
If there were a mass of competent Players being oppressed by corporate fees, Astralis Requiem could offer them a refuge with benefits that no one had thought to provide before.
"A circulation fee, huh?" Lohan muttered, his blue eyes gleaming with a predatory intent that Devon couldn’t quite place.
"Yeah, bro, they have absolutely no compassion for Players like us... and worst of all, we’re planning to flee to another nearby city, but the small town we’re in is surrounded by forests full of level 15 to 20 monsters; even if we want to escape, we don’t even have the strength for it right now..."
"Tell me more about how this Guild operates. How did they manage to convince the NPCs to accept this?" Lohan asked curiously.
Devon sighed, his frustration growing even more intense. "They didn’t ’convince’ the nobles, Hayes. They bought them off. The Guild provides rare items, security, and resources that the local city hall needs, and in exchange, the NPC guards turn a blind eye to the monopoly on the gates for other Players. If you’re not part of the Guild and try to leave without paying the 5 copper coins, the NPC archers on the walls themselves aim their arrows at you. They’ve practically created a perfect extortion system."
"And where were you planning to flee to if you had the strength?" Lohan asked, trying to map out his location in the Open World.
"The plan was to get to Oakhaven," Devon explained, gesturing toward an imaginary map on the table. "They say it’s a more neutral place, with magic academies that don’t bow to corporations. The problem is our current location. We’re in a small trading town bordering the mountains. To get to Oakhaven, the shortest route would be to cut through a wilderness bordering a forest called Mythlorien."
Hearing the name of the forest where the Astralis Requiem base was located, Lohan forced himself not to let a smile cross his face.
He knew Mythlorien was vast, but if Devon was near the border, the distance wasn’t that great. From the accounts of Aeliana and Archmage Alaric, Lohan realized that the region where Devon was situated shared the same regional ecosystem as the elven capital.
"Level 15 to 20 monsters, you said?" Lohan remarked, his voice sounding strangely calm. "That really discourages any Level 11 Player. But if you cross the border into Mythlorien via a specific route, the monsters tend to be more territorial than aggressive."
Devon looked at Lohan with a doubtful expression. "How do you know that, Hayes? You haven’t even left Novata Village yet, right?"
Lohan ignored the question and leaned forward, his aura becoming dense enough to make Devon instinctively straighten his posture. "Devon, has your group ever heard of a city called Thalendor?"
The boy froze, his eyes widening in sheer shock. He looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering in a trembling voice.
"Thalendor?! The Elven Royal Capital? Bro... how do you know about that city?! On the Syn forums, Thalendor is treated like a high-level myth. They say its gates are closed to humans and that only lucky Players with at least uncommon races of Elven descent have even managed to catch a glimpse of its crystal towers. What does a kid like you know about the Royal Capital?"
Lohan gave a wry smile, realizing that the distance between Devon’s "hell" and Astralis’ "paradise" was much shorter than the boy had imagined.
With that in mind, Lohan felt even more tempted to get to know Devon better and assess how trustworthy he was.