Chapter 289: The Way of Life

For Flick, this was the life. The ones who had been doing the dungeons longer all wanted to live on the surface, out in the sunlight. But that also meant that you had to endure every weather related trial and anomaly.

It was better to him to stay down here.

Plus, the Hive City was a bustling place, alive every hour of the day, while the top city was calm and almost too quiet. Everyone up there was just doing their jobs and going home, but the people in the hive city were up celebrating life every hour of the day.

Most of the shops were working three shifts because they didn’t have technological assistance to do jobs that robots and machines used to take care of in minutes.

The loom on the surface turned out the best cloth because they had System users on the staff to work magical looms. But there was a massive amount of fibrous plant matter leftover that could be made into crude linen.

Well, it didn’t have to be crude, they just weren’t very good at it yet.

Rope and clothing were the two largest production items on the roster, and for the longest time, Flick had wondered what they were doing up there with all that rope. Then, he got to the surface and realized that they were using it for fishing nets, in a coastal region where half the fish were perfectly capable of biting through the net.

That was why they needed so much.

He had been more than a little disillusioned. But when he got to try the fish that were considered too high energy for those without a System, it all made sense.

They were worth the work.

Today, he was off to see the Coordinator once he finished watching the burger shop during the breakfast rush. He had managed to gather six points, and his family was whining that he didn’t buy them nice stuff, even though he was ’rich’ now.

So, he would go ask the Coordinator if she could get them something special. Perhaps a piece of furniture, or a decorative curtain.

They didn’t need to know that what he bought them was only going to cost one point. He needed the other five for a new spell to help him through the Rat King Dungeon. He only had [Firebolt] right now, but he had both [Fireball] and [Mage Armour] available.

He was leaning toward [Mage Armour] because after that, he could pick [Flame Shield] and block attacks at other members of the team.

That sort of skill was highly valued, but not every new mage had them.

So, one point for the family, five for the skill, then he just needed to get five more for the [Flame Shield]. Being a mage was an expensive profession.

Kalli smiled as a new face walked into her shop, and she handed the haggard looking young man a chocolate bar.

"What’s up today? Rough run through the dungeons?" She asked.

Flick shook his head. "Nah, I was just doing some side work. I don’t suppose that your store has home decor, does it? I’m living with my family, and they’re whining about me never buying them anything nice, now that I’ve got a Class and I get points."

Kalli chuckled, and brought up the [Supplies] section of the store.

With the new items she could offer after level 10, there were quite a few options available. Most were in the modern style that her home world had liked, but there were more traditional pieces and camping gear as well.

Even some that used mana, as they had been upgraded when she selected {Advanced Construction Options} as her level 10 Class Reward.

"Oh, that. That is what they need. The display hutch. My parents both love to put their collectibles on display, but the apartment doesn’t have a good spot for the delicate ones they saved from before.

How much is the cabinet?"

Kalli shrugged. "That entire page is still in the 1 point section."

The cabinet was far too large to fit in his limited storage backpack, so Flick made a strange sight carrying it out of the building before one of the others came to help him and brought a pallet jack with a board on it to make the job easier.

That made things much less awkward, and somehow less suspicious. Furniture came with the units, so people didn’t move it with them when they switched. It was strange to see it being transported anywhere.

Even if it was damaged, the repair person would usually come to you.

Kalli watched them go, and shook her head in dismay. The man didn’t even have his class long enough for her to remember his face, and he was already at the shop, being pressured by family to buy them furniture.

But that wasn’t her business.

If people couldn’t deal with their own families, that was on them. A strong personality was as important as a strong drive to succeed. She would only step in if it was clear that someone was being abused, beyond the usual family guilt trips.

That didn’t appear to be the case for the man who just left, he was only being shamed into buying the family fancy things that they could show off to compete with the neighbours.

That didn’t seem out of the ordinary to her.

It did, however, inspire many other families who had members with system access to try to shame them into buying similar levels of household upgrades for them. Fortunately for Kalli, most simply lied to the family and either said that the item wasn’t available right now, or that it was more than they could afford without cutting out something else that they had been buying.

And most of them were already spending half their points bringing better food home.

When the options were having a beautiful new piece of furniture that could impress the neighbours, or having better options for dinner, it was an easy choice.

Nearly everyone picked an extra or improved meal so that they didn’t have to rely on the warehouse having what they wanted when they arrived.