Aloha everyone,

I don't want to drag this out, so I'm just going to say it plainly. I haven't taken an extended break from writing in a year and a half. The last time I did was when Symphony books 1 and 2 were being edited, and now I'm in a similar situation. I still don't have a buyer for the text form of QuestWright, but I do have offers for the audio. To finish that and go full editing mode, I have to take a break from writing for now.

This is also when I normally do some things I've been ignoring. Medical appointments, time with the family who feel ignored, and catching up on a boatload of work. On top of all that, the most recent chapter needed to be rewritten 3x, and I'm still not happy with it. That makes me think it is a good time to step away from book 4 for a little bit.

Now, I'm still going to be writing/editing. So that means when QuestWright 1 is done, including all the new (bonus) chapters, I'll post it here for you to view. I've already got the first 12 or 13 done; I'm just trying to finish books 1 and 2 at once. 3 is already mostly edited, so I'm not worried about it.

But, yeah. It's rough. I know this is a sharp slap in the face with no warning, and I'm truly sorry. I could feel things creeping up on me, but kept ignoring them in the hope that I could do it all. Working 3 jobs makes that rather unrealistic, and I apologize if this upsets anyone.

I'm going to be pausing Patreon for the next month so nobody gets charged. And if anything happens, I'll make sure to let you know right away.

Now, I'll probably still throw ReaderQuests your way week to week, but this is the last chapter I'll be posting for a bit. Hopefully you enjoy it, and you start to see what Tycoon is going to be.

Chapter 5: My Abilities, New and Old

Outside the shimmering field, Curl was still recovering from smashing his giant axe against the barrier. His eyes held enough hate to murder an elephant, so I smiled and looked back at my fancy new ring.

Peddler’s Storage Ring

Condition: New

Price: 500 Credits

Ownership: Evan Teller

A mental picture formed in my head of everything it held. So, even though I could look anytime I wanted, I still cataloged it.

Five dried blocks of what could pass as food. Three jugs of water. No cup… stingy-ass kidnappers.

A quick glance at Curl showed the green man slavering as he beat against the shield again. I went back to ignoring him after a slight smile.

Now, what else? A roll of leather that looks moderately thick. Weird. Oh, it’s probably meant for sleeping. You know what, that’s not terrible, kidnappers. Thank you. Nice of you to think about my rest.

But then, there were you two. No clue what either of you are.

Though the timer was counting down, the need to know got the best of me as I pulled out the first strange item. Removing it was as simple as thinking I wanted to hold it in my hand. In less time than it took to blink, a single card appeared there. 

In my palm, I held something that looked like a high-end credit card. One of those Amex-black ones I’d never been lucky enough to get. But instead of black, this one was bright blue, slightly glowing, and had a silver inlay edging it.

I flipped it over, but the back said the same as the front. 250 Credits.

Then my visual thing kicked in.

250 Credit Plaque

Price: 250 Credits

Ownership: Evan Teller

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense,” I said to myself sagely.

I put it back with a thought as the card disappeared, then removed the other strange item. This time, I held a simple piece of paper. As soon as it was out, something hit my vision. The first text box had filigree underneath it, while the one next to it matched all the others I’d seen.

This is a System-recognized deed for a single pre-initiated mercantile location.

Deed of Ownership

Donated General Store

Price: 2,400 Credits

Ownership: Evan Teller

“Well ain’t that somethin’.”

Fine print was written on the paper, and I wasn’t dumb enough to think I should skip it. You always get screwed by the smallest writing.

But the timer was tickin’ down, and I only had about five minutes left. Then I smiled as a thought came to me. Who said I had to stay in here?

Waving at the frothing man who was likely hurling obscenities at that very moment, I walked far enough away that I was comfortable, then stepped through the barrier.

“I’m going to-”

I stepped back in only to see the same bubble appear again.

You’ve entered a System-protected location.

Pre-Initiate recognized.

Interior ownership is required to proceed.

Remaining access duration for the Outer-Boundary: 9 minutes, 59 seconds.

“There’s always an exploit,” I said to myself, going back to reading and continuing to ignore the man on the outside.

You’d think Curl would give up at some point. He’s going to be a real problem.

Now I just need to lightly skim the finer points without missing anything deadly.

Easy.

As I went over everything, a lot of things stood out that were good to know. For example, the deed included the forest behind the property. There was also a special note that any flora and fauna within the boundary came with the claim, which made me pause.

“Why would I want to own trees and animals?”

Shaking my head, I found another small detail near the middle. I wasn’t allowed to sell the location for at least a year after claiming it. That meant I was stuck with it once it was claimed. 

Not like I have anything else going for me here.

The last little note was interesting. The moment I claimed the property, I also claimed everything within the system-protected location. 

Everything.

I had a few more minutes on the timer once I was done, but unfortunately, Curl was now standing right outside. I smirked at the man just to rile him up a little. 

People were much easier to understand and outsmart when they let their emotions get in the way. Curl seemed to be in the killing business, though I couldn’t say it was going particularly well for him at the moment.

In a rage and right on cue, the man slammed his axe against the bubble. This pushed him back two steps from the rebounding force, and I did a quick touch-and-go with the outside world.

“Rahh!”

I stepped back inside again before he could finish his scream. This time, though, I noticed a change in the text.

You’ve entered a System-protected location.

Pre-Initiate recognized.

Interior ownership is required to proceed.

Remaining access duration for the Outer-Boundary: 8 minutes, 59 seconds.

“Shit, I lost a minute.”

It looked like the System was wise to its own exploit. I didn’t mind all that much, as there was only one thing left to do before activating the deed.

Finally, I’d get a real look at my abilities.

So far, Grask hadn’t been the friendliest place in the universe. I didn’t know when I would next have a quiet moment where my safety was guaranteed, even if only for minutes at a time. I wasn’t going to waste that.

“Status.”

Status:

Evan Teller

Trait: Unrealized Potential

Sponsored Pre-Initiate of Earth

Time remaining until Mana Advent: 2+ years

Archetype: Tycoon

Modified Trait: Unrealized Profits

Class: Peddler

Level: 1

Credits: 

250

Level 2 cost: 

250 Credits

Strength: 5

Endurance: 5 (+1)

Agility: 6 (+1)

Dexterity: 6

Perception: 9

Mana: 20 (+10)

Abilities:

General Abilities:

Basic Parlance: Automatically interprets spoken sapient communication into concepts understandable by the user.

Class Abilities:

Liquidate: Touch an owned item and channel mana to sell the asset directly to the System.

Inalienable Assets: Assets recognized as yours cannot be stolen or removed without your permission. This applies to clothing, equipment, and belongings secured to your person.

Capital Reinvestment: Grants access to a specialized System marketplace where you can purchase utility abilities using Credits.

Current utility slots available: 1

I stared at the screen for several seconds.

“Okay.”

Then I stared some more.

“Oookay.”

That was a lot of information to take in. My eyes went to Credits first, noting the screen now showed 250 instead of zero. Then, they naturally fell to the statistical breakdown of my body and mind. It was like my failure highlight reel all over again.

“I get it, you bunch of dicks! I should’ve worked out more!”

Angry though I was, I wasn’t surprised. I had a definitive dad-bod. One for the ages. If there was a calendar of standardized dad-bods, I’d meet the average so hard they’d be forced to put me in June or July. Right in the middle.

But they didn’t have to point it out so hard.

Five strength…fine. I see the two plus ones next to endurance and agility. Must be from that thing earlier. So you can train these up. That’s nice to know.

Having a high perception is cool, but what about Mana? 

“Based on the premise that the pluses are additions to whatever I started with, that means I had ten mana at the beginning of this whole thing. But that can’t be right.”

Not wanting to waste too much time on it, I put it in the back of my mind along with all my other questions. What I was really here to see were the abilities, and they were…

Interesting.

“Basic Parlance must be why I understood everybody as soon as I got sent here. There’s no way they speak English. Inalienable Assets is probably why Patty couldn’t get that ring off my finger. I can’t be stolen from, at least physically. That’s a great ability to have in a thieving place like this.”

“But I don’t really understand the other two. Liquidate is pretty weird; I’m just wondering if-”

As soon as I started thinking too hard about the ability, something inside me answered. It started low in my stomach, a weightless pull that spread through my chest and down both arms. By the time it reached my hands, my fingertips were tingling with tiny bursts of light.

There wasn’t any pain. In fact, it was slightly euphoric. More like the first drop of a roller coaster, when your stomach forgets where it belongs and that fluttering feeling in your body ratchets up just before the plunge.

I closed the status and looked at my hands. Rainbow sparkles danced across them, zipping around, bright and familiar. It was the same kind I’d seen in the System’s visions.

“Mana.”

I stared in wonder, rolling my fingers only for the sparks to cling to my skin. “This must be how abilities activate. Focus on it hard enough, and poof, it appears. I wonder if it’s as hard to turn off as it is to turn on.” 

With nothing in my hands, the mana had nowhere to go. I pushed the ability from my mind, banishing it as if throwing Liquidate behind a locked door. And poof, it was gone. The rainbows faded away, filtering back into Grask as if it had never been there.

Then I remembered the timer.

“Shit!”

There were only sixty seconds left on the clock before something happened. Probably something I wouldn’t enjoy very much. Curl was still there, though he’d noticeably calmed down.

Now that won’t do.

Looking at the man, I put both thumbs in my ears, then flapped my hands back and forth while my tongue stuck out. It was a little juvenile, but it always did a great job sparking my girls up for some playfighting. I figured with Curl’s anger issues, it should do the trick.

Curl took the bait immediately and bashed the shield again. I stepped toward the edge, thinking everything was all good. 

I was wrong.

Curl leaped forward with abandon, his ruse achieved and quarry unprepared. The green man’s face was a study of joy as he roared with his swinging axe. 

Thankfully, I hadn’t fully stepped out of the barrier, diving back inside the moment I saw movement. If I hadn’t, Curl’s quickly descending axe would’ve ended my trip to Grask before it could really start. 

It hit the ground hard enough to embed itself several inches deep. I got up, a vibration shaking itself through my body at my second brush with death since arriving here. My thoughts cascaded, then I remembered. 

Still, the timer was counting down.

The man threw a hissy fit when he didn’t discover my body cleaved before him. Instead of using his axe, Curl began bashing his head against the barrier over and over again. On the third hit, he stumbled back, complexion even more green as blood rushed to his face.

I took two steps to the left and dashed while I could. In that brief second, the angry man recovered enough to pick up his axe and throw it. I was already clearly back in the barrier, but it appeared his frustration had gotten the better of him. 

And even better, it gave me an idea so great it would go down in the planet’s history as one of the best ever. Probably.

I reached through the barrier with one hand and grabbed the axe handle to pull it through. Then the weight hit me just as Curl realized what I was doing. 

The big man rushed forward, his face twisted in rage and fear. I’d come to recognize the rage, but fear was new, and I didn’t fully understand it. Didn’t matter much to me, though, as I put both hands on the axe and dragged it through.

The timer reset, but now I had only seven minutes left. On the other side, Curl collapsed to his knees. Putting both hands together, the green man looked at me with big doe eyes as tears leaked down his face.

“Are you begging?”

A softer-hearted person might care that he had a powerful connection to the weapon now currently in my possession. A wise person might’ve used this moment to pull Curl to their side, recognizing the leverage in my hands.

But I didn’t give a shit. 

That fucker had tried to steal from me, and when that didn’t work, tried to murder me on the spot. If I were strong enough, I’d plant this axe in his head and call it a day without another thought to his corpse.

But I’m not a warrior, and fighting really has never been a part of who I am. Then again, there are other ways to get back at people. Violence wasn’t my thing, but vengeance certainly was. 

Just because I wasn’t a warrior didn't mean I was an angel, either.

Oh yes, there are other ways to get back at people, and judging by Curl’s need to have his axe returned, I had the perfect plan. I just needed a little outside help.

“Ironic. This whole time, I’ve been thinking of the ‘System’ as the god of kidnappings. Now, here I stand, and I’ve become that god.” I tried to heft up the axe to finish my villainous monologue, but it was too heavy. I settled for smiling at the tear-stricken Curl as I took two steps back, dragging the axe with me.

Damn thing is heavy as shit.

“Don’t worry, Curl!” I yelled, fully aware he couldn’t hear me, but hoping he understood anyway. I struggled to take a few more steps as I kept yelling. “I’ll make sure your axe goes to the best place possible. An axe heaven, maybe. Or an axe hell. Doesn’t really matter, and I don’t much care. All the same, you’re not gonna have it anymore, and this fucking thing weighs a god…damn…ton.”

Pushing off the ground, I stumbled back several steps, the timer in my vision as it kept counting down. Just as I reached the edge of what would soon be my property, I stopped and took several deep breaths as a blinking thing appeared.

Congratulations, Evan Teller,

You’ve gained one strength.

Reason: Heavy theft

“Funny. But it’s only theft when it’s not mine.”

I leaned the axe against the barrier behind me, then called forth the deed from my ring. The rules within had been very specific. Anything within the area was mine.

So, with a big, sweaty smile aimed at Curl, I lifted up the deed and followed its last instruction.

I ripped it in half.

A crack formed where the inside barrier met the ground. It raced up and up and up until the crack seemed to touch the sky. Then lightning-less thunder broke the heavens. 

For several seconds, I watched the cloudless sky explode as cracks spread far beyond sight. As soon as the inner barrier was gone, the outer shattered all at once.

Sound returned, including the loud and confusing screams of things from the forest before me. But my eyes were on the blinking thing.

Congratulations, Evan Teller,

You’ve claimed the Donated General Store.

All included land, structures, flora, fauna, and assets within the property boundary are now recognized as yours.

I looked down at the axe on the ground. For the first time, I really inspected it. A rare moment when it wasn’t planted in a wall, the ground, or speeding toward my death.

Butcher’s Burden

Price: 800 Credits

Ownership: Evan Teller

“Vengeance discovered,” I said to myself, then called upon Liquidate, pushing my intent toward the axe as the color of mana covered my hands.

Unable to Liquidate

Total Mana required: 80

Currently available: 15

“Oh… shit.”