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Finley didn\'t care about the dead at all. The only thing he was concerned about was having landed next to a Region Boss. As scummy as that was, Alex was focused on it for an entirely different reason.

Why is this such a big deal? Can\'t Finley just leave and go to a new area? The System mentioned something about towns getting linked together. Even if Towntown isn\'t one of them, there should be a way for him to get out of here.

The way Finley had spoken earlier implied that he was considerably stronger than Alex. That might have just been a bluff, but Alex wasn\'t so sure. Something else was at play — but he wasn\'t so sure he wanted to blow one of his two questions on it.

Think in the long term, Alex. With two questions, I can afford to at least try and use one of them as insurance for the future. The second question can be more related to what\'s going on right now, but I can\'t pass up the chance to get a huge leg up on everyone else.

Finley definitely has knowledge about the System that I don\'t. Even if he\'s only one Stage above me, that would put him at Adept. Meiderly said I would unlock my domain at that Stage. That\'ll definitely be important. I could ask him —

Alex\'s eyes widened.

There had been one thing that Meiderly had stressed more than anything else. And, thus far, the eyeless man\'s advice had yet to lead him wrong.

"Right. I\'ve got my first question," Alex said, coughing as dust bit at his lungs and stuck to his throat. "In detail, how can I make my Mind Palace as powerful as possible?"

Finley froze in place. "What?"

"That\'s my question," Alex said.

"I — the questions were meant to be about this!" Finley snapped, waving his hands in the air around him. "About the apocalypse. The Region Boss. Aren\'t you confused?"

"Yes," Alex said. He stared at Finley, waiting to see if the man would let something slip without making him waste another question.

The merchant didn\'t fall for it. His jaw clenched so tight that the veins in the side of his neck bulged. Then he blew out a sharp, bitter breath. "I\'m fucking cursed. I knew it. I can\'t answer that question, kid."

Why?

"That seems unfair. You promised me two questions."

The corner of Finley\'s lips quirked up. He hadn\'t missed that Alex hadn\'t been caught by the bait he\'d set in hopes to get him to ask a potentially pointless question.

"Because you asked for details. That would be sharing family secrets," Finley replied with a shake of his head. "But I hate to be made a liar. Bad for business — and trust me, you don\'t want to make an enemy of my family by trying to force me into revealing secrets."

"Probably not, but I don\'t want to get scammed either," Alex said. He thought for a moment before adding, "I\'ll accept an answer where you give me as much detail as possible while avoiding mentioning anything that is unique knowledge that only your family has access to."

"That\'s acceptable. The answer to your question is both simple and complicated. What Stage are you?"

"Initiate."

Finley blinked in surprise. "Initiate? Seriously? I — never mind. The most important thing you can do for your Mind Palace is to build it. Every single Stage gives you something different to work with. Novice gives you the foundations to work with. It\'s the easiest step. Initiate lets you imbue the pillars with attributes of your choice. You\'ll also be able to start putting together the palace. Make it as true to yourself as you can but push your limits. That\'s it. The closer you can get to that, the more powerful your Mind Palace will be. That might sound pretty damn simple, but I promise that\'s genuinely the truth. I can\'t give you the Visualizations my family uses to form our Mind Palaces, so don\'t even bother asking."

Attributes. That must be what the Nightmare gem I got was. Fuck. So many answers, but so many questions. What do attributes do? I\'d guess they somehow modify my abilities, but that\'s what Qi does, so these have to be something else.

And building the palace — well, that makes sense. Conceptually, at least. So energy I drink gives me the pieces to work with, but I\'m the one that decides how to put them together. Does that mean architects get a ridiculous advantage in the apocalypse? And how do you make the Mind Palace "feel true to yourself"?

Questions spawned in Alex\'s mind like a virus had taken root, far too many to possibly ask all at once, but the piece of information he\'d just got was invaluable. Thus far, it didn\'t seem like most people even knew how important upgrading the Mind Palace was. Now Alex knew why Meiderly had stressed its importance.

It was the basis of his power, and rushing through the ranks would leave him with shoddy materials to build with. Just what he had to build was still a little bit unclear, but he had a path forward — and Finley had made it clear he wouldn\'t be giving Alex anything that belonged to his family.

That said…

"Second question," Alex said. "You mentioned something called a Visualization with a lot of stress on the word. That makes it sound like a physical object of some sort. Tell me where I can get the best one possible that does not already belong to your family."

Finley let out a sharp burst of laughter. "You\'re a little shit, aren\'t you? That\'s a real nasty question. Unfortunately for you, I\'m a System Merchant, not an Outworlder with full rights. I don\'t know where you\'d get any fancy Visualizations. I wouldn\'t be a merchant if I did. But if you\'re looking for a normal one… well, the best ones I know of would be in my spatial ring. I\'ll sell a real basic one to you for 10 credits."

"I don\'t suppose you could at least tell me where someone would theoretically get their hands on a powerful Visualization, then? It feels like it falls in the bounds of my question." Alex wasn\'t interested in Finley\'s offer in the slightest. He didn\'t have any credits, nor did he want something that people could buy for what seemed to be a relatively low price.

"A dungeon, probably," Finley replied. "Or a really difficult monster. One that had one of its own. You might find it in a Core or inscribed on a magical item. Satisfied?"

"Yes," Alex said. He shifted his weight, then sent a thought to Princess. The monster lowered him to the ground and he stepped off her huge palm. His body had regained the rest of its functionality. "Pleasure meeting you."

I need to find Claire.

"Whoa there," Finely said, holding his hand up. "That\'s it? You\'re just going to use me like a cheap courtesan and leave? We had a business relationship going. At least spend a few credits."

"I\'ve got no clue what a credit is." Alex scanned the surroundings for any sights of movement, but there was still nothing. Concerned tightened his chest.

Ben… Dorriv… There\'s no way literally everyone got killed, right? I liked them. I really hope they made it. The others too. They didn\'t deserve to just get flattened.

"May all the gods take a steaming shit on this planet. How damn early did I show up?" Finley demanded, flinging his hands into the air. "How do you not know what credits are yet? It gets announced at the end of the 3rd Initialization!"

"That hasn\'t ended yet," Alex said. "It just started, actually."

Finley blinked. His hands lowered. "It… just started? You\'re telling me I managed to land with one of the first Region Bosses?"

Alex shrugged in response.

"How fucking unlucky am I?" Finley groaned, pulling at his hair. "You don\'t have a single credit, then. Nothing. You — and everyone else here — is broke."

"Seems like an apt analysis. I\'ve got a crumpled dollar if you want that, but I\'ve gotten a bit attached to it." Alex started around the glowing white meteor to see if Claire had somehow flown all the way behind it.

Finley followed after him.

"So the town is ruined, everyone is weak, there isn\'t a single Outworlder here, and on top of that, you don\'t have the grace to have even a single credit to your name," Finley said, ticking the points off on his fingers. "Let me guess. I can\'t interest you in a loan either? I have fantastic rates. Very competitive."

"Hell no. I\'m not getting into debt in an apocalypse."

"And he\'s financially literate. Of course he is," Finley muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat loudly and raised his voice. "Aren\'t you interested in anything? I\'ll sell you more information."

"For credits?"

"Yes."

"No. Not until I know what they are and how to get them. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Don\'t you think you should invest in yourself?" Finley asked, a terse note entering his voice. "I mean, you did see the enormous meteor crash down behind the town. Don\'t you want to know what it might do?"

I already know it\'s got the Region Boss in it. Getting myself into debt in an unknown currency for info I don\'t know if I need is stupid.

A crackle from behind Alex caught his attention. He spun in time to see Spark fly out from behind a building, Claire holding onto his back with one hand and keeping her balance with the other like the Echo Wraith was a surfboard. She dropped down, taking several long strides across the rubble to come to a stop before Alex.

"Claire!" Alex exclaimed, a wave of relief passing over him. Claire was surprisingly uninjured. She had a thin layer of dust covering her, but she didn\'t look nearly as gaunt as Alex had expected her to. Either she hadn\'t been forced to use a lot of blood, or she\'d found something to drain on the way back.

"Alex! I knew you\'d make it," Claire said, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a small shake. She glanced from Finley to the huge meteor rising over the horizon, then grimaced. "Who is this? I\'d ask what in the bleeding hells happened, but — well, the System already said."

"I am Finley, of the Starlight family. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the merchant said with a slight bow. His eye twitched slightly as he straightened. "Perhaps you would be interested in purchasing something. Information, weapons, you name it, I might have it."

"Might?" Claire asked.

"You never know what kind of outlandish requests people might have," Finley said with a small shrug. He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. "But perhaps I could make a suggestion? Information is never amiss."

"He wants us to pay in something called Credits," Alex warned Claire. He took the opportunity to summon Glint back to his Spatial Mirror, as the monster still had yet to return.

"Credits?" Claire frowned. "What are those?"

"No clue," Alex replied. "And Finely hasn\'t said yet."

A sudden thought struck Alex and he blinked, a small frown pulling across his lips as Claire looked over to the merchant.

Wait. Didn\'t she last about a week in her world before she fell into the Mirrorlands? It only took days for us to get to the 3rd Initialization… so shouldn\'t Claire have seen this event already? She should know what credits are.

"Ah. Thanks for the offer, but I\'ll pass for now." Claire sent Finley a polite smile before turning her attention back to Alex. "We should get out of here. You saw the message, right? Connections are established between the cities. We can go somewhere a little less… destroyed."

"Hold on, now!" Finley stammered. "You two are the only ones here thus far. I — what if I gave you a discount? Half off any purchases. Especially on information."

Why is he so insistent on selling us something? This is suspicious, but goddamn it, let me focus on one mystery at a time!

"Claire—"

Alex didn\'t get a chance to finish his sentence. A loud crack split the air like a gunshot. They all spun toward the source of the noise as the crunch of stone and grinding gravel carved through the silence.

A hill of rubble shifted and rose into the air, sending pieces of masonry and former buildings crashing down to the ground.

"Shit," Finley said, his face going pale. "The shop discount has dropped to 100%. Have some free advice. Don\'t let that thing get anywhere near the Starstone, or we\'re all going to be stuck in this backwater shithole. All we can do is pray that it\'ll be weak and—"

A roar echoed through the ruins of the town. A huge doglike monster, easily twenty feet tall, burst free from the pile of rocks. The monster slammed down on the ground down the street from Alex, black saliva dripping from its grey lips and splashing to the ground in a small river. Its massive paws ended in jagged white claws and it was covered with a layer of black, dust-covered fur.

Four red eyes glowed on either side of the dog\'s head, and the barbed tail of a scorpion rose over its back, glistening with purple poison. Every single one of the monster\'s eyes swiveled to look straight at the glowing meteor behind Alex and its lips pulled back in a snarl.

[Field Boss] Mutated Chimera (Initiate 7)

Field Boss? That sounds special.

And with that level outside of the Mirrorlands… this thing means business. Scary looking bastard.

Alex grinned.

A perfect opportunity to test how strong I\'ve really gotten.

"Ah," Finley said weakly. "Of course. Just my luck. A mutated monster. I fear I will never make a single sale. I have brought great shame to my family."

"Maybe draw those swords and help us?" Claire suggested, cracking her neck and flexing her claws.

"I can\'t. I\'m a System Merchant. I can\'t fight on this world," Finley said, his shoulders slumping. "Run. Two Initiates have no chance against something like this. It\'s a Field Boss, meant for a group of adventurers. The monster won\'t kill me, but it\'ll destroy the connection to the other Hub Cities to ensure the Region Boss gets time to grow stronger. I—"

"Thanks for the information, but we\'ll take it from here," Alex said curtly. He glanced at Claire out of the corners of his eyes. It felt a bit strange for her apocalypse to have been so different from his when the System seemed standardized, but now wasn\'t the time to press. "I don\'t suppose you wanted to take this one on your own?"

"Already found a few solo monsters before Spark found me," Claire replied, cracking her neck and flexing her fingers. "They\'re lurking around town, hunting survivors. We can split this one. Looks big enough for the two of us."

"Are you insane?" Finley asked, taking a step back as the Chimera prowled closer, its growl growing louder by the step. "You can\'t beat that thing! You would need a small army of competent warriors to fight it!"

"What a coincidence," Alex said, his lips pulling back into a full smile. Princess lumbered to stand by his side and Spark floated over to join them. The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Glint emerged alongside them. "That\'s exactly what I brought."