Apocalypse: Fairy System by Macronomicon (fox in socks read aloud txt) 📕

inside that category. The fact Ron couldn’t remember the speech word-for-word implied Myst or a Class Ability.

“Who all did what?” Jeb asked.

“Well, Freeman retired to the remains of Louisiana, looking for family. Brett and Amanda jumped onto the empire train in exchange for land and titles. They’re technically the highest-ranked human aristocracy, now.”

“Those whores,” Jeb said with a grin.

“Yeah.” Ron chuckled. “Jess… She broke up with me.”

Jeb struggled to keep a straight face as the young necromancer tried to drown his sorrows in juice. A relationship that started with a fling spurred on by the certainty of imminent death wasn’t exactly the bedrock that you build a life on.

“She took an enforcer job. She’s off who-knows-where…killing people.”

“She did get the Assassin Class to start with,” Jeb said with a shrug. “That has to imply she was at least willing to kill people before.”

“I know, I know,” Ron grumbled.

“Casey and Mike, they didn’t take the empire job. They sold a bit of their share and opened a living restaurant. I was aimless for a while, then I realized if Casey can capitalize on free labor, why can’t I? So I decided to buy a farm. More of a plantation, really. In a couple more weeks, I’ll have my first crop!

“These boys are just smart enough to lend out, so I get a little extra spending money that way,” Ron said, patting Jesus the zombie carpenter on the leg.

“Why not take the empire up on the job thing?” Jeb asked, but he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Something I realized in the Tutorial: I’m not cut out for fighting.” Ron shook his head. “I spent every day for years just playing a necromancer in D&D, imagining how I’d be some kind of lord of the dead, master of all I survey, but man…that’s not my scene. The idea of actually killing people makes me insanely sick to my stomach, and if there’s anything that makes you recognize your own mortality, it’s seeing people drop like flies around you.”

Ron shrugged. “All I wanna do now is get by.”

Jeb tapped his fingers on the back of his hand. “What did you mean when you said ‘share’?”

“The haul from the shipping area, plus the reward from The System for killing the World Tortoise. You didn’t…get that?”

Jeb sighed. “No, I didn’t get that. Although I did drink my share from the shipping area.”

“Oh.” Ron rubbed his neck uncomfortably. “Well, your share is sitting in the empire’s vault. We all decided to set some aside in case you were still alive. Freeman left all his share behind, and we added it in. The only problem was we couldn’t figure out who was gonna babysit a mountain of loot indefinitely, so the emperor let us use his vault.”

“I’m sure he was happy to do that,” Jeb said, tone flat.

“Eh. We were half-convinced you’d been vaporized or some such.” Ron shrugged. “Seemed like as good a place as any.”

“Well, I’ll look into claiming that one day, if it becomes an option,” Jeb said.

“Did you… Did you need money?” Ron asked. “Cuz I could—”

Jeb held his hand up, then revealed the case of gold hanging from his shoulder.

“Today, I’m looking to buy.”

Ron’s face split in a boyish grin. “Fella, you’ve come to the right place.”

******

“You’re okay with it if this breaks?” Jeb asked one last time, holding the ivory ring between his fingers.

“Knock yourself out, man. I don’t even need it anymore.”

Jeb tugged off his Appraiser and blew smoke out of it while Ron looked on in fascination.

Ring of Myst +3

Crafted by a jeweler to find her child that had been spirited away, this ring offers a glimpse into the unseen world. The jeweler poured years of her life and lost an eye to the creation of this artifact in the hopes that she could locate him again. In the end, the ring itself was traded for her son’s life, but the boy was greatly diminished, and she could never again see him without the aid of the ring she had bargained away.

“That’s really cool,” Ron said, watching the roiling Myst form a solid panel, suspending the ring in the top.

Jeb grunted and caught the Myst ring on the way back down, then slipped it on his finger. The ring seemed to relax around his finger, growing wider as it engulfed his digit. Jeb’s temples began to pound, and he knew it was working.

He used the Appraiser on himself.

Jebediah Trapper

Mystic Trapsmith, Level 39

Accolades: Krusker’s Brawn, Siren’s Cunning, R-R-RubU’s Mysteries, Gresh’s Subtlety, Innovator, Lagross’s Power

Body 21 (9)

Myst 71 (16+3)

Nerve 26 (10)

Abilities: Mystic Trigger

Accolade Pending: Lagross’s Power suspended due to multiple instances. Awaiting resolution.

Attention, this User has been flagged for exclusion from The System by executive order.

There it is. Thank God I can still inflate my stats. “How much you want for it?” Jeb asked.

“For you?” Ron asked. “On the house.

“These, on the other hand.” Ron ran his fingers over the case full of artifacts before opening the wooden lid with a dramatic flourish. “These will cost you.”

Jeb nearly squinted at the sheer amount of wealth on display blasting him in the face. Ron didn’t actually have to work a day in his life; the farm was just something to do.

“I’ll take the slave collars,” Jeb said, pointing. That’s right, Ron snagged these at the end of the Tutorial. “I need control lenses, and examples of circuitry.”

Jeb went through and started identifying the wands on display.

Wand of Flowing Barriers

The ultimate intersection between personal protection and affordability, Life-Aide’s Wand of Flowing Barriers releases a thin film that instantly settles into the air, creating a malleable barrier that is difficult and time-consuming to penetrate, giving you the opportunity to escape or launch