System Change

As the light from the day faded throughout the city, strategically stationed lamps illuminated the streets. Derek looked around. Savannah was truly a different beast from Torith and from what he had seen of Wilmette.

Derek whistled. “Are those made from Runesmithing?” He pointed to one of the streetlamps.

“The lights?” Stella nodded. “A combination of Gemsmithing and Runesmithing is needed, but from what I understand, a Gemsmith is only needed for looks and efficiency. If truly needed, a capable Runesmith could slap a rune on a brick, and it would have a similar affect.”

“I see. I take it most of the buildings here have lights after dark?” He asked.

“Yeah. It would be harder to find a business without proper runes than one with them.” Stella said.

Finally, Derek got to the question he had been eagerly wanting to ask. “How easy is it to hire a Runesmith here?”

“Quite easy. The market is very competitive, so, for the right price, you’d be able to find a capable fast.” She replied. “When you’re ready, you can just go to the Employment Center beside the City Building. You’ll be able to find workers and their contact information, and you can post job opportunities and missions if you can’t the proper worker to complete your task.”

“And the cost?”

Stella shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on what you are asking and if you have the materials. Every job is different.”

“We’re here.” Stella said. She pointed to what was at least a 12-story black building.

With a quick Identify, Derek was able to tell that the slick black brick that the building was constructed with was actually Dragon Formed Obsidian. Naturally, he didn’t have a clue what any of that meant but based on what he knew of Alanah and Stella, it was probably expensive.

The building was very minimalistic on the outside. Other than the banners representing Alanah and the Crown, and a balcony on each room on the sixth floor up, there was nothing else. Derek frowned.

“What?” Stella asked.

“I just thought your hotel would be… I don’t know… lavish?” Derek said.

Stella laughed as they approached the doors. When they got to them, instead of going inside, she took her fist and knocked on the obsidian brick. “Oh, it is lavish.” She said. “Look around. Do you see any other buildings made like this?”

Derek looked, and in fact, he did find another building made out of the obsidian. Unfortunately, it also had the same green and gold banners as the hotel. That must be the restaurant. He thought.

“Watch this.” Stella pulled a red liquid out of her storage ring and tossed it onto the brick. Instantly, the liquid fell to the ground, not leaving a drop on the stone. “It’s black because it’s impossible to paint.” Stella said. “But you never have to worry about it getting dirty and it’s nearly indestructibility.”

Derek raised his fist as it glowed purple. “Can I punch it?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” She quickly pushed his hand down. “It’s quite expensive, and I’d rather not test it.”

Derek chuckled. “By the way, why were there no banners at the restaurant in Torith?” He pointed at the golden trimmed, green banner with a jeweled crown made out of vines in the center.

“It’s not an official restaurant yet. Yes, it’s a Crown Restaurant, but it doesn’t have the same standards as others, therefore it only has the Crown Sigil, not the banners.” She said.

Derek shrugged. “I see.”

“Come on, let’s get you all settled.” Stella finally opened the door and ushered the group inside.

The inside was what Derek would expect from a five-star hotel. Since paint was apparently unable to stick on the obsidian brick, fixtures and decorations were bolted into it to give the inside of the hotel some life.

“I thought the brick was supposed to be ‘nearly indestructible.’” Derek said.

“We have skills that allow them to work and shape materials. Remember?” Brandi answered this time.

“Oh, yeah… you did say something like that.”

The lobby consisted of a lavishly designed giant rug leading towards a receptionist’s desk at the end. The rug was emerald green and white with different designs. Overall, the emerald green meshed well with the occasional white. The inside of the hotel kept with this theme. It was just about the best they could do when they had to work with the obsidian brick.

Two sets of stairs led up to the next floor. I wonder if they have elevators. Derek thought.

“How many rooms on each floor?” Derek asked.

“20 on all floors except the top three.” Stella responded as she led them to the receptionist’s desk.

“Uh, is this the first floor?” Derek asked?

Stella looked at Derek oddly. “It’s the lobby.”

So that means 11 floors, minus the three top floors. So, that’s 160 rooms, minimum. Derek nodded. It was a pretty decent number for the size of the hotel. Granted, the building from the outside was rather large. He couldn’t help but think about the cost of maintaining the hotel in a city like Savannah. 160 rooms was still quite large, even for Earth standards.

Of course, it was pretty much guaranteed that anyone who could afford to stay in a hotel like this, in a city like Savannah, would also already have storage rings. Thus, decreasing some of the space a room would need.

Finally, they reached the receptionist. The receptionist was a very straight-backed young man dressed in a formal attire of green, gold, and a touch of white. Just what Derek would expect from an employee at the Crown Hotel.

The man nervously cleared his throat. “Mistress Stella. Welcome back to Savannah. Your suite and your friend’s rooms have been prepared.” He slid three green cards and one gold card on the counter towards here.”

Stella nodded. “Thank you.” She kept the gold card and handed Derek the three green ones.

Derek took the cards. On them, the numbers 704, 705, and 706 were imprinted. He kept one and handed one to Rayna, and one to Jacks.

“Thomas can room with me. Jacks and Rudy are together, and Rayna, Mal, and Brandi can have a room. That okay with you all?” He asked.

Jacks looked at Rudy and squinted, causing the man to squirm. “That’s fine.” He said.

The three women looked at each other and smiled.

“Alright, that’s settled. Do I need to pay now, or…”

“It will be deducted.” Stella smiled.

“Of course, it will.” Derek scoffed.

“Follow me.” Stella motioned to them, and they followed, letting a man and woman who came in behind them move up to the counter.

Derek noticed Stella leading them to the stairs. “You don’t have an elevator, do you?”

Stella furrowed her brow.

“A lift?” He asked.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” She replied.

“Like, a platform to stand on that will lift you up and down between floors.” He explained.

Stella shook her head. “No, why would we need something like that?”

“Convenience? Because I’m lazy? I don’t know.” He said. It made some sense, at least. First, they didn’t have to worry about dragging luggage up a ton of stairs. Second, with the system strengthening all the people, they didn’t have to worry much about people being unable to climb or even diseases making people incapable. Well, if I ever make a hotel, it will have an elevator. He thought.

Derek and the group followed Stella up the first flight of stairs, which wrapped around and continued up. They continued up the stairs until the seventh floor. Then she led them to their rooms.

“These will be yours while you stay.” She said.

Derek walked forward and opened the door to room 704. Inside the room were two full sized beds and two desks with chairs. There was also a big double glass door opening to a balcony. The room was well decorated, but bare. It was expected. Cydaria didn’t have television or internet, so there was no need for anything like that.

What Derek was surprised about was another small room inside leading to a small bathroom with a tub. Multiple runes were on the tub itself.

Stella walked up to the tub and chuckled. “I just realized that everyone here but Jacks and maybe Rudy have probably never seen something like this.” She said. She then placed her hand on one of the runes. And the tub started filling up with water from the bottom up. “Inject mana into this rune to fill the tub. It pulls mana from the air and fills it.”

Once the tub was filled, she moved to another rune. “This one increases the heat.” Then she touched the one under it. “This one decreases it.” Then she touched one more rune. “When you are finished, this will drain the tub and a Cleaning spell will clean it.” Finally, the tub drained, and a white light flashed over it.

Seeing the runes in action, Derek had the images of a blueprint of a shower in his mind.

“That’s so neat!” Brandi exclaimed.

Derek nodded. “Yes, yes it is.”

Stella chuckled. “Welcome to the Crown Hotel. Breakfast is at 8 in the lobby. It’s complimentary.” She turned to leave the room. “Now, I have some business to take care of. Have a good night.”

With that, the woman turned and walked out. The room went quiet.

Finally. “I get the bath first!” Brandi said as she stole the card out of Rayna’s hand and took off to her own room.

Brandi and Mal laughed and followed behind.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Jacks said and walked out. Rudy followed so he wouldn’t get shut out of the room.

“I’m going to take one too.” Thomas said.

Derek pulled him back by the collar of his shirt. “Be respectful of your elders.” He walked into the small bathroom and closed the door behind him.

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