Chapter 50: Districts

"Don't worry, it was worth it..." Marco assured as he scratched his head with an awkward smile. "Now that we acquired the Permits, we can travel to the Emerald City from everywhere in the Mainland. Next time we will only need to pay the 10 gold entrance fee whenever we visit. It's just the one-time payment for the permit that is high." 

"Well… It couldn't be avoided, so it's fine," Liu Ye muttered while still feeling the pain of spending one-third of his money. "Let's just get out of here and explore the City."

He planned to buy some useful items for himself to make the best use of getting inside the Emerald City, but knowing the permit costs, he didn't expect anything cheap inside the stores. It seemed like the quest wouldn't be worth it this early in the game if he only received 100 gold for it.

Liu Ye looked down at the Light Green Permit card in his palm and he kept it inside his inventory to inspect it. 

[Emerald City Permit - Light Green]

[Description: A special Permit that allows the Player to enter the Emerald City and use their Teleportation Network all across the Mainland.]

[Benefits: 20% discount in all official stores in the Emerald City, access to the Elemental Academy Facilities free of charge, and pass to the Master District.]

[Note: The item is bound to the player and can't be dropped or traded.] 

Seeing the benefits, Liu Ye didn't feel as bad anymore, hoping to use the 20% to his advantage. The Player Market opened already but no items were listed yet. He already figured that one needed to visit either the auction house or the bank to use it. Once the players could finally use real-life currency in-game, Liu Ye could make a bank reselling items from the Emerald City. 

"I think the Lord thought you already have the Permit since you volunteered for the mission. He gave me 200 gold as a bonus so he knew about them," Marco informed while walking excitedly towards the exit. "But yeah, let's find the Lord's Daughter and make sure she is safe." 

"Actually, I would like to find the Bank first," Liu Ye suggested as he saw all the items filling his limited inventory. "I would like to deposit some things."

"Alright, hopefully, we see one close to the station," Marco replied with a nod as they finally walked out straight into the burning sun. 

They were immediately hit with the noise of a busy street but it wasn't what made them dumbstruck and freeze on the spot. 

"Whoa, huge!" Marco exclaimed as he looked up to see the huge buildings stretching all the way to the sky. Liu Ye already expected modern technology but this version looked almost similar to real-life cities. 

The buildings were like skyscrapers, built from metal and glass, creating a maze-like concrete jungle. The only difference from his own city was the slightly old-fashioned cars and the stone roads that almost shone with the green color of emeralds. 

"Oh, look, just as I told you," Marco called out as they stepped on the sidewalk. "There is a bank right across the street." 

The Bank in question was huge, taking over almost the entire street corner so Liu Ye could tell how important it was to the game. Too bad, with that came new expenses.

"To open a deposit, we charge an upfront fee of 50 gold." 

When Liu Ye heard about another fee, he couldn't help but cry internally. He already lost 200 gold and now he would have to add another 50. It wouldn't be long before he goes bankrupt. 

"Not only that but we will also charge 20% of every transaction made in the marketplace," the cashier lady continued explaining. "Since we are closely linked to the Auction House, you can put your items for sale directly in our bank and we will handle the rest. The items will be delivered to the buyer and you will receive the money after deducting the transaction fee." 

She looked up at him and added proudly, "We are located in almost every city on the Mainland so you only need to pay a deposit once, and then you can use it everywhere. Would you like to proceed?" 

Any player would have to eventually pay for their own deposit so it was only a matter of when. Liu Ye didn't really have that choice though. Knowing everyone in the area was so high leveled, his chances of dying were quite high and he didn't plan on losing all his items. 

"Yes, please," Liu Ye nodded and pulled his Light Green Permit out of curiosity. "Does this Permit give me any discount?" 

"Oh!" the lady opened her eyes wider. "Sir could tell me earlier that you have one. Although we don't give discounts to the fee, we will add more space to your deposit. Will increase it from 50 slots to 100 for you right now." 

She didn't hesitate to tap on her screen and then smile, "Normally the upgrade would cost you 100 gold but skilled benders receive such bonus for free." 

Liu Ye couldn't hold back his smile, no longer regretting paying for the Permit. It seemed like having a higher tier would only make his life much easier. 

The system of depositing his items wasn't complicated either. Just like in the General Store, he could use the special pods in another lobby to privately deposit his items. All that Liu Ye left in his inventory was the Ice Serpent, the Quest Item, and the potions.

And 250 fewer coins…

[Coins: 45 gold, 79 silver, 25 bronze]

For a normal player that would be a lot of money but Liu Ye wasn't satisfied at all. He had to quickly regain his wealth with some high-level farming once he was done with the quest. The benefit of grinding in the high-leveled areas was obvious and that was the experience gained. Even if the enemies were harder to kill, the bonus experience for the difference in level was too juicy. 

"Alright, I'm done. Let's find the Academy and finish our mission before the day is over," Liu Ye called out to Marco who kept waiting patiently. He was tempted to sell something in the marketplace just to flex but he, unfortunately, had nothing he wished to sell at the moment. 

"While you were busy in the bank, I talked with the locals and gathered some information," Marco informed as soon as they left the bank. "I learned that Emerald City is split into five districts. We are currently in the lowest-ranked and the smallest district commonly called Newbie District." 

"Oh, did you learn about the location of the Academy?" Liu Ye questioned curiously. 

"Yeah, it's located in the largest zone called Expert District. Only people with Orange Permits can enter inside but apparently, it's not hard to get. Most expert Benders live there because you have access to better training zones. The Academy has their own Teleportation Station but instead of different Cities, it leads to various training locations with strong monsters," Marco explained as he suddenly opened one of the cars parked by the sidewalk. "It's far so we should grab a ride." 

To Liu Ye's surprise, the car had no driver inside and instead drove by itself after inserting the location. They scanned their Permits and Marco paid 10 silver for the route to the Expert District. 

"Apparently, they are called Robo Taxi and only Emerald City has those. They can drive you anywhere as long as you have a valid Permit," Marco added when the car drove away. "A Red Permit is almost no different from the Orange but the one you have is much better. You have access to the Master District which only Master Benders can afford. You can get to much better training areas all across the Mainland and their stores are better equipped." 

The whole system looked interesting and it matched the true purpose of the game. It was to master the elements and become the Avatar. People would only be able to access better areas if they get better Permits so the incentive to improve was huge. 

"What about the other two districts?" 

"There is also a Grandmaster District for Light and Dark Blue Permits and a secret one for the last two. I couldn't get any information about this one since common folks from the Newbie District rarely hear about it," Marco replied before gluing his face to the window to watch the scenery. 

Liu Ye was already used to tall buildings so he wasn't interested and instead opened his Quests to read about the main questline. He has been so busy in the morning that he forgot to even check the notifications for them. 

[Ding! Quest Avatar - Act II Completed! Clear Reward: Access to the Mainland.]

[Ding! You have received a new quest: Avatar - Act III]

[Ding! You have received a new quest: Mercenary Guild]

This time he received two quests for free. 

[Avatar - Act III]

[Defeating the Bandit Leader made you a true Bender! Time for another adventure in the Mainland! Use the Teleportation Station to access the Mainland and continue your journey of Mastering all 5 Elements!] 

[Quest Clear Conditions: Lvl. 20, Two Elements.] 

[Clear Reward: Dungeon Key.]

———

[Mercenary Guild]

[Find the Mercenary Guild in any of the four Lands and gain access to hundreds of missions!] 

[Quest Clear Conditions: Complete at least 5 missions of the Basic Level.] 

[Clear Reward: 50 gold.]

It seemed like the main questline was quite straightforward, prompting him to clear missions and improve his abilities. It was clever since the 50 gold was probably to open their deposit in the bank. Liu Ye was about to open his map to check if he had any side quest available to pick up when the car suddenly stopped.

"There seems to be a barricade on the road…" Marco muttered as he peeked through the front window when they saw multiple people jump out from the shadows. 

"Get out of the car! It's a robbery!"