When I stepped out of the keep, I was disappointed. Nothing about that part of the city had changed, at least not in the grand way I expected. The remnants of combat were still there, filling the air with all sorts of unpleasant smells I rather wished never to experience again.
When I stepped beyond the inner wall, however, I was in awe.
The orderly layout of the streets was a thing of the past. The buildings themselves had been transformed, their boring uniform design replaced by rampant individuality. One building resembled a spiraling snail shell trying to stab straight through the sky. Another, which looked like an amalgam of flesh and stone, pulsed and shuddered like it was breathing. Yet another seemed to be made entirely out of black glass.
For the first time, I actually felt like I’d entered a world of magic and wonder. My emotions fought against the demonic command holding them in check, longing to run free inside my chest. This time, they actually won the battle.
A true smile spread across my face as I dove right into the nearest shop. This happened to be the snail-inspired building. It was far less whimsical on the inside, just a spherically shaped room with stairs leading up behind a counter and a myriad of shelves to display the merchandise.
But in this case, ’merchandise’ meant snail shells of every conceivable shape and size, including one that took up an entire corner of the store.
"Ah, come in!" The shopkeeper was a small man, hunched over and covered in so many robes that it looked like the weight might crush him at any moment. In a sleazy tone, he continued his appeal, "Come in, dear customer."
"Um... Can I maybe hear a bit about what you’re selling here?" I let my hand fall on the drawstring bag at my waist, which was full and bulging from the all-out battle between survivors.
The shopkeeper took a moment to evaluate me, his gaze lingering on my purse. Then he snapped to attention.
"Of course! We are always happy to assist valuable costumers. Now, step this way, please." He guided me to one of the shelves, seemingly at random, and started pulling shells off, placing them on the counter.
"These are...?"
"Wonderful models, yes? All new, of course, no second-hand items in our shop! Freshly enchanted, obviously, with the latest advances in both stability and broadcast distance. You can use one of our devices to contact anyone with a shell of their own within five thousand miles on the mortal plain, or anywhere within your current circle of the Abyss when you make the journey back!"
My lips threatened to twitch into a smile again, but I managed to fight the urge back. "Oh, communication shells, then?"
"Why of course! These models go for only twenty to fifty standard soul units, they’re a steal! Unless of course you’re interested in one of our broadcast models, so you can listen to or start up your own channel? We are, however, obliged to let you know you’d need to register with the administration for that. No illegal channels are supported on our network, oh no!"
I blinked, then blinked again, then shook my head to clear it. Here was an odd-looking demon trying to sell me the demonic equivalent of a smartphone. That realization was enough to drain a lot of the magic and happiness out of the whole venture.
"Huh, I don’t really need one right now, I’m afraid. I don’t exactly have anyone to call."
"Oh." The demon just shrugged, and then immediately tottered away from me. No small talk, no insistence, just a silent dismissal.
The change was a bit of a whiplash, but I figured demons weren’t exactly big on customer service. With that interaction out of the way, I quickly hurried out of the shop, then looked around a little more carefully.
The commander had mentioned services that would bolster our growth, but I didn’t know where to start. Sure, the shops had plenty of signs up, but I couldn’t read any of them, and...
Before I could even finish that thought, all the signs around me wavered. A splitting headache erupted from right behind my eyes. I clutched at my head and staggered up to the side of the snail building, fighting to stay on my feet.
When the pain finally cleared, I was left gasping for breath. It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten much recently. I absolutely would have thrown up on the spot. As I raised my head back up, however, the signs stopped swimming and the letters on them snapped into sudden clarity.
"Certainly. Our system detects that you are currently in possession of 148 souls. You can choose to pay your invasion dues immediately, with no additional tax at this time. Then you can specify how many souls you’d like to deposit with us for safe keeping."
"And does that particular service come with taxes attached?"
"Of course not, dear customer," chirped the ’happy’ bank teller, plastic smile still in place. "However, you should know that the transfer of each soul comes at a cost. We are sending them back to your vault within the Abyss, after all."
I paused, then carefully eyed the woman. Clearly, there was some sort of benefit to depositing souls. The bags we’d been given were probably not all that secure. Chances were also high for the demonic army to have some kind of hazing culture that included robbing me of my hard-won loot.
Still, I didn’t like what she was implying. At all.
"How much does the service cost, exactly?" I asked.
"We charge a soul for transferring a soul to your safe. It’s a one-to-one kind of deal."
I sucked in a breath sharply, as if the commander had punched me in the gut. She just kept smiling like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
I opened my mouth to protest, but something about her smile and the eager gleam in her eyes made me pause. Casting my mind back to my recent experiences, I latched onto something Naberius had said.
"Is that universal? Like, a basic human soul costs one basic human soul to transfer over? Or would a..." I thought hard to remember the exact words. "A superior human soul also cost a single basic soul?"
The teller’s smile dimmed ever so slightly, and I knew I had her. Then I blinked in confusion as she started to radiate approval.
"I have to admit, I’m impressed, sweetie," the woman purred. She leaned forward, drawing my attention to her generous bust as she pushed it up with her crossed arms. It was almost enough to distract me from what she said next. "Not many think to ask such a question at all, when they first join up."
"I’m guessing there’s a difference then? What’s the exchange rate?"
She giggled, then tapped a finger to her lips. "Oh hell, why not? You’re certainly cute, and I do like them young." Her voracious expression was off-putting, but I managed to keep a slight smile on my face to show that I was still calm and in control. "It’s typically ten to one, from one tier to the next. Though, things get a bit crazy when you get to really valuable souls. Nothing for you to worry about yet. Doubt you could land those."
"So, then?"
She sighed and pretended to pout. "Ten lesser souls come up to your basic human soul. Ten of those make up a greater soul. Ten of those make up a superior soul, and so on, and so forth. Those are the only tiers you could conceivably get for now, so don’t make me list them all out."
"Not a problem," I quickly said, sensing that there was a fine line between her interest and annoyance. "I understand. Last question, exactly how much it costs to transfer a soul? Oh, and is there a way to use them to pay for things around here, if I do opt for a transfer?"
"So pushy. Fine, fine. It costs one lesser soul to initiate a transfer. Any transfer. So, you can use those to secure your hard-earned souls, don’t you worry. And yes, the first time you do a transfer, we’ll issue you a balance card. Just tap it against the card of another Abyss associate when making a purchase. And no, you can’t be coerced into making a transfer that way. Don’t worry about the mechanics, just know that it’s impossible."
"So, perfect cash security in exchange for a fee, huh?" I mused, wondering at the implications.
The smile was back on the woman’s face. "Yep. Though I’ll warn you now, any souls you want to absorb for growth, or for skills and knowledge and such, you’ll need to keep on you. Once you transfer them, they’re just currency. Transferring them out of your vault is much more expensive and frankly not worth it."
My heart thumped in my chest at the implications. I suddenly had so many more questions.
"Oh boy," she sighed. Clearly, I hadn’t been able to conceal my reaction. "You’re one needy customer. This is going to take a while, isn’t it?"