177 - Arlyle's Gathering

“A tour?” I asked, still looking out the door in bafflement. I knew the void was weird, and I had no idea how any of it properly worked, but realizing I had somehow bypassed an entire city multiple times fucked with my head a bit more than I was willing to admit. “Don't you have to work the bar?”

“I don't have to do anything,” Tim scoffed. “I know the other races love to cage themselves in something called work, but voidlings live more freely than that. I spend time at my bar out of boredom, so if anything more interesting comes along, I don't need to insist on it. I can leave whenever I want, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.”

To prove his point, Tim began shooing his own customers to leave his establishment, the present voidlings quickly gulping down the last of their drinks before gunning it for the exit. It would seem that Tim enjoyed a certain reputation, and nobody wanted to cross him. Two minutes was all it took for the bar to empty out.

“See? My schedule is wide open, no customers to be seen,” Tim gestured across the empty bar before coming out from behind the counter through a small opening to the side. Incidentally, this was the first time I'd properly seen Tim's lower half, which turned out to consist of about twenty tentacles emerging from his skin suit. They performed an oddly mesmerizing shuffle to move the voidling forward, making it seem like he was gliding. “Now, it's my newest favorite customer’s first time in our humble gathering. How could I not show you around?”

“I guess if you put it like that…” I couldn't help but relent. Besides, having somebody like Tim show me around should mitigate any potential dangers.

“Do not worry, I'll get something out of this as well,” almost all of Tim's eyes zero in on me. “Assuming you'd agree to meet my good friend after this, as payment for the guidance provided.”

“Let me guess,” I couldn't help but make the connection after our previous talk. “That good friend of yours is Arlyle.”

“You're quick on the uptake,” Tim chuckled while guiding me out, closing the door behind us with a wave of a tentacle, eliciting a magical barrier to appear. “This might seem a bit forced, but I guarantee you that you'll only benefit from being acquainted with another noble. Right now, your position is without foundation, and this will be a good first step toward building something more… concrete.”

“I suppose that's true,” I said looking around the alley, which looked oddly normal, considering where it was. The ground seemed to be made of solidified void, and while it was hard to tell where it was visually, I could perfectly sense it with my void feelers. Lining the alley were several buildings, most of them made of the same, weird void stuff the ground was made of. In between them, the occasional building made from more traditional building stuff stuck out like a sore thumb. “Although, I must admit that I'm kind of nervous. Meeting a proper royal feels… intimidating.”

“Don't be afraid of Arlyle,” Tim waved away my worries as inconsequential. “He's not exactly big on the whole fancy stuff. He leads by strength, and as long as you don't attack him, you'll be just fine.”

“It's a good thing I wasn't planning on doing that, then…” I said absentmindedly while letting my eyes wander up and down the alley. “How come not every building around here is made from void?”

“Oh, that?” Tim looked around as if noticing for the first time that this might be weird to an outsider. “Every voidling can build their own home by claiming a piece of the void and shaping it however they want. But building something from a material that isn't native to the void… now that is a sign of wealth and status.”

“I assume getting that stuff isn't easy, then?” I asked, already smelling easy profits by importing easy to get materials and selling them to the voidlings.

“The system isn't exactly keen on us voidlings visiting its precious expanse…” Tim sounded a bit miffed. “It likes to keep the planes separated. Any voidling passing over is considered to be invading, and it is therefore fair game to hunt down. It doesn't help that any other races trying to enter the void tend to go a bit insane if they aren't immediately eaten by a passing voidling…”

“The only exception being the travelers…”

“That's right,” Tim nodded sagely. “In fact, voidling travelers are the premier source of foreign material. The prices are usually crazy high, so, just between us, I'm sure Arlyle would love to have a direct line for some… cheap goods, if you know what I mean.”

“I think I catch your drift,” I replied with a smile. It would appear that being a voidling traveler was not only profitable on the traveler side, but also in the void. It almost felt like cheating, but I wouldn't shy away from taking full advantage of a good thing when it was presented to me on a silver platter. “Surely, there will be some arrangement we can agree on.”

“Good to hear,” Tim sounded happy as he ushered me down the alley. “Now, let me show you around.”

We wandered around for a while, passing hundreds of buildings made from void, with Tim pointing out the occasional point of interest. Compared to the hub, where every building seemed unique and every other building was some kind of shop, restaurant, bar, or other kind of service location, Arlyle's Gathering felt a lot more utilitarian. Places like Tim's bar were few and far between, which made sense, considering voidlings only worked for funsies. And profit, obviously. Although, it looked like voidlings were a lot less profit oriented than… quite literally everybody else. As a result, the city felt almost deserted, most voidlings choosing to keep to themselves.

What I quickly learned about voidlings was that they weren't terribly social creatures. Most were perfectly fine being alone, only attaching themselves to a gathering like this for protection. Sure, they were expected to contribute during times of conflict, and were taxed by the local noble, but in exchange, they gained stability and safety. Which was apparently worth it, considering that unaffiliated voidlings were often hunted down and extorted, if not straight-up killed. Something I was intimately familiar with.

After being told about the secular nature of the voidlings, I couldn't help but notice that there were no large gathering places to be found. Arlyle's gathering was an intricate mess of alleyways, with seemingly no rhyme or reason to it. Apparently, whenever a new voidling decided to join the gathering, they simply attached themselves to the gathering wherever they pleased, leading to absolute chaos.

Upon my request, we entered one of the rare shops we passed by, and I couldn't help but be amused by what I saw inside. A wild collection of things that would be considered extremely normal outside the void, being sold for attribute points. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw a flowerpot containing a few colorful flowers being sold for fifty attribute points. It would seem like I would get a nice boost to my attributes in the near future. Although… I should probably be careful not to flood the market, making things worth less. There seemed to be an existing market controlled by voidling travelers, so maybe I should try to make contact with them sooner rather than later.

“You mentioned that every voidling eventually gets the attribute trading skill, right?” I couldn't help but ask as we left the shop.

“The unlock requirements are very low, so it happens eventually for almost everyone, yes,” Tim confirmed easily. “All you have to do is complete a whole bunch of transactions with somebody who already has the skill. In fact, we could unlock the skill for you right now if you'd like. Cheat the system a bit.”

“I'd love to,” I replied with starry eyes.

The attribute trading skill was the most unique thing about the voidlings, and the main source of my future income, so getting it now would kickstart my profits. I chuckled when a familiar system window popped up in front of me, demanding I pay one strength attribute in exchange for… one strength attribute. I accepted the trade, before another window popped up almost immediately, suggesting the same trade. We continued swapping around the attribute point until, twenty-eight trades in, another kind of system window popped up in front of me.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Skill unlocked!

Void Attribute Merchant (?)

Allows the merchant to accept and demand attributes as payment for goods and services. May trade in any attribute, storing unusable attributes in a separate inventory space with unlimited capacity.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“I got it!” I happily exclaimed, before curiously initiating a trade with Tim.

As always, the skill came with some knowledge on how to use it, and compared to others, this one was incredibly easy to use. All I had to do was will a system window into existence, on which I could then set the conditions of the trade. For this one, I suggested that I pay Tim ten strength points, in exchange for one point of wisdom. A tip, so to speak. The void bartender accepted the trade with a chuckle, the ten strength no doubt not even making the tiniest difference in his stockpiles.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Tim gestured upwards. “Now, why don't I show you something a bit more interesting than endless alleyways?”

After speaking, Tim started moving straight up, breaking my brain for a second before I remembered that, while we were in a city with ground to stand on, we were still in the void. And within the void, one could move in any direction, since technically the ground was everywhere. I quickly followed after my friend, rising above the buildings and getting a good bird’s-eye view of Arlyle's gathering. As expected, it was an absolute mess of barely visible void buildings, interspersed by the odd “fancy” building made from other materials. But what really caught my attention, and no doubt what Tim wanted to show me, was a giant sphere floating in the distance.

The sphere had to be several kilometers in diameter, and was somehow made out of wood. On second thought, and a closer inspection, the giant sphere was actually an actual tree of sorts. Branches extended from the bulbous body of the tree, and I could spot a few roots running through the streets of the gathering. The gentle brown of the bark stood in stark contrast to the void, the vibrant green of its leaves, especially the ones on its crown, even more so.

“I guess that's Arlyle's… palace?” I asked in awe at the massive size of the tree.

“If that's what you want to call it,” Tim shrugged. “We don't really do palaces like the other races do. This is simply Arlyle's home. It just so happens to be a lot bigger than everyone elses. A gaudy display, for sure, but to be expected of a noble ruling over his own gathering.”

“And I suppose you're showing it to me now, because you'd like me to go and meet the guy?” I asked, still taking in the absolute size of the tree.

“If you don't mind,” Tim answered professionally. “Why don't we go say hello?”