Age of Gods - A VRMMO Story

After a short wait in line at the bank, Thomas and Rock were greeted by one of the well-dressed goblins working at the service counter. Thomas smiled as he spoke, "I was hoping you could help me give my business partner Rock here the ability to deposit gold into my bank account."

The goblin held its long thin hand out toward Rock, "Bank card."

Rock dug around in his pockets before he pulled out a card that looked exactly the same as Thomas's. Rock handed it over to the goblin. The goblin accepted the card and pulled out the same type of crystal ball that had been used to register Thomas's card on his first visit. After positioning the card beneath the stand of the crystal ball the goblin turned to Thomas, "Do you only wish to give permission to deposit?"

Thomas nodded. He was certain Rock wouldn't take his money if he had permission to withdraw it as well. However, anything could happen in the future and he didn't want to risk his money. The goblin traced one of its fingers over the crystal ball in a strange pattern which caused it to glow. Once the glow stopped the goblin lifted a needle and held it towards Thomas, "Prick your finger and drip a drop of blood onto the crystal ball. Once you do this, be aware that the decision can only be reversed if you and his card are present at a bank branch."

Thomas pricked his finger and dripped his blood onto the crystal ball without hesitation. What was there to worry about? The crystal ball glowed and etched a new line onto Rock's bank card. When the glow stopped the goblin lifted the card and carefully covered the balance line while showing a line that read 'Deposit Permission: Thomas Darkrose' on it. After confirming that Thomas had seen the line, the goblin passed the card back to Rock and asked, "Anything else I can help with?"

Thomas replied by pulling out the sack of 15,500 gold that Rock had given him, along with an additional 3,500 gold from his quest rewards. The goblins red eyes widened at the sight of the 19,000 gold coins sitting on its counter. Thomas grinned and said, "I'd like to deposit 19,000 gold into my account."

Thomas dug his bank card out of the secret slot in his belt and set it down on the counter next to the two bags of gold. The goblin swallowed and subconsciously wiped at non-existant drool as it nodded, "Right away sir."

The goblin flagged down a second goblin so that the two of them could cart Thomas's large deposit of gold into the back. Thomas still had no real idea of how it worked, but as long as it worked it didn't matter. A good ten minutes later the original goblin they had been dealing with returned with Thomas's bank card and held it out to him. He checked the balance and smiled when he saw that he had 45,495 gold deposited into the bank. With the nearly 3,000 gold left on his person, he had a little over 48,000 gold to his name.

Thomas stuck his bank card back into its hidden slot in his belt as he and Rock left the bank and headed back towards the artisan district together, their destinations weren't too far apart. They chatted along the way with Thomas giving Rock some ideas for weapons and armor again. According to Rock, otherworlders had weird tastes in their equipment wanting to add a bunch of stuff to their items with no real function. Thomas laughed and agreed, though he liked to have his gear look 'cool' himself.

After they parted ways, Thomas arrived at Hekrin's shop and stepped inside to greet his master, "Hello, Master."

Hekrin looked up from nothing on his counter and smiled at Thomas. Thomas still felt that seeing Hekrin smile was weird. Hekrin asked, "How'd it go?"

Thomas walked over to the counter and spent the next hour explaining everything he'd done inside of the dungeon from the first goblin he defeated to the fight with the goblin general. Hekrin nodded along as he listened and when Thomas finished his story he laughed, "Not bad kid! I didn't expect you to be so strong when I suggested going into the dungeon. From what I had heard you otherworlders are pretty weak when you arrive in our world. Seems like you might be a bit different from the rest."

Thomas didn't dissuade Hekrin from that line of thought, though the truth was that he'd just gained a bit of experience from quest rewards. Hekrin looked Thomas over as he asked, "So, what's your Magic attribute up to now?"

Thomas sighed and looked a bit disappointed, "I only managed to get it to 67 while the rest are at 40 each."

Hekrin nodded while crossing his arms over his chest, "That's not too bad kid. Most of the new students will have a higher magic attribute than you, however, your Endurance and Agility will definitely surpass theirs by a fair amount. Most of them will be focusing on their Magic and Power attributes since they focus on spellcasting. Fortunately for you, you've got my recommendation letter so you won't have any issues getting in."

Hekrin thought for a moment before he said, "Seems like you're pretty much ready. You should head down to the docks and look for dockmaster Jessup. He'll help you find a ship heading to the capital that you can book safe passage on."

"Thanks, Master. I'll come by after I learn what I need to from the academy."

Hekrin smirked playfully, "Don't come back until you've learned at least five elements and gotten them to rank twenty-five ya hear me kid?"