Stock Broker

Achram looked at the serenity and peace inside the God's territory. It was everything he had ever asked for. He could get water from the magical hole in the ground that never ran out, he could get food from the strange mushroom that was made by the God, and he had a roof over his head. There was nothing more that he could want, but he was still depressed.

He was not only a man, but a father, a brother, a husband, and a friend. He left so many of his loved ones back in the village. Without him, his family wouldn't be able to find any food for themselves and just sustain themselves on berries and mushrooms found over the forest. 

His wife's hands would be filled with blisters and dirt, and always be under the threat of monsters and animals in the forest. His daughters would have no one to protect them from malicious eyes. His sons would have no one to teach them how to hunt on their own. Without his presence, his family would be forced to fend for themselves.

While he was living happily up here, his family was suffering down there. He was guilty. Should he feel this happy when his children can't smile? Should he feel this content when his wife toiled day and night to provide for their children?

Despite how perfect and idyllic this life was, Achram still wanted to go back down to his family. He wanted to bring them up here where they could live a happy life. He didn't want to be the only one who was living the best life, he wanted everyone to experience the blessings that the God had given him.

"Flamie," Achram said as he petted the Flame Sprout. "I wish I could take you down and we could rescue my family from that village. Unfortunately, the ends of my feet and my hands have blackened from the cold. Slime told me that I won't survive another journey down."

The Flame Sprout looked over at Achram, its flame becoming more curved and soft as if it wanted to console Achram. Even if they didn't understand each other, the minion knew sadness. It could feel the fire inside Achram get colder, and for Flamie, that was a very bad thing.

"I want to take my family and bring them here," dreamed Achram.

—------------

Patty looked at his new A-class minion and didn't know what it did. Sure, he knew about investments and stocks, but what did that mean in terms of reality? That was only used by finance bros and rich people, so Patty never really paid much attention to them. As far as he knew, stocks and investments only showed how rich a company was.

He looked over to the Virtual World and looked for the Diplomatic Slime. As usual, the Slime was busy talking to the other minions and seeing to it that their accommodations were perfect. As expected of the professional, he was the only one who was able to communicate with the asocial Magical Rabbit.

"Hey Slime," Patty spoke to the screen.

"The other minions won't take your carrots, I'm sure–Oh, Master! Have you finished your summoning?" Slime immediately jumped out of the screen and appeared in the real world. Patty still couldn't get used to the fact that the 16-bit image of the Slime in the Virtual World turned into photo-realistic Slime in the real world.

"Yeah, I used another 10 scrolls. Say, you know a lot about your minion comrades, right?"

The Slime morphed its bulbous body and created a 'hand' that saluted to Patty. "Yes, Master. As a Diplomatic Slime, I must know everything about your minions."

Patty nodded. "Good, then do you know anything about this new A-class minion I have? It's the only minion I summoned in this batch, can you believe that?"

Patty pointed towards the screen that showed a 16-bit image of a graph that was constantly going up and down. Whenever it was up, it was colored green. When it was down, it turned into a red color.

"OH MY MASTER!" exclaimed the Slime. Even though it had no eyes, it made sure to elongate its 'eyes' in exaggeration as soon as it saw the new minion. "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, MASTER! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU SUMMONED THIS SO EARLY!"

Patty covered his ears. The Slime suddenly turned into this very energetic guy who couldn't stop shouting and bouncing up and down. Fortunately, Patty's body was powered with Yi Power, or else his shoulder would be broken into a million pieces.

"Is it that good?" asked Patty. Sure, A-class minions were always rare and valuable, but the Slime never showed this kind of reaction with the other A-class minions he summoned. He would think that the Slime would only show this reaction with other S-class minions like it, but it seemed that he was wrong.

"Good? It's perfect, Master. This minion is perfect for your kingdom! This is the way to earn more citizens and empower them into beings that can protect your territory. They will be able to create things that will bring money and prosperity into your kingdom! They will be able to create their own culture within our kingdom and establish our territory as a sacred place! The possibilities were endless!"

Patty looked at the Slime dubiously. It was talking about a lot of things, but he didn't think that an A-class minion could do all of that. Was investing that good?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Master! Oh, and this is perfect for Achram! He's been feeling down all the time because he misses his family. With this, he can finally have the power to go down to his village. And then, he'll bring his family over here, too, with them becoming our new citizens! How exciting!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The Slime couldn't wait anymore and jumped back down to the Virtual World. "Wait, Master. I'll show you."

The Slime then did happy little skips as it hopped all over the territory looking for Achram. Finally, the Slime saw Achram near the Meaty Mushroom praying and thanking the minion for always bringing him food.

"Achram! Come here," Slime shouted.

Achram looked over and saw the Slime being unusually happy. "What is it?"

"Master has recently found a way to empower his citizens!" the Slime said.

"The God of Icy Rock?"

"Yes, now stand here," Slime said as he walked in front of Achram. "Now, look up to the sky."

Achram did as the Slime said, but he saw nothing different from the same thing he saw all the time. He saw the top of the dome where not even clouds or hail could penetrate inside.

"Wait there," said the Slime as it jumped and disappeared from Achram's view. He had already seen this multiple times before, so he wasn't surprised. Slime said to him that he was traveling to another dimension where the God resided.

Back in the real world, the Slime once again jumped towards Patty's shoulders. "Now Master, go to your system and into your stats."

[Name: Patrick "Patty" Patterson]

[Energy: 199/200]

[Yi Power: 851]

[Credits: 59,260] 

[Ether: 2150]

[Minion Growth Crystal: 20,735] 

"Master, click on your Ether reserves."

Patty did as the slime said as he too wanted to know what the Ether was for. Throughout all this time, that was the only reward that he didn't understand. He knew what the Energy bar was for, he knew that he could power his body using Yi Power, he found out he could buy stuff like Teqx and other things from the System Store using Credits, and he knew he could level up minions using Minion Growth Crystals. The only mystery was Ether.

Since he didn't know what Ether was for, he didn't care about it as a reward.

When Patty touched the Ether, a window suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Stock Broker Activated]

[Use your Ether to invest in your citizen? Y/N]

Patty picked yes.

At this point, the Slime jumped back down to the Virtual World and appeared right in front of Achram. He was still looking up at the sky, but he still didn't see anything different. But since Slime said he should do so, then he didn't complain any further.

Just then, he suddenly saw a silver lining in the clouds. This bright pillar of light appeared out of nowhere and was directed towards Achram's body. He didn't know what was happening, but he wasn't anxious. There was a sort of warmth and familiarity within the light as if the God himself was welcoming him with open arms.

Then, he saw a red object the size of a small piece of bread. It was made out of tiny red powder, but it didn't get blown away by the wind. It stayed in its shape no matter the turbulence. Achram's eyes widened as he recognized this item. This thing was just a myth in the village, a fairy tale told to children, a lie.

But now, he was seeing it right in front of his eyes. This was Ether!