Gold Coins and Copper Coins

Much to the relief of the ones who had been watching him intently, Kyle turned around and headed straight for Gate A, intending to be one of the first few to board the ship.

It was easy to find Gate A, since there was a huge sign hanging above that simply could not be missed. In front of the gate, a stern looking lady sat behind a counter, eyeing Kyle as he walked up to her.

"Boarding the Oasis Seeker? Where is your ticket?" the attendant asked impatiently with a frown.

"Here," Kyle was definitely not expecting the decent looking lady to be such a grumpy person, but that was not enough to faze him as he handed over his ticket.

The attendant snatched over the ticket without speaking another word, masterfully sprinkling a special liquid over it. Immediately after, the slip of paper started changing from white to a dark red colour.

This change was proof that the ticket was authentic, a method that the port administrators came up with in order to prevent magi from using magic to forge tickets. It took no more than 10 seconds for the change to complete, but Kyle still paid no attention while this was happening, choosing to look around instead.

From the side, he observed as a group of well-dressed men were escorted in through Gate B, directly bypassing the attendant stationed there. To his surprise, they were then led into the path behind Gate A, which meant that they were to board the same ship as him.

"Who are those guys? Why are they allowed to go in without producing tickets?" Kyle asked casually.

"If they are allowed to go in without tickets then they are obviously different from you normal people!" the attendant snapped before passing the ticket back to Kyle.

"Heh, shall I show you how extraordinary I am then?" Kyle let out his most charming grin and gave the attendant a wink.

The attendant slightly rolled her eyes upon hearing that, tilting up her head to give him quick look-over before replying. "I guess you are right. You really might be just as special as those people. Please hurry on ahead and join them then, there is a long queue waiting behind you!"

"Fine, fine," Kyle did not continue bantering as he picked up his ticket and entered the gate.

He had a strange feeling about that final expression on the attendant. It was as though she was showing her sympathy?

No way…right?

He felt a little uncomfortable about it, but Kyle chose not to linger on that thought for long.

Little did Kyle know that right after he left, the attendant would continue mumbling to herself.

"What a waste, a decent looking lad acting just like those mental patients!"

---

After passing through the gate, there was a long walkway that led from the boarding area straight to the ship itself.

The walkway was not narrow by any means, but that was only to be expected. After all, on both sides of the path was a dead drop of 2000 metres, and a narrow walkway would make things that much more dangerous.

But of course, the walkway was securely fenced up on both sides so there were hardly any accidents like that.

Hardly any, but the number was not zero.

Once in a while, there would always be a joker or two who ended up falling over while trying to pull some stunts. For these incidents, the port had already clearly expressed its stance that it would bear no responsibility.

If someone did not accept that, then that person would simply be advised not to use the port facilities.

Kyle was the first person to enter through Gate A, and since he walked relatively faster, he gradually closed the distance and ended up right behind the group who had been escorted in through Gate B.

Taking another look at the group, Kyle could clearly see how careful the escorts were, not daring to be distracted and paying maximum attention to the group of ten men dressed sharply in suits.

They looked like they were from a wide range of ages. The youngest looked to be no more than 20 while the oldest man looked like he was in his 60s. Of course, appearances might not be indicative of one's true age in the magic world, especially in the Master Realm where experts were everywhere.

In addition, a porter was leading the way and pushing a small cart stacked with luggage. These escorts were not dressed in the uniform of the port's staff, which could only mean that they were the personal attendants of the group.

Rich people.

That was the first impression that Kyle had about these ten men.

At this point, Kyle could not help but think to himself.

If he were still in the Wick Family, would other people be thinking the same of him as well?

As he was lost in thought, the men before him continued chattering away without a care, and their words were naturally picked up by Kyle who was right behind.

"That mansion from before actually cost over a million gold coins! It is just too bad that I did not bring much money out with me, or I definitely would have bought it on the spot!" one of them exclaimed with pride in his eyes.

Hearing this, Kyle immediately broke out of his daze.

These people were talking about gold coins, a rare chance for Kyle to gather information about its value!

"So what if it cost a million gold coins? I can buy ten of them with just my one copper coin!" another chimed in, showing the copper coin in his hand.

"Wow, you actually have a copper coin! Not to mention ten, you can probably get even a hundred of those mansions!" a third one had his eyes opened wide in disbelief.

"Hahahaha, of course! Did you just realise who I am?" the one holding the copper coin laughed heartily.

"Sirs, please do hurry ahead, or it would be terrible if the food that has been specially prepared for you were to turn cold," one of their personal attendants came over with a gentle smile.

"All right, let us hurry! Just thinking about the food makes me hungry!" the group picked up their pace and moved ahead, leaving Kyle trailing behind in shock.

So even a million gold coins could not match up to a single copper coin?

That was odd!

Even if he did not know the exact exchange rates, Kyle was still pretty sure that gold was by far a more expensive metal than copper!

So how could it be that copper coins were this much more valuable than gold coins?

Could it be that Green Realm severely lacked copper and had an abundant supply of gold?

Kyle shook those thoughts out of his mind. No matter what was the reason for this strange phenomenon, he would slowly find out when he finally get there.

After all, even if the gold coins in his possession were not the greatest denomination of currency, that would not matter as long as the gold coins were sufficient for him to survive for the time being.

With that in mind, Kyle followed right behind the group in front as he took his first step onto the ship that would be bringing him away from the Master Realm and to Green Realm.