Chapter 32

  “The currency within Mutopia is known as Muney.” Guy said, his smile there, but tone serious. Even as I cringed internally, I realized this wasn’t a joke… they really did call it Muney… “As far as I understand, from speaking with you, and through the Traveling Guy information network, our currency system is essentially similar to your system from the world you came from. Though, yours gets a tad more… pedantic… no, maybe just precise? Than ours? One Muney is equal to one dollar, and we don’t have any…” he paused, searching for words.

  “Coins?” I asked, onto my third glass of Tamer’s Treat and feeling good. “Higher bills or denominations?”

  “Both of those,” he nodded, “one Muney is one Muney. Muney is Muney. We don’t call them dollars or cents or coins or euros or yen or lira or whatever other random names we’ve had floating around through the information network from the various travelers that have entered our world through the years. It’s just Muney.”

  He motioned before him, where all of the Mun Crystals I’d laid out sat. He’d been sorting them in piles as I unloaded them, and now a good… uh… close to hundred of the crystals? I'd had a busy week, okay. The fact each one represented a Mun I’d reduced to zero hp, well, the drink was really helping me deal with the reality of how much of a bully I’d been to the creatures of Mutopia since I’d arrived. I’d essentially been her just past a week, and what… beat up the equivalent of a hundred cows? Puppies? Chickens? Wait. No. Surprisingly, I’d not come across any chickens, or slimes. Take that MMO gaming logic.

  “Everything that turns into a Mun Crystal within Mutopia, has a Muney value assigned to it.” He pointed to the first pile. “Most low level, common Mun have a value of 10 Muney or less.” His finger pointed to the second pile, the largest, “once a Mun is over level 10, its value increases, and they increase, based on rarity and level, in 10s, all across Mutopia. Most of these, are valued between 11 to 20 Muney.”

  He turned his attention to the final pile. Well, pile wasn’t really accurate. It was a single Mun Crystal. And I knew which one it was immediately. It was obvious piled alongside all of the others, as it had a different color to it, than the other Mun Crystals. It was the one with the special-colored Pride Cub.

  “Abnormal Muns,” he said, pointing at it, “are Mun’s who appear with a different coloration within our world. They’re very rare, and there are Tamers out there who will pay a premium for them. Obviously, there is an actual Muney value for them, though, for the right buyer, the price may be much higher than the base value.” He looked at me. “For an Abnormal Mun between level 10 to 20, the value ranges between 1000 to 2000 Muney. That is, 100 times the normal value of such a Mun. And that is for common Muns, which Pride Cubs are. If it was an uncommon Mun, the value would be two-hundred times. Rare, you’re looking at a thousand times, and so forth. And again,” he stressed, while I fought to keep my eyes from bursting out of my skull in surprise, “that’s just for a regular trader, not a collector or private party.”

  Guy looked at the crystal, sighed, and slid that particular one back to me. “Might I suggest you hang onto it? Once we reach Silver Springs, you can use the Mun Center to put it up on the for sale board. I would recommend listing it for at least 500 Muney. A buyer may not appear immediately, but it would still suite you better than selling it to me for 140 Mun.”

  “If I leveled it up to 20, before we reached Silver Springs,” I began, my mind already working, “would it sell for even more.”

  He grinned, “as quick as always Taylor. Yes, getting it to level 20 would help increase its value, or at the very least, may help you sell it more quickly. Though, such a tactic is usually only valuable up to a certain level. After all, once you’re stronger, trying to take a level 45 Mun, for say, up to level 50, may not be worth the time effort that you would see in the increase in value for selling something. Furthermore, not all collectors want the Muns to be higher leveled. Some like to have them as pets, meaning they do not want them too strong, lest they risk not being able to control them.”

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  “But level 20 is fine?” I asked, knowing level 20 was the benchmark for obedience for Tier 0 Tamer’s Gauntlets.

  “Level 20 is fine,” Guy nodded, “it ensures anyone within Mutopia will still be able to control the Mun. Sometimes you’ll find rich parents like to buy rare or abnormal Muns for their kids, and that means level 20 or below work best. Though, realistically, almost everyone within Mutopia will have at least a Tier 1 Tamer’s Gauntlet. Even small towns, like Cogni, will send groups of Tier 0 Tamers to Silver Springs once a year via airship, so they can all become Tier 1 en masse, before returning home.”

  “Really?” I asked, thinking back to the town, “why is that?”

  “Evolution.” Guy answered. “Their evolutions are usually more useful. And some Muns don’t evolve till mid to late 20s, or early 30s. Heck,” he rubbed his moustache, “your Calfer won’t evolve till level 31, meaning anyone using a Bullow has to have a Tier 2 Tamer’s Gauntlet. But, past that,” his hand returned to the countertop, where his left hand, amplifier sitting lazily in his gauntlet showing he was at least Tier 3 rested, “only Tamers, town officials, or those with specific job reasonings, will ever push forward.”

  “Such as yourself,” I said with a knowing grin.

  “Such as I indeed. All Traveling Guys are at least Tier 3.” He smiled knowingly, “it’s honestly a no brainer for us. After all, what else are we supposed to do with our time while traveling? We travel usually in cycles, shifting which towns we visit on a rotation, so we never get too bored with our scenery or Muns. It also allows us to maximize our information gathering, and, easily enough, visit each Keeper to continue growing stronger if we so wish.” He rubbed his amplifier mindlessly, “though, as I’ve said before, climbing past Tier 3 is much more complex than just getting stronger Muns.”

  “Yeah, you did.” I agreed, nodding, while my mind already worked furiously to absorb all the knowledge. I reached across and took the abnormal Mun Crystal, quickly adding it to my gauntlet, replacing my current Pride Cub. I could afford to level it up a little, before we reached Silver Springs tomorrow. I’d make some extra Muney on the way as well, so it was a win win.

  “Now then,” I looked at the other two piles. “How much Muney do I have to work with? If I sell you all of those Mun Crystals? And,” I licked my lips, looking at my now empty glass, “how much do I owe you for the drinks, and how much will I owe you for a good meal and room tonight?”

  Guy clapped his hands together, grinning. “If you wish to sell everything to me in bulk,” his eyes twinkled, “I can give you 1110 Muney. Deducting the two cups of Tamer’s Treat, since the first was on the house, at your discounted rate of course, we could throw in your room for the night, and dinner, and call it an even 900 Muney.”

  My eyes went wide, as I tried not to hide my surprise. First, earning the equivalent of 1100 dollars in the span of a week, just by fighting Muns, was crazy. Like, how easy was it to make Money… er… Muney here? But, that aside, 210 Muney was the cost of two drinks of Tamer’s Treat and room and board? Assuming dinner and lodging cost 100 Muney, which felt even for some hotels back home, that was 110 Muney for two drinks… so… 55 apiece. And that was WITH a discount? I licked my lips, feeling a little less proud of myself over drinking it so quickly. That was indeed a pricy drink.

  “Sounds good,” I said shakily, as I looked at him. “Is uh, there anything we have to do, to finalize it?”

  “We shake on it,” he smiled as I held out my right hand, shaking his head, “with our gauntleted hands. It will allow the world’s magic to transfer everything as needed.” He held out his left hand, and I took it with mine. A pleasant warmth passed into my hand at the contact point, flowing up my arm and into my mind. Immediately, I could internally see my Muney, magically added to… my gauntlet? Or my being? I still wasn’t sure how all of this actually worked, but everyone seemed to just not question things. At the same time, all the crystals on the counter disappeared.

  “A pleasure doing business with you Taylor,” he said as he released my grasp, “and hopefully, the start of a very lucrative partnership.”

  He pulled out a couple of crystals, “now then, would you like your dinner now, or later?”

  I eyed the crystals, my stomach grumbling. As loathe as I was to sit and eat in dirty clothes, I’d already spent plenty of times sitting there lazily drinking. I could suffer a little longer to eat, that way, I could enjoy a warm bath, and clean clothes, before calling it an early night.

  "Let’s see what the options are,” I said with a smile as I held my gauntlet out to the crystals. My smile widened as I read the prompts. I really, really, really loved it here.