Worm - Justice For All

by SeerKing

When Taylor Hebert Triggered in the Locker, the Entities were slow to act. Instead of the [Queen Administrator], she was gifted with the seed of power known as an [Embryo], which becomes a powerful weapon one month after The Locker. How will this change the world of Earth Bet? Gamer!Taylor! Has a TVTropes page!

18. Grind 3-1

"Iustitia!" - Regular Speech

'Mistress!' - Thoughts/Telepathy

[Justice For All!] - Skill/Ability Being Used

Beta'd by BigCC

Grind 3.1

The Next Day, Morning

Kitchen, Hebert Residence, Brockton Bay

"Home cooked meals *chomp* are truly Justice!" Iustitia declared passionately as she happily devoured one of the grilled cheese sandwiches that I'd made for her. I'm made one for myself as well and was nibbling on it as I watched her in amusement. It was amazing what kind of difference a good, thorough cleaning and a home-cooked meal could have on my Embryo's mood.

"So, I take it that yesterday's little excursion was successful enough?" Dad asked. He'd already finished having his own late breakfast/early lunch and was now just sitting there and watching me and Iustitia in fatherly amusement.

"I'd say so, mostly anyway." I agreed with a nod and a bit of a shrug. "One more of Hamelin's deranged remnants is gone for good, meaning there's one less monster waiting to throw itself at the Bay the moment it's able. Not to mention all the loot we managed to get from the Dimensional Pocket. A small ton of cash, plus some more junk items, weapons, and shields. We also scored five more Class Books, three Accessories, an impressive Shield, and two more System Cards, plus that ingot…"

"I as simply grateful that the horrific atrocity you received for slaying that foulest of abominations is completely incompatible with you, Mistress." my Embryo offered, scowling. "I think it would make me physically ill if you were to ever to try and wield such a blasphemous…thing."

"Taylor?" Dad blinked a bit before giving me a concerned look; seeing and hearing the sheer visceral amount of hatred that Iustitia was pouring out at the mere mention of the item in question was a bit concerning for him, apparently.

"The UBM Loot that I got for defeating the boss is called the [Black Burning Greatsword of Violent Tumult: Frollo]." I clarified for him. "The Dimensional Pocket we raided last night, well you were right; the entire place was devoted to Violence, Malice, and Revenge, all born from a corrupted and twisted sense of Justice. It basically made the entire place into Iustitia's own personal version of hell and she…did not like it in the least. And the crazy remnant in charge of the entire place was even worse; pompous, self-righteous, arrogant, and absolutely obsessed with violently expressing its malice and disdain towards everything and anything that it could reach, myself included. It even named itself after that creepy villain Judge Frollo, from that Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. You know I actually pitied Pequod a bit, but this guy; yeah, Iustitia and I were in total agreement that he had to go down hard. I think that's partially why the Dendrogram System is reading that damn reward from beating the bastard as totally incompatible with my 'character.' It still radiates the same energy as Frollo did, and Iustitia refuses to be in the same space as it, let alone let me wield it alongside her. So that make it all but useless to me, and apparently UBM Rewards can only be equipped by the person who won them. Essentially, I have a great big, indestructible, sword-shaped wall ornament taking up space in my Inventory right now."

"…huh. Well, that is certainly unexpected." Dad offered up after a moment. "What do the stats of that thing even look like?"

I rolled my eyes at the typical gamer question (I was quickly coming to accept that my Dad was apparently some breed of geek. It was an…interesting…process) before pulling out my hand mirror and scanning through my inventory until I found what I was looking for.

[Black Burning Greatsword of Violent Tumult: Frollo]

Rarity: Epic

A jet black greatsword taller than an average man, it appears to have been forged entirely from a single massive piece of pure obsidian. The entire surface of the sword blade is covered with crimson veins resembling magma that glow with heat when the sword is wielded in combat. It contains the majority of power from Frollo, the Embodiment of the Pied Piper's most Violent, Malevolent, and Vengeful urges. As a being that embodied all of a human soul's violent and self-serving impulses and was linked directly with a pocket dimension that was both infused with and fed upon those same feelings, Frollo subconsciously gained the ability to draw upon the emotional energies generated by acts of sudden violence or self-serving malice, the fulfillment of selfish desires, and acts of vengeful ambition outside of his dimensional realm and use them to strengthen his realm, his minions, and himself. Frollo favored the latter, drawing upon more and more of that violent energy to strengthen himself, as well grant him fiery abilities. As the core remnant of his power, this greatsword possesses much the same abilities.

Warning: This weapon is incompatible with the Embryo Maiden of Justice, Iustitia. All stats and abilities locked and sealed. Unable to equip. A ticket for this error has been sent to the Control AI for processing.

"Huh, sounds like you got it because of some bug in the system." Dad offered with a frown. "Kind of obvious there, not much point in giving you a reward that you literally can't do anything with."

"I know, right?" I agreed, finishing off the last couple bites of my sandwich in short order. "At least the rest of the rewards I got were better than that useless piece of crap."

"Language, Taylor." Dad chastised automatically, though he did so with a roll of his eyes. He knew that I'd learned most of my foul language from him and his friends in the Dockworkers.

Iustitia, on the other hand, simply seemed pleased with how dismissively I was treating the last remnant of her antithesis. I think nothing would make my Embryo happier than just tossing the thing out into the ocean. Unfortunately, I had no idea what could happen if some random person just stumbled on it, so that was not going to be an option for the immediate future.

Rolling my eyes at my dad, I turned my attention to the Job Books I'd managed to gather so far. I already had the [Spearman], [Priest], [Mage], [Bestial Knight] and [Thief Taker] Job Class Books, so I was honestly interested in just what these ones could offer. I already had a general idea on what the [Shield Knight] could offer, but none of the details.

Job Name: Halberdier

Job Grouping: Spearman

Other Groupings: Soldier, Guard, Axeman

Job Rank: Low-Rank

Requirements: None

Description: A halberd is a polearm most commonly wielded by guards and soldiers. Combining aspects of both an axe and a spear, it can be used as either in skilled enough hands. [Halberdier]s are often called upon to defend the walls and parapets of a castle or town during a siege, using their weapon's long reach and heavy weight to push back any invaders. As a Soldier-type Job, its primary focus is on HP, but it also possesses modest growth rates in STR, END, and DEX as well.

Class Skills Learned Upon Acquisition: [Defensive Stance], [Power Crash], [Minor Physical Boost].

Job Name: Shield Knight

Job Grouping: Knight

Job Rank: High-Rank

Requirements: Possess at least one Shield or shield-form Embryo, have at least one [Knight] Job Class already.

Description: A defensively-oriented Knight, these proud defenders eschew the use of weaponry in favor of mastering their shields to a level beyond any other. While the focus that this Job puts on defense means that it grants relatively little offensive ability, the old adage, 'the best offense is a solid defense' has never proven itself truer than with this Job, with the various skills gained by a [Shield Knight] increasing the holder's survivability by a considerable degree. Growth is focused heavily on both Endurance and HP, with STR and DEX receiving secondary gains.

Class Skills Learned Upon Acquisition: [Knight of the Shield], [Shield Bash], [Shield Mastery], [Defensive Awareness].

Job Name: Alchemist

Job Grouping: Alchemist

Other Grouping: Production

Job Rank: Low-Rank

Requirements: None

Description: An introductory Job that specializes in the use of alchemy. As a combat job, it is sub-par, but offers a number of useful production abilities. [Alchemist]s are, in time, capable of processing special materials, creating potions with various effects, and can even create golems and homunculi that act as servants and protectors. This Job's stats focus primarily on MP and Dexterity above all, with minor allocation to END.

Class Skill Learned Upon Acquisition: [Transmute], [Assess], [Evaluate], [Brew], [MP Up].

Job Name: Archer

Job Grouping: Archer

Job Rank: Low-Rank

Requirements: None

Description: A Low-Rank Job focused entirely on the usage of a bow and arrows. One of the most basic jobs available, it remains a sold, reliable job that can grow into an extremely effective ranged attacker and/or sniper. Growth is focused primarily on Dexterity with minor growth in END and HP.

Class Skills Learned Upon Acquisition: [Aim], [Focus], [Quick Shot], [DEX Up].

Job Name: Mechanic

Job Grouping: Mechanic

Other Grouping: Production

Job Rank: Low-Rank

Requirements: None

Description: A Low-Rank Job that is centered around maintaining and restoring machines. Not a combat Job, save perhaps for when facing mechanical enemies, it instead focuses on the repair, customization, and improvement of machines of all types. While incapable of building new machines from scratch, a certain level of [Mechanic] is a requirement to gain the High-Rank Job [Engineer] that allows such. As a Production Job it focuses on MP and Dexterity growth first and foremost.

Class Skills Learned Upon Acquisition: [Tinker], [Disassemble], [Assemble], [Analyze], [Assess], [Create Blueprint], [MP Up].

"Well, that is certainly a diverse collection." Dad stated with a raised eyebrow. "I'm honestly a bit interested in that [Mechanic] Class myself. It can fix any kind of machine?"

"Job not Class." Iustitia corrected promptly before answering. "Provided that they have the appropriate materials, parts, and tools, then yes. Fortunately, one of the first skills that a [Mechanic] gains is the ability to form parts from raw materials. With the Boat Graveyard so close at hand, it would provide someone with the [Mechanic] Job a bounty of raw materials to work with."

"Honestly, I'm not all that interested in it myself, it seems a bit too narrowly focused for my taste. I've only got eight Job Slots left to work with and only three of those are suitable for Low-Rank Jobs." I offered honestly. "I think I'd want something with a bit more versatility if I need to use one for a Production Class Job."

"What about [Alchemist] then? That one sounds just like what you're looking for." Dad pointed out. "It honestly sounds like the perfect auxiliary Job if you're looking for something with a lot of options."

"I'll think about it." I hedged. Honestly, I wasn't planning on picking my next Job until Iustitia had her next evolution or I'd maxed out on my three current classes. There was no telling what kind of new form she could take then, so I needed to keep my options open. "Anyway, let's take a look at the accessories. I think I saw something really interesting in there…"

And indeed, I had. One of my rewards for the dungeon had been another [Lifesaving Brooch], which I immediately handed to Dad, not brooking any argument. The other two accessories I'd earned were actually fairly interesting.

[Dragonscale Ward]

Rarity: Rare

Value: $2000

[Single Use]

An accessory that can take many different forms, ranging from necklaces to bangles and bracelets, to anklets, to brooches and charms. All of them grant the exact same benefit: when the wearer is next struck by an attack while wearing them, be that attack magical or physical in nature, then the damage of that attack will be reduced to 10% of its original value. Unfortunately, one of these Accessories will break after each attack lands.

[Thiefsbane Bracelet]

Rarity: Rare

Value: $1500

[Breakable]

A bracelet shaped to resemble a helix. While wearing this bracelet, no Skill granted by a [Thief], [Mugger], [Bandit] or similar Job, as well as any Embryo Skills of a similar nature, will be able to steal the wearer's equipped items or items from their Inventory. This Accessory has a small chance of breaking each time it successfully blocks such a Skill.

"…it really shouldn't surprise me that there are Job types, and even Embryos I suppose, that have theft abilities. Rogues are a part of the holy trifecta, after all. So, I suppose having something to counter equipment theft is good." Dad stated with a shake of his head. "That other one though…it seems really situational. Like the kind of thing you'd buy several of ahead of time and then equip right before you faced a particularly tough boss battle."

"I think that is kind of the point." I agreed. "I'm gonna keep it in my Inventory for now. I'll pull it out and equip it if ever end up facing some really dangerous enemy."

"Good plan." Dad agreed with a nod. I could see that his inner 'game nerd' was already trying to figure out the best way to use it based on everything I'd told him. "Anything else of interest from that Dimensional Pocket?"

"Two things, other than the new System Cards. First, a tower shield called the [Shield of Broken Faith]." I quickly pulled it up on my Inventory and read out its stats for him.

"Huh. Sounds like something built for a tanking character. Not really the type of build you're going for, but if Iustitia gets a heavier weapon that could be with it then it would definitely come in handy. I'd definitely keep it at hand." Dad offered a few moments of consideration. "What did you save for last?"

"Just this metal ingot." I answered, turning my mirror around to show it to him.

[Meteoric Lodestone Ingot]

Rarity: Rare

Value: Unknown

An ingot of pure meteoric lodestone. An otherworldly metal that fell from the skies in the form of a meteor. While falling it passed through a thunderstorm and was repeatedly struck by lightning, granting it magnetic properties. The ore was then found by a [High Blacksmith] who purified it before forging the strange metal into an ingot for later use. Any weapon forged from this metal will retain its magnetic properties and will be especially dangerous to threats from beyond the stars.

"'Beyond the stars?' Really, like aliens?" Dad asked incredulously, his eyebrows going up in sheer disbelief. I really couldn't blame him on this one. Powers were bullshit, but still…

"Evidently that is something that they actually have to worry about in Infinite Dendrogram." I answered with a shrug. At least our world didn't have to worry about space invaders…right? Deciding to shelve that worrying little thought, I quickly moved on to the next subject. "Iustitia, can you tell me what the System Cards that we acquired yesterday are for?"

"One will set up the System Shop." Iustitia answered happily, having finished her own meal. "The other is the System Interface, once it has been installed you will no longer be forced to use a mirror as a catalyst to use the menus."

"No more mirror?" I asked with a grin. Lugging the stupid thing around just so I could interact with my powers was a major nuisance. Not to mention the risk of it breaking in a fight.

"No more mirror." my Embryo agreed with a nod.

"Load that one up today. We can look more into the 'shop' one tomorrow." I decided.

Nodding in agreement before pulling out the needed card. With another incantation of her usual chant, System Card 03 was successfully installed.

As soon as it was done, I felt something click in the back of my head. Deciding to test it a bit, I focused my mind on wanting to see my Status Menu, and it instantly popped up, floating and partially transparent just a couple feet in front of my face. A bit of testing with it and my other screens showed that I could even freely place things inside my inventory with a touch of a finger. It was certainly a serious upgrade.

There was a slight hitch that only I could see the screens now, but it turns out that I could still project them onto a reflective surface for others to see if I wanted, I just had to be touching it when I did so.

"So what are you planning to do for the rest of the day?" Dad asked as we started to clean up the table.

"I think Iustitia and I have earned a break." I said after a moment. "Things have been pretty hectic since we stumbled onto Pequod, and I think we've earned a bit of rest. A day off is just what the doctor ordered. That and I still need to figure just what we're going to do with this money. We got about $11,000 just from clearing the dungeon, and that is not even counting all of the money drops we got from working our way through the weaker monsters, The only issue is that there is really no way for us to account for how we got it without me outing myself."

"Hmm…" Dad frowned in thought. "You know, there is supposed to be a man that can make money appear and disappear as he pleases, everyone who works in at least the gray side of things knows about him. The call him the Number Man. So long as he receives a small cut from any proceedings or transactions, he can pretty much make your money do whatever you want it to. Making new accounts appear with perfectly legal looking sources and trails that even the Feds can't tell are fake is supposed to be child's play for this guy."

"…how in the world do YOU even know about him then?!" I asked. My Dad was one of the most law-abiding people I knew, so I was honestly shocked and bamboozled that he seemed to have knowledge of an apparently infamous criminal enterprise.

"The Dockworker's Association hasn't always been as bad off as it is right now, Little Owl." Dad offered me a rueful smirk. "Back before things went to shit, there was occasionally enough excess proceeds that we were able to build up a pretty nice slush fund in case of a rainy day. The reason why I, the Union Rep, am basically the Number Two for the entire Association is because, when things were just starting to go belly up, the last Association Vice Chairman tried to embezzle nearly a quarter of that fund before he planned to skip town. I was the one who caught him and turned him in. Apparently, the guy was seven different flavors of crooked and I somehow got dragged into a big investigation into all of it, which included being read in on the Number Man's existence when it was found he was the one cleaning the guy's dirty money. It also earned me enough trust that I was supposed to get promoted to the new Vice Chairman when things recovered a bit, but that kind of fell through…"

"Wow…go Dad." I paused for a moment to actually consider the prospect for a moment now that my head had been settled. "Even with everything I've earned so far, I know I've got less than fifteen grand; wouldn't someone that infamous only be interested in…bigger projects?"

"You'd think so, but from what I was read in on the guy will work with anyone as long as they meet a ten grand minimum and pay him his cut down to the last nickel." Dad offered. "Though I agree we should probably wait a bit and save up a bit more before we even try and contact him. I'm honestly more worried about the bounty money that you will need to pick up at some point. I've actually heard of Quinn Calle before, mostly from Alan and the union's legal rep. He's supposed to be a damned good lawyer and treats client privilege as sacrosanct, but he's also supposed to be quite the slimy operator, a real ambulance chaser. My personal opinion is that we can trust him to get the money, but I wouldn't even think of letting him know about your real identity, Taylor."

"I think I agree. So, I'll just have to stay in-costume whenever I'm around him or his firm." I acquiesced with a serious nod.

"Well, I think that is enough money and cape stuff for now. How about we have a father/daughter day out." Dad said, sounding suddenly determined. "We haven't done that in ages."

"What about work?" I blinked.

"I took a day of paid vacation; I've got quite a bit built up." Dad said with a shrug. "Kurt's been nagging me that I need to take a break and make some use of it. I haven't really stopped working since Annette…" he trailed off.

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. Even now, almost two years after she had died, just thinking about Mom's death was still a really painful subject for both of us. The stupid, vulnerable, and needy little idiot that I had been had caused Mom to die. It was my fault, no matter what anyone else said, I knew that. Dad had pretty much thrown himself into his work, trying to bury himself into it to ignore his grief and he hadn't stopped…at least not until The Locker Incident, anyway.

"Yeah…Yeah, we're kind of overdue for one, I think." I offered, trying to sound a bit more confident than I suddenly felt. "And somewhere other than Fugly Bob's this time, please. Those fries have enough salt that they could float a ship."

"Heh." Dad chuckled a bit, the melancholic look on his face fading away. "Try telling that to Old Bob, that man thinks that grease and salt are two of the most important food groups known to man."

Two Days Later

Taylor's Bedroom, Hebert Residence

Dad's single day of paid leave had quickly turned into two, Kurt and Lacey (Dad's best friends and my godparents) had taken the opportunity to get their feet in the door and were trying to force my dad to relax a bit after nearly working himself to death for just shy of two years, and he'd begrudgingly accepted. He'd spent the earlier parts of his extra day off working around the house a bit, including finally getting rid of that stupid rotten front step, and then he'd gone out to drink with Kurt and a few other Dockworkers in the evening. Now, he was currently nursing a mild hangover as he headed out to work.

For me, I had spent most of the previous day getting caught up and even a little ahead on the coursework that I was working through to earn my GED. I patently refused to subject myself to high school education any longer. Iustitia had uploaded System Card 09, the Shop Card, but it hadn't caused any changes to my new interface. Iustitia had explained afterward that the System Shop would manifest in an actual physical location, though she had no idea precisely where that would be. She was only sure that it would be 'somewhere in Brockton Bay' since that was where I, the sole Embryo Master on Earth Bet, was located.

I took that as a perfectly good excuse to go on my first official patrol through Brockton Bay. I had been focused on dealing with Hamelin's shit for too long and been ignoring the city at large. I wanted to be a Cape so that I could help fix it and the only time I had actually done anything like that was when I'd stumbled on that mini riot after escaping Pequod's dungeon. No, if I wanted Justitia to be a hero then she needed to be seen out and about. My [Dimensional Cloak of the Pied Piper: Hamelin] would make getting across the city via roof-hopping easy, and I could use the patrol to search for the shop's location.

Two birds with one stone, if I do say so myself.

Playing about with my new freely accessible menus, I'd discovered that one of the recent updates had also upgraded my Equipment screen a bit. Now I could record multiple equipment set options and then perform a quick-change into them via either a spoken command or a directed thought. The thought commands were a bit harder since I had to focus on them and ORDER the system to activate. The verbal commands were an acceptable stopgap until I got enough practice to use the thought commands without issue.

"So where shall we go for our patrol, Mistress?" Iustitia asked from within my Crest as I finished setting up my Costume and my current clothes as alternative equipment sets.

'I was thinking that we'd start on the Boardwalk.' I thought back to my Embryo. 'It's the most crowded and public area in The Bay, and it's considered safe enough that the Wards frequently do their publicity patrols through it. That should mean that its safe enough to do a few practice runs to get a feel for patrolling on our own. It is also the place where most of the 'shops' are located in Brockton Bay, so I'd say that makes it the likeliest place for this 'System Shop' to set itself up in. I'd say that that make the entire idea a win-win for us.'

'A most logical series of deductions, Mistress.' my Embryo agreed with a mental nod. 'Let us away then!'

I snorted a bit. 'You've been enjoying my English Lit coursework a bit too much, methinks.' I prodded her with a grin as I grabbed a jacket off the back of my door before opening it and heading out.

A quick two-minute walk got me a good distance away from my house and found me an alley without any cameras and a deep doorway cut into the building on the left. I steeped into the doorway, double-checked to see no one coming or going, and then changed into Justitia before using my cloak's [Dimensional Shift] ability to instantly reappear up on a fire escape overlooking the entire alleyway. From there, it didn't take a full minute to reach the rooftops.

Roof-hopping took a bit of getting used to but it was surprising fast when combined with infrequent uses of my cloak's movement Skill, and it wasn't a full ten minutes later when I found myself overlooking the Boardwalk. It also earned me the [Parkour] General Skill after a few minutes of running and jumping, which was…a bit odd. Nice, but odd.

'Your memories of this place truly do not do it proper justice, Mistress.' Iustitia offered a moment as we looked out over the Boardwalk. It was a long stretch of seafront that curved along the inner section of the bay that had given my hometown half of its name. Dozens upon dozens of shops were located there, from various restaurants to ice cream shops, mom and pop shops to chain stores, hobby shops to fancy boutiques; although more and more of them had been closing down as the years went on.

Fucking Leviathan. Fucking dumbasses that thought that blowing up and sinking a fucking cargo hauler in the middle of the Bay's entrance would do anything but make everything worse!

Shaking away those dark thoughts, I replied to Iustitia's initial comment. 'Yeah, the Boardwalk has always been the busiest part of the Bay, though you should have seen it in its heyday, it was something else then. Come on out in Form Two for now, you can focus on keeping an eye out for any signs of the System Shop or criminal activity while I focus on not accidentally falling off a roof.'

"By your command, my Mistress!" my ever-eager Embryo replied enthusiastically. In a small flash, the [Cudgel of the Law] appeared in my hand as I started to leap from one roof to another. Fortunately, even with Capes being well-known, people still rarely looked up, so no one seemed to notice me.

Having spent my entire life in The Bay, I liked to think that I knew all of the shops along the Boardwalk fairly well. Which was why, about ten minutes in to the patrol, suddenly catching sight of a shop standing at the end of an alleyway, complete with a small hanging sign, set off several different alarm bells for me. Iustitia chimed in a moment later with a 'That's it, Mistress!' was simply all the confirmation that I needed.

Using [Dimensional Shift] to put myself in the middle of the alleyway, I turned to examine my target. The door was a deep, royal blue with a square of clouded glass sitting in the upper-middle section of it and a single round doorknob at the very center of the door itself, a most unusual location for a knob to be sure. Above and slightly to the right of the door was a simple, hanging wooden sign that had painted on it, in a rather stylized font that I couldn't hope to identify, the words 'Infinite Dendrogram'.

…well, that certainly hadn't taken long.

Dismissing Iustitia back into my Crest, I walked forwards and placed one hand carefully on the doorknob. With my new interface, I was rapidly growing used to screens suddenly appearing in my face, so I didn't do more than twitch slightly when one suddenly appeared just as my hand gripped the knob.

[Please Wait…]

Scanning…Embryo Detected.

[Iustitia, Maiden of Justice] - 3rd Stage Embryo: Maiden-with-Arms (Low-Rank)

Welcome, Primogenitor Embryo Master.

Abruptly, as soon as I finished reading the last word on the screen, I suddenly found myself standing inside the shop (with absolutely no clue how I knew that) and absolutely gawping in awe at the assortment of wares on display. There were weapons of every type, description, and size, forged from more metals than I knew existed, arrayed atop various mounts along one wall, alongside armors made of leather, metal, and a couple of what I thought could be wood and even bone. In and among the aisles were stands, stacks, shelves, and containers filled with accessories, clothes, shoes, shields, foodstuffs, and virtually anything else that you could think of from cutlery and crockery to furniture and what I vaguely suspected were potions.

A highly-polished wooden counter ran across the length of the opposite side of the shop from the various weapons and armor, behind which were numerous glass cabinets holding even more weapons and other items, all of which were obviously on a level of quality far beyond the ones that were placed on the shop's floor. There was an old-fashioned cash register made of copper or brass resting at the end of the counter closest to me, with the store's only other occupant standing at ease behind it.

He was a tall man, older than me but I wasn't sure by how much, with a healthy tan that seemed to indicate that he spent quite a bit of time under the sun. He was dressed in a sturdy black work pants and a dark blue t-shirt with a similarly colored apron tied over it. He also wore a bright red bandanna, decorated with an intricate black tribal design of some sort, tied around his shock of pure white hair and angled so that a small triangle of it came down cover his right eye. It honestly made him look a bit like a wannabe pirate. His single, visible eye was a bright sky blue.

"Ah, welcome to my most humble shop, Embryo Master." the man grinned boyishly as he seemed to notice me. "I am the proprietor of this humble establishment, as appointed by the Earth Bet Dendrogram System. The name is Yūki Vendor, please refer to me as 'Vendor' for your own convenience."

"'Vendor'?" I repeated blandly with a hitched eyebrow. That was like calling a blacksmith 'Smithson' or a lumberjack 'Timber'.

He shrugged absently. "The Earth Bet Dendrogram System is still in its infancy, and the creation of NPCs is only just barely within its current capabilities. The name was picked for efficiency, not creativity. So, what can I do for you?"

I blinked. So rather than speaking to a person, I was speaking to some kind of human-shaped projection? How…interesting.

Shaking such thoughts away for later, I decided to get to the matter at hand. "That's actually a good question. What exactly can you do for me? This is my first time visiting the shop, after all."

"A fair enough question, miss." Vendor conceded with a nod. "To start with the most obvious, I can sell you almost anything available on the floor in here for a fair price in US Dollars. I'm afraid that the 'special' items in the cases behind me can only be paid for in the currency of Infinite Dendrogram, lir. I'm afraid that you'll need another System Card for lir to start being created as part of monster drops and rewards, I believe it is System Card Number 07. Or was it Number 11? I can never remember which. Anyway, once you have installed it, I will also be able to, in a limited fashion, convert lir to dollars and vice versa. As a note, the current conversion rate of USD to lir is 100 lir for each US Dollar."

"Alright, noted." I nodded in understanding. It was a bit annoying that I only had access to the basic stuff for now and couldn't access the really high-quality stuff until I got another upgrade, but there was nothing I could do about it for now.

"In addition to the items for sale, I can also do special orders and custom creations. I have high levels in four Low-Rank Production Class Jobs: [Alchemist], [Blacksmith], [Glassmith], and [Mechanic]; meaning I can produce potions, weapons, armor, and various forms of glass works, like bottles, beakers, flasks, vases, orbs, and other such items." Vendor continued. "Of course, I do charge for any work that I am required to put in, but I can and will offer a discount if you can provide me the necessary materials to craft the item in question. I can also repair almost any machine that you bring in to me, again for a price and with a discount if you provide the needed parts. I can do the same for any weapons or armor you bring in as well, but since your Embryo is a Maiden-with-Arms and you apparently have several BM Rewards and at least one UBM Special Reward equipped, I don't believe that my services in that department will be as necessary as others."

"Don't be so sure about that." I replied dryly. "Nearly everything I've got equipped right now is just loot I managed to find while scouring the dungeons and a few good Gacha Rolls, as you can likely tell. Having an actual set of armor made for me at some point would likely be a great improvement over what I'm currently using."

"A point, miss." Vendor bobbed his head in a brief nod. "Well, I have two more services that I think might catch your interest at the moment. The first is that I can buy any and all items that you find in dungeons that you have no interest, need, or use for, or that you simply do not wish to keep for some reason. Finally, I can also perform UBM Special Reward Trade-Ins, exchanging any UBM rewards you do not wish to keep for other options. I was actually alerted shortly after my manifestation that you are in possession of a UBM Special Reward that is completely incompatible with your Embryo, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is." I agreed with a nod. "My Maiden's theme is Justice, and the Theme of the dungeon we most recently cleared seemed to be 'Injustice.' As you can likely guess, the reward we received for slaying the Boss was very much incompatible with us."

"That…really shouldn't have happened." Vendor stated, a small frown appearing on his lips. "The error is likely due to the fact that there is no Control A.I. managing UBM reward generation at the moment. Normally, such a glaring diametric opposition would have resulted in the creation of either a rare crafting material or a powerful single use item. Well, as I said, if you wish I can perform a Trade-In for it. My only option available for Trade-Ins at the moment are Limited Edition Gacha Tokens, which allow a free Gacha Roll with a result that is guaranteed to be at least C-rank in rarity, if not higher."

"Well that certainly sounds interesting." I said with wide eyes. If those worked the way I thought they would, then by eliminating the possibility of anything below C-Rank Rarity of being rolled, that meant that the chances of me earning something even higher in rank would be a lot higher than normal. "How many?"

"That is based on the rarity of the UBM Reward in question." the shopkeeper answered. "Considering that you have only just started and it was a Boss Battle, I'd say it was likely 'Epic' rarity correct? That would entitle you to five Tokens."

"Sounds like a fair enough trade in exchange for something that is just taking up space in my Inventory." I grumbled in agreement. With a thought I brought up my Inventory and pulled the black greatsword free before laying it flat on the counter. "Here, take it."

"Wow, this thing is practically boiling over with ill intent." Vendor winced slightly as he seemed to instinctively take a step back away from the blade. "Sheesh, the Boss that you dealt with must have had a serious hate-on for you to leave that much resentment just flowing off of its Reward. Heck, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this thing tried to possess and throw anyone who picked it up into a berserker rage. I'm going to have to send this little bugger up the chain to the original Infinite Dendrogram server for them to have a look at it."

With that he reached out and tentatively tapped the hilt with a single finger, the UBM Special Reward shimmered briefly before bursting into a cloud of red and black pixels that quickly faded from sight.

"Odd, I didn't feel anything from it when I took it out." I frowned in confusion.

"That's because of a few things. First, you have an Embryo, she'd protect you from the worst of that kind of thing. Second, you've already developed a fairly large MP pool, which would have acted as a secondary buffer protecting you from that evil little kitchen knife." the shopkeeper explained gainfully as he ducked under the counter for a moment, apparently looking for something. "Finally, I am an NPC specialized in Production Class Jobs, I am very specifically designed to be sensitive to that kind of effect from items thanks to my assessment and evaluation Skills while my own MP pool protects me from being affected by them. It can be a bit of a pain, but it is useful for dealing with bugs, glitches, and defects like that particular UBM."

So, he got the full blast of that thing's bad karma because he had several skills that allowed him to detect that kind of thing while Iustitia and all the MP I had accumulated from my Job Classes and Iustitia's Bonus Skills had pretty much let me ignore it? Interesting.

"Ah, here they are!" Vendor exclaimed with a grin as he stood back up, a roll of glowing blue tickets held in one hand. He quickly counted out five tickets before tilting his head slightly, as if listening for something, before nodding and adding a sixth and tearing the line free. "Here you are, with an extra coupon on behalf of the system as an apology for a legitimate bug interfering with your ability to make use of your UBM Special Reward."

"Thanks." I offered as I took the proffered tickets and placed them in my Inventory, I'd use them later with dad. "So, I can also sell you…what did Dad call them again? My 'vendor trash' items?"

"Most certainly!" the merchant agreed with a professional smile. "I will be happy to take everything and anything off your hands for a fair price, miss."

It took a while to pull everything out of my Inventory, and most of it (bones, flesh and skin from the rats) wasn't worth all that much. Honestly, the most valuable items that I was selling were the [Emblem of the Unjust] that the Remnants that had inhabited Frollo's dungeons had dropped, the [Totem of the Drowned Rat] that I got from Pequod's rat minions, and the [Symbol of the Brotherhood] I got from Pequod's pirate zombies, all of which had sold for about $50 each. I kept the cannons, equipment, ammo, and most of the better weapons and shields. I was planning on providing most of them, particularly the belaying pins, blackjacks, and billy-clubs I'd gathered, to the Dockworker's Association via Dad for self-protection. All in all, I managed to earn a bit under another $1500 dollars and it cleared a lot of space up in my Inventory.

"Thank you for your patronage." Vendor smiled as we finished our transaction, the last of my sold vendor trash vanishing in a small burst of fractals while I deposited the new stacks of $20 bills into my Inventory. "Was there anything else that I can help you with today?"

"Health Potions, preferably." I answered, recalling the number of times my HP had gotten far too low for my tastes.

"Certainly. I currently stock three types of Health Potions for standard currency transactions: Low-Potions, Mid-Potions, and High-Potions." Vendor replied happily, reaching below the counter and pulling out three different bottles before arraying them out in front of me. The smallest was a simple rectangular vial slightly larger than a pack of gum with a cork stopper. Next was a slightly larger circular bottle that also had a cork stopper, and the last was a square bottle roughly the size of a cigarette box and sealed closed with wax. All were filled with a bright red liquid, with each of the larger bottles being a deeper shade of red than the smaller.

"The Low-Potion will instantly restore 200 HP, the Mid-Potion restores 500 HP instantly, and the High-Potion restores a full thousand HP instantly." he explained indicating the bottles from smallest to largest. "They are priced at $10, $20, and $50 respectively."

I whistled a bit at the prices for a single-use item, but quickly shook it off. I wasn't in any place to be picky. "I'll take ten of each."

"That is well-within my current stock. That will be $800 please." Vendor agreed with a nod.

It was almost painful to hand over nearly two-thirds of the money I'd just managed to acquire, but it was worth it. I couldn't rely on being as lucky as I had been going forward. It was nothing short of a miracle that I'd managed to get through both of the Dimensional Dungeons relying on finding a safe place to bunker down and let Iustitia use her Maiden Form's Special Skill to get me back to full health. There had been far too many close calls when I'd nearly been swarmed while I was dealing with Frollo's damned zombie army, not to mention the fight with the chief bastard himself. I was not waiting for the next boss to slap me in the face with a reality check, I was going to be damned ready the next time I went dungeon diving.

"Will there be anything else?" Vendor asked.

"No, I think that is it for the moment." I stated after a moment's consideration.

"Very well then. Before you leave, I have been tasked to deliver a message to you from the one who first guided the Dendrogram System to you." the man stated seriously. "The message is thus: 'Prepare for a change.'"

I simply stared at the 'NPC' for a moment, giving him a chance to elaborate. "That is almost maddeningly vague." I offered blandly as the silence stretched on.

"I am well aware of that, but that is all the information that I was given." Vendor offered apologetically. "And no, before you ask, I have absolutely no clue what the message could be referring to."

"So I am stuck trying to prepare for a change of some kind with absolutely no clue of just what will be changing." I stated, my voice as dry and dead as a corpse in the Sahara. "Lovely, just lovely. Well, message received at least. By the way, how easy would it be for someone without an Embryo to find and get into this place."

"Utterly impossible." Vendor responded smugly. "Only someone linked with the Dendrogram System via an Embryo will be able to even notice the alleyway leading to the door, never mind accessing the link between the door and my shop."

Well, that was a relief at least. I really didn't want to have to constantly stand guard over this place to be sure that the ABB or Empire doesn't stumble onto it before trying to rob it and make off with all the dangerous stuff that was stored here. One less thing I had to worry about, apparently.

"Alright then, I guess I should get back to my own work." I stated, giving the man a nod.

"Thank you for your patronage, and good luck on your ventures." Vendor replied with a polite nod of his own. "I hope you come back and visit my humble shop again in the future!"

"You can be sure of that." I agreed before heading towards the door. It was time to start my patrol seriously.