9. All Startups Need Money

El-One didn’t get the job. More specifically, he didn’t get the job Lukas wanted for him.

“What does your shard ability do?” Kat’s Pa had asked, looking over the ‘letter of recommendation’ Stefan had written, signed, and stamped with the Iskandar Guard’s seal.

“Above average endurance and pain tolerance, and heals my wounds faster than the average Joe’s.” El-One’s fib had some truth to it. Lacking inhibitors, the clones could push themselves through exhaustion and pain. It wasn’t that they didn’t feel either. They just had an easier time ignoring it since there were no long-term consequences. Dispelling and resummoning clones also rid them of most injuries since they matched Lukas’s state at the time of creation. “It’s not a lot, but I don’t need to worry about pushing myself or injuries on the job.” He grinned. “An employee who doesn’t need time off for injury or sickness sounds like an ideal hire, doesn’t it?”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster,” the old man grumbled, looking Lukas up and down. He glanced at his daughter before shaking his head. “I need someone we can delegate our simpler jobs and day-to-day chores to, and I can tell you're going to need far too much training for just that.”

“I'm a fast learner and can—”

“If yer desperate and my brother-in-law here is going to make my life difficult…” He trailed off, staring at Stefan.

“I’d never make your life difficult!” The guard captain protested.

“But you’re going to natter to your wife, and she’s going to natter to mine, and then I’m going to be hearing about it for longer than I care.”

“That was last time, and he was a close, dear friend’s kid.”

“And a lazy, good-for-nothing thief.” The blacksmith returned his attention to Lukas and El-One.”I need someone to come in early three days a week. It's not exactly smithing but heating up the forge, bringing in materials, cleaning, and dealing with all the scrap and workshop waste. Do that. Observe. Maybe if I have an opening or need more help down the line, I might take you on. That’s assuming you’re receptive and picked up something, of course.”

“I was really hoping for more hands-on learning and guidance.” El-One sighed. “But okay.”

“We’re going to look around for other opportunities,” Lukas said. “If we find nothing, he’ll be here bright and early.”

“Sure.” The blacksmith grumbled, shaking his head as he walked off. “Hold my breath, why don’t I? I’ll pay two shells and fifty chips a day, and you’ll be thankful for it.”

“He probably just needs some time to warm up to you.” Kat shot El-One a little smile before following her father. “Come back tomorrow at the fourth-morning bell, and I’ll get you started.”She paused. “That’s assuming you don’t find anything better.”

Lukas and El-One didn’t find anything better. Stefan took them to three other smithies with help-wanted signs. Things didn’t go much better. The first two looked at the pair with hostility and suspicion. The third laughed at their gaunt faces and skinny limbs. She had El-One lift a hammer and swing it five times. He succeeded. Then, she ordered him to do another five repetitions while striking the anvil. By the second strike, his aim was off. He struggled to lift it during the fourth and almost lost his grip on the fifth. She offered him a similar deal to Kat’s father but with less than half the pay.

Stefan suggested another idea.

“Why not try out a courier job?” The guard captain suggested, passing a narrow but long building with a painted sign over the door. It showed a man running with a twine-tied parcel under his left arm and looking over his shoulder as if for pursuers. “My son worked for them before the sea called to him. He used to get a shell a day, plus twenty chips per package delivered. Timely delivery also came with tips from the client.”

“Do the jobs involve leaving Iskander’s walls?” Lukas asked.

Stefan shook his head. “That requires special licenses, and it's mostly members of the Hunter and Adventurer Guilds who take on those jobs. Merchant caravans occasionally take on the jobs too, but they, of course, leave on their schedule and have set routes, so it takes a bit longer.” Stefan paused, pointing out a young woman with a handcart, briskly walking away from the building. “See her silver badge. It lets her pass through toll gates and access roads privatized by the merchant communities, politicians, and nobles. My son never got that far, especially after he used Bronze Access to try to woo the Minister of Sanitation’s daughter.

“It’s a good job,” he continued, chuckling. “Base pay seems shitty, but the more jobs you do, the more you get paid. Service hours are flexible, but if you’re fast, honest, and build a decent reputation, the tips can get significant.”

“Might be a good place to start,” El-One commented, looking at Lukas. “Don’t you think so, brother? It’ll be good exercise and will give me a chance to explore the city.”

Lukas nodded. “Perfect for your days off from Kat’s or until you find something better. You might just end up finding a blacksmith or tinker who’ll take you on through clients or during deliveries. I’ll probably take on a few shifts, too. We need the money.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it given everything you’ve been through, but—” Stefan paused. “No offense intended, but it's clear that your survival and escape through whatever you experienced had more to do with luck than skill, experience, or technique. Your health isn’t the best either, so it's not the best route. However, if you are truly desperate for money, there is also the undercity.”

“Undercity?” Lukas and his clone asked in unison. He didn’t recall the journal mentioning anything of the sort when showing them Iskander.

“The old city sank following a flood,” Stefan answered. “That’s what they say at least. Or it might’ve been a great wave. Whatever it was, it brought untold horrors from the depths. Old mages, sorcerers, and wizards banded together to pull stones up from the ocean floor and bury them. The Iskander we see and know was carved from the same stone.

“This was long before I or my grandfather was born. Now, the undercity is teeming with creepies, crawlies, and things from our worst nightmares. Fortunately, the truly scary and dangerous things stay far from the surface. We use the weaker ones to train our troops and a fair bit of effort goes into preventing breaches. The Iskander guard outsources a fair bit of the work to the mercenary, adventure, and hunter guilds. There is good money to be made through them down there. Far too many eager glory and fortune seekers never come back, though. Tread carefully.”

El-One’s shoulders drooped while Lukas’s face lit up. It was the perfect environment to train body, skill, and mind. Lukas was unlikely to venture into the depths often, but he intended to send the clones down. Eventually.

The journal’s pages had several messages for Luke. Some seemed from before he completed Lady Silverspine’s quest.

Arcane Clone has progressed to rank 3!

Magic demands are reduced.

You have ensured a weapon capable of harming Lady Silverspine hasn’t fallen into enemy hands. The efforts are deserving of a bonus. Arcane Clone’s growth toward the next tier has been hastened.

Arcane Clone has progressed to rank 4!

The maximum range has been doubled.

Arcane Clone has progressed to rank 5!

Magic efficiency is improved. More energy will be regained when dispelling clones.

Minor ability upgrade available.

Arcane Clone has progressed to rank 6!

Magic demands are reduced.

“What ability upgrade? Don’t those just happen when it goes up a tier?”

Shard abilities occasionally develop additional abilities or simple improvements at rank 5 of most tiers. Most have to visit a guild or a diviner or scryer to figure out the paths available to them, but you have me.

Please choose from the following:

• Repair Clone: Instead of dispelling a clone or letting it die, repair the magic shell that forms its body. Remove all damage or just enough to restore functionality.  

• Altered State: A clone’s physical state need not match your own during summoning. They can be you in the best health you’ve been since gaining the ability, match your current state, or carry copies of your past injuries.

• Empowered Copy: Pour extra magic into a clone, improving its physical qualities. The improvements can involve increasing their strength and toughness, or agility and perception. Their appearance will match the physical enhancements.

Arcane Clone: Tier 1 | Rank 6

“I suppose that’s convenient. Quests for hastened growth certainly make life easier. I would’ve preferred more tangible rewards.”

They will come in time. Transporting you to Iskander with looted magical materials consumed the bulk of the rewards budget. The ability upgrade, though minor, should be a big enough improvement for the time being.

“Allocating budget to the portals wouldn’t have been necessary if our dear benefactor didn’t drop us off in the middle of a Wyrm Cult raid,” Lukas commented. He shook his head, sighing. “No point in debating that. It was a fact. She gave me freedom and then forced my hand.”

Underhanded, it may have been, but you didn’t walk away empty-handed.

“Let’s take a wild guess. The next of her interests is in the undercity.”

There are multiple interests surrounding Iskander. A few are in the undercity, another along the coast to the west, and a fourth out at sea.

“Are any of them urgent?”

No.

“In that case, I don’t want to hear about them right now. Let me know if I or the clones wander close to any of them, but for the time being, we’re minimizing risk and maximizing growth and profit.” Lukas looked at the clone sitting nearby, studying a map of the city. “Am I missing anything?”

“Can you tell us what conjunction abilities are?” 

Negative. Information is locked behind, serving the Mistress’s interests.

Fuck that. I’m not going to be her slave. Replacing the chain and carrot with a stick isn’t going to work for me.

It’s not slavery. Consider it an incentive. 

“You might as well head to the library, El-Two,” Lukas said, ignoring the diary’s correction. “Where is our closest one?”

“All the decent ones near us already turned me away,” the clone answered. “They either belong to the mage academy, Arcane Research Center, or aren’t meant for the likes of us. I’m making note of any alternatives that will let us poor people in.”

“Don’t bother. Steal a mask and climbing tools. Break-in after closing. Figure out what we want and then dispel yourself if you’re in danger of getting caught.”

“If not?”

Lukas grinned. “Steal anything worth stealing, especially things that’ll be easy to fence or books on beginner magic, and report back to me.”

“Got it, boss,” the clone said before heading for the window.

“On second thought—” Lukas dispelled the clone and made his sub-ability selection. Then, he recreated El-Two, pouring extra energy into his shard ability. The clone reformed with a significantly better complexion and not as gaunt. “How do you feel?”

“Limber,” El-Two answered, rolling his shoulders and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Certainly better than you.”

“Better be. Creating you took one-and-half times the normal amount of magic.”

The first two upgrades on offer didn’t appeal to Lukas. He didn’t yet know how magic worked on Fracture, but in his previous life, he had figured out how to repair clones and summon them in different states within a couple of years of learning Arcane Clone. The former rarely came into use. Lukas didn’t see the need to repair a clone when he could dispel it and resummon it in good health. The act also often came with valuable intelligence.

Since the magic demands of creating clones were decreasing and the recovery after dispelling them was increasing with every rank—and would further after he began magic training, he still didn’t see the use in repairing.

Meanwhile, altering their health and physical health during summoning had tactical use. He could create a perfectly healthy clone while in a terrible state or an injured one to pretend his ‘twin’ was in trouble and he needed assistance. However, it paled in comparison to creating physically superior clones. Doing the same in his old life had taken him several years to figure out. Lukas could already foresee an army of specialized clones running around Iskander, completing diverse tasks.

“You’re free to go,” Lukas said.

El-Two hopped to attention and saluted. “Yes, Drill Sergeant Prime. Whatever you say, Drill Sergeant Prime.”

The clone climbed out of the window and disappeared into the dimly lit street outside.

Out of the three inns, Stefan showed them, Lukas picked the one closest to the red-light street. It wasn’t because he wanted to avail the entertainment on offer, but because the area seemed to house the shady sort he wanted to deal with. Well-dressed drunks and unconscious patrons also had the coin necessary for starting life in Iskander.

Lukas had put together a plan and expense list, and getting the money he needed using legitimate means would take far too long. Besides room and board, he needed outfits for himself and the clones. They all needed tools and weapons, and also money for trainers and tutors. The hours after Stefan left them had proven fruitless.

No one wanted to take him or the clones on for apprenticeships, assistants, or any other specialized roles. The fibs regarding his shard abilities had proven insufficient. He was deemed too weak for physical jobs and not experienced or educated enough for jobs under mages or scholars. 

My next ability needs to be flashy or something I can more readily show off.

Things didn’t improve over the next couple of days.

‘Elvis’ accepted the job working for Kat’s father. El-Two broke into libraries but only managed to access texts about the city’s history, trade, and economics. He had instructions to take it slow and prioritize studying layouts, staff, and their movements over rushing toward the prize. Good thieves and intelligence gatherers valued patience. Lukas was in Iskander to stay. He couldn’t afford to be branded a criminal.

Lukas also signed himself and his ‘twin’ up for the courier service. He had the clones take turns running around the city, delivering packages and gathering intelligence. Night-time deliveries paid more but also came with significantly more danger. El-Two got chased through the streets by a gang after his packages on the first night. An arrow to the knee took down El-One the second. Fortunately, the latter had already made his delivery and only lost the meager tip he had received.

Lukas only went out during the day, rotating between visiting the open libraries, trying out for new jobs, and running deliveries. Elvis was doing well at the smithy, and Kat seemed to enjoy the juvenile charm, so he stayed away. 

Over the first week, the incoming funds averaged out at just under thirty shells a day. Fifteen went on room and board. There were cheaper inns, but Lukas wanted somewhere he didn’t need to worry about break-ins or adulterated food. The Drunk Cockerel also had its own bath, and that alone made it worth the extra money. 

Getting a bed and food for fifteen shells demanded extensive bargaining. The landlady had agreed but only provided a single room, believing the brothers would take turns to sleep as one worked during the day and the other at night. However, she provided food for two, and Lukas ate both, desperate to help his new body gain muscle as soon as possible.

The nicer inn had other benefits. Lukas liked the look of the clientele much more than that of the other inns. He didn’t go out of his way to interact with his neighbors, but daily greetings made his face known and familiar. It was one such connection that got Lukas the break he needed.

“Do you and your brother need work?” The woman next door asked one morning just as Lukas was heading to the dining room for work. Her eyes momentarily moved to the courier badge pinned to his coat.

“Always,” Lukas replied, flashing his best smile. He had greeted her good morning and good night every evening for the past six days. It was the first time she had spoken to him. “What specifically are you looking for?”

“Porters. I need people who can carry themselves well and know their way around the city.” She paused when El-One exited their room. The clone was enhanced for strength, making him appear bulkier. Lukas had only just resummoned El-One after he returned from running deliveries all night. A forearm-long club hung from his waist. “And aren’t scared of the dark or getting hurt.”

“We’re terrified,” El-One said. “But the right amount of money makes all of that meaningless. Will there be any combat involved.”

“How about I elaborate over breakfast? I’ve got a carriage waiting outside. We’ll talk on the way.” She quickly continued when Lukas hesitated. “I’m buying, of course. The bakeries around city hall are to die for.”

“Sold!” The clone cheered.