“Now, the last one is rather...interesting. Basically, it’s like a colosseum.”

“What?”

“Voyagers and Protectors alike can fight in the Colosseum against each other. Like everything else, everything’s simulated, so everyone can fight freely. People will make bets on who will win. The winner takes half the bet. It’s the place to go to for battle freaks.”

“Huh?”

“Just Voyagers who really enjoy fighting. Brutes. They go through their missions by killing everyone in their way. In the colosseum, they can get quite the money by doing what they like the most.”

“Fair enough. I might try it sometime. I’m a fan of fighting as well.” Jean smiled. “You said I’m powerful for my mission count, right?”

“Yes. Actually, it might work really well. You can choose to disclose your mission count to others. You have completed 1 mission, but even common Voyagers with a mission count of 2 or 3 can’t beat you easily. You can sabotage quite a few Voyagers by playing the underdog. Just a suggestion, of course.”

“Thanks for that.” Jean tilted her head. “Is this it?”

“For the Arena, yes, but not for the entire city. I still have somewhere else to show you. The Market.”

After a few teleportations, Jean and Welch reached a crowded area that Jean didn't need to see the sign to know it was the Market place.

“This is the SSS, the State Sponsored Shop. The Protector Corps identifies, buys and sells items from and to Voyagers. The advantage for this shop is safety. You know what you are buying and you pay the exact coins for the value of the product.”

Welch pointed at a glamorous building at one end of the Market Area. It was moderate from the outside, but from what she saw in the rest of the city, Jean didn't need to walk in to know the building was just the portal to another pocket dimension. There wasn’t a single guard in front of the building, and it wasn’t surprising. If what Welch said was true, then even a single Protector was strong enough to wipe out the Starcraft universe without any trouble. One thousand legions of one million Protectors...only madmen would try to do anything illegal to the official property of the Protectors.

“Okkkk. Isn’t that supposed to happen?” Pay what an object is worth. Is that so surprising?

“Well, these are the street stalls.” Welch pointed at lines and lines of smaller stores all across the Market Area. Men and women in random clothing were sitting behind the stalls while others wandered around, occasionally purchasing goods they wanted.

“One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. For example, if someone is ranged and he, or she, got a melee weapon, it will be the quickest to sell it to the SSS. But if you have time, you can set up a street stall and put the melee weapon on sell yourself. Maybe someone will pay more coins than what the weapon is actually worth.”

“Wait...that doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t that buyer just buy the weapon from the SSS for a lower price?”

“Because the SSS might not have the goods the buyers want. Some people sell their gains to the SSS, but others prefer to sell them directly to the buyers to cut out the middleman. There’s a whole system behind those that I don’t care about. You can spend some time on it yourself later.”

Jean nodded.

Welch threw his hands up.

“Well, this is the end of the tour. As much as I enjoyed this, I should be going. Further information on your missions will be delivered to your watch directly. From what I remember, your second mission should be a month after your recruit mission. This is so you can have enough time to rest and prepare yourself.”

“Very well.” Jean smiled again. “Thank you for everything.”

Welch smiled as well before disappearing. Jean glanced around before walking down the streets. What she didn't see was that Welch wasn’t actually gone. Instead, he was standing just beside Jean, only he was cloaked. Jean could easily see through cloaking in the Starcraft universe, but Welch was at a whole different level.

The man’s smile was nowhere to be seen. Another figure appeared beside him. She was also wearing white armor. Voyagers walked by them without suspecting a thing. One of the Voyagers was too close to them. But just about he was about to run into them, the two Protectors’ forms blurred, and the Voyager went by without feeling anything.

“Captain Isabella.” Welch saluted.

“Corporal.”

“If I may ask, captain, why was I told to personally welcome a random recruit? Isn’t that normally done by clones or shades? That Jean is stronger than most people her level, but so what? That’s not the first time we’ve seen someone like her.”

“Can’t let go of your pride, huh?” Isabella tilted her head. She wasn’t surprised. Protectors were like gods. They were literally immortal. They had the power to wipe out universes with a single tap. Ever since the Merge and the Infinite March, they have reigned over the Infinite Realms. Anyone that stood against them was destroyed or worse.

Asking one of them to play the role of a caring friend was just insulting. Then again, the captain knew just the thing to say to put down the complaints.

“Say all the complaints you want, Corporal, but keep in mind, the order is given down by the Grand Protector herself.”

“Yes sir. I will comply, without question.” Welch nodded again. This time, all his doubts disappeared without a single trace.

Ever since the Protectors were still mere mortals, struggling for their lives, the Grand Protector has been helping them and protecting them. It was her contribution that turned them from a dying race to the most powerful beings in all the Infinite Realm. Her wisdom and strength has been proven through decades of brutal war. The blood of tens of thousands of universe has testified to her strength.

The Grand Protector is never wrong.

---

On the other side, Jean made her way into the SSS.

Before she do anything else, she needed to evaluate the value of her assets. Namely, the 1,000 gold coins she just got. She needed to know what they were worth.

Just like with most functions inside the City of the Voyagers, the SSS was larger on the inside. Another pocket dimension.

There was a series of computer panels in the room. Several Voyagers were working on them. Jean got to an empty panel. Of course, there wasn’t anyone helping her. She already found a Protector who was four thousand times stronger than she was coming to welcome her odd. She would really grow suspicious if another Protector was being her salesman.

She started flipping through the merchandise, starting from the most basic.

Vampire

Cost: 500 coins

Description: Transforms the user into a vampire without weaknesses such as UV ray. Rapid regeneration. Enhanced strength, speed, and reflex. Grow sharp claws upon wish. Can evolve. At the highest level, the user can regenerate from a single cell. Can use blood magic.

CAS upon installment: 150

This wasn’t a bad upgrade. Jean almost died numerous times to get to a CAS of 259. Any Voyager recruit that completed their recruit mission could afford a Vampire Transformation and have leftovers. That being said, Jean kept on scrolling. This merchandise was too ineffective for her.

Werewolf

Cost: 500 coins

Description: Allows the user to transform into a werewolf upon command. Weaknesses such as berserk and silver are removed. The user retains conscious while in werewolf mode. As a werewolf, the user has additional strength, muscle integrity, and regeneration. Weakened effects in human state. Can evolve.

CAS upon installment: 180

This was similar to the vampire one, but the werewolf transformation had little place for growth. Jean didn't know what blood magic was, but it certainly made vampires stronger than werewolves in the long run. The werewolves were stronger in the earlier stages.

Then again, none of this really concerned her. She could kill both a werewolf and a vampire in just moments. When they were in the earlier stages, of course. All forms of beings can grow stronger, and Jean lacked information on what they were like evolved.

She kept scrolling.

Not all merchandise was as useless as the first two. In fact, Jean found a lot of interesting ones. Namely, necromancers.

Necromancer

Cost: 1800 coins

Description: Transforms the user into a necromancer. Practices necromancy. Capable of summoning and manipulating souls and corpses. Weaknesses like transforming the user’s physical body have been removed. Can transform into a lich.

CAS upon installment: 300

300. In other words, someone with 1800 coins can instantly transform into someone much stronger than Jean. As of the moment, Jean had neither the money nor the plan to buy this product, but she decided to keep upgrades like this in mind.

There were simply too many choices. If it was someone else here, she would be shaken beyond belief. Any product here, thrown into any world, can create quite the chaos. Even if it was just a necromancer upgrade, it could potentially destroy a world. People would literally kill for these products, but here, in the City of the Voyagers, the Protectors were putting them on sale like they were grocery goods in a supermarket. Pay the money and you can get the power. There was no background loyalty check. No insurance. No nothing.

It could only mean one thing. The Protectors don’t care if these upgrades fall into the wrong hands. Why? If Welch told the truth, then it was because the Protectors had more than enough firepower. Even if a thousand Voyagers upgrade themselves and decide to take over the city, a single Protector could slaughter them all.

Finally, Jean found something that suited her.

Voyager Blade

Cost: 200 coins

Description: This is the standard issued Voyager Blade. It is a melee weapon that can take any form the user wishes. It can be powered by crystals or by the power of the user. Its power depends on its source of energy. It has no limitation. If the source of energy is strong enough, it can kill gods. Indestructible.

CAS when powered by red crystal: 20

Voyager Armor

Cost: 300 coins

Description: This is the standard issued Voyager Armor. It can take any form of clothing the user wishes. It can be powered by crystals or by the power of the user. The defenses it provides depends on its source of energy. It has no limitations. As long as the source of energy is strong enough, it can protect the user against all forms of attack. Indestructible but will collapse if taken critical damage.

CAS when powered by red crystal: 50

Voyager Rifle

Cost: 200 coins

Description: This is the standard issued Voyager Rifle. It can take any form of firearm the user wishes. It can be powered by crystals or by the power of the user. Its stopping power depends on its source of energy. It has no limitations. It can fire any ammunition that the user wishes. Indestructible.

CAS when powered by red crystal: 30

Red Crystal

Cost: 50 coins

Description: The most basic source of energy in the Infinite Realms. It can be used as an energy source to a variety of gadgets.

It was a full series of gadgets designed to take away the 1,000 coins the new Voyagers get from their recruit missions. After buying the blade, the gun, and the armor, the Voyager would have 300 coins left, which could buy 6 crystals. 2 for each weapon. It was a perfect match. The descriptions look nice as well, but Jean didn't purchase them on the spot.

Now that she roughly knew how much her coins were worth, she needed to get a better understanding of CAS values before she could do the purchases.

What was a better place to do that than the Arena?