The God-Tier Commoner

From Broke to Broker

The blue panel shimmered happily in the air in front of Lex.

[Congratulations! You defeated the Jiggle King!

+25 Experience!

+25 Mana!

Look forward to the next item you will get for the next level up! Good luck, Lex!]

The panel faded, leaving Lex alone in the quiet, devastated clearing. Smoke drifted from the glassy crater. The air smelled of ozone and… blueberry jelly.

He groaned and pushed himself to his knees. Every muscle ached. He was painted head to toe in fine, powdered blue slime. It was in his hair, his ears, and it definitely tasted weird where some had gotten in his mouth.

“A rubber band,” he muttered to himself, still not believing it. “I nuked a slime god with a rubber band.”

As he got shakily to his feet, a glint of red light caught his eye. It was coming from the center of the crater, half-buried in the soft, warm dirt. He limped over and crouched down, digging with his fingers. He pulled out a smooth, red jewel. It was hexagonal, about the size of a walnut, and it pulsed with a faint, warm light.

“What is this?” he asked, turning it over in his palm. “A consolation prize for almost dying?” The System didn’t answer. He shrugged, shoved it into the only pocket of his ripped pants that wasn’t torn, and started the long, painful walk back to town.

He was a mess. A worse mess than last time, if that was possible. His new (old) shirt was shredded. Deep cuts and ugly bruises covered his arms and legs where the red slimes had hit him. He was limping badly on his right leg. And he smelled like a candy factory had exploded in a swamp.

As he stumbled out of the tree line and toward the town gate, he saw the hunters were still in the plaza. They were all looking toward the forest, talking in low, serious voices. The giant boom and the mushroom cloud had gotten everyone’s attention.

One of them spotted him. It was the axe-wielder from before. “Hey! Commoner!” the man barked.

Lex kept walking, eyes fixed on the ground. He just wanted a bed.

“I’m talking to you!” the hunter said, stepping in front of him. The others gathered around. They looked at Lex’s state—the serious injuries, the blue powder, the tattered clothes—and their mocking smirks were gone. They looked wary. “What happened out there? What was that noise? Did you see a monster?”

Lex didn’t have the energy for them. He pushed past the man without a word, leaving a faint blue smear on the hunter’s tunic.

The hunters watched him go, then looked at each other. “Those wounds… they’re real,” one murmured.

“And that blue stuff… I’ve never seen that before,” said another.

The axe-man hefted his weapon, a greedy glint in his eye. “Something big went down. Something that made that boom. And that commoner came from right where it happened.” He turned to the others. “Whatever it was, it’s probably wounded. Or dead. That means loot. High-grade loot. Who’s with me?”

A cheer went up. The whole group of hunters, armed and armored, quickly headed for the forest at a run, hoping to find a fortune.

Lex didn’t see them go. He was already pushing open the door to the inn.

Borin was behind the counter. He looked up and his eyes went wide. “You again? By the old gods, kid, I told you! Commoners. Cannot. Hunt. Monsters! Look at the state of you! You look like you lost a fight with a paint mixer!”

“Where,” Lex said, his voice raspy, “can I find a Doctor?”

Borin’s bushy eyebrows knit together. “A… DockTour? What in the blazes is a ‘DockTour’?”

Lex leaned heavily on the counter. “A Doctor! You know, a medical professional! The person who fixes you when you’re injured!” He gestured weakly at his own battered body.

Borin’s face cleared. “Ohhh! You mean a Healer! You talk weird, commoner. With a weird tone, too.” He shook his head, then put two thick fingers to his lips and let out a sharp, piercing whistle.

A door behind the counter opened. A woman stepped out. She was dressed entirely in black—a long, dark dress, black boots. Her hair was raven black, her lips were painted a deep burgundy, and she had heavy black eyeliner around her sharp eyes. She looked like she was on her way to a very serious poetry reading.

“Who’s that?” Lex asked, bewildered.

“The DockTour you asked for,” Borin said, grinning at his own joke. “Yorn, this idiot got himself chewed up. See what you can do. Try not to charge him too much. He’s broke.”

The woman, York, walked over. She didn’t smile. She looked Lex up and down like he was a stain on her favorite rug. “Sit,” she said, her voice flat.

Lex slumped onto a stool. Yorn placed a cool hand on his forehead. She closed her eyes and began to chant in a low, melodic language. A soft, white light glowed from her fingertips.

A incredible feeling washed over Lex. It was like dipping into a warm bath. The sharp, throbbing pain in his leg faded. The cuts on his arms itched fiercely for a second, then the skin knitted itself together before his eyes. The bruises turned from purple to yellow to nothing. In less than ten seconds, he was perfectly whole. Not even a scratch remained. Only the dried blue slime and his ruined clothes showed he’d ever been in a fight.

He stared at his clean, unmarked hands. He flexed his arm. No pain. “I… what? How?”

Yorn removed her hand, the light fading. “Ten Copper pieces,” she said, holding out her palm.

“First time getting DockToured?” Borin laughed from behind the counter.

Lex was still marveling at his healed body. “It’s… magic. Real magic.”

“Ten. Copper. Pieces,” Elara repeated, her tone getting colder.

Lex’s wonder evaporated. He patted his empty pockets. “I don’t have any money. I gave you my last coins for this shirt and the dagger.”

Borin’s friendly grin vanished. “Now see here, kid. Healing ain’t free. Yorn's time is valuable. If you can’t pay, you’ll work it off. Scrubbing pots. For a month.”

Lex panicked. Scrubbing pots? Him? Alexei Darling? Never. Then he remembered. The weight in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the warm, red hexagonal jewel. He placed it on the counter between them.

“I don’t have coins. Will this cover it?”

Both Borin and Yorn froze. Their eyes locked on the jewel. Borin’s jaw went slack. He slowly reached out, picked it up, and held it to the light. It pulsed, casting red dots on his stunned face.

“By the Forge-Father’s hammer…” Borin breathed, his voice full of awe. “This… this is a Crimson Core. A high-grade monster core! From something… incredibly powerful. This hasn’t been seen in these parts for decades.” He looked at Lex, then back at the jewel. “This is worth… this could sell for ten Gold Crowns. Maybe more.”

Lex had no idea what that meant. “Is that… good?” he asked.

Borin let out a shocked laugh. “Good? Boy, for a commoner, ten Gold Crowns is a generational fortune! You could buy a huge house! Or a lifetime of stew!”

Lex needed a frame of reference he could understand. He thought a question quietly in his mind. ‘Hey, System. How much is ten Gold Crowns in my world’s money? You know, in dollars?’

The System’s cheerful voice replied instantly in his head. “Based on precious metal content and local purchasing power parity, an exchange rate of approximately five million dollars per Gold Crown is estimated.”

Lex did the math in his head.

Ten gold coins.

Five million dollars each.

His brain stuttered.

“Fifty… million… dollars?” he whispered out loud.

He stared at the little red jewel sitting on Borin’s rough palm. That shiny rock, dropped by a slime he exploded with a rubber band, was worth more than most of the sports cars in his old garage.

Borin misread his stunned silence. “I know, lad. It’s a life-changing sum. Tell you what. This covers your healing, your room for the next year, all your meals, and I’ll give you five Gold Crowns change. Fair?”

Lex finally looked up from the core. A slow, familiar smile spread across his face—the first real, confident smile since he’d arrived in this world. It was the smile of a man who knew the value of a deal. The smile of Lex Darling.

“Borin,” he said, his voice losing its rasp, gaining its old smoothness. “Let’s talk.”