Darius gently cleared his throat, capturing the attention of everyone still present in the city and ensuring their silence for his next few words. He then gazed into the 'camera' directly, making those watching feel like he was looking right at them.
"Greetings, visitors and citizens of this humble city. My name is Darius Stone, a Master mage and I guess you could call me the Guardian/Founder of this city. To my sides are my wards and close associates, Royal Half-Giant Master vanguard Gunner Stone, as well the Royal Elf Master cleric Xela Stone."
"I stand before you like this because our first major milestone has been crossed, which was the auction that many of our more notable Visitors have just participated in. Since the esteemed powerhouses from all over the world are still present, I thought this would be a good chance to introduce myself, my city, and what we have to offer."
"Firstly, the quality of goods produced in this city are beyond anything seen in the entire history of Faust. If you don't believe me feel free to ask anyone from the Appraiser Guild who had vouched for us during the auction. All of you must wonder as to the source of this, but most should understand that I cannot - and do not have the right to - answer. However, I can promise you that our goods will never drop in quality!"
"This city has been established to become the pinnacle of commerce and mercantilism in the entirety of Faust. This is important, for our unique currency, the Supreme Coin, will be the only thing accepted within our borders."
"You are free to purchase various high-quality goods, materials, and even services that will be offered in our outer section as long as you have the money and there is supply."
"To answer some questions beforehand, all shops and service outlets will be owned by the city in that section. You cannot buy land or rent a shop to peddle goods or services, for we can brazenly say that nothing anyone offers in Faust can match up to what we have."
Many grumbled at this, especially foreign craftsmen and merchants, but they dared not dispute it for they knew it was the painful truth.
For those who had viewed the city lightly, their expressions became solemn as they were beginning to understand what Darius was trying to do.
Darius continued. "Secondly, the caste system of the city. I do not feel the need to hide it, we are openly using a caste system to separate the social and political strata of our benign city."
"There are 7 classes we plan to establish. I will list them, their benefits and detriments, and ways to access them in the portal, so check with the Martin AI to learn more about it. You can also have him directly download this information to your mind as I guess most of you are doing right now." Darius pointed out with a smile.
Many faces blushed in spite of themselves, hating that they had easily been read. However, when they digested the information Martin sent over, all their faces changed.
Currently, the 7 classes were from lowest to highest, the Residents, the Visitors, the Affiliated Workers, the Citizens, the Nobles, the Rulers, and the Core.
The Residents were those who purchased or rented living spaces in the outer section. This allowed them to enjoy the luxuries of the city, and even snap up goods quickly and resell them outside, but they basically had no rights in the city, at least in regards to the higher classes above them.
The Visitors were those who came from afar. They had the right to life and general safety but they could only stay for a maximum of 7 days each month. They could also report thefts and deception, and would be rewarded for the latter.
The Affiliated Workers were basically pumped up employees. They were those who worked for the city as receptionists for their hotels, waiters in their restaurants, chefs, guards, shop attendants, masons, etc.
They were contracted by the city, paid a lovely salary, could get some worker discounts and benefits, and were also given accommodation depending on their rank in their sector.
However, this made them seem like Citizens, but they were not. They had to pay taxes and were forbidden from leaving the city. They had no such thing as leave unless they had a good reason, and they could never enter the inner city.
In fact, any of these three categories of people, from Residents to Affiliated Workers, would be put to instant death upon being seen in the inner city. It didn't matter who they were outside, they lost their status once they entered this city and were placed into one of these 7 castes based on various factors.
To avoid these issues and be able to enter the inner city, they needed to reach the 4th at minimum, which was Citizen.
A Citizen had the right to life, full safety, and various other benefits. They were given monthly stipends and did not pay taxes. They could open their own business for each other in the inner city, but not the outer city.
They were only allowed to go to the outer city once every week and could only spend 2 days there, but they could leave the city to head outside whenever they wanted. This was to prevent citizens from mingling with the bottom 3 castes too much.
Citizens got free education within the city and could be trained by the city if their children had sufficient talent, whether it was the mage academy or the battle corps.
The mage academy and battle corps were all within the same framework, both headed by a Master mage called Elijah McNickles. They gave priority recruitment to their own citizens and such kids paid no fees for their training, though they had other limitations.
What surprised others was that others could enroll their kids within the academy, but the fees were hefty. It was as if those coming externally were paying for the entire operation of the school, including the freebie citizen children.
