Surprisingly, once Valyr heard Braum utter the words 'Underground Transport Network' in his question, the former's eyes briefly widened in slight surprise as he looked at the man in silence for a bit. Sometime later, he faintly nodded, informing the man beside him that he had heard a few people mention it to him in the past, though he did not think too much about it back then since he had no clue what it was.
However, in reality, Valyr was inwardly left at a loss for words once Braum told him about the Underground Transport Network, his familiarity with the service far beyond only knowing about it by name. Instead, he was someone who could be considered an avid and expert user of the service in the past.
With how much he needed to constantly travel to and from far places within Veldanyr back then as a player, the Underground Transport Network was considered one of the staple travel methods he used, which could also be said to be same for most, if not all players who chose to spawn in Veldanyr at the start.
In fact, the Underground Transport Network was one of the possible modes of travel he thought about using to head to and from various settlements since the travel time was next to instant. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he had only come across the Underground Transport Network and became a frequent user of the service by the time he was a few levels below the level limit Greater Beyond imposed for players of the first version, he was inclined to think that it was only something that was implemented by the time the first version came around.
But with Braum's words confirming the existence of the Underground Transport Network to him before the first version had even begun, Valyr swiftly thought about changing his plans for the near future, coming to the conclusion that he would be able to complete more in less time than he initially thought with the aid of the network.
As he thought about how he could fulfill his promise to Astarto Village and head to the Lesser Meltierre Plains just a few hours after the tide, Braum opened his mouth and explained what the Underground Transport Network was, thinking of the man beside him as someone not in the know. "I'm quite surprised you've heard a couple people mention about it back when you stayed in Clossbay City. After all, the Underground Transport Network is only something people from the kingdoms and empires have access to in the meantime."
"Anyways, from the name itself, the Underground Transport Network is a network of teleportation constructs that people could access at anytime, with the building that houses these constructs being located underneath the surface of the city." Seeing that the two of them had finally arrived at the Imperial Production Guild, Braum moved in front of Valyr before leading the latter to the corridor that housed the private workshop Valyr had free reign over, staying silent all the while.
Though, after making sure that the two of them were alone once more, Braum swiftly continued where left off. "There are multiple entrances that lead to Algerie Kingdom's branch of the Underground Transport Network, but only those who have been referred by another person who has used the network in the past could enter."
"Fortunately for you, I'm one of them." Hearing these words come out of Braum's mouth, Valyr looked at the man beside him for a bit as they stood in front of the door to the private workshop. Heading inside to begin the process of upgrading the set of Half Wyvern Armor he had brought, Valyr made his way to the furnace before infusing a bit of mana into it, noticing that the heat source of the furnace was magic-based.
"But don't you have access to the guild's teleportation constructs since you're the leader of one of the reconnaissance teams?" Keeping an eye on the temperature inside the furnace from time to time, Valyr posed a question to Braum as he familiarized himself with some of the advanced forging machinery he was going to use in the upgrading process.
"Only if the guild permits us to." Braum gave Valyr a bitter smile. "Permission to use the teleportation construct is harder to procure than you'd think. If anything, I was only able to use the guild's teleportation constructs for the first time after we've been given the mission to search for your whereabouts."
"So, that means you use the Underground Transport Network more often." Looking at Braum after saying these words, Valyr returned his gaze back to the tool in front of him after getting a nod in response. "What kind of requirements do I need to fulfill to be able to use the network?"
The purpose Valyr had in asking this question was to find out if the requirements to use the Underground Transport Network was the same as when he used it back then as a player. Fortunately, after hearing Braum's response to the question, he was able to find out that it was more or less the same, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief soon after.
"Aside from needing a referral from someone who uses the network, you don't really need to bring anything else aside from money." Braum nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he informed Valyr about the furnace he was heating up. "The lowest price you could get is around 10 gold coins, which would have you end up somewhere around the outskirts of the city. Of course, the farther the destination, the higher the price."
"I see, I see." Nodding in response, Valyr thanked Braum for the heads-up on the furnace before proceeding to infuse mana into the furnace to keep its temperature stable. Inwardly muttering to himself that he had missed small quality of life features like this, Valyr then summoned the pieces of Half Wyvern Armor out of his bracelet to prepare them for upgrading, only to recall something thanks to Braum's earlier statement. "Price…"
"Now that you mention it, how much did it all cost to procure the items I asked you to get?"
"Surprisingly, not that much. In total, it came to around 10 platinum coins."
"10 platinum coins…"
"…"
"…in what world is that not much?"
