“How can I help you, sir?” The brown-haired clerk at the Exchange Hall of Akul asked with businesslike politeness. Will could smell a bit of sugar and almond, and he could hear a rounded shape with a bite out of it occluding the wood on the other side of the bar. She must’ve been rushed out of her lunch without finishing desert.Poor girl.Will was standing front of a bar that accommodated over a dozen clerks processing the orders of an equal number of thick lines of Climbers and civilians receiving payments for quests and bounties, storing or returning borrowed Relics, or just taking care of everyday banking.It was a bustling afternoon scene as the people chatted amongst each other while they waited, their conversations bouncing off the marble walls and high ceilings, creating a fog of noise around him that made it difficult to pick out any one voice.Been a while since I’ve been to an exchange hall, Will thought, trying to distract himself from the insects squirming across his body. Believe it or not, having incredibly high Acuity does not, in fact, reduce the ickiness of things crawling across your skin.“I’d like to check my account and make a withdrawal.” Will said. “I’m going shopping.”“Of course, sir.”“Name?”“William Oh.”The conversations around them died, stillness rippling outward.The clerk raised a brow, but reached under the bar and retrieved a ledger, flipping open a page near the back and scrolling down it with a finger.She paused and glanced up at him, eyes flickering miasmatic blue.“…Confirmed. How much would you like to withdraw, Mr. Oh?”The conversations around him resumed, albeit with a lot more whispering.“All of it.” Will said with a shrug.The woman pulled out a different ledger used to track account balances, flipping through it until she landed on his page.“So that’ll be-“ She paused, frowning. “Mr. Oh, (...)