Warf Rat stood there, his head barely up to Davin's waist, his ears, on the other hand, were almost an additional foot and a half, to where they would brush his chin if the ratfolk ever got too close. He smelled more of the sea than the docks did, which was an impressive feat if Davin took the time to think about it. Part of Davin was terrified of the giant sapient rat, and the other was enthralled by that same fact.

The giant rat cackled and bounced on his toes, looking over the edge of his patio. "What you looking for down there that you had to come all the way up here to find it?"

The Australian-esc accent that flowed out of the ratfolk caught Davin off-guard. "Oh, uh, I needed some fish for Big Green back at The Hall, he sent me to get some."

"Hmmm, and I'm guessing he sent you with a bag of tokens with the instructions to get two barrels of fish, and you can keep what's left over?" The sharp teeth in the giant rat's mouth were terrifying, but the smile was full of mirth.

"I'm guessing this isn't the first time that this has happened… Let me guess, there is either just enough to cover the cost of two barrels of fish or swing slightly on either side depending on how well I barter for them?"

"Haha, that there is the scam, but at the same time, you don’t lose out, unless you opt to take the money and run." His tail whipped quickly behind him as he walked over to the edge of the deck.

"I'm not very good at bartering… Takes far too much energy to get what I want…" Davin drooped as he settled into his disappointment. "Well, should keep me busy… Let me guess, by this time of day most of the good fish is gone for the day?"

"Know your fish? You aren't wrong though, the main market should be just at the dregs, you'd get some good deals, but not necessarily the best quality, it’s a toss-up on how well that’s going to go."

"And I'm guessing that trying to catch them myself is out of the question too?" Davin looked out over the bay, only a few boats out in the furthest depths of the water.

"Hmmm, if you think you could… that would get you the most out of it, but I do not think that you would find a ship or a crew that would be willing to take on an unknown…"

"Unknown? Ah yeah, boatsman and their superstitions." Davin nodded as he thought about it.

"Superstition? Huh, didn't even think of those, but no, not this time, you just don’t have the rhythm of a truly experienced fisherman would have."

"I hadn't thought about that, there is no way I'd be able to keep up with a group that’s been together this long."

"The best way I can suggest is to try for the morning, there's not too much left in the day, but we are still a market, lots of shopping to do, heh, you can sack out here tonight, I've got a free bed, so stay here when you're ready." With that Warf Rat walked into his house and grabbed a small bag, bringing it back out to Davin. "Get me some eggs while you're at it? He handed Davin the bag, there's a few tokens in there, a dozen should do, will be great for breakfast, see you tonight." With that, he refilled his drink and sat back down in his chair.

With that, Davin headed back down the stairs, back into the market, the shadows settling over it cast by the mountain off in the distance. A few of the lights started to come on, a pleasant melody just starting to float over the stalls, the smells of meat, fish, and other aromatic things. The life of the market shifted into a night market as he wandered between the stalls. Davin wasn't sure what he wanted to look for, but he wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity. Some of the first stalls that he came across all seemed to be selling suspicious things… ointments, salves, and lubricants all seemed to be competing with one another, and they all seemed to be selling the exact same thing… it was good to know that that still was an important thing even here in the afterlife. One of the things that Davin wanted to find was one of the things he's always wanted, a bag, simple in many respects, but far larger on the inside than it was on the outside, now he had no proof that would be a thing here in this world, but he hoped.

A bag of holding, he wasn’t sure what to call it here, but looking for a bag that can hold far more than it's supposed to would be a simple enough description. As the market 'woke up' the atmosphere shifted, the pleasant callers and eager sellers shifted to a far more reserved and subdued bunch, as if they were selling things that were dangerous or illegal, but from what he'd known that there were no cops, or laws here… so he wasn't sure what they would be hiding. Looking for a bag vendor let alone a magic bag, was a strange task when he thought about it, but he kept his eyes open as he wandered the market. The only thing that he had to go on was that magic items existed, his belt wasn't all that powerful from what he could tell, but at that thought, patches would be a fantastic to help him boost some of his abilities, that thought led to another about what kind of patches out there.

Now that he had a few ideas on what to look for, he figured that someone would have an idea on where to find some patches. The bright light that caught his attention from a few stalls over was mesmerizing, casting a strange silver light that reminded him of old television static, the hiss almost ringing in his ears. He walked over, drawn to the light like a moth to the flame, as he stood watching the lamp as it buzzed in his mind.

"Like that? Found that out deeper in the wilds, caught it in that lamp." The vendor leaned out from the shadows right below the lamp.

Davin jumped back at what felt like several feet as what had to be a goblin came out of nowhere. "OH HOLY SHIT!" Davin almost ran but couldn’t as much of him wanted to do so as he nearly fell to his knees.

"Ah hahaha, you must be a new soul, ain't no one this side of the pale that hadn’t seen a Goblin." The vendor stood up and walked over to the edge of his stall, Davin noticing that he was on the countertop and not just leaning in from the other side of it. "Whatcha lookin' fer?"

"UUUH, uh, do you have any patches?" The words came out of him like a whimper.

"HAHA, patches? Heck yeah, I have patches, do you know what kind you want? What class are you? Adventurer or trade?" He pulled out a small case from what seemed like nowhere, setting it next to him on the countertop, and popped it open with a flourish. "I don't have the biggest selection, but I have a few that are always useful." The box had a good selection in it, the patches all separated like cards, he grabbed one and held it up. "This one is called pocket, a bit on the pricey side, but it lets you have a small space pocket that you can store a few small items in, and as long as you have the patch you have access to the items, and one of the best parts, this one goes invisible after it's been attached."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Davin's eyes went wide the desire for the patch filling him. "H-how much?" The words came out like a whisper.

"Thirteen hundred onyx." He said without any hesitation.

"Thirteen? Hundred?" The sticker shock was painful. "Oh, I don’t have that much… I didn't expect them to be so expensive." Davin's thoughts ran wild, thinking about what Jes had said and doing a little math in his head and the true value hit him 'one hundred and thirty thousand dollars', that was more than he'd ever seen at one time in his life.

He put the patch back into the box. "Ah a newcomer, I gotcha!" The goblin's excitement jumped again. "What about some single-use patches?"

"Single-use?" He was curious now. "I thought they all were?"

"Heh, These are different, you pull them off and can use the spell bound to them, pretty handy if you need to boost up your arsenal, and they run about fifty onyx's, depending on the spell."

"Oh, I don't have that much either, but now I know what I'm looking at for prices now." Davin's spirit dropped, he wasn't expecting the prices to be so extreme.

"What class are you going to start with?" Shuffling through a few different patches in his box.

"I'm starting with rogue, and aiming to pick up ranger later." Shrugging as he thought about it.

"Oooo, good choice, then I got just the thing for you, not the most helpful, but this one should help you along the way, and I'll part with this one for ten onyx tokens." Holding up a patch with what looked like a treasure chest.

"What does that do?" Davin looked at the patch that the image reminded him of what mimics look like.

"Some call it the treasure hunter, but I usually just call it the mimic patch, it lets out a small shriek once when you're near a mimic, and can save your life, but it's really specific so most don’t find it all that useful." Shrugging as he led up the patch.

"You know what? I'll take it, that actually sounds pretty useful." He reached into his coin bag and pulled out the ten onyx, and held it out to the goblin vendor.

"Deal!" He swapped the tokens for the patch.

He stashed the patch into his pouch, saving it for later. "Oh, do you know where I can get some eggs?"

"Eggs? Oh, yeah, you can get them from the general store, north end of the market, should be a single jade for a dozen?"

"Sweet, sounds good, thanks!"

With that Davin headed off into the market, looking around, feeling far more confident as he asked questions, coming across a few clearly trying to huck trash as treasures, which the fact that he could tell when people were lying was interesting, he'd not thought about it before, the feeling came across as if he was in an elevator, the stronger the lie felt like it was a stronger pull. This felt far more different than when he was in the bar with Gale, this felt far more natural, and hearing them try and con others out of their money seemed like it was far more significant. He made it to the general store at the north end of the market, the building was massive by comparison to the other stalls that populated the market. While most of the rest of the market was calm as people walked around this place was busy, with several people walking around and stocking shelves like they would in his world.

"Canned goods!" The words slipped from his lips, and his heart rose, he had been dreading eating the "travel rations" that have been a staple part of fantasy games, so the feeling of excitement was palatable. The store had a huge selection of items, mainly mundane, but there were several more exotic items and materials, this was also one of the first times that he got to see what new things were here to see. The fruits near the opening were amazing, some he recognized, and a lot more that were there he had never seen before. Being leery about what any of them were, he only looked around a rainbow of what looked like oranges, apples, and many others, the unnatural colors that mixed in with the 'normal' colors, and admittedly seeing a purple orange was unsettling at best.

The general store had a small apothecary, and it reminded him of a spice shop, but the fragrances weren't nearly as pleasant, even edging into the realms of unpleasant. The tinking of a stone mortar and pestle was steady, Davin followed it to the counter to find an elf working on what he could only assume was a potion, a small bubbling cauldron sat before the elf. As Davin watched as she focused on her materials, pausing and weighing the herbs and other ingredients that sat before her, he was entranced, the calm cadence of her methodical work was mesmerizing. She looked up and their eyes locked, the pause that she had before the scream surprised Davin, to say the least.

"Aaaahhh! Don’t sneak up on people you psycho, in the name of the patrons…." She swung her arm in a wide slap, missing Davin as he easily stepped back.

"I'm so sorry, I was curious about what you were doing and I got caught up in the rhythm." He bowed in apology.

"Gah, scaring me like that, what do you want?" She crossed her arms over her chest, as she looked down her nose at Davin.

"Nothing, I literally just got caught up in the flow." he looked down at the table and looked over it all. "What are you making?"

"Hmm? This? Nothing special, just working on some of my backlogs to see if I can perfect the recipes." Waving her hand over the table. "Why, did you need anything? I've got a few basic potions ready to buy, but if you need anything special it may take some time."

Davin nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, again, I'm so sorry for scaring you."

"Eh, all said and done, no harm no foul, keep your fingers clean." With that, she sat back down and continued her work.

"Eh, all said and done, no harm no foul, keep your fingers clean." With that, she sat back down and continued her work.

He continued his wanderings in the store, he was some of the adventuring gear from The Hall, ropes, bags, ten-foot poles, and several others he'd only ever seen in pictures, plenty of new ones too, like a map for the dungeon that is nearby. While he was curious about the dungeon, he was nowhere near ready for what that could bring. He found the eggs, they were with a collection of baking and home goods, he was excited that he recognized everything here, they even had some of the more uncommon ingredients, like rice flour and baking soda, he could bake! Davin put that set of thoughts on the back burner while he gathered the eggs, bacon, and a few things to make biscuits, he was getting excited, he hadn't had a reason to bake in ages, and that doesn’t even include his time here. Adding in a few of his own tokens to the few that Warf Rat gave him, he had a good collection of things when he left the general store, luckily getting back to the house in question wasn't going to be a problem. Climbing the stairs was rough on his calves from being on his feet all day, but knowing that he had a place to sleep tonight was a relief.