It took Davin more than an hour to find the public bath house that sat just on the outskirts of the town, which only seemed to add to his annoyed mood. The fire-heated baths were amazing, similar to that he'd remember having seen in manga and anime, even to the point of it being split to have a men's and a women's sides, there were also mixed, private baths, and special baths for adventurers which was a nice thought, he could always try and get Jes away from the city long enough for a small vacation. With how close the town had been to the river it wasn’t surprising that there was something like this, the surprising part was how close the similarities ran, the smell of popcorn that still lingered on him and his clothes was slightly nauseating, hints of burnt hair mixed in, scouring his skin and hair, feeling that the smell was stuck there. Having opted for the adventurer's bath, they were larger than he'd expected, having an extra basin for washing laundry and the like. Hanging his clothes before settling into the hot bath, he felt that he was finally relaxing.

"I fought a troll, a two-headed filthy ass dog, and giant bugs…" Whispering the thought aloud to himself, chuckling about how crazy it sounded.

There were a lot of things that he knew that he was going to experience, but he didn't expect that the ones he'd gone through were going to be as early in his adventure, at the same time, having to slay one of the iconic starting monsters was discouraging, making him glad that he'd gone up against what he had. Thinking about his games, and the ones that he's run as well as the ones that he played in, Kobolds, Goblins, hell even Orcs, he was very relieved that those weren't some of the first things that that he'd had to slay. Then a new question popped into his head, his second level, what class was he going to have available, was he still just a pure rogue? Or did he have enough training to unlock Ranger? What options was he going to get when he leveled? Alone with his thoughts and still exhausted he fell asleep, enveloped in the warmth of the bath

"You know, it's not safe to fall asleep in the bath." The splash of water as a second person entered the tub.

Davin let out a groan. "But it was so quiet and warm," Davin stated in a whine.

Hugh splashed Davin again, settling into a relaxed slouch. "I don't want to have saved you just to have you drown."

"Eh, I should probably get out, I think my toes have pruned as much as they can." He moved slowly, pulling himself up, looking at his hands, surprised that they weren't all wrinkled from soaking in the tub.

"When you brought up a bath, I thought that it sounded like a good idea, so as soon as I finished eating, I came to join you." Dunking his head below the surface coming up shortly after, shaking his head and flinging water everywhere.

Magical boxes that could keep food cool or from spoiling were a strange idea, but ways to increase the speed at which wet clothes dried were commonplace. The multiple vents that were set in the walls created a warm dry breeze that circled the room, making it ideal for damp clothing, Davin found his clothing almost completely dried after he grew tired of soaking in the bath.

"Did you know that there are many of these bathhouses all over the wilds? They are some of the most iconic structures that you'll come across, most set up within less than a day's travel of a dungeon." Hugh recited the fact casually like he'd been waiting for a reason to bring it up.

"Does that mean that there is a dungeon nearby?"

"Other than ours? Yes, but most of the dungeons near here are a little out of our level."

Nodding along, Davin looked at Hugh. "Are there other places like the Hall? Where we can get more… mundane quests?" Davin felt like he was asking a dumb question… he still felt that it had to be asked.

"Yes, most towns have their own version of what's known as a bounty board, very few actual bounties show up, but the term stuck. We can take a look at the board if you want, I figured that you would want to take a look at it once you were in better shape." Hugh let out a groan as he laid back in the bath.

"Sounds good, should get us a few more tokens if anything." Davin pulled down his clothes, folding them neatly, planning to hang them back at the inn.

Davin headed out of the bathhouse, feeling far more rested than he had when he'd gone in. The distance back into town gave Davin a chance to look around since his first trip into town was so late and dark, and when he'd tried to find the bathhouse he'd gotten turned around. The town was more advanced than he was expecting, half expecting there to be only a few small buildings, a pub, and some houses, but when he saw the weapons and armor shops that made up a good chunk of the area around the bathhouse, many of the doors now swung wide open, displays set along a 'street' that ran from the center of town. Davin's excitement grew as he saw each little shop and the goods it had, making mental notes so some of the ones that he wanted to check out once he'd gotten his clothing dropped back at their inn. The town was awake now, making him feel like he had been asleep far longer than Hugh made it sound, he still missed clocks. The common room that was busier when he'd woken up was now quiet, the smells of freshly baked bread still filling the air, walking up to their room he rehung his damp clothes, cracking open the window to let in a breeze, his bag now empty, tossing it over his shoulder, ready to explore the town proper.

Not having too many tokens was a damper on the day, but this would give him ideas of things that he wanted to add in the future. While the adventurer part of town felt as though it was calling his name, he wanted to see what the non-adventurers did first. A part of him was hoping that they had some silly version of fast food and coffee shops, like some kind of twisted parallel of home. One of the first things that he noticed was the lack of multiple bars, restaurants, and other kinds of venues as if this area around this inn specifically belonged to it. Finding his way around town seemed to get easier as we wandered, finding a lot of variety of the small shops rather than overlapping, as if most of the town had some agreement not to cause conflict, he'd need to ask Hugh about that the next time that he saw him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Now that his thoughts were on Hugh, he was starting to wonder where Cadence had ended up, they hadn't been in the inn, and they likely used a private bath rather than the adventurer baths that he'd used, and since Hugh hadn't said anything about it he figured that the bard was likely wandering through town just being a bard. Now that he was thinking about it, the only things that he'd known of bards were limited to tabletop games, shows, and movies, and they never put them in a very good light.

The few small shops that seemed to belong to the town proper was limited, a healer, and a mix of general style store, each of the major farms that had land in the area seemed to have a small stall, if there was any overlap in product it was minor and almost unnoticeable by him. Entering into the general stores felt like he'd stepped into every single example that he'd seen from fairs and books that had old black and white photos in them. A single long counter seemed to split the building in half, the floor was covered in odds and ends, nails, tools, and other miscellaneous hardware. The sheer number of options for rope was staggering, Davin began assuming that it was something important for the local dungeons or a resource gathered from one nearby, that thought mainly from one listed simply as spider silk rope, which the thought sent a shiver down his spine. Seeing a few things that would likely come in handy in the future, he made a list of the odds and ends that would likely come in handy, one that stood out to him was caltrops, they hadn't been something that he'd seen while he was in the bastion, so it must be specific to The Wilds.

Stepping up to the large counter, seeing a gnome sorting and counting a pile of what looked like a pile of nails.

"'Scuse me?" Davin stated, aiming not to scare the gnome.

"Gimmie a minute." the gnome replied sharply as he moved a few more nails into a small bucket. "Thanks for waiting, what can I get you?" He stood up and climbed up a small ladder that put him on top of the counter.

"Yeah, I'm new in town, was hoping for a little info from a local," Davin asked a slightly sheepish smile on his face.

"Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?" Crossing his arms and then leaning into the post that Davin could only guess was one of the supports for the roof.

"Well, to begin with, what's with all the ropes?" Davin asked a laugh in his voice.

"HAHA, yeah it is a lot of rope, but one of the dungeons nearby is filled to the brim with spiders, then another is a chasm that you have to climb up and down and when the dungeon expires all the ropes that are still in it are lost, so the locals make the regular ropes from fibers and then adventures will sell us spider silk and the locals weave it, pretty handy if you ask me. Pretty strong stuff too, but it's pretty cheap since we always have so much of it."

"Handy to know." Looking at the prices for ropes, seeing that most are listed by the foot. "Ten feet for a jade? That is pretty cheap, why not sell it somewhere else to get a little better of a turnover?"

"Heh, this won't last the week, I only just got this all in this morning."

Daven let out an involuntary whistle. "That is a lot of rope." Davin looked around seeing what else there was that could be used in a dungeon.

"Yeah, most of the stuff in here is made for the dungeons, there is a store on the other side of town that has stuff made from materials from dungeons that the locals love." Chuckling as he walked across the counter. "They have some plows that are made from the shells of this massive bug, hold up better than the steel ones."

"So monster drops are a trade good?" Davin asked, feeling a little dumb as he did, since the shopkeeper had basically just said that.

"Not all of them mind you, some aren't worth shit here, like there is some venom from the spiders that almost all of it is just gets added to the fertilizers, but anything that can be repurposed to either another nearby dungeon or to the farmlands does better than anything else."

"Good to know." thinking about the few drops that they'd picked up. "So no promises that anything we get will sell, unless we have a use for it?"

"Pretty much, doesn’t help that with some of it, it's just raw materials."

"Ah yeah, crafting mats are a pretty common drop."

"Mats? No one had brought in any mats that I'm aware of." The gnome's eyebrows wrinkled as he thought about it.

A wave of confusion ran over Davin's face, then he noticed what he'd said. "OH! No, mats is just short for materials.

"Hmmm, mats, I can see how that works, I like it. But if you want to check what anything you’ve gotten as a drop is, we can do it at a price."

Davin nodded expecting the offer to pop up from someone. "Does anyone have a better price for the identify?"

"Nah, since most of us perform it as a ritual, it's mainly the use of our time, if you want it in a hurry, that can get pricey."

"Good to know. Any helpful information that you could give to a new adventurer?"

"Keep doing what you're doing, information will be the best tool you can get in a new place, and The Wilds can be a pretty big place."

"Thanks, never know what this place can bring you some days."

"Ain't it the truth!" The gnome tossed his fist into the air. "What can I help you find? I doubt you'd want much from here, since from the sounds of it, you're not planning to head into the dungeons. You just looking for useful stuff?"

"Pretty much, there are a few things that I want to find, but largely it's just see what's out there. What do you think is one of the more useful tools that you sell that anyone would find helpful?"

"Besides the rope?" The gnome asked.

Davin barked out a laugh. "Haha, yeah besides the rope."

"Eh not much in here, most of the adventurers that tend to linger nearby tend to focus on just the dungeons. But, never a bad idea to look around."

Davin nodded along, thinking about what was always included in some of the basic kits for any tabletop game. "The spider silk rope doesn't break down?"

"Nope! Some of the strongest you can get in the area, won't find anything stronger unless you find some iron web spiders." he let out an almost unnoticed shiver at the word spider.

"Okay, I'll go ahead and take Rhodes worth of spider silk rope. Do I have to do anything extra to it?"

"Heh, nah, the stuff is just like normal rope, just has a little give to it, helpful when climbing."

"so it's not going to stick to things?" Davin felt dumb as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

"Stick? Oh ha, I gethca, nope, not the sticky kind. Have some spider of glue if you want some." Pointing over his shoulder to the wall where there was an assortment of jars and vials.

"Oh, good to know, but not yet, could be handy in the future though."

Davin gathered a few other odds and ends, replacing some of the wire and nails that he'd used in the movie theater.