The Moonlit Alehouse was a spectacle of light and sound as evening fell on Silverton. As Justin and Lila approached, the soft glow of hanging lanterns and the faint strumming of a lute hinted at the merriment within. But as Justin pushed the heavy oak doors open with a muted creak, the full scale of the tavern’s cozy grandeur greeted them.

Inside was a symphony of golden hues—honey-colored wooden beams stretching across the ceiling, supporting an array of intricately crafted chandeliers made of wrought iron, each holding glowing orbs that emitted a soft, moonlike luminescence. These orbs bathed the establishment in a gentle light that flickered and danced, imitating the moon’s glow while justifying the tavern’s name.

The walls were lined with shelves of ornate bottles filled with liquids of every imaginable hue. Plush burgundy seating lined the perimeter, and in the center, rows of sturdy oak tables were surrounded by patrons engaged in animated conversation, laughter, and song. The majority were human, but mixed in there was the occasional orc. Musicians sat upon a raised platform, drawing lilting melodies from lutes, flutes, and hand drums.

“Quite the place,” Justin murmured, glancing around. His gaze lingered on a corner where a group played dice, their raucous cheers and jeers creating a lively ambiance.

Lila nodded toward the counter. “I want to book a room. Care to join?”

Justin followed her, not sure if she wanted to share a room again, now that they could each afford their own, or if she merely wanted him to accompany her to the front, where the innkeeper waited behind the oaken counter.

Before he could ask her, the innkeeper spoke, taking them both in. “Looking for a room? It’s a silver a night for a single, and two silvers if you want something bigger.”

“Anything cheaper?” Justin asked.

“We have the dorm for fifty coppers a night. Sleeps twelve.”

“No dorm,” Lila said. “Do you have anything with double beds?”

“We have one left. That one’s a silver and forty coppers.”

Lila looked at him sidelong, smiling slightly. “Do you mind sharing again?”

Memories of two nights ago came flooding back, and before Justin could stop it, his cheeks were coloring. “Yes. That would be fine.”

“Well, we have been through a lot together, haven’t we? Might as well be...comfortable.”

At her suggestive smile, Justin felt his pulse quicken as he swallowed a nervous throat lump. It sounded like Lila wanted to celebrate with more than just drinks.

The innkeeper looked between the two of them, giving Justin a sly wink. “Very good. Will you be taking a bath or breaking your fast tomorrow?”

“Yes to both,” Lila said. “And make sure the tub is big.”

“Why big?” Justin asked.

Lila just smiled.

Even the innkeeper was having a chuckle at that. “Our largest tub is thirty coppers.”

Lila nodded. “Bring it up just short of midnight.”

“Yes, madam. It shall be done.”

They settled up, Justin deciding not to question anything. Sometimes, the best thing to say was nothing at all.

That was when they were interrupted by a familiar voice. “Over here!”

Eldrin, seated in a dim corner, waved them over, his chiseled face illuminated by the glow of a nearby lantern. He was nursing a pint of dark, frothy ale, and by the look in his eyes, it wasn’t his first.

“Another round for my friends!” Eldrin called out, raising his mug in salute. The serving girl promptly arrived, placing two more mugs filled with the same deep amber liquid. As Justin and Lila sat, the girl placed the mugs before them.

“To victory and spoils,” Eldrin said.

“Victory and spoils,” Justin and Lila echoed.

They clinked their mugs and drank deeply.

“Well?” Lila asked.

Eldrin flashed a smile and opened his coin purse. From it, he counted out thirty silvers for each of them. Justin’s and Lila’s eyes popped.

“A good haul,” Eldrin said.

Lila looked to be near tears. “I never thought I’d have such luck. I needed this.”

Justin took his share, adding it to his coin purse. Sixty-three and some odd coppers earned over the past few days. A good haul indeed.

“It’s yours,” Eldrin said. “You’d think I was a Merchant from the way I haggled that man to give me a fair price.”

The scent of roasting meats wafted in from the kitchen, making Justin’s stomach rumble in anticipation. Lila flagged down their server and placed an order for a sumptuous banquet: roasted fowl with a tangy berry sauce, seared venison steaks, and an array of fresh vegetables and seasoned potatoes, with rhubarb pie and whipped cream for dessert.

As they waited for their feast, the atmosphere grew more intimate, setting the stage for an evening of revelations and stories. For two hours they sat, talking, laughing, and eating as the evening deepened. Justin couldn’t remember ever feeling such camaraderie. In his old life, he spent almost all his waking hours downstairs in a basement playing video games. He almost felt like an imposter here. After all, the warmth of this companionship in a single evening was more than he’d gotten in years.

The candlelit glow from the walls turned the cozy tavern into a realm of dancing shadows. The music slowed, turning more soulful, and conversations in the tavern seemed to hush a bit.

Eldrin, after sharing a tale of an unexpected rainstorm during one of his hunts, turned to Lila. “So, what about you? What’s a lady like you doing adventuring with us misfits?”

Lila hesitated, her fingers playing with the rim of her mug. “It’s...complicated.”

“Isn’t it always?” Eldrin said with a chuckle, taking another sip of his ale.

Lila exhaled, the weight of her past clear in her eyes. “I didn’t want to get into this, but hells below, why not? I’m four drinks in, and both of you seem like the okay sort. And...it would be good to get this off my chest.”

“You can trust us,” Justin assured her.

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She paused for a moment. “I did something very foolish. I...bought a class core on credit. Thought it would be a smart investment for the future.”

Eldrin raised a brow. “That’s a brave move. They cost a fortune!”

Justin didn’t know exactly what they meant, but he nodded sympathetically. He wasn’t quite ready to betray his ignorance yet.

She nodded. “I intended to buy a Merchant core. I already had a nice business; just general sundries, nothing fancy. I thought it would take me to the next level, you know?” Her eyes became misty with remembrance before darkening. “But...” She paused, taking a deep breath. “I was swindled by my contact. I got a core all right, but it wasn’t a Merchant core. It was a Bard core. I was so eager I didn’t even bother to read the rune inside. I just assumed it was okay. It was the right color, after all. But I’d signed the contract; as you know, Merchant cores are quite expensive. Well, I paid the Merchant core’s price for the Bard core. By the time I realized the truth, it was too late. I had already absorbed it.”

Justin leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “And now?”

Lila bit her lip, looking down. “I owe sixty crowns. Maybe more now, with the interest. A fortune I don’t have. And every day, the interest grows.”

Eldrin let out a long whistle. “Sixty golds? Who on Eyrth gave you such a hefty line of credit?”

Lila’s voice was soft. “It wasn’t always like this. Remember that business I talked about? It was my collateral. Such were my interest payments that I could no longer make the business work. They took bloody everything from me, and by the time I barely had a shirt on my back, I still owed. Didn’t take long for them to send their thugs after me for the rest, but there was nothing left to give. So, I did the only thing I could do. I ran.”

Justin studied Lila for a moment. “But you’re only Level 1. This must’ve been recent?”

She merely sipped her drink, avoiding his gaze, neither confirming nor denying. “I’ve already said too much. Now the both of you know what a fool I am.”

“You’re not a fool,” Eldrin said. “It’s a story I’ve heard before. Everyone wants a class, and there are a lot of bad sorts who’ll take advantage of that desperation.”

“I should’ve known,” Lila said. “With a Merchant core, I could have made it work. But now, I’m a Bard. So what if my core allows me to sing like a nightingale? That won’t pay back my debts. I fear they will never stop hunting me. And if they find me...”

She trailed off, not wanting to say anything more.

“I know this might not be what you want to hear,” Eldrin said carefully, “but you could set sail. Plenty of ships going out of Belmora. Passage isn’t cheap, but far cheaper than paying back a debt you can’t owe. I doubt they’ll chase you as far as Calidon, especially if they know you have nothing else to pay.”

“To live among the orcs?” Lila asked, draining her glass. "It sounds like a lonely life."

After a somber moment, Eldrin cleared his throat. “Well, my turn, I suppose. I’ve been living in the wilds of Serenthel for the past seven years.”

Justin remembered seeing the name on his map. It seemed to be the name of the entire continent of which Aranthia was a part.

“The thrill of the hunt, the chase of treasures. That’s what I live for. I was running, too, though from something else. We won’t go there. I imagine you’d lose a lot of your goodwill toward me if we did. Anyhow, my proper story begins five years ago, when it started snowing something fierce. That was a terrible storm.”

“I remember that winter,” Lila said. “Coldness to freeze your blood.”

Eldrin nodded. “Well, I was out in it in the North Peaks, of all places. Somehow, I made it to a cave for shelter. Went as deep as I could to escape it. That’s when I saw something green glowing in the darkness of the cave. I thought I was hallucinating. I didn’t dare believe it could be what I thought it was...”

“. . . No,” Lila said, in anticipation. “It wasn’t a core?”

Eldrin nodded. “It was. Right there, in front of me. The Priests have always told me my Core Attribute was Coordination. And I knew enough to recognize it was a Ranger Core. Whether I’d sell it, or absorb it, wasn’t even a question.”

“Wait,” Justin said. “Can someone explain to me what a class core even is? I feel like I’ve missed a crucial piece of the puzzle here.”

Lila and Eldrin exchanged glances. Justin didn’t care if what he was asking was common knowledge, or if it made them suspicious of him. He had to know these things if he was going to make it in this world. At least long enough to get back out again.

Eldrin began. “All right, lad. I’m not sure how you’ve gotten this far in life without learning about this stuff. But class cores are magical artifacts. They are the only thing that allows you to gain a class. As long as the person is twenty years old, and they have the Core Attribute to match the core, then they can absorb the core and gain the class, assuming they don’t already have a class, of course.”

“And they’re incredibly rare,” Lila added. “Most are bought up by the rich. Commoners like us have to get more creative. Loans. Pledging years of fealty to an institution or lord that will help us out. Even stealing them. They can rarely be found in the wilds, like what Eldrin was describing, or in the Vaults.”

“Vaults?” Justin asked.

“Natural formations that arise from Eyrth’s magical essence,” Eldrin explained. “Think of them as magical chambers filled with challenges and treasures. These Vaults can be anywhere, deep in forests, under mountains, even within cities or underwater. It varies. One might pop up for a week and disappear, while another can exist for years, decades even, without anyone ever clearing it. And they’re highly dangerous, even the less challenging ones. But you’ll know one when you see one. Better make sure you have powerful friends before you try your luck! It’s by far the easiest way for an adventurer to die.”

The concept of “Vaults” sounded similar to dungeons from the games he’d played. “How much do one of these class cores cost?”

Lila shrugged. “It depends. Anywhere from thirty to two hundred gold crowns, depending on rarity and demand. Some are even more.”

Justin sat back, absorbing all the information. The tapestry of Eyrth’s mysteries was slowly unveiling before him. And he realized just how little he truly knew.

After a deep sigh, Justin looked into his drink, swirling the amber liquid. “You know...what you mentioned about finding cores in the wild, that sounds awfully familiar. When I was in the Wildwood north of Mistwatch, I stumbled upon...well, something I can’t explain.”

Eldrin raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. “What was it?”

“It was an orb, shimmering with every color you could imagine, like a rainbow trapped inside a crystal,” Justin said. “I picked it up, and it seemed to flow into me.”

Lila’s eyes widened. “You...you found a class core in the Wildwood? Just like that?”

Justin nodded, looking sheepish. “You said earlier that a core only contains one class, and it has to match your Core Attribute. Except this core allowed me to choose both my class and my Core Attribute. I thought it was normal, you know, since I’m new to all this, so I never brought it up.”

Lila and Eldrin exchanged a glance, disbelief evident in their eyes.

“That’s...extraordinary,” Eldrin murmured.

Justin regretted mentioning it, feeling the weight of their disbelief. “I know it sounds strange, but it’s the truth.”

Lila leaned forward, her skepticism obvious. “See, the thing is, Justin, a common class core only gives one specific class. And it only resonates with those possessing the right Core Attribute. But what you’re describing...”

Eldrin finished her sentence. “...sounds like a Prismatic Core.”

Justin’s brow furrowed. “Prismatic what now?”

Lila’s gaze was intense. “Prismatic Core. They’re legendary artifacts, more myth than reality. Most people in Eyrth don’t even believe they exist. Such cores don’t just give you any class, they grant you an additional Core Attribute, letting you customize your destiny. Only four show up every year: during both solstices and equinoxes. It's the only way to get a second Core Attribute outside of reaching level 20 and absorbing a second class core.”

“When did you find that core, lad?” Eldrin asked.

Justin counted back the days on his fingers. “Let’s see...it would’ve been...” He paused. “Four days ago?”

“September 21,” Eldrin said. “The fall equinox.”

“There’s no way,” Lila said. Her eyes were amused, expecting a punchline that never came.

Justin thought back to his choice of how he ended up with Charisma as a Core Attribute, and Socialite as a class. That had been a stupid, fat-fingered mistake not once, but twice. If he’d truly found this Prismatic Core that comes only four times a year, then he’d bungled the biggest opportunity of all time.

But maybe he’d appeared next to that core for a reason. Somehow, he’d come into this world. And it seemed no one here even existed without a Core Attribute that went with a corresponding class.

Maybe this was the “System’s” way of giving him a Core Attribute, so that his existence here wouldn’t break things.

He kept this speculation to himself, not wanting to deepen their disbelief. “You know, thinking about it, maybe I just found a Socialite core in the woods. I don’t know. I’m new to all this and hit my head pretty hard.”

Eldrin and Lila exchanged glances again. Skepticism lingered, but they chose not to pry further.

Instead, Eldrin asked another question. “So, tell us about Ironhold. Why were you there?”

Justin hesitated, realizing he was on the cusp of a decision. Should he trust these newfound friends with his incredible story, which, to their eyes, would be even more unbelievable, or continue weaving tales?

He looked into their expectant eyes and knew he couldn’t lie any longer. So what if this came back to bite him? It wasn’t as if he was fighting for anything except the infinitesimal chance he’d get to leave this place someday.

“All right,” he began, taking a swig of his ale. “You want to know the truth? This is how I really came to be here...”