Adam waited for his clothes to be dry. All the while he relaxed in order to regain some of his strength.
Health increased to 20.
Mana increased to 1.
Finally his clothes were dry and so he slipped into his heavy travellers clothes and slipped a silver piece to James as thanks for his good work in cleaning his armour.
CURRENCY
28 Gold
18 Silver
15 Copper
“Here you are, for the armour that you helped clean up for me quickly, as well as Jurot’s. Thank you kindly, young man.”
James puffed out his chest, his grin was wider than any he had seen before. “I’m good at my job, mister Adam! I’m confident and confi… denshell.”
“That’s right.” Adam laughed and then retrieved his armour, heading up to lock it in his room before then making his way out of the guild to head to the gates.
He kept at his side his sword, and then within a pocket his wizard’s die. His current defence was low, but he was hoping he didn’t get into too much trouble with anyone. He managed to recover from the fight fairly well and he had a spell in his back pocket in case he needed it.
He trekked through Red Oak, passed the smithy where Thundersmith was muttering to himself as he slammed his hammer down onto a piece of metal that would soon form into an instrument of death. The half-elf thought better than to interrupt, for there was no reason to at this time.
The noon sun scorched down and beat it's rays against his neck. Adam was now glad that he had left his armour behind in his room, because otherwise he would have been a roasting elf and he wasn’t sure he wanted to go around burnt like a toast.
He slipped his way through the main road until he was finally at the steady gates. The guard pattern had shifted so another was at the inside of the city, the man’s eyes scanning the horizon before he saw the half-elf.
"Good afternoon, I'm here to pay the gate fee."
"The gate fee?" the guard asked as he tilted his head questioningly.
Adam nodded. "Uzami allowed me to pay later due to some circumstances. I think she told me to let the captain know."
The guard motioned with a hand to have the half-elf stay before he called out for another.
"Hey, let the captain know that the half-elf adventurer is paying his guard fee."
Adam reached into his pouch and held out the copper. The guard held up a hand and Adam tossed it over.
QUICK
D20 (11) - QUICK (1) = 10
SUCCESS!
CURRENCY
28 Gold
18 Silver
14 Copper
He had just about caught it with a hand, even though the throw wasn’t exactly stellar. The guard nodded and then another guard appeared, who caught the coin that was suddenly tossed at him, before he finally left.
"Alright, but next time you should pay at the gate."
"Yeah, it was just I came out of the sewer."
"The sewer? Rat slaying?"
"Yeah."
"Ah," the guard nodded, "understood."
"Have a nice watch," Adam said as he waved and then was about to leave before he stopped. "Do you by any chance know a decent tailor?"
"A tailor? There's old man Albert. He lives straight down the main road," the guard motioned with a hand. "His building is pretty small, but he's got a blue door with a silver stripe across the middle."
Adam thanked the guard and made his way, his light steps soft against the cobblestone floor which led him into the centre of town. He kept an eye out for the door, soon finding it about a five minute walk from the centre of the town.
The door had once been blue and pristine, the silver bar a single cloud against the strong blue. Now though it was a streak of grey, a sad rainy cloud against a pale sky that had seen too much sun, with chips within the paint and the wood. One of the hinges seemed to have given up, yet the door remained still attached, still ready to serve whoever needed entrance.
Adam rasped against it gently with his knuckles as the sound rang through the small building.
"Who is it?" called a raspy voice from beyond.
"My name is Adam. I’m here to ask an Albert about some clothes I need made.”
"'Come in then."
Adam stepped in and smelled a clothes shop. He could smell the different materials and colours as they hit his senses.
"Shut the door quickly don't let in no draft, boy!" the unseen voice exclaimed from beyond the room.
Adam did as the voice asked, shutting the door as gently as he could so as to not destroy it with his great might. He looked about the room to see piles upon piles of cloth neatly, mostly, stacked up with all the colours of the rainbow on a sunny day, and more. There were reds, although some would call some of what they saw as maroon, burgundy, sanguine, but all Adam saw was red and slightly different red and a nice red too. This was the same for every other colour, for though he saw blue and light blue and, oh that was navy, he knew that.
Then a short older man came shambling in, bringing with him his wrinkles and his frown. He was a man that was about a full foot shorter than the half-elf, his arms were sticks, his body a withering tree. His hair was a wispy white, as though autumn had come to pluck away the hairs atop the head, but the very few that remained were covered in snow. His face was half turned as he stared up at Adam, a suspicious look in his eye.
“Adam you said?” it was the same voice that had called him in.
“Yes, uh, Albert is it?”
“Yes, yes that’s my name.” The old man nodded and then walked over to some of his cloths. “Clothes you said you wanted, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well come on then, what kind of clothes do you want.”
“I’d like some typical clothes to walk around in casually, as well as some night clothes.”
“Night clothes? Are you a noble, boy?”
“No, I’m a half-elf.”
“I can see that much, makes sense.” Albert shrugged his shoulders. “Well get to stripping then.”
What was with everyone wanting him to strip? Though he supposed that it was fine for now since he was at a clothes shop. He slipped out of the heavy wear that had kept his body covered and now revealed his great physique.
“By Omir, what are they feeding you?” Albert said, his eyes going wide as he stared at the scene before him.
“It’s my human half,” Adam joked. This ogling was getting out of hand.
“Ain’t that right,” Albert said as he waddled over. “Stand up straight boy! Arms out!”
The exclamation had taken him by surprise so he jolted up and then watched as Albert, who had been clambering about, brought up a piece of string and then began to measure his body with his deft fingers.
PERCEPTION
D20 (20) - WISE (1) = 19
SUCCESS!
The man’s fingers moved as though he was a painter, taking stock of all the different sizes around Adam’s chest, his waist, his arms, his underarms, the breadth of his shoulders, his butt, his thighs, his lower thighs, his knees, his calves, his ankles, around the rest of his arms, back to his torso, and finally his back. The sound of the string being pulled taut and then relaxing was like a symphony of tailoring, and within about a minute the man was done.
“Right, right, upper quite a bit, in between him and him, his lower more like…” Albert continued to mutter to himself quietly, Adam managing to pick up most of what he said but it was all a jumble really. Then finally Albert was back to the present.
“A basic set of clothes will set you back two silver a set, shirt and pants, night clothes are double, I’ll be using finer cloth from the eastern lands of Ishmir for that. What colours were you thinking?”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Black,” Adam said as he started to change. He wanted to keep his clothes simple.
“You some kind of thief boy?” Albert tutted at him. “Wearing black and all.”
“Uh, no, I just like black. I’d wear it around town.”
“So you’d advertise you’re a bad thief, is that so?”
“Uh… no, I’m not a thief,” Adam replied meekly despite his size. “What colours would you recommend for me?”
Albert’s keen eyes fell across Adam before he lumbered over to the piles of darker colours. “Bring me your hand.”
Adam held out his hand as Albert pressed some cloths over towards it before then finally settling on a set of red, or as some would call it, maroon. Albert then walked over to some clothes that were slightly fuzzier and then began to check the colours against Adam’s skin until he settled on a dark purple, or as some would call it, dark purple.
“Could I also ask for pockets on the trousers of each, as well as a belt?”
“I don’t do belts, you’d have to go to Marnie for that. She’s not far, head to the centre of town and you’ll come across a small home with a signboard that has a cow head on it.”
“Alright, I’ll head her way once I’m done here.”
“How big do you want the pockets?”
“About this size,” Adam raised his hand and then spread it out. “I want it heading down and then slightly at an angle for both. I’d also like a scarf too. I want that to be black.” Adam wanted at least one thing to be black.
“Anything else?”
“No I think that’s all.”
“That’ll be eight silver pieces,” Albert said with a nod.
“When will they be done?”
“You in a rush?”
“Not particularly, though I would like the night clothes to be done first.”
“Night clothes will be done by the evening, then tomorrow evening I’ll have the rest done.”
Adam nodded. “I’ll pay you a gold if that’s alright.”
“I’ll be taking kindly to that.”
Adam handed over the gold. “A pleasure doing business with you.”
CURRENCY
27 Gold
18 Silver
14 Copper
“You as well, Adam was it?”
Adam nodded and then he left the tailor to his work. Adam walked around towards the centre of the town to find the leather worker, finding her shop fairly quickly. The small shack was not unlike Albert’s, though her shack seemed to be in better wear. The sign was swaying gently, as if to call him hither.
“Who is it?” a woman’s voice called out from inside, as sweet as honey.
“My name is Adam, I’m here for a Marnie?” he said, trying to recall the name. “I’m looking for some leather items.”
“Come on in, Adam.”
Adam stepped inside to see an older woman with short silver-blonde hair that fell down to just beyond her ears, her skin was pale like milk, and her body was only slightly less stick-like than Albert’s. She was currently sewing some leather together, though she threw a quick glance with her dark grey eyes and nodded to the half-elf. The room around them was fairly simple and clean, only filled with cabinets, a counter, and some tools as well as a pair of stools, one the woman was currently sitting on.
“Good afternoon,” Adam said, “I’m here to see if I could order a belt?”
“What kind of belt are you looking for?” her eyes flashed across his body as if to gleam some information from him.
“A belt for around my waist,” he said.
“Do you have a leather in mind?”
“Uh… something simple and plain that will last for a long while…” Adam shrugged, having very little clue about anything to do with leather.
She nodded. “Would you like to see what I have already?”
“Yes please,” he said.
Marnie brought out a pair of belts for him. One was a pale brown and the other was much darker. Both were fairly simple in shape and form.
“Who sent you my way?” she asked as she handed over the belts.
“Albert,” Adam replied as he checked both of them and then looked at the pair for some time, trying to examine something to make it seem like he knew what he was doing.
“Oh? Did he give you any trouble?”
“No?” Adam said as he threw up a look towards her face.
“Just asking,” she smiled innocently. “We don’t get many of your kind here. We don’t have many half-elves that come around Red Oak, not unless they’re of the wild elf, they come by for the red oak.”
“I’ve worked with it a little, it seemed like fine wood.” Adam threw her a nod. “Actually, do you have any leather that’s white?”
“White leather?” She paused for a long while in thought. She retrieved the belt and then left into the back and after a few moments returned back with a slab of white-grey leather. “This is rhino leather from Ishmir’s southern plains,” she motioned it up for Adam to inspect.
It was heavily wrinkled and thick. When Adam tried to bend it, it needed a bit of strength to give way. He brushed his hand along it. It felt fairly coarse, not quite like sandpaper, but it still was quite rough against the skin.
“Would it work well as a belt?” Adam asked.
“Fine enough. Most of the leather I own can be used to make belts, though some of them are quite pricey.”
“Alright,” Adam said with a nod of his head. “What else could you make with this type of leather?”
“A sword belt or a sheathe for any sort of weapon, you can use it in a shield, a pair of boots, or a small necklace for a lady friend,” she winked and smiled at him.
Adam ignored the last comment. “How much for a set of boots?”
“A solid pair of rhino leather boots will set you back… about ten gold or so. They would last a long while, and the boots would work well for an adventurer like yourself.”
“That’s a fair price, though I’m not sure if I should go for that considering I’m still only a copper rank,” Adam joked with a chuckle. “How much for the belt?”
“I can do you the belt for three silver pieces.”
“Three silver pieces it is,” Adam said as he handed three pieces over.
CURRENCY
27 Gold
15 Silver
14 Copper
“I’ll have it done by the evening,” she said.
“That’s great, I’ll pick it up then.”
With that sorted out Adam made his way back to the guild. He had finished a quest and ordered some clothes, which is exactly what he wanted to do for the day. His second day in this world was a huge success. The guild wasn’t quite as lively as earlier, Peron and his people were gone, though Bobby and his crew were still around. Bobby was currently napping with his head against the table, whereas the others were just chatting and relaxing.
Adam sat down beside Jurot who was drinking some ale, already half tipsy with a peach flush across his face.
“Don’t get too drunk just yet,” Adam chuckled. “You still need to pay the copper to the guard.”
“Copper to the guard?” Jurot asked. “Right, I need to pay a copper to the guard,” he said and then he hiccupped.
“How drunk are you?”
“I’m not drunk at all!”
Adam sighed. “Come on, let’s head to the guard and pay them their copper,” he said slowly to stress the importance to Jurot. There was no need for Jurot to remain in ill standing with the guards over such a silly thing. Plus it had been his idea.
“Alright.”
With that Adam helped Jurot away.
“About your magic, Adam…” Jurot began but then stopped. “No, nevermind. Later. Later okay?”
“Uh, alright… don’t worry about it.”
Adam had been worried about Jurot, he didn’t want the barbarian man to walk up to the guard and say anything that was a little untoward towards them, but it seemed as though he worried for nothing. On the way back from the guard Adam spied James, who was currently marching confidently through the town and heading towards a place. A few other townsfolk were keeping an eye on him, but seeing him managing fine they left him be.
Adam wondered how many knew of James’ circumstances and if perhaps the young man was a celebrity of sorts within Red Oak.
He returned with Jurot back to the guild, and on the way it seemed Jurot had sobered up. Jurot leaned over and whispered in a way that only Jurot could whisper, a little louder than a typical whisper, but with a great effort of trying to remain quiet.
“So about your magic…” he said. “You’re a wizard?”
“That I am,” Adam whispered in return.
“Oh…”
“Why?”
“I was just wondering, when we fought those rats…”
“Yeah.”
“That was your magic then?”
“That’s right.”
“How can you use a sword so well?”
“I was trained with weaponry as well.”
“Wow…” Jurot’s eyes went wide. “So… you know some tricks too?”
“A few.”
“Wow.”
“Thanks?”
“I am a warrior by blood, I cannot use magic,” Jurot said quietly, though it didn’t seem as though he was sad by such a thing.
“I’m sure you could if you learnt how to.”
Jurot shook his head. “My father, and his father before him, they were all like me. We use our rage, not magic.”
“Perhaps your rage is a kind of magic?”
Jurot raised his brows with a smug look. “I am so powerful I don’t need magic.”
“Well that’s true enough,” Adam chuckled. “Do you want to do another quest tomorrow?”
“Another so soon?”
“I don’t really have much else to do.” Adam shrugged.
“We have coin to spend!” Jurot grinned wide like a savage beast.
“Well I’m spending it alright, but I’d like to save up a little too.”
“Saving up money? You’re still a copper rank, you don’t need to sound like a bronze rank just yet.”
Adam smiled. “I suppose it’s the elf in me.”
Jurot nodded and then smiled. “I hear elves are great warriors, even though many of them use magic.”
“That’s true enough, I think. I’m not so sure. I’ve only really known my mother.”
“You have not met other elves?”
Adam shrugged and shook his head. “Not really.”
“What do you know of your people?” Jurot asked.
“Nothing, really.”
Jurot’s face went blank like a sheet of paper. “Nothing?”
Adam shrugged. “My mother left her people. She didn’t really tell me anything about my background.”
“That is a sad thing,” Jurot frowned. “I know many stories of my peoples.”
“I’d like to hear some,” Adam said. “I have some time to kill.”
Jurot grinned wide like a beast once more, leaning back as he crossed his arms. “My people are a great people!”
It was then Jurot began to regale the tales of his people. He spoke of the first of his people, a man named Imrat, apparently a man that had been exiled by his own before he then journeyed for a long while, gaining some followers before then eventually forming a new clan within the Iyr mountains, which was some ways away from Red Oak currently. He spoke of how his tribe had once sprawled even beyond Red Oak, and that the territory had once belonged to them, but they eventually left to return to the Iyr mountains where they continue to lay claim. They worked as powerful mercenaries for the various super powers of the region, though sometimes those super powers would turn their attention to the Iyr, but the rocky formations that the Iyr had mastered and the terrain about had made it quite difficult to assault and so they were given their peace. Now their peoples number in the low thousands as many have gone to far lands to make a name for themselves.
“It is said warriors of the Iyr are made of steel, for they at least reach such a rank before they perish or return to the Iyr.”
“That’s a great claim to make, I’m sure you’ll live up to it.”
Jurot nodded. “Many work alone, but there are times when we are asked to help another or a group.”
“Well I’m glad that I have found such a dependable fellow,” Adam said with a smile.
“It is no bother, for I am a man of the Iyr.”
Evening was approaching and so Adam returned to fetch his clothes and his belt. The night clothes were fuzzy and gentle to the touch of his fey skin, and the belt seemed rigid enough to take quite a beating. He then returned back to the guild for a meal of hearty porridge, some fruit, and even some meat. The meat was questionable and when Adam realised it could have been the rat meat, he suddenly found himself unable to eat much more it. Then finally he went up to change into the dark purple night clothes so he could get ready to sleep.
As he lay in bed with his new clothing, slowly drifting off to sleep. He checked his experience once more to see what he had to work with.
EXP
450
He was at 450 EXP now, but he wondered how much he needed in order to level up. He wondered how much experience he needed for each level, and then he thought about which class he would like to level up. Levelling up warrior would allow him to be quite a hearty fellow and he would not need to worry about his health for some time. He wondered about wizard, it would give him a decent boost in utility depending on which magic he wanted to specialise in, and then he’d be a level away from greater spells.
Though another thought crossed his sleepy mind. He could level up into something else entirely. Another class with all the bonuses that came along with that. He didn’t really have the best stats for most other classes, but there were a couple he could dip into in order to gain a large set of powerful skills that he could use. The thoughts of the class filled his mind before he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of nothing but blackness as he had before.