Chapter 23

“That was weird,” Ava said, looking over her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Leon said. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen him on my runs, but then again, if he’s been living in a building outside the main street, that kind of makes sense. But do you really think bringing something there will be a good thing? I mean, even Margaret couldn’t tell us more.”

“I know. But what other choices do we have? It’s worth a shot.”

They walked in silence, and soon came up to the stone arch that lead to the plaza where the night market was.

Leon had visited it once since the first time he’d come upon it, just to try the burger. Whatever the merchant had said, the burger had tasted nothing like the ones he’d had before, and he would probably not jump at the chance of getting another one.

They stopped by the guards, and Leon stepped up to one of the blue-clad figures.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

The guard scratched his hand over his neck. “I guess. Where are your weapons today? Have you given up your fool’s errand?”

“Not really, just can’t anymore. I won’t stop running, though,” Leon said with a smile. “I actually got a point in agility from it as well, so it wasn’t for nothing.”

The guard opened up the front of the helmet, revealing a short brown beard and a face that looked younger than he’d expected from the voice. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. But now it’s time to head into the first floor of the tower. Have you been there?”

The guard shook his head. “I have barely been out of the city since I got revived three years ago. Haven’t even slain more than the tutorial monster, so I don’t think I’ll step a foot in there if I can help it.”

“Do you know anyone who could tell us more?”

The guard shrugged. “Not really. There’s talk in the guard’s house about it once in a while, but the information they have is very limited. The NPCs can’t talk about it, and the players who have gone through with it can’t say more than how different the difficulty was for them. Some experience that it’s easy, almost as easy as the tutorial, while others barely made it out alive and even watched their party members die.”

“That’s what we’ve heard too—that the first level is hard. Do you know what made it difficult? Too many monsters, or traps, or something else?”

“They don’t know. Or rather, they can’t say.”

“Memory wipe?”

“They literally can’t say, or something horrible happens to them. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

Leon thought back to the conversation he’d had with Yung before he came to the world. He’d said the first level was tough, but little else. “Do you know anywhere where we could get more information?”

The guard shook his head and pulled down the visor again. “If I had that knowledge, I’d try to figure it out myself, but I don’t. As I said, everyone’s experiences differ, so you’ll just have to chance it. From what I understand, the last part of the level is the hardest one to face. But from the questions I’ve asked, people aren’t keen to talk about that part. They say something lofty and leave it be, probably to make sure the penalty won’t hit them.”

“Like what?”

“Something like… like… oh, I don’t know. Remembering is the hardest part, how little their existence matters. Gloomy stuff like that.”

“So, nothing about how to survive?”

The guard sighed. “Look, what I’m telling you has circulated through the guard’s house for longer than I’ve been here. If there was any more information, I’d gladly share it, but there isn’t.”

“Thanks for your time.”

The guard nodded. “If you make it through, feel free to fill the blanks in my knowledge.”

“Will do.” Leon turned and continued down the street, but Ava grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.

“I don’t like this. What if the level is super hard? He said he knew people who knew people who died.”

“I know,” Leon said. He turned to her. “Never think I’ll force you to complete the first level. If you want to back out, that’s fine. I won’t hold a grudge.”

Her ears reddened, and she looked at the cobbled street. “I still want to climb.”

“You can change your mind.”

Ava didn’t dignify him with an answer, but trotted on. This time, she was the one who picked up the speed first.

Leon followed her and thought about the doll in his backpack. He hadn’t seen the girl, but he’d keep an eye out for her all the same.

As they entered the plaza outside Margaret’s inn, the merchants were busy setting up their stalls. Leon looked at the time and smiled.

“Let’s head into Hert’s shop,” Leon said, and turned toward the building. Ava slowed and jogged with him to the door.

She reached out a hand to open it, then frowned. “It says I don’t have the qualifications to enter.”

“Oh, yeah. I wonder why he has that. I had to complete a quest with him to get access, so I guess that’s why.”

“But I was in his party! I went to the cave and everything like that.” Ava pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

“I’ll talk to him about it, if you want me to.”

She turned away. “No. I don’t need it.”

“You sure?”

“Stop asking if I’m sure. If I say it, I mean it.”

Leon raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment. Instead, he turned the handle. “See you in a bit, then.”

Leon pushed open the door and stepped inside. Heat caressed his face, and a smell of iron and burning coal wafted from the back of the store. Hert was nowhere to be seen, but his shop was quite a sight. Leon turned to face the outer wall.

The inside of the building was built with horizontal logs, upon which row after row of metal hooks sat hammered. They were of different sizes, sure, but they were all hooks, with a flat end on the top and a blunt edge on the bottom. The smallest ones would be fit to hang jewelry or other lightweight stuff, and the size of the larger ones made Leon guess they were used for hanging meat. He touched one of them. It was rough to the touch.

“Hey,” Hert said.

Leon turned around to the L-shaped desk, behind which Hert stood, wiping his hands on an apron. “Are you going to badger me into entering the tower with you?”

“Um… that wasn’t my intent, no.” Leon glanced at the lit forge behind him. “I figured I’d come to you to look for a weapon.”

Hert chuckled. “Sorry, won’t find one here.”

“No, I got that. How did you end up as a hook maker?”

“Blacksmith, thank you.” Hert cleared his throat. “Okay, the skill is called Hooker, but it’s in the Blacksmith skill tree, and not something I’d like to brag about, for multiple reasons.”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Leon quenched his laugh through coughing, but he couldn’t stop the trembling in his body, no matter how hard he dug his fingernails into his palms. Whoever created this game had a somewhat distasteful sense of humor.

He cleared his throat and said, “So you want the stone to make some kind of new hook?”

Hert opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he scratched at his bald head. “Well… no. I’m trying to develop a new skill. Not going great, I have to admit.”

“What is it you want to do?”

Hert’s face flushed red. “Never mind that. I don’t have what you seek, anyway. Go to the general store. He has weapons.”

“You know, you could expand into making grappling hooks or something like it.” It could benefit him if he wanted to continue his business, especially since Ai had said more people were expected to arrive. Rangers could probably make use of those.

Hert’s redness turned darker, and he mumbled something, then waved a hand toward the door. “So there. Then you don’t have to ask again. If you don’t mind, I need to get back to work.”

“I didn’t hear—” Leon stopped as Hert turned his back to him and disappeared into an area beyond a large anvil. Okay, then. Whatever.

Leon went outside and found Ava discussing something with the crafting merchant and helping him put some of his wares up in his stall. Leon approached them and Ava looked up, stroking a strand of red hair from her face.

“Did you get a weapon?”

“I’ll have to go to the general store in the Slums. What are you up to?”

“He didn’t want to help you? That’s so typical,” Ava said, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. “Can’t trust him with anything.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. He just doesn’t smith weapons.”

Ava raised her eyebrows. “So what is he doing?”

Leon thought of Hert’s red face, and that he had requirements to enter his shop. “Something else.”

“Best prices on the market,” the merchant said and patted an empty hook on his stall. “Ain’t looking nice, but they’re functional.”

“He makes… hooks? Does he design other stuff as well? Like chandeliers, or—”

“Hooks are good for any sort of business or household,” the merchant said and lifted a box. He tipped the contents out on the table and started pulling sticky wolf’s eyes from small vials carrying something that looked like sand, placing them side by side.

Ava grimaced at the sight. “Could you tell Leon what you just told me?”

“Oh, it’s nothin’, really.” He scratched his cheek. “Just said that you might wanna pack up n’ stuff before you head in there. Most peeps usually take a while to get through.”

“What do you mean when you say pack up? That it will take hours to get through, or days?”

The merchant shrugged. “Some take hours, some take days. You might wanna look into buyin’ some camps.”

“Camps?”

The merchant waved him aside as an older woman in a shawl walked up to look at the goods spread out over the table. “Go to the general store and ask him.”

Ava pulled Leon to the side as they walked past the crafting fountain. “What do you think?”

“About the time it takes?” Leon sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. It probably has to do with the difficulty you’re dealt, so we should try to prepare for the worst.”

“Yeah…” Ava stared down the street, her eyes vacant.

“If you took a shot at guessing what we’ll meet on the first floor, what would it be?”

Ava tapped her lip. “I don’t know. But fighting must be necessary if people are dying in there.”

“That’s what I think too. But something I’d really love to know is what determines whether you get an easy pass or not. I mean, we’ve gained levels, so whatever shows up, we should be able to handle it. Except for items, we’ve prepared the best we can.”

Ava made a fist. “Yes. We have. It’s going to go great. We also have some luck, so maybe that plays into it.”

“Not without Hert,” Leon pointed out. “We aren’t in a party anymore, so that boon is gone.”

Ava looked at her walking feet. “Oh. Yeah.”

Leon stepped up the wooden porch to the general goods store and Ava looked up at the sign with the scale.

“I hope he’ll be fair,” she said. “He didn’t really give much for my items before.”

“You’ve been in here?” Leon asked, holding open the door.

“On occasion.”

They went inside. Nothing had changed since the first time he was here. The same table in the middle with a huge pileup with an assortment of different things, piles of armor and weapons lining the walls, and the rat-faced shopkeeper standing behind his counter at the end of the room. He’d either not changed the dress shirt from that time, or just happened to have it on again.

“Welcome to my humble store,” he said, wringing his hands. “What can I help you with today?”

“Weapons,” Leon said and stepped up to the man. “And some other stuff.”

The merchant looked over Leon’s shoulder. “Ah, a familiar face. Did you come to purchase your staff?”

Ava’s face reddened, and she took a step to stand behind Leon. “No.”

“Hmph.” The merchant drew over his thinning hair with deft fingers. “So, you want to purchase a weapon. What’s your class?”

Leon didn’t believe he’d forgotten about him, since there weren’t many new adventurers coming to town, but decided it didn’t really matter. “We aim to climb the tower, so we’re looking for a weapon for me, Warrior class, a staff for a Cleric, and other items that might help us complete the first floor. Oh, and I’d love to have a look at holding items.”

“Hmm, yes. I believe I have something to suit your needs.”

A box popped up.

Loading Warrior class and general items + Cleric’s staffs + holding items

“You didn’t get that dress here, did you, sweetie?” the man said, leaning an arm on the counter while trying to catch Ava’s gaze. If the man had whiskers, he would have stroked them. “I could have made you a deal for something prettier.”

Ava took on an expression that reminded Leon of a hissing cat.

Finally, the box showed.

Long Sword 67% 279 coin Short Sword 50% 159 coin Fearsome Dagger 30% 199 coin

He scrolled down and found a wooden sword for 129 coins. He was almost tempted to buy it. After some more scrolling, the long sword might be the best choice, since most of the weapons that came up after the first ones barely had any durability left, but that wouldn’t leave much for anything else.

But before he made up his mind, he scanned the side of the box, where there were four tabs. The first one was Warrior items, the second one took him to a page with potions and other consumables, the third one showed holding items, and the fourth held staffs for Clerics.

Staff of Tutorial 100% 339 coin Staff of Tutorial 83% 279 coin Staff of Blessing 1% 10,459 coin

That was the full list.

“What’s the last staff?” Leon asked.

“A staff for a level 65 Cleric or higher. Not that I’ve ever met one.”

Leon turned to Ava. “What did he give you for your staff? And do you know how much you used it?”

The rat-faced man suddenly stretched out a hand. “That’s confiden—”

“I barely used it, and he gave me fifty coins,” Ava quipped.

Leon raised an eyebrow at the merchant. “Market prices, huh?”

He took a quick look at the tab with consumables. Also very expensive. One of those camp items the merchant talked about was 139 coins. Then he shifted to the holding items. The one cheapest one with the four slots cost 600 coins.

There was no way he’d be able to purchase a staff, a sword, and something else. Heck, even the 80% durability staff together with the sword went over his budget.

“Ava, let’s leave. I know this is the most common place for new players, but like how I found our clothes at a tailor’s store, we should be able to find the rest elsewhere.”

The man licked his lips and wrung his hands faster. “Wait! Maybe… maybe I can give you a discount? Didn’t that dagger serve you well, mister?”

Leon only raised an eyebrow.

“Well… I… I’ll see what I can do.” The shopkeeper closed his eyes for a few seconds. He gave them a broad smile. “There. Now, have a look.”

Long Sword 67% 229 coin Short Sword 50% 119 coin Fearsome Dagger 30% 179 coin

Leon opened the pages with staffs.

Staff of Tutorial 100% 289 coin Staff of Tutorial 83% 229 coin Staff of Blessing 1% 9,999 coin

Leon quipped his lips to the side, trying to not look pleased with the change. So haggling was also a thing?

“Nah, I still think we can find better prices elsewhere. I saw this shop near the plaza with the night market. We might drop in there, and see if they’re more forthcoming. Maybe they have some wider options, too.”

Ava nodded and turned on her heel.

“Wait!” The shopkeeper licked his lips and closed his eyes again. “There!”

Leon glanced at the prices. They’d gone down with ten coins each. “Come on. You can do better, right?”

“You’re bleeding me dry,” he whined as he closed his eyes a third time.