He has been playing for quite some time now, and this is his what? 3rd? 4th game already? He has been losing so far and he's going to continue because simply put, he refuses to leave empty handed.

Jacob pressed one button, and then the next, and then the next, and finally- the fourth wall of the maze opened up and he quickly grabbed the control stick and corrected the course of the metal ball, he led it away from the two dead ends and then dodged a wall before quickly pressing on towards the ravine and when he reached the edged, he quickly slammed the control stick downwards and sent the ball flying to the other side, smiling, he reached another wall and did the puzzle before the timer runs out.

Button after button, he pressed them again and again until, he set the ball free, and finally, after three tries in a row, Jacob managed to put the ball at the end of the maze and got himself a roll on the "winner's wheel". He pulled the lever and watched as the thing spun, and spun, and eventually land on top of an... egg. That's it, a simple looking egg. White and the size of his fist.

"What's this?" He asked as the Dwarf handed him the egg.

And in response, the shorter man shrugged, saying, "I dunno, they just give it to me for rewards, honestly these things can come from anything, chickens mostly."

"Right." Great, he now has a mystery egg.

When Asya and he were out of earshot from the Dwarf, Jacob faced his date and asked, "What do you think is gonna pop out of this thing?" Asya simply tilted her head in response before gesturing with a shrug, "So you also don't know? I thought you liked this kind of stuff?"

"I like archery, that's why I played. Because I knew I'd win." Asya said simply, "But that? That came from a puzzle." She said, pointing at the egg, "I don't know if I can even win something like that without cheating." She eyed the egg curiously for a split second before turning away with a small smile, "I honestly didn't expect you to just go at it though repeatedly though," she said, adding, "fucking masochist," in a soft and endearing murmur.

... Jacob didn't decide to comment on that. Honestly, if it was up to him, he'd probably just say that it's exactly like an arcade game and probably the closest to one in this world but that'll require him to explain more things and honestly, he doesn't really know how computers work and saying that they're "sort of magic" probably won't do the trick because he's pretty sure that Asya would recognize that it's all technology thanks to the language magic that naturally comes to the people of this world.

Also, that'll probably attract Horos' attention and since he knows jack shit and can't explain anything about it, he's probably better off concealing the existence of computers until he himself figured it out. He just... needs a few more INT to do so. And then he'll tell her about computers. Yep.

Thoughts like that were pushed away as Jacob faced the blonde, "so, where to next?" He asked as they turned a corner and saw more carnival stuff, like games that involved catching animals or riding them, "and for the record, you still have two gold to spend on this entire thing so uh, make it count?"

Asya stayed silent, "... I thought you'd forget about that honestly," she admitted, facing him with an unreadable expression, "It's fine if you don't spend anything on me you know?"

Jacob shook his head at her words, "It's only normal for me to do this," he replied as they passed by a few people catching a long fish filled with quills and spikes using nets, "wanna play that?" He asked as he stared at the people playing, a bunch of kids with their mothers watching over them, "I think it looks interesting,"

Asya hummed, "The rewards aren't that interesting though," Asya pointed out, making Jacob look up to see what was written on the wooden board hanging on top of the booth, the written words read; Catch Fish, Win Feed.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"I think we can work with that, I do need feeds for my animals after all." Jacob said as he pulled out a single silver coin for the net, "So, wanna play?" He repeated, waving the net in his hand around, "It'll be fun."

Asya took it from his hand, "you already paid for it, so fine."

"That's the spirit," Jacob gave her two slow claps as she grabbed the hem of her dress to push it downwards as she bent down towards one of the ponds, Jacob sat right next to her, "So, I think there's a trick to this entire thing-"

Asya pushed down her net and immediately lifted it up, the fish was out of the water before it could even start flailing and the net was already on top of the bucket when it did, "you're right," Asya said as she placed the fish on the bucket and took the bag of feed from one of the women watching over the game, "there is a trick to it," she handed him the feed and smiled.

Jacob took it, "Okay, fair enough."

Honestly, he was speechless.

"So... do we just buy clothes?" He asked as they both stood up, "You like that sort of thing right?" Asya stared at him and he looked away, "or... not." He backpedaled. Then he sighed, "Look, throw me a bone here, I don't know what you like so I'm walking around blindly," Jacob said honestly, if winging it and going with the flow doesn't work out, just... be blunt, that works, sort of. "and since you dragged me to a carnival, I thought that games were your thing so, you know." He made a so-so gesture.

Asya sighed, "I thought you'd know what to do on a date?"

"Not really," Jacob admitted, "I mean, what do you do on a date?" Hook up afterward? Wait, no, that sounds like he's just dragging around prostitutes in fancy places as payment for their services. Jacob pushed his hands together, "Okay... so how do I say this?.." He started again, "I... did date people before all this," he explained, "but all I did back then was just take a girl out to dinner, talk, that sort of thing? Or maybe we can watch a-"

His eyes widened in realization and then he snapped his fingers, "Wanna go watch a play?" He asked.

Asya smiled up at him, then nodded.

It didn't take long for the two of them to find the nearest theatre after that and Jacob,- now with a leather belt and added pouches where he put his newly gotten egg around his waist, - frowned when he saw the name of the play, "The Foundation?" He asked, confused at the rather vague description underneath the title, "What the hell does the myth of creation have to do with anything?"

"Well it's not exactly the myth of creation per se," Asya said as she hummed, she already said that the theatre they were on is just one of the dozens here in the carnival but since she always wanted to watch and listen to the musical that the play here is supposed to show, she pretty much dragged Jacob here and he, being the one to invite her, had no choice but to go ahead and agree with what she wanted.

Jacob followed after Asya as she passed through the entrance, where he paid around 50 Silver for the two of them, it was rather expensive all things considered. Then came the food and Jacob paid another additional 10 for two large bags of roasted something- it did taste meaty though, the pork kind. - alongside the barbecue sauce that accompanied it. Asya apparently loved it when she was young and Jacob put a mental note on to see if she'd still enjoy it just in case they go on a "date" again in the future.

"I really don't know what's going on here though," Jacob said as they both took their seats, "tell me what happens?"

Asya stared at him for a good few seconds before saying, "Fair enough- The Foundation, or as the fanatics like to call it, The Tapestry of Life, is exactly what it says, it's a large, square handkerchief sewn by the Gods so that they can place every single living being inside of it, everyone's string is on this Tapestry, excluding the Gods' of course."

"Uhuh, and I'm guessing this Tapestry can be unwoven?" He asked as he took a bite of his food, noticing that the white powder they sprinkled on top of it is actually salt, though it wasn't that strong. Though he deemed it couldn't possibly be iodized salt.

"Yes." Asya answered, "In fact, there are monsters on the Ethereal Plane that want to do just that so that they can restart life in their image,"

"Demons?" He asked and Asya shook her head.

"By the grace of the Gods no, those things out there are actual monsters that feel nothing and want nothing but to serve themselves, demons are at least the manifestations of vices,"

"Cool, but I still don't know what this "Foundation" is and I'd really like to know-"

Asya tried to shush him by waving her hand as her eyes glued themselves to the stage, she had a childish smile on her face as the lights dimmed down, "The play's starting,"

"- before the play starts." Jacob let out a tired sigh but still smiled.

At least Asya is sufficiently distracted from her problems for the time being. He can even go as far as to say that she looked happy.