Trying to get any merchant to even listen to me, let alone look at my wares, proved much harder than I thought. Even if I caught someone’s very limited attention, they didn’t let me get in more than three or four words. I had a feeling my landwalker core should spark some interest, but not if any of the merchants didn’t know I had one!
New strategy.
I puffed up my chest and thrust my chin high into the air, trying to look confident and… I don’t know, taller. I marched to the center of the city’s main square, where dozens of merchant booths and tents were set up, and placed my Tier 2 armor and spear on the ground. Thousands of people must walk through this very road daily, and the amount of dirt and grime that threatened to coat my equipment suggested as much.
Careful that my simple, monster-hide gloves I’d brought from home were secured on my hands so as to not drain the landwalker core of its essence, I fished out the sizeable marble-shaped prize and held it high above my head.
“I have stuff to sell!” I hollered over the busy chatter of the overpacked city.
No one heard me.
I cleared my throat and stretched the core even higher, standing on the tips of my toes.
“I’m selling a landwalker core and some old equipment! Any takers?” I was shouting even louder than before, and my hollering turned maybe half a dozen heads.
I smiled, waving the core in the direction of the slightly interested eyes looking my way. Though I’d just caught the attention of a handful of merchants, I only needed one buyer to make a deal with.
I took a moment to study both the young and old faces peering my way and taking in the landwalker core I brandished for them to see, then decided on one merchant to approach first. The never-fading smile that danced on the small woman’s wrinkled lips put me at ease and served as the one reason I picked her. I scooped up my Tier 2 equipment from the ground and headed her way. The other interested merchants rolled their eyes but then turned away from me to continue with other shouting customers.
The old woman stood just in front of a rickety booth that threatened to collapse on its rotting wooden legs at any moment. She wore a lacy black shawl over her bony shoulders. The shawl was a near-perfect match to her black jumpsuit, making the flame-red rings on her wrist that indicated her merchant status stand out even more.
Varying fruits and meats indigenous to this planet were displayed along the splintering surface of the woman’s stand. I eyed the small pile of apples behind her right shoulder, remembering how delicious the juicy fruit was the first time I’d tried one, thanks to Emmett.
“Hello, young man,” the old woman croaked. Her body trembled just from the effort it took to speak. “May I take a closer look at that core of yours?”
I happily handed her the hefty marble. She took it gingerly between long, cracked fingers and inspected the core with beady eyes. The soft glow that came from the essence-filled core lit up the many wrinkles on her forehead, making her look even older than before.
“Impressive find,” she whispered, licking her lips as she turned the core in her leathery palm. “You with the Scouts?”
“Yes,” was all I said. No need to blurt out that I was a lowly Scout Support.
“45 credits.”
I frowned at how quickly she’d said the number. I had no frame of reference regarding what items or even days of labor were worth in this world.
“Dex, you really need to come back.”
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No response from my AI friend, of course.
“And how much would you charge for one apple?” I said.
The woman furrowed her brows and glared at me, sweet smile gone. She knew what I was doing. If she tried to hike up the price of the apple to, say, 15 credits, I’d know that the core was actually worth way more than 45. Surely I could get significantly more credits for a massive landwalker core than for an apple. I didn’t know the Tier level of the monster that my core came from, but it had surely been stronger than my Tier 4. And an apple wouldn’t even fall into Tier 1.
“I will give you 50 credits for the core,” the woman insisted, pulling the marble closer to her chest and further away from me.
“60.” I stared the merchant down just as intently as she stared me down.
At least half a minute passed before she sighed and said, “Fine.”
Without warning, the woman placed the tips of two cold fingers on my left temple. The cold brought a shock of momentary pain as she pressed into the small wound where the doctor had deposited my neural implant.
Something rang inside my head, and I winced from the intense buzz piercing through my eyes, but the sensation left quickly. And in its place, my mind was filled with the words,
60 CREDITS DEPOSITED
“Whoa,” I breathed. “That’s how that works?”
The old woman whisked the landwalker core out of sight and into a pocket in her jumpsuit. “You new here, young man?”
I nodded. “Yeah, this is my first time selling something here, too.”
I shook myself from the strange daze that had accompanied the deposit of money, feeling normal once again after about a minute. “Uh, how much do you think I can get for my equipment?”
She ran long fingers over the dirtied silver with hints of blue accents on my armor. “What Tier level are the armor and spear?”
“Tier 2.”
She flicked her eyes up at me, her lips twitching as she stifled a laugh. “Assuming you want to buy new equipment, I can’t give you nearly enough credits for what you have here.”
I scratched my chin. “Oh. Well, how much would a set of, I don’t know, Tier 4 armor be?”
“Even our cheapest merchant would charge you 120 credits.”
It was difficult to suppress the shocked whimper that peeled from my lips. “Oh. And, uh, how much could you offer me for what I have here?”
I allowed a large smile to stretch across my face, encouraging her to take a closer look at my equipment. Though dirtied from long travel and overuse, my Tier 2 armor and spear were still decent-looking pieces. Back home, Blacksmith Gerald hadn’t claimed the equipment as his best work, but they had still served their purposes well.
“I’ll give you 75 for all of it,” the woman blurted out.
I pursed my lips. If what she’d said was true, even after selling my Tier 2 equipment, I still wouldn’t have enough to buy anything close to what I needed in a new set of armor and a weapon. That being the case, I’d need to keep something to protect myself on scouting shifts. My Tier 2 equipment was better than nothing. And I still needed to buy food and other necessities, so I couldn’t use up all my money right now. I might as well wait until I saw how much Gareth paid me for my first work shift.
I pulled the armor and spear away from the merchant’s greedy hands and shook my head. “Never mind. I’m going to hold onto them for a while longer. But while I have you, how much for some food? And do you have a bag I can buy? Something useful to carry large things and even use for my classes?”
The merchant grumbled frustratedly as I pulled the Tier 2 equipment away from her eyes but waved for me to follow her behind her booth.
“I have a bag that might do the trick,” she said.
***
I have one hour until the elite scout support meeting, I thought as I glanced at the clock in my dormitory.
I slid the strap of my new bag off from around my shoulders. The merchant had described the smooth, almost warm material as leather, defining it as a hide from a cow. Those cows really contributed a lot to this planet. Milk, beef, and even nice-looking bags.
My new dark brown bag was about four times the size of my satchel from home, so it held the food I’d just bought perfectly. I hung the bag upside down over my bed and shook out its contents. Two apples, one long strip of beef jerky, and two bright yellow bananas tumbled out and bounced three times on the mattress before they settled.
My stomach rumbled eagerly at the sight of the food. I was particularly curious to try the bananas, but they had a strange, almost rubbery quality to their surfaces. But considering how delicious I knew the apples tasted, I had high hopes for the bananas.
I stretched my arms up above my head and groaned, already feeling exhausted from the day. After purchasing the new bag and food, I had 30 credits left. I needed to keep a supply of money to continue to buy food. I had to purchase meals in the mess hall. I also still wanted to save up for a knife, sandsoles, new armor, and a new spear, all to use for my next excursions. I wasn’t sure how much any of it would cost.
Just one thing at a time, I told myself, scooping up a banana and flipping it over to study how I should go about eating the oblong fruit.