30 marks.

The spear cost 30 marks, leaving me at 90 marks… painful, I know.

Also, a fun fact, it turns out there are quarter copper coins too. I noticed it when another customer bought some random thing. It’s called a penny, and it’s the smallest unit of currency.

10 pennies make a mark, but they’re not used very often since most shopkeepers like to round up to the nearest mark value. It’s not like a number in a bank account, people actually have to carry pennies around and it’s annoying.

I heard a long argument between a cat person and a dog person about it. Apparently Lariatne has started using paper currency and that’s slowly spreading.

Coming from someone who’s used to paper money, that does sound pretty useful. Though I do just imagine a flame trap just burning the money right through an adventurer’s wallet.

With a sheathed 5 foot long spear in hand (and no dagger, because I couldn't afford it), I approached the spot we agreed to meet about twenty minutes early? There are sundials placed about the village, which was convenient. I half expected the hourly bell system, but considering the lack of walls, they probably didn’t want to risk attracting monsters with that?

“Oh, hello Armin! You’re back!” Kanako’s voice called out, and I spun around to find her right behind me. How did she get there so quietly!?

“O-oh hello. You’re here early.” I replied, eyeing her warily.

I didn’t notice the cowboy approach because I was… preoccupied, but her… she was a quiet one. I put a little more stock in her abilities as a ‘scout’ now.

“Well, I didn’t really have anything else I could do around here… it’s really hard to just ask strangers for work.” she awkwardly replied, and I empathised with her. My younger sister had a hard time talking to strangers too, she’s quite the introvert and also autistic so she had a rough time with it.

“Well, I’m done with the things I had to do, so are you ready? It was the apothecary, right?” I asked with a chuckle. She nodded enthusiastically, gesturing in the direction.

Following her, I took note that the village had a decent amount of shops and buildings… A lot of the houses seemed to be made of wood, but there were a few that seemed to be made of stone and bricks. When I asked Kanako if she knew why, she told me that some buildings were built sturdier so they could act as shelters if there was a monster attack or a storm.

How often does something like that happen? Apparently fairly often. Storms and monster attacks happen every month all over the world, but the severity depends on the season, celestial events, and local ecology.

So I need to be careful about travelling in times like that.

“And there’s going to be a storm sometime this week, so that’s why we can’t travel.” she added, and that sounded like an immediate concern. Looking up, the sky was rather murky, with the clouds forming a worrying spiral.

Looking at the vast expanse of the sky and the building tensions within it, I realised that I hadn’t looked at the sky even once today… and thinking back to my life on earth, I rarely ever spend time looking at the sky.

I didn’t like looking up at the sky. I never really liked how small it make me feel, like I was nothing in the grand scheme of things, just one speck under an unbelievably large mass.

But, now it felt so… alienating to know that this wasn’t the same sky I had grown up under, that everyone I cared about lived under and saw.

I was under a completely foreign sky, but I couldn’t even tell the difference. When I closed my eyes I had a vague image of what the sky overhead looked, sometimes cloudy, sometimes bright… but there was nothing specific. It was just ‘the sky’, but now ‘the sky’ and ‘this sky’ were two separate things, and I felt such a bitter regret that I never spent more time interested in it.

Considering the upcoming storm, this job became a lot more urgent. Gathering funds to stay in the village longer would be invaluable. “I wonder how tough this storm would be if I can’t afford to stay in the inn?” I had enough money, but it was still a worrying thought.

“You can stay in the shelter for free during a storm or monster attack.” she replied, and that made me relax a bit. That did make sense.

We soon reached the apothecary, and I saw a human man. A guy maybe in his fifties with completely gray hair combed back and wild like he was facing the wind, with a big fluffy mustache and a short beard, sporting a pair of round glasses that rested on a slightly red and roundish nose.

He wore an oversized green button shirt, completely open, with a faded orange t-shirt underneath.

Looking at his mostly laid back attire and overall look, I took him to be a laid back man. But his expression was rather grim as he paced back and forth in the little store, counting through a sheet of paper in his hand. He didn’t seem to even notice me as I stepped in through the wooden front door of the store.

At first, I thought it was a glass door with a wooden frame, but the ‘glass’ seemed to change into wood as I got close enough, which worried me. However, as I made some distance from it it soon returned to being see-through. So it was wood that through some magical mechanism, acted transparently like glass.

“Oh, hello there! Sorry, I didn’t see you come in!” He turned to greet me as I took a few steps away from the door, putting down the sheet of paper before approaching me. “Are you new to the village? Looking for something to help with the sea sickness or keep the bugs away? We’re not stocked on healing potions right now, apologies.” He had this semi-jovial way of talking where he sounded like there should be a ‘ho ho ho’ with half his sentences, but he seemed a bit frantic.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Armin, and I’m actually here because I heard you need someone to help pick herbs for you?” I introduced myself politely, I was curious what knowledge I could get out of a fellow medical professional.

The man’s eyes lit up as he heard me, taking a half step towards me as he looked quite relieved

“You have! That’s wonderful!” He replied, his shoulders dropping a bit as he let out a sigh. “Okay, first question, do you have experience with herbs?” he asked as he walked behind his counter and looked for something amongst his fairly neatly arranged documents.

“I do,” I replied. As part of survival training I learnt a lot about the safe and poisonous plants around germany… though that probably doesn’t apply here. “I’m a trained doctor where I’m from and have experience dealing with herbs, but… I don’t think the ecology is quite the same.”

“Fair, fair. While we do have a few of the most common flora across the world growing here, the ones I want right now are mostly native to the island or just a few places in the world.” he said, nodding knowingly. “Are you… registered with the medical guild?” he asked, side-eying me.

So they have a medical guild in this world similar to a medical board. I wonder if it’s country specific or international?

“No, where I’m from we had a medical board that certified me as a doctor, but I don’t have the papers with me nor do I think it has any influence here.” I replied, sprinkling as much truth with vagueness as I could.

“Huh, that sounds like a rather isolated place there… no, wait, the herbs are more important! Here, I have a basic description and pictures." He veered back to his original topic, thankfully dropping any questions I probably couldn’t answer, and pulled out a paper.

“Daradin grass, a common herb, Palnia longweed, an uncommon herb, and Pringem blooms, a rare plant.” he read out the names as he gave me the sheet. “I’m always in low supply of these three, but I absolutely need Palnia longweed to prepare for the storm. By tonight, if possible.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Tonight? Is the storm approaching that fast? And what exactly do you use this plant for?” I asked, looking over the list.

The older man seemed a bit frantic, but calmed himself down before gesturing to the shelve of potion bottles behind him.

“Palnia longweed are used to make healing potions, and we find ourselves needing a lot during storms, especially if it coincides with a wave.” He replied.

A wave… I wasn’t sure what that meant, but since I heard about the storms and monster attacks happening monthly, I took a guess that he meant the monster attacks.

“Is that going to happen this time?” I asked, wondering if it was something that could be predicted. “I don’t know, we can’t predict it, but I feel like it will. In my experience, at least.”

You can never discount the wisdom of experience… and this just made me feel a sense of dread for what was coming up.

“Do we know how long until the storm?” I asked, glancing out the ‘windows’ of the store, though I couldn’t see the sky too well from it… considering that the windows turned to opaque wood when I touched them, I was concerned about what the mechanic for seeing through them was. Was it invisibility? An illusion? Perhaps a change to the property of the material itself?

“Not exactly, but maybe two or three days? The rain’ll start tomorrow, at least.”

Wonderful.

“So, if you can, I need 20 Palnia longweeds by tonight. I’ll pay you the base 3 marks each, and an extra 50 marks if you can get it to me in time. I need to start making the potions as soon as possible!” he exclaimed, pointing at the list. “Oh, and if you get any of the other two, I’ll pay you normally for them too, they’re always in demand.”

Daradin grass - common, 2 mark per 3 plants.

Palnia longweed- uncommon, 3 mark per plant

Pringem bloom - rare, 50 mark per plant

This was what the list said, as well as having pictures of the flora in question.

“Is there anything you can tell me about these Palnia longweeds?” I enquired, I needed at least a bit more information before I got on my hands and knees and crawled through the forest looking for weeds.

The man pursed his lips as he looked at me, and I could tell that he was in a rush, but again, he kept himself mostly calm and pulled out a map of the island, laying it on the desk.

“I only have this copy right now, so I can’t give it to you, but you won’t find any Palnia near the town. If you travel about an hour or so north, you can find the Descensus river. They should grow close to it, but you have to be careful about the monsters there too.” He quickly explained.

Honestly, I wanted to talk to him a lot more about these plants, alchemy in general, and how to apply for the medical guild, but given how urgent things seemed to be, I was fine with talking about all of that later.

“And no matter what, don’t get into that river unless you’re absolutely prepared!” he exclaimed, jabbing a finger into my chest. “In the old texts, that river was called Descensus animarum. It translated to the descent of souls from what we understand, and its claimed many a life of the unprepared.”

“I see… but why exactly is it dangerous?” I asked. Every river can be dangerous, but some rivers can be lethal to the unprepared, so I wasn’t too shocked just yet.

“Ha…” he let out a sigh, scratching his head as he thought about what to say.

“Well, the current is awful under the surface, there are many poisonous and carnivorous fish as well as plants that entangle and trap all sorts of things. Other than that, I can't say much. I’ve been there but I never tried to get in the water myself.”

“Also! You shouldn’t be out at night, that’s when the wyveriks come out… nasty creatures.” He added, jabbing at me again. “I’ve seen all kinds of cocky outlanders think it was no big deal and come running back licking their wounds after someone in their party was picked off by the little devils. Do NOT be one of those cocky outlanders, and come back before nightfall!”

I just nodded at that, I couldn’t even say anything with how worried he sounded.

And after a few small details and confirmations, I left the apothecary to meet Kanako outside. If I thought the day was long and stressful so far, it seemed like it was going to continue for a while longer…

…

Well, Kanako was ecstatic. A total reward of 110 marks was nothing to scoff at, even if it would be dangerous.

Also, he told me roughly where to look, so that was fun.

“Okay, let’s go!” Kanako called out, already rushing ahead. I just let out a small chuckle seeing how eager she was as I followed behind.

I tried to smile, but I had this pit in my stomach as I couldn’t help but imagine the worst happening. Would I be able to protect her if she suddenly got attacked by a monster? What if there’s some kind of magic trap I just never see? b people… were we sure there weren’t people about who’d attack us? How safe was this region?

And I still felt like I was being watched, like we were being followed. But who? When I turned to look back, there were a fair few people out and about, and more than one or two pairs of eyes looking at us. That made sense given how Kanako was dressed, but it still made me uneasy.

Jesus, I thought I had my paranoia under control after all these years, but it seemed I still have a long way to go…

She and I walked off into the jungle, and I felt so annoyed that I had to go from a relatively pleasant atmosphere to the humid and miserable jungle. There was just something about this place that made the heat feel so much worse, and the bugs didn’t help.

The grass subsided and the hexagonal basalt stone was visible again, trees sprouting from the ground with wild vegetation making everything harder to navigate. We returned to the jungle, and I hated it. I felt like one of those damn doublesnakes was going to come at me again.

“When we gather herbs, we have to leave some behind so they can grow again. I learnt that from this old lady in Sunderthall. She knew a lot about plants and medicine!” Kanako chatted with me along the way, and it seemed she knew a little about everything.

“Where’s Sunderthall?” I asked, curious to know more about anything in this world. “It’s this big city in the Sundara desert. Everything looks like it’s made of this sandstone, but it’s actually made of a special brick then covered in sandstone. It makes everything super tough.” she replied, and that didn’t help very much.

Prodding a bit more, the Sundara desert was a region to the east, and a place she had to pass through to reach the port where she boarded a ship to come here.

Apparently she’s from the far east, a country island called Ame no Tochi. Seemed like the far east was similar to Japan in this world, that’s an interesting coincidence.

We continued chatting a bit more as we kept walking, double checking that we were on the right path every now and then. I didn’t ask about anything too important because I didn’t want to reveal too much about myself. And Kanako seemed to be doing the same.

I didn’t realise it till now, but I wasn’t limping anymore. I recovered from my stab wound remarkably fast. I wasn’t sure if that was because my body had an exceptional recovery rate, or if that was a norm in this world.

I was still injured of course, I wouldn’t be running a marathon anytime soon.

And as marvelled at that, I faintly heard the sound of something skittering across the stone floor through the buzzing insects.

I was on full alert and immediately pulled the sheath off the shortspear and held it like I’d been trained to use a bayonet, frantically searching for the source of the sound.

Seeing me, Kanako stopped and shifted her pose. I couldn’t see what she was doing because of her cloak, and regardless my attention was on the bushes to the side.

And there I saw something move under the bushes. It looked like the basalt floor shifted slightly through the cracks between the leaves, but I wasn’t taking a risk after everything so far.

In a fluid motion I took aim and thrust my spear at the moving shape. I hit something, but it was as if I grazed a stone. And what I can only describe as an elongated basalt crayfish was knocked out from the bush and hit the floor only a foot away with a thud.

This crustacean was 2 feet long and rather than pincers, it had these nasty looking mantis-like hooks and a disgusting deep red proboscis that emerged from its face as it stared at me.

Before I could even ready my spear again, I saw the glint of metal as Kanako flashed past my eyes and stabbed a dagger right between this creature’s eyes.

It squirmed for a bit, curling up as its legs spasmed with this creaking noise, and it was dead. It likely died instantly, but I didn’t discount anything at this point.

I was more impressed by how quickly Kanako reacted and how fast she moved than anything else. If she told me she was an assassin I’d believe her with movements like that.

It looked a bit awkward given how small the creature was, though, maybe she wasn’t used to fighting creatures that small? I didn’t blame her.

“That was a good job-” “Are there more?” she interrupted me, glancing around warrily. Heeding her reminder, I carefully listened for more skittering, but didn’t hear any. It was just the bugs and general jungle sounds.

She finally relaxed when I shook my head, and I reminded myself to not let my guard down again.

Millar’s body had good ears and eyes. I had to make the most of that.

This was my first quest in this new world, and I had to learn as much from it as possible. I couldn’t know for sure, but it felt like this was my ‘first step’ to a much much greater journey.

Perhaps that was just the dreamer side of me again?