Alp entered through the narrow stone entryway, the shadows made by the walls gave an ominous feeling as he walked down the path. On such a sunny day it was hard to believe that light could be in such scarcity. Even the soft hue of his title’s light felt dim.

The town was bustling when he reached the end of the path. He could see a group of titled laborers carrying wooden planks meant for some type of construction work down a nearby ally. The buildings were made of red bricks, with the tallest around him being three stories. Some of the buildings had flags or wooden planks decorated with the symbol of the service they provided.

Just as the guard had said, many of the buildings surrounding this entryway were displaying inn symbols. He decided to go to the market first to see whether it was worth spending the night before he committed to an inn. He started down the busiest path, hoping it would lead towards the center of the city.

He passed stalls on his way, though their wares seemed to be of lower quality compared to what he heard was supposed to be common around here. It was a common trick his father had warned him about. Traders with second rate wares would set up shops in front of the entrances of their cities to attract travelers who had not seen the entirety of what was available in the city.

He had always wondered why his parents would teach them about the ways of those who lived beyond the forest. It made him wonder if they really expected Amos and him to stay there their entire lives? Why tease them with something they would never have access to? It had only strengthened his resolve to leave. Maybe that was the point.

None of the trinkets he had seen so far interested him. He was looking for things that would make traveling easier on him. Who knew that trying to trek your way across a country would be so hard on your body? He was hoping to find an enchanted backpack that would help lessen the weight burden, or possibly a water container with a purifier of some sort on it.

As he went further towards what he hoped was the center of town, he sighted an increase of buildings displaying a symbol that looked like an eye. Through a window of one of these shops he saw multiple families waiting at desks hosted by employees wearing a uniform. The hosts wore white robes with the same black outline of an eye that could be seen on the building’s sign. On each desk there sat what looked like a crystal ball. He saw one of the children reach out and touch the crystal. When their hand landed, the ball lit up with light. The host started speaking and when they were finished, the parents excitedly wrapped their child in a hug.

When the family came out of the building Alp followed them for a few moments, still curious about what had all just happened.

“Good job my boy, blacksmithing is a respected profession. If you're smart about it, you won't have to worry about money and can live a comfortable life like your parents.” The father said proudly.

“I was so afraid that I would be sorted into a laborer position.” The boy replied. “They have to have so much endurance to be able to do such tough work all day.”

Alp looked at the child’s title. He was labeled as a simple “worker”. This was seen as a top tier title in his village even if it was common. They had the potential to unlock any skill, by doing just about anything. They were completely free of fate, or at least more free than others.

“You can’t slack off now. Even if the Order can find a place for you to apprentice due to the aptitude test, you'll still need to be able to keep up with the other blacksmiths. Hammering metal all day is a hot, labor intensive job. Don’t think this means you don’t have to work hard anymore.” the person Alp assumed to be his mother scolded him.

Alp stopped listening in on their conversation and started to the center again when he understood what had happened. Apparently those buildings test aptitudes for job placement. His father said that these tests aren’t reliable because the city usually only gave recommendations on jobs based on what the city needed. They were still matched to the tester's attributes and existing skills, but they didn’t offer much variation.

He could see the appeal though, most people would stay in their birth cities their entire lives, so having a job custom fitted to the area is beneficial. However it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. When people got matched with jobs they didn’t like, most cities wouldn’t let them pursue a different one. They were blacklisted from other industries so that they could not unlock skills unrelated to what the city wanted them to become.

This idea was usually driven by the religious belief that whatever version of God they worshiped, had specifically given them a title and attributes directly related to the best path for the individual. As long as they followed the path set out in front of them by God they were bound to become successful.

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They were right in a way, the more you followed the path set out by your title, the more skills you could unlock and upgrade. This undeniably made people more valuable. However, Alp believed that there were millions of ways to use your title to pursue your own original dream. He didn’t like being limited in the way these religious cities did. He wasn’t told what specifically to collect, workers weren’t told what to work on, and killers didn’t have to kill people. He had seen the truth back in his village.

He had to respect their views while visiting their territories though, so he kept his opinions to himself. All he could do was be thankful he was born from the parents he was.

The buildings became taller as he kept walking until finally, he was in the middle of a busy square surrounded by four and five story tall buildings all around. There were stalls set out in front of the buildings.

The middle of the square held a big marble fountain depicting an old man wizard who had water springing out of the wand he pointed towards the sky. Alp had to admit, he thought it looked pretty cool.

He looked back around to the stalls and their various wares. There was a grilled skewer stall being run by a young dwarf looking woman. He decided that was going to be the first stall he visited today. He had been on the road for six days now, having left his village the day after his twentieth birthday.

“Three please.” he asked the lady.

“That’ll be 3 copper.” She went to hand him the skewers. When he tried handing the coins over her demeanor changed.

“Where ya from, kid?” she held back on giving him his much desired snack. Alps stomach growled unappreciatively.

“Just a small village, it doesn’t even have its own name on the area map. It’s in Kilmon Forest though. Why do you ask?” Why was she asking such personal questions just for a few grilled skewers?

“Oh” she said, placing the skewers in his hands, “I just have to make sure you're not one of those pathetic dogs that are constantly trying to make trouble trying to overthrow the demon lord. What idiots they are. If they want to get themselves killed, I say let em! The rest of us would like it if our city didn’t get wiped off the map though. They should keep their scheming in their own walls.”

Alp was confused, he knew people everywhere were against the demon lord, but he didn’t know there was a dedicated group.

“Who are these idiots? How are they still alive after making an enemy of the demon lord? Pardon my ignorance, I’m from a small village and all. I wouldn’t want to accidentally cross these people’s paths.”

“You have a good head on your shoulders boy. They call themselves the Mutiny Mavericks. They are said to have survived this long due to their leader having some kind of masking skill that allows all their members and bases to be concealed. Must be pretty high level if the attendants haven’t put an end to them. Anyway, welcome to town, good luck, now get out of my line I’ve got other people to serve.”

The woman shooed him away before he could ask anymore questions. He wondered why she let him off with just a question of his hometown? Did all of these rebels come from the same place? Can they not lie about it? Does the lady just have some type of skill? He guessed it really shouldn’t matter to him, he wasn’t planning to take part in an insurgence any time soon.

For now he needed to scour the town for valuables that mattered to him. He took a bite on his skewer as he looked over the competing stalls. A jeweler, a butcher, more food stalls, he wasn’t seeing anything super helpful so far. He went to the butcher anyway, he could use some more dried meat. He had to haggle the old shopkeep into a reasonable price, apparently they felt they could charge anything they wanted to travelers. Alp still thanked the man when he was handed his package of meat.

“Do you know where I can find wares geared towards travelers? Survival gear for a journey, not the pretty merchant stuff.” Alp figured he’d have to specify, this town seemed to have suspicions of wandering travelers and would rather focus on their merchants. Not that he could blame them if there were rebels around, they didn’t want to feed their enemy.

“You’d have to go down Journey Lane for that, go through those two buildings,” he pointed, “then go right until you get to the more run down buildings. Those are the only shops that cater to non residents specifically. Most business in this town is done between citizens with all the restrictions, so those shopkeepers don’t tend to have many customers.”

Alp thanked the man again before heading out. Once he passed through the specified buildings, he could practically feel the vibe of the town change. There were a few people leaning against the buildings, obviously the outcasts of society here. None of them looked to be in the greatest health. He brought his guard up as he walked down the lane. Even with his vigilance he thought he was being, something still managed to surprise him.

“Hi there, I heard you were in the market for survival gear? Going on a journey are we?”

Alp jumped, behind him was a man about half Alp’s height and three times his body weight.

“Goddesses! What is wrong with you! Who sneaks up on people like that?” Alp’s heart pounded painfully in his chest from the fright. “Actually, how’d you know I needed survival gear? Have you been following me?”

“That's easy child, I have eyes and ears all over this city. There's not anything I don’t know.” The man's voice came out clearly, although he did sound like he had been smoking herbs his entire life.

“Follow me, I have exactly what you need.” The man said with a large smile. It made Alp feel uneasy and safe at the same time. He could tell the predatory glint in the man's eyes was aimed at Alp's coin purse instead of him himself. Alp may leave with no coin, but he wouldn’t be harmed at least.

“Okay, lead the way suspicious stranger.” He figured he could probably escape even if this guy did intend to harm him. He had certainly trained enough to out run the unfit man if all else failed.

The man chuckled, “Ha, usually it takes more convincing. Let us go then, I have something good to show you.”