Exiting the customs office, we are greeted by the hustle and bustle of people and wagons moving about. Esther takes the lead expertly bobbing and weaving through the packed street’s traffic. Two to three story brick buildings filled both sides of the streets with warm orange lights pouring out of their windows. The bottom of these buildings looked to serve as a type of storefront while the upper levels were residential. Each of these buildings were packed together tightly leaving little room for the occasional alley. Starting at the left was a sizable stable, with a variety of animals, ranging from livestock to large draft animals. The next two buildings to the left were grocery stores with farmers and others entering and exiting upon mass. Multiple wagons were parked on the side of the street while farmers unloaded varying grains, vegetables, fruits, and other produce into the grocers.
On the right side of the street, stood a general store for animal feed, farm tools, and other related items. The next building over, didn’t seem to be a business, but instead a storehouse of some type. Upon closer inspection this storehouse was connected to the butchery right next to it. Perhaps it was a storehouse for all the livestock that was brought to the butchery. After these buildings, both sides of the street opened up across creating a four way avenue. Each of these streets were very lively with people walking around, talking, heading home, or heading out. It would make sense if they were heading home or going out because down both of these side streets were many wooden residential buildings, each around the same height, but wider than the business buildings on the main street. These apartment type structures seemed as if they could hold four families on each floor, totaling for around twelve families in each building. Near the end of both of the residential blocks you could see many more of the residential houses under construction. I wonder why the city needed more housing for their population. Did houses get destroyed before and they are reconstructing, are people migrating here, or is their population just naturally increasing. I doubt that they are just barely getting around to making all this housing for their main populace just now.
At the next left corner, across from the grocers, was an armor shop followed by an armaments shop, and then an artifacts shop. While we walked by I peeked into each to sate my curiosity. Esther would just sigh and follow me each time I asked, wide eyed, if we could do some window shopping. The armor shop had two shopkeepers, a grizzled middle aged man and a youthful, but fierce, looking lady, helping out a group of customers. From what I could see each one of the people in the group had a gem in their forearm.
“Are they all eternals?” I turned, asking Esther.
“I don’t think so. What about them made you think they were eternals?”, she questions back.
“Well I mean, I thought only eternals had gems.”, I anxiously uttered.
“That Gus really taught you nothing…”, she grumbled to herself.
While the shopkeepers were grabbing equipment for the group they were helping, Esther explained how Kijin could have gems as well. She started by sharing that eternals would get a random new gem every time they died and were recreated in a spawning pool. This part I already kinda knew. Continuing, she clarified the difference between how eternals and Kijin acquire their gems. During puberty, Kijin are able to select a gem from a listed pool that is available to them for their body. They acquire their gem by interfacing with a stem of the tree. After they have selected what gem they want, the tree recreates their selected arm with the gem implanted into it. The number of different gems available to each person normally varies. On the upper end, some people can have up to around a hundred different options, while on the lower end, someone could have below five options with nearly no one having no options.
Kijin go through this selection process during puberty for multiple reasons. During that time their bodies are going through many changes, which also makes it the most receptive to receiving other gems. The number of options heavily increases for individuals going through puberty. The more options individuals have, the more prospective jobs they can have. If someone wanted to have their own farm, or continue to work on their families farm, having a gem that would assist in that job normally is a must. Most jobs don’t require gems, but if you have one that makes the job easier or more productive it is always preferred. The guard, Hadon, was a great example of how his selection of a gem fit well into his job. Apparently, the gem Hadon had was a time gem. It was not a very common gem, but it was very useful in his line of work. His gem allowed him to freeze time for anyone he touched, but this would also force him to freeze time for himself. This would explain why he told me not to touch Gus or himself earlier. His gem had many applications for his profession as a city guard. He could not only stasis individuals who needed urgent medical attention, but he could also restrain multiple individuals through the use of stasis till other guards could subdue said individuals. This gem works great when you have the numbers advantage that guards normally have.
Finishing off her explanation, she said that same as the eternals once you have a gem it is with you for life, with the only difference being that a Kijin can survive having their gem removed. Eternals, in nearly all cases, die the moment their gem is separated from the rest of their body. Once a Kijin selects a gem there is no changing it, and there is no way to get a second one. If a Kijin gets their arm with the gem removed they cannot get another gem. I guess there really isn’t any information on how or why I have two gems. Gus is really looking out for me, making sure the knowledge of my two gems doesn’t leak out.
The group of Kijin leave the shop passing by us talking excitedly with each other happy with their purchase of assorted chain mail and leather armor accessories. The shopkeepers walked over waving.
“How’s it going Esther, who’s this cutie?”, the female shopkeeper began.
“Actually I haven’t gotten your name yet as well”, she said embarrassedly scratching the back of her head.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I’m Kite. It’s nice to meet you all. What are your guy’s names?”
The younger of the two eagerly started up.
“I’m Nilda, but you can call me Nildy”, she said with a beaming smile.
Stepping forward the larger man stated his name.
“The name’s Jultan. I run this joint. If you ever need any armor, whether it be heavy or light, let me know.”
Esther and them talked for a little bit, mainly just catching up on old news, but also bringing up the return of Gus and his condition. They weren’t surprised at all, saying things to the effect of, “Well what could you expect, it is Gus after all”. What type of reputation does Gus have? It doesn’t sound like people dislike him, if anything it’s the opposite. The image of Gus’s smug face flashes in my mind. Maybe I already understand where they are coming from. You can’t hate him, but he really can get underneath your skin. After a few more minutes pass, we say our goodbyes and return to our town exploration.
I looked inside the weapon shop and saw really just what you would expect. Weapons were placed everywhere in the weapon shop. There were a huge variety whether it be steel based swords, bows, and even staves. Nothing had a price on it, so it seemed like it was up to the shopkeeper and the buyer to come to a price that seemed fair. We quickly left and moved onto the artifact shop, but I really didn’t understand most of what I was looking at. Esther said these were all gem created pieces of equipment, and each served their own purpose. She continued on saying that it would take a whole day of asking questions to the shopkeeper to figure out what even half of the stuff in that store was for. We left the store rather quickly because I was asking too many questions, and neither Esther nor the shopkeeper were interested in answering them. Leaving the shop, we come upon another four way avenue.
There were around ten stone buildings that extended down the side of the street the artifact shop resided on. There weren’t any people seen outside down these streets, which seemed rather peculiar. These stone buildings were also kinda out of place when seen next to the brick structures on the main street and the wooden apartments. Esther pointed out that these were all the forges and metalworking workshops in the city, and to avoid this area unless you have a good amount of fire resistance. That would explain why there wasn’t anyone walking about outside here. Across the street from the forges was where the craftsmen and their workshops were. They would be the last stop for anything that came from the forges before they went up for sale. They would also handle custom orders for items to be imbued, enchanted, refined, or altered in any way.
We moved on from there back to across the street from the three equipment shops. There were two buildings on the right side of the main street. The building across from the butchery was the size of both the weapon and armor shops combined. This building was the main Guild building. Inside, there were many circular tables with rugged individuals sitting around some of them. Further past them, there were various receptionists, each talking with at least one or more people lined up waiting to talk to them. Above the receptionists, rows of long square rods were hung from the second floor. Each one of these rods had rope strung through them. There were fifteen rows and ten columns of these square rods that hung overhead. Each of these rods had writing on them that had either a wispy blue or red glow about them. Every minute or so, one of the rods with blue writing would rotate by itself revealing red writing on the other side.
I asked Esther what made it do that, and she said that one person’s gem could leave behind physical manifestations, and that is both the red and blue writings on the rods. The power moving the rods above was actually the gem to link objects together. She pointed, showing me a replica board at ground level that the receptionists would go and turn the wooden rods and those would turn the corresponding rod that hung above. That’s freaking cool! She continued explaining that all the requests currently offered to guild members were displayed on those rods. The rods had a difficulty rating, location, and brief description as the title.
The difficulty rating is displayed as V0 through V17, but looking at the guild’s list the highest they had displayed was a V9. V0, V1, and V2 were considered entry level difficulties with V0 being seen as busy work, and V2 being seen as potentially dangerous to the inexperienced. V3 and V4 missions are where group missions become mandatory. These groups tend to consist of two to three novice members and are assigned an experienced group leader. In order to be a group leader you must have a minimum of five completed missions two levels above the difficulty you want to lead. For difficulties V5 and V6, group missions are still mandatory, but the rules on the leader are that you only need five completed missions one level above the one you want to lead. There are some instances where the guild will change those requirements to being harder to fulfill. V7 and V8 missions are the last group mandatory difficulties, and instead of accepting these missions, the groups have to apply for them. These missions require a minimum of five individuals with good team composition and experience to be allowed to apply. Guild managers review any and all applications for these missions and either approve or decline them.The V9+ difficulties are normally assigned to certain individuals or groups and handed out directly from the guild leader. The main issue with any of the difficulties that are above V9+ is the lack of personnel at that level with gems compatible for the mission.
I read through quite a few of the brief descriptions on the rods, when one caught my eye.
“V6 Dale Mountains Badgerbear Subjugation Force”
IT’S ONLY A V6! We nearly died to that and it’s only a V6. The mission also implies that it is subjugating more than just one Badgerbear. That’s crazy. Now I’m scared of how bad even a V4 would be. With a sour taste of weakness in my mouth we left the main guild building returning back to the main street. The next building on the right was a sizable beer hall. From the outside, you could smell various roasted meats, stews, and alcoholic beverages trying to draw you inside, but the noise of brawls breaking out helped keep us from wandering in. Instead, we just walked by, but I caught a peep of what was going on inside there and it honestly seemed like a ton of fun. People fighting off to the side, others giving cheers as they enjoy their drinks, some laughing from tall tales their friends were telling, musicians strumming their favorite songs, and barmaids doing their rounds delivering drinks amongst all this chaos.
There was one barmaid in particular that was ridiculously cute. She looked slender but strong and had an above average height for a woman. Even though my body now is around the age of 20, she still looked a bit older than I was. On top of that, there was something about her that just radiated a sense of maturity, and I couldn’t really pinpoint it. All I knew was she was beautiful. She had dazzling reddish orange curly hair that seemed to bounce off her shoulders as she served food to each of the patrons. She seemed to be talking and laughing with everyone she was helping, whether it was her fellow staff or any of her customers. Suddenly a bit of pain appeared out of nowhere. Is this love? Nope, apparently I was standing there ogling at the cutie for a little too long because Esther grabbed me by the ear dragging me out of the barhall entrance. “Gus is wearing off on you too much already”, she uttered, disgust covering her face. If Gus were here I feel our conversations would steer too close to figuring out which girl was the cutest. I’ll have to remind myself to ask him to come by here some time. Maybe he could introduce me to her. God wouldn’t that be nice.
We were now back to the four way avenue across from the artifact shop. On both sides going down, there were a bunch of smaller offices each with a sign outfront showing which guild faction they represented. A few to name were the “Eternal Faction”, “Healer Faction”, “Bulwark Faction”, “Assassin Faction”, and the “Mentorship Faction”. These factions were offshoots of the main guild that functioned mainly underneath the guild, but would offer more assistance to the individual. Some benefits that these factions provided was early access to mission postings, mission placements for lower difficulty missions, and closer community with peers in the same faction. The main drawback is that individuals who are part of these factions normally lose a degree of freedom in exchange. If assigned a mission from your faction you really have no choice, but fulfill that assignment. It also affects your ability to choose team members for missions as that is also normally decided from the participating factions.
We moved on to the next corner, still staying on the right side of main street. The building on the corner was a restaurant that didn’t look too special, but compared to the beer hall from earlier it seemed calming. The faint smells that came through the restaurant's doors were quite refreshing. Walking by I caught a glimpse of some people eating steaks and fish in there. I remember once we had a bunch of fish left over from one of the outings in the village and I had gotten to eat some. The way my uncle had prepared it was to die for. Honestly, that fish meal I can count as one of the few happy memories I have from back then. Anyways, I’m gonna come back here sometime soon and enjoy myself.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The next building had multiple people outside of it inside just standing around keeping guard. This building was part of the national banking system, and had numerous guards inside and outside each one with both arms sleeved so as to not let someone see if they had gems or not. According to Esther, each one of these guards are most likely veterans from the guild hired to protect the banks and their interests. Each one can be expected to be capable of at least V6 level missions and probably V8 missions on the high end. If this were the bank in the capital then the number of guards would be doubled at least and they would all be of V8 capability. Since neither of us really had much use for the bank at this time we just continued on.
The last building on the right side of the main street was the trading hub. This is where all the monster materials brought in would usually be traded. Auctions would happen every day as shipments came in and products needed to be moved in mass quantities quickly. Main street stopped after this shop leading into the city's grand hall at the end of the road. The grand hall was where most of the governmental affairs of the city happened. This included but was not limited to trials, city hall debates, legislative discussions, law creation, city meetings, plays, and musicals. To the left of the Grand hall going up and down the street were various consumer shops for the wealthier individuals to enjoy. To the right of the Grand hall and the trading hub, were a bunch of smaller trade agencies responsible for trade with other cities, requests for monster materials to be fetched, imports, and exports of various items. Near the end of the row I could make out the sign for one of the slightly larger buildings reading, “Merchant’s Guild”. I remember that one creepy trader saying something about the merchant’s guild. I need to stay as far away from there as possible. I feel a shiver go down my back as I hear a nearby whoosh. I turn to see just the normal crowd there. Fuck! I don’t need to see that creep anymore. Now I think I will always feel a presence behind me even when there is nothing there. Grabbing Esther I say I want to see what was at the other side of the main street, but really it was to just try and get away from the lurking presence I felt.
On the other side of the street from the restaurant, a building for the refinement of monster materials was located. The inside had various machines constantly whirring about. Esther had said that in order to get the maximum yield from each monster material proper processing was a must otherwise up to half of the essence could get lost during the fusion process. I had no clue what she meant by “fusion process”, but I was still too preoccupied with my paranoid delusions, as I was currently on the lookout to see if someone was following us. Moving on, the next building was a clothing store. Everything inside had looked too expensive for us, and personally expensive clothes just don’t match how I feel. The ragged look just feels natural.
We now move onto the last building on the main street, and it is the one I was looking the most forward to, the library. I enter and Esther says she will leave me here as she has a few matters of business to attend to, and that she would tell Gus to come get me here. Smiling, I wave her off. Now to get to reading. I go over to the main librarian and ask for a specific book that Gus told me I should read when I finally got to New Dale. After a few minutes pass, the librarian returns with the book I wanted to see. It was an extremely thick book, nearly as large as half my hand. The cover read, “The Full Encyclopedia of Gems”. Upon further inspection the authors were revealed below. There were five author names, and among them one popped out towards me, “Gustavo Gallatin”. I could see his smug smile in my head clear as day, and it was… irritating. Whatever. This isn’t gonna stop me from reading and enjoying how everything is rated in here.
I spent hours sitting at a small round table turning through the pages of gems. Each page was a new journey presenting endless options Every gem’s page was set up the same. At the top of the page the gem’s name, below that and to the left of the page was the character, or emblem, for the gem. To the right of that was the rating for power, mobility, durability, utility, application, and progression. Listed beneath were a small description for how it earned its score in each of the ratings. Some of the gems would have a second page that went more in depth on known techniques, rarity, and notable figures that have used these gems previously.
The lens gem was located in the Power gem section, and it was described nearly the same as how Gus had previously explained. Comparing it to the other gems in the power section really did seem to leave it lacking sadly. Most of the other power focused gems had a second or third area it excelled in along with being a strong offensive option. One thing became apparent while looking through some of the elemental based offensive gems, was that they typically come with heavy resistances to their own element. The flame gem from my first life gave me resistance to nearly all heat based attacks. In retrospect, it would make sense since I didn’t burn my arms or feel any pain from the flames before. The same resistance applies to electric, dark, and holy gem types. Water, air, and earth elemental gems are a little strange on the way some of their resistances work. Some water type gems are able to absorb incoming water attacks proving them futile, whereas other water gems might be able to manipulate the incoming attack, but if they get hit, they take the full brunt of the strike. Wind is basically the same, except, I didn’t see any gems that could absorb air. The closest gem to that was where the user could become air, in which case, the user had full immunity to physical based attacks. That gem seemed extremely hard to beat for me. I don’t know how a laser could beat air. Someone had scribbled onto the bottom of that gem that becoming air gave a score of 10 towards peeping. Whoever made these scribbles left their thoughts throughout the book. What a weirdo.
After turning page after page, I finally found the gem that was on my left arm. The authors gave it the name of “The Goader’s Gem”. The gem was rated the following:
Power: 2, Mobility: 0, Durability: 0, Utility: 7, Application: 5, Progression: ?.
The section for power had very little listed with the only combat application listed being the ability to goad the opponent so harshly that they ended up having a heart attack. The gem appeared to provide nothing towards mobility or durability. The gem had earned its score in utility for a few reasons, with the main one being its unique ability to attract a huge number of nearby monsters. The book had listed that this gem is extremely useful in farming for a large number of monster materials. This gem has applications mainly in the aforementioned monster farming, combat, and politics. Progression wasn’t listed, as any eternals who get this gem die rather quickly, and Kijin don’t choose this gem for similar reasons.
I continue to scroll through the contents of many pages when I feel a light tapping on my shoulder followed by a prepubescent voice.
“Are you finished with that book yet? We’ve been waiting for nearly an hour.”
Bringing my gaze up from the book a group of four young teenage kids awaits me. None of them could’ve been any older than 14 years old. The one who tapped my shoulder was a thin boy with long hair. All of them were wearing dirty torn clothing. I doubt any of these kids had come from money. They kind of remind me of how I was back in the village, except these guys are all together. I wonder if I could’ve been friends with them before. Probably not. I was way too dreary back then. I never left the house and I was too weak to help with any of the physical labor around the village.
“Are you gonna hand over the book or not?”, the thin boy yelled at me. The librarian peeked around the corner scowling at all of us.
“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry, about that I kinda zoned out.” I say, returning with a chuckle and smile.
He swipes the book off the table in front of me, giving me a dirty look as he turns away.
“Come on guys, let’s go somewhere else.” he says, waving his crew away.
From the back there was a fifth young teen that I hadn’t noticed at first. It was an average looking girl, with fluffy brownish red hair wearing the same tattered old rags like the rest. She seemed rather sweet, but shy as she waited for everyone in the group to start to walk off. She walked over quietly whispering, “Sorry about him, we’re all from Dale, so it’s been pretty rough for us. We're all going to be choosing our gems soon, and he has been doing a ton of research on which gem we should get. I think the stress of it all-”
“Gaby, you coming or are you going to keep flirting with Mr. Eternal over there?”, said the thin boy. How did he know I was an eternal?
“I’m coming, I’m coming…”, she replies.
“Sorry”, she says walking away.
Well that was interesting, that type of reaction really did feel like I was back in the village. I think I was just a bother to most of the people there. It didn’t really matter what I was doing, but it always seemed like I was screwing up somehow. This was the first time since entering the tree I really felt a little depressed after an interaction with someone. I need to get my head out of the gutter. I’ll look for more books to get my mind right. Yeah, that will help get my mind straight. Looking around, nothing really piqued my interest. I asked the librarian if there were any other books about gems here, but that group of kids were using the other ones that they had right now. I can’t really go over there, and ask for one of their books now. I’ll just look like an asshole. Sinking further into a depressive episode, I pick up a random book and start to read. I can’t get my thoughts away from the village. None of this is helping. I probably deserved the way that kid treated me.
Turning page by page barely reading what was on each page, a familiar presence sits next to me. It was Gus.
”Why the long face kid?”, he asks.
“Just…, a little out of it”, I reply.
“Seeing me get a little banged up got you down in the dumps?” he chuckles.
I forgot completely that I could’ve done more in that fight. I could’ve stopped Gus from hurting his hand. My face starts to cringe as I feel the need to bottle up my emotions. I can’t let it just pour out. Gus shouldn’t have to deal with me when I’m like this.
“Oh, shit. Forget I said anything. Let’s go to the beer hall…, Okay? You can tell me all your woes as we have a drink”. He gets me standing up and we both walk out of the library headed towards the beer hall.
Gus gets me seated near the back of the room, “Can we get two pints over here, Thank you.”, he shouts to the nearby bar maid. All I can do is play with my thumbs and keep my head down. It helped to get out of the library, but my throat is still choked up. Why am I acting like such a bitch! Still looking down, I whisper to Gus, “Gus, can you slap me…”
“What? Speak up, I can’t hear you.” he replies.
Raising my head to look him in his eyes, I repeated myself “C-c-can you s-slap me…”
Gus takes a moment. He looks behind both his shoulders, and then, Whack!
A refreshing stinging sensation spreads across my cheek.
“You didn’t need to slap me that hard!”
“Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah…”
“Good, food’s on me tonight. Tomorrow we’ll get you going on your first guild mission”.
The barmaid brings over the two pints Gus had ordered, and it just happens to be the cute barmaid I saw from earlier. “T-t-thanks”, I say as she hands me the glass. “You’re welcome”, she giggled. Shit, I don't know what to do. Gus laughed out loud as she walked away.
“Man, it must be nice, being a looker and all”.
“What do you mean?” I question, returning to balance.
“You were awkward as hell, and she still seemed to like you. If that were me, a balding short guy, who was awkward as hell, she would probably have been creeped out.”
“I still don’t think I get what you mean…”
Sighing he continues, “I don’t know if you know or not, but you have a pretty attractive look to yourself. You’re tall, built strong, you have a nice face, but it still retains its masculine features, and you have that airhead atmosphere about you that apparently women like.”
I sat there absorbing everything he had just said, and then he continued.
“I on the other hand don’t really have many features girls love. I’m short, bald, my face isn’t really attractive, and I’ll be honest with you. Many years ago I didn’t do any adventuring and got really fat, so I didn’t even have muscles going for me back then. The only thing I had going for myself back then was a bit of charm, and money. I really didn’t like the idea of myself being used as a wallet for ladies, so I got rid of nearly all my worldly possessions. Instead I chose a lifestyle where I would earn nearly everything I needed, each new life. That way anyone I meet ends up liking me for me rather than what I have.”
By the time Gus had finished, he was already ordering another round of pints for the both of us. I didn’t even notice that he had drunk his whole pint already. I look back at mine. I have only taken a few sips of mine, and I was already feeling a little bit of fogginess. I don’t know if that is the alcohol or being emotionally exhausted. I’m not the biggest fan of beer, but it definitely is helping me get in the festive feeling that the rest of the beer hall has. The cute barmaid comes back over with the new round of pints for us. Before she leaves, Gus asks her if she wants to sit with us and share a drink. “As long as it is fine with your friend”. I shyly nod back, and she takes a seat in between me and Gus. My face quickly became very red. I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the girl that was responsible. All I knew was that I was overstimulated.
As we sat, the girl had asked me a few questions, and we had a little bit of conversation, but it quickly got awkward. Gus ends up talking with her for quite a while about what has happened around town the last year. He said he noticed a bunch of changes with new residence buildings being built, and a heavy increase in foot traffic here than ever before. Over the last century, Gus had been doing business throughout the nearby kingdoms and often passed through New Dale, and he said this place is at least four times bigger than a year ago. The barmaid sounded surprised that Gus hadn’t heard the big news. The nearby Dale kingdom was no more, and New Dale had really earned its name as the new capital of the Dale kingdom.
As she explained the downfall of the Dale kingdom, the alcohol quickly dragged me into a drowsy stupor. Before I knew it, I had passed out in the beer hall. After some time, I regained my consciousness. I was still in the beerhall, but it was much quieter now. My head was resting on something soft, but it wasn’t a pillow. I open my eyes looking up at the cute barmaid. My head was clearly resting on her lap. My face immediately becomes flush red. I notice that she and Gus were still locked in conversation about who knows what. You know I’m just going to take the win here and go back to sleep on her lap. If she allowed drunk me to do it, then so be it. She can take me off if she wants, but until then I’m going to enjoy these few moments.