Darren woke up with tears running down his temples. The dream of his mom merrily shouting " Darrriinn, when are you going to marry? your mama needs to see twenty apos before she dies ha?" in her thick Filipino accent reminded him of a cold, hard truth.
He was dead.
Darren was too busy being caught up with the troubles of this hard world, that he had forgotten the strong-willed woman, who despite being a single mother, worked hard to keep him alive and healthy in their world.
The tears continued to fall. He was dead. Who would go to church with her every Sunday? who would call every night to ask her about her day? who would she aim her sage advice and tirades about needing grandchildren at?
No one.
Darren pondered the general unfairness of the world, no fuck it, the universe. He had worked hard to put himself through college , then business school. Even harder to establish his fledgling game company and grow it to the powerhouse it was today. Who was the sick fuck who ran the universe, that decided to just kill him? not only that but to hurt his mom too?
Darren didn't know, nor did he think it was beneficial to continue wallowing in sadness. He put those thoughts inside a metal box in his head, locked it, then sealed it away in the deepest recesses of his mind. He donned the mask of a cold businessman like many times before. He heard footsteps in the other room. He steeled himself, not wanting to put himself in a god-awful awkward situation if Osric saw him crying.Good Lord "Hey that new guy is a crybaby" even in a small town with no wifi that would spread like wildfire, Darren cringed.
"Time to get to work" wondering where would he find work in the first place.
•••••
Osric woke up before sun-up, like he always did. He made his way to his son's old room everything was exactly how he left it, save for the pile of gear by the door and Osric's hunting knife hanging in the above it. He slipped into his hunting gear. He hoped there would be a boar today, but he'd been hoping that everyday for the five years since he moved here, a boar only appeared once. Lady Lucea's luck probably just wasn't with him, or he used all of it during the Shattering. Osric didn't believe much in gods and goddesses though as far as he was concerned, until he saw one in the flesh, those were mere stories told by women swaddling their babes.
He heard something.
Osric heard faint sobbing through the thin wooden wall. He decided to not go out the door just yet, Give a man his time to grieve . Whatever the lad was crying about , he knew those were the sobs of grief, he knew those very well, The Shattering was not kind he thought, a grim expression forming on his face.
He loudened his normally light footfalls, it was his way of saying Lacraea was hard lad, crying is not going to make it less so. He walked slowly towards the door.
•••••
"morning Osric" Darren said, he noticed that Osric was in full hunting gear. He wore a green hood over a green tunic and pants, a large knife hung from his belt and he was carrying a small bow to use the bundle of arrows on the quiver on his back.
"Aye, g'morning lad, how goes it?" he asked with a smile.
"Well , I was wondering where do you find jobs here? the guild entrance is too steep for me considering I don't have a single copper on me"
"That be the public board by the well lad, the job there don't pay much mind you, but at least it's something and you don't have to pay those blighted fees"
"Thanks man, I don't wanna be a leech, don't worry i'll bring my own food as soon as I have money," Darren promised.
"Always a pleasure to help someone in need lad, by the way I only heard 'Osric' when me mum roamed the village in search of me so she could hand out of my beating. Calleme Oz."
They both toward the door. Darren wondered how the hell could Oz hunt in his age. Well he did say he was a war cook, it's probably something to do with that. His thoughts floated towards his mother again in her occasional bouts of arthritis, Darren winced but quickly plastered his smile back on.
"Thanks again Oz, I'll be on my way now" he waved as they parted ways, with Oz going towards the south gate facing a thick forest.
Darren headed toward the town square, the sky was a gloomy gray a perfect match to his mood. He made his a group people crowded at the board. He used his slim frame to his advantage and snaked his way through crowd. With a good bit of effort, some grunting from the burly members of the crowd and more than a few excuse me's he got to the front. He scanned the pieces of paper for anything interesting, and lucrative.
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Position: Guard
Requirements: Level 12 or higher, bring appraiser's form or adventurer's card as proof
Pay: 5 silver per fortnight, bonuses shall be explained at the barracks
Where: Pondcross Barracks
Darren studied the parchment. He looked over it after a couple of seconds though, it had a good pay considering the highest payment he'd heard of was the five silver guild entrance fee, but the high level requirement barred him from pursuing it immediately. Darren didn't know what the hell his level was but he was sure it wasn't twelve, he had only been here for less than two days after all. He looked at another parchment that caught his eye.
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Master chef Ramsey Lamb is now accepting a new batch of novices
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Requirements: no level requirements, but an adventurers card is an option to learn skill quicker.
Price: 50 coppers a day
Where: The kitchen, Rowman Keep
Darren looked at it with glee, A cooking job! the filipino mom and all those nights of him waiting for "Neighborhood Housewives" to end so he could watch "Chef Masters" was gonna pay off. Something was strange though, the bottom didn't say "Pay" it said "Price". Darren's heart sank. He needed to pay with his own money to work for someone? shit.
Wait. How was he reading and speaking this language? wasn't the language from his universe most likely different from this universe? Darren shrugged. It was probably something that slimy nephilim gave him when he got sent here he thought absentmindedly, finally answering a question that had been lingering in the back of his head for a while.
He scanned the board again for something that didn't have the words "Price", "Adventurer's card" or "Appraiser's form". Darren figured all of those cost money, which he had non whatsoever. He saw two papers that were free work.
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Miners needed ~ Cragworks Mining Co.
Requirements: None
Pay: 1 silver per fortnight
Where: Elth Hill, 5 miles north of Rowman Pier.
Construction Laborers needed
Requirements: None
Pay: 1 silver per forthnight
Where: Pondcross west end, building in progress.
These are all labor jobs! Darren groaned both internally and externally. he hated not having money, having to ask for things from other people, not having the power to buy anything he wanted and having people seemingly look down on him for being poor.
Having only his mom to provide for the family meant Darren's childhood was basically devoid of the phones. His mom did her best, god bless her soul, at juggling the three jobs she had, but they only ever had enough money for their needs and not much else. Darren remembered all those snooty rich kids with all their new toys. He always strove to make more money than anyone else just to cover this petty childhood insecurity.
Now he was back to square one, no, he wasn't even on square one he was on square negative five. He didn't even have enough money to buy his needs.Darren realized the world was unfair no matter what universe it was. Darren chose the lesser evil and went with mining maybe it would be like the games where he would find a gem and be rich or something. Though deep inside him he knew this wouldn't be the case.
He made his way out of the town gates towards it's namesake. The "Pond" was a lake, and it was huge, the multiple tributaries feeding it led to the forest. There was a pier with a multiple barges guarded by two armored men with longswords and a robed figure sat by the water silently keeping watch. Darren also multiple figures hopping around the lake
Frogs
Why are there so many damn frogs here? there were frogs of different sizes, ranging from the size of a normal frog to the huge ones seven feet the the shoulder. Most were a light green color. He focused on a large frog the size of a pitbull and his book floated up.
Species: Giant Frog (Juvenile)
lvl: 10 Type: Beast- Amphibian Mana: 100 Health: 350 Stamina: 150 STR: 23
CON: 44
INT:12
WIS: 8
END: 19
CHR: 1 Skills: ??? Resistances:
-30% water, 10% blunt damage
Giant frogs are normal frogs that grow to many times their size due to ambient magic present when they are spawned. usually caused by leftover energies of magic users nearby. They eat animals smaller than them, but give up when said prey is too much work. they are protective of their young and try their best to consume flesh from magic users to help their young grow to enormous sizes as well.
Additional discovered information will be added automatically.
Darren hurriedly walked far away from the frogs lest he become their meal, even the guards were glancing at frogs that came too near. He saw the hill mentioned in the board and walked towards it Damn if i'm scared of a few frogs how am I gonna Defeat the King Of Horrors and get my wish and be rich? he thought. Fuck it, there are other ways to get rich plus I don't really need to defeat him someone probably picked a ultramega sword or some shit. He wondered what it took to become a Lord in this world, reminiscing the intrigue and politics of his favorite TV show. His musings stopped when he finally reached the mine.
It was exactly how he imagined it. A tunnel braced with wooden support beams a number of people , who Darren was pretty sure were of dwarven descent, were near the mouth of the mine counting pieces of rock other men brought on carts drawn by what seemed to be fat, grey grubs.
He walked over to a counter near a shack that was manned by a dwarf. The man had a red beard with a streak of grey running through it, he was wearing a leather cap and had muscles that Darren thought were probably the same size as his thigh. A hammer was slung on his belt.
"I'm here to work, this was the place right? Cragworks?" Darren said, resolving to stop using excuse me, most people didn't seem to use it here anyway. Maybe it was reserved for nobles ,he thought to himself.
"Aye, yer a slim one aren't ya, ya sure yew wont break like a prisha twig? Ah does na matter, as long as you make the qouta, we have gohrobs to help ya haul the ore anyway, what be yar name skinny?"
"Darren"
The dwarf wrote something down in his book in rough looking letters and held it up for Darren to sign.
Worker # 14 waiver
I ______________________ hereby go into work for Cragstone Mining Co. of my own accord, I do not hold this mine acountable for any loss of belongings nor any damages incurred to my belongings or my self. I sign this contract with my blood in the presence of all gods known or unknown
"here" the dwarf handed him a small blade the size of his pinky.
Darren gingerly accepted the blade go- I mean gods damn it why do I have to use my blood? Darren thought. A mine with that let him sign a disclaimer preventing them from damages is telling him to damage himself? At that moment Darren's stomach growled reminding him that he needed that money to survive. He made a small cut on his thumb with the blade that was actually razor sharp, and then stuck his thumb in the book.
"Well that be it, me name is Haff and I welcome ye to the Cragstone Mining Company we mine for iron here and have a daily quota of 30 units. That be units not pieces meanin tha the number of units of iron metal we can extract from a single piece of ore. We 'ill not be payin you slackers for the dirt that comes with the iron" he said with a shrug
"Yer pick and yer helmet be in the shack, and ye can ask for yer ghorob crystal from their herder near the pens. And don't be thinking of stealin anything fancy from the company or the mine, ole' Sore eyes there would know" he pointed at the man dozing off near the entrance with a leather strap covering his left eye "and you will be dealt with accordingly"
Three words floated in Darren's mind after his registration and Haff's orientation.
No Free Healthcare.