Len moved to the side, allowing people out of the main door leading into Tyk's General Wares. He slipped in past them, joining the two lines that constantly moved towards the counter. Behind the counter, dozens of men and women could be seen moving among shelves, gathering the items requested by those at the counter. It seemed that anything and everything one could want was held within the large building. From fire starters to cooking pots, even nails and hammers of various kinds. Len reviewed his list in his head as those ahead of him were served.

“How can I help you today?” The man behind the counter asked.

"Hi, I would like to buy backpacks, two of them, large if possible."

"Are you looking for the kind to go around the city with for longer excursions, transporting of goods?" the man asked.

"The largest you possibly have, similar to those used by the military?”

“We have something that should serve,” The man nodded, waiting.

“I need a sewing kit if possible."

"Yes, we have one of those, lengths of material as well as patches and needles.” The man started writing on paper.

“Two of those please. Do you have boots?"

"We have several kinds. Are you looking for working boots?" He asked, glancing at Len's attire.

"The sturdiest you have, with thick soles and leather. And I know it might be a long shot, but clothing?"

“I can think of boots that should work,” The man glanced over the counter and squinted at Len’s feet. Len held out his boot for him to see.

“We have hardy clothes, coveralls, pants and shirts for the hard-working man that you can repair over time. As well as general sundries."

"Great, that'll be perfect," Len said. "Do you have any food items?"

"Unfortunately, no, we don't have any food items, but you could go to Rowland's Traders. They have a variety of provisions that might interest you," the man said.

"All right, perfect," Len said. "So, one backpack, two sets of boots, same size shoe as me. Then four shirts, four sets of pants, as well as fourteen pairs of underwear and fourteen pairs of socks. Do you have sleeping bags or blankets?”

“Blankets is the best we have.”

“How large?”

The man paused, reviewing something. “Two meters by one.”

“Six of those then. How much will that run me?”

"That will come to a grand total of twenty-eight silver and forty-seven coppers. Is there anything else we can help you with? Tools?”

“I’m good for now, thank you.” He’d check in with Rick to see if there was anything else he might need.

"Okay," the man said, going through over the list he’d written out,

Len took out his coin purse, putting the coins needed on the counter.

The man behind it turned with his piece of paper tearing it up and passing it to three attendants behind him. They ran off down the aisles to gather the gear as Len finished putting the last coins on the table.

The man counted them out, sweeping them to his side.

"Thank you very much, sir. If you could wait over there," he pointed to an area off to the side where others were collecting their goods.

"Thank you," Len said, moving away.

"Oh, um, before I forget, do you know anywhere that might have places to stay?" Len asked.

"Uh, the... nearest place I can think of... are you looking for standard accommodation or something to sleep, drink?" The man asked.

"Just somewhere that's quiet, away from everything, but nearby to the market district to get back and forth," Len said.

"Right. Then I would say the... Slumbering Willow." He leaned over the counter. "If you go down that street, two blocks on the left-hand side, go up another block or so, you should see it, has a willow on the signboard. It's nothing much, but it's clean, quiet, and out of the way. Just don't be making a noise after the sun’s down." The man smiled.

"Thank you very much." Len shared a smile with the man, moving off to the side. The next customer moved up to the counter as Len leaned against the wall, watching the comings and goings through Tykes, General Wares.

For the majority of his life, he'd been scavenging clothes, repairing them where he could, buying new items, and seeing so many of them in one place. It seemed extravagant. A crazy luxury.

“Backpack order?” An attendant said.

“Right here." Len raised his hand, moving towards the counter. The man looked over to the other that had sold it to Len. He gave a subtle nod.

“Here you are sir.” He handed the backpacks and a crate, all the items he’d bought inside.

Len checked their contents.

“Thanks.” He threw one on his back, checking the straps. They were still tight, and had little give in them, compared to the ones he'd used in the past. He secured the other closed, tucking it under his arm and headed out of the store.

He followed the directions to the Slumbering Willow. It was a simple enough building, four stories tall, with wooden slatted windows to allow wind in and out, and close off the street when needed.

He walked up to the front door, working men and women passing by. As he reached the front counter, next to a small gate, cutting through the corridor, stopping one from continuing forward quickly.

An older lady sat behind the counter, raising an eyebrow at him. "Bed and board?" she asked.

"Looking for a room for two? If possible?" he asked.

"General or private?" she asked.

Len frowned.

“General, you got a bunk, you got to keep your gear to yourself, but you'll get a lower rate with more people in the same room. Private, it's just two beds, and you have a door you can lock," she said.

"Private, please."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Alright, one private room, how many nights?"

"Uh, let's say two nights," Len guessed. Making armor even with Rick's skill wasn't an overnight thing. Plus, a few nights to work on their cultivation would... ...be a great help in the wild.

"Alright, one double-blank, private room, cash up front," she said. "That'll be three silver." Len took out the coins, placing them on the counter.

"If you want baths, there's a place three doors down that-a-way." She pointed out the door and to the left. "And if you're looking for clothes, they'll wash them there. If you want food, there's a whole bunch of places around here where you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner," she said.

"Thank you," Len replied.

She gave him a curt nod, pulling the coins over the counter and storing them away in a box before pulling a key off a nail and handing it to him. "You're in room three E. That means it's up on the third level. And room E.”

"Alright," Len said.

"No noise after dark or before sunlight. You start partying, you start drinking, making a ruckus. I don't mind if it's outside, but you don't bring that back here," she said.

"I got it," Len said.

She looked away, sorting out the coin further.

Len moved past her, pushing the gate open and walking into the building. He moved to the side, letting people pass as they exited the building, most of them wearing workers' clothes similar to his own.

They gave him curt nods as they passed. He hurried up the stairs, getting to the third floor and quickly finding his new room.

It was as bare bones as it got. Inside was a bunk bed that took up much of the room, a thin aisle ran from the door to the shuttered window that he could open, staring at the building opposite, just out of arm's reach.

Len cast a cleansing spell over the lower bunks’ bedding. The simple spell nearly draining him as he had to gather his mana back up before casting it on the top bunk.

It was a simple spell, killing bugs and bacteria that was alive. Anything larger like a person the mana requirement would be massive.

Len dropped the backpacks on the floor, checking over the door. The lock was simplistic in design. Take is someone with a knife fiddling around with a latch for a few seconds to throw it, Len thought to himself.

He looked around the room for objects that he might be able to use. Spotting a doorstop with a rope drilled through it. Perfect.

Len put it underneath the door, kicking it into place. Retrieving the sound talisman from his pocket, he injected mana into it, activating its enchantment. It buzzed several times in his hand before the connection went through.

"Len?" Rick asked on the other side.

"Hey Rick, I just found us a place at the Slumbering Willow and got us some gear. Gonna go grab us some food supplies from a place called Rowland's. You find a smithy yet?" Len asked.

"Yeah, I think I've got one. It's called The Curved Serpent," Rick said.

"The Curved Serpent," Len repeated. At least it wouldn't be hard to remember a name like that. "How'd things go with you?"

“Ah you know, life of the party,” Rick said, there was a catch in his voice.

“What happened?”

“Ah nothing much, don’t have to worry about it!” Rick said quickly, too quickly. "I'm working on the armor and your sword. Got you a chisel as well! See you soon, also get jerky!”

The sound talisman went dead in Len’s hands.

He started pulling out the gear he’d just bought, changing to his new boots and then repacking one with everything so it’d be easier to pull out in a hurry.

The second one he emptied and threw on his back.

He positioned the doorstop near the door, stepping out and closing the door nearly all the way. Len reached inside, putting the door stop in the path of the door. If someone tried opening it they’d jam it into the doorstop and find it hard to keep going.

He closed the door all the way and locked it.

That done he hurried downstairs, pausing at the counter.

“Excuse me, do you know where Raolin’s traders are? I was told I could get provisions from them.”

She took out a piece of paper and started drawing out a rough map. “We’re here, that’s the road outside,” She pointed at the line on the paper and the street. “That there is Raolin traders.”

“Thank you!” He took the piece of paper from her and held it up.

She nodded and went back to whatever she had been doing before.

Through the gate he walked out onto the street, following the map to the outskirts of the lower market district towards the south.

The railroad had a stop at the Raolin trader’s compound. Grain silos, warehouses and a butchers took in food from the trains out back. Carts moved out of gates, carrying food across the city.

There were various stores selling smaller quantities of food. Vegetables, meats, spices. His eyes stopped on a building near the end holding preserved goods.

With the spring passing and summer in full swing there was plenty of fresh food to be found.

It was the quietest of all the stores and Len’s target.

He opened the door to shouting coming from the hallway down the side of the store leading to offices.

"What do you mean you're not taking any more trash? We've had a long-standing agreement between your company and ours for nigh on twenty years," a man said, chasing another out of the office corridor.

"I'm telling you what I'm telling you. We can't keep on dumping this stuff. None of my lads are even heading out to the dump anymore. I'm about near closed down," the man exiting yelled back, smacking his hat on his hip. "Them beasts and creatures, they be coming out of the forest now. Had three of my lads mauled by them going into work early one morning.” He turned on the man that must have been from Raolin Traders.

Ever since, we've had to put up protections to try and keep them away.” He threw up his hands in frustration. “At this point, we're going to have to have guards watching over the damn dump to keep the beasts out from him. How the heck am I going to make my money then?" The man slapped his hat against his leg in anger.

"They're just a few beasts," the Raolin man said.

"A few beasts?" The hat-wielding man moved a half-step towards the other fellow. "A few beasts, you say? Beasts with eyes that glow about a wolf the size of a damn horse. Some say they even got magic. The occult, I hear. I've been out there. I thought my lads were lying!” He shook his head the anger fleeing him. “But I saw it. I saw it with my own damn eyes. One of them beasts got into a fight with others and started breathing fire. Fire, I say, like one of them furnaces. Exhaling it like it was a damn chimney gone burning up."

"You can't be serious!” The Raolin man scoffed.

“Look, here's the way it is. I ain't taking none of your waste no more, and you can't pay me enough to do it. Any that are willing to take it I wish them luck and mercy upon them," the other man said.

He affixed his hat on his head. The forest ain't safe no more. Damn old industrial district's gone to shit, and people are feeling scared in their homes down in the lower district. Won't be long till they start coming up this way and get it right from the source. I wish you all the best, but I ain't hiring guards to watch over no damn dump. Not going to be the one apologizing to their widows when some hungry beast kills ‘em. Good day." He turned, moving around Len and out the door.

The other man let out a sigh of frustration, running his hands through his hair before heading back to the offices.

He hadn't even left by then before the people who were inside the store started chattering to one another.

Beasts that were as big as a horse, glowing eyes, breathing fire. Definitely mana-mutated. And they were already starting to leave the forest.

Beast population starting to break up territories and push into human areas? Or just hungry and there’s no one willing to defend a dump?

He winced at the thought of people dumping food, even bad food, with the right enchantments he could use that to make a field grow endlessly. He silently shook his head and moved towards the counter while there was no one in front of it.

"Hi sir, how can I help you?" A lady behind the counter said, trying to quickly push past whatever had just happened.

"I'm looking for provisions. Five kilos of meat, any kind that's preserved. Then I'll take hardtack or dried out bread, let's say another five kilos of that. Uh, vegetables, let's do a kilo, three kilos of lentils and three kilos of beans. Do you have any tea?"

"Yes, we've got black tea, if that works with you, sir."

"Perfect, I'll go for enough for ten days, as well as dried fruit, let's say another five kilos. Then let's say a small ration of salt, small ration of pepper, some sugar. And that should do. Oh, also nuts, if you've got them, about a kilo or two."

"Okay, I can look into that for you," she said.

"Where you can get the smallest version’s possible," Len said.

"Okay," the woman nodded a little confused at the abnormal request.

She finished up her list and headed into the aisles behind the counter.

Len moved to the side as another attendant moved up to the side.

She returned after a few minutes with two more helpers holding all the food. She had various food in cheesecloth wrappings, others in cans.

“This comes to one silver and twelve copper.” So cheap even with throwing it out.“Do you have more canned vegetables, jam and honey?”

“Any flavors of jam?”

“All of them?” Len asked.

She nodded and walked back. Len took off his backpack, opening and started filling it with the various packages.

Jams in multiple flavors, fuck yaaah.

He finished packing up his backpack as she returned with five jams and a big jar of honey.

“How much?”

“Twenty five coppers.” She said.

He took out the coins and put them on the counter, looking around to make sure no one was going to stab him for his goodies.

Right, jam and honey are normal right now.

“Thank you!” He picked up the backpack and got his arms into the straps.

The woman frowned as he walked out under his own power.

Not that heavy. Though what is heavy for a non-cultivator?

Len puzzled over that as he headed back to the Slumbering Willow. Then he could head to the Coiled Serpent and get started on enchanting their gear.