“Next round is on me!” Panda squealed with joy as he lifted a wooden tankard in the air.

The crowd cheered and chairs scraped across the floor as they rushed to the bar to place their orders. Panda flipped the lycanid landlady a gold coin and whooped as he downed his drink and gestured for her to refill his tankard.

“What the hell are you doing!” I shouted as I entered the inn, causing the entire place to go silent.

“Kaleb! There’s my guy. Come drink with us!” He slurred, pointing his tankard at me, and sloshing a thick amber liquid all over the floor.

“What happened to buying books?” I asked sternly as I crossed the room and the patrons moved aside for me.

“I got a whole bunch!” He slurred happily. “They’re in our room. Oh, speaking of the room I paid for the rest of the month with the change I got and now I’m celebrating.”

“Celebrating with my money.” I said darkly.

I wasn’t a cheapskate or anything, but I was saving up to buy armour. I was about to go wade through a dirty sewer, killing slimes to meet that goal, and my familiar of all creatures was throwing my money about like he was Kanye West on an egotistical presidential election campaign.

“Well… yeah.” He said and swayed on the counter slightly. He’d obviously drank quite a bit already.

I’d only been gone a short while. Where had he found the time to buy books, pay rent and get sloshed.

“How much have you had?” I asked exasperatedly.

“He’s only had a single drink.” The lycanid landlady replied. “The one in his hand is his second.”

“Only one?” I replied, flabbergasted. “Jesus, I really didn’t take you for that much of a lightweight. Give me the coins you have left.”

Panda reached beneath his fur and handed me a coin pouch, it felt significantly lighter than the one I’d given him before.

He must have pulled that from his inventory. There’s no way he kept that pouch inside his fur. I thought.

I placed it into my inventory and saw that there were 53 gold coins left. He’d spent a lot, though from the sounds of it he mostly bought books and paid rent so I couldn’t be too mad.

“How much to buy a round for the bar and keep him in drinks for the evening?” I asked the land lady.

“A few gold should do the trick.” She smiled lecherously. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I placed three gold coins on the bar and kept the rest. It could go towards my armour fund.

“Have fun, but don’t wake me up when you come to bed. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” I said, petting Panda on the head.

“You’re the bestest kid.” He slurred. “You hear that guys? Kaleb’s buying us all a round!”

The people in the bar cheered and lively chatter and drink orders ensued.

I guessed he did deserve to blow off some steam, especially after the goblin king coronation. I, however, had a new quest to start in the morning so I’d be retiring early.

***

Chrysus sat lazily on the golden throne in his domain. He leant his head onto his hand, his chiselled jaw line felt like an artistic masterpiece.

It was a perk of reaching godhood. The ability to choose and shape one’s own appearance was a privilege of the truly powerful.

He wasn’t one of the major gods. Those guys had churches in most major cities. He, however, had a vast network of worshippers, they just mostly did their worshipping in private.

Naturally, as the god of wealth, many of his merchant followers wore pendants made from gold coins. This was the universal symbol of his flock.

Of course, he also had his cult. They, however, were mostly hidden throughout Celestia. Their work was a bit taboo for the more narrow-minded mortals of the world.

It didn’t help that bitch Athena had condemned his actions publicly. He’d get even with her one day though, once he got his hands on the treasure at the end of the Celestial Map.

The scar across his chest ached as he thought about Athena. It was a difficult task to permanently scar the body of a god. It was a slight he would not soon forget.

“My Lord, I have returned.” A hooded man said, entering the huge chamber and dropping to one knee with his head bowed.

He wore a blood red cloak which completely covered both his body and face.

“Ah, Antonius. Have you delivered the invitations?” Chrysus asked, not bothering to raise his head from his hand.

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“Yes, My Lord.”

“And how did my newest blessing recipient do?”

“He fought well for someone of such low level. Though I could have killed him easily if you’d ordered me to My Lord.”

Chrysus tipped his head back, finally removing it from his hand and laughed in a way that was more like a deep roar.

Antonius shivered as a wave of pure magic power washed over the room. It was malevolent even though his laugh was joyful. Thus was the nature of his god and master.

“I’ve been watching him a bit lately. Did you know he managed to survive against an entire goblin hoard at only phase one?”

“That is quite impressive My Lord. I would expect nothing less of a person you deemed worthy of your blessing.” Antonius replied, still keeping his head bowed. He didn’t dare to look the god in the eyes. His entire body quivered merely from being so close to such overwhelming power.

Not to mention the god’s appearance. His muscularity was fierce and the slight scaling on his face made for a frightening visage.

“Quite so, it’s the old merchant’s intuition in me. I know a good product when I see one. He’s going to be very useful to me in the later stages of the fight for the map.

“Providing he lives that long. Tell me Antonius, how did he react when you gave him his invitation?”

Antonius squirmed uneasily. He had feared being asked this question. His Lord was not known for his well-balanced emotional temperament.

“I think his exact words were… fuck no, My Lord.” He said awkwardly, squeezing his eyes shut and expecting the worst.

“I expected as much.” Chrysus sighed, returning his head to his hand. “No matter, I will have to think of another way to entice him. Tell me, is Diako’s puppet still running the Adventure Society in Havar?”

“Yes My Lord.” Antonius replied, feeling slightly more at ease now the bad news had been delivered.

“Perfect.” Chrysus replied with a twisted smile plastered on his lips.

***

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and raring to go. My new quest awaited me and I was eager to get a good start.

Panda was passed out on his back nearby. He was fully starfished with his limbs outstretched. I’d already decided to do this quest without him.

It was going to be a simple grind and he wouldn’t be that helpful. Besides, if he knew it was in a sewer he’d moan the entire time.

I left him a note on the bed saying I was going out for a while and that he should stay in the room and read his books. I didn’t know how long the quest was going to take, but I didn’t want him getting into trouble without me around to help.

Despite being a daemon familiar and self-entitled sage, he acted so often like a child. That made him a bit unpredictable.

I also left him two gold coins for food and warned him that if he spent it all before I got back he’d have to go hungry. Basic necessities like food and drink were extremely cheap in this world.

I didn’t really understand how, but it was quite idyllic. If only it was that easy to solve world hunger back on earth. Though a large part of me, having seen how this world operated, was starting to believe the hunger crisis was more about greed than a lack of produce.

I could have been wrong though. It’s not like I was that up on current affairs and the big issues. I was a truck driver not an economist.

Leaving the room, I headed downstairs and quickly ate my pre-paid breakfast of stew and hard bread before leaving the inn.

I made a quick stop at Adventurer’s Stockpile and Supplies and bought a few healing potions, some more stamina potions and two weeks’ worth of rations.

There was no way I was going to be gone that long but it was always good to be prepared, as Sally would say.

Though I was loath to depart with the money. As the old saying went, you have to spend money to make money and potions were lifesaving supplements.

The previous day, Lucy had told me that I’d need to report to the sanitation building to enter the sewers and start the quest.

It was only a few streets away from the Adventure Society building so I found it with ease.

It was a small, unassumingly square building with a tall, wire fence around it. The only thing about it that stood out was that it seemed to be made from concrete, at least it looked like it was.

The walls were solid and grey without a hint of bricks and mortar in them. It certainly looked dreary enough to be a government building.

In contrast, all the other buildings in Havar were glass skyscrapers or medieval taverns and stores – at least the ones I’d seen were.

I walked up to the front door, which was made of solid wood, and knocked loudly. After a few moments of pacing in front of the door in my impatience, it opened.

A small, old man stood in front of me wearing a mucky grey overall.

“Can I help you?” He asked in that typical old man voice. It sounded feeble, but from his muscled frame I doubted it was a true reflection of his physical ability.

“Sorry to bother you. I’m here from the Adventure Society. I’ve accepted the quest you posted.” I replied as politely as I could. Gotta respect your elders and all that crap.

“Ah, yes! Come on in young man.” His tone lightened up at my introduction and he held the door for me as I entered the concrete-looking building.

Inside it looked like a storage closet. There were mops and buckets and tools lying around. Large pipes were bolted onto the ceiling and a constant churning noise echoed around the place.

“Please excuse the mess. My work here keeps me so busy I don’t always have the time to tidy up.” The old man said as he led me through the room.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. You should have seen my house back home. It was always a right shit tip.” I replied.

“Oh, where are you from?” He asked inquisitively.

Shit, I’m not supposed to act like an outworlder. Maybe I should temper my accent a bit too.

“I’m from a small island in the north, you won’t have heard of it. It doesn’t even have an Adventure Society. I came here to join up.” I said, thinking quickly.

“Well you’ve come to the right place. There’s plenty of Adventure Society work to be done in and around Havar.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

He led me through the dreary building to a small room with a circular hatch built into the floor. He bent down and lifted it and I immediately got hit with the stench of a city’s worth of excrement and waste. It was revolting.

“Here, put this on.”

He said, passing me a paper mask that gave me flashbacks to the covid 19 pandemic. I wasn’t certain it was going to do much until a notification appeared on my HUD.

New item:

Mask of Purification (inferior)

A simple mask that purifies the air around the wearer’s mouth and nose, eliminating 99.9% of bacteria and odours.

The unfortunate side effect is how wet the inside of the mask gets when you breath. It can be pretty gross after a while. Make sure you brush your teeth before wearing it or you’ll smell your own bad breath all day.

I slipped the mask on over my face and felt relief immediately as the smell disappeared. It wasn’t completely gone, but in place of the overwhelming smell of excrement was the smell of a mild, lingering fart instead.

That was much more manageable.

“Thanks.” I muttered, my voice sounding muffled due to speaking through the mask.

“No problem young man, just be careful down there.” He said, gesturing towards the open hatch.

I looked at him and he smiled back. He wasn’t wearing a mask but he was probably used to the stench since he worked there.

Taking a deep breath, and instantly regretting it, I turned around and descended the ladder into the sewer.