Samantha made it back to the slums around noon and navigated her way to the building where she had previously stayed. After arranging her items in the second story to make it more home-y, she relaxed her grip on her aura and let it spread out from her as normal. Thomas had been right–stealthing was tiring when she wasn’t used to it.
Before even considering how to spend the next week, she wanted to improve the length of time she could reliably compress her aura. She was currently only able to keep her aura contained for around a half hour, and that wouldn’t be enough time to get anything meaningful accomplished. To that end, for the next two days she practiced stealthing. The work itself was somewhat tedious, but talking with Silas helped to pass the time quickly.
“Remember a while back there was something that was bothering me? I think I’m ready to discuss it.”
“I remember. What is it?” Silas asked, coming over to lay next to her.
“Before I bonded with you, I thought all spirit beasts were just animals–a valuable resource for beast cores and spirit beast materials. Now, I can’t help but think of you as a person. As my friend. It’s made me unsure about how to deal with future spirit beast encounters.” she admitted. “Do you know if other spirit beasts are like you, or do you feel like our bond changed you somehow?”
Silas leaned into her leg, “Before you… life was simple. I ate. I slept. I ran from predators. I scared away any competition. I hunted weaker beasts for cores. I didn’t know what a friend was. After you, there was so much more. More ideas and thoughts. More scary times. More fun times. I’m different now–better. I don’t know about other beasts.”
His words somewhat eased her concerns. She continued, “Does it bother you to hunt other beasts at all?”
“Nope. Their cores make me stronger. Hunting with you is the best. I get better cores than by myself. We’re not going to stop hunting, are we?” he asked, looking up at her.
She chuckled, “No, that wouldn’t be practical. Although, I think if a spirit beast shows intelligence like you and isn’t hostile, I will probably spare it.”
He nodded sagely, “If you want to spare them, I will too. Unless they eat my snacks.”
“Oh, you’re one to talk. I seem to recall a certain Lunar Hare eating my food and spirit pearls when we first met…” she teased.
He turned his nose up at her and huffed, “They were unguarded! That’s your own fault.”
As they joked with each other, she felt the lingering remnants of her unease disappear. Silas seemed to have no qualms about killing other beasts, so she didn’t see a good reason to worry about it either for now. She decided to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude, and would re-evaluate her feelings if she ever did come across other sentient beasts.
As their conversation wrapped up, she belatedly realized that she had been successfully compressing her aura for the last several hours without straining. It was time to move on to other things. She turned her attention to planning what to do with her remaining free time. Over the last several weeks she’d discovered that she only needed to sleep four to five hours a night to feel completely rested due to her cultivation. This meant she had 19 to 20 hours each day to work on improving herself. The problem was, she was unsure how to fill that time in the slums without drawing too much attention.
Cultivating to advance to High Copper was unfortunately out of the question. With the abysmal qi density in this part of the city, there was just no way that she’d make notable progress. Performing physical exercises to try and raise her stats was possible, but would be less effective without consuming medicinals to enhance her gains. She briefly pulled up her profile and checked her attributes.
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 6
Low (9)
Agility: 8
High (16)
Endurance: 8
Average (13)
Resilience: 6
Low (9)
On the bright side, she had plenty of room to improve. The further her attributes were from their approximate max value, the faster they would grow with training. She wouldn’t be able to push herself to the limit without giving away she was a cultivator, but she still might benefit from the effort.
The first thing she needed to do then was get familiar with her surroundings. She had no idea where anything was in this part of the city, and might come across an area that was good for stat training during her exploration. She left Silas behind with instructions to guard their belongings, but prioritize staying hidden. If he couldn’t scare off potential thieves while using [Translucence], it was preferable for him to abandon everything rather than be seen. He briefly complained about the prospect of abandoning their new territory, but eventually agreed to the plan.
Using Silas’s qi signature as a landmark to avoid getting lost, she exited the building and picked a random direction to start walking. Taking care to move methodically through the narrow, makeshift streets and commit them to memory, she looked down or wandered through every alley she passed. She noted with interest that several men and women she passed had shaved or shorn hair–similar to her own–though she didn’t know if it was for fashion or practical purposes. In either case, it worked in her favor. Even if the Braxands widely disseminated her appearance as a ‘young woman with short hair’, she wouldn’t stand out here.
As she continued exploring the area, she kept her ears open for any stray bits of conversation and tried to get a sense for what the residents were like. Most of what she heard was mundane, but eventually stumbled across something interesting. Down one particularly secluded alley, she could hear several men speaking roughly in low voices.
“Greene’s hiring runners again. Patch, Scrap, and Colt haven’t had any luck with the latest shipments because they’re too quick.”
“Pah, worthless. The Head’ll be angry when he hears the take is low again this month.”
“Our boys are born to stand and fight, not chase down couriers. Maybe we can send Greene a message to get him to pay up?”
“If we put him out of business we don’t get anything. We’ll just have to squeeze a little extra out of the others to make up the difference for now.”
“This time yeah, but our profits have been falling. We need a long-term plan…”
Samantha slowed her pace to try and catch more of the conversation. She didn’t know what these men were discussing exactly, but she had a suspicion it was something criminal. Extortion, maybe?
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The group debated how much of Greene’s product they could destroy without ruining him for a while before two of them broke off from the group, saying it was time for them to do their weekly rounds. This left three men standing in the middle of the alleyway, and Samantha peeked around the corner to try and get a better look at them.
The three varied in height, but none could be considered short. All seemed broad and sturdy from this vantage, but she couldn’t tell much else since they wore hooded cloaks that concealed much of their appearance. Their conversation was dying down with the departure of the other two, and in the natural dialogue gaps she could hear what sounded like running water. It was originating from somewhere near the men.
Eventually, the three ran out of things to talk about and stood in silence. She thought it was unusual how instead of leaving the area they occasionally scanned or patrolled the alley. Not wanting to be caught snooping, she kept moving down the main path she had originally taken. She mentally noted the location in relation to Silas’s and decided to return at a later time. She still had more ground to cover.
After another hour of wandering, searching, and building up her mental ‘map’, she heard the faint sound of running footsteps. Using the full visual range of [Prey’s Perception] she simultaneously checked behind her, in front of her, and down the nearby alleys. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary even as the sound got louder. It wasn’t until the metal sheet wall of the shack next to her began slightly trembling that she looked up, and the small shadow of a leaping child flew by overhead and landed on another nearby roof across the street.
It was a young girl–perhaps aged 9–and Samantha was shocked to see the poorly constructed hovels around manage to hold the child’s weight as she precariously leapt from building to building. The surprise must have been evident on her face, because an elderly man walked towards her from the sheet-metal hut beside her and laughed at her expression.
“First time seeing little Charlotte deliver?” he inquired. Samantha looked over the stranger carefully as he drew nearer. He looked to be in his late 70’s, and he had an unsteady gait which he stabilized with a smooth stick serving as a walking cane. His expression, though marred by deep wrinkles, was still kindly, and his easy smile revealed several gaps where teeth should have been. Long wisps of white hair clung to the sides of his head, though it seemed to have long abandoned the top of it. His beard was roughly shorn and a bit ragged looking, not unlike the old and dirty robes that he was wearing.
He stopped a comfortable distance from her, and Samantha replied, “I was surprised to see these buildings hold her weight, to be honest!” before quickly adding, “No offense meant towards your home, of course.”
He gave a light shrug and waved off her concerns, “I know it’s a bit of an eyesore, but as long as it keeps the rain off, that’s all that matters! I haven’t seen you before, are you new around here?” His tone made the question sound relaxed, but his eyes were clear and sharp as he inspected her.
“You ask that like you know everyone.” Samantha half-joked, attempting to avoid the question. When the old man stared at her for several seconds without a response, she gave the first vague answer that came to mind to move the conversation along without further scrutiny, “I actually live a bit north of here, but I came down to meet with someone.”
“Oh!” he said excitedly, “Who? I wouldn’t say I know everyone, but I do know quite a lot of folks.”
Crap.
Not wanting her reply to be suspiciously delayed, she responded with the only person she ‘knew’ in the slums, “Aiden. He’s a courier.”
“Ah–I know exactly who you mean.” he said, snapping his fingers, “He’s a good lad! Did you know he’s a bit of a local celebrity around these parts? One of the most reliable couriers around. He’s pretty busy with deliveries this time of day–”
She politely grinned at the elder as he rambled on, and wondered if he might be a good source to find information on the slums. Thomas had suggested she talk with locals, after all.
“--I bet he could get work outside The Gutter without too much trouble, but I don’t think he’d just leave his dad behind.”
This was the second time that she’d heard someone refer to this area as ‘The Gutter’. It must be what the locals called the slums. She’d have to use it going forward to blend in more.
“You bring up a good point that Aiden would probably be out delivering right now. Since you seem to know him, do you know where I might find him?”
“Now, now,” the man chided, his eyes gaining a slightly greedy glint, “nothing’s completely free in The Gutter, you know.” he finished, giving her a sly wink and holding out a heavily calloused hand.
So much for using him for information. I don’t have enough money to get everything answered.
She wasn’t entirely sure what amount was too much or too little for what she was asking, so she decided to start the negotiations by asking, “What would you deem to be a fair price for your information?”
He looked up to the sky and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Hmmm… 10 coppers?” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction.
In the Southern Business District, 10 coppers would buy her three or four loaves of high quality freshly baked bread. She didn’t know anything about the economy in this area, but 10 coppers seemed too much for such a small piece of information. She also wasn’t desperate for the knowledge since her looking for Aiden wasn’t urgent, though it could be helpful later.
She felt her inner merchant emerging, and couldn’t help but feel excitement at the prospect of haggling. Many people hated it, but she had grown up with her parents treating the trading practice as a fun game to teach her how to do it well. As a result, it still felt a bit like a form of entertainment for her. Remembering her parents caused her to feel a twinge of sadness as she missed them, but she didn’t fight the emotion. Instead, she channeled the feeling into her expression to try and make the old man feel guilty about his initial offer. Emotional manipulation, after all, was one of the primary principles of successful bartering.
“Ah…” she sighed, slightly exaggerating her disappointment, “That’s much too expensive”.
“Perhaps that was a bit high. How about seven coppers?” he quickly amended.
She turned slowly on her heel to walk away, and saw the old man’s eyes widen in response. She paused, then looked back without fully turning towards him, “You did already say Aiden is a local celebrity. I think I could find the information easily elsewhere. Thank you though.”
Two more primary principles of haggling–make the product seem less valuable than it really is, and show willingness to walk away from the deal.
The man’s upbeat mood faltered slightly, “But not everyone knows both where he resides and where he trains! Five coppers.”
Where he trains? That could be interesting. I was just thinking about training up my own attributes…
“Make it two and I’ll consider it.” she said offhandedly.
“Two? That’s practically robbery. I can’t take less than four.” he grumbled, now starting to frown.
Ah, we’ve finally reached his true price. Since I have the upper hand in this negotiation, let’s see if I can drive him even lower.
“I’ll give you three. Take it or leave it.” she stated firmly.
He huffed out a sigh and ran his hand over the balding part of his head, “You’re a tough one, aren’t you? Fine. It’s a deal.”
She reached into the inside pocket of her robe where she kept her coin pouch and pulled out three coppers, then handed it to the man. The entire time, her inner merchant was clapping happily and chanting ‘Good deal! Good deal!’.
He gladly accepted the coins and made them disappear into his sleeve much faster than she would have thought possible for the seemingly frail old-timer. He pointed down the street that they stood on in the same direction she was originally walking, and began giving some basic instructions, “Keep going down this way, then take a left at the fallen building with the blue graffiti. From there, move straight ahead until you see the crowds, and that’s the market. In the market is Aiden’s father’s shop called ‘All the Fixin’s’. It has a sign with a hammer and needle and thread side-by-side. When he’s not delivering, Aiden helps out there.”
“And the training grounds?” she inquired.
He pointed south, towards the wall, “When you hit the wall, travel west until you reach a cluster of fenced off buildings. They’ll be much cleaner than anything else in the area, so you’ll know it when you see it. ”
“Good to know, thank you…” she paused, realizing that she never asked for his name. Seeing her dilemma, he filled in the blanks.
“You can call me ‘Ol’ Man Whisper’. Everyone else does. May I ask who you are? It’s been a while since I’ve had a good haggle.”
Samantha gave him a sly smile, “With a name like Ol’ Man Whisper, I’m not sure I should tell you. You can call me whatever suits you.”
He snorted at her response, “Fair enough, fair enough. Off with you then, child! It’s always fun to do business with new people, but these old bones sure ache after all this standing around. Come on back if you have the need and the coin.” Ol’ Man Whisper then turned his back on her, giving her a lazy wave as he returned to his hut without looking back.
With that, Samantha departed for the market where she might get some clues as to where to find Aiden.