It is still night out. I can't go wandering around. I need to find a place to stay.
But where to go?
Got to look for somewhere to stay...
And then a brick nearly fell on top of me.
It was so close.... A few inches more and it would have brained me, spilling out my head meat. That would be... bad. Very bad for my continued health and life.
I looked up, ready to utter the most foul of curses and slurs...
And saw my salvation.
A hole in a wall. A covered hole, but still a hole.
A hole that I can shelter inside for the night.
==================================================
After a few minutes of laborious climbing, I was able to get up there. Out of breath and hands almost blistering, I scampered to a long-forgotten hidey-hole of an attic.
It's got a dresser on the wall opposite of the... 'entrance', if the poor and battered furniture can be called that.
And a mattress in the corner, moldy and stained with dried-up blood and other unmentionable fluids. Also a sheet half-covering it, just as dirty as the mattress it laid on.
Plus pigeons. Lots of pigeons. They are warily eyeing me, either ready to bolt or ready to peck my eyes out. Or both.
Oh, and their stinky shit almost covers everything of the room, besides the mattress. Don't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
Ugh... just, Ugh! I can't lie down on the poo-covered floor. But I can't lie on the dirty, stained, moldy, and maybe even flea-infested mattress.
Or do I?
Upgrade powers, don't fail me now....
Moldy, Stained Mattress (Scrap)
A moldy and hole-riddled mattress, stained with blood and unmentionable fluids.
Upgrade?
Yes please?
Powers, please don't fail me now...
Moldy, Stained Mattress (Scrap) - Upgraded to +1.
Less mold and less stain. Small holes repaired, larger holes reduced to smaller holes.
Oh, wow.... Powers, you didn't fail me!
AGAIN!
Moldy, Stained Mattress (Scrap)+1 - Upgraded to Slightly Stained Mattress (Scrap)+2
No more mold and even less stains. No more holes. Fraying stitches fixed.
It was positively exhilarating. With just 2 Essence Points, I fixed the mattress into something better.
What if I spend 3 more points to make is better?
Old Mattress (Scrap)+5
An old, yet well-cared-for mattress. Easier cleaning. Sleeping on it is better and more refreshing.
And I get a prompt.
Spend 5 Essence Points to turn it's quality from (Trash) to (Common). Reverting its level, but retaining all bonuses.
... Or spend it to upgrade another item... like the blanket.
Decisions, decisions....
Oh well my decision is...
Filthy Blanket (Scrap)
A filthy blanket, fraying at the edges and looks ready to tears at the slightest touch.
Well I say... GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!
And I GO BIG!!!
Plonk all 5 of my remaining Essence Points on that shit....
Old Blanket (Scrap)+5
A well-worn but clean blanket. Easier cleaning. Muffles snoring and other distracting sounds. Warms up or cools down by 1° Centigrade depending on ambient temperature.
Sweet.
It's still quite dirty down here, but both the mattress and blanket is clean enough to be used.
I'll just remove my boots, lie down in the bed, tuck in, and....
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...."
==================================================
Wow... I just lied down there and slept. Just like that.
Am I really that tired? Must be all that running away I did from that... 'thing'....
(Sounds of a gurgling stomach)
And now I'm hungry. But I have no food with me, not even a fucking crumb. And I'm pretty sure there's no food inside that dresser.
(More gurgling sounds)
All right... stupid stomach. I'll check it out. (Sound of a door sitting on rusty hinges being opened.) There's no....
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Oh you have got to be kidding me....
A stale and moldy bread. It's just there, sitting inside the dresser. It's fucking mocking me and my stomach.
Well, it's food... but I don't think I'll ever want to eat that. That is just food poisoning waiting to happen.
Moldy Bread (Scrap)
A very hard, very dry, stale and moldy bread. Do not eat. May cause food poisoning.
Upgrade?
Oh for fuck's sake! Upgradable food? Really?
Wait... when I upgraded the mattress and the blanket, they become better. Lost the mold, stains and damages they had.
Maybe...
Oh.... And I now have 12 Essence Points Maximum? How did I... okay....
It turns out I can increase my Essence Points Maximum if I do something noteworthy while using Essence Points. For example; upgrading items to the item quality level threshold, like I did to the mattress and blanket.
That is so awesome!
(More gurgling sound)
Right... the bread. Almost forgot the bread. Sigh. I'll spend 1 Essence then... let's see what happens
Moldy Bread (Scrap) Upgraded to +1.
Less moldy bread. Very hard reduced to hard. Very dry reduced to dry. Reduced chance of getting food poisoning.
Well... at least it was a much better bread now.
Okay... another one.
Moldy Bread (Scrap)+1 Upgraded to Stale and Dry Bread (Scrap)+2
A stale, dry and hard old bread. Not very nutritious at all.
Hmmm... I'll bite into that and see if it's any good.
Oh god... that's so dry and stale. It's like biting into bread that been toasted too much.
I'm going to spend 1 more Essence. Don't want to eat something as horrible as that for my first meal in years.
Stale and Dry Bread (Scrap)+2 Upgraded to Stale Bread (Scrap)+3
A stale old bread. Left too long outside of proper storage. Still not that nutritious.
I'll take another bite...
Okay, not as dry and hard as earlier. It's like old, nearly-expired bread that I found lying inside the pantry.
Do I spend more... make it better?
... Nah. I can just wash it down with water. There a well outside on the street with a bucket. Think there's still water in it.
==================================================
Oh thank god for clean and refreshing water. I'm amazed the water from the well is not dirty or filled with flesh-eating bacteria.
It's very clean... almost like drinking straight from the tap.
Anyways... now that I am fed and watered, if still a bit hungry, I'll need to find a way live in this time. I'll need a source of income and a place to stay.
But first... I'll need something to defend. That fucking... thing makes me worried a lot about my life. Don't know if what he said is true or not. And I'm not taking any chances.
Well... I could upgrade the stick... or find a better weapon.
But... if what happened last night is not just an isolated incident and I stumbled into something very dangerous, I need a weapon now.
(Sigh) ... Okay, alright... I'll just dump 5 points into the Stick I found earlier. Better be safe than be dead.
... And there we go...
Crude Stick (Scrap)+5
A crude, yet serviceable stick for self-defense and mobility support.
+5% Damage
+10% Durability
+10% Intimidation Factor
Well... I guess that's nice...
For upgrading as (Scrap) item to threshold, you get an additional 1 Essence Points Maximum.
You now have 5/13 Essence Points.
The additional Essence Point is usable immediately? Nice... That would so broken...
But I wonder why I never got that prompt when I upgraded both the mattress and the blanket.
And yeah... I 'feel' that the Crude Stick is more durable and will deal slightly more damage. Plus I 'feel' like a bit more frightening to others.
Wow... my power is some really crazy stuff. I can't wait to experiment with it!
But before that, I'll need to find money.
==================================================
Okay... found another penny in the gutter. Good thing that the gutter's clean and I'm that desperate for cash.
That makes it... 2 shillings and 22 pennies. With the old English Money System... that's 3 shillings and 10 pence.
You might think that people in Victorian times would be very careful with their money. But alas, that is not so.
Especially with my eyes that can easily discern what items are within my sight. And it's not just money I've been looting so far.
Bottles, wood, paper, scrap clothing and metal... anything that can be placed inside my Pockets of the Scavenger is taken, no questions asked.
The people around me look to me with suspicious eyes. But I don't care. I need those items for my future projects.
I also took the mattress and the blanket and placed it into 2 of my Quickslots. I may not need to go back to that hole later, but I still want these two with me.
And I'm saving up the Essence if I get something interesting later. If not, then I'll just dump it to one of my items.
Hmmm... I could upgrade my money. If I do that, will their value go up?
Maybe later... if nothing interesting comes to mind.
But first... let's eat!
==================================================
Huh... what's this?
A hiring poster... for night watchmen.
Hmmm... that's quite a large salary, especially for this time period. Ten shillings a day, plus an extra 10 pounds as signing bonus. That twice than the highest rate for a factory worker. You claim only the bonus after a month of work, though.
That's quite a neat job... I'll take.
"Don't think about taking the job, sonny boy."
"Excuse me... but why?"
'It's a job for someone who wants to die."
"But the pay's quite good."
"No amount of will save you life. Trust me on that boy, you'll live longer."
"Okay..."
"If you want a job that pays well enough and is not that dangerous, go to the docks there." (The man points to a dock on the river.) "Find Caleb, the foreman. Tell that Marcus sent you. He'll give you a job loading and unloading stuff from the river barges."
"Uh... thanks?"
"No need, sonny boy. Better break your back than break your neck. Now, go on, git!"
Okay old man... I'll see what work is there on the docks.
But first... I'll check that address on the poster. That job looks quite interesting...."
==================================================
"Aren't you awfully young to take this job?"
"Picky, eh? I don't see any other takers than me."
The man sighs. "You're right.... It's not easy to find anyone to take the job. As it is, we're severely lacking in manpower. Not only night watchman... we're lacking people to fill out many positions."
"Okay... can I know to whom I'll be working for? Any why there's no one interested in taking those jobs?"
"You don't read the recruitment flyers?"
"Nope... just found a poster. It was quite interesting, so I went here."
"Listen kid... I'm sorry... but I can't in good conscience hire you for that job. It's just too dangerous."
"Then why didn't the poster say anything about that."
"Poster? Oh... that poster. Captain was quite livid about that poster. He said whoever commissioned it was very incompetent. But what can we do? The higher-ups was the ones who commissioned it."
"Really? Okay... I know when I'm not needed. Bye then."
"Goodbye kid. Sorry about this."
"No problem." And I was off.
==================================================
In the end, I went to the docks to get myself a job. I asked around from the guys there who Caleb is. One of them pointed a person right next to one of the gangplanks.
Hoo boy... this man's huge! Six feet tall or even higher, with a body rippling with muscle. Those arms can easily crush me into two. I bet with all my money that he can give a heavyweight wrestler a difficult time.
"What ye want, kid?" He's got quick a thick accent.
"Marcus sent me. Told me you could give me a job."
"Hmmm... you're a bit scrawny for my liking but okay... you're hired."
"What's the job?"
"You'll be..."
"Oh goodness me! Caleb... we might have a problem." If Caleb can compete for Mr. Universe, the man that just spoke won't be out of place in an all-you-can-eat buffet. He's just maybe an inch or two above five feet, but man, he might weight 250 pounds or more.
"What is it now?"
"I'm having problems with the influx of paper I have to deal. I need someone to help with them."
"You good with numbers and letters, kid?"
"I can do double-entry bookkeeping and read Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese and Russian."
"Really kid? If you can even just read Queen's English, you're hired as Vincent assistant."
"I can do that."
"Okay then. From now on you work under Vincent." He then points at the... chubby man. "He's the company accountant and handles all the paperwork for the docks."
"Almost forgot... welcome to Wilson and Co. Shipping. I'm Caleb Wilson, your new boss." He then offers his hand.
"Henry Thompson." I reached for his hand...
And he shakes it.
Oh fucking hell, the man's got a grip like a vice. And his handshake can easily dislocate my shoulder.
"Be careful with the kid, Caleb. He's not as tough as you or the others." Oh thanks god, he released my poor abused hand. Vincent then extends his hand to me. "Name's Vincent Carter. Here's to a good working relationship."
And I shook his hand.