Lily took a big breath and pushed her hands down as she breathed out. “Let me get this straight. Fern stole Ashley’s titan core, and then Feng and her took the only two spare slots in the low mana tower?"

“That’s the sum of it.”

Lily started swearing and didn't stop. Max half expected the paint to start peeling. Yang chuckled from where she was still laying in bed. The healing potion had taken care of the poison, but she was still weak.

James snapped his fingers and pointed at Yang. “You get it. It’s hilarious. I knew I liked you.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “You like any girl with a pulse.”

James shrunk into himself and said, “No. I only like the awesome ones.”

“Whatever. What are we going to do now?”

Max shrugged. “Same thing we were always planning on doing. Hiking to the first layer.”

Lily sighed and nodded. She turned to Yang and said, “Are you going to be well enough to hike all day tomorrow?”

“The healing potion you purchased has already done the impossible. I will not let any remaining weakness stop me,” Yang said.

Lily shook her head, “I didn’t buy it, you did. Remember how I told you that I took your orbs to sell so we could buy the potion? You even had change, that’s what the white orbs are.”

“Oh. Thanks. You did say that. Still. You saved my life.”

“I went shopping. Your share of the loot saved your life,” Lily said while glancing at Max.

Lily gave Max a look, making sure he didn’t say anything. She and Max had both spent some of their own monster cores to buy the healing potion. Lily must be trying to spare Yang’s feelings because she hated feeling indebted.

Max kept his mouth shut. He liked Yang, he didn’t want her to feel bad. The weird thing was how Lily seemed to feel the same way. She had told him earlier today that she felt like Yang was a burden and she hated feeling responsible for her. So why was she going out of her way to spare Yang’s feelings? He honestly didn’t know. He decided to focus on something more fun.

“Speaking of shopping, James and I are going soon. We sold our Earth food for a crazy amount of money. I’ll buy some of the local stuff to replace what I sold, but I want to buy some magic cards or artifacts. Lily, do you want to come with?”

“Nah. I’ll save up more before I go shopping. I saw the prices in All that is Magic and Good, they are out of my price range,” Lily said. “But let me give you an orb for my share of the hotel and food.”

She handed him a white monster core. Max dug into his pocket and pulled out half of the knuts he had gotten as change earlier. He said, “Food and lodging is cheap here, so even with those knuts, you are overpaying.”

“I thought that was the case. I think there are two economies in town, the one for the poor that never leave the city, and the one for the rich and the hunters,” Lily said and pocketed the knuts.

Max nodded, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He turned to James and nodded towards the door.

James held up a finger and said, “Yang, have you had lunch yet? Cus if not, I can go get you something. We tried these empanadas that were pretty good.”

“You don’t need to get me lunch. I’ll get myself something in an hour or two when I am feeling better.”

“Nah, I’ll just get it for you now. You can’t stop me.” James said firmly. “Lily, you want some too?”

“Sure. I’ll come with you,” Lily said.

Max gave his friend a lopsided grin, and waggled his eyebrows. James frowned back at him and shook his head subtly. Apparently James didn’t sense the potential romance like Max did.

Lily and James headed out to the restaurant while Max asked Hammurabi for some recommendations on trail rations.

“You are in luck, my friend. There is a ration seller just by the front gates. The red ones are the ones made for humans, but you won’t get sick from the other ones. Everyone can eat each other’s food, some builder bullshit I think.”

“That’s convenient that I don’t have to worry about poisoning myself by buying the wrong thing. And do you think they will have low mana versions? Our bodies are still not adjusted to the high mana here.”

“Ah yes, I forgot about that part. I came through when the towers were still working. In any case, no, don’t buy the trail rations. They are one of the higher mana foods. Hunters need their energy and mana provides it. I guess if you want low mana food you could try a restaurant by the anti-spinward wall. That’s the poorest part of town and no one over there can afford the good stuff.”

“Thanks for the advice, Hammurabi. You’re the best,” Max said. “One last question. I’m here on Spinworld to find my brother. What’s the best way to find him, do they do a census or something?”

Hammurabi shook his head. “No, sorry. No census, no lists of names. The government thinks of us as numbers, not names.”

“That’s disappointing. So how do I find my brother?”

“I don’t know, but I imagine there is some kind of magic card that would find him. Maybe hire somebody?”

Max nodded and shouldered his pack. It was disappointing, but he had always intended on getting rich. Now he knew what he would spend some of his money on, a tracker to find his brother.

As he headed out, he stuck a war hammer through his belt loops. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but apparently he would be walking into a bad neighborhood. It didn’t take him long to reach the far wall. The city wasn’t that wide, they had built up instead of out.

The neighborhood didn't look as bad as he was expecting. There weren't any leaning buildings full of rotting wood. It was still clear this was the poor part of town. No one wore anything nice, and the kids playing in the street were barefoot. Another interesting change was that most of the adults had heavily scarred hands and forearms. Many of them were stained black as well.

There weren’t a lot of likely prospects for places to buy food around here. But there was one that he just had to check out. The sign out front said McDowells and had two golden arches out front. Max smiled. Even in another world, they were concerned about copyright.

He walked inside and saw simple wooden tables and chairs with a few patrons scattered about. Behind a stone counter there was a painted sign with burgers and fries on the menu. A value meal cost a single knut.

Max walked up to the counter and said, “Interesting name for a restaurant.”

The old man behind the counter said, “Yeah, it’s from that movie, Coming to America.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen that one.”

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“Really? It’s pretty popular. It’s the one where Eddie Murphy plays an African prince. It’s a classic.”

Max just shrugged.

The old man shook his head, “Kids these days. What’ll you have?”

“I’ll take some fries. Are they really made of potatoes?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s the joke. Fake McDonalds with monster meat and fake fries. They’re made of cassava root.”

Max handed over a knut and said, “Well, now you’ve got me curious. I’ll try some.”

It wasn’t long before Max had a fresh basket of fries. He took a bite and made a face. He couldn’t help himself. They weren’t bad, the crunch was good and the flavor interesting. But they were chewy, which he hadn’t expected.

The man behind the counter laughed at him. “Just give it a few weeks. The taste’ll grow on you.”

“I don’t have a few weeks. I’m heading north because I have a mandatory quest to reach the first layer.”

The man grimaced, “Ah, what a wonderful way to be introduced to Spinworld. Go hundreds of miles through monster infested land, or you’ll die.”

Max nodded, “Yeah. I’m here to see about finding some low mana trail rations. Not sure if fries are a good idea though.”

“Better than you think, actually. Anything grown in the ground is low mana. So root veggies like cassava, taro, and yams are perfect for you. You’re right though, fries aren’t great travel food. Toss me a knut and I’ll tell you where you can find the perfect supplies.”

Max complied and the man sent him a block south to a store called Whole Foods. It had the same green sign and everything. Max told him the situation and the grocer loaded him up with plenty of root veggies and preserved foods. It was heavier than the food he had sold earlier today, so he only got enough for a week. He could get more in the next city they passed.

With the food squared away, Max headed back to the store near the city gates, the one with the magic cards and artifacts. He was a little nervous about negotiating with the shopkeeper Paj again. The guy had all but promised him that he wouldn’t get a good price. The smart thing would be to wait until he was in the next city and buy stuff there.

But ... magic. He couldn’t keep himself away.

He walked into the shop and nodded to the same Lunuk guard as before. To Max’s delight, there was someone new behind the counter. It was a female Paj, wearing a bright yellow wrap and a happy expression. Her green skin was a different shade and her centipede tail smaller.

“Welcome to All Things Magic and Good. What would you like to buy today?” she said.

Max smiled and said, “I would love to buy a little bit of everything, but we’ll see how much I can afford.”

She laughed just like a human. “Ah. That is true of us all. If only our molt revealed riches, we would all be happy.”

The thought of the Paj molting didn’t make him happy, but he smiled anyway. Max started browsing the store. The displays of monster cores were interesting, but he didn’t even know what they were used for. Max wanted to buy a magic card to add to his deck, but he started by looking at the collection of artifacts on the other side of the store.

There was a sign above them stating that all of these dungeon artifacts were tested and certified curse-free. That was the second time he had heard about dungeon artifacts being cursed. Dungeons sounded terrible, he was glad someone else had done the work to collect these. He perused the artifacts and read the handwritten notes below each one.

The objects were eclectic in form and function. A tongue scraper that also scratched your back at the same time. A shovel that phased through metal. A cloak that made you hover four inches above the ground. A paint brush that shot out hundreds of needles with activation. A toe ring that enlarged your feet, and only your feet. Max was briefly tempted to buy a box that hardened everything placed inside, but it was only five inches long. It didn’t seem useful enough.

The artifacts were weird enough that he didn’t finish reading all of the descriptions. He assumed they had been made for the other species. Instead, he read through their selection of magic cards. They had two dozen different cards on display.

He could only use the citadel cards, but he read through all of the ones they had. Pawn cards were all related to summoning. Clover cards were slow working magical effects, like curses. The wand cards were typical wizard shit, green sparks, plasma bolts, etc. Cups seemed to be a mix of alchemy and druid magic. There were no bell cards on display.

Naturally, he paid the most attention to the citadel cards. He wasn’t tempted to buy most of them. He had no desire to make lights or a bolt of canvas, and the ladle maker made him laugh. He could just picture himself hitting monsters with them. The card that made ritual chalk sounded intriguing, but it didn’t mesh with his existing cards at all.

There were a few citadel cards he thought were interesting. The first was a Whip card. It wasn’t a weapon he wanted to use, but it could be useful. He might be able to merge it with his other cards and guide the resulting card into one that made all kinds of weapons. On the other hand, he didn’t want to use a whip.

The Drill card was intriguing. He didn’t think he needed a drill, but it did have a magical effect. He could only imagine that the magic power would be to quickly drill through tough materials. If he could attach it to a weapon, he might be able to use the drill to punch through the skin of super tough monsters. His only hesitation was that it would probably guide his merged card into one that made tools. That wasn’t a bad thing, but he was hoping to put his construction career behind him.

Max made his way to the back, where the Paj stood behind a glass topped counter. Beneath the glass were the best cards in the store. He read through the other cards before he got to the one he wanted. Convection, Quill Cat, Plasma Bolt, Appendage, Passkey. That last one must be the card that made the keys for the hotel. He could use it because it was a Citadel suit, but he had no desire to buy it. He only had eyes for the armor card.

Advanced

Armor

Citadel

Transmutes any matter within aura into chosen armor types.

Mana Cost: 42

Armor Slots: 3

Card Level: 4

It was an advanced card, which Max thought was a little more flexible than the common cards. Instead of a refresh rate, it had armor slots. That probably meant they wouldn’t have any magical effects. The mana cost was sadly higher than his capacity, but he figured he could upgrade his mana pool in order to use it.

“How much for the Quill Cat card?” Max said. He couldn't use it of course, but he wanted to get an idea of the cost of the best cards.

“I assume you have monster cores, not knuts?” When Max nodded she continued, “The Quill Cat card is almost the perfect summon. It is fast, has a ranged attack, and its claws can cut through almost anything. That’s why it’s priced at 280 whites.”

Max nodded distractedly. He mentally counted up how many whites he had. He got 39 from when he sold his cores earlier, then gave Lily ten of them. Then he sold his food for an additional 47. He spent a white on the hotel rooms, which should leave him with 75 whites. Less than a fourth of what she just quoted.

“Well, that’s out of my price range. How about these two? The Armor card and the Appendage card?” Max said.

“The Armor card is 80 and the Appendage card is 120.”

“Interesting.” Max said as he pretended to consider them both.

The Paj cleared her throat. “Forgive me for asking, but are you newly hatched on this world?”

“Yeah, I got here a few days ago.”

“Then let me offer some advice. I would avoid citadel cards if you are not a full time researcher. Citadel cards don’t allow you to change the default material unless you understand the materials completely. My cousin once spent ten months researching how to change his Scaler card from steel to copper. And that’s one of the easier metals. This Armor card has a default of chitin, which isn’t as strong as steel. Chitin is fine for the first layer, but here on the third layer you might as well be wearing nothing. You would have to do a lot of research before you trust your life to the armor this card can make.

“I recommend you buy the Appendage card, it’s immediately useful. It lets you grow temporary arms, and more is always better with arms, let me tell you. If you still need armor, the shop across the street can make you a custom set for a handful of whites,” she said as she pointed across the way.

Max thought about it for a second. Maybe he should just buy some armor and save up his whites for the next town. Then again, maybe changing the material wouldn’t be that hard for him. His kindle was still working, and it contained the knowledge of an entire civilization. Maybe just knowing the chemical makeup of steel would be enough.

Risking his entire wealth on a dice roll like that would be a bad idea though. He needed to test his idea out first.

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll have to save up just a bit more before I can afford what I want.”

The Paj knocked on the counter and said, “I have a feeling you will be back sooner rather than later. Something special about you.”

Max laughed at the sales technique. The funny thing was that it was working. He really wanted to come back today and show her that he was special. Well, he wanted to come back either way. Even if he decided against the armor card, he wanted a new citadel card either way. A bit more thought made him realize a non-magical whip was almost useless for him. The magical effect of the Drill card was intriguing though.

Either way, he had some homework first. He needed to test his theory about wikipedia making him a citadel card master.