It took Aaron about an hour of sipping his beer, which was excellent by the way, until the first people from Merix Trade Company stopped by the Bar. Most were better off, none of the lower end servants or laborers frequented this bar. This was more for more skilled tradesmen. Which was fair considering the location and prices, but as the afternoon became evening some thirsty workers showed up as well for an Ale and nothing else. The tables filled and Aaron kept only one eye on the people entering the bar. So far he felt like none of them would be able to help him with pertinent intelligence for what he was looking for, Merix valuables. Which gave him time to try taking down notes.
At first he had real trouble with the quill and ink. It turned out to be a very messy and delicate writing instrument. But Aaron had learned to control his body and keeping his hands steady was, while annoying, not as hard as he had feared in the end. But there his issues with his notes did not end. Everyone could read his notes if he just wrote stuff down. Even though he wrote in English and not the Tower language, which had nothing in common at all, the universal translator would translate both perfectly. He knew that because he had actually seen English writing while moving about the Town. That meant this form of simple encryption would only work against normal people, but not against a fair portion of Climbers. So if he wanted to take notes nobody was able to read he needed to find a way to encrypt the whole thing first in some way. He tried using the tiny bit of stenography he knew, but his translator instantly translated it as if he had written out the whole word. Which was on one hand fascinating because it meant it recognized shorthand as its own translatable language, but on the other hand it did not solve his problem. In the end he tried a simple Caesar cipher. Funnily enough the translator translated a simple substitution without issue, but failed entirely when he substituted it for numbers instead of letters. So he used the simplest substitution possible. 1 = A and 23 = Z. Which meant in the end he had only a bunch of numbers on his notepad that the translator did not pick up as language.
It was fascinating considering he had basically a strange piece of cultivator technology in the back of his head. Aaron liked puzzles like this and it was quite interesting to find the boundaries of what it could do. Because he found out quickly that if he substituted the numbers with roman numerals it started to once more translate them into numbers even if they corresponded to words in the cipher.
Aaron looked up as someone stepped closer to his table and saw that it was Lesia with a balding middle aged man in tow. She turned to him with a barely hidden smirk and said:
“Excuse me sir, would you mind sharing your table?”
“No, not at all, would you mind bringing me another beer?”
“Pale Lager again?”
“Yes please, thank you.” he said with a smile. The man looked a bit uneasy but eventually settled down opposite of Aaron with a small sigh and gave Aaron a polite nod. He took a big sip out of what smelled like a mug of Ale.
“Long day?” Aaron asked the man and he nodded again.
“They are all long.” the man said after a lengthy pause and sighed again.
“Well at least there is beer to help us cope with it.” Aaron joked and the man looked up and studied him a bit closer, before he gave a thin smile and nodded. Aaron raised his almost empty mug and said: “Cheers.” The man nodded and raised his mug again, but he soon found the bottom of his mug more interesting than anything else in the Bar.
Aaron returned to his notes, or at least he mimed to do so, while he waited for his new beer to arrive. Lesia brought it over promptly and gave him a curious glance after he paid for it. Then he was ready to try to chat up the man that sipped on his ale and generally stared at the empty table or into his beer.
“Tell me, friend, what bothers you so? I can’t promise I can help with your predicament, but I can lend an ear if you need to.” he said and took another sip of beer. None of the alcohol had any effect on him he noticed. His metabolism was just too fast, too efficient. He did get a hint of the alcohol affecting him before it just vanished. It did made drinking much more interesting though. Aaron had never enjoyed being drunk much. Losing control over himself had never felt appealing to him in the slightest.
The middle aged man looked up at Aaron who gave him a short smile and put down the mug. Then he waited patiently for the man to respond.
“Nothing you can help with, just a lot of boring tedious work.”
Aaron chuckled. “Sounds like making cheap health potions. There is a lot of demand for them, but making them is just boring and repetitive. Still you can’t be sloppy or the potion does not come out right.” Aaron lied freely and the man raised his eyebrows.
“You are an alchemist?” he asked surprised and Aaron nodded.
“Yes, although not in guild employ anymore, sadly. What about you?”
“Oh, nothing so prestigious. I am just the accountant for the Trading House across the street.”
“Huh, I did not even know there were accountants in the Town. What do you actually do?”
“Well I run the numbers. Count Shards by hand and manastones by weight, mark it down in my books and then calculate expenses and profits. That kind of thing.” The man said drearily.
“You don’t sound exactly enthused about your job.”
“No, but the pay is good. Better than what most normal people can get.” he said and took another sip of ale.
“Well that just means you have to leave the boring work behind you and spend more time drinking and being merry.” Aaron said and raised his mug. They both drank and Aaron slowly but surely let the conversation drift. The man opened up only very slowly and told him a bit about his past. He had been a sales assistant for merchants since he was young and so knew the business. He could even enlighten him about some topics that Aaron found very interesting. The man was considerably more knowledgeable than Aaron had guessed.
“So why are so few caravans so profitable?”
“The Caravans are fairly big, many pack animals and 3 or 4 experienced groups of Climbers from Ambition. Thing is we make profit twice. They come down here with goods we ordered and we make a lot of profit from that. Goods that are dirt cheap in Ambition get an excellent price here, simply because they do not exist or are not possible to be produced. Then when they return to Ambition we sell them goods they don’t produce, like spidersilk for example. Per kilogram spidersilk makes hundreds if not thousands of manastones profit depending on the quality of the weave and the product of course.”“Then why don’t you have more caravans?”
“I am not sure actually. Its probably guild regulations cutting in. The guilds themselves have caravans and they limit their competition that way. Climbers who are willing to escort are also relatively rare, since it does almost nothing for their own progress, it just pays well.”
“Fascinating. That must mean you get to see more riches than anyone else I have met in the Town so far.” Aaron said and ordered the man another Ale. They were on their third by now and the man’s face was slightly flushed.
“I see a lot yeah, but none of it is mine.” the man said slightly depressed.
“I suppose your documents are just as valuable. I can imagine knowledge of the exact figures to be worth a lot.”
“Of course! Without proper book keeping there is no knowing who needs to be paid what to remain profitable!”
“Do they put your books into a big vault then like manastones?” Aaron said with a short laugh, like he had made a joke.
“Oh yeah, its such a hassle. Documents go into a safe only Merix can open. I have to wait hours every day just to finish my work.” the man complained, slurring his words a bit.
“That is so inconsiderate.”
“Right? Its just some documents in the safe, not even anything anyone would want to steal! Only paper, no manastone in sight.”
“I am sure your competitors would want to steal some of those documents, no?”
“Pah. They can’t even handle 2 caravans a year.” the man said and laughed drunkenly.
“But Merix would still take precautions, right? If I was in his place I would not want to risk all of the important documents in one place.”
“Its a magical safe! There is no safer place for any documents on the entire floor!”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Magical? Wow, that sounds expensive.”
The man nodded.
“They brought the thing from Ambition. Only opens to Merix amulet and he never goes anywhere without it! He does not even trust me! I have been working for him for half of my life. I would never betray his trust, but nooo. I can’t be trusted with the key. Too important.” the man whined.
Aaron was actually relieved. Stealing the key was much more feasible than having Aurix personally open the safe with his finger print or something. He was not sure if his abilities carried over to being an efficient pickpocket. He had never really been that good at it in his past life. He was simply not quick enough, his reaction speed and his big hands had always kept him back. But considering the Unceasing Palm kata trained his reaction speed and he was considerably faster already. It might make him good enough to steal that magical key? Since it would be magical, he would be able to sense it on the man’s body, making it unnecessary to ask more questions about it. But he would still have to train his skills a fair bit before he would feel confident to steal the key. There also needed to be an opportunity to steal it. But he might already have one in mind. Merix said he would get a new suit. A Tailor shop was an excellent place to steal something from someone. Of course that would put him at a time limit to bring the key back, but it was already a much better plan than anything he had come up with so far.
Over the few hours or so, Aaron discovered a few more important facts that were important to him. First the poor sods name was Kramius and he had a corner office with windows in Merix main house right next to the vault. He had even told him the shop he could see every day, which meant Aaron would be able to exactly pin point the location of the safe. The magical key in question was actually an unassuming key the man apparently wore around his neck, but Aaron could not ask Kramius to describe it more closely than that, so substitution was impossible. Merix would instantly realize that it was not his key and he would call the alarm. No just stealing it was actually more inconspicuous, since he could believe to have forgotten it at home. Aaron also learned some miscellaneous things like merchants not being allowed to give out loans, only the Adventurers guild had that privilege and Aaron guessed the illegal loans from the district were the other way to get a loan.
Aaron was just about to wrap up his conversation when he saw Merix wife return on the road through the window and excused himself to relieve himself. He stepped out of the Bar, the noise, heat and smell vanished to the cool evening air and Aaron stopped and listened for the woman’s breath. He found her quickly and followed her sound with his mind, listened to her have a maid store her new dresses, yes plural and then she walked up to Merix who had just eaten dinner.
“You missed dinner.” Merix said frostily and the wife did not say anything back, but sat down.
“You could have waited for me.”
“The food would have gotten cold.”
“You could have told the cook to wait to serve.”
“I was hungry.”
There was frosty silence after this exchange and Aaron heard a customer come out to the Bar’s backyard with the privies. He quickly leaned against the wall and mimed having to puke. The man ignored him while Aaron retched and then paused again to listen to the conversation in the house on the other side of the street.
“Listen, honey.” Merix began, now in a much more conciliatory tone. “I have thought about it and I think going to that wedding is a good idea. You were right.”
“Of course I was! But… its good that you agreed, because I made an appointment for you with the tailor for tomorrow.”
“What?!”
Aaron smirked to himself. That couple did have some problems for sure. But he had gotten the information he needed. All he had to do now was wait and then follow Merix to his tailor, slip into the shop and swipe his key. Then he could double back to the house, open the safe, steal the deed for the building and then return the key, best before he noticed anything had happened. He would need to scope out the building in question for access and he would need to train his pickpocketing skills a bit. But that was a problem for tomorrow morning.
He went and actually relieved himself, even with his new cultivators body he could not simply ignore the amount of liquid he had imbibed. On the way back into the bar he paused as the lovers quarrel across the street had turned into something else entirely. Now he could hear the sound of kissing and soon sucking and Aaron chuckled to himself and shook his head incredulously. Then he went back into the bar. He doubted anything interesting would be said between those two tonight. Kramius was half asleep when he finally reached his seat. The bar was crowded this time of the night and Kramius was very, very drunk by now. Aaron helped the man up and out of the door, making sure he was still capable of walking straight. He wasn’t, but he could still walk, which was good enough.
Aaron hesitated and then returned to the bar and sat down again. He was not entirely sure why he had returned, no he knew why, but it was entirely unlike him. He was still here in the bar because of the pretty barmaid Lesia. Without anything better to do he studied her as she worked. To his surprise she was mostly no nonsense and only returned the flirtations and pick up lines with a smile or a snide comment, before moving on. He had honestly expected her to be flirtatious with everyone in the tavern. She had been good at it. But while he watched her he noticed her gaze flicker back to him now and then. Their eyes met and she gave him a smirk. Oh yeah, if he wanted he could definitively seduce her, or let himself be seduced. The prospect was more appealing to him than he had expected.
This really was not like him. Aaron did not particularly care for sex. He never had. It was nice and all, but nothing earth shattering. So why was he interested in it now? Granted he had not had any human contact, not even a proper hug since he had come to the Tower. But that would not have bothered him before. Aaron once more noticed that he had changed, his body, his hormones were much harder to ignore. The calm tranquility that he had cultivated was so easily disturbed now. By his desires for food especially, but now another vice added itself. It wasn’t anything unnatural of course, but still. For a while he tried to dissect why he wanted to stay, why he wanted to sleep with the barmaid, but he could not make up his mind.
Sure, she was pretty and had a nice curvy body, but that had never before made a big difference to him. Fact was that Aaron felt a bit lonely tonight. With all the people being merry around him, drinking, laughing, flirting. He did not want to leave the city and sleep in the cold lonely forest anymore. He knew he would eventually return to it and it was a better idea security wise, but at the same time he could not bring himself to stand up and leave. Not tonight. He tried, but he failed. His desires overruling his rationality or irrationality. He was aware that with the spirit still clinging to him he was safe in this Town, as much as anyone could be safe.
Slowly while Aaron brooded and planned tomorrow the Bar emptied until Lesia finally came over. Aaron could hear her heart beat quicken in her chest and when she stopped and leaned over the table towards him with a smirk he looked up at her and knew he was lost. She looked as desirable as any woman he had ever met in that moment.
“So...”she began and smirked at him. “Did I hold up my end of the bargain?” she asked.
“You did, more than you can imagine.” Aaron said and it was not difficult anymore to smile at her.
“Good, then how about we take this somewhere...more private.” she said more in a whisper and looked him in the eyes.
“Lead the way.” Aaron said and she grinned and grabbed his hand. He let himself be pulled to his feet and followed her through the emptying room to a door at the back. The bartender rolled his eyes at Lesia, but she ignored him and opened the door and pulled Aaron through. It was a storage room, more of a long wide hallway. But before Aaron had any time to assess the situation properly, Lesia slung her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her body pressed against him and Aaron let himself fall into the sudden sensation of her tender lips and soft body. It was like a sudden shock of pleasure. His sense of touch took over his mind almost as suddenly as when he had been unable to control Sensory Harmony. Slowly she released him, her eyes looked dark in the twilight of the storeroom and she grinned up at him. Aaron barely knew what he was doing as he bowed down and kissed her again, this time with more participation than just standing there.
Lesia was panting when that kiss ended and then snatched his hand again and pulled him through the hallway.
“Come on.” she said and led him out the door on the other end of the hallway into a backyard separated from the privies. Then she led him up a set of stairs to a nearby building that looked much more modest than the bar. She opened one of the doors with a key hanging at her hip and Aaron stepped into a small bedroom with a closet and a chest as well a bed underneath a small shuttered window. Lesia lit up a lamp and set it down on the chest, before closing the door to the outside and putting the latch down. Then she turned back to Aaron and gave him a smirk. She opened the buttons on her blouse and shrugged it over her shoulders, her skirt followed quickly after and then as she walked closer to Aaron she left her underwear behind as well.
Aaron let his eyes wander over her naked body and smiled at her. “You are beautiful.” he said and she actually blushed and stopped in front of him.
“Your turn.” she said and Aaron chuckled. He stripped out of his cloak, shirt and pants, carefully setting down the belt with the potions and his daggers, before pushing the bundle of clothes to the side. Lesia eyed the daggers with surprise, before she took him in. She was clearly pleased with what she saw. Aaron stepped closer and gently lifted her chin so that she looked him in the eyes before kissing her. This time without holding anything back. Her naked body felt ten times as good as before with clothes in the way. Her smooth skin was enchanting to his touch, the smell of sweat and liquor clung to her but not necessarily in a bad way, quite the opposite.
She sank to her knees in front of him before long, looking up to him with a smirk before touching him with purpose. Aaron had thought kissing her, touching her had been a revelation of pleasure, but now he realized how wrong he had been. His entire world, all of his senses faded into the background of his mind until only the sensation of her mouth and fingers remained. It was too much, too intense and Aaron realized how much of a double edged sword Sensory Harmony really was. He buckled and came almost instantly. As his senses slowly returned he was mortified. Actually deeply embarrassed.
“Sorry.” he gasped and Lesia looked up to him, not frowning, but more surprised.
“You did not have a woman in a long time, huh?” she asked and Aaron nodded, too embarrassed to speak.
“Its alright.” she said and stood up. “Unless you want the night to end there.” she said with a pout.
“No, I don’t.” Aaron said and Lesia seemed mollified with that as she let herself fall into her bed. She grinned at him, spread her legs and beckoned him closer.
“Then come on.”
They stopped only in the early hours of the morning, when Lesia fell into a deep post coital slumber. For Aaron the entire experience had been like a rush of pleasure. When he first entered her he knew. Knew that he could get addicted to this sensation. Food was bad enough already as it had a deep hold over him, but this might actually be dangerous. If food was like smoking a joint with his new senses, then sex was like fentanyl laced heroin. On a whole different league of pleasure and danger. As Aaron laid in her bed, his senses slowly calming down and his mind free from hormone induced desire he reflected on what happened to him. He had lost himself in the pleasure. Had not thought, planned, not done anything but be in that moment of pleasure and he had sought it out like an addict. Over and over until he was entirely spent. Not that Lesia had complained, quite the opposite. In retrospect Aaron was surprised nobody had called the guard she had screamed that loud.
But in the moment, Aaron had not cared. Had not even thought about it. He had been in a trance. His senses in a never ending spiral of pleasure. The look of pleasure in her face, the smell of her, the sound of her panting, all of it just popping up like tiny boats lost on an ocean of his physical sensation, that had overshadowed everything. Aaron was sure someone could have walked up right behind him talked to him and he would not have noticed. The worst thing was even after his body was spent he wanted to do it again. It was not a physical need like hunger, not now when he was all relaxed afterwards. It was a psychological need, it was that he wanted to experience that pleasure again. Aaron let out a deep breath and vowed to control himself. This was a bad path to take. It left him vulnerable and it eroded his discipline. He had better things to do, goals to reach.
Aaron paused. What goals did he actually have? He had just wanted to survive. That had been his highest agenda and it still was. He was far form where he wanted to be, far from secure, far from a master and his cultivation journey had just begun. But what did he actually want? He had never had a goal in life, had always just done what he was good at and what felt good. But murder was not even close to how sex felt now. No, Aaron shook those thoughts off and focused. What did he want? He looked into himself and let his senses fade, all of his senses, until he arrived at the place of tranquility that could only be reached like this. Here he meditated until his mind was clear and he was ready to search for purpose.
The words of the great master echoed in his ear.
“One day you will stand in the rich, Qi filled woods of a true world. You will breathe in the very essence of existence, you will feel it in the soil under your feet, in the plants, the animals. Everything alive and dead will be filled with it. You will savor it and you will learn true tranquility. It will be an epiphany so beautiful you will weep. Then you will have to decide what sort of world you want to live in.”
In that moment he decided that seeing one of those worlds was his goal. That he wanted to climb the tower and become powerful enough until he reached one of those worlds. It was a simple enough goal, a simple desire of seeing a world filled with Qi. But it felt right to him.
Lesia turned in her sleep, clinging to him and brought him out of his meditative state. Her warm body a sudden reminder of what he had experienced. No, Aaron could not indulge himself like this. He would lose himself. He vowed to not repeat this more than every 6...well every month. That should not be too bad right?
Still he felt different, his resolve set and his goal. It would take a long time to get there and he was sure it would not be easy. But it felt surprisingly good. He closed his eyes and to his surprise he enjoyed the sensation of sleeping with someone else snuggled up to him. He would have thought his paranoia would have stopped him, but as he relaxed his body, he quickly fell asleep.