Chapter 2

**New Player in Town**

Day One

  Jason blinked and instead of seeing glass walls, he was now looking at a distant town on a hill. A rudimentary stone, dirt, and wood wall stretched around the settlement, and the occasional tall building poked over the fortifications. Jason looked down to find himself standing on a dirt road. A tug on his arm made him notice he held the bridle of a donkey laden with two bulging bags. The animal, annoyed that they were not moving, snorted its nose.

“Woah,” Jason exclaimed at the quality of the simulation. He looked down at his hands and he couldn’t have guessed he was in a game. He sent a mental command to check his stats.

Name: Jason

Level: 1 (Experience 0 of 1000)

Class: Peddler

Tribe: Braccian

Hit Points: 40 (5*Constitution)

Injuries: None

Stamina: 40 (5*Strength)

Affinities:

Earth: 23

Air: 20

Water: 90

Fire: 7

Light: 40

Dark: 55

Attributes:

Constitution: 8

Dexterity: 8

Strength: 8

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 8

Charisma: 10 (+1 from clothing)

Luck: 8

The lack of a mana bar had Jason worried, the game advertised a magic system but it was also common knowledge the actual mechanics were kept a secret by active players and the developers. Any information posted on the internet, or even the deep web, about the game was quickly purged. One player tried to release a physical game guide through a publishing house but was swamped with lawsuits until he agreed to cancel his book. Still, the game couldn’t stop word of mouth, but sadly for Jason, he lacked any friends to talk about videogames with. Affinities sound magical, Jason thought, they must have something to do with the different types of magic. He tried mentally checking for more information on the affinities but the interface wouldn’t give him more information. He thought a command to check his inventory.

**Note This: You may check your inventory by either looking on your person or via the interface. Using the interface you may sort by factors such as the location of objects. The latter method may be more informative but may result in slower retrieval time (game time is not paused when viewing interfaces) and depending on the player's abilities (ie. spatial magic or items) you may only be able to retrieve items on your person. Additionally, you may call an item in your inventory to retrieve via the interface simply by calling its name and it will appear in the player’s hand.**

**Would you like to receive additional tutorial information in the future: yes/no?**

Jason didn’t hesitate to select yes, he was sure there would be a lot he could learn from the tutorials and he still wanted to find out about the magic system. After he dismissed the previous screen his inventory appeared.

~Money: 5 Silver

~Iron Dagger (Durability 40/40, 5-7 Slashing Damage)

~Peddlers Clothes [Item Set] (Durability 20/20, Armor: +0): +1 Charisma when complete. These vibrantly colored clothes will attract customers, but offer the wearer no protection.

**Note This: As this is a complete item set it will appear as one item in your inventory until the set is broken**

~Flask (Water): 44% Full

~X3 Dried Venison Strips

~X1 Dried Fruit

Jason looked down to see his shirt was a faded blue and his pants a garish red. He patted his head and took off the hat he was wearing. I guess this matches my outfit, he thought upon inspecting the red and blue striped minstrel cap topped off with a large white feather. He sighed then put it back on, might as well get the extra charisma.

The interface didn’t reveal what the donkey was carrying so he looked at the animal and sent a check inventory command.

**Note This: As this is the first time checking an animal owned by you would you like to name it: yes/no?**

Jason clicked yes and thought for a long moment. If donkeys could be irritated, this one surely was with him, the animal’s earlier huffing was now replaced by kicks at the dirt road. The animal’s temper reminded him of his childhood dog, Skippy, a terrier with the attitude of a lion.

Skippy’s Inventory:

~Two Bags of Wool

Compared to other games he had played this one seemed to give players a generous starting position. All the games he remembered playing in high school would drop players naked in a field with a rusty sword if they were lucky, but more often than not just their fists. He closed Skippy’s inventory screen and a notification blinked into view.

**New Quest: Making a Start. Whoever you were in your past life doesn’t matter. In Titan, you are a peddler, the lowest of the most despised class of any era, merchants. But hey you have to make a living somehow. Go into the town and sell you wares, you may just find your next financial opportunity. Reward: 250 Exp.**

That seems simple enough, Jason thought. He closed the quest and before he forgot altered his settings to minimize the notification UI by moving pop-up screens to the lower right quadrant of his view so his vision wouldn’t be impaired during anything serious. With his housekeeping in order, Jason started walking toward the town.

As he approached, he noticed a line had formed outside the gates. Peasants huddled together with produce and livestock stacked on backs and carts. Jason noticed the wealthier looking people would pass the line of peasants and walk straight to the guards by the gate. He pulled Skippy in tow and walked to the gate to be greeted by two idly standing guardsmen. One relaxed his weight on his spear while the other chewed on a strand of wheat. As he got closer the one with a spear shifted and used the weapon to block Jason’s path. “Non-residents ain’t allowed in until noon bell,” he said with a practiced and lazed tone.

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Jason grumbled then a thought popped into his mind. He grabbed two silver coins from his pouch and offered them to the guards, “Do these make me a citizen for the day.”

The guards’ eyes lit up and the one spat out his gnawed wheat and replied, “more than a day fella.”

The guard blocking Jason’s path pulled back his spear and took the coins with a laugh. “Mind pointing me towards the market,” Jason asked.

“Keep going straight through the gate until yer at the circle. I’m guessing yer looking for the whole sellers so take the right, you want to do some regular shopping after yer done yer business go to the opposite side of the circle, Craftsmen Row, it’s called,” Wheat Chewer said.

Jason was surprised by the amount of information they offered. Their earlier attitude was drastically changed by a few coins. He thanked the two then led Skippy on. He checked the notification that appeared after the guard took his coins.

**Skill Learned: Bribery (Beginner I): Increase bribe success chance by 1%. +50 Exp.**

Another notification appeared:

**Would you like to know how bribery works: yes/no?**

Jason affirmed the request.

**Bribery success is calculated by subtracting offered bribe from receivers expected bribe in copper coins. Each copper less than the expected amount is an additional 1% chance of failure. Bribery skill buff subtracts from this failure rate. For example at beginner level I you may offer a bribe of 3 coppers when the receiver is expecting 4 coppers.**

“Keep moving idiot,” someone yelled from behind Jason. He turned to see a red-faced craftsman tugging on an ox’s reins. Jason quickly apologized and continued moving. The craftsman shook his head and muttered curses as he passed Jason. I have to remember to wait until I’m in a quiet spot to check notifications, Jason thought.

The game's explanation of bribery had Jason worried that he may have over bribed the guards at the gate. I guess giving away 40% of my cash in the first 15 minutes of the game was a bad idea. Hopefully, this wool is worth something, he thought to himself.

He made his way to the town’s circle surprised by the crowd of people bustling around. From outside the walls, the city did not seem that large, but inside there sure were a lot of people. He pushed his way through the crowd towards the wholesalers, wary of anyone trying to pick him or Skippy. He felt a light hand reach down his pant leg and grabbed the arm. He looked down to see a boy no older than 8 with a hand half in Jason’s pocket. He growled at the boy and pushed him away.

**New Skill: Perception [Passive] (Beginner I): Your senses are increased by .5%. +50 Exp.**

The skill gain made Jason happy, but he didn’t like the fact it almost came at the cost of losing the remainder of his money.

When he finally made it to the edge of the crowd the circle broke off onto an avenue. All down the street tall warehouses sat with stands on the road. Jason saw the person at the stand would haggle with sellers then workmen would take the loads into the warehouses when a price had been agreed upon. The warehouses seemed to be buying everything from wheat and melons to lumber and cow dung.

Jason walked until he found a warehouse with a sheep sign hanging from its scaffolding. A short bearded man was snoring at the table in front of the warehouse. Jason tapped the wooden table probably giving himself splinters, “excuse me.”

“Gah, ah, ah what?” The man asked with half-open eyes.

“Um, I have some wool to sell.”

“Huh, is it noon already?” The man turns around and yells into the warehouse, “Aye Klaus, it noon yet.”

“No,” a young voice yelled back.

“Peasant ain’t come in until noon, what are you doing here?” The man questioned.

“Ah,” Jason stalled as he hurriedly contrived a backstory. “I’m a traveling trader. I ah pick things up here and there. Got these bags of wool along the way and need to get rid of them.”

“Sure,” the man said, he had lost interest partway through Jason's introduction and had been picking at wood chips on his table. “How much you got boy.”

“Ah, ah, two bags.”

“Bothering me over two lousy bags of wool,” the merchant grumbled. “3 silvers and 2 coppers for the lot,” he stated not taking his attention off his wood chips.

Jason was mentally slapping himself. Silver must be worth a lot more than he thought and he gave those guards more than half of what he was going to make. That must have been why they were so nice. He wasn’t sure how much anything really costs so he agreed to the price.

The merchant whistled and yelled, “Klaus.” A moment later a muscular adolescent boy came out and grabbed the wool off of Skippy. Meanwhile, the merchant was counting out the coins on his table. “There you are boy,” he pushed the coins across the table and Jason grabbed them.

“Thanks,” Jason said scooping the coins into his pouch.

The merchant grunted, “next time don’t waste my time on two lousy bags and I’ll give ye a fair price,” then closed his eyes and laid his head on his table. Jason ground his teeth, note to self, price check next time I sell something.

Jason turned to leave and heard a bell ring out. As he approached the circle he noticed the street of warehouses was beginning to fill with people. All of the booths now had queues of peasants lined up, many of whom he remembered seeing waiting outside the gates. Jason stepped to the side of the street and checked the notification that was blinking in the corner of his view.

**Quest Complete: Making a Start. Reward: 250 Exp. You have discovered where traders sell their goods. You may have been cheated but you will learn the fluctuations of prices in time. Now you must find your next prospect.**

**New Quest: Peddling Around. Upgrade your class to trader. Reward: 500 Exp. and 1 trait point.**

**Would you like to see the requirements for class: Trader? Yes/No**

Jason chose Yes.

**Class Trader Requirements: Bartering level: Trainee I, 10 Charisma, and a Trade Agreement.**

Jason wondered what a trade agreement was, but as usual, the game didn’t give him any more information. He assumed he needed to find a supplier to buy from so he could sell in the city, probably setting up a fixed pricing system with the suppliers. This probably also meant finding a village. The wool merchant must have really cheated him because he hadn’t even gained the bartering skill. Jason decided to go over to the other side of the circle and visit some shops to work on his bartering. Also if he was going to go out and find a village he would need some more protection than just his dagger.

Once he made it through the sea of shoppers he was walking down a street similar to where he sold the wool. Only down this avenue, smaller alleyways branched off from the main thoroughfare. I guess this is Craftsmen Row, he thought, I guess I’ll check out a blacksmith first.

He followed the sound of loud clanging until he found an alley thick with smoke. Down the alley, there were a few different shops each seemed to specialize in a different type of metalwork or material. There was a pipe maker, a goldsmith, a silversmith, and many more. Jason approached an open workshop with a sign bearing crossed swords hovered over it. A muscular young woman was hammering red hot metal on an anvil. Each hit let out the song that drew Jason to this alley.

**Skill Increase: Perception [Passive] (Beginner II): Your senses are increased by 1%. +75 Exp.**

Nice! At least there is one thing I’m getting the hang of.

He coughed to get her attention, but she didn’t flinch. He then knocked on a wooden pillar that held up the roof of the workshop. Still, she did not seem to notice. Finally, Jason called out, “Hello”, in a half yell that left him feeling awkward.

The woman slammed the hammer once more than set it down. She looked over at him then turned back to what she was working on. “I only do custom jobs,” she said as she was inspecting the sheet of metal that would eventually become a sword.

“What?” Jason asked, confused.

She put the metal down then waved her hand at him. “Stop wasting my time, you’re a trader right, probably a Traveler too?”

He nodded his head, the feather on his hat flopped down to block one of his eyes. He awkwardly tried to fix it and his face went red. “Um, yeah I am.”

“Yeah, well I don’t mass produce pieces of junk to sell to backwoods militia. I make a sword based on the customer.”

“I want a sword,” Jason sputtered out.

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, “why?”

Jason paused for a second confused by the question. “Um, to protect me,” he said slowly, questioning each word as it came out.

“Don’t you have guards? Look it doesn’t matter, your money you can spend it however you want, but look if you care to buy weapons to sell somewhere else you’re out of luck. Go look at some second-hand shops. “

“No no, I’m serious I want a sword.” Jason thought for a second about what to say next, “It’s just I wasn’t sure how to go about getting one. Do you make enchanted weapons?”

“Woah,” the woman cried out, “you didn’t say you were noble.” She cowed her head slightly waiting for his response.

Jason shook his head rapidly, “no, no, no. I’m not a noble...”

“Gods’ sake, you’re wasting my time. Where are you even from guy? Look, let’s make things quick cause I need to get back to work and if you waste any more of my time I’m going to actually get angry. If you can’t pay the 5 gold minimum,” she emphasized the last word, “then get out of my shop.”

Jason stared mouth open, then slowly walked out of the shop. Wow, that didn’t go as expected, he thought, 5 gold for the cheapest sword she would make? He didn’t even know what the conversion rate between gold and silver was but he knew he didn’t have 5 gold. Jason made his way out of the alley knowing there was no chance he could afford anything there. I feel a little in over my head, I wish I had some kind of guide. Maybe I should not overcomplicate things and start small. Jason led Skippy down the avenue in search of a general store.