“I have to meet with family, we have guests coming over from different cities because of the wedding. If you need anything, pour some essence into your Nexus Watch and send me a message,” Kael said while he was already walking away with hurried steps.

Elijah watched Kael for a few moments before he turned around. He threw a last glance inside the store and began walking through the city.

He wanted to taste a few of the fruits he had seen before on the market.

Chapter Begin

After Kael left, Elijah asked a group of three men for directions and made his way toward the market. It appeared like the Lepus guild had a good reputation in town as several people smiled and nodded at him after they saw the mark of the guild around his arm.

Elijah enjoyed walking around town in his new clothes and enjoyed the good weather. The previous clothes had been too thick. His minions now covered only half of his forearms and his upper arms instead of his whole arms as Elijah wanted to feel the gentle breeze on his arms. He had tried to decrease their size to a thin layer of wood around his upper arms but it looked like there was a limit due to his low tier.

Instead of walking straight ahead, as the men told him to do to reach the market, Elijah took a detour to explore the city. He passed several stores that specialized in different goods. Elijah was briefly puzzled when he saw a store that sold weapons and even displayed a few blades outside the store, but when he thought back to all his previous experiences, it was obvious in hindsight, that there would be such stores. Two other stores sold clothes and another one specialized in armor but Elijah didn’t enter to check them out.

A sweet fragrance led him to another part of the city where Elijah saw a confectionery factory. An old man had set up a small stand near the factory and was selling all kinds of sweets. Elijah only wanted to ask him what the factory produced but the man took the opportunity to present the wares he bought from the factory and managed to convince Elijah to buy some.

Elijah always had a weakness for sweets and continued his exploration of the city with the cloth bag around his shoulder and cookie-like candies and other treats in both hands. Some of the wrapped candy landed in his bag and Elijah spent another ten credits to buy a refreshing, cold juice called Makuja.

He also passed by the guild unintentionally and took the opportunity to go inside and read through some quests. He was already thinking about what he was going to do during the coming days and completing a few quests would probably be the best way to earn some money first. Delving into rifts was also an opinion but as he would have to pay for a delving slot, Elijah would have to save some money first.

His eyes landed on Mark as soon as he stepped through the door. The guild employee was leaning against the counter and holding a book. He glanced up and waved at Elijah with a smile before he buried himself into the book again. Elijah waved back and took a quick look around. A few other guild members were hanging around in groups of two or three but no one Elijah knew. He nodded at a few of them before he made his way to the huge quest board.

Damn. I forgot that I can’t read the language. Elijah thought as he stood in front of the board. His eyes jumped from one quest to another. Elijah could only guess what the various quests contained from the pictures or drawings of monsters or other indications. He pretended to read through a few quests, staying in front of the board, before he left the guild, embarrassed.

After leaving the building, he went in the direction of the market. He went past it earlier and vaguely remembered the way. A few hours had already passed without him noticing and the sun was slowly descending.

The time he had spent walking around disclosed not only the good sides of the city to Elijah. He also passed some neighborhoods where he had seen the flip side of the merry city. In one alley, a man had been cornered and robbed by three others. In another, Elijah could see a drunkard whistling after two younger women. He also saw lots of homeless people but the pungent smell of that area easily convinced him to take another route. He had even noticed a group of people watching him but they retreated when a patrol unit of four guards appeared.

The city was a mixture of adventure, exploration, and crime for Elijah. Not even a few days before, he had been on the criminal side himself, so he had an eye for the otherwise unnoticed sides of the city others would have overlooked. He even saw signs of gang presence such as identic tattoos or other marks on different people.

On his way to the market, Elijah passed another store that draw his interest. He had already passed the bookstore on his way to the guild but only after the incident at the guild did Elijah think about getting a book to learn reading the language. He couldn’t help but think about the oddity of his situation. He was able to understand the language for some reason but the letters appeared as complex as Chinese writing to him. At least I can communicate with people.

With that thought, he entered the store and the smell of old books greeted him. The store was noticeably cooler than the outside and Elijah enjoyed the cool temperature for a moment before he approached one of the many bookshelves standing around the store. He skimmed through a few books, hoping to see anything written in English but after the third book Elijah gave up. As he had expected, he couldn’t read the language at all.

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“What kind of book are you looking for?” The sudden voice startled him and Elijah swiveled around to see a giant approaching him. The man was easily eight feet tall and his shoulders resembled the broad shelves standing around them in width. Elijah wondered if he was even human and couldn’t help but take a few steps back in surprise.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized and chuckled as he continued, “What can I do for you?”

Elijah couldn’t match the man’s high voice with his towering height as he looked up at him but still asked, “Do you have books regarding the history of this kingdom?”

“The history of Eldrid?” The man took a few steps which brought him past Elijah and to one of the shelves near the entrance. Elijah’s eyes were glued on his form as the man took a few books out of the shelf and read out their names.

“We have several. The Kingdom of Eldrid, The Tale of King Eadric, A Historical Rendition of Eldrid, you’ve probably heard of them.” He looked at Elijah before he asked, “Which one would you prefer?”

“Which one do you suggest?” Elijah asked after a moment. The vendor handed him a heavy book with a black, rough cover and white letters on the front. Elijah turned the book around and inspected it before he opened the first page. It had the same writing he couldn’t decipher in the books he had gone through minutes ago. He would learn.

He flipped a few of the thick pages as the vendor explained, “The Kingdom of Eldrid, by Christ Mont. It’s a great introduction to the detailed history of our kingdom.” The man put all the other books back on the shelf as Elijah went through the whole book.

There aren’t even pictures... He thought as he looked at the last page. Fortunately, the letters were medium-sized and the book would be a great tool to learn reading the language. “I would like to buy this book..” he hesitated before he continued, “But I’m afraid I can’t read. Would you mind explaining them to me?”

The man turned around and took hurried steps toward the back of the store as he called over his shoulder, “Of course, I’m back in a second.” He returned with a paper and quill in hand and stopped at the counter. The vendor motioned for Elijah to come over as he introduced himself. “You can call me Brisk. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s my honor to teach you how to read. Reading is a skill that enables you to enter different worlds through books. I am very happy that you are so eager to learn the skill.” His eyes shone as he began writing down different signs on the paper.

Elijah introduced himself too before they went through all 29 letters of the alphabet. While the man explained each letter, Elijah took notes of how each of them was spoken in English with the quill Brisk brought. In the middle of their short lesson, Brisk saw Elijah’s notes and raised an eyebrow. “From which language are these letters?”

Elijah continued to make notes as he answered, “English. It’s the standard language where I come from.” Brisk asked him to teach him the English alphabet in turn and after bringing a new sheet of paper, he took notes for each letter with the new writing system Elijah was trying to learn. As soon as their lesson ended, Brisk was already trying to memorize the alphabet. Elijah paid for the book with 150 credits and left the store after thanking the vendor.

Despite the book being thick it was rather small in size so Elijah was able to fit it in his stuffed bag with all the other things he already carried with him. I’ll need to get a proper bag sometime soon.

The next destination was the market. After hours of dallying Elijah finally arrived. While he wasn’t hungry because of all the snacks he ate, the first thing he bought was a meal from one of the stands around the square. It reminded him of an instant noodle dish and he looked for a bench where he could sit down before he began eating his meal.

Elijah leaned back and enjoyed the food as he watched the people around him. The square was still as lively as before and hundreds of people walked back and forth. He watched two men haggling for something Elijah couldn’t recognize as they were too far away from where he was sitting but their voices carried over the whole place. It was a common occurrence as nobody reacted to it and Elijah could see the same scene repeating itself at different stores.

A mother was holding the hands of her two kids who were eating something that resembled ice cream but was probably harder as the children took bites instead of licking it. At another store, two women were buying clothes and trying out dresses. Elijah could make out their pointy ears and watched them for some time before one of them noticed him and caused him to look away.

“No way man, I don’t believe you,” a young woman in her early twenties said as a group of three sat down on the bench next to Elijah. The only man in their group threw a glance at Elijah as they began speaking about a delve of theirs.

Elijah continued to watch the events on the square as he listened to their conversation with one ear for some time. From what he heard and saw, they were all around the same age as him. Their party consisted of two women and a man, all in their early twenties and they had delved into a Tier 2 rift in another city called Ravenholm. An idea formed in his mind and Elijah kept listening to get more information about the rift before he settled on the idea. The more he heard, the more attractive delving into the rift became. It was a goblin and orc-related rift and all he had to do was invade a stronghold and defeat the boss of the rift. Compared to the giant snake they had fought against, it was nothing.

There were two problems, though. First, Elijah would need money to buy a delving spot for the rift. And secondly, there was the question of him being strong enough to delve into the rift. He would ask the boys about the rift, they had probably heard of it before.

Finishing his food, Elijah bought two maps from one of the stores. The first map showed the kingdom of Eldrid while the second was a depiction of Whisperwind and the surrounding cities. After that, Elijah went back to the inn and practiced reading for an hour or two with the help of the book he had bought before he decided to experiment with his abilities.