I entered the small bakery I had spotted from across the road and could hear a bell ringing above my head as the scent of freshly baked goods hit my nostrils. To me who had not eaten in… I don’t even know how long, the scent was heavenly.

I walked at the back of the small line before the counter, and when it was my turn, I put on the most charming smile that I could manage in the situation and said: “Top of the morning to you, mister! I’ve had a rather interesting night and lost all of my coins. If I could do some chores for you for a quick breakfast, I would be most grateful, for I have a long walk ahead of me to get back home… And who couldn’t use some help in these trying times?”

As soon as I said those words, I felt like an idiot. Seriously! Who spoke like that in reality! My inner roleplayer was taking control of me. I also had slipped in that last part, because it was a common password for beggar’s guild. It was unlikely that this bakery had any connections, especially since I had not pre-set anything, but this was Numeri after all. You never knew.

Judging by the man’s somewhat confused expression behind the counter, this shop did not have any guild connections. But even so, after taking in my appearance, his face softened to a gentle smile.

“Of course lad! You look like you are in need of some aid. Come on to the back. We have some pans and bowls that could use a wash, and a couple of boxes that would need to be sorted. You do that and don’t cause any trouble, and you have earned a loaf”

I thanked the man, promising not to stir up any trouble, and followed him to the back where I was shown a messy washing station with mixing bowls, pots and pans laid next to a tub of water. My very first quest!

Not wasting any time, I started working. During my college years some time ago, I worked part-time in a local restaurant, so washing dishes was nothing new. Although the station was messy, it was more about lack of organization, rather than lack of hygiene, which I appreciated. Apparently, these weren’t very wealthy bakers, for I knew that even a middle-class household could afford a water sink. A common household magic item that worked like a chalice of endless water from tabletop games. I had created it and made it cheap to cut down a need for indoor water pipes.

Washing bowl after bowl, the water soon took a milky color as the flours mixed in. I put the washed dishes on a towel to dry after scooping some water into the remaining pots and pans. It took a bit more effort, but eventually, I was finished with them and was able to move on to the boxes.

Flours, seeds, and other baking ingredients filled the small, but heavy crates. I quickly organized the items to their proper places, after asking the workers where things went and I was done with my work.

I walked to the storefront, and after waiting a brief moment for the clerk to finish serving his customer, I informed him that the work was finished.

“That was fast!” He said in a surprised tone, to which I answered with a tired smile on my lips.

“Yeah. Not my first rodeo.”

“I can see that.” He smiled at me, and after checking the back, he pulled out a fresh loaf of bread and a small pouch, which he handed to me. “Here. You have earned these!”

I accepted the loaf and looked at the pouch curiously before taking it. “What’s this?”

“Just a small kindness. Five coppers for the quick work. And you look like you’ll be needing that soon.”

I shook the man’s hand, pocketed the coins, and left the store holding the bread against my chest. That was kind of him. Something I wouldn’t have expected from this city.

Walking around a bit, I found another bench I could sit on and sort out my mind. I was in Numeri, a city in Gabriel’s province in the First ring. When I created the world, I didn’t want just another fantasy planet, so I had made a flat world, divided in nine rings within one another, separated by a void. Like a doughnut inside another doughnut.

The first ring was the most peaceful one out of all the rings, and not many adventures could be found here. It was designed to be ‘the hub’ area, where you came to sell your loot and buy higher quality gear than what smaller cities and towns on the further rings could offer.

Gabriel’s province was notorious for low-income people, and rogue-like characters, so I needed to watch my steps moving forward. Especially when the night came.

True, I had very little to steal, so I hoped that most wouldn’t even bother, but killings and muggings were commonplace over as little as a silver coin in harsher parts of town.

Five coppers could get me two more pieces of bread, and something to drink, if I haggled a bit, but it was truly a feeble amount of money. An average daily wage for commoners was one silver coin. The currency ratio I had set for money was one hundred. Hundred coppers for a silver, hundred silver for gold, and finally a hundred gold to platinum.

If I wanted to catch a skyship to Balahir, the second ring, and my official low-level starting area, I would need ten to fifteen silver alone for the trip. Plus whatever food I needed for the almost three-week fly.

And then there was the matter of gaining sin. Sin, when I created the world, was the experience points my players would eventually gather from killing enemies and completing quests. Unlike hitpoints, sin was a hard-baked system within the world. What that means is that the NPCs knew about levels and how to gain them. Basic idea was that when you kill something, you gain the sin they had within them. Once you had enough, you would visit a Herald who would purify your soul from sin, and bless you with greater power. Sins you would gain naturally from killing an innocent or doing other terrible things could not be purified, so I could discourage my players from murder hoboing to gain quick levels. Instead, they would have to hunt down those doing the crimes.

This ‘corrupting sin’, as I called it, was mostly unknown to the locals. People knew that killing things made you stronger, so those willing to seek greater power by any means necessary would keep murdering. With a simple trick like that I had ensured that there were enough thugs for my players to punish and rise the first few levels quickly.

There were a lot more details and nuances to this, like characteristic points, but for now I didn’t bother going over them. They weren’t important to my current problems.

I took my pencil and wrote down some key details I remembered of the good early game loot I had set in place. I needed to get to them as soon as possible. Also I needed to increase my intelligence characteristic as soon as possible. Memory was an imperfect storage device, and I could already feel the details fading from my mind. Greater Intelligence would allow me to gain access to those lost memories once again.

I sat there for a long time, thinking about the situation I had been placed in. I needed money. I needed sin. But could I really kill someone to get it? These were just NPCs, background characters to populate the world, but that conversation with the baker felt so real. Like I was talking to an actual person. Well, I would cross that bridge when it came to it. I didn’t want guards or constables looking for a murderer. Stealing and doing minor chores were my best survival options now. And if I ever got caught from stealing, the law enforcement would throw me to a jail cell instead of killing me on the spot. And I knew I would get away from jail sooner or later.

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Then once I had gained enough money to get on a ship, I could start hunting wolves that terrorized farmers and gain sin that way. A bit cliche for a first quest, I know, but it worked.

My mind set, I finished my loaf and started walking towards the middle-class areas. Now that I had my stomach full, a short-term plan ready, and the headache almost gone, I felt much readier for the challenges ahead.

The map of the city was burned into my head, having worked on the details over a couple of all-nighters in a row, so after spotting a few major landmarks, I had a pretty clear image of where I was. My target location was the central market, located… well.. in the center of the city. It was a place for most commoners to trade goods, and by the time I got there, it would be so full of people, that I was sure that a few of them wouldn’t notice someone turning their pockets.

I walked past the streets and alleyways, some in pretty rough shape after years of people tossing their night pots on the streets. The stench was eye-watering, and I cursed my bad luck on ending in this part of the ring. Raphael’s province would’ve been much nicer, people there being mostly farmers and miners. Hardworking and honest people. But no. I was tossed among thieves and poop. How nice of the world.

Finally, I reached the main market square, and as I thought, it was packed with people. Shopkeepers were having shouting matches over another on who had the best prices and most high-quality merchandise, street musicians played their instruments, collecting tips from people passing by and a loud chatter filled the air. I glanced at the sky, noting that the sun was just past the halfway point. Plenty of time to hone my skills before nightfall. The goal for today: Gain enough money to afford a room in an inn.

I pushed right into the mix of people. It was exhausting and mentally taxing work. I mingled with shopkeepers and customers, checking where they placed their coin purses, how full they were and what would be the easiest way to nick one. As much as the full purses enticed me, I wanted to focus on the smaller ones for two reasons. First, fewer coins would weigh less, so it would be less noticeable if the weight was suddenly gone. And second, I didn’t want to raise an alarm that there was a pickpocket.

After a few failed attempts and a heavy slap on my face, I held my first score in my hands. It was a small pouch made from soft leather, and it held fifteen coppers. Triple what i owned, and enough to rent a cheap room in an inn for a night. But I wasn’t done yet. I put the pouch in my pocket with the rest of my coins and got back to work.

Now, I will have to note that I am not a dexterous person at all. I had a rather large build, and in a fantasy setting, much more fitting to the role of a fighter or an archer. Yes, an archer. Have you ever tried to draw a medieval longbow? It took strength more than dexterity. But in any case quick and silent movements just were not in my arsenal. But even with this disadvantage, I soon had developed a tactic that suited me. I would walk past someone, bump into them and try to yank their coin purse free if they had it somewhere visible. So in other words, the oldest trick in the book.

I had a less than perfect success rate. To be completely honest, I was lucky to get one purse out of twenty, but during the hours that passed, I did manage a few successful attempts. By the time the sun was setting, I had nearly ninety coppers in my pocket. I would’ve had a few more, but I had to take care of my basic needs. Food and water mainly. I had also bought a cheap, pre-owned cloak from a vendor. It was itchy and smelly, but it would have to suffice for now, since nothing better was available, and it kept my coins concealed. If I had learned anything during the past few hours, it was to not to keep your money visible. Judging by a few other shady-looking individuals, I was certain that I wasn’t the only one trying their luck with coin purses today.

After I nearly got beaten by my latest mark, I decided to call it a night. It had been a somewhat successful first day in my world after all. I took myself and my loot to the nearest inn and paid twenty-five coppers for a moderately secure room with one meal included. Another no-name background place, so I didn’t bother checking my room out for any leftover valuables or hidden secrets. The staff would have cleaned the place of anything shiny, and any clothes I might find would be a downgrade. No. I grabbed the key to my room and headed to the tavern side.

It was a surprisingly cozy place, consisting of multiple booths filled with people, a couple of long tables, and smaller drinking areas. On the back wall stood a bar desk that had a door connecting to the kitchens. I walked over to it and ordered my meal, paying two coppers for a beer. Then I located an empty booth which I quickly occupied, pulled out my receipt, and started scribbling notes.

I had to push my memory to its limits to check if I had included anything worthwhile in the area. Well.. Anything that I could get my hands on that is. I knew for certain that the Cathedral held amazing treasures, and the noble houses were swimming in gold, but those were too dangerous places for me to even attempt anything alone. I had designed them to be level eight to fifteen areas at the minimum, so for me, who was technically at level zero, they were out of the question.

The food came by that point, interrupting my thoughts. I nodded at the waitress, tipping her an extra copper, and watched my plate. There was no way I would be eating that. The food was burned, a cheap cut of meat with potatoes at the side. I didn’t notice any garnish on the plates, and the scent was bland and boring. However I pocketed the utensils I was given. The knife was decently sharp, and even a dull piece of metal would be more than nothing if I needed to defend myself. I sipped my drink and tried to pick up where I left in my train of thought.

The sewers had some secrets in them, but those secrets were guarded by slimes and giant rats. Typical sewer enemies. Rats I could take down with a bit of luck, but I didn’t have good enough weapons to kill them. Or useful knowledge on how to use those weapons even if I had them. Adding skill tomes to the list I need to get my hands on in the near future.

The red light district may be something I could handle. In addition to its original purpose, drugs and narcotics were sold there, and it had solid connections to thieves and assassin’s guilds. I knew the basic protocol and passwords these places would use, so getting in wouldn’t be a hassle. They also had few hidden safes containing a good amount of cash and some basic gear. With any luck, they would hold a magical item or two. But getting out with those treasures would raise a bigger issue.

That left me with the adventurer’s guild. It was straightforward to get in, but the restrictions they placed on their members were something I didn’t want to get into. Zero levels like me would be formed into groups of four, and an instructor would be given to each group. After that, they would go over basic combat drills and basic weapon training over the span of two weeks, before heading off to kill small monsters to gain enough sin for your first leveling. If the rumors were to be believed, and they were, because I was the one who made them, only every other initiate would survive the training. After the monsters were killed, the instructors would either kill the two weakest themselves or make the initiates fight with each other, until the strongest two remained. And I knew I wouldn’t make the cut. Not for lack of trying of course, but rather my inexperience in martial skills. People looking to join would’ve been in a few fights in their lives, and knew how to handle a weapon far more than I could learn during those two weeks.

Bad options all around, and ironically I felt like my safest course of action would be to infiltrate the thieves and assassins if I wanted a somewhat easy score.

I made my final notes on the small piece of paper I had, detailing the layout of a high-level dungeon with a few notes about the puzzles, and stuffed it into my pocket. I would need to keep the high-level stuff memorized no matter what. The beginning of my new life would likely suffer a bit because of it, but once I got strong enough to access those places I wished to visit, and better yet, survive them, I would be a force to be reckoned with.

Going over my plans and mental to-do list, I noticed one glaring hole that I would need to soon fix. I had no allies. Traveling alone in Ebenoss was dangerous, especially for level zero like myself. Quickly, I went through the list of named NPCs I had in the area. Most of them were crossed off immediately. Either they were crafters or shopkeepers with no interest to help me, or they would be too high of a level to care about what I had to say. And if I started talking about their backstories, they would most likely kill me, thinking I was a spy or something like that.

Now there were few possible options as far as allies went, but if I really wanted to get my hands on my real heavy hitters, I would need to get out of this ring first. “No need to worry about that right now” I muttered to myself as I got up, heading to my room to rest.