XXVII

  46 Silver and 4 Copper.

  Bringing his total up to 48 Silver and 29 Copper. He was rich.

  Tiredly, he asked, “Am I able to arrange a room here to stay for the night? I’m new to the town and I do not know where the nearest inn would be.”

  Laelara nodded at his question, replying to his question, “The Guild does offer lodging for its Guild members at five Silver a night, and for seven nights the fee is thirty Silver, essentially a night for free.”

  Kaz thought about it, but quickly decided he’d pay night by night, as he wasn’t sure how long he would be staying in Sarus, and also, he wanted to get an idea of other places he could potentially stay in.

  Five Silver Tokens were placed on the counter, and the Clerk took it and handed him an elegant looking key.

  “Go up the stairs to your left, and the key will guide you to your room. See you tomorrow, Kaz,” Laelara smiled gently at him, motioning with her right hand towards the stairs.

  He nodded and dragged his feet, barely making it up the stairs. The key pulled him towards the room, and before he knew it, he approached a door, which opened by itself when he stood in front of it. Kaz walked in and immediately threw off his bag and robe, stripping down and falling face first into the generously large and comfortable bed. He passed out before he hit the bed.

  Bright and warm sunlight woke him the next morning, and he stretched, feeling refreshed after a good night of sleep. He finally took a look around his room, and he was very impressed. The bed he was on was the finest bed he had ever been on, made from a gentle yet firm material, which let him sink into the bed, but still supported him. And if he spread his arms out, he couldn’t reach the ends of the bed. The room also had many amenities, including a full bathroom, which he took a long shower to rinse off all of his weeks of traveling.

  There was a large bin by the door, which said “trash” on it. He thought about it and threw in all his clothes that he wore during his journey. Most of the clothes were way past repair or cleaning, as they had large holes and blood, along with grime built up. He took a look at his robe that Miss Bryda made for him. Kaz couldn’t throw it away and decided he would just get it cleaned and repaired, as it seemed like it still held up just fine, if you didn’t focus on the tears and blood stains. He put on his last set of clean clothing, and headed out, deciding he needed to find a few shops for clothing and bags.

  Loud noises came to his ears as he descended down to the main room. There were lots of people there this morning, with most of them sitting back and talking within small groups, preparing for their day of adventure. Kaz saw a few people glance his way, but they quickly looked away, clearly not interested in him. Others might have felt offended, but for Kaz, it was the best thing that could have happened to him in this scenario, as the situation in the Adventurer’s Guild in Forith replayed in his mind.

  Laelara was currently occupied with a small group, who were huddled over a piece of parchment. He wasn’t able to overhear them, as some kind of magic prevented anyone from listening in to their conversation. Kaz waited by her counter, idly checking his bag and tidying his robe to pass the time. The group started to move away from Laelara, and he met her eyes, and in return he got a smile and a nod.

  Kaz approached the counter, and was greeted by Laelara, “Good morning, Kaz, I hope your room suited you well. How may I assist you this morning?”

  “It was amazing, I honestly might ask to spend a few more nights here,” he nodded emphatically, grinning widely.

  “But I first wanted to ask for a few places you might recommend for me. I want to buy some new clothes and possibly repair my robe. I also need to find a place that could provide me with a new bag more suited for adventuring. Finally, I need a place to buy potions,” he listed to her.

  Laelara nodded and began explaining to him, “For clothing, I would recommend Bilbas, he is near the Guild, just up the street to the north, he has a relatively small shop but is known for his good quality and prices for beginners. For bags, I would offer some of the Adventurer’s Guild bags, but unfortunately, they are very pricey. But there is a shop on the other side of town, quite near the Archer Academy, that is run by Darvos, who sells various gear for Adventurers, and his prices are reasonable depending on the mood he is in. Finally for potions, you should visit the Craftsman’s Quarter, and most of the shops there will have potions. I personally recommend Waeloria, as she is a friend of mine and very talented at making potions. Is there anything else you need help with?”

  He simply shook his head, trying to absorb all the information provided to him. He thanked her and headed out, waving back at her, receiving a giggle and a wave back.

  Heading to the clothes shop that Laelara recommended, which was run by a person named Bilbas, he walked up the street, and found a standard sized shop, with many stone bricks and large windows, displaying various types of gear and apparel. He pushed the door open, and a bell rang out, announcing his presence. Another Gnome approached him, sizing him right away, then spoke out to him, “Welcome to the shop! What can I help you with?”

  Kaz relaxed slightly, easing at the casualness of the Gnome’s words, and replied, “Hi there Mr. Bilbas, I would like to purchase a few sets of under clothing, and also to find out if you would be able to repair my robe for me?”

  Bilbas nodded, and approached him, feeling his robe. Kaz quickly took it off and handed it to the Gnome, who nodded appreciatively. He held his breath as the other Gnome closely examined the robe and let out a breath when the Gnome told him, “Oh-ho! It is doable, but this material is quite rare for this area. Who did you receive this from?”

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  “I received it from Miss Bryda from Forith,” he plainly informed the Gnome.

  He bobbed his head slightly, probably not knowing the other Tailor. He informed Kaz, “This will probably cost around 15 Silver Tokens to repair for the materials. I have other robes of similar quality that would be a third of the price.”

  Kaz thought about it, weighing his options. He could just get other robes, which would serve him better in the long run financially. But this robe was more than a robe, it was more of a present from someone who he remembered dearly and had a lot of appreciation for. He made his decision and nodded to the Gnome, “If you may please repair the robe sir, the robe means a lot to me.”

  The Gnome smiled genuinely at the younger Gnome, telling him, “Will do, feller! Take a look around the shop and choose a few pieces of clothing that you will need! Don’t worry if they are slightly too big, I will tailor them for you once I am done with this robe. Yell out to me if you need anything!”

  With that, the Tailor briskly walked, almost skipping, into his workroom, as Kaz browsed the store. Thankfully all the pieces of clothing had a price below on the shelves. He chose a few shirts, pants, and base garments that would total around 2 Silver and a few Copper Tokens. The Tailor walked out of his room, and brought back his robe, all cleaned and repaired, looking just as good as when Miss Bryda gave him the robe.

  Grabbing his other clothes he picked out, he put them on the counter, to which the Tailor nodded, and took the clothes into the room again, and quickly reemerged into the main area behind the counter.

  “Your total will be 15 Silver and 7 Copper Tokens, feller,” he informed Kaz.

  He took out the correct amount, and then thanked the Gnome, heading back onto the street, with his clothing situation handled. Next, to the bag shop. He walked around the town, taking in the new surroundings, and it felt much livelier to him than Forith. Kaz preferred this town a lot more from what he saw so far, and he decided this might be the town he would reside in.

  After asking a few people for directions, he appeared before a small wooden shop, which stood out slightly among the stone bricked buildings that were more common in this town. He entered the shop and was immediately overwhelmed. There was a lot of stuff in this small shop, to the point where he didn’t know where to even begin looking. A rather thin Dwarf approached him, and asked him curtly, “What ya looking fer, kid?”

  Kaz stammered, taken aback by the rude Dwarf. He asked him, “I am looking for a new bag, would you have any that will be able to withstand adventuring?”

  The Dwarf, who he assumed was Darvos, nodded, and pointed at his counter at the end of the shop. “Go wait by the counter, I’ll bring a few to ya,” he gruffly instructed him. Kaz sheepishly went over to the counter and waited for Darvos.

  A few minutes later, after hearing the Dwarf cursing in the background, Darvos approached the counter and put three bags on the counter. “Here are yer options, kid. All them are good fer adventuring and would be round yer price range.”

  All three of them were sturdy and felt nice. He settled on a bag that matched his brown robe, and it had a leather strap reinforced with a band of metal inside the strap. He walked out the door, his coin bag 12 Silver Tokens lighter.

  After asking the townsfolk again for directions, which they always provided him without judging him, he arrived at the Craftsman’s Quarter. He looked around for Waeloria’s shop but couldn’t find it. He decided to ask an Elf who was walking by, and the Elf simply scoffed at him and kept on walking on. Kaz wasn’t fazed by this, as it was bound to happen, as so far everyone has been very kind to him, some even talking with him and asking about what brought him to Sarus. He finally found a small group of people who were able to point him in the direction of the shop.

  A faintly worn-down stone brick building greeted him, with vines growing along the walls. He approached the worn looking wooden door and pushed it open, and a wave of musty air engulfed him, a weak ding from the bell announced his presence. The dimly lit room was quite small, with a few shelves filled with a few kinds of potions, and the prices were a bit high. A disheveled Elf came out to him, with bright blue eyes that sparked with life and a wide grin plastered to her face. A soft melodic voice spoke out to him, “Welcome to my humble shop. How can I assist you?”

  “Hi there, um, Laelara referred me to your store, Miss Waeloria. I am looking to purchase a few health potions to aid me during my adventuring,” he politely responded.

  “That’s great, Laelara is one of my best friends! Please give her my best wishes when you see her again at the Guild. Hmm, I might a few potions for you, if I may ask, what is your Resonance?”

  Kaz replied hesitantly, “I am currently at 15, ma’am.”

  “Ok so a few basic health potions, recovering up to 100 Health Points. I have plenty of those and they are 1 Silver each. How many were you looking to purchase,” she asked him.

  After a few moments of thought, he decided on getting five of them, as they truly helped him, and he knew he could rely on them.

  Waeloria then asked him, “Would you be interested in also getting some mana potions?”

  He was stunned for a second, as he completely forgot there were mana potions available. Kaz quickly nodded, and asked for two of them, and they were also one Silver each. His total ended up being 7 Silver Tokens, which wasn’t too bad in his opinion. He received seven small vials of potions, and the vials were way smaller than the ones the Guild gave him last time and from the one the loot chest gave him. Waeloria assured him they were just as effective, especially since his Health Points were still at a low enough number.

  While stashing the small potion vials in his bag, Kaz was glad they were smaller, as his bag would’ve gotten very heavy from carrying seven of the larger potion bottles. He thanked the bubbly Elf and left her store, taking a deep breath once he was outside. Everything he sought out to do was complete, and even though he was down to 14 Silver and 22 Copper, he was motivated for another journey. So, he set off back to the Adventurer’s Guild, and to see what kind of Quests he would be able to pick up.

  On his way back to the Guild, he came across the Mage Academy, which was situated in a beautiful park. He was able to see the students practicing in the grass, forming spells and getting instructed by their Professors. He sat on a bench and admired the sights, feeling his previous good mood wilting away. If only he was a two-star mage, maybe everything could’ve been different. Maybe not even, the main problem was the silver beam.

  He sighed, and got up slowly, head hung downwards and made his way slowly towards the Guild. Not knowing that a few yards away, an older Elf in brilliant white and gold robes watched him intently, stroking his short white beard slowly, analyzing the young Gnome in brown robes.

  Upon reaching the Guild, his upset mood slowly lifted when he saw Laelara wave at him, a wide smile on her face. He waved back halfheartedly, causing the Elf to slightly frown. He approached the counter, and spoke up, “Laelara, could you help me pick out a few Quests, and then could you also arrange one more night for me here in the Guild?” The Clerk nodded and gave him the key.

  “Come with me, let’s take a look at the Quest Board, Kaz.”