Different Arrangements

Sunlight broke through the window stirring me awake. It was probably far too early for me to be crawling out of bed, normally. And for a moment, I thought about my classes today that I’d have to attend or lazily sleep through. But then the unfamiliar bed and room reminded me that I wasn’t in my apartment.

I wanted a shower or bath, especially after yesterday. But I wasn’t sure if that was going to be an option. Did they even practice any sort of regular bathing or did they just find a river? Another thing to consider I guess. While I wanted to consider that, I had other things to tackle for the day.

Thankfully, the lodgings were good. I slept with ease and actually felt more rested than I normally do. I wondered how long I slept for. Normally, I’d get five to six hours because of classes, work or just games. It was the most rested I’d been in months.

A safe pick for breakfast and I picked up my armor. It had a hole through it and tears. The beast really did a number on me. Having damaged gear wasn’t something that I looked forward to, but there wasn’t a choice until I could afford something. It didn’t have any blood in it and looked very clean. So whatever magic they used did wonders. I thanked them and returned to the attendants.

It was already running fairly thick with people. What the hell time was it now? Was I the late one? Perhaps I needed to adjust my expectations. But once my time came up, I approached the counter to see if I was getting paid finally.

They wore matching green uniforms that looked fairly unisex. A polite business smile carried them to me already looking ready. “Morning, Sir! We have your payment prepared for you!”

Not starting the day off bad, good. “How’d it turn out?”

“It was worth a gold, eight silver and five copper. And with the two silver for the healing and five copper for quarters and cleaning. That leaves you with one gold, six silver, sir.” A metal tray with the coins slid over the counter towards me. Didn’t know how far that’ll stretch me, but it more than doubled my personal funds. I’d take the wins where I could get them.

After I pocketed the money and thanked them, I had a question. “You deal with a number of people like me in your time right?” They nodded. “What is the stat growth and ceiling like? What should I expect?”

Both looked equally lost by my question. Did no one ask about this? “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have the same blessing as the Passers.”

“The Goddess’ blessing? That’s fine I didn’t expect you to have it. But you still have to have levels and stats, even if we’re a little different.”

“Sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear. We don’t have levels in the manner that you do.”

“What, so only I can grow like this? What about you? Doesn’t this screw you over?”

“We can improve, it’s just done through physical actions, practice and training.”

“So we get to cheat.”

“If you want to think of it that way. My understanding, you still have to fight, train and develop to achieve your growth. You just have the benefit of numerical representation of what that means, we don’t.” That made me actually stop and think about it. It was something that I hadn’t actually considered the different perspectives.

He was right in the way that we were cheating as I said, but only in so much that I can see my progress. They faced the same thing, but had to do it by feeling it out. I imagined that the blessing meant that we’d be far stronger than the regular people, that’s why they brought us. But maybe the difference between us wasn’t so large.

There was still the reality that I could just dump stats to improve things quickly and they couldn’t. But I couldn’t say that yesterday didn’t teach me anything. I was just on an accelerated progression then. Which probably made sense if they take their whole life to develop their skills and we get dumped in and expected to be fighters almost immediately.

I looked back at them. “So others haven’t said anything about what I should expect?”

“Not much. We are aware roughly how things work, but not the details of it. And no one’s hit a limit that we’re aware of, so we don’t have a good answer for you.”

‘Which means there’s either no limit or they’ve died before reaching it. Not sure which worries me more.’ That was less helpful than I wanted, but I had to accept it. But they could still help me in another way. “Yesterday, I was sorta flopping myself on your floor like a drowning fish. So I didn’t get to ask much about what this place is. Since I’m going to be here for a while, I wanted to understand how things function.”

“But of course, sir. The Hall in the Markets is where anyone can make requests or search for aid. Mercenary work, adventuring, simple work requests or orders to fill, anything that requires specialized and uncommon needs come here. We also provide a secure bank and appraisal service for registered individuals. And healing as you’re aware already.”

“Is registering a requirement for using your facility?”

“Some requests might as a way to confirm someone’s capabilities.”

All sounded reasonable so far. “How widely accepted is this?”

“Within the Kingdom of Tes Lyca naturally, for someone like yourself that may extend further, but it would be up to the other nations and establishments to determine.”

“And the Markets itself?”

“A hub to serve like minded individuals. There are a lot of demands and business in this field. People can use it to sell wares or make commissions. Works of Passers like yourself can especially fetch attention and coin.”

I gave him a nod. They felt like they had a lot more to dig into, but more than I wanted for now. “I assume that’s not the only way for me to earn money.”

“Of course not, while not all requests are paid in coin, many are. You can find them on the boards over here for those that require being registered. There is a board outside for those that don’t need a registered individual to take it on. Additionally, you can speak with others in the Markets if they need materials and you barter for arrangements.”

“The Hall doesn’t have needs or things they pay out for from adventurers?”

“We’re mostly an intermediary.”

Not what I hoped, but that explains why they carried off the Ungaust. They probably made their money from commissions, holding fees or memberships. There was no doubt I’d need them, but right now not the most necessary thing for me. “Anyone in the Markets you know that are in need of some materials that I can reasonably gather?”

He looked back at the woman both needing to think. If I had to I’d talk to everyone in the Markets, but I’d be burning light. But they finally finished their brief conference to turn to me. “The Potion Maker Heia, might be looking for more catalysts or ingredients.”

“Thanks! Where would I find them?”

“Her shop’s on the south edge of the Markets. You’ll know it when you see it.” That was more than a little foreboding. How eccentric were they?