Let's Go Shopping!

Shopping for supplies was infinitely harder when having to avoid all major marketplaces, but Asterion and Daffodil tried their best. They quickly discovered that, like the bookstore, all shops a few blocks removed from the main square were basically abandoned by players. These shops were run by NPCs and had all the supplies they needed without any of the fuss of hiding from straggling players. Getting to the shops, however, was another issue because most of them were only accessible through the main square. It made things infinitely more difficult, but the two managed to slip into the first shop without activating any cut scenes.

The first shop they entered had most of the basic traveling supplies they needed. Daffodil bought a bedroll and a thin blanket for himself and bullied Asterion into doing the same. While Asterion did a lot more traveling than Daffodil in the game, he also hadn’t had a need to buy camping supplies because he never really spent time overnight outside of cities. Now that they would be spending most of their time in the wilderness away from civilization, it was important for them to be prepared.

They also bought some cooking supplies, mostly small pots and pans as well as a few firestarters. Whatever food traveled well was purchased, including some spices at Daffodil’s insistence. They decided to forgo a tent for now—it was the end of spring and it didn’t often rain in WanderQuest so it seemed like a waste of coin at the moment—and headed to the next shop.

Asterion wanted to buy another pack to carry supplies, so they entered a shop that, to Daffodil’s surprise, only sold bags. There were bags of all types, ranging from slightly expensive to incredibly expensive. Most of them seemed impractical and more for show than anything else, but there were a few traveling packs that looked to be of high quality.

“This one looks good,” Asterion said as he showed a nondescript pack to him. Daffodil quickly read the tag attached to the pack—200 storage slots, weighed 3.5 pounds, cost 300 gold—and nodded his assent. It was more than he’d usually consider paying for a bag, but with that much storage they’d probably never need another pack again. And thanks to the game’s mechanics, they could put anything in the pack regardless of size or weight and it would still weigh 3.5 pounds.

Asterion walked over to the counter to buy the bag. Daffodil was about to follow him when a bag caught his attention. It was nestled in the back of the shop, barely visible. It looked like a standard adventuring pack worn on the back except the material was see-through, like it was made of glass or clear plastic. Curious, he picked up the bag and examined the tag. “On-the-go Greenhouse” it said which only piqued Daffodil’s interest more. There was no price listed.

Joining Asterion at the counter, Daffodil showed the shopkeeper the bag and asked, “What’s this?”

The man looked at the bag and huffed out a clear noise of disappointment. “I thought I’d burned that bag. It’s useless so no one wants it.”

“What does it do?” Daffodil asked, trying his best not to show the excitement he felt. If it did what he thought it did, Daffodil knew he’d pay any price to get it.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” the shopkeeper said, gesturing at the tag attached to it. “It has storage slots like your average pack, but you can only put plants in it. It’s like a portable garden; you have to fill each slot with soil and water the plants every day. It’s supposed to be worn on your back so that when you're outside the sun enters through the clear siding and nourishes the plants. The problem is almost no one gardens here and the ones that do don’t need to do it on the go.”

Daffodil nodded along, forcing his face into the typical disinterested scowl he’d mastered in the real world. “I’ll give you twenty gold for it,” he said flippantly.

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes at Daffodil. “Thirty.”

Daffodil made a show of weighing the offer in his mind before saying, “Deal.” He shook the shopkeeper’s hand, produced the thirty gold, and put the bag in his inventory for the time being.

Shopping finished, the two left the store. It wasn’t until they were half-way down the street that Daffodil turned to Asterion with unbridled excitement in his eyes and said, “Do you hear that! I can keep gardening while we’re traveling!”

Asterion smiled widely, clearly feeding off his elation. “That’s great!”

“It is great!” Daffodil repeated. “Now that I can grow on the go, we’ll have a renewable supply of plants to sell and make bombs and potions with. I could probably also start growing some crops so we can have another source of food as well!”

Daffodil’s mind was already reeling with ideas on how to best optimize the bag. He’d already collected most of his plants, so there was a large supply to choose from. He should definitely grow the ingredients for some flash bombs if they were going to continue running into Wild Beasts, and a large supply of healing herbs and potions never hurt. He should also grow some of the vegetables they weren’t likely to come across in the wild, while leaving the rest to scavenging.

“Are you ready to head out?” Asterion asked, breaking Daffodil from his thoughts. Realizing that it was already 4 PM, he nodded his head. He could start organizing his greenhouse when they broke for camp tonight, he decided. For now, they needed to start walking.

It took longer than usual for them to navigate the back alleys of Caspia. As they approached five o’clock, more and more players logged on, having finished their work for the day. It was the most crowded Daffodil had ever seen Caspia, and it meant even the abandoned alleys weren’t abandoned.

It took an agonizingly long amount of time to get through the city, but Daffodil didn’t mind; if he entered a cut scene and a player took his bag from him, he’d do something he’d probably regret. Finally they reached the outskirts of Caspia, facing the forest they’d been in earlier that day.

“Ready?” Asterion asked. Daffodil nodded. “Next stop Sarina.” The two started walking.