As we left the cart, I pulled Kuro back onto my head. The hare had been hopping around enthusiastically during the ride, but he calmed down once I had him. Brather seemed almost sad to see him go, and insisted on scratching the area behind his ears as a gesture of goodbye. I turned to the female adventurer as I wondered what to do first. "How long are you going to stay in the city?" I asked, realizing I had never asked where she was heading.
Brather shrugged and tapped her metal staff into the ground thoughtfully. "Don't know. Guild has business, need to check in." She reached into a pocket in her robe and pulled out a small white card. "Take this. Will work for voucher in guild. I'll tell them rabbit coming." She nodded as I appraised the card, as if confirming something, but said nothing else.
[Guild Representation Card]
{Issued by Brather Tawn}
The bearer may use this card to request assistance or contact the issuing adventurer. Can be used at any adventurer's guild.
A symbol featuring a crossed sword and staff was printed on the back, with an anchor sitting between them. I suppose this was the guild symbol, since I had never seen it before.
When I looked back up, Brather had already left me and the cart behind, and was heading down a busy street. I shook my head as I watched her go - the Ice Queen Brather Tawn was somewhat of an anomaly to me. She was the first person I couldn't appraise, and she gave off an icy aura just by being near her. However, she wasn't cold in the majority of her actions, and personally I felt like she seemed more lonely than anything. What was her story, exactly?
Heaving a sigh, I looked around the new city with rapidly growing curiosity.
You know, I don't mean to boast, but I've played a lot of fantasy games. I've seen more imaginary cities than I have real ones, I'd imagine, and yet the city caused a level of culture shock I had never experienced before. There were plenty of mundane things, like carts loaded with wares to sell, people running back and forth on business, and various other people who seemed to be going about their day to day lives. However, that only made up half of what I saw. To the east, a large stonework building, more extravagant than I had seen in this world thus far, sat with three spires curling up from the center. On the top of each spire, a small dot of light could be seen, even though it was the middle of the day. On the streets, many people walked wearing strange meshes of clothing and armor. Unlike the townspeople, they wore weapons of various sizes and intricacies. Some weapons even seemed to be made up of monster parts, with the occasional claw or tuft of fur. Nobody wore the same thing, but my mind immediately made them out to be adventurers. If I had to put it into a statistical number, I'd say there was one adventurer for every twenty average people.
There were also guards, who were easy to distinguish because they had a more common uniform. They wore what looked to be a type of light leather with chainmail stitched into the unprotected places. The majority of the uniform was dyed blue, with traces of purple outlining the city crest. Most also had swords strapped to their sides, though I did notice a couple with spears or staves.
There were lamps. At first I couldn't make out their function, as the structure wasn't quite what I was used to, but it became clear that the slightly curved metal poles that the busy street held contained a place at the top for some object or other to sit. I looked forward to seeing if they used fire or some form of magical light.
The other thing I had not been expecting were the sounds and smells of the city. Cooking food was a constant, though sometimes it blended with horse smells. People chattered back and forth, some shouting with booming voices. The area I had been dropped off at seemed to be a sort of crossroads, with an easily defined pathway north, south, east, and west.
I turned south and started down that road without hesitation. It was about lunch time, but I needed to settle my place in the city before I could relax. With a mixture of anxiety and excitement, I decided to visit the blacksmith and trade guilds first. As I continued south, the streets became a little less rough, and quickly made way to a myriad of oddly placed shops and miscellaneous buildings. It became quickly apparent that this was the trade center of the city, with anything craftable being sold here. A few places even had display windows showing off their products. During my wandering, I saw a few alchemy shops, as well as a handful of blacksmiths.
Iron Butterfly was the first stop I had in mind, and it didn't take long to find. The shop sign was an intricate butterfly made of rusted iron. The brown, oxidized metal looked unappealing, but I knew better than to judge it just by that. If Brather said the shop was good, then I knew better than to assume it was anything but high quality. The sound of a hammer pounding on metal could be heard from inside. The smell of burning coal and iron permeated the area.
As I entered the shop, two things immediately caught my eye. First was an enormous sword resting across the wall, easily twelve feet in length, and several inches thick. The second was a tiny woman working the forge, wearing an old style kimono. Despite the door of the shop being open, a bell announced my arrival, and the small woman waved a hand as she set the piece she was working on into a barrel filled with water. The metal hissed as steam poured out of the barrel, but it quickly subsided and the small woman heaved a sigh. She looked me over with a world-weary expression, and muttered under her breath. Thanks to [Keen Hearing], I made out the usual line when someone appraised me. "Level 1, huh?" I decided to take the initiative and introduce myself.
"Hello, my name is Barro. I'm a traveler. Someone I met along the way recommended you. I was hoping I could get some decent adventurer's armor."
The woman looked at my stats again, and I felt a swell of indignation. In retaliation, I appraised her as well.
{Karin Blackwell}
Level: 54
HP: 965/1094
Stamina: 1865/2564
Mana: 430/430
Str: 86
Int: 45
Dex: 60
Top Skills:
[Master Blacksmithing]: 7
[Metal Tempering]: 10
[Sword Hurricane]: 10
…
I don't think I've seen a strength that high in a person yet. And while [Master Blacksmithing] was the top of the list, it was only level 7? Maybe it was a combined skill like my own appraisal? It was hard to say. What could easily be said was that this woman was both terrifying and strong. I didn't want to see what that [Sword Hurricane] skill could do.
"Denied. Come back when you level up, kid," the woman replied, turning as if the conversation was over. I felt a rush of heat come to my face as I realized she had read my level and found me lacking.
"Wait!" I shouted over to her, my hands grasping at air. "I can pay. I need a better defense than regular clothing can provide. Even something simple would suffice-"
"It's no good, kid," the woman replied, waving away my words. "Your stamina and strength combined wouldn't be good for armor. Anything I could produce would have you exhausted in a couple hours time. And if I tried to reduce the load, the benefits would reduce as well. Give it a day and you'd be dead or worse. I can't sell armor for a fool's errand."
I stopped as I considered her words. It's true, any additional load would increase my stamina consumption, and I doubt I could explain my ability to exchange Exp for stamina. But perhaps...
"It's not quite as complicated as you make it sound, actually. My resistances can reduce the overall damage. The difference I need is just enough to stop one HP of damage, if my theory is correct anyway."
Karin stopped as her outstretched hand rested on the blacksmith's hammer she was about to pick up. She put her free hand up to her chin thoughtfully as she looked me over. "You mean to say you have max resistances, boy?"
"Not all of them. Currently I have max [Cold Resistance], [Piercing Resistance], [Blunt Damage Resistance], [Bludgeoning Resistance], and [Poison Resistance]. I can obtain more as I go along. As for the armor, as long as it gives a basic defense, it should work for my purposes.
The small woman looked me up and down again as if seeing me for the first time. "Sounds like a lot of posturing to me. How quick can you pick these skills up?"
I shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable with the question. I had never been forbidden from telling people about my abilities, but it was odd trying to explain I was on a quest from a god. I racked my brain trying to think of what to say, the small woman threw a hot coal at me from her forge. I panicked and grabbed it by grace of pure instinct. Immediately the burn coursed through my hand.
[Heat Resistance Skill Unlocked!]
[Burn Resistance Skill Unlocked!]
[Fire Resistance Skill Unlocked!]
[Heat Resistance Skill Mastered!]
[Burn Resistance Skill Mastered!]
[Flame Resistance Skill Mastered!]
The woman watched me with interest as she asked. "How many did you master just now?"
I smiled impishly as I threw the coal back into her forge, my HP having only dropped by 1. "Three."
Karin started chuckling, then full on cackling. She seemed to be in on some secretive joke. When her eyes turned back to me, they were sparkling with a mix of amusement and inspiration. "You're a strange one, kid. I've heard of people blessed with fast skill growth before, but never to that level. Am I correct in assuming that such a blessing comes with some negative effects?"
I nodded as I observed the small woman with newfound interest. She seemed to catch on quick, and she hardly seemed surprised at all. "I'm stuck at level 1. I can't improve my personal strength."
"Your companion can still level up, correct?" She asked me, pointing at the on guard Kuro still sitting on top of my head. The hare had been still, but when she threw the coal at me he had taken up a defensive position. Only now was he beginning to take in the atmosphere and relax again.
"Yeah, he can still level just fine," I told her, petting the hare to put him at ease.
"Very well. Come back tomorrow, kid, and I'll have something whipped up for you. It'll take some work, so do me a favor and leave me in peace for now. Oh and don't worry about your secret. My lips are sealed."
I nodded as I checked armor off my to do list and walked out.
It was only after I left that I realized the woman hadn't named her price. Hopefully it wasn't too absurd...