Heidi stared in the mirror, smiling slightly. She closed her eyes and sighed in contentment before opening them up again. In the mirror, an Asian face stared back at her. The face had button-like black eyes and a button nose. Delicate cherry lips stood out against the pale, nearly porcelain white skin. A fringe of dark brown hair brushed against the large forehead, the rest held back by a jade headband.
"This is awesome," Heidi said, turning her head this way and that. Then she paused. "Still, it feels like cheating, and my mom and grandmothers would all kill me if they ever saw this."
She pulled back and tapped the side of the mirror. The skin darkened a couple of shades to a tone more reminiscent of fine vellum. Her nose narrowed just a bit and lengthened by almost as much. The button styled eyes didn't change though they gained a double eyelid near the outer edges, giving her an almost cat-like look.
Heidi pursed her lips in discomfort. Then she tapped the mirror and adjusted her skin to one shade lighter.
"Not bad," she said, stepping back and examining her full reflection.
She let out a sigh. It wasn't bad, but then again, she wasn't that bad looking in real life. Her mother had adamantly refused to let her get a nose job, threatening to cut off her allowance and eventually her trust fund at Heidi's repeated requests. Since Heidi's only other source of income was her securities account, she'd dropped the subject. The objective of the account, as Cora had told her innumerable times, was to earn enough in dividends and annuities that it could pay the mortgage on her townhouse.
Heidi didn't have the time to manage her account, happy to let Cora do it instead. She hadn't expected much when she'd given Cora the account anyway. Heidi had done it more as a show of support for her friend than anything else; she'd only dumped in a little bit of her savings at first. It had been after the first quarter that she'd added most of the rest.
Cora would probably have been snapped up by some investment firm if she'd gone out into the world. Heidi felt both happy and sad that she'd turned into somewhat of a recluse instead. Despite her protests, Gerald had really done a number on her. It had only been because he'd underestimated her that she'd turned the tables on him so thoroughly.
"Is the customer happy now?" A little gnome asked as he popped into cubicle.
"Very happy," Heidi lied. She ruffled her bangs. "May I ask this Honored One what I am to next?"
The gnome bowed to her, a smile wrinkling his face. He was dressed in a dapper little suit, complete with waistcoat. A gold chain dangled from one of the buttons to a small pocket. He looked like a miniature Victorian gentleman, especially punctuated by the fact that there were little clouds embroidered on his blue waistcoat to contrast with the dark navy of his overcoat which was also sprinkled with little crystal stars. A stickpin of an enormous (for him) diamond held down a frothy cravat of blue nearly the same color as the waistcoat which was worn over a plain white shirt with the occasional gleam of silver thread.
"This Honored One is called Grickle, Most Honored Customer," the gnome said with a courtly bow. "How refreshing to meet a polite customer for once."
"Politeness is a virtue," Heidi absently said as she picked up her beginner's bow from its spot next to the mirror. "How much for the change, Most Honored Grickle?"
"For you? Nothing, gratis," the gnome said with a wave of his hand. He examined her critically. "This is the only change you wish to make? Once you leave my store, you won't be able to do it again for a long while. Not until you make your first profession change," he added. "That is levels and levels away for you."
"This is fine. My family would cry if I change too much," Heidi said with a smile.
"Then, dear April-June-July, have a nice time in your travels!" The gnome stepped back.
"Just call me 'April,�� please," Heidi said, fidgeting. "It's so much easier to say."
The gnome froze for a moment. Then he smiled even wider, revealing sharp white teeth. He rummaged in a pocket of his waistcoat, pulling out a flat golden case. He flipped it open, revealing little white cards. Taking one, he held it out to her.
"If you ever need outfitting of the clothing variety, please show this to the nearest branch." He said as she took the little card.
"Many thanks," Heidi said. She carefully tucked it into her breast pocket as he watched. "I will treasure it always."
"As long as you eventually use it," Grickle said with a chuckle. "I have heard stories about hoarders amongst you. Don't dally too much."
Heidi nodded as she exited the store. Then she paused, his words sinking in. Turning, she found that she was facing a plain brick wall. She stared at the bricks for a long moment before turning back around.
She was in a plaza. Throngs of people wearing both the beginners' outfits as well as more regular clothing were everywhere. The regular clothed people were mostly manning stalls and little pockets of makeshift peddler blankets. Heidi had heard of the blankets in the forums. They were only for sale at the Merchants Union, and you needed at least a modest reputation in order to purchase them.
Heidi thought for a moment before heading in the direction of the Mercenaries Union. It was a blinking spot on her display. She needed to earn some money for better equipment as well as traveling funds so she could head to wherever it was that Cora was playing at.
*****
Cora kicked a rock as she walked. It had taken some time to get the rhythm right, but now the rock would be right there at the most optimal kicking spot every three steps. It helped to alleviate the boredom of the walk.
So far, she'd been walking for two hours. As long as she stayed on the nominal road, nothing happened. If she strayed off of it, creatures would start to approach, their eyes glowing with the thought of easy prey.
Cora stopped and picked up the rock. It was just a hunk of brick that had come loose as most of its parent had crumbled under the double assault of grass and time. Cora had come to the conclusion that different places had fired different batches of bricks.
That came from simple observation. The bricks with the embossed 'W' that she was familiar with were mixed with other bricks of either a darker or lighter hue than the plain gray of the Wilderven bricks as she'd come to think of them. The different bricks made her wonder if she could use different stone blocks to make the bricks.
The orc town had only had one granite block available for sale. She had traded one of the gems she had for it. As far as she was concerned, she got the better side of the bargain. Gems popped out of her little mine far more often than plain granite. Cora wondered if the mines in the beginners' areas would be the opposite.
She wasn't keen on going that far away until she had more experience. Right now, she hovered on the cusp of level five. If Cora had to find her own way back to Wilderven every time until she hit level ten, then she was going to make it worth her while.
Her instinct told her that the sacks that she owned were special. She hadn't seen any mentions of sacks containing their own experience bars on the forums, and she'd spent a very informative evening deep diving for information while waiting for her last corn harvest.
Currently, one of her small sacks had gained a level which was reassuring. Cora had also discovered that the sacks lost experience at the rate of one point per day when they weren't in use. Keeping something in the sacks would prevent the loss.
That fact had given her a lot to think about. Things still decayed while in the bags so if she proposed that there had been something organic stored in the large and medium sacks which had then decayed into obscurity, then the sacks could have possibly been around for a long time.
Cora glanced around the deserted, broken road. The boundaries of it were still roughly delineated by decorative liners. A little bit further up, the road branched off from the main line. She could tell which was which because the branching path was a little bit smaller, nearly half the size of the main road.
Cora walked to the branch and stopped. Whatever road marker had once been there wasn't there anymore. She peered down the branch to see if there were any clues. Then she looked back the way she came. Sunlight still filtered down between the branches. As far as she could tell, it was still early afternoon.
Biting her lip, she shouldered her sack more firmly. Cora smiled to herself. She was supposed to be having adventures, right?