When he made it to the top of the stairs Marcus could see a dozen rows of books with many people sitting at tables reading or listening to others read for them. Marcus then started to head towards the shelves to look for books that had information on the Ocean Bluff Temple when a young boy in fairly nice clothes approached him.
"Hello there miss did you need someone to read you some books, I am a very skilled with reading and writing and come pretty cheap, only twenty copper an hour."
Surprised by the sudden proposition this kid had given him, Marcus brushed him off saying, "No, thanks I know how to read and write myself."
However, when he tried to walk away the boy still stood in front of him persisting to sell his services.
"Are you sure miss, being self-taught often leaves gaps in your knowledge and the books here are often very difficult to follow, I have had a proper education by an accredited tutor and am certain my skills can help you understand the finer details in each book."
Perturbed by the kids insistence Marcus tried to politely get the kid to leave him alone but the boy seemed to not be willing to take no for an answer. Finally, after telling the kid, he would get someone from the guild if he did not stop harassing him the boy relented.
'Man, that kid was annoying, I do not know why he was so insistent there will be other people he can sell his services to later.'
Now that he was free Marcus approached the shelves of books and began searching for any that had information on the Ocean Bluff Temple. While he was scanning through the books another adventure came up to him and started up another conversation.
"You really dodged a bullet there; Lars is the worst reader up here and while his prices are only around a fifth of everyone else, he takes about ten times as long."
Looking at the man but not in the mood to strike up a conversation Marcus simply nodded his head in agreement and went back to looking through the shelves. The man obviously not picking up on Marcus' wish to not be bothered continued speaking.
"The names Leif, you must be new around here, since there is no way, I would not remember someone that stands out like you. Since you are looking at books are you perhaps planning on going to the Ocean Bluff Temple. Me and my party go there all the time and as steel adventures we have a lot of experience. If you want, we can take you with us the next time and show you the ropes while keeping you safe."
Marcus then checked his level finding that he was only level fourteen, and any interest he had in partying up vanished.
"While I appreciate the offer, I am only a copper adventure and am currently trying to focus on learning the ropes myself but if the opportunity presents itself in the future, I may take you up on that offer."
Looking disappointed the man walked away leaving Marcus to his own devices. Finally, without any distractions Marcus went back to searching through the books and after just a short time searching, he found one that focused on the Ocean Bluff Temple. Finding a quiet corner where no one else was Marcus sat down and started reading through the book. Spending hours engrossed in the book Marcus found out a good deal about the Ocean Bluff Temple and dungeons in general. With his abounding amount of new knowledge Marcus felt ready to head over to the Ocean Bluff Temple.
'I should try to purchase a map for the dungeon's current configuration, since the year is already more than halfway over, they should have a pretty detailed map of at least the first level.'
Heading on back down Marcus waited in line for over two hours since he had unfortunately, finished up reading during the busiest time of day. After his long wait Marcus asked the receptionist if they had any maps of the first level of the Ocean Bluff Temple and was able to purchase one for ten silver.
'Damn that was expensive, I know I got a lot of money off of Ander and his goons but after paying for the quest, giving money to Lilia and her group, as well as miscellaneous things like this map I only have around eighteen gold left. I can probably get some money from selling Ander's sword but it could lead trouble to me so I think I will hold onto it for now.'
With map in hand Marcus made his way back onto the bustling streets of Loursend and found a quite place to switch his form back before heading towards the Ocean Bluff Temple.
'This city is too damn big by the time I get there even with floating through obstacles it will be dark. I knew I should have gotten some type of skill that let me fly but since I can already float, I thought it would be a waste. The problem is I only float about as fast as I walk and at this point with my stats, I can probably just jog through the city faster.'
Deciding to see if he could make better time jogging Marcus landed in a quite place before coming back onto the main road and breaking into a jog. Marcus could immediately tell that even though he had to pass around obstacles like carts and people he was making much better time. However, after around thirty minutes of jogging Marcus noticed something that had him stop. He saw that their was some type of giant bird taxi offering its services to transport people around the city. Intrigued, Marcus approached the owner of the bird and asked, "How much would it cost for you to take me to the northwest gate near the Ocean Bluff Temple."
The man looked over Marcus with little interest before replying, "It would cost nine silver for me to fly you over there, but I doubt you have that much so please make room for a paying customer."
Marcus a bit peeved took out nine silver from his magic pouch and handed to the bird taxi driver and, the man was shocked by how Marcus easily pulled out the money and from a magic bag no less.
"Sorry, good sir, your appearance does not give away your status and I have been approached by a substantial amount of people who were unable to pay today, and I was slightly upset by it, otherwise I never would have treated you so coldly."
The man then continued a round of hollow compliments trying to get onto Marcus good side probably thinking he was a wealthy merchant or someone of status. After he had finished flattering Marcus the driver helped him mount the bird and took off. It did not take long before Marcus was flying over the city and could see the sights moving by creating a breathtaking view.
'Wow I can see the ocean from here I have not really gotten a good look at it since coming here but from this height the endless dazzling blue water looks amazing.'
Absolutely entrapped by the view in front of him Marcus spotted a number of seagull type birds flying around and even managed to catch some type of massive silver fish break the surface. However, the amazing scenery did not last long only a few minutes before the giant hawklike bird soon landed near the northwest gate. Coming back to himself Marcus got curious and checked the driver and the birds level. Finding that the driver was level twelve, and the bird was level eleven Marcus thought that maybe he should see about procuring a giant hawk for himself.
'Well, I can figure that out later, right now I really want to see what this Ocean Bluff Temple is about, I should probably be fine since the first level of the dungeon only has monsters up to level fifteen.'
Having arrived near the northwest gate Marcus excitedly headed towards it ready to start exploring his first dungeon.