The teleportation gate spat me out right before the inner wall of the gates of the town 'Daystreak'. It was a larger town, with about 50.000 residents including approximately between 5.000 to 10.000 players and always fluctuating numbers of travelers of all nationalities, including beastmen, shapeshifters, creatures of the night, elves, fairies and other species this game had to offer. Daystreak was a middle sized beginner town and as such it had a very high ratio between players and NPCs. I didn't start my journey in Falan here but in a much smaller village north of the city, Bronning, but with only 3.000 residents it was far too small for proper business. Although you could get a slightly higher price for the goods, it could last up to a few days (in-game) if you wanted to sell your drops. But if one had a very high cash-flow (like me), a higher density of buyers was needed. Only thanks to the bustling economy of Daystreak, I could afford my spending habits.
I sighed as I handed one of the guards in front of the inner gate the two copper coins. The outer gates were used to check your identification and to pay the first fee of three copper coins. If teleportation was used, you would be either registered as a citizen of Daystreak or had your traveler's license at hand. Entry controls were important to make rogue players and NPCs feel the differential treatment between law abiding and law breaking parties.
If players using a [rogue] class wanted to enter they had to pay up double or even thrice the price of other classes. But they could also make these losses up if they stole inside the city walls, did quests or were appointed with much shadier quests than the usual players.
But these fees, although neither double or tripled, still hurt my spending nature. Two copper coins could buy me one to two pastries and I shouldn't mention how much two bronze coins could buy me. Hopefully I could get a few silver for the book and hair dye. This would not only cover my losses but also would douse my haste in my hunts. My last buffett had cost me seven bronze coins, so yes...I still had to pay rent and repair equipment when I headed out to fight. My fortune of seven silver coins would be spent in mere in-game weeks if I didn't work hard to enlarge my fortune. And I could not forget that I still needed two skills to advance from [Low Ranking Battle Mage] to [Battle Mage].
This class I chose at Level 10 started with the [Battle Mage Apprentice]. When I reached level 20 I upgraded the class to [Lesser Battle Mage] and at level 30 into a [Low Ranking Battle Mage].
With level 40 as the prerequisite, I could have already advanced to [Battle Mage] but was too poor to buy the skill books of the skill instructor and too untalented to get them through raids, hunts or other events. The skill books I got while playing (about 7 I think) were always for other classes. And since the market was flooded by the lower ranked skill books I didn't even get a proper price for all the effort I put in to get them. Because of this I hoped to get a better price for the "mystery box"-type of skill book I got thanks to the green rabbit, may he rest in peace.
But before heading for the market, I went toward the outskirts of Daystreak. Only poor people who had no extra coins to spend would live in such a neighborhood. Or dead broke players like me who tried to save up every coin to buy something sparkling and expensive.
Rows and rows of crooked, mucky houses with shady figures hanging around. Children with sunken in faces, thin arms and worn out clothing hanging like a far too large pelt around a starving animal, were eying me with hunger. Those little NPCs could smell food on me every time. I sighed, stopped and took out a portable table. Then I stacked fresh bread, cheese, ham, jam and other things I bought to restock my traveling food on my way home. Like wolves, children came from the narrow streets and took all they could. Some braver ones approached me and tried to steal my purse while showing me their puppy eyes. Luckily, my inventory kept my money and my (empty) purse laid there, too.
After I could free myself from the last sticky finger trying to make sure I wouldn't carry the weight of a full wallet, I went a few streets further. Close to the western walls of the city, part of the hearts of the slums and definitely one of the cheapest places to rent in Daystreak, I finally reached my destination.
It looked like a dozen other houses before, but this was my little kingdom. A little bit more than ten square meters of pure luck and happiness. I didn't own the house, only one small room on the sixth floor. A sign was moving in the breeze: "Faltasic nights" stood there, but only with much imagination because the colour of the writing was already losing its purpose by succumbing to the weather and drunken antics of all kinds of classes. This abbreviation should stand for "Fantastic Falan' nights", since the continent on which I stayed and the players could popolate as the only continent right now, was Falan.
I stepped inside, greeted the man at the bar with a nod and went upstairs. Coven was one of my favorite NPCs. He didn't ask useless questions, had a simple but straightforward dream and sometimes the personality of a rampaging beast. How couldn't I love him?
My first meeting with him was somewhat strange. Because I was kicked out of parties and guilds for the xth's time, I had an emotional breakdown. I sat outside his tavern and did nothing. After one hour he came towards me as I sat leaned against the outer wall of the tavern. "Why are you here? Any special reasons? Which AD did you like the most?" The host wanted to know.
"I am here because I have no home to go to. I didn't watch any of your ADs."
"What a shame. I should cancel them." He turned around and went towards the entrance. "Care for a drink?" he asked while leaving.
"I only have two coppers to spare."
"Then a drink for me and a cup of water for you." he said uninterested and did not spare me one more glance. I pondered if I should follow inside and then went after him. I took a chair at the bar. As he said, he placed a cup with water in front of me. As I wanted to hand him one of the copper coins, he didn't take it, but measured me from head to toe.
"You're a magician. Why are you sitting outside my tavern and making customers leave?"
While I sat outside the building earlier, only one person entered and left after ten minutes. The tavern wasn't the bustling type but the "Welp, it's time to shut this baby down because there is no profit to make!"-type. But the barkeeper seemingly had no introspection regarding his business.
"I didn't want to interrupt your business."
"Do you want to rent a room?" The barkeeper suddenly asked. "I have a few rooms for lodging but seldomly guests who stay the night. I can rent you one of the rooms."
"I don't think I can afford to rent a room."
"You're a revenant. So you won't use the room every day. I will only charge you on days you use your room. Either 4 copper coins per night or 10 bronze coins a month. One meal included. You can tell me if you prefer breakfast or dinner. Do we have a deal?"
"What if I cannot pay you right now?"
"Do errands for me tomorrow. If you have collected a few coins until then, we will speak again."
And this was how my stay in the "Faltasic nights" began. At first I had trouble affording the rent but slowly, I accumulated more drops after I had a stable resting point and mostly evaded the danger of theft or murder though other players. Before I had to find a quiet corner to upgrade myself or organize my inventory. Theft wasn't seldom and while normal thieves couldn't steal my stuff if I kept it in my inventory, gamers could steal from me, regarding how high leveled they were and their skills regarding theft. My character could thus be robbed if I didn't notice a theft. In the past I only dared to open my inventory and my character sheet on the market oder close to guards. But after I had a home, theft decreased and my profits grew exponentially until I could not only pay my monthly fees in advance but also get a meal whenever I wanted. Since I had more money, I could have upgraded my room and tried living in something larger. But after a short debate, I kept the room and bought a chest instead with the magical component [I'm empty. Is your head too?]. To hide my stash, I used the inventory-like spaces in the chest's menu. After I added the treasures, I moved away from the wooden box and took out a lot of brass coins. With a staggering amount of 178 brass coins and the newly added other 148, the chest looked like a sparkling treasure. Under the money was a trap to bite off a greedy fellow's hand if one dared to touch the treasure of their colleague.
And people or gamers wouldn't even guess that in such a small, rundown tavern could be a treasure as large as mine. Oh well, who am I kidding? Anything that was worth enough was already sold and turned into liquid assets. Excluding my savings of seven silver coins, I only kept sentimental pieces and things that wouldn't sell because they were useless and even players (who tend to buy almost all trashy items because they look "fun") wouldn't take them.
I smiled as I stuffed the emptied bag back into my inventory. Looking back into the sparkling bright of the coins once again, I smiled, closed the lid and opened my wardrobe.
A magician's robe in a beautiful deep red colour was the most prominent piece of equipment I had. It had cost me three gold coins, but this baby was worth the sleepless nights and dedication: It was just too fashionable! The stats increase and passive effects of the robe was also nice. But instead of donning this robe, I stuffed it in my inventory with all my other usual equipment I wore if I wasn't enjoying my free time eating cake.
I replaced my [Beginner's robe] with a black one. Accentuated with dark brown accents, it was one of my favorites. First through the third-person-view, then with the camera feature, I ogled myself a bit longer before descending the stairs to have a talk with Coven.