Mindlessly walking through the wilderness around Nightmare City, Kai was going through all the loot he had accumulated.
"Trash"
"Garbage."
"Dull rusty Knives"
Sighing, Kai was so far disappointed.
After dealing with Keif, Kai got 2000 experience points. Although it sounded like a lot, it only managed to raise Kai's level to level 6. Which was good, but he expected much more.
"Aha, something that's actually useful!"
One of the people from last night had a map in their inventory. Which now belonged to Kai.
Bringing the map out, it showed Nightmare City in the middle, with trees around it, indicating wilderness. Along the trees was a path going from Nightmare City to another bigger city called Anfang.
"So all I need to do is find this road, and I can find another city; with the money I got, I can finally get some clothes. " Smiling, Kai headed off toward the direction the road was located on the map.
While checking his loot, Kai found 61 Silver coins and 59 Copper coins. Although Kai had never seen money before, he heard of it from his parents and the old man from their stories.
Walking through the wilderness, Kai was fantasizing about what this city would be like. Though also wary about it, what if it was the same as Nightmare city? He'd have to be careful entering the city.
"There it is!"
Kai managed to find the dirt road. Now all he had to do was follow it.
Walking the road, Kai still hadn't seen any signs of wildlife.
"I guess not even wild animals want to come near here."
Gritting his teeth, Kai swore in his heart, 'No matter what, I'll make it better. I'll fix this city. How can my family rest in peace in such a place?"
Kai couldn't do anything right now but soon. Once he's a tier 3, nothing will stop him.
"Haaa, I shouldn't think about this right now; better things await me." Letting out a long breath, Kai let go of his thoughts.
Once the time comes, he'll think about what to do, but right now, it's time to focus on Anfang City.
--
After walking for hours, the sun was high, shining brighter than before.
The wilderness slowly started opening up.
"Woah"
Fields spread across the lands; streams flowed through the ground.
Crops upon crops, being farmed.
~Crip~
Birds flew through the sky, playing with one another, and farmers tended the crops. It was like nothing Kai's ever seen before.
"Haha, catch me if you can!"
Kai could hear the kids playing and running through the fields of crops.
Laughter filled the air. Farmers stopped tending to their crops to watch the kids playing.
A small but real genuine smile crept on Kai's face. 'This is what it should've been like,' He thought.
As Kai continued forward, he couldn't help but glance back at the playing kids. Some of which were the same age as him. Signing, he looked toward the dirt road.
Occasionally, some of the adults would look toward Kai before continuing what they were doing.
"Hey, excuse me for a second!" One of the many farmers called out to Kai.
'Why would someone call out to me? I didn't do anything.' Even after thinking about it, Kai didn't understand why a farmer would call out to him.
Stopping in his tracks, Kai turned toward the farmer. The farmer had blue overalls and a plain white shirt. She had dirty blonde hair, appearing in her late thirties.
"Heya, how'd ya like some food? I saw ya walkin outta the forest over yonder."
Stunned, Kai didn't know how to respond. This was the first time someone went out of their way to give him something. Looking at her full smile, Kai nodded.
"Sure, I'll have some."
"Gotcha."
The farmer went up to her house, after a short period of time. She came back with some yellow-orange berries.
"Here ya are. These are sun berries. My kids love em."
Taking the berries, Kai thanked her and quickly returned to the road.
Looking at the berries in his hands, the thought of them being poisoned crossed his mind. Yet he was already a tier 1. ``There's no way some farmer would have a poison that could kill a tier 1." Kai reasoned.
~Munch~
"Mhmm, although worse than my King Caterpillars, these are quite good."
Kai shoved berry after berry into his mouth till they were all gone.
"One day, I should come back and get more. Maybe I'll learn the farmer's name."
After some time, a giant stone wall appeared in the distance. Soon, Kai would be in the city. It would be hard to leave the city if it were anything like the fields.
In the middle of the stone wall, a huge open gate appeared.
The closer he got, the more Kai could see.
Guards lined the top of the wall while some checked the people who entered the gate.
Approaching the gate, one of the guards put his hand out, "Halt! State your business!"
Like the rest of the guards, he wore heavy leather chest piece, leather pants, and boots. A green cloth was wrapped around his right arm, and he was equipped with a long sword. They didn't seem to have a good defense, Kai noted.
Hearing the question, Kai wasn't sure what would be an appropriate answer, "Buying goods." Kai responded.
Nodding his head, the guard put his hand out flat, "Entrance fee of 5 copper coins!"
'Entrance fee? I didn't expect that.' Kai thought.
Taking the coins from his inventory and giving them to the guard, Kai was motioned to enter.
"Welcome to Anfang City!"
Once stepping through the gate, Kai's eyes widened in surprise.
Along the cobble streets were vendors selling many goods, ranging from food to weapons and jewelry. This wasn't what shocked Kai, but the amount of people walking around and the kind of people.
Some people had animal characteristics, while others looked more animal than human.
Bunny ears, cat, dog, long pointy ears. The people here were nothing like those back at Nightmare City. Only broken humans lived there. But here, everyone seemed so unique and special.
Different races were living together, making a living. It was a welcome surprise for Kai.
Walking along the streets, looking for anything he might need, Kai stumbled upon a stall selling leather clothing.
"Leather seems very popular here." Kai couldn't help but say out loud.
Hearing his comment, the old lady running the stall replied, "Of course it's popular. With the dungeon here, leather became extremely common. Many things here are made of it." She gave a soft smile to Kai.
"Dungeon, huh. How much for these four?" Kai pointed at a leather chest piece, pants, gloves, and boots.
"Mm, normally that would be 1 silver and 20 copper, but since you're buying all at once. I'll bring it down to 1 silver."
Tossing her the silver coin, Kai put his new clothes into his inventory before turning to leave.
"Oh, and if you plan to go into the dungeon, I suggest signing up at the adventurers guild and enrolling in the beginner's course."
Nodding his head, Kai thanked the old lady for her advice.
'An adventurers guild and beginners course. That doesn't sound bad. I currently don't know much about dungeons or really anything. Sigh'
Turning around, Kai went to ask where the adventurers guild was located.
After getting to the location, Kai headed in the direction of it. He looked around the various stalls and the goods they were selling along the way.
'First, I should get a place to stay and a bath. I can't show up like this.' Thinking about it, Kai spotted a building with a sign, 'Horse Inn.'
'What a name,' Kai thought.
Walking into the inn, Kai didn't see anyone but the desk attendant.
'Mm, maybe the price is too much? Or are the rooms in bad condition?' Kai thought.
Walking up to the desk, Kai was going to get some answers.
"How much is a room for a night?" He asked.
The desk attendant was a man in his mid-fifties: bald head and a beer belly. Currently, the attendant was looking down, reading something.
"5 Copper per night, including breakfast." The attendant replied.
'Huh! Only 5 copper per night. Did that old lady scam me?!' Thinking about it, there's no way that old lady didn't scam him.
"I'll take a room for a week." Taking out 35 copper coins, Kai handed them to the attendant and got his room key in return.
"Room 3, down the hall, third door on the left." The attendant said, pointing down a hall to the right of them.
During the whole process, the attendant didn't look up or even look at Kai. Whatever he was reading must have been important enough to not even look at a customer.
Heading to his room, Kai opened the door and walked in.
The room was small, just enough for a bed and table. The walls were painted white, while the bed was brown. Across the bed was a door, the washroom. Place his cloak in his inventory. Kai walked into the washroom.
Inside was a metal tub and table. Above the table was a mirror. The metal tub was big enough even to fit his werewolf form.
On the table was a fluffy white fabric. It was a towel.
Going to the metal tub, Kai saw a blue gem on the inside of the tub. Next to the gem were two knobs. One was red. The other was blue.
Touching the blue gem, water started pouring out.
"Woah, what do the other two do?"
After touching the red knob, the water started heating up.
"Oh, so the other one should be to cool it down. This is awesome."
Climbing into the tub, Kai, for the first time in a long time, felt relaxed.
"Ahhh. I could stay like this forever."
-
After an hour, Kai felt like he had enough. Getting out of the tub, Kai dried himself before looking in the mirror.
Starting back at him was a teen about 14 years old, white hair with purple tips reaching down to his neck. Amethyst eyes that stare into one's soul. His body's muscles were developing well. His muscles weren't huge nor small. To Kai, It was a good amount, especially with his current body.
Overall, Kai thought he looked good, but he couldn't tell how others would feel, nor did he care.
Nodding in satisfaction, Kai put on his new leather clothes.
Seeing his new clothes, Kai had a slight problem.
He didn't have a shirt!
Kai bought a chest piece, not a shirt. His skin was completely exposed.
"I'll need to buy an undershirt later." Shaking his head, Kai went to lay down for a bit.
Tomorrow he will get a shirt and go to the adventurer guild. If Kai thought he could learn something, he would attend the beginner courses.
Who knows, he might even meet people his age. Though if he didn't, it wouldn't bother Kai much; he had no plans of forming a party or going into the dungeon with others.