part0023

It was vegetable stew, Sam’s least favorite type of dish. He grumbled to himself that it was more like a vegetable soup than a stew, but ate it all the same. His stomach wouldn’t allow him to pass on another meal, no matter how unappetizing it appeared to be.

Gordon sat on the floor next to him, happily tearing into a bloody steak bone, his tail wagging vigorously behind him. Sam decided that this was the last time he would allow the dog to choose where they ate. He was quick to polish off the rest of the stew, completely ignoring the brown bread and drinking the mug of whatever they’d placed before him.

The dog was still eating by the time he’d finished, so he quickly pulled Milly’s letter from his pocket and opened it with slightly trembling fingers. He still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about the elf, but he found that he was excited to read her letter.

Hope you had a pleasant night. I’ll probably still be asleep when you wake in the morning, but I expect to see you later this evening.

Sam found that he was a bit disappointed that the letter didn’t contain more than that and silently chided himself for expecting so much.

Folding up the letter, Sam placed it in his pants pocket and rose from the table.

“Come on, Gordon. We’ve still got a lot to take care of before going to the Guild headquarters in the city and I still need to defeat a dungeon boss.”

“Very well,” Gordon said, snatching the bone up between his jaws, and following him out of the small eatery.

Emerging back onto the street, Sam looked both ways before spotting a supplies store. Deciding that it would probably be the best place to start, he headed in that direction.

“Tell me something, Gordon. Are people like me the only ones who have rules to follow, or does everyone in this world have to?”

“Only those chosen by our illustrious Overlord have the privilege of following his specific rules. The rest of us must simply go about our lives.”

They reached the supplies store and Sam entered without even bothering to read the sign. He knew it would only annoy him.

A bell tinkled overhead as he entered, and a small, plump woman sat up straighter behind a very familiar looking counter.

So, all the stores seem to have the same setup, or at least the supplies stores.

The woman gave him a smile as he approached, and Sam couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m looking to buy a few items and I was wondering if you could help me.”

“Yes. Rope, some trail rations, and a new bag. Preferably a bigger one than this,” Sam said, shaking the 10 slot bag.

The woman then pulled a small bag from under the counter and Sam’s eyes widened as she began pulling one item after the next from inside.

Sam’s fingers twitched and he eyed the bag hungrily as the woman finished pulling items from inside. When she was done, a selection of ropes, trail rations, and four bags lay on the counter.

Sam didn’t even bother examining the rations, just paying for 10 dried stews. He picked the cheapest rope he could find and moved on to the bags.

All these bags sounded great to Sam, but now that he’d seen the bag of holding, that was what he really wanted. As casually as he could, Sam leaned in a bit and put on his best smile.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any other, more expensive bags? Perhaps one that doesn’t have a carry limit?”

“If you are referring to a Spatial Bag, then yes, I do happen to have one in stock.”

Sam felt his heart soar, but before he got too excited, the woman burst his bubble.

“But unless you’ve got about 100 electrum to burn, I would recommend you pick one of the bags I have displayed here.”

Holy shit, that’s a lot of money! Who knew Spatial bags were so expensive?

Trying to do the math hurt his head, but after a few moments, Sam translated that over into gold coins. If he wanted a Spatial Bag, he would need to shell out over 10,000 gold.

So with a loud sigh, Sam paid all his remaining gold, his current bag, and the weapons that he’d taken from the bandits, and bought the Enhanced Canvas Bag . Sam winced at the price, but told himself that he would get some money back when he sold the Legendary gear he’d gotten from beating the Bruce Lee of bunnies, and the Uncut Jade he had in his Spatial Wallet.

He took a few moments to empty his old bag and transfer all his items to the new one. Thanking the woman for her help, Sam left the supplies shop with his new bag slung across his back and his wallet nearly empty.

“I would recommend going to the Armorer’s shop to sell your unneeded gear and buy some better equipment.”

“Alright, lead the way,” he said, agreeing wholeheartedly with the dog.

Setting off down the street, Sam continued his earlier questioning about the territories in Somerset.

“All this news about Kings and Emperors is surprising. Doesn’t the Overlord rule all of Somerset?”

“He does,” Gordon replied. “However, he simply does not have the time to run this entire world. And frankly, it is beneath someone of his exalted station to live among mere mortals.”

“So how exactly am I supposed to fight this Overlord if I can’t get to him?”

“You must have misunderstood me earlier. The Overlord can indeed be reached, though no sane person would dare to try. He lives in the thirteenth territory, which is the highest level area in all of Somerset.”

Oh no, here comes some ridiculous or horrible name, Sam thought, already bracing himself.

“The Overlord lives at the heart of The Not So Scary Mountains and resides in his personal fortress, known as The Death Spire.

“Who the hell would name the most dangerous place in all of Somerset The Not So Scary Mountains, then name their castle, The Death Spire ?”

All over the street, people turned to stare at his outburst, but Sam just ignored them, glaring daggers at Gordon.

“I do not know what your issue is with our illustrious Overlord’s naming sense, but I assure you that it is all as I say.”

He’d already told himself that he’d stop caring about all these horrible names, but here he was, getting all bent out of shape again. Who the hell cared what Overlord Quack named his cities and people? He’d be killing that motherfucker before long, and then getting the hell out of this place.

Now feeling a bit better about everything, Sam continued down the street with a bounce in his step. Entering the Armorer’s shop a few minutes later, Sam approached the counter, noting that it was set up in much the same way as the supplies store, with the addition of a few straw dummies displaying various types of armor.

A tall green man standing behind the counter gave him a suspicious look as he approached, and Sam got a distinct feeling that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant transaction.

Instead of answering, Sam pulled all of Bun Ni’s gear from his bag and set them on the counter.

The man gave him a nasty look, then bent to examine the gear. As soon as he got a good look at it, his nasty expression vanished in an instant, replaced instead by a sharp-toothed smile.

“I must apologize for my earlier behavior. We get a lot of adventurers in here and they aren’t always the friendliest bunch. But now that I look at you, I don’t see a guild chain around your neck, so you’re alright in my book. Especially if you’re willing to sell me such amazing gear.”

“Chain?” Sam asked, as the green man lifted each piece of gear and examined it closely for damage of wear.

The man gave him an odd look and Sam decided that this was probably one of those things that was common knowledge. He gave Gordon a questioning look as the man went back to looking at the gear.

“All guild members wear a chain around their necks, denoting their ranking within the guild. Generally, the higher quality the chain is, the more dangerous the person wearing it, is likely to be.”

“The same as the currency, with copper being the lowest and adamantite being the highest.”

Yet another trope, Sam thought with a sigh. He idly wondered how powerful an adamantite ranked adventurer would be as the man finished his examination of Bun Ni’s gear.

“Alright, it seems that you’ve got something really special here, especially seeing as you have a full set,” the man said, laying the hand wraps down on the table and giving Sam a shrewd look.

“So how much is it worth?” he asked, having absolutely no clue himself.

“If I’m being honest, I can’t afford to buy this gear from you. The best place would probably be the guild, but they’ll charge you a whole bunch of bullshit taxes and fees, then try to make you join up.”

Sam was shocked that the merchants in Somerset all seemed so honest. In any normal fantasy game or story, merchants were about as trustworthy as politicians were back on Earth.

“At fair market price, each individual piece would go for 8 to 10 electrum each; but as a set, it’s probably worth around 75 to 80. The guild would probably give you around 40 if you were lucky.”

“I’m actually looking to buy some better gear, something suited for a Mage or caster. I’m also looking for a new magic weapon, so if you have anything like that, maybe we can do a trade and you can pay the difference?”

“Yes. I do believe that I might have what you’re looking for, and if you like the equipment I have, I might be able to buy this gear.”

Sam grinned as the man pulled a Spatial Bag from under the counter, and began removing various pieces of cloth and leather. Then he began removing an assortment of staffs, wands and glass orbs. By the time he was done, the entire counter was taken up by pieces of gear and various weapons.

“Have a look and if there’s anything you like, we can make a deal.”

Sam nodded and began examining the different weapons and gear. At first, he was a little disappointed, but after a few minutes of browsing, his mood lifted. By the time he was done, he was practically beaming. Sliding the items he wanted to one side, Sam inspected them one more time before making his decision.

He couldn’t use them just yet, but he would be level 10 before he knew it and then he’d be walking around in some awesome gear.

“All these items together will come out to 22 electrum, 8 platinum, and 4 gold. All I can afford to give you is 35 electrum, so I’m afraid that I’m still short,” the man said with a sigh.

“Would you happen to have anything for a dog?” Sam suddenly asked, motioning to Gordon.

“I do, but nothing that would come close to the gear I just gave you, and that was the most expensive Mage set I had.”

Sam tapped his lip for a moment as the man pulled a few small pieces of leather and then one long one from his bag, and set them on the counter. After doing a quick check, he saw that it offered a bonus to Endurance and had an armor rating of 10, but other than that, had no special properties.

“I know it’s a bit of a longshot, but would you happen to have any spell scrolls?”

He knew that the man was an armorer and that it was very unlikely, but he still had to try.

“Yes, actually. I happen to have 2 and these will more than make up the difference, should you choose to buy them.”

Sam nodded eagerly, as the man pulled two ancient looking scrolls from his bag and laid them gingerly on the counter.

“I’m interested in the Mana Explosion scroll, but I can’t read the requirements for the Over-Burn spell.”

“I’ve had that damn scroll for over 5 years already. The Mana Explosion scroll is worth enough to cover the difference, but I’ll throw the other one in for free, just because I have no use for it.”

He wasn’t so sure about taking up a slot in his bag with another useless item, but decided that any Epic item was worth having. After all, maybe he’d find someone who could tell him what the item was.

“Alright, you’ve got a deal!” Sam said, shaking the man’s hand and piling all his new gear into his bag.

The man then handed him a small leather bag and when he opened it, saw a pile of glittering coins that were a pale, almost white, gold.

Sam nodded, then pulled the heavy coins from the bag and began counting. When he confirmed that there were indeed 33 coins in there, he nodded to the man in thanks and walked towards the exit of his shop, stopping for only a moment to stick his hand down his pants and drop them in his Spatial Wallet.

Leaving the shop, Sam did a quick check of his clock and saw that it was already past noon. Deciding that he had no more time to waste, he asked Gordon to escort him to the guild headquarters so he could find a party to head into the nearby dungeon.