Fanfic (Azarinth Healer)

Chapter 3 - Shopping and Lore

I arrived outside of town, rather quickly thanks to the awesomeness that was portals. God I loved void magic. Heading in I got some looks. I used identify on most people I passed. Some said warrior, hunter, or fire mage. I was more surprised by the level ranges, many were in the twenties, though I spotted two noticeably high level people both had question marks instead of numbers. I was on the higher end of the levels for a mid-sized town but I was by no means the strongest. Getting to a higher level must be tough if there are so few at my level here. Maybe cities are different?

Time to test out that elos standard language skill. I looked at a guard, he was only level 63 so I felt like I could handle him if needed, he also looked to be on the upper end of middle aged. Dang it took him decades to get to 63? I spent like 3 months in a hell hole and killed a monster that could level a settlement with falling rocks and void magic. Clearly they didn't know how to cheese the system.

"Hey, I'm new around town and wanted to know if I could ask you a few questions." Fuck I loved how much lighter my voice had gotten.

"Sure thing miss, What can I help you with?" He said with a nonchalant attitude.

It paused a moment while I sorted out my wording for this. "Could you tell me what the typical price for an inn stay is around town?"

"Depends on the inn. The Stilted Stool runs cheap at a twenty copper while the Jester's Delight could run you close to forty." I don't think I had any silver just a bunch of cultist gold.

If I asked how much a gold or silver was worth I'd sound like a chump. So I tried to get clever. "Is there a place I could exchange coin around here?"

"A money changer? Yup you just have to head down the road there is a silversmith that can exchange your coin." God this guy was so helpful.

"Thanks a bunch, before I go can I get your name?"

"I'm Adicus miss."

I waved him off and headed over to get my coin exchanged. I actually sat outside a bit watching with my void sight to see what the typical going price is for a gold is. It looked like it was 100 copper to a silver and 100 silver to a gold. So I had a pile of 1,000-10,000$ coins. Wow. I was fucking rich. I easily had two hundred gold possibly double that. I needed to count my money at some point.

Heading in I greeted the woman behind the counter and said I needed change for three gold. She actually charged me a bit but I got my copper and silver. In neat little pouches too. It cost extra.

I headed out and splurged on a fancy inn room and food. Tomorrow was going to be a shopping trip and I was bouncing in my seat just thinking about it. I was going to get the dopest outfit imaginable. The pain, torment, and loneliness of having been sent to another world was finally paying off.

I had my first bath in a long time. Both to relax and explore my changing body, but not in a creepy way. I fell asleep with a smile on my face for the first time in forever.

Next morning I got up, ate and headed out to see the place.

It was late morning and the city had already roused from its slumber. Dogs barked in the distance, the sound of bells and conversation adrift through the street. From an overheard conversation, this place wasn't a town, it was a small city called Stormbreach. I also spotted a library on the way through.

The city was practically designed in a medieval sense. Buildings had little to no flare or fancy architecture. Children played between the buildings in small alleyways where, according to every fantasy story, someone was waiting to mug me. I skipped out on trying to get mugged and went into the library to check things out.

Heading in I was finally free of the sun, and into some nice cooler air. Stacks of books could be seen next to stocked shelves behind a front desk. A lone librarian sat there, she was reading a scroll. She glanced up at me and I gave a wave. "Hello"

She had the tone of a loner. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm not from around here and I'm looking for information on a bunch of miscellaneous things." I said cheerfully.

"I'll call over an attendant, they can provide information to you for 6 coppers an hour." I put a little space between me and the counter and waited. 6 copper an hour for someone to tell me all I needed to know sounded way better than digging through books. I'd still kill for some internet. I focused on my stuff in storage to make sure my phone was still there.

A young man around my age of twenty came out to greet me. "Pleasure to meet you my lady." He gave a little bow. "My name is Rodrick. How might I be of assistance." I saw behind him as the woman at the front counter rolled her eyes at this mess.

"Hey Rodrick, I'm Raven and I was looking for info on a bunch of things. I'm rather sheltered and haven't learned much about the world."

"Right this way." He lead me over to a table further in. "Ask away."

"So I was wondering how many types of magic there are. I only really know about my own." He looked at me and I could see his eyes widen slightly as I think he identified me.

"It is unknown how many types of magic there are but there is fire which is most prevalent. To list off some more there's: Ice, earth, light, water, wood, mind, arcane, and I've even heard of a gold magic user. There are of course dozens more but I lack knowledge of such rare magics." He spouted off like a living font of knowledge. I used identify on him.

[Librarian - lvl 15]

So librarian classes are a thing.

"I know this is Stormbreach but I don't really know what the larger world is like, are there kingdoms? Other cities? Oh are there people other than humans around?"

"You do sound rather sheltered. No offense." I gave a quick none taken before he continued. "So the continent we are on is Elos. The eastern part of which is covered by human kingdoms. Down here in the south east most cities are independent. Many have gone exploring outside of human plains but almost none ever return.

"The north is bared by great mountains beyond which is full of such strong monsters and dangerous terrain none return. Before that is the Navali forest home to the elves. Elves are powerful, bloodthirsty, and like to eat people. You'll find dwarves scattered around, they have settlements hidden away."

I took that all in. Humanity was surrounded by the unknown and super strong monsters. Elves eat people. City states and kingdoms are all over the place. Next question! "So my next few questions are first, is it taboo for people to romance those of the same gender? Second, is gaining a second class the same as the first? Third I've seen things with question marks instead of levels, how does seeing their actual level work?" I had to say them all at once or I'd forget by the time he answered the first one.

He seemed startled by the rambling of questions. "Well the first one is easy, no one cares unless you're a noble who needs an heir. Second, yes it is the same once you meet the requirements you will be prompted. Lastly, your identify skill determines how high of a level you can see. You can always see the level of those equal or lower than your own. Two question marks means they are under level five hundred. Three means they are over five hundred. I've heard legends of those with four but I know nothing about them."

I kept going. "Is there a maximum level for people?"

"I don't know, I hear powerful nobles and kings, and living legends are around three hundred, but I know of no upper bound to leveling. The highest people in the city are around one hundred and twenty. There are at most a dozen such people in the city."

I was running out of questions but from the topic of magic I had an inkling as to which type I wanted for my second class. "Where is the nearest place with ice this time of year?"

"We are caught about equal distance from Karth mountain, and from the southern mountains that hold Morhil and Ravenhall. You'll find ice and snow at the peaks of any of those mountains year round."

I thanked the librarian for his time and wandered off to go clothes shopping. First things first, new shoes, my feet hurt, also my old ones fell a little too big. I bought some nice black stompy leather boots for a silver, actually I got a spare set just in case. Next was underwear, then an outfit with pants, an outfit with a skirt, and lastly the fanciest dress I could buy.

I walked into the dress shop admiring the current displays. A kindly old woman greeted me and I ordered a custom black dress with a poofy bottom like one would wear to a ball. She asked for two gold upfront to make the thing, That sounded outrageous, considering the price of other goods so far but she convinced me to part with one gold now, and one upon delivery of the dress. Her sketches were also quite nice.

Swapping to my skater skirt and peasant top outfit I hung out back at the in. She said it would take a week to make the dress which I didn't know if that was fast or slow. Either way I had to put my plans for an ice magic second class plans on hold as I needed to wait on the dress.

Relaxing in the inn was nice and I'd almost like to just stay indefinitely. However I had goals. I wanted to make my numbers the biggest and best numbers around. More importantly progressing and evolving my class will finish up my magical transition. I also wanted some ice magic, since that sounded super cool, pun intended.

I ended up practicing my meditation and void sight to pass the time, with the occasional use of my other non-destructive skills. I felt my skills had fallen a bit behind my level curve especially the non-combat ones.

By the time I got my dress, my meditation was at level 13, void sight reached 16 and dimensional storage reached 10. Time to find some ice.