The next morning Sebastian woke up after a comfortable night sleeping in an actual bed and packed up.

  The only constant in his life right now was cultivation,

  which he made sure to do for several hours before he actually went to

  sleep last night. For once, however, he had several things to do during

  the day—get some money to buy new clothes and other necessities, learn

  more about this world, and last but not least figure out a more concrete

  plan for what comes next.

  Knowing that it was a risk to remain so close to the

  capital, regardless of how unlikely it was for anyone to recognize him,

  he had to keep traveling. Thus far when he thought about the future, he

  only had three basic ideas in mind—find somewhere safe to settle down,

  grow stronger away from the capital, and finally return to get his

  revenge.

  As to where he should go, he had no idea.

  Blackoak felt a bit too close, for all he knew the other

  heroes might stop by here on some hunting trip or just for some tour of

  the area around the capital. He should be safer finding some other town

  farther away but for that he would need plenty of supplies, which in

  turn meant that he needed money.

  Fortunately the goblins continued to help him in his times of need.

  He still had several of the trinkets and jewelry he took

  from their treasure room. While he had no idea whether or not they were

  anything good, they were sure to be worth enough money for Sebastian to

  get by in the short term.

  He locked up his room and walked down the narrow stairs.

  When he left the key with the woman cleaning the tavern he also asked

  her for some simple directions before walking outside.

  The town somehow looked more real in the morning sun.

  Sebastian walked around Blackoak, taking in the atmosphere. He looked

  around at the buildings and felt, once again, that they didn’t quite fit

  into the otherwise medieval vibe of this world. It wasn’t just the

  buildings either, everything in this little town felt so

  well-put-together and precise. From the flawless cream-white facades to

  the slightly raised sidewalks and cobblestone streets, where every stone

  was the exact same size. The only issue with the town, if it could be

  called that, was the fact that the main road seemed to be the only one

  that was actually straight, all the side streets meandered and

  serpentined around the houses, shop fronts, and small decorative areas

  scattered throughout the town.

  As he walked through the town, it felt like it kept going

  forever. Blackoak had the feel of a small town but it was much bigger

  than expected. Sebastian felt as though he was in a fairy tale.

  Everywhere he went people were busy coming and going, most of them

  carrying various things to and fro. The convenience of magic might help

  with construction and infrastructure, but every day life here still

  seemed to be filled with hard work.

  One thing that stood out, however, was a lack of homeless

  people. Although there were certainly plenty of poorer people living in

  Blackoak, there seemed to be homes and food for everyone. That magical

  convenience ensured that such essentials were basically free, as long as

  you settled for the lowest available quality.

  Soon enough, he reached the market.

  He had asked for directions but he wouldn’t actually have

  needed to because it was very difficult to miss, especially since he

  remembered the general direction they came from the night before. He

  heard the commotion long before he saw it. Even though it was still

  quite early in the day, the market was filled with people selling,

  buying, and haggling.

  He took a moment to just stand there and watch the crowd

  of people in the marketplace as the reality of his situation came back

  to squeeze at his heart.

  He was alone.

  Not just in a foreign country either but in a foreign

  world. No real plan, no connections, and no supplies or money. The latter

  could hopefully be fixed during this trip.

  Sebastian did have some things he wanted to sell, but he

  didn’t actually know what they might be worth, or even what sort of

  currency they had in this place. So, before he made an attempt to sell

  his items, he wandered around the market for a few hours. He looked at

  everything that was for sale and how much various things were worth and

  also listened to people haggle to try and get a sense for the culture

  and customs around money.

  The currency of this world, or at least for the country

  of Lumeria, was pretty straight forward: bronze, silver, and gold. 100

  bronze for a silver and 100 silver for a gold. Trying to estimate the

  actual value of these coins was another matter, however. It was how he

  spent most of his time there, casually looking over the shoulder of

  people buying things that he felt he could use for some sort of

  comparison for value.

  Shame I can’t remember how much they

  charged for a room and meal at the inn, that’s usually a pretty decent

  indicator. Based on the prices I can see, I’d guess that 5 bronze should

  be roughly the value of a dollar.

  If that estimate is even slightly accurate, then a single gold coin should be somewhere around $2,000.

  While I may not get too many Gold

  coins, I can hopefully get quite a few silver at least. If possible, I

  should try to hold off on selling everything until I can sell it

  somewhere bigger than this satellite town. I’ll sell what I need to in

  order to get by in the short term and sell more when I need it in the

  future.

  While he was walking around the market, he had noticed

  that most of the shops and vendors here focused more on practical

  things, gear and other supplies which made life easier rather than

  decorative stuff. There were a few vendors and shops that dealt in

  jewelry and other items similar to what he had to sell but he hesitated

  to just walk into the first place he saw.

  Later in the afternoon, most of the vendors started packing up.

  It seemed that the market closed earlier than he

  expected. Anxiety bubbled up over the concern that he had waited too

  long and now he felt he had no choice but to rush and grab hold of

  someone at random. Fortunately, the old merchant who gave him a ride

  into town the day before hadn’t left yet. Just like the others, however,

  he too was packing up.

  The old merchant had come here from the capital whereas

  most of the other merchants seemed to be locals, Sebastian hoped that

  meant that he had a better appreciation for the trinkets. Making his

  mind up, Sebastian walked up to him.

  As he approached, the merchant looked up and noticed him.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  His hat hung on the side of the wagon which gave

  Sebastian a better look at him than before. His remarkably thick and

  well-groomed hair, made somehow more distinguished by the few streaks of

  grey, stood out as a clear symbol of the wealth and status of a

  merchant from the capital. “Well, well, well, look who it is. Good to

  see you all cleaned up. I trust a good night’s sleep and a cooked meal

  did you good.”

  “It absolutely did, thank you again!”

  “No worries,” he said as he waved off the thanks, almost

  as though waving off the loss of coin rather than Sebastian’s gratitude.

  “Some charity does the heart good at times. Were you looking to

  purchase something? I’m just packing up for the day but I do have the

  finest quality goods you’ll find in Blackoak so if there’s something you

  need I’m sure we can get you sorted out.”

  “I’m afraid not. I was actually hoping to sell some of

  the items that I managed to save in the goblin attack,” Sebastian said

  as he opened his bag and took out a couple of preselected items to show

  the merchant: a gold necklace with some unknown gemstone and a small,

  glass—or some similar material, butterfly table piece.

  “Oh, I am always looking for worthwhile items to add to my inventory. Let’s take a look.”

  The merchant inspected each item quite thoroughly, making

  various noises to himself as he worked. Occasionally also giving

  Sebastian a quick glance in between noises.

  Sebastian decided to let him work in peace. He couldn’t

  help but try to determine what the noises meant, though, if the trinkets

  he picked up were actually valuable or just trash. Not to mention

  trying to make sure that the old merchant wouldn’t try to scam him. He

  had seemed like a decent person so far, but Sebastian knew well enough

  that when it came to money people couldn’t always be trusted.

  “These are both of rather high quality; the material’s

  good and the craftsmanship is impressive. Whoever made these was clearly

  of a pretty decent level. The right buyer would give you a few gold for

  ‘em,” he said with a glance up at Sebastian before returning his gaze

  to the wares. “Finding that buyer is easier said than done though,

  especially around these parts. Back in the city, however, these would do

  quite well in my shop.” The old merchant rubbed his beard in thought

  and moved his head back and forth, seemingly doing some calculations in

  his head. “I’ll give you 2 Gold 40 Silver for ‘em!” he offered while

  making direct eye contact.

  Holy shit… Jackpot, Sebastian thought to himself, careful not to show the old man how happy he was about the offer.

  He didn’t fully know how much they were actually worth or

  how easy it could be to find “the right buyer” but frankly, he didn’t

  really care. He just needed some money to get by for now. Besides, more

  money would surely come with strength. As he progressed with his

  cultivation and grew stronger he would probably get more money than he

  would know what to do with in the future.

  Just because he didn’t care too much about optimizing

  profits, however, didn’t mean that his pride would allow him to just

  accept the first offer.

  “Make it 2 Gold 50 Silver and you got a deal!”

  “Hah, you drive a hard bargain. Deal!”, the old merchant

  said with a smirk and a look that made it clear that Sebastian accepted a

  much lower price than what he could have gotten.

  Sebastian took the coins, thanked the merchant, and left.

  While he wasn’t too bothered this time, he still had most of his loot

  left to sell and next time he would try to go for a higher price. At

  least now he had some money. And if his current estimates were correct,

  he had a decent amount of money at that.

  Now that he could afford it, Sebastian

  decided to do some shopping in the shops that were still open. During

  the hours he had spent wandering the market he made sure to keep an eye

  out for some things that might be useful. He figured that he probably

  wouldn’t be able to avoid traveling on foot at some point in the near

  future and would need all the help he could get in not getting turned

  around out in the middle of nowhere.

  He bought a number of things, including a few changes of

  clothes, and was on the look-out for some navigational tools. It didn’t

  take long to find a shop that sold what he needed, partly because he was

  quite familiar with the area at this point but also because the

  shopkeep was actively shouting at anyone who walked by to come in.

  The shop was a simple hole in the wall—a few meters

  long—of a building with a wooden counter separating the inside from the

  street. Above the shop was a residential apartment on the second floor,

  hanging over the little awning which looked as though it could be pulled

  down like a garage door. Behind the counter stood a raggedly-dressed

  middle-aged man trying to catch the attention of anyone and everyone who

  walked by. The wall behind him was full of maps and various tools for

  navigation and some general travel supplies.

  “Maps, gear, and everything else you need for travel! Get

  your maps here! You, sir,” he shouted and point at Sebastian as he

  walked up, “are you looking for a map, I got maps of everywhere from The

  Shallows to the Mountains of Northreach!”

  “Perhaps. I will be doing some traveling soon but I

  haven’t actually decided on a destination just yet. Could you show me

  some options I could travel to from here?”

  The shopkeep beamed at having finally hooked a customer.

  “Certainly! Where would you like to go? To the far west you have The

  Shallows, by the Zolun Sea separating Lumeria from the western

  continent. Getting there is tricky, but the experience is well worth it.

  There are always some caravan or other to join going that way. If it’s

  easier travel you want, the train to Luxendorf should arrive here in a

  couple of weeks and after a week or so of unloading and restocking it’ll

  head back down south. It makes a stop for passengers right here in

  Blackoak. To the north are the Mountains of Northreach, beautiful this

  time of year. And don’t worry, they’re a distance away from the war.”

  Sebastian tried to absorb all the information. Since he

  still didn’t know much about this world, this was as good a time as any

  to learn. “What about the other continents? Is there a way to travel

  that far?”

  His question caught the shopkeep off guard. “Uh… Not really. Travel in and out of the kingdom is… difficult,

  unless you’re a merchant with trade permits. Not that you’d want to go

  to any of those other continents. We’re at war with the demons of the

  east, so that’s a non-starter. Same goes for the northern continent,

  though the Mulvein Gulf helps keep the worst of it at bay. The Calindor

  Federation is in the south and while it’s a fine place, not only is the

  border closed, there’s the monster zone by Luxendorf separating us. Your

  best bet would some of the many countries in the west, though tensions

  are always high in those parts.”

  Laughing it off as a mere dream, Sebastian changed

  directions. “Well, if we’re being realistic, I’ll probably just end up

  going to some neighboring towns or villages in the region to the south.”

  “That’s certainly a wiser choice. If you’re going on foot

  then you have a number of villages around. They’re anything from a few

  hours away to a number of weeks,” he explained as he pulled out a map of

  the area. “If you want to avoid walking all alone, however, your best

  bet is to convince—by which I mean pay—some merchant’s caravan to let

  you join them. They travel around the towns and villages in the region

  regularly. Different merchant companies stop by here on their way out

  from the city from time to time so you could probably find any number of

  them in the next few weeks,” he said.

  Sebastian scratched his neck. “I’m not sure exactly where

  I’m gonna go if I’m being honest, but I know I’m going to need a map

  regardless.”

  “Ah, I got just the map for you!” the shopkeep said

  before he rummaged through a pile of rolled up maps. “Yes, there it is! A

  map of the southern lands. From the capital all the way to and

  including most of the Silvervale Woodlands, the monster zone I

  mentioned, which signifies the border to the Calindor Federation, with

  a linked compass to show the way! The best part, it’s enchanted to

  allow you to zoom in so it’ll work where ever you end up going.”

  Sebastian took a look at the map laid out on the

  counter—right over the town of Blackoak, or more accurately over the

  exact spot of the compass, was a big red dot.

  I guess magic really can do a lot of the same things as modern technology, these basically work like a GPS.

  Scanning to the south of the map, there were roads and

  forests and mountains and then when he shopkeep zoomed out, far to the

  south, the city of Luxendorf.

  “Luxendorf is pretty far, huh? How long does the journey take by train?”

  “Typically speaking, it takes about three weeks, give or take.”

  “Oh, that’s… quite far. Thanks!”

  Sebastian paid for the magical map and compass, which

  were somewhat expensive but he felt it was worth the couple dozen silver

  it cost—navigation was a major obstacle after all.

  With that, his shopping spree was done. All that was left was to decide where to go next.