Day 2
I was making my way through the merchant section of the city again, towards the Adventurer's Guild. It was close to 07:30 hours. I got up and made sure everything was ready, just as I had the night before. Then I went downstairs to eat, and then went back to my room and put on my armour.
I was following my map using the waypoint function. It was like an old-style GPS with glowing arrows indicating the direction I was to go. This is a great boon to me, as the city was covered in a thick mist. I wouldn't call it a fog, but it was close. If I hadn't had my map, I would have easily got turned around and become lost within the maze of city streets. This made the local architecture strangely unsettling as the mist distorts it.
The streets were busy as I walked along them. I got a lot of odd looks as I walked, dressed ready for violence, but as people noticed my symbol of the Adventurer's Guild on my armour, they passed me without comment.
I've been stopped twice more by the Watch, but was allowed to continue as soon as my status was confirmed. I had been reading over the manual supplied to me covering the rules of adventurers. Unless I was causing trouble, no member of the Watch could interfere with me. The tattoo on my right hand gave me the right to bear arms within the city limits. I was a member of one of the three groups allowed to do this: adventurers, the Watch and the personal guard of nobility.
Criminals, of course, carry their weapons, but they are illegal, and being caught with them carries harsh sentences. I suspect that firearms were not a popular option in such enclosed living spaces. From what little I learned, criminals in large cities such as this favoured knives and other close-in weapons.
The air was thick with not just the mist but also smoke from the numerous chimneys around. I can almost taste it in the back of my throat—the smoke from all the fires. It took some getting used to. I knew from history class that living in such conditions would harm the health of the local population. I was not here to change them socially or technologically, but to protect them, so I knew interfering would be frowned upon.
It had not taken me long to leave Low Town, as I was on the edge of it where I was staying. The Adventurer's Guild was close to the Coliseum at the heart of the merchant section. This took me some time to reach, as I had to navigate both pedestrians and traffic along the road. Eventually, I found myself standing in front of the building once more.
I tried the door and found it open. The room was lit by lamps attached to the walls at regular intervals along each side. I walked in and closed it behind me. I looked down the room and noticed a different woman from the one I had seen yesterday behind the desk. She looked up from whatever she was doing and frowned slightly at my appearance. I gave a nod and walked over to the corkboards, which listed jobs for the local area.
They were arranged into four separate sections. Each is listed as copper to platinum. Copper had the easiest and lowest-grade jobs, which paid the least but were the most common. That led to silver, then to gold, and then finally to platinum. They were based on the currency that the System used, as the payment was usually in that denomination. Being in the city, this was slightly different as silver was the lowest amount offered for any job requirements. I notice that as quickly as I read through a few, they are plastered there. The lowest advertised reward was a silver and copper coin.
I quickly gave up counting the number of postings on the copper board. It was closest to the door and was packed full of offers. I looked up the line of boards towards the other side of the room. Silver had quite a few, gold had a handful, but there was nothing in platinum.
I looked over a few and read their requirements. Mentally, I began separating them into maybes and nos. I noticed that there weren't many requests from the noble and merchant sections, but they were all low-paying. I suspected that the more profitable jobs were on the other boards. A few from the churchs but most seem to be from Low Town. Looking at the next board, I saw that there were almost none from Low Town but far more from the rest of the city.
The sad fact was that economically, the population of Low Town could only afford a post here on the copper board. That meant that most of these were to be ignored as adventurers sought more lucrative offers from the rest of the city.
Well, hopefully today I will change that!
Going through them again, I identified what would work well for me, and I took them off the board. I walked down towards the woman sitting behind the desk, and she was now sitting up. I knew she had been observing me the whole time I was here.
"Good day, Madam." I greet her with a smile. "I wish to select these, please."
I placed the two requests on her desk. I'm naturally a lefty, but I made sure to use my right to display my tattoo to her.
"Of course, adventurer. Please place your hand upon the orb." She indicated the orb at the side of the desk.
I slept slightly to the side and placed my right hand upon the orb, which lit a pale white. There seemed to be a keyboard built into part of the device, and she put a series of letters and numbers into the machine. Once both identification sequences were put into the machine, the orb turned blue.
The metallic-sounding voice of the System came to my mind, as I had disabled the text version. The survivors of the first two waves had all said that having text pop up in the middle of a fight or when you are concentrating on something was very annoying, so the audio option was the most preferred.
I can understand why.
"Both requests have been registered." The woman gave me one of those receptionist smiles that never reached her eyes.
"Thank you. Farewell." I didn't want to waste time, as I was burning sunlight, and I had to get back across the city again.
I stepped back out in the street, closing the door behind me. The mist and smoke were still thick in the air. This part of the city, however, was far less travelled than the others. This allows me to open up my quest log and check on them.
I then enter my map settings and set it to the first quest. My map icons changed, and I began following the new route. Having bought the city map yesterday, I had a rough idea of where I was going. But I would have to find the building by myself. As it was a Tavern, I didn't think it would be too hard to find.
I realise I could do this within the Adventurer's Guild this morning, and that was something for future reference for all quests. As I walked, I checked the map and realised I was heading to the far side of Low Town near the outer wall.
As I walked, the weather didn't change much. The sun was now rising in the sky and trying to burn through the mist, but it was stubbornly holding on. The heavy cloud cover in the sky was working to aid in this. The clouds were high, and a light grey covered the sky. I doubted it would rain today.
I had a couple of miles to go, so I kept pushing forward. I was still not used to wearing the armour, and I was suffering from pinches and chafing. My feet were especially unhappy with his new boots. It wasn't just that they were new; it was the additional weight of the steel reinforcement within the shoes and shin guards.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
The air was a bit chilly, but it didn't stop me from soon sweating due to the weight of the armour I was carrying. The wind was coming off the sea, but due to the smoke in the air, I could not catch any indication of salt.
I eventually got back to Low Town. This time, thankfully, I was stopped only once by the Watch, as the other group members recognised me from earlier and let me pass without comment.
Delving deeper into the slums of Low Town revealed the stark economic divide between its sections. Everything around was far grimmer and looked much more rundown. The repair work, when completed, was more haphazard and utilised any available materials. I could see that the gutters and drains were blocked and overflowing, causing additional damage as water seeped through. The streets were even dirtier, covered with far more debris and seemed to be far less maintained. Even the tall iron lights along the sides of the street are fewer in number and show more wear.
I turned and walked down one street, which I suspect didn't have a name. Along it, people were out and about, going about their daily business. As I walked, I passed a storefront which had been converted from the front of a rundown, almost derelict house. It would not be too generous to call it a shack. I suspected that if someone sneezes next to it, the structure might fall; it looks that dilapidated.
There was a woman out front, and I could smell the cooking of some meat coming from deep inside. She was older, probably in her mid-60s; she looked her age, clearly having lived a hard life. Her clothes were worn and heavily patched. Hair was white and grey, tied back into a braid with a shawl covering the rest of her head. It was what she was selling that surprised me the most.
"Rats! Get your rat skins and meat here!" She called out to those passing.
This was the first time I had seen anyone selling rats. She noticed me approaching along the street.
"Rats good, sir! Get your rats here!" She said as she flaunted some of her wares at me. The outer part of the stall had several rat hides that were cured and ready for use. "Look at these hides. Wonderful for padding and fur blankets or pillows."
"Thank you for the offer, madam, but no." I looked over her stall and the wares. I dreaded to think about what was being cooked in the back.
She had been looking me over, and I knew she had spotted the Adventurer's Guild symbol. She turned slightly and yelled into the building. "Oy! Napier, we have an adventurer out here!"
"What's that about an adventurer?" The voice of a man came from inside the building. I heard shuffling sounds, and a man suddenly appeared. He was about the same age as the woman before me and seemed just as beaten down.
"Open your ears, you old coot!" She slapped him gently as he stood next to her.
He looked me over, squinting at me. The way he was squinting indicated that his eyes were failing, but from the condition of their clothes and home, I suspected he could not afford glasses.
"Why are you around here? Not many of your kind come to Low Town unless there is trouble." The woman asked me, looking my way again. There was a hint of fear now in her face and voice.
"No trouble. I am heading to local taverns to deal with rats plaguing them." I sought to reassure them. Rumours can be dangerous and lead to unfortunate events, as fear often fuels them into panic.
"Rats, eh?" She relaxed at my explanation, then turned calculating. "We buy rats. If you bring the bodies to us, I will pay one copper for every two bodies."
She smiled when she made her offer, and I knew she was trying to take advantage of me. Quickly thinking it over, I found no reason not to indulge this offer.
"If possible, I will bring you back any bodies." I would see what the jobs ended with. I noted the location on my map function.
I left the strange couple there and continued down the street following the marker on my map. I was deep into Low Town, and I felt the eyes on me from the shadowy alleyways of the main streets. It was subtle at first, but I was sure now. I was being eyed up as a possible target. My hands were close to my weapons.
I reached the street with the Empty Barrel tavern. The tavern was easy to find as people were entering and leaving the building. Above the door was a crude painting of an empty barrel on its side with the word ale written on it.
I entered the room and felt every eye on me. I did my best to ignore them and walked to the bar on the other side. It was a long number of weathered planks that stood on two stools. A thick man in his fifties was standing behind it, watching me approach.
"Can I help ya, adventurer?" He asked before I could say anything.
"Yes, you can. I am here to see the Tavernkeeper about a vermin eradication request to the Guild." I informed him.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, with even more people turning and looking at me when they heard my answer. I got the feeling that adventurers actually coming to fulfil these requests were a rarity at best.
"Well then. I am Tavernkeeper Arnold. I cannot lie to you, adventurer. I am more surprised that you were here to fill my request. Normally, I have to rely on one of the local rat catchers to get around to doing it." He came around the bar and started to shake my hand.
That set off alarm bells in my head, wondering what he meant by that.
I was quickly ushered further into the building —or rather, the large room —to a hatch in the floor. He heaved open to reveal a ladder going down into a basement of some form.
"This part of the city always has problems with large black rats. I need you to get down there and kill a few to discourage the rest."
"Your request stated three." I pointed out that I needed to confirm the details.
"Aye. Three will do it, will keep their numbers down for a while and discourage the rest until they build back up their courage." The Tavernkeeper nodded as he confirmed what he wanted.
"Very well, hopefully this won't take too long." I climbed onto the top of the ladder and began to descend, but stopped. "What do you want me to do with the bodies?"
The question caused them to pause for a moment. "Well, normally I just get one of the lads to go down there and get them and throw them out the trash. Why are you asking?"
"I might know more productive means of disposal." I didn't say anything more.
"All right then, if you want to get rid of them, I would be greatly appreciative." He stood back up, looking around at his patrons in the bar. "Sorry, but I need to get back to work. Come back up when you are finished."
I descended the ladder to the basement section. The only light available was coming down the hatch above me. As soon as I reached the bottom, I looked around but couldn't see much due to the gloom and darkness. But I did hear scuttling hinting at the vermin problem. I reached around and pulled off my backpack and unclipped where I had put the lantern the night before.
Once it was free, I put my backpack back on and lit the lantern. After a few strikes through the inbuilt lighting mechanism, it came to life. It supplied more like now to my surroundings, and I could see barrels and boxes around me stacked haphazardly. I caught movement in the flickering light.
I reached down and pulled out my club. It was heavy in my hand, so I spent a few minutes last night before bed practising with it to get a feel. I had my gauntlets on right now and felt ready to get to work.
I began to move slowly into the room, investigating different areas and looking for the rats I was there to find. I remembered the reports from the first two waves. This world rat population had two variants. The normal ones that would be found on Earth, and then the large black rats. These rats were far larger than a cat and far nastier, one of the many ways that Eldritch corruption had changed this world. They were willing to stand and fight, being classed as a serious threat if they swarmed.
I held the lantern up close to my face as I was forced to hunch a bit, moving through the packed basement. I caught flickers of movement and the sound of scuttling around me. Here and there, I can see the damage they were reflecting with barrels and boxes showing signs of being chewed on.
I turned slightly and caught sight of the first black rat. It was on top of the box, closer to me than I realised, and seemed to be preparing to pounce. Instincts kicked in, and I lashed out quickly with the club. It was just jumping as I caught it with the iron tip on my club.
I felt the impact travel up my arm as I watched the body of the rat fly away. It squealed in pain as it bounced. I quickly turned fully facing the rats as he got back up with just as much speed. A normal rat would run now, but this thing kept coming. It scuttled towards me again fast. Jumping again.
It got too close before it jumped. Instead of hitting it with my club, I kicked it with my leg. It had jumped too high and impacted along my shin. The steel armour with the under padding absorbed the impact. It squealed again as it was knocked back and sought to rise again. I noticed that this time it was significantly slower.
I used the opportunity to strike down with my club, hitting it again and again.
I stood up and stepped away from the body before me, seeing blood now coming from the beaten corpse. I was breathing hard and sought to calm and focus myself. I looked around using the opportunity to make sure I wasn't going to be ambushed.
I didn't see anything, but the scuttling had increased around me.
Turning my attention back to the body, I triggered my identity skill. I've been practising with this skill last night, trying to figure out how to activate it and understand its limitations. I felt a slight tug from within me, and I knew that my mana had dropped by one point to trigger it.
This was the result I got for most things. Based on the research I've done, I recognised the need to apply my identity ability to things I had never seen or knew nothing about. Living targets provide the best information, but unknown items I've discovered through my travels and adventures can also be a good source of experience from using this ability.
I looked down at the beaten and misshapen body of the first rat I had killed. I had figured out already that he was a black rat, but I gained nothing more from using my identity skill. I knew I should actually use it on a live one, but seeing how fast they moved, I wasn't willing to risk it.
I've got an increase in my club skill, which was the unexpected bonus. Looking around the room, I began to explore deeper, looking for more rats to kill.