I open my bag and go through my belongings, sorting them out. Okay, I am selling the gown I was wearing yesterday, and this one too. I am holding onto a shimmering blue dress and my strappy shoes in case I need to ever wear them again. You never know if there will be a time where a dress will be expected attire. Life can be funny sometimes.
The only clothes I feel will be appropriate right now are my riding clothes. A bit strange for a woman but they consist of tight, brown pants, a white blouse, and a purple tunic. I pull that all on and look in the mirror. I don’t currently have a hair brush so I pull my hair into a high messy ponytail.
“Okay Glimmer, the plan for the day is to eat some food and bargain for what we need for our new life.” I tell him. He can’t talk back to me but it feels nice to talk to someone.
Should I be trying to talk to System as well? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.
‘Good morning system.’
‘Yes.’ I say, and make my way downstairs.
I feel a nervous tension in my stomach as I go downstairs. What if no one likes me? What if I am immediately rejected and end up sad and alone forever?
Deciding that worrying like this isn't a good use of my time, I quickly get down the rest of the stairs.
I had thought that there was plenty of noise last night, but it is somehow slightly busier now than it had been. I look around and see what I am supposed to be doing. Am I supposed to find an empty seat, or am I supposed to find someone and ask for the food that I am wanting? As I am just standing there a group of adventurers notice me.
"Hey girl, you look new. Come on over and sit with us!" they shout over to me. I point at myself and they nod.
After I get confirmation that they are talking to me I walk over and sit with them.
"Did you just get your Class?" they ask me, curious.
"I did yes. Are you new to your Classes?" I ask them.
"We got ours 6 months ago, so not really." Oh? Do Commoners have Classing classes more than once a year. How interesting. And I suppose to adventurers half a year isn't recent.
"What are your Classes?" I ask them. They are a group of males. One looks to be a dark elf, another a human, and the third is a demi-human cat. They are all smiles and it feels as though there is a lot of good energy amongst them.
"My name is Jake and I'm a Lightning Mage. Pew pew!" says the demi-human, playing with electricity across this fingers. The electricity bounces between white, yellow and blue colors. Jake has orange hair, yellow eyes and tabby-cat ears and tail with tan skin.
"My name is Damien and I'm a Tank." says the dark elf. He has pale blue skin with long dark purple hair tied back in a long ponytail. I see a large shield on his back, giving him an almost turtle type look.
"And I'm Derrick. I'm a Barbarian." says the human, patting a large axe at his side. He is average height with short, medium dark brown hair.
"My name is Lyra." I tell them. I see them looking at me with curious and hopeful eyes. Oh no, are they looking for a specific Class to join them? I see that they don't have a Healer. Did they call me over hoping that I am a Healer. "I am a Bard."
I watch their reactions carefully, trying to judge if this is about to go south. I see them look at each other then at me and grin.
"That's a rare Class! You must be excited about it. There is so much potential there. You can control the sort of magic you use through singing. You can heal, buff, de-buff. It's so useful! Want to join our party, at least for a little while? We can help you level up and teach you the ropes!" Jake says, clearly excited.
"I would love some damage buffs." Derrick says, lovingly glancing at his axe. "Sounds like it would be fun to cut through the enemies faster." he says cheerfully.
"I would enjoy that. Thanks for the invitation." I tell them.
"Where is your lute though, is it in your room still?" Damien asks, curious.
"I just received my Class yesterday actually, so I haven't had a chance to buy a lute yet." I tell them.
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"Well then, let's get some breakfast, then it sounds like there is shopping to be done!" Jake says, still very cheerful.
"That's true." I say and give them a smile, which immediately turns into a blush when my stomach growls. "I feel silly, but how do I order food?"
They look at me, and I see puzzled looks on their faces. Yes. Thanks for that spark of realization.
"Seems you have a lot that you need to learn." Derrick says. "Laney. Food over here!" he shouts across the room.
"Coming!" she says, and easily makes her way across the busy room to us. "Good morning! It's nice to see you down here. And while you looked stunning last night, I like this look." she says, looking me up and down approvingly.
"What were you wearing last night?" Jake asks.
"It's a long story..." I say, sighing a bit. "One I am not interested in going into right now if that's okay?" I ask, being polite while remaining reserved.
"Absolutely. You just met us. Bards are supposed to sing and talk about other people. It would be odd to meet a Bard that talks more about themselves than others." Jake says.
"I'm glad that I fit my Class." I say, smiling. There is still hurt deep in the pit of my stomach, but I don't want to think about or dwell on it. And these overly friendly adventurers are just what I need right now. Well, them and food.
"I bet you are hungry." Laney says, looking at me pityingly.
"We all are." Damien says, nodding his head for some reason.
"Very good. Full meals for everyone!" she says, cheerfully making her way back through the crowd and fading from view.
"She is a very cheerful person." I say.
"Laney? Yeah, she's nice, especially when you don't date her. She seems to always have energy."
"Sounds like a useful trait to have." I state. "Is she always as happy?" I ask.
"I haven't really seen her in a bad mood." Damien shared.
We casually talk with one another while waiting for food. Well, they talked. I listened. They encouraged me to talk some so I tried to respond to questions directed at me. It feels like no time passes before there are large portions of food brought over and set in front of each of us. There are eggs, sausages, crusty bread, a soup that smells like it consists of fish and vegetables. I take a hesitant bite and then quickly dig in. The food is delicious!
"Slow down, you don't want to choke now do you?" Derrick comments. They all seem to have similar personalities, bright, boisterous and happy. They look so full of life. I want to borrow some of that energy. I want that vibrance! And... they are right. I don't want to choke. I slow down the pace that I am eating at.
Glimmer crawls out from behind my hair and plops down next to my plate, looking up at me with hopeful eyes. I pick up sausage bits and feed them to him. He coos and once he is full, scampers back up my arm, over my shoulder, and curls up across the back of my neck to go back to sleep.
One of the boys lets out a good natured chuckle, but I am concentrating on my food so I am not able to discern which one.
Once we finish eating I say, "Thank you for inviting me to eat with you. I would love to be a part of your party. However, I believe that we may need to part ways for now while I go and purchase a lute." I tell them. They exchange a look at my words.
"We could always go shopping with you and show you around the town." they offer.
"If you want to. I could use the extra hands. I have to buy a lute, multiple set of clothing, bathing supplies, towels, my own bedding. Hmm... I think that should be all I need to start with for now. Oh! I also need to go to a shop that will buy dresses for the highest price."
Seeming bewildered at my list Jake says, "It sounds like you are missing a lot of things. Were you unable to bring any of that with you?"
"I have my circumstances that led me to leaving so many of my belongings behind." I say, letting out a small sigh.
"Okay. Let's go get the items that you are hoping to sell." Derrick says, and we head upstairs.
"Looks like they put you on the nicer floor." Damien tells me. I didn't know that the floors were broken down by the quality of their rooms. I suppose that it makes sense though. They may want to "flatter" people that come in with more money. It's a good business practice, one which I can't fault them for.
"Do you mind waiting outside of my room?" I ask them politely.
"Okay." Jake says, shrugging his shoulders. It seems that he really doesn't mind. "You are a lady after all." he says, flashing a smile. I ignore the brightness of his smile and walk into my room, closing the door behind me. I don't think that is a very polite thing to do, but I have been raised to not even let someone of the opposite gender see the inside of your room.
I quickly grab everything that I set aside to sell and leave my room. "Sorry about that. I hope I didn't come off as exceedingly rude." I say to them.
"Not exceedingly." Damien says. "And all adventurers are supposed to be a little rude."
"It just seems like you are trying to fit the established stereotype." Jake says, nodding approvingly.
'Does it matter what store I barter and buy from in order to complete my quest?' I ask System.
'I'm sorry System. I will keep trying to follow your directions as much as possible.'
I feel System perking up.
Once we leave the inn, my belongings in hand, we make our way into the shopping district.
"I need to look at new oils for my axe." Derrick tells us, pointing to a large blue store with the symbol of a sword and shield crossed above it. It looks like things are made to be obvious here. That's convenient.
"My armor has gotten pretty beat up. I'll be right over there in the armor store." Damien informs us and heads off that way.
I look expectantly at Jake to see if he is going to wonder off. "Worry not my Lady, I plan to stick by your side and help you out. These other two are flighty. We are not always partnered up and we tend to bounce between parties as we are needed. We thought that it would be fun to see if we can be a solid party together though. I hope that doesn't bother you?" he asks me. I shake my head. It doesn't.
"That doesn't bother me. It has always been my perspective that adventurers tend to do what they want." I say casually. He nods back to me.
"Let's first take one of your dresses to an auction house and the other to the bartering building."
"What's the difference?" I ask.
"One you get paid now, but most likely less, where the other one you get paid more but it isn't immediate."
"That makes sense." I say. It really does make sense. I need enough money to buy what I need and to have coin in my pocket, and later I will need a larger amount to help fund expeditions I go on with parties. A well equipped party is a happy party. And a living one. You don't have the option to be happy if you are dead. Probably. Maybe some people are pleasant and happy ghosts?
"Let's go to the auction house first." Jake recommends. "This way you can hand over your belongings that are going to sell for the most money, and keep the dress that will sell for less to use to purchase all that you are needing."
"That is really smart." I say to him.
'System is obviously the smartest.' I tell System, stroking their ego. I feel warmth and happiness flowing through to me.
"Alrighty, here is the auction house!" Jake says, making an exaggerated motion with his hand. It is a large red and gold building with the symbol of a gavel over it. An interesting choice? Or is that a normal symbol? I think of gavels as part of the court system.
"Shall we?" he asks me.
"Let's." I say in response.
I open the door and the smell of perfume hits my nose. There is dim lighting, aside from the display cases which are lit with bright lights. I wander over and look over the displays. There are jeweled weapons, sparkling armors, and potions of all different colors and hues. I am not sure what all of them mean yet, but it is clear that they are rare.
"May I help you with something Miss?" I hear an attendant asking me.
"Oh, yes please." I say in response. "I would like to sell my most expensive dress and these flower hair clips. Oh! And this bracelet and necklace." I tell the attendant. I see their eyes brighten and a smile come across their lips.
"Wonderful. Right this way please." she tells me.
"I'm going to keep looking around." Jake informs me.
"Okay." I say to him and follow the woman into a back room.