On the m of our sixth day in the wilderness, I stepped out of the tent and saw snow. It was thin on the ground, and I k would melt soon, but it was still snow. The air felt crisp and fresh, trasting to the warmer days we had experienced. I didn’t feel cold, but whether it was because of the actual weather or my enhaats, I couldn’t tell. Deg to pick up the pace, I thought it best to be cautious; it might get colder as we progressed. This extended “shortcut” was more about giving myself time to clear my mind and recharge my social batteries than reag the destination quickly.

  After coffee and breakfast, I packed up the camp, checked the Map to orient myself, and started walking faster toward the city. The sound of g snow under my boots was oddly satisfying. After about an hour, we walked between two hills and saw the river and the city about two kilometers to our left. The wide river looked deep, reminding me of the Hudson River in New York. Climbing the hill on my left, I took out my binocurs and surveyed the city. Stretch looked at me, curiosity evident in his eyes.

  “I just want to see where we are headed,” I expio him.

  The city was enormous pared to the towns we had visited. It spread across both sides of the river, with two- or three-story wooden houses and rger stone mansions. The stone mansions were behind walls, but the city itself cked walls. It suddenly occurred to me that in medieval times oh, almost everything was behind walls, yet here, this was the first time I saw such fortifications. I suspected the walls were more to separate the nobles from the ohan for prote. The absence of protective measures seemed strange, sidering the potential dangers. This world eaceful, but I had still bought o from the war.

  On the opposite side of the river, a massive mansion or pace, probably the royal pace, stood on a hill overlooking the city, fgs flying from the watchtowers. Boats and barges of various sizes moved along the river in both dires.

  “Hmm, that be an option,” I thought. “Maybe Stretch won’t mind a bigger boat?”

  Bridges spahe river, eg both sides, and people bustled bad forth. It looked nid peaceful. I hoped it was ; medieval cities were often quite stinky, acc to what I’d read.

  Before heading into the city, I opened my Profile to review my skills, remembering my experieh the Appraisal skill. I reviewed all my skills and spells again, ensuring I had fotten none.

  Name: Je: 20Css: Healer Level 10

  Healer Spells:

  Heal Muscle - 14Diagnose - 10Stop Bleeding - 3Heal Bone - 7trol Blood - 11Healing Touch - 22ralize Poison - 1Purify - 10 - 15Ahesia - 7Regrow Flesh - 1Fortify Life Force - 5se - 1Hidden Css: Gate Traveler Level 3Gates to level: 2/8

  Css Abilities:

  versionTravelers’ ArchiveIdentify - 1Ste - x4Local Adaptation: Spoken nguageMapOne of the CrowdProfession: Mert Level 5

  Skills:

  Bargain - 3Sense Hoy - 2Appraisal - 5A Nose for Business - 4Sub-css 2: Wizard Level 2

  Wizard Abilities:

  Mind Split x3Mana Sensing [Apprentice]Mana Saturation [Apprentice]Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress]Harvest Game [In Progress]General Spells:

  Mana DartMana Shield - 1Spellbinding - 3Invisibility - 2Mend - 1Adaptable Light Ball - 4Restore - 4General Skills:

  Pencil Sketg - 1Making Beer - 1Staff Fighting - 10Krav Maga - 10Archery - 14Minor Spell Adaptation - 1Mana Sense - 3Maation - 8Develop ive - 2Print Photograph - 1Photography - 2Guitar Pying - 10Mining - 5Butchering - 1Skinning - 1Health: 3750/3750Mana: 7200/7200

  Strength: 27Agility: 29stitution: 35Vitality: 40Intelligence: 49Wisdom: 56Perception: 31Luck: 29

  Stat points: 0Ability points: 41

  My mana had risen again, and once more, I didn’t know why. I activated my Lud sehe same dire and “No hurry.” Answers would e soon. Whoever they were, they o write the book faster. I reviewed my skills and spells twice to ensure I remembered them all.

  I still hadn’t used the Mana Dart—one day...

  Desding the hill, we headed towards the city. Approag a cluster of wooden buildings that looked like warehouses separated from the city, I smelled something unpleasant. I wao turn and make a big arc around them, but then I saw leather sheets hanging on lines between two of the buildings.

  Tanners?

  Tanning was notoriously smelly work in the past. I decided to brave the stink and ask. Spotting two people near one building, I approached them.

  “Good day, gentlemen.” I approached them, trying to sound friendly.

  They both gave me a funny look, and the older one answered, “Hello, stranger,” with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

  “Are you, by any ce, tanners?” I asked, gng at the leather sheets hanging nearby.

  “Yes...” the older one replied cautiously.

  “Would you be ied in buying mukar pelts?” I inquired, hoping to spark their i.

  The older of the two headed inside, limping slightly. “e inside, and we’ll see,” he called over his shoulder.

  Notig his limp, I asked, “Excuse me for asking, but I’m a healer. What happeo y?”

  “A war injury from a swot me home early from the fighting,” he replied with a sigh.

  “I heard about the war during my travels in the area, but I’m from the isnds in the south, which is very far from here. What exactly happened?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “The old king died, and both his sons wahe throne. Both had nobles who supported them and assembled their vassals to fight. It was a bad time in our history,” he said sadly, shaking his head.

  “How did it end?”

  “The older prince was killed in the fighting, so the younger asded the throne,” he expined, his face refleg the sad memories.

  “Sounds unpleasant,” I said, grimag.

  He winced and said, “Very.”

  “Would you like me to examine y to see if I help?” I offered, trying to sound reassuring.

  He looked at me suspiciously and said, “I saw a healer once. He charged me a silver for the sultation and said he couldn’t help.”

  “I won’t charge you for cheg. If I help, I’ll tell you the pri advance,” I assured him, meeting his gaze steadily.

  “Let’s see those pelts first, and I’ll think about it,” he said, nodding towards the door.

  I took out all eight pelts I had collected and showed him. He examihem all and poi the first two pelts I collected by “exploding” the bison. “You didn’t do an excellent job there,” he said, pointing at the other six. “Much better.”

  “I was learning. Thanks for plimenting the rest,” I replied with a smile.

  “I’ll give you three silvers for the bad ones and six for the good ootaling fold and two silvers. Is that acceptable?” he offered, looking up from the pelts.

  “Yes, thank you,” I said, nodding. “Do you wao check y?”

  He hesitated momentarily and said, “Go ahead, but I’m not promising I’ll pay for the healing.”

  “No promise needed,” I said, taking a step closer.

  Upon diagnosing him, I discovered that he had severed muscles. I knew how to fix that after treating Stretch whe.

  “I heal y, but it’s more plicated than just casting a healing spell. I’ll o put you to sleep so you won’t feel anything, cut y open, regrow parts of your muscles to reect them, remove scar tissue, ahe leg. It will take a while, and you will be starving and tired after the healing. If you eat a more than usual before I treat y, the hunger and tiredness will be less severe. The healing will cost you one gold,” I expined, watg his rea.

  He thought for a minute and asked, “ my wife be present when you heal the leg?”

  “Of course,” I replied, nodding.

  “I o think about it and talk to my wife. Where are you staying?” he asked, scratg his .

  “I don’t know yet; I just arrived. Do you have a reendation?” I asked, hoping food suggestion.

  He thought momentarily and said, “Cross the sed bridge from here, head straight, and tur ohird street; look for the Peaceful Nights Inn.”

  “Thank you. I hope I’ll see you again,” I said, giving him a nod of appreciation.

  It occurred to me that while I had learo speak the nguage, I couldn’t read it. I o buy the ability to learn written Shimoorian and spend the mana.

  Bye-bye, another Ability Point.

  Following his dires, I quietly sang “Bye Bye Miss Ameri Pie” by Don M under my breath.

  “A long, long time ago,I still remember...”

  Stretch occasionally howled quietly as a background singer; he was adorable. I told him that, and he responded with paws on my shoulders and a lick from to forehead.

  The city surprised me in a pleasant way as I entered. I didn’t know what to expect, but it still surprised me, perhaps because I had expected something from Earth’s history. The city acious and spread out. The streets had cobbled stone and were very wide. There were no sidewalks, but short spikes along the road marked a clear distin between the cart nes and the pedestrian paths. Four carts could drive side by side oreet, and the pedestriaion had occasional mert stalls selling food or trihat didn’t impede traffic at all; there was enough room for many people to pass. All the houses stood on plots of nd with front and back yards, and there was enough space between houses to fit another house. It made sense. I had traveled in the wilderness for weeks without seeing towns or cities; they had a lot of space.

  From what I could see, there was no separation by area between the rid the poor. The variety of homes stood in stark trast to each other, emphasizing the city’s unique blend of wealth and poverty. I walked by two tiny wooden houses, maybe one bedroom each, their exteriors weathered and faded by the elements, with chipped paint and sagging roofs. rown weeds filled the small front yards, and the windows cked gss, instead having shutters hanging loosely on their hinges. Beside these humble dwellings stood a beautiful three-story house of wood and stohe house exuded elegance, boasting freshly painted walls, ornate carvings on the woodeions, and stonework that seemed meticulously crafted. The rge windows gleamed, and the front yard was well-maintained, adorned with blooming flowers aly trimmed hedges.

  Further up the street, I passed a few average two-story wooden homes. These were modest but well-kept, with paint and simple but funal designs. The front gardens, though not vish, showed signs of care, with ly pnted rows of vegetables and a few flowerbeds adding a spsh of color. Then, a big walled mansion came into view, dominating the street. The high stone walls surrounded a grae, and a guard stood at the gate, his uniform crisp and imposing. The mansion itself was a massive structure of stone and timber, with tall, arched windows and a sprawling front wn that boasted a fountain and manicured bushes shaped into various forms.

  The trast tinued all the way to the sed bridge and oher side of the river. Dipidated tiny homes with peeling paint and rickety feood o wo-story or three-story wooden houses that were clearly better maintained, with fresh paint, sturdy fences, and thriving gardens. Big stone houses that oh would occupy half a block appeared itently, each with rge, ornate doors and intricately designed facades. And then there were the giant walled mansions, each a fortress in its ht, with guards, extensive grounds, and opulent designs that spoke of immense wealth. All these different homes, mixed together, gave the impression that the city had spread outward anically, with people building whatever they could afford, creating a patchwork of prosperity and modesty.

  While I walked, I looked at all the signs. Initially, I could reize only some letters, but with each sign, my reading improved. The nguage abilities were fantastic.

  I quickly found the Peaceful Nights Inn, following the tanner’s instrus. It was much rger thaher inns I had stayed in and made of stone, not wood. The on room was long and wide, with three lit firepces, one in the bad two on the right-side wall, and over thirty tables, some occupied by people eating an early dihree servers moved betweeables. On the right side was a long wooden bar with two people behind it; one olishing gsses, and the other was shouting something through a window behind the bar. I assumed it was the kit. The right side also had a small stage between the firepces.

  “It looks fancy. I hope they won’t have a problem with you staying with me in the room,” I told Stretch. He gave the equivalent of a shrug. I shrugged, too; it was the correct response.

  Approag the bar, the shouting man turo us and said, “Wele to the Peaceful Nights; sit down, and a server will see to you.”

  “If my dog stay with me, I want to rent a room.”

  He looked surprised and said, “Of course it . It’s a dog, not a horse. Do you want a regur room or oh a sitting room?”

  I thought about it and answered, “With a sitting room.” If I’d see patients, that would be ve.

  “One silver a night with dinner and breakfast. Food for the dog is extra.”

  I gave him a pouch with 50 copper s from Earth and said, “Here’s for five nights; I’ll pay more if I stay longer. You keep the pouch as a gift.”

  He examihe s but didn’t ask about them. It was likely that he saw unfamiliar curren a capital city with substantial river traffic.

  “Third floor on the right, room 34,” he said as he gave me a key. “Dinner is served for ahree hours. Wele and enjoy your stay.”

  “I would also like a hot bath in my room.”

  Now, he gave me a funny look and said, “Why? Go to the bathhouse; it’s muicer and right around the er.”

  I thanked him, and we went up to the room. It was very he sitting room had a firepce with five armchairs in front of it. A small dining table on the right side had two chairs and an enormous window overlooking the street. The bedroom was smaller, with a twin bed, a rge chest at the foot of the bed with the key stig out of the lock, a small table with a bowl, cup, and pitcher of water, and a door leading to the toilet. Unfortunately, there was still no plumbing; it was just a seat over a bucket that had to be carried out.

  Maybe I should ‘i’ plumbing ahe idea.

  The thought made me snicker.

  I decided to visit the bathhouse tomorrow; I just wao rex, sleep in a nice bed, and explore the city the day.

  We had dinner in the room from our stock; I spread Stretch’s bs for him, petted and scratched him a bit, and we went to sleep.

  Tomorroould see what the city had to offer us.