In the m, I wao check out the baths the innkeeper had mentioned. After giving Stretch his breakfast, I told him to stay in the room and wait for me. I doubted they would let a dog inside. He wasn’t happy about the idea, but agreed relutly, his ears drooping as he watched me leave.

  The on room was much emptier in the m. The innkeeper from st night was behind the bar, with no servers in sight. I approached and greeted him. “Good m.”

  “Good m. Do you want breakfast? You did di night, so you have a meal I owe you. You eat lune day to collect it.”

  “Thank you. Yes, please, I’ll have breakfast.”

  “You have eggs with bread aables or chama pe.”

  I decided to live dangerously and try something new. “Pe, please.”

  “You’re a polite fellow; I appreciate that.” The innkeeper said, “Sit down, and I’ll bring it to you.”

  After a few minutes, he brought me a bowl of pe that looked simir to cooked barley with fruits and hohe aroma of honey and fruit was entig, and the warmth of the bowl felt f in my hands. It was delicious and a pleasant ge from the usual.

  After eating, I approached him again and asked, “You mentiohe baths st night. you give me dires?”

  He gave me a startled look and said, “Go to the right and tur on the first street you see. You’ll see it. It’s a big building with a sign; you ’t miss it.” His startled look puzzled me. Was it something about the way I asked or the time of day? I decided not to dwell on it, cluding that as a Traveler, I’d better get used to such reas.

  As he said, the baths were easy to find. They were in aeone building with a big sign prog them the “Rusha Baths.” I wondered if Rusha was the name of the kingdom or the city. The Map was great, but it was missing many names. After learning of their location, I added the names Mara and Somer to the Map, but most pces were still just is representing towns or cities without names. Iingly, the wilderness part of the Map was more detailed thaowns or cities.

  Inside, I discovered a bath cost two coppers, with signs direg men to the right and women to the left. I went through the right door to a ging room with an attendant. the other person in the room, I noted he handed his clothes to the attendant and received a string with a number on his wrist. I stored my clothes. One door from the ging room led to a room with a big pot of boiling water over a firepit, where atendant added the hot water to buckets and hahem out. I watched the entleman to see what he did. He wet himself with a bucket, took a piece of soap from a shelf, soaped himself, including his hair, and rinsed with another bucket. Simple enough.

  I followed his lead but didn’t like the coarse soap or its smell, so I used my soap and shampoo. After I rihe attendant who watched me curiously asked, “Hello, esteemed mert. Do you sell the soap you used, or is it only for personal use?”

  “I have some to sell.”

  “My father would like to purchase some for the nobles. Could you meet with him after your bath?”

  “I’ll be happy to.” It was good that I had bought a rge stock.

  I left through the door the other person used and came to a big room with three soaking pools. Judging by the steam, there was a temperature differehe first was lukewarm, almost cold; the sed was just right, and the st was too hot for me. I settled into the medium-heat pool, leaning my head bad feeling myself rex.

  I stayed in the pool for at least an hour, enjoying the warmth. A mage occasionally came to check the water a it. I could feel him cast a spell on it. It was surprising; wheher mage cast a spell on the meat I sold her, I didn’t feel the casting, but now it was impossible to ignore. I realized it robably because of my Wizard Css, which I didn’t have when I sold the meat. Until now, I hadn’t noticed that my sensitivity to mana had increased, but now it arent.

  After my soak, I checked their offered towels and didn’t like them either. They were thick sheets of coarse linen, not the fluffy towels I was used to.

  The mage approached me and said, “Hello, esteemed mert. Are you the person my soioned who has nice-smelling soap for sale?”

  “Yes. Also, nice fluffy towels and a special soap for hair that keeps it soft.”

  “I would be very ied in seeing those things, but I must watch over the baths. Would you mind showing me here or prefer to return iernoon when my rept arrives?”

  “I don’t mind showing you here, but let me get dressed first.”

  I got dressed, took out my operating table, and arranged a big stack of towels in different sizes: an unopened box with 50 bars of soap, another box with 24 bottles of body wash, and another box with 24 shampoo bottles. With an opened bar of soap, body wash, and shampoo bottles in hand, I poi the soap box and expined, “This box has 50 pieces of soap just like this one. You smell it and wash your hands to uand the quality.” I poi the body wash. “This is also soap but in liquid form; it’s more pleasant on the body, and this box tains 24 bottles.” I poi the shampoo box and said, “This box tains 24 bottles of this soap; it’s special for hair and keeps it soft and shiny.”

  He took the shampoo bottle, exami, and asked, “What nguage is this, and what is this bottle made of? I never saw anything like it.”

  “I e from the isnds in the far south; this is our local dialect. The bottles are made from a substance produced there, but I have no idea how. My family buys the bottles after they are made. We have a mage in the family who casts the pictures and writing otles.”

  He smelled the soap and the shampoo, checked the towels, and asked me, “How much do each of those things cost, and how much do you have?”

  This time, I decided to charge the actual price for each item instead of disting it after appraising it. I looked into my Ste, ted everything, put aside the opened boxes of eay personal use, and answered, “The box with the 50 pieces of soap costs 3 gold and 2 silver, the boxes with the liquid soap for body and hair cost 3 gold each for 24 bottles. The big towels cost 3 silver each, the medium towels 2 silver each, and the small ones 1 silver each. I have 24 boxes of the soap pieces, 29 boxes of the body liquid soap, and 49 boxes of the hair liquid soap. I have 75 big towels, 95 medium towels, and 64 small towels. All the towels are in various colors, and there is a slight differen size between some of them, but they are still big, medium, and small.”

  He thought momentarily and asked, “Are you pnning to return to Rusha iure?”

  “No. After I visit a few more pces, I’ll be returning home to stay.”

  He rubbed his and asked, “How much are you asking for everything you have, with a promise that you don’t have more and won’t be selling to other bathhouses in Rusha?”

  I took out a pen and paper and did some calcutions, and the mage watched me with i. After calg everything, I said, “The total price is 541 gold and 5 silver. Since you are buying in bulk, I’ll sell it to you for 500 gold, and I promise you that if you buy the eock, I won’t have more to sell to other bathhouses.”

  He hummed under his breath and said, “I’ll take all of it, but I don’t have such a sizeable sum of money here. you return iernoon?”

  “Yes, no problem.”

  “Thank you. When you arrive iernoon, ask for me. My name is Rob.”

  Oops!

  Again, I fot to introduce myself. I o work on that.

  We shook hands, and I introduced myself. “My name is John. It’s o meet you. I’ll see you iernoon.”

  I left and headed back to the inn to collect Stretch.

  After colleg him, I went to sell some things. I o empty my ste and look for things to buy.

  I saw a shop with pots outside on a dispy table a ihe shopkeeper was busy with a er, so I waited. After he was done, I approached him aended my hand for a handshake. “Hello, my name is John. o meet you.”

  He shook my hand and said, “Mesin. How I help you?”

  “I’m a mert with unique wares. Will you be ied to see them?”

  “Maybe, depends on what you have.”

  I showed him aensive assortment of pots, pans, and bowls. He bought most of the stuff I showed him and didn’t say “too fancy” even once. I liked him just for that.

  I tio explore the city and buy various foods from vendors. Some of it was so good that I bought more and stored it. By selling stuff to multiple shops, I was making money hand over fist. I returo the bathhouse iernoon and cluded our deal.

  I enjoyed selling iy. Most of my sales on the road were small, and I primarily received payment in copper and silver. Here, I made signifit sales and received payment in gold. It was much more fun, and I enjoyed being a mert. It wasn’t so much the money I was making, although I also enjoyed making money, but the actual process of the sale, from the goods to iation and the final money exge.

  In the evening, after dinner, I approached the innkeeper with aended hand for a handshake. “My name is John. o meet you. What’s your name?” I remembered to ask.

  Yay me!

  Maybe one day, I’d get over my introverted ways.

  Again, he gave me a strange look and said, “Loman. How I help you, d?”

  “ you tell me where the ercial streets iy are and where the streets are only residential?”

  He gave me arange look—I was tiring of those—and answered, “There are shops on every street, but some areas are specific. You find the leather workers on the east side of the city. If you cross the bridge he leather workers and walk east of the city, you will find the tanners area. The food market is on this side of the river, straight ahead on the main road before you tur for the inn. The bcksmiths’ area is also oher side of the river in the west. Two fish markets are he main docks on both sides of the river.”

  I thanked him a up to my room. Befoing to sleep, I opehe Map and marked all the streets I visited; I still had a big part of the city to visit.

  For the hree weeks, I visited every shop I saw to offer my wares and slowly filled the Map. In the evenings, I would restore ons for 1,000 mana, regee for a few hours, and sleep. It snowed off and on during all this time. It wasn’t heavy snow, and it didn’t stay on the ground for long. Stretch still didn’t like it and preferred to spend his days in the on room of the inn in front of the fire, with the innkeeper and servers who spoiled him rotten with pets and treats. He was living life and enjoying every minute. Every evening, I would ask him how his day went, and I would get a flood of happy emotions apanied by the taste of food and the pleasure of pets and scratches—spoiled dog.

  I left the bcksmiths aher workers for st, but I was getting close to visiting all the streets iy. I also visited inns, which turned out to be excellent ers, including my inn. Some shops sold jewelry and potions. I marked them on my Map and po return to them ter.

  When I arrived at the bcksmiths’ area, I ehe first shop I saw. A big man was banging on something on an anvil. One young man umping bellows, and another was arranging things on a dispy wall. The man arranging the dispy approached me and said, “Good day to you, good sir. How we serve you?”

  “Do you have old or damaged ons for sale?”

  He looked at me with plete bewilderment. “Old and damaged?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m a traveling mert, and I visit many small towns. Some people ’t afford more than a few coppers for a on, but they still o take care of jurbers or other nasties occasionally. I have a lot of excellent ons for sale. I’m looking for something for poor people.”

  He looked at me like I was less of a lunatid said, “Wait a few moments, please.”

  He went and whispered with the guy banging on the anvil. After a minute, both of them went to the bad returned carrying ons. They did this ahree times, creating a big mound of damaged ons in the middle of the shop.

  The big guy approached me and said, “I ’t promise you very low prices since I melt those and reuse the metal, but see what is you, and we will talk.”

  “Thank you.”

  After appraising all the ons, I approached him and said, “I would like to take all the ons you showed me. I pay in s or barter damaged ons food ones.”

  “I sell only for s. I don’t buy neons, only old oo melt and reuse.”

  “No problem. How much for all the ons you showed me?”

  He checked them one by one, writing on a piece of paper. It was the first time I saer here; in all the other shops, the merts did all the calcutions in their heads. The paper looked coarse and was light brownish-grey.

  After ten minutes, he said, “Three gold and four silver.”

  It was more than my Appraisal showed me. My calcution was 2 gold, 8 silver, and 4 coppers. I said, “This is too much for their dition. Remember, I’m a traveling mert; I have the Appraisal blessing.”

  “How much are you willing to pay?”

  “2 gold and 8 silver.”

  He extended his hand for a handshake, saying, “We have a bargain.”

  I shook his hand and paid him 280 copper s, most of them local and some of mine from Earth—he liked those like everybody else. I stored the ons and bid them a good day.

  Like this, I toured the whole bcksmith’s area and bought ons. Some wao barter food ons, some wanted s only, and one bcksmith wanted exorbitant prices and was unwilling to bend. He made me realize skills were not all-powerful, and that there was a free will aspect to everything. Otherwise, my bargaining skills would have made him capitute. I also bought tools after my experien the emerald cave. I bought picks, saws, hammers, aensive assortment of nails, and other odds and ends.

  It took me three days to visit all the bcksmiths. The day was nid sunny without snow, so I took a day off and rexed; buying and selling was hard work. I spent the day visiting food stalls with Stretch, aried many different foods. Since his awakening, he has been less picky about food and was enjoyihings. He still wanted beer occasionally, but not too much–maybe once every 4-5 days. I diagnosed him after each beer but couldn’t see any difference.

  After our day off, I went to visit the leather workers. The leather area occupied over ten streets and was very diverse. Some shops sold leather armor in various designs. Some others sold ridiher clothes. Others sold leather clothes for multiple professions, and other shops sold leather sheets for furniture or carts and carriages. I even found three bowyer shops that sold bows and arrows. I had no idea why they were in the leather district; the only leather they sold was the bs.

  I bought myself three sets of leather armor in varying degrees of prote and hardness, many old and damaged leather goods, and over twenty damaged bows, and ed out all the bowyers from every arrow they had. I told the bowyers I’d return to buy more arrows in a few days. Two looked happy, but one looked intimidated, and I didn’t know why.

  I located the alchemists I marked on the Map and visited them individually. It was an iing experiehat taught me a lot. They all sold mana potions that restored 30 mana and cost two gold! No wohe caravan mage was so excited about the meat. I thought she was simply aable person. They also didn’t have health potions. They had various potions, salves, and tinctures for different things like colds, cuts, iioc., and the prices were very high. The cheapest was a salve for muscle pain and cost 5 silver, and the most expensive otion to treat iions—at least they knew what iions were—which cost 3 gold and 5 silver. They also sold dried pnts, and I could sehe mana in them. I made a mental o sehe pnts for mana when I would tinue my travels in the wilderness and collee. I bought nothing, but it was very informative.

  Last, I visited the jewelry shops. In this world, the jewelry had a cruder design pared to Earth, and they cut the gems pletely differently. They were primarily square or round. Most of the jewelry in this world did not have facets or had only three or four. They polished the rest to a smooth finish. The prices weren’t exorbitant, but not cheap either. I decided not to buy jewelry but offered my emeralds. They were a big hit. It took me three days to sell the tent of both chests from shop to shop, but I finally did and earned over 2,500 gold.

  The red light started blinking in my vision when I received the money in the shop before st.

  When I was outside, I tapped it.

  Level up

  +3 wisdom, +3 perception, +2 luck, +3 free points

  Profession: Mert Level 6

  It was about time; I did a lot of selling and buying since I came to Shimoor.

  I examihe merdise at the st jewelry shop I visited. I had no more emeralds, and this shop was extra expensive, so I just left.

  It was time to move on. I checked the Map and saw that the river tinued far into the west as I ravelers also seemed to explore quite a few of the capitals along this river. Arouy pert of them had names listed on the Map. Befoing to the docks to ask about a ship, I o check with Stretch. I found him in the inn in front of the fire. I called him up to our room and talked to him.

  “Listen, buddy, with the snow, it will be much more difficult to travel through the wilderness or even on the roads. We take a ship on the river and travel south like I he ships are bigger and more stable than the boats you don’t like, but they’re still traveling over water. What do you say? Will you give a ship a ce?”

  He thought for a moment, and I felt his agreement followed by his love for me. The message was clear: “Okay, but only because I love you.”

  I hugged, petted, and scratched his ears, saying, “Thanks, buddy. I o uand what’s going on with my mana. It’s drivis. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

  I sensed a question from him.

  “It jumps up without any expnation. I’m not opposed to the rise in avaible mana, but I o uand how it happens and how to trol it. I don’t like that something is happening in my body that I ’t uand and trol.”

  I got the feeling of a shrug.

  “Yeah, I don’t get it either, but I think there are answers in the west.”

  He put his head on my p. I petted him briefly and asked, “I’m going to the docks. Do you want to e with me?”

  I got a stroive and a feeling of warmth.

  “Okay, have fun in the on room with all the servers spoiling you.”

  I got a strong feeling of smugness and ughed.

  I checked the Map and saw that the river curved north he kingdom of Talis so I would look for a ship heading that way. Talis was also close to one of the Gates located south, so I could check it and see where it leads.

  I gave Strete st scratder his and headed to the docks.