After a sele of delicious pastries in the m, I was ready to tinue expl the city. The pastries reminded me of the Mana-Infused Bakery and my desire to visit there. I told Rue, “Let’s visit a very iing bakery today.”

  “No!”

  I stared at him, shocked. This was the first time he refused when he heard the mention of food. “Why not?”

  “Rue visit new friends today. John not go to bakery without Rue.”

  Oh, that cleared up my fusion, real quick.

  When we finished eating, we went to suite 3304 and knocked on the door. A young man dressed in the same uniform as Rid opehe door and bowed with a practiced, polite smile. “Good m, esteemed sir. How may I help you?” he asked, his voice smooth and professional.

  “Is Manul here?” I asked, gng past him into the suite.

  “No, he won’t be batil the evening,” the young man replied, his expression unging as he shook his head slightly.

  “Are his familiars here?”

  “Yes, they are just finishing breakfast,” he firmed with a nod, his tone remaining formal.

  “This is my familiar, Rue. Manul invited him to visit with his familiars,” I expined, gesturing to Rue, who stood beside me.

  I saw the light of uanding flicker in his eyes. “Ah, yes. He informed me of that. Please, distinguished familiar, you are wele to enter,” he said, stepping aside with a respectful nod and maintaining his posed demeanor.

  Before Rue went in, I told him, “I’m going to ti the city. If you want to go back to our room, Rid will open the door for you.”

  Rue wagged his tail, gave me a li the cheek, and then trotted io visit his new friends.

  I went back to our room and took out the list I made when we read the world’s information. Rue wao visit the bakery with me, and I wao leave the Are Library for the end of my visit to the city. I also assumed he wouldn’t be too happy if I went to the Are Bazaar without him. With the Map open, I looked at the rest of the items on the list to locate where everything was. It didn’t take long to notice that the markers for the Mana Fe and the Ented Smithy were in the exact same spot. I opehe world’s information again to figure out the duplicate and saw that the information about the Fe was over 700 years older than the information about the Smithy. Apparently, they ged the name.

  I wondered if there was anything I might be ied in at the Smithy, but I couldn’t think of any items. Ented swords might be better than mine, but mine were good enough and were a gift from Lis, so I had no iion of repg them.

  Do I need anything else?

  I couldn’t think of anything else and crossed those two items off my list.

  We had added the Potion Emporium to the list for Al, but on my own, I didn’t see a reason to visit there. I deleted this item from the list, but then a thought struck me—Al’s Enduraion was terrible.

  Maybe they have something more user-friendly there?

  It was worth cheg out. The Ented Workshop was only a few blocks away, so I added that to the visit—two birds, oone and all that jazz.

  These two pces were quite far across the river, so I made my way to the line of carriages at the entrao the hotel. I approached the first carriage and asked the an, “I want to go to the Potion Emporium. Do you know where it is?”

  “Whie?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, fused.

  “There are three Potion Emporiums,” he expined, holding up three fingers. “One in the heart of the old city he pace, one in the new noble quarter not far from here, and the third in the new mert quarter he new port.”

  I scratched my head, even more fused now. “Um, it’s o the Ented Workshop, if you know it.”

  “Yes, of course. It’s the older one in the old city he pace. The ride will cost you fifty coppers.”

  I nodded and climbed into the carriage. The whole time we talked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watg me. The hair on the bay neck stood up. Once I settled in the carriage, I gnced out the window, sing the street, trying to spot whht be watg me. But no oood out. The street was full of people walking, but none seemed ied in me.

  I shrugged, deg I must have imagi.

  The trip took almost an hour and a half until we finally reached the pce. The carriage stopped near an imposing building, its facade adorned with stone and wood carvings of climbing pnts that covered the entire front. It was truly beautiful.

  A colossal door stood open, and as I approached, the st of herbs and flowers wafted out to greet me. Stepping inside, I immediately noticed the cooler air. Except for two retively small windows he entrahere were no other windows, yet the same type of crystals I had seen in my suite illumihe eerior. The soft, diffused light created a magical atmosphere in the space. Rows of gss ters filled with vials of various sizes and colors criss-crossed the showroom. Salespeople, all dressed in green, were engaged in versation with multiple ers.

  A man approached me, bowing politely before speaking. “Good day, sir. How I help you?” he asked, his tone courteous.

  “I want to see your sele, and specifically, I’m ied in a stamina potion,” I replied, gng around at the ly anized dispys.

  “We have several types. Whie are you ied in?”

  I blinked, realizing I had no idea there were different types. Maybe I should gh some alchemy books to get a better uanding. “I didn’t know there were different types. What types are there?”

  The man nodded, waved me to one of the gss dispys, and expined while pointing at one vial. “There’s a stamina potion that doubles the time you stay awake. It’s perfect if you want to finish a project or learn something important. You take up to three of them in a row, but after the effect wears off, you’ll be exhausted and need double the time to recover.” He poio a different vial with a slightly darker green color. “The sed potion allows you to walk or ride for long hours without feeling physically tired. This is perfect for long journeys and is very popur with merts and adventurers.” He poi a different ohat had a brownish-yellow color. “This type provides a temporary energy boost, ideal if you find yourself in a fight.” He poi the smaller vials in vibrant blue. “The st type raises stamina and is perfect for an enjoyable time with your wife,” he finished with a small, knowing smile.

  I quickly raised my hands, waving them in front of me in protest. “No, no, no. Not the st kind. Definitely not,” I said, shaking my head, remembering Al’s potion and shuddering in horror.

  “What are the prices?”

  “Three gold per vial,” he replied, his toeady.

  “Expensive,” I muttered, taken aback by the steep price.

  “Yes, but worth the price. After you try them once, you’ll be willing to pay even more,” he assured me, a fident smile on his lips.

  Ultimately, I bought sixty of each, totaling one hundred ay vials for 540 gold.

  I’m so gd I’m rich!

  I uood Mahya and her enthusiasm for our wealth. The prices in fantasy worlds were something else. I took out a variety of s from Earth, holding them out for him to see. “ I pay with these s?”

  He examihe s with a curious look. “Where are these s from? They look strange.”

  “I’m a wandering bard, and I’ve visited different tis and isnds, not just Lumisor. During my travels, I’ve received donations in different currencies. I pay with them?”

  “I o check,” he said thoughtfully. “Give me a certain amount of the different s, and I’ll get back to you.”

  I nodded and took out a medium wooden box, filling it with various s before handing it to him. He disappeared behind a door in the back of the showroom aurned after a few minutes. “You pay with these s. All the s you gave me together are worth 98 gold. Of course, you’ll o add more.”

  I filled the box again, and he repeated the process, disappearing aurning each time. This repeated four times until I finally paid the total of 540 gold. Altogether, it emptied me of something like twenty kilograms of different currencies from all over Earth.

  Pulling out a pen and paper, I quickly calcuted the gold prices and average weight. 540 gold s cost about 972,000, and twenty kilograms of different s cost around 600.

  I stared at the numbers, my mouth hanging open in disbelief.

  I have to tell Mahya and Al to order many, many more s! A ton and a half is not enough!

  After we finished our deal, I asked him for a brief expnation of the types of potions they sold. Some were pretty standard, like health potions, mana potions, and antidotes for poison or venom. But there was also an enormous sele of various other types. Many were specific cures for particur ailments, while others souoo fantastipractical. However, I found a feiqued my i.

  I ended up buying fifteen of each type of Night Vision Potion, Strength Potion, Sleep Draught, Truth Serum, Speed Potion, and Water Breathing Potion. And, of course, I paid with s from Earth—after all, I had no reason to waste my gold.

  “Do you sell potion recipes?” I asked.

  “Yes, but only for alchemists in the guild,” he replied, his tone firm.

  His answer wasn’t surprising; frankly, I didn’t know which recipes Al already had and which he didn’t, so I wouldn’t have known what to buy, anyway. Then I thought of something else. “Do you sell ingredients?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Are the ingredients for alchemists in the guild as well, or I buy them?”

  “We sell ingredients to anyone who wants them. After all, not only alchemists use redients. Healers, herbalists, and various csses do too,” he expined, before eyeing me curiously. “But why does a Bard need ingredients? Do you even know what to do with them?”

  I ughed, shaking my head. “I have no idea. But my friend is an alchemist, and I want to buy him a present. What would you reend for a level 10 alchemist who likes to experiment? He also makes a potion called Exoskin Elixir, and I know he has enough material that should e from living things, but he doesn’t have enough pnts. Do you have something like that?”

  “Exoskin Elixir at only level 10? That’s very impressive. It’s a plex potion that alchemists rarely attempt until level 15 or even 20.”

  “Like I said, he likes to experiment. Oh, and by the way, he’s got loads of mushrooms, so he doesn’t need any more of those.”

  “Let me check with our Brew Master, and I’ll get back to you,” he said, nodding thoughtfully. “You keep looking around the showroom, or we have a waiting room for important ers.”

  “I’ll wait in the waiting room. I’ve seehing I wanted in the showroom,” I replied, relieved to sit down.

  He led me to an opulent room with fortable couches, offered me tea, and the. A smiling young girl brought me my tea and some fantastic cookies a few mier. They had a spice remi of amon but more delicate, with an uone of almonds or cashews. Anyway, they were delicious.

  After half an hour, he returned with a long list and ha to me. “That’s what our Brew Master reended. He also asked me to vey that if your friend wants to join the guild, the door will be open to him. He was impressed that he is making Exoskin Elixir at level 10.”

  “I’ll give him the message, but I find it hard to believe he’d want to join. I met him during my travels, and he’s a wandering alchemist who prefers to keep moving to colleteresting ingredients.”

  “Ah, the exuberance of youth,” he said dreamily, a wistful smile crossing his face. From his expression, I felt that he, too, dreamed of being a traveling alchemist.

  I went through the list and realized I had no idea what any of the items were. “To be ho, I don’t uand anything about alchemy,” I admitted with a chuckle. “As far as I’m ed, this list is in a fn nguage. Just pack me all your stock of everything on the list.”

  He looked at me with wide eyes and his mouth slightly agape. “The entire iory? Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “It’s very expensive. Friendship is important, but don’t you think it’s too expensive a gift?” he asked, his voice tinged with .

  “Oh, don’t worry. He’ll pay for it. The gift is me buying it, not the price,” I grinned.

  “You’re sure he afford it? The price will reach more than a thousand gold, maybe even two thousand,” he warned, still looking shocked.

  “Yeah, don’t worry. He afford it,” I reassured him.

  He still looked a bit worried, but he nodded a. The smiling young dy brought me more tea and cookies while I waited for my purchase. After over two hours, he returned, apanied by three guys, each pushing a cart full of wooden boxes.

  It suddenly dawned on me I hadn’t asked for his name. Discreetly, I used Identify. I was very proud of myself—I remembered to use this ability more and more.

  Shashu MasinAlchemist level 6

  Mr. Masin handed me a long list and said, “Here is a list of all the ingredients, including their quantities and prices. The final price is 1,873 gold, with a half-tribute dist for a favored er.”

  Oh, so six pert off. Not bad at all.

  “ I pay using the currencies I paid with before?”

  “You have more?! And in enough quantity for this whole purchase?!” he excimed, sounding shocked and slightly sdalized.

  I rubbed my ne embarrassment. “Yes?... Is there a problem with that?”

  He pulled himself together, taking a deep breath. “No, no. Everything’s fine,” he assured me, still looking flustered.

  I took out the biggest wooden crate I had and filled it with s. Two of the guys he brought with him lifted the crate, and judging by their red faces, it was no simple task.

  He left with both, but the third guy stayed with me in the waiting room.

  Cheg that I won’t steal the crates? I thought with a shrug. The extra security didn’t bother me; I would have posted security, too.

  He had to return three more times for me to fill the crate until we finally reached the price. At least after he came back the first time, they smartened up and put the crate on a cart, which probably saved those guys from getting a hernia.

  After we finally finished all our transas, I stored the crates and asked Mr. Masin, “From here I io go to the Ented Workshop, but I’m hungry. you reend a restauraween here and there?”

  He reended a restaurant, and I made my way there. The restaurant was a few buildings away, with seating inside and also outside in a very pleasant garden in the back, filled with trees and flowers. I chose a table in the shade of a tree, and a server soon approached me, handing me a menu. “Our special dish today is a baked flip with fruits aables,” he informed me with a polite smile.

  “Thanks,” I replied, opening the menu. It quickly dawned on me I had no idea what most of the dishes were. Here and there, I reized words like “baked raak” or “in flimo sauce,” but not much beyond that. Closing the menu, I went with the safe option. “I’ll have the special dish, with some fruit juice. Surprise me.”

  When the meal arrived, I discovered the flip was some kind of bird, a little bigger than a chi. It tasted very simir to chi but gamier—maybe like duck? The baked fruits aables were excellent, and the fruit juice was refreshing, reminding me of a blend of lemon and strawberry.

  “What is the juice made of?”

  “Lemon and sunberry.”

  “Lemon? You have lemons here?” I asked, surprised. The word in Lumisian was even quite simir—Citrusan.

  He looked at me strangely and said, “Yes, of course.”

  After lunch, I headed to the Ented Workshop, which was just two blocks away. I entered a huge showroom filled with mps of every shape. There were tables with table mps, standing mps, magnifit crystal deliers, and many other models and shapes. Everything was beautiful and impressive, but I couldn’t figure out why those things were sidered ented.

  A salesperson approached me, bowed slightly, and asked, “Good day, sir. How may I help?”

  “What does ented have to do with these things?” I blurted out. “I don’t see anything magical here.”

  He ughed lightly and said, “e with me, please.”

  He led me to the back of the showroom, towards thick bck velvet curtains. We passed through not o three sets of curtains. Finally, we emerged into another showroom filled with the same mps and deliers, but now I could see that all the mps tained glowing crystals. It was like walking into an exhibition hall that dispyed the night sky full of stars.

  “Wow!” I breathed, “It’s beautiful.” The sight geook my breath away.

  He chuckled, nodding. “I’ve been w here for years and still marvel at the sight.”

  “How do you make these crystals?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

  He shot me a strange look, his tone growing slightly tehat is the professional secret our workshop is built around. You expect me to tell you?”

  Oops!

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t phrase myself correctly,” I quickly corrected. “I meant, how do they work? Why don’t the crystals outside glow, but these do? I meant how you make them glow, not how you make them.”

  He rexed, the smile returning to his face. “The crystals absorb sunlight throughout the day and release it when it’s dark.”

  “Amazing,” I said, genuinely impressed.

  He hen asked, “Are you ied in buying anything or just looking?”

  “I want to buy a standing mp. you show me the models you have?”

  After he showed me a few models, I selected a mp, paid with s from Earth, and started my way back to the hotel. I inteo test the mp with my mana seo figure out exactly how they made the crystals absorb sunlight.

  The walk back to the hotel took me almost five hours, but I didn’t mind. The city was beautiful, and I saw many iing things. I also went into quite a few shops along the way to browse and see what they offered. I didn’t buy anything, but it was still fun to walk around and look.

  A block away from the hotel, as I crossed a narrow alley, three young guys, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, sauntered up to me. The one in front, puffing out his chest, demanded, “Give me y.”

  “Huh?” I blinked, genuinely perplexed. I had no idea what he was talking about.

  “Y, give it at once!” he repeated, his torying to sound menag.

  I g my hands, both of which were ringless. Raising my palms in front of him, I asked, “What ring?”

  “I know you have a ring. Give it at once.” He insisted.

  He was definitely strange, and I still had no clue what he was talking about. I turo the thin guy on his left. “What is he talking about?”

  “Y,” the thin guy echoed, nodding like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Yes, I got that part. What I don’t uand is which ring. I don’t have any ring.”

  The one in front, clearly ahat I was ign his threat, half-yelled, “Give me the ring right away, or you’ll regret it!”

  I tilted my head, sidering. “Once you expin what ring, maybe I’ll uand what you want. Right now, you’re not making any sense.”

  He didn’t appreciate my reasoning and whipped out a knife. “If you want your life, you’ll give me the Void Band.”

  “The what now?”

  The shuy on the right chimed in helpfully. “It’s a ring to put things in.”

  “Ah! Like a ste ring,” I said, the light bulb going off.

  “What’s a ste ring?” the leader asked, his fusion mirr mine.

  “A ring to put things in,” I repeated, resisting the urge to facepalm.

  “I’ve never heard of it,” the thin one on the left admitted, looking slightly embarrassed.

  “Yeah, I haven’t seeher. I just read about it in a book,” I said with a shrug.

  The short one on the right perked up. “What book?”

  The one in front was getting more upset. He shouted, “I don’t care what you call the ring. Give it right now, or I’ll cut you.”

  “I don’t have a ste ring. What made you think I do?” I asked, feeling like we were in some bizarre edy sketch with three teeooges.

  “We saw you at the Visiting Artists’ Square. You were taking out and st things. Bards don’t have the iory skill,” he accused, puffing out his chest again.

  “Aha!” I said, finally catg on. “Now I get it. Do you have the skill Identify?”

  “What kind of stupid question is that? Of course, I have it. Ah css has it,” he snapped, rolling his eyes.

  I switched my css to Mert and said, “Use it on me.”

  His eyes gzed over for a moment as he focused. “I thought you were a Bard.”

  “I’m both a Bard and a Mert,” I expined.

  “How did you mao get two csses? I ’t eve ohe skinny guy at the left asked, sounding envious.

  I shrugged again. “I like music, pying, and singing, so I got the Bard css. I also bought and sold a lot of stuff, so I got the Mert css.”

  The middle one, now a deep shade of red, his hands shaking, practically spat out, “Shut up, all of you! It doesn’t matter how he got his css. What matters is that he has iory.” He turo me, veins throbbing in his forehead. “Give us all your iory immediately.”

  “Fet it,” I said, folding my arms defiantly.

  “Your curse didn’t affect me! Stick to the csses you know, and don’t try to be a Maledictus Arum on top of that,” he barked, jabbing a fi me.

  At this point, I felt utterly lost. “What curse? And what’s a Maledictus Arum?”

  “The curse you tried to use ohe oblivion curse. It didn’t take. Now give us your iory immediately,” he demanded, practically foaming at the mouth.

  “I wasn’t trying to curse you, just told you tet it. I’m not going to give you my iory.”

  “Are you Sehuni by any ce?” the thin guy asked.

  “What’s Sehuni?”

  “The savages in the north. They’re all barbarians and don’t know anything,” he answered with a shrug, as if it were on knowledge.

  “No, I’m from Lotam.”

  “Where’s that?” the short one on the right asked, squinting.

  “It’s a small ti northwest of the Lumisor ti.”

  “Shut up already!” the leader shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “We’re in the middle of a robbery, and you’re talking like three old women!”

  “Hey!” His friends protested, clearly offended.

  He gred at his two friends, muttering, “This is the st time I do a robbery with you.”

  “Why?” the short one asked, sounding offended.

  They started arguing about whether they’d do future robberies together.

  Spirits save us from idiot teenagers!

  While they were arguing, I used Identify on them.

  The skinny guy on the left: Marum Somet, with nothing beyond that. The short one on the right: Darus Somet, also with nothing beyond that.

  They’re brothers? They look pletely different.

  Marum was tall and thin, like spaghetti, and gangly—all elbows and knees. Darus was short and thiot fat, just dense, without a visible neck or waistline.

  The one in the middle:

  Das MahniMist Initiate level 1

  “How e the guards haven’t picked you up yet?” I asked him, curious.

  “Why would they pick him up? He’s not injured,” Darus replied, sounding and looking fused.

  “Oh, my mistake,” I said. “How e the guards haven’t arrested you yet?”

  “Huh?” Das blinked, clearly not following. I began feeling sorry for him; he was just too dumb.

  “You’re a criminal. How e the guards haven’t arrested you yet?” I repeated, feeling like I was expining something to a small child.

  “How do you know I’m a criminal?” he asked, his fusion deepening. At least his face had stopped being red.

  “Because you’re trying to rob me, and your css sounds like a criminal’s,” I pointed out.

  His two friends nodded in agreement. He got angry again and yelled at them, “Why do you agree with him? My css is not that of a criminal!”

  “What are you yelling at me for?” Marum said, crossing his arms. “Even your mother said that.”

  “Don’t mention my mother in the middle of a robbery!” Das shouted again, his face flushed with embarrassment.

  Marum shrugged nontly. “Fine, if you insist.”

  Das turned bae, clearly exasperated. “Ighe two idiots I brought with me, and give me your iory.”

  “Hey!” Now it was Darus’s turn to shout. “Who are you calling an idiot? I was a better pupil than you, and I even finished Wisdomhall. I didn’t drop out like you!”

  Das, looking like he was about to explode, turo me again. “Give me your iory,” he repeated, sounding like a broken record.

  “I already told you tet about it,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Your curses don’t work on me! If you don’t give it to me, I’ll cut you!” he threaterying to sound menag but being more frustrated.

  “I don’t think he was trying to curse you,” Darus chimed in helpfully.

  “You two stop interrupting me in the middle of a robbery!” Das shouted at them, clearly at the end of his rope. “After the robbery, we’ll talk about everything. For now, shut up already!”

  He turned bae, his patienpletely worn thin. “Give me your iory.”

  “You’ve said that many, many times already, and I’ve refused every time. What’s not clear?” I asked, genuinely puzzled by his persistence.

  “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll cut you!” he shouted, his face again turning crimson.

  “I don’t think so,” I said calmly.

  “I don’t care what you think! Give me your iory already so we finish this robbery!” He tio shout, his voice crag slightly.

  By now, the otion had attracted a few people into the alley. I noticed a few people snickering, and two shook with suppressed ughter.

  “No,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “I’ll cut you!” he yelled, trying desperately tain trol.

  “You’ve said that many times too. Do you have a new line?” I asked.

  “A line of what?” he asked, pletely bewildered.

  At this point, the spectators were all ughing out loud. He turned and saw the people ughing, and his jaw dropped. He looked hesitant momentarily, then muttered to his friends, “Let’s go home, and we’re going to talk about this.”

  “Not if you don’t want your mother to hear you tried to rob someone,” Marum warned him.

  “Stop involving my mother!” Das shouted, clearly at the breaking point. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

  They tinued arguing as they left the alley. I looked at all the ughing people, shrugged, shook my head, and said, “Teenagers.”

  All the spectators nodded in agreement.

  I was worried about them for a moment. They were just kids and seemed too dumb to know who to avoid attag. But then I shook my head and decided it was their parents’ problem, not mine.