Chương 19: 17. Day Off, Off Day

When he awoke in the morning, Adam leapt right out of bed. He smiled wide, dropping down into a squat before lightly working out in his room, bathing, and heading down to the common room of the Adventurer's Guild. He wore his full armour, keeping his ears hidden from prying eyes, though many already knew about his skin condition.

"Morning, Jurot," Adam said, sitting opposite him once he had grabbed some leftover stew from the night before.

"Good morning," Jurot replied, finishing some of his meat.

"Are you going to train today?"

"I don't think I will," Adam said, looking at his chain mail.

"I did a little in my room, though I might train in the evening. Eating all this boar isn't going to do well for me if I don't burn it off."

"Burn it off?"

"Nothing," Adam said, chuckling. He dipped his bread into the soup of the stew, which was approaching staleness, but with the salty soup of the stew it was bearable.

"What kind of battleaxe are you going to buy?"

"One which can kill," Jurot replied.

"I hope so." Adam chuckled some more as he continued to eat.

"I will go buy some bread," Jurot said.

"Would you like to come along?" Adam stared up at the Iyrman, who was staring deep into his eyes.

"No, no. I think I won't today, but then you can eat some on my behalf. I hear Iyrmen have two stomachs."

"We don't," Jurot said.

"It's a figure of speech." Jurot grunted in response before leaving. Adam finished up with his meal quickly before heading out. He didn't want any of the adventurers to mess with him, especially since there was that guy before giving him a nasty stinky eye.

'That guy really doesn't like me, huh? I need to be careful without Jurot.' Adam walked through the main road, glancing around to find a specific shop. Spell Guidance 1D3 = 2 (2) Perception Check D20 + 2 + 2 = 7 (3) As he glanced around for the shop he needed, he noticed that he couldn't find it amidst all the bustling people, shouting buyers, and the busy labourers.

"Excuse me," Adam said, holding out a coin for an urchin.

"I'm looking for a clothes shop." The urchin grabbed the coin, which was still within Adam's grip. Strength Check D20 + 4 = 15 (11) The urchin tried to pull it out of Adam's fingers, but they were gripped tight.

"Down the road, within twenty buildings," the little urchin said, motioning her head.

"Thank you." Adam let go of the coin, which caused the urchin to almost tumble back, but they were well balanced and quickly scampered off. He approached the clothing shop, which was quite small, and was tended to by an older man.

"Morning," Adam said as he stepped inside.

"Morning," the old man said, sitting beside piles of cloth.

"I'm here to buy a few clothes."

"Here I thought you were going to buy another sword."

'What a charming guy.' Adam nodded his head slowly.

"I'm looking for a few set of basic clothing, and another set of thick traveller's clothes."

"Let's get you measured up then shall we? Can't do that with your armour on."

'Well, you're not wrong.' Adam took off his helmet right away, not thinking about his ears. The old tailor glanced his way, eyes quickly scanning the young, handsome, half elf face.

'A leaf ear?' His mind stopped working for a moment, causing him to stare at Adam. Adam noted the gaze, having become familiar with them. He turned his head to look at the older man.

"Is there a problem?" The old man chewed on his thoughts for a moment.

"I'm not in the business of tailoring for elves."

"I'm only half an elf," Adam said, smiling politely. The old man remained staring at Adam for a long while, his mind still racing. Adam could see the way the old man was looking at him, the suspicious gaze which seeped into his skin.

"Is my coin not welcome here?"

"Me nephew died in the war," he said.

"Slain by one of yours in the night, a blade through the back."

"I don't know what war you're talking about, but I guess it was against elves?"

"Aye, it was against your folk." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Human and elves, huh? Sounds like I was the one who lost the most." The old man narrowed his eyes.

"That's just how you are, your folk. Always twisting words."

"At least I'm man enough to speak them," Adam replied back.

"Since my gold isn't welcome here, I'll find someone else more amiable to strangers." Adam wasted no time with the old man. That's how they were, set in their ways. The newer generation would probably be easier to get along with, but he recalled the way the adventurer had glared at him previously.

'It'll just be the same, won't it? No matter who I talk to, they're all going to hate me in some way. If they mess with my clothes during it, and they tear after I use them, won't I be blamed still?' Adam sighed, glancing back at the shop before continuing on.

"Man, racism in a fantasy world is another type of beast." He was glad he looked mostly human though, although maybe it would be best if he had been a dwarf. He thought about how it felt being short.

'No, nevermind.' A luscious beard for a few inches of height? It was a bad deal to him, no matter how much he liked beards. He had other business to attend to, so he walked around for a short while, trying to find a shop which would have been useful to him. Spell Guidance 1D3 = 1 (1) Perception Check D20 + 2 + 1 = 17 (14) Finding the shop wasn't a problem at all. It was a little shack, basked in the shadow of other buildings. If one wasn't paying attention, they would have missed it.

Adam stepped into the shack, smelling all manner of putridly earthy smells. The door creaked as it opened, giving him away, though his loud armour had done that before he had reached for the door. Candles dimly lit the room. Bottles of all manner of concoctions were littered around the walls, eyes of certain creatures, stalks of various herbs, and even bits and pieces of people and other things. Things which probably had names, but Adam couldn't identify them right away.

"What brings a hunky armoured fellow like you into my domain?" came the raspy voice of a woman. Adam's eyes fell to the figure to his right, where a heavily clothed woman sat behind a wooden counter. His eyes had travelled from left to right, leaving her hidden for a long while. She was covered in various long sheets of cloth, a scarf hiding most of her face. He couldn't see whether she was tall or short, thick or thin, not with the way her dark clothing draped all over her.

"I'm here to buy some alchemy supplies."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Some typical ingredients, as well as the tools required to make the potions."

"You're an alchemist?"

"I could be," Adam replied back simply.

"Hmmm." The woman nodded her head slowly.

"Ten gold," she said, tapping the counter with a cloth wrapped finger. Currency 57GP -> 47GP She hadn't expected him to pull out so much money so easily, but she smiled wide. The coins disappeared in her hand. She hoisted something up, revealing a small leather pack, which opened up like a book, with various tools, cups, bottles, and a small box used to pound and grind ingredients.

"How does it look?"

"Fine," Adam replied back. He wasn't interested in her creepy voice, or the way she stared at him from under her scarf. There was something off about her, though he suspected that's how she liked it. He grabbed the pack and then stared down at her.

"And the ingredients?" The woman let out a soft sigh, though it turned into a ragged giggle. It was like daggers were poking Adam's ears. She placed down two small boxes.

"There." Adam swiped them and turned.

"A pleasure doing business with you," he said quickly, retreating away from her. The half elf could still feel her gaze from behind, though hurried to the Adventurer's Guild. He wrapped his cloak around the tools, not wanting to reveal the supplies to anyone. Once he was safely within the Adventurer's Guild, he dropped his supplies off in his room, and approached Tom at the counter.

"Morning," Adam said.

"Morning." Tom's reply was as neutral as it could be.

"Hey, uh…" Adam leaned over the counter slightly.

"Do you guys buy things on behalf of adventurers for them?" Adam's voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes," Tom replied back with a nod.

"What is it that you need?"

"Clothes," Adam replied back.

"Clothes?"

"Yes. I need a few set of clothes. I currently only have a single pair, and it's annoying to constantly wash them and dry them before I wear them everyday, and it's a little awkward to only own one pair of clothing." Tom blinked at him. First, Adam worked nearly daily. Second, he wanted more clothing?

"We can do that…"

"I tried to buy some, but the people didn't really like me." Adam tapped the side of his helmet where his ears would be.

"Right. We are willing to do that for you. How much do you have to spend?"

"How much is it for the various clothing?"

"A common set of clothes runs ten silver coins, a set of traveller's clothing is fifty."

"Two sets of common clothing then." He placed down two gold coins on the counter. Currency 47GP -> 45GP"We will take your measurements." Tom led him around back, letting him strip down before he measured Adam's body.

'It's always a surprise to see his build.' Tom shook his head, going back to measuring the half elf.

"We will have your clothing in the next three days."

"Thanks." Adam nodded.

"I knew I could trust the guild." Adam returned back to his room, checking on his supplies.

"I should get to brewing then," he said, stretching out his neck. He checked the herbs he had brought too, trying to figure out how he was meant to use them together. Mana 2 -> 1 Alchemy Check D20 + 2 = 7 (5) Since he couldn't use Guidance to help him, he had to focus. He pinched a few herbs and sprinkled them into the bottle. He boiled some water, pouring it over the herbs, watching as the liquid started to turn green. He seeped the herbs for a short while before they became a light green.

He inhaled deeply, feeling his mana begin to flow through his veins before it flowed towards the bottom of the bottle. His brow began to sweat, his forehead pounding as he concentrated on slipping in as much mana as he could.

"Come on…" he whispered, still pouring in only the tiniest amount of mana into the potion. Finally, the water swirled in on itself, mixing itself together, before it fell still. He panted, placing down the potion as he wiped his brow. It had taken him a few hours, but he had finally made a potion. Congratulations! Minor Potion Created. Heals for 1D3+1 HP. XP Gained 600 -> 610"…" He stared at the potion he had created for a long moment, before he finally sighed.

"Really? My first potion is this bad?" He rubbed his sweaty forehead.

"I guess it is my first time…" He shambled his way down to the common room when it was dinner time, seeing the various adventurers all around. There were far more than he expected, but he found Jurot in the corner and approached him.

"Nice battleaxe," Adam said, staring down at Jurot's side, where a brand new battleaxe lay. It was well made, though quite simple in design. Built for function, not form. His previous trusty handaxe had been strapped on the other side of his waist.

"It is good," Jurot said, nodding his head. He was eating a fresh piece of bread with his soup.

"I have healed well today."

"Up to hunt something tomorrow?" Adam asked.

"Yes. We may come across undead soon during our hunt."

"Understood." Adam sent a message to the porters through the guild, before finishing his meal and heading to bed. He hadn't been able to do much today, and the potion hadn't been to his liking. However, he was growing closer to Level 2 by the day.