Getting the atoo’kth was an interesting concept to Bethany as she didn't exactly know about how close they were to water. Back in Livpul she had grown up around fishermen on the Mersey and it was common knowledge that the further you were from a source of water the more wary you had to be about any seafood. Obviously, quality wasn't something being assessed but Bethany was clearly buying this food for some reason or other and wanted to feel like she had done a good job of it.

She wandered as she looked for a good fish stand, taking in the environment. She hadn't been in the Trial for very long and so was confident she still had a while before she would want to get back and nap. Thanks to sleeping through the afternoon, she wasn't feeling tired quite yet, this was in part due to the fact it was autumn and the sun set earlier than she would normally head to bed by a considerable amount.

Eventually she found a tiny stand that was manned by a disinterested-looking teen not much younger than Bethany herself, that happened to be selling fish. The stall was very small consisting pretty much just of a barrel filled with ice and fish and a stool the teen sat on. When Bethany introduced herself to the girl, the girl bared her teeth at Bethany, annoyed that somebody dared to interrupt her reading. Bethany tried to start a conversation about the book but again was met with hostility.

"Are you going to buy something or are you just here to bother me?"

Bethany had it in her mind to just leave the stall and find somewhere more friendly. After all this girl wasn't about to be on board bartering and Bethany was sure she would be able to find somewhere else to buy fish. She fingered her necklace before powering on, she figured she should at least get rough prices for how much they were selling them for here so that she could just come back if she had less luck elsewhere.

"Well dad said to start at twenty-two Bronze but that I could go as low as one Silver if they negotiated. But also, we're fighting so I'll give it to you for ten Bronze if you will leave right now."

This was a steal that Bethany wasn't willing to turn down. Unlike with the honey and ice cream she didn't care in the slightest about taking advantage of this rude girl and her poor father. She quickly paid before the girl could change her mind or consider the consequences of having to explain to her father what she did. After all that was her own fault.

Feeling bolstered by the experience Bethany went to find the blacksmith next. Both the cooking utensils and the fruit and veg came out to the same total so it didn’t really matter which Bethany went for first. The important thing was that they were both gotten relatively cheaply. She still wasn’t overly worried about losing the Trial, this was all familiar stuff to her and worst-case scenario she would work something out. It wasn’t like the Trials had stated consequences for bending the rules and Bethany valued her life much more than any morality. Obviously, she also wanted to maximise the money she made from the process but, given she still couldn't spend it, it was far from being a priority, also being able to keep it was still not a guarantee given the whole prison situation. She recalled a large looking stall she passed when heading to meet the grain vender's sister, so she doubled back on herself and went to refind it, waving at the honey seller as she passed.

Coming across it, it was actually larger than she expected. The stall itself was almost like a miniature market in itself, as it had an area inside, she could wander in and there were multiple attendants selling different equipment. All produce was however marked with the same symbol of a frying pan with a flame inside. This symbol was also printed on the awning above and the outfits of the attendants and was clearly associated with the organisation that owned and presumedly produced the goods.

Finding the area selling the equipment Bethany needed she found the prices were much lower than the list implied instead being nearer the price she had been hoping to barter for. As it turned out the flaming pan was a recognised company across many planets and unlike most places on the planet didn't subscribe to the barter system. This meant they weren’t particularly popular there but that was no skin off Bethany's nose, and she was happy to get the products on budget getting the pair for a reasonable two Silver, ten Bronze. That left her with only the fruit and veg to find and four Silver, twelve Bronze to pay for it. This meant she could afford to get the items for asking price however given how hard she had worked she obviously didn’t want to and instead stuck to her original plan of finding two stalls to play off each other.

On passing a couple of stalls she noticed the were being closed up. This caused Bethany to panic, and she rushed over to a closing stand to enquire. She still had around twenty hours left on the Trial but she couldn't afford to spent that time here as she would be noticed to be missing. Fortunately, the stalls apparently operated on two twelve hour shifts where those running the stalls would switch over and the produce would change. This meant Bethany wouldn't be screwed if she couldn't find the produce before the change, but she still aimed to. While it wasn't what she was looking for she did find a produce stall that was in the process of starting to close. The nevukus running the stall was clearly eager to make a last sale and she managed to get what she was looking for, for three Silver leaving her one Silver, twelve Bronze left over for herself.

Having made the sale she looked around the stall unsure what to do next. Doing so she saw an exit rift that clearly nobody else could see or use. She headed towards it and reappeared home once more. Before going to sleep she pulled up her status screen to check over her gains and to see if Trials summoned by a skill still awarded Trial Credits or if she was going to be at a constant loss going forwards. Having checked she was glad to see it was in fact given, meaning that while she would be making a loss at the Trials she personally summoned, she wasn’t going to run out too fast.

Name

Bethany Oakfenny

Title(s)

Solarslut

Mana Type

Cosmic (rare)

Level

2

Trial Credits

19

Skills:

Butter churning (uncommon)

2 (10 Trial Credits)

Half-staff (common)

1 (5 Trial Credits)

Trial Taking (ultra-rare)

1 (5 Trial Credits)

Bartering (common)

0 (2 Trial Credits)

Busking (common)

0 (1 Trial Credit)