Hillford was really nothing but a quaint little pit-stop. It was like the highway towns on Earth that one would only ever stop in to take a dump in the event of an emergency. It was neither impressive in its defenses nor in its design. Rather, it was the railroad running through it that had allowed the settlement to grow into something worthy of being called a town.

The outer perimeter of Hillford was surrounded by a basic wooden wall of sharpened logs. The buildings within that first wall were plain in many parts and dilapidated in many others. There was no rhyme or reason to how the village had been planned, it simply spread out from where the railroad ran through the middle, right next to the core area. Contrary to the rest of the town, the core was comprised of ordered buildings and surrounded by an inner wall of stone, though only marginally more durable than the wooden one.

In summary, Hillford was a railway town built up from a farming village that had been built up from a ranch, which amounted to nothing special or interesting. At least, that was Allen’s perspective after looking at the place for no more than a second. Granted, he had seen too many such towns to count in his travels through the great “Unnamed World.”

“Maybe they have a low-level dungeon around here, otherwise we should leave,” Allen reasoned. He sighed to himself as he trudged down the last hill, following after the town watch captain.

There were sprawling wheat and barley fields on either side of the dirt road they had reconnected with a few minutes ago. It was scenic, in a way, but Allen knew that fields as close to a road as those were would make the perfect hiding spot for bandits and the like. Such were the dangers of travel.

The group walked in silence for another few minutes until one of the gates to the town was just ahead. Allen had been able to smell the stench of smoke and shit from a fair distance away, but by then the smell was rather potent. Clearly nobody had bothered to invest in Hillford’s sewer system.

The watch captain suddenly cleared his throat as the group approached the gate. “Alright, my civic duty requires that I tell you to stay off the streets at night,” he began. Allen could practically sense the smirk on his face despite it being out of sight. “Some folks will just pop your happy asses for the fuck of it, especially the kids. Better to stay inside at your levels.”

Allen didn’t miss Ty chuckling at the captain’s warning; he just pursed his lips in response. “I doubt very many people here are above level two-hundred,” he thought, “That means no advanced jobs and nothing above tier ten. I think we should be okay against some random level sixty nine-year-old.”

“I’m warning you,” the captain continued, pointing at Ty. “If you lot cause trouble, I’ll double your sentences.”

Allen yawned; he’d been awake for too long given his low level. “So, he’s more worried about us causing trouble than getting killed?” he thought. “No, he probably just doesn’t give a shit.”

Ty waved him off as they stepped through the gate a moment later.

The town was open for visitors, though there were still plenty of guards stationed around the perimeter. Allen wrinkled his nose as he stepped into the town’s Main Street and the air instantly became dingy and rank. It wasn’t quite a slum, but it certainly wasn’t glamorous either. The buildings were packed together like crooked teeth, most looking like they had been built with no input from a real architect. Both sides of the street were lined with random market stands selling stuff here and there. The gear was all far too cheap and low quality given the amount of money they had thanks to Camila, but the food wouldn’t kill them… Probably.

Then there were crowds of grimy looking people walking about, all human as far as Allen could tell, with the occasional golem or machine lumbering around. He didn’t really much care what they were, but he would rather not have to deal with kobolds or dark elves.

“Alright, here you are, have fun,” said the watch captain as he left Allen and his group in the middle of the street. The man effortlessly left the quintet to their own devices, likely on his way to do nothing important.

Allen watched the captain and his entourage leave before he nudged Camila on the shoulder. “You have the gold, right? We should get some new clothes. Don’t show that we have that much money though.”

Camila looked back at him dumbly for a moment, either not paying attention or not expecting Allen to say anything to her. “Oh, yeah. Andy put it into my inventory. I got mostly copper fifties and a few silvers,” she said and smirked. “I haven’t counted it though. I’ll be fucking pissed if Andy underpaid.”

“You sure you could even do that math?” Ty asked as if it were a real question.

“Fuck you.”

“Copper fifties make things convenient. I guess even Andy can be helpful when he wants to be.” Allen sighed and walked off down the street, Amelia and Christopher following. “The first thing we need is new gear, then some food, then a place to sleep. Tomorrow we can go look for a dungeon. If there’s nothing here, then we take the first train out of this dump.”

The other two quickly caught up as they all moved less than seamlessly into the crowd. Other than their clothes being partly destroyed, they were also completely unfashionable; some might even say otherworldly.

It took around forty-five minutes to find a shop that sold sturdy clothes and armor at their budget. The group walked in and immediately bought the most fitting and least conspicuous outfits they could find. Thankfully, the shop also had a room near the back for them to all quickly change.

Allen had gotten himself a pair of extra lightweight combat boots, which were basically a sturdier version of his sneakers made from leather and cork. They hugged his feet tightly and provided much better ankle support. He had also bought a hardened leather breastplate to cover his upper body, and a pair of steel greaves and a pair of steel vambraces for extra defense. Then, finally, Allen had chosen a few sets of durable and fire-resistant clothes, all but one going into his inventory.

Amelia and Christopher had gotten themselves simple outfits and robes, both not needing any armor. Ty spent the most money on a set of steel full plate armor and a thick gambeson. His work pants and tower shield were still perfectly functional, which was convenient. Then Camila bought a full set of light steel armor and a pair of sturdy leather boots.

Allen desperately wanted another knife, but the one he had would have to suffice. All the gear for five people had cost nearly a whole gold coin, so there was no more room for unnecessary spending.

Allen cleared his throat shot a glance at the shop owner standing behind a counter at the front of the shop.

“Need anything?” the man said, smiling his best smile for his customers.

“Any dungeons around here?” Allen asked bluntly. The others were ready to leave and he was starving. If the store owner could answer just that one question, then it would be one more thing off Allen’s list.

“Levelin’ back up after a respawn I imagine?” he began with a chuckle, “I can see it in yer eyes, ye been in the shit fer some time I reckon… damn young too.”

Allen suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, nodding casually instead. “Get on with it, buddy.”

“Well, normally I’d recommend that level fifty water dungeon out by the river basin just a few kilometers North, North West of ‘ere. Folks call it the kiddie pool ‘cause it’s used to level up the ankle bitters, seein’ that they don’t drown.” He smirked to himself before continuing. “Ye should visit the one in the forest to the South, level one hundred and dark aspect. It’s just a fuckin’ hole though. Called the Well of Gloom.”

Allen nodded and bought a snack on impulse with a spare copper. With that, he and the others walked out of the shop in search of actual food.

It didn’t take them long to find some roasted turkey legs for sale, along with rolls of rye bread and assorted vegetables. It’s important to eat well after all, almost as important as eating regularly. Thus, they all decided to stock up on food as well, piling everything into their inventories.

Food and other such things remained fresh inside inventory spaces for very long periods of time, mostly due to the time passing much slower on the inside than on the outside. A great cheat to be sure, both for survivability and eco friendliness; food waste is a serious issue.

After a few hours had gone by, everyone was ready to turn in for the night. They found an inn near the center of Hillford and paid the fifty coppers for two rooms. Unlike a hotel in any normal world, inns in “Unnamed World” only provided futons or mats to sleep on so nobody could set their spawn points. Apparently neither futons nor pull-out-couches counted as real beds, therefore, they couldn’t be used to set a respawn point.

Regardless of what his bedding was, Ty instantly fell asleep on it.

Allen had trouble doing the same, finding himself laying on his mat and staring up at the musty roof. “Sleep is literally bullshit; I want my eight-hundred endurance back so I only have to do this once every other week.” He did eventually manage to fall asleep, though it was only because of his state of complete exhaustion.