Zortex moved out of the training center into the city proper. The streets were bustling with people, the sun was clear in the sky and vendors were screaming their wares on the walkaways. He felt like puking from all this frenetic activity around him. Zortex moved in the direction he came from the night before. He hoped to find accommodations as soon as he could, but in the worst case scenario he could simply go all the way back to his previous safe location. He kept walking sticking to the less crowded alleys as much as he could. In the end he had no time to really look up for any abandoned place, so he got back to the neighborhood he came from. Once inside his safe place he dropped on the floor and laid still for a few minutes breathing hard. He was not sure what he should do first, sleeping or eating. Both looked really alluring, but in the end he decided to have lunch. Or dinner? He had no idea how his eating schedule was right now.

Zortex had free wood trashed around and he had the red crystals to lighten the fire, so he decided to cook some sausages and eat them with some of the bread he still had. The wait was excruciating, especially for his belly, but it was worth it. Once again he found himself tearing up from the pleasure of eating his food. Fat meat dripping oil into the fire which hissed at each drop falling down, warm soft bread in his hand waiting to pick up a new piece of meat….this was a dream coming true. With a full belly he went to sleep to dispel the ever looming headache and release some of the stress he had built up

When he woke up it was still daylight outside so he didn’t think he lost too much time in his sleep. At this point he sat up and he valued his next moves. To begin, he needed money and he had to find out the best way to steal some. Thinking back he understood that his first theft was not the best way to proceed considering his skills. At the moment he really needed new products for his daily life, so he had to steal to get fast what he wanted, but right now he would have to approach the situation in a smarter way. His main advantage was the ability to pass unmolested through barriers which other people would have to break rather than bypass. This suggested that the best way to proceed was to find an heavily protected structure which would be undefended in the inside. The first and only time Zortex had to be careful because the house had people inside and he was not willing to wake them up. This time he would choose a place more adapt to his skills.

The second point on his agenda was to get another bath, but that would have to be at night in the same place as before. He could sniff his own body scent again, and he did not like it. Or better to say that he liked it, because it was the familiar fragrance of the sewers, but he had decided to remove it as fast as possible considering the other people well-being.

Last point in his agenda for the day/night was to check the wizard tower (WT). Zortex fighting style relied on magic too, so it was better to train at the same time both stamina and mana, thus getting some new spells from the WT was imperative. He had already plenty of stuff to train with his slimification, but right he wanted to focus on something more practical and easy if possible.

Zortex got himself another meal and then he went out again. His food reserves were dwindling faster that he would have liked, but if he was going to steal again soon, he was not scared to be left without. For the next few hours he moved around the city, trying to avoid contact with people and protecting his senses as much as it was reasonable. He needed to orient himself and learn the geography of the place in case he had to run for his life, or simply to not get lost at the wrong moment. Passing by he could hear many conversations, and when he found something interesting he would follow the talkers. The best times were when he found some noobs like himself who were asking questions about early stages of AoL. Many of his inquiries were answered that way, without him saying anything. He also passed by the wizard tower but he didn’t go inside yet, as he would need a bath and possibly some money. He didn’t know what to expect and he didn’t want to find himself unprepared. He also found a couple of old abandoned buildings that he decided to use as new bases since they were much closer to the center.

When the sun was almost gone Zortex had finally decided about a target for his expedition. He would rob the weapon shop he had visited on his first day. During his roaming trip around the city he took the opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversations of NPC and travelers alike. Many of the doubts and unanswered questions became clear in that time and much of what he needed to experience the RPG life would be found in a magic shop. The problem with magic shops was that they were probably protected by magic sigils or alarms he wasn’t aware of. It was better to rob somewhere else and then buy the product he needed with the money he would get.

He doubted that he could get directly cash in the weapons’ store, but eavesdropping he came to know of the existence of a black market where he could sell products without questions asked. If he could get his hands on some luxurious arms he would get some easy money. The reason why he chose the store he had already visited was because it was quite a low level one, meant for the noob travelers in their first months of adventuring. Better stores were sure to have some degree of magical protection, so it was better to not risk it.

When the sun was completely down and the street on the suburbs were empty he arrived at the location he had previously cleaned himself and he took once again a fast and thorough bath. A couple of people passed by, but they just moved away, probably thinking he was a hobo. He laughed realizing that was exactly what he was. He hadn’t slept in a bed for the last eight month if he discarded his time in his personal room in Endless.

Now that he was somewhat clean he took to his objective. He walked down the streets trying to not catch the attention of anyone and arrived in front of the store. The structure was remarkably protected by bolts of metal everywhere. Even the door was so tightly closed that he could not find a slit big enough for him to fit through. Unluckily for the owner there was a small chimney on the top of the building. It was too small for any person to pass through, but it was no problem at all for Zortex. He entered the store and started looking around. He tried to be as silent as he could even though he could not hear anyone inside. To Zortex’s knowledge the owner lived in the house next door, ready to defend his shop in case someone tried to break through, but too far to hear a thief able to sneak inside.

Zortex took his time choosing what he should take away. Listening on the people around him during the day he understood that in AoL there was a system to carry heavy loads without trouble. In any magic shop people could buy storage pouches to carry around. The cheapest ones had not that much space, but they were still enough to bring enough food for a couple of weeks and a couple of weapons. The more the cost the higher the space. An important characteristic was that inside the pouch time was frozen, so he wouldn’t have to worry about the food going bad. Unluckily Zortex had nothing of this at the moment, so he had to rely on his backpack. Before the theft, he had emptied it hiding his food and clothes in an abandoned building he deemed safe enough, so now he could fill it as much as possible. His attention fell again on the war hammer he had seen eight months ago. Of course it was too big to bring outside and anyway he didn’t want a product that didn’t sell after such a long time. He looked for small weapons which looked of high value. The best ones were kept behind the counter, sealed in chests closed by heavy locks anchored to the building. The owner should be carrying the keys always with him, so he skipped those treasures. He took a new dagger for himself that he would not sell and then he filled his bag with a few others which looked just as good. Then he kept filling himself with other weapons and pieces of armor. He also stole a new spear that he decided to keep for himself for training. He could not find any item magically upgraded, so he concluded that they had to be in the locked chests. It seemed even too easy to Zortex, but when he was outside and safe he realized that his ability made him a perfect thief for such small crimes. Someday he should learn to bypass the stronger defenses and increase his gains.

It was still the middle of the night, thus the black market should still be open in the secret location he had been able eavesdrop with his overpowered hearing. He was extremely tense, because as the night was his best time to steal from buildings, it was also the time the street thieves robbed their victims. He moved silently through the deserted alleys, rounding any place where he could feel the presence of some people. After what it felt like an eternity he reached his destination. It was a big sized building on the outskirts of Onara. Zortex had discovered that Onara was the name of this city. There were two burly men guarding the door with cudgels one meter long. They tried to act casual as if they were just two friend having a chat, but it was blatantly evident they were checking out for any person moving their way. When Zortex moved in their direction they righted themselves and looked at him with hostility. They were waiting for him to say the password to enter the market and Zortex had prepared for this. Considering his inability to speak to other people he had stolen some paper he had found in the shop he had just robbed and he wrote down the word ‘Alcantara’ which was the password for tonight session of dealings. Once again these were all things he had discovered spying on people around town. Plenty of costumers coming here didn’t want their identity to be discovered, so the fact that he was going around with his face completely covered was not that weird in such a place.

One of the guards grunted and let him inside. Zortex moved along the corridor until he reached the market proper. Zortex could not help himself to give a small laugh when he saw that the people around were mostly covering their faces with masks. This was really a place he could fit in. He took out a couple more bandages from his pocket to wrap around his eyes and ears due to the increase of light and noise. To his knowledge there were several floors in the building and the higher he went the better the products he could sell or buy, but Zortex knew only the password for the lowest floor, and anyway he didn’t have any high value item to sell nor the money to buy something valuable for himself. He started moving along the dealers checking the wares and studying the people. When he stole from the poor shopkeeper he had meticulously calculated the value of each one of his spoils, so he knew he had enough material for roughly 5 gold coins. He could not expect to get the full amount since he was selling stolen goods, but he was aiming for something around 50% of what they were worth. After 20 minutes evaluating his surroundings he went to the dealer he deemed to be the easiest to deal with, not because he made the best sales, but because he was the one that haggled the least and got directly to the point. Also because he was buying weapons of any kind, while most of the others specialized on categories. Most important part for Zortex was to get out of there with some gold in his pockets and almost no interaction with other people.

He arrived in front of the stand and threw all his merchandise on the desk. The vendor/buyer looked at it quizzically and started checking the items one by one. After 2 minutes he told him “one gold and fifty silvers”. Zortex was aware that he was playing down a lot, it was part of his profession after all. Without speaking he showed three fingers.

“This stuff is almost worthless. It is well kept, but materials are low quality and the production is lame. Only noobs are willing to buy this stuff and they don’t have much money anyway”

Zortex raised again his hand with three fingers.

“Look at me. I’m already giving you a good deal. If you think you can get any better you are free to try”

Zortex raised two fingers and then made a gesture with his hands that in his opinion meant that he would go down no further. Apparently it worked because the guy accepted the transaction and gave Zortex the gold and put away the weapons for later.

At this point Zortex was quite happy. Finally he was carrying around some money and even a decent amount of it considering his low level. He could afford to rent a room somewhere for a while and buy food. Nothing fancy, but good enough compared to his lifestyle for the last few months. He also had some food hidden away, nice clothes and all the weapons he needed. It was time for him to visit a magic shop and then go to the wizard tower.