Peter ran a hand down his face and rubbed at his eyes, trying to throw off the anxiety he was feeling. Not far down the street was the door he’d eventually have to walk through if he wanted to get a job.

Jesus, I haven’t had a job interview since I was a teenager.

Not that it was a job interview. Not really. All he needed to do was go inside, make a good impression, and then build on that.

He scratched at his beard. Should he have found a way to shave?

I’d probably end up needing stitches, he thought.

Peter looked around. Most of the city was human, but there were still a fair number of non-human creatures around, which made it difficult to gauge the appropriateness of his appearance. Sure, people had facial hair of varying lengths, but Peter was only working with a week or so of growth. Would that be seen as scruffy?

At least they’d had time to buy soap and a towel so he wouldn’t stink up the place.

“Relax,” Beth said, squeezing his arm. “You’re a well-educated person in a commerce-based city. As soon as they see what you’re capable of, you’ll be fine.”

“I sure hope so,” he said, looking at the sad progression of individuals making their way into the recruitment office. It had been much harder to find than he’d expected—that Cirque du Chânce was going to be a real pain in the ass. “Are you going to wait out here?”

Beth’s eyebrows pursed. “No, I don’t think so. I want you to have time to compose yourself, so I’ll duck into a couple of stores. You just focus on your interview. I’ll be waiting outside when you’re done.”

“Okay, sounds good,” he said. “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said, giving him a quick kiss before heading towards one of the nearby stores. He watched her go, then turned towards the building in front of him.

Damn, he was not looking forward to this. At least he had some idea which Family he should be approaching—Darius had been adamant that House Laws was his best bet. Apparently, they were the ones who handled most of the paper-pushing aspect of Palmyre’s overseas trade conglomerate. That conglomerate alone had been a surprising twist; considering the cutthroat description of Palmyre’s Families, it said something that they were able to show a united front to the rest of the world as a singular Palmyrian Trading Company. Not that Peter was about to complain. He was looking for a job as a paper-pusher, and having a Family that specialized in paper-pushing worked out nicely.

In an attempt to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, Peter summoned his Tome and looked at the quest he’d gotten when they decided at Darius’ forge that he would get a job.

Quest: “Get a Job, Slacker”

You’re ready to enter the exciting world of the Palmyre job market? This should be good.

Quest Completion Criteria: Do I seriously need to clarify this?

Reward for Success: XP, Gainful Employment

Penalty for Failure: Time to level up that stable-shovelling skill.

It was the least quippy Tome message Peter had received, which he considered a good thing. After all, if he was making a terrible mistake, that seemed like something he would be mocked for. Unless the writer was anticipating future mocking opportunities?

Damn, he was talking himself out of this thing and he hadn’t even walked through the door.

He looked around. Unlike the areas he’d already been in, the House of Laws employment office was west of the Cirque du Chânce, on the river’s northern shore. This part of the city was decidedly less pleasant by comparison. Well, assuming you didn’t include the piss-smelling tannery they’d gotten for a neighbour yesterday, but that was in the industrial portion of the city. Hardly a location you’d go to enjoy the scenery.

“Okay, Sullivan, time to go,” he muttered. Taking one step forward…he stopped.

Beth’s words sprang unbidden into his mind. As soon as they see what you’re capable of…

On Earth, that would require references, or possibly an exam. But this wasn’t Earth. This was Arenia, and on Arenia, they quantified a person’s capabilities in a very different way.

Bringing up his Tome, Peter flipped to the Skills section. “Huh.”

While Peter’s Mathematics and Writing skills were both in the upper range of “Proficient,” he didn’t actually have a Skill for accounting. Was that even a thing? After all, he was looking to get an accounting job. Was it any different from a blacksmith needing a good Blacksmithing Skill?

There was one way to find out.

Peter opened his Tome to a blank page and drew a rough ledger. Walking up to a storefront, he wrote down the prices of a few items, then tallied them in the costs column, putting the total at the bottom of the page.

A page appeared.

NEW GENERAL SKILL LEARNED!

Accounting – Level 35 (Tier-III)

Son of a…How did you work that out! I thought for SURE you would walk in there without the Accounting Skill! Oh man, it would have been glorious.

Tier-I Bonus: Increased grasp of the interconnectivity between accounts. This bonus scales with Skill level.

Tier-II Bonus: As long as you continuously look at a ledger page, you will not lose track of which numbers you have tallied.

Tier-III Bonus: Unlocks the Trait “Pattern Recognition – Financial”

*Since this Skill predates your arrival in Arenia, it has been set at a level commensurate with the practical ability you already possess. Note that this calculation will only happen if you actively use a Skill from your old, boring life.

12,450 XP Earned (cumulative)

RENOWN LEVEL UP!

Level 12 Achieved

RENOWN LEVEL UP!

Level 13 Achieved

XP: 38,100

XP to next Renown: 3,400

Peter’s heart raced as he realized he’d dodged a massive bullet. He would have been screwed if he’d walked in there without the Accounting Skill, and he never could have explained suddenly jumping dozens of Skill levels after the fact without revealing his Legend status.

He had to refocus. All that mattered was that he hadn’t screwed up, and a Journeyman-level Accounting Skill would be a significant asset. The Tier-I bonus was somewhat esoteric, but that second bonus was fantastic. The extra Renown levels were good too.

Then there was the matter of this Pattern Recognition Trait.

Pattern Recognition – Financial

As a result of long hours spent poring over documents and discussing the nuance of your craft, you have reached a level of proficiency where you can spot patterns that emerge from disparate sources.

There are three different Pattern Recognition Traits. Pattern Recognition – Financial concerns itself with patterns in financial transactions. The other two deal with Legal and Political patterns, and are learned through other avenues.

“Wow,” he said. That was one hell of a bonus. And it also hinted at two other Traits he should watch out for.

Peter chewed his lip as he stared at the message. He was no lawyer, but he strongly suspected he’d have a few levels in whatever legal Skill might exist. All he had to do was trigger it.

Intelligence +1

Yeah, you’re on a roll here. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

Well, that sealed it.

Peter looked around, eventually spotting a dark-skinned city guard looking over the passersby in a bored manner. She wasn’t particularly burly, but for all he knew, her Strength stat was high enough that she could toss him over the city walls from here.

He walked over to the woman and gave her a wave, eliciting a raised eyebrow but nothing more.

“Excuse me,” he said. “I’m new to Palmyre, and I was wondering where I could find a blacksmith.”

“Temple District, near the temples. See if you can figure out why it’s called the Temple District while you’re there,” the guard said curtly.

“Interesting. Is there some a legal restriction mandating that the smithies be near the churches?”

“Yeah,” the guard said. Then she paused and thought about it. “Or is it a custom? Can’t say I get called in for a lot of smithy relocations.”

“Is there a god of smiths?” he asked.

The guard looked at him like he was crazy. “You’ve never heard of Casúr?”

Oops.

“Ah, yeah. Different pronunciation where I’m from,” he said weakly. “Just wondering if the smiths have to be near the temple of Casúr for some reason.”

The guard once again had to think about her answer. “You know what? I have no idea. I can say for certain that the Temples need to be up there. We’ve had a couple little shrines spring up on the docks—weird overseas worships. We break those up when that happens. Don’t need some strange-ass dino-god setting up shop in Palmyre.”

Dino-god? Peter thought, momentarily distracted.

Shaking his head, he refocused.

“Okay,” he said, preparing himself. “It sounds like the smiths could be anywhere, but Casúr’s temple has to be in the Temple District. Which means that if the smiths do need to be near Casúr’s temple, there’s an ipso facto regulation that smiths are restricted to the Temple District. Correct?”

A paper appeared.

NEW GENERAL SKILL LEARNED!

Law – Level 16 (Tier-I)

Okay, I didn’t follow that at all, but the automated system is saying it qualifies. That said, if I, an advanced celestial being, can’t track what you just said, what makes you think some simple-minded city guard has a chance of understanding your logic?

Tier-I Bonus: You can read fine print as though it were regular-sized font.

*Skill predates arrival blah, blah, blah.

1,150 XP Earned (cumulative)

“Sure,” the guard said with a shrug. “Makes sense to me.”

A scroll appeared in front of her face.

“An Intelligence increase?” she said, a smile lighting up her face. “I haven’t seen one of these in years!”

“Congratulations,” Peter said, nodding to her.

“Thanks. Can’t say my Tome ever called me a ‘dumbass show-off’ before, but I’ll take it.”

Peter looked over his shoulder at the office. Now that he had Law and Accounting, he was probably as ready as possible.

He turned back to the guard and nodded to her. “Thank you for your patience; it’s much appreciated. I’m Peter, by the way.”

“Kayla,” the guard said, returning his nod. “Word to the wise, though. That conversation was inane, so I assume you were trying to trigger a new Skill. I don’t know where you’re from, but that’s liable to get you punched in the face in Palmyre if you don’t tell someone first.”

Then she grinned. “But if I’m getting Ability points as collateral damage, I’ve got all the patience in the world.”

“Thanks for the advice,” he said, returning her grin.

Just as he was about to go, something occurred to him. While he still had the chance, he inspected her:

Name: “Kayla”

Species: Human

Renown: Level 13 City Guard

Base Stat Average: 19.9

Immediately, the guard’s friendly attitude made sense. She had the same Renown as him! It was the first civil interaction he’d ever had with a local—even Eliza had been a bit condescending until she realized what they were—and the only explanation that made sense was her Renown. Even more interesting was how she didn’t seem to care that his Base Stat Average was two whole points below hers.

It was something he’d have to keep an eye on as he learned the social niceties of this place.

NEW GENERAL SKILL LEARNED!

Gladhanding – Skill Level 1 (Tier-0)

Not a big fan of working the room back on Earth, I take it? Although with your Charisma, that was probably a good call.

50 XP Earned

Charisma +1

And speaking of Charisma, yeah, you did okay there. Maybe you aren’t going to make a mess of things.

Slowly but surely, Peter was starting to figure this place out.

Putting the note out of his mind, he crossed the street and entered the recruiting office.