Deciding on a course Dan began to walk towards the temple in the distance. It hadn’t been long since he had arrived here, yet he felt like he had done so much. Constant fights and preparation caused him to be far more aware of his surroundings like never before. Perhaps he really did need a hobby… though he wanted to stick in the game and devoting all his time to crafting certainly didn’t sound fun. Surely there were professions or something. Actually it’s been awhile since he checked his notifications… perhaps they would give some hints.

Congratulations, you have leveled up!

Congratulations, you have leveled up!

Congratulations, you have leveled up!

Would you like to see your experience gains? Y/N

As the notifications filled his vision his body lifted into the air and he felt a sense of all consuming pleasure from leveling three times at once! His body felt like it was wrapped in the embrace of an angel and carried away, unfortunately that feeling soon faded away and was replaced by melancholy. With a despondent sigh he let the fleeting feeling pass and clicked on the ‘No’ option so he wasn’t flooded with notifications of the dozens of animals he’s killed over the past day and a half. He was level five though, so surely there were some other bonuses, right? Well that was for him to figure out at another time. For now time to meet his maker… or at least the most supportive god in the game for him.

Walking through the polished temple, he made his way to the back where a new marble statue of a fox chasing a rabbit was found on the platform for his god. Touching it, he was whisked away to find himself in his Cladicus’s marble sanctuary. He could see many statues in the process of being repaired and as he looked around and up Dan realized that this whole place was meant to be a museum of sorts. The walls had crumbled and fallen into decay while the floor was still mostly covered in rubble. Though there was a much more pleasant feeling about the place, rather than the slightly miserable or eerie tone the pure ruins had set when he first entered. It was on its way to being rebuilt, and it felt good to be a direct part of that.

At the back of the place was Cladicus sitting on a fully restored marble throne with a smaller marble chair in front of it, presumably for guests such as himself. “Ah! Welcome welcome! Dan I see you have been making strides to help my sanctuary! Those wolves you had scanned did amazing things to help my structure! They gave me so many Divine Points to tinker around with!” Thunder crashed as he finished his sentence and Cladicus’s eyes bulged as if he were choking, for a few seconds before he regained control of himself and continued in a raspier voice as he rubbed his throat.

“Ack, you weren’t supposed to know about those apparently. Well well too late now yes, yes. In any case I wished to personally reward you instead if giving you a notification like most gods do. Oh! First first, I wanted to let you know I managed to find a priest! She is a wonderful little thing and I’m sure you two will meet each other at some point! In fact I might have her seek you out if she ever needs help with something. In any case my power is growing and you can even see it in this miserable dump of a museum.”

Cladicus’s face turned into a frown for a moment before he perked back up. “Oh, yes yes! I almost forgot about your reward! I’ve seen you fighting with those shields and noticed you need something else while fighting when they are on the ground so I used Divine Poi-... ahem I used my Divine Influence to obtain this for you!”

Your deity has granted you - Bag of Leather.

Dan looked at the bag in disappointment. It was less a bag and more of a small pouch to attach at the waist. The gray leather was beautifully crafted into something looked as though it could hold a couple bottles of water with a small cord to be tied to a belt or loop.

Cladicus must have noticed his expression and laughed. "Don't take things at face value in this world Dan. Go on, go on, take a closer look." The bag dissipated from the Deity's hand and reappeared back in Dan's own hand. When he looked down at the bag he got a notification.

Rare item found: Bag of Leather. This item will hold up to 200 pounds of Leather without increasing the weight of the bag. Every pound held after that has its weight halved up to 1,000 pounds of weight.

Even after looking at the item Dan didn't quite understand why it was useful. Sure he'd be able to hold more leather but this seems more of an item for an armorer than him. Though not wishing to be rude he looked up at Cladicus and thanked him for the gift.

"Dan just be sure to try to use the bag. There's more to it than it seems. In any case our time grows short and I must dismiss you. Do remember to keep finding more animals for me, Dan." Upon finishing he clapped his hands once and Dan appeared once more in the temple. He felt a little cheated at such a short meeting and the gift seemed pretty useless but nonetheless he attached the pouch to his belt and left the temple.

Looking around he realized he still had yet to figure out what he wanted to do with the day. Fighting didn't sound very fun. Perhaps he could explore the city a bit and something would show up. Picking a random direction he began to walk and look around the city for the first time since he arrived.

Every building seemed to be active, as far as Dan could tell none were abandoned which seemed to bespeak of how large the city was and how plentiful the amount of people that lived here were. He heard the barking of dogs, smelled the fresh made breads in the bakeries, and even the racket of animals in a nearby pet shop endeared him to this city.

Looking at the pet store longingly he thought about how lonely his apartment could be at times. He had wanted a cat the owner of his apartment complex forbid animals of any kind, so he had never been able to… wait now, why should he not be able to now? He was a powerful summoner and even had a taming ability. Surely he could take himself a cat or some other pet. Now that he was thinking about it, surely there were people that would want a tamed combat pet.

Waking to the store he opened the door and walked in. As he went inside all the animals started making more of a racket and he passed them to get to the counter. As he walked up a harried looking man greeted him.

"Welcome to my store. How may I help you? I have a variety of animals to suit any needs." He took a second to examine Dan in closer detail and he took in his armor in dismay. "Unfortunately I do not happen to have any animals here to help in battle though. You adventurers have bought up what few I kept in the back and I have yet to get any in."

Sensing an opportunity Dan straightened up and leaned forward slightly. "Would you perhaps be looking for someone to help you stock up on new beasts? I have the taming skill and am willing to bring a few animals in. While it's not too high of a level yet I'm sure even low level rabbits or foxes would be appreciated."

Looking up at Dan with renewed hope he spoke quickly. "Well despite your foul tongue I would be more than appreciative of a bit of help. No one wants just a regular rabbit anymore, they have to be able to hit other rabbits or be fodder for foxes. And I'll admit that animals brought in that haven't been tamed first are dreadfully hard for my daughter to train despite how well animals like her. Do you have a permit yet?"

Seeing the confused look on Dan's face he continued. "All trappers and tamers or anyone looking to bring a live animal into the city needs a permit. For those that just want to bring a single pet in and out of the city they're much cheaper but for those that sell animals they're quite a bit more expensive. I can give you a temporary one that lasts until the end of tomorrow and help you get a permanent one after that if you were to say… tame and bring me three rabbits and one fox by the time the permit expires."

Nodding his head, Dan accepted the quest prompt that came up and the man gave him the permit which he tucked into his bag before leaving the shop in search for some more rabbits.