Together Hann and I walked the city streets. It would take a long time to get used to the never-ending sea of noise that assaulted me. I tried visiting some of the shops but quickly found out that my money was no good here, the survival mentality even extended to earning a living. You needed to contribute to the prosperity of the city to gain a fixed salary each week. Instead of being paid with the copper, silver and gold coins common throughout the kingdom, you were paid in food.

All types of food were valid at any store but preserved foods were considered less valuable and fresh meats were worth the most. You bartered for all luxury goods, the only place where coins were worth anything was the office of exchange. Even if you grew food or raised animals it would all be taken in exchange for the city salary. Store owners received a salary only if they benefited the city directly, otherwise they earned whatever people were willing to pay.

No wonder everyone here was so dedicated to keeping the city alive, everyone except for the richest nobles were trapped here. With no money to spend in the outside world and the wrathful desert isolating them, there was no other choice. When we were looking around I kept an eye out for anything that I thought I could do to earn my keep. Hann didn't once mention anything about me owing her, still, I wanted to not be a burden. The few shops on the surface appeared to be family owned and run with few goods on offer. Clothes, furniture and luxury items like decorations were about all that were sold and each shop had the signature robes of a fleur member behind the counter.

Since joining Fleur was off the table and working in those fields seemed terrible I wasn't left with many options. The few natural resources in the region made most trade or refining jobs useless. I could only see three possible options right now: I could become a sand skimmer, the equivalent of an adventurer in these parts. I could set up a shop of my own selling… something, I wasn't too sure what I could offer that would make someone give up a portion of their food. Or I could become a hunter, while there were no land-based animals in the desert, plenty of birds flew overhead daily.

Hann was going to explore the sands, the extreme danger of the occupation meant that you were paid a hefty amount even if you didn't return with a discovery. If you found something that was of importance then you could receive anything from an expensive house to honorary noble status. I wanted to join Hann but it seemed that route was closed off to me as well, there was an intense trial by combat that you needed to pass to become a sand skimmer. As I was, I stood little chance of beating a serious opponent in a duel.

It was starting to get late, we had explored a decent chunk of the surface city and Hann allowed me to visit the slums once more before we retired before nightfall. These people certainly lived healthier lives than expected, there was no threat of starvation as long as you made yourself useful. I asked around wanting to hear their plight but almost no one would speak to me. It took ages to find just one man who didn't turn me away and I never expected the response I got,

"You don't understand. I can eat more than just scraps, I can sleep with a roof above my head. Where I came from you were grateful for a mouthful of bugs. You were lucky if you survived the night. Nothing you did mattered. But here, for a bit of your blood and sweat, you can eat well. I don't want to hear another treasonous word from you."

Treasonous? I just asked if there was anything he wanted to be improved and I received a lecturing rant. A majority of them held the same beliefs, that this was a paradise compared to the persecution they endured everywhere else. There was a surprising amount of bladeless who found their way here by their own will. It wasn't even hard for them to make the trip, merchants would offer to transport able-bodied men and women for free because the House of Smythe would pay well for new workers. The few that looked miserable were too afraid of the guards' violence to speak to me.

More investigating solved one of my lingering questions. Women who failed to gain a blade from the rite were immediately paired with a man to keep the population of the slums up. They had no say in their partner, the current hardest working man was given every woman to ensure that the child was strong. Vile. My disgust was instinctual, to me it was far better to die starving than live like this.

But I was in no place to judge, I was only allowed to have such an outlook because of the support I received. If Hann had just dumped me here, then this was a life that I would have looked forward to. Backbreaking labour and giving birth to as many children as possible just so that they could be subjected to the same treatment but at least I could survive. Not a single soul would discuss the lack of elders but I was pretty much done there for today.

Fine. If the will of the people was to keep working then focusing effort on the slums would be a waste of time. I made up my mind to focus on myself, for now, I had only two real choices. Either I became a hunter and found a way to trap birds or I set up a shop of some kind. Being an open blade tender was off-limits, it would be as good as hanging a 'Please force me into the slums' sign around my neck. I thought long and hard about what I could do on our way back home.

Nothing had come to me before I went to sleep and that trend continued for most of the next day as well. I was instructed to remain inside the house until Hann returned from work, a herbalist had little use around here so she had to head into the desert at the crack of dawn. It gave me plenty of time to think and read, my two favourite pastimes. Despite the mountain of useful information at my fingertips, I had no idea what to do. None of the tainted trove books held new information on blade tenders.

The lack of information stirred up a novel thought. How would anyone know what I was doing? Could someone with no experience figure out what I was doing? I was an avid reader and even still my knowledge was severely lacking. What about the average person? Music had a way of making people feel without the use of special powers. Hann said that my singing was something she hadn't experienced before and she gave off the impression of being well travelled.

Could I get away with disguising my power as a tailor-made song? As long as I was careful about my clients I couldn't see why this wouldn't work. The head priest expressed profound emotions when I tended for him, would people be willing to pay to hear my songs?

I immediately scoured my books for anything that might be useful, something even remotely related to business or running a store would be ideal. I wasn't lucky enough to have anything that specific but it wasn't long before I found some promising reads: 'The telltale look' a book about reading people's body language. 'The layman's beastiary' which told of many different types of common animals, including birds. Finally my old book on agriculture, I practically knew it from cover to cover but now that I had a clear focus maybe something that I ignored before would stand out.

Anything that may help me understand the value of different foods or learn to haggle with people was worth a read.