Civilization At Last

(Morgan Pov)

It's just my luck that I got my ass handed to me 3 mere days away from civilization. Now that I think about it, it's probably much closer than that. It took me about 2 days to recover from that skirmish. I was also traveling slower than usual since I didn't want to push myself too much.

Those 2 days weren't so bad. I got to go through some of my new reading material. The first day I read through the tomes. I didn't go too in-depth, just tried to understand the basics of each beginner-level spell.

Things like how to activate them, how much magic each spell costs, how to stop each spell, and memorizing the spell circles for all of them. I started casting for real on the second day, nothing too fancy. Just going through the process one step at a time.

With my current mastery of dark magic, this was an easy feat to accomplish. Since I memorized the magic circles, I can pretty much cast those spells at any time. That was a fun thing to do while I let my wound heal.

I should enter the city and address a couple of problems. The first one being I absolutely have no idea where the hell I am. The second being I still have no money which means the things I can do are severely limited.

Having some money would help out a lot in the future, it would make certain situations easier to navigate through in the future. For now, I should just explore the city a bit and see what options I have.

I should go to the town square or what seems like the social hub of this city. Ask around for information to get a basic lay of the land. I wonder if I can sell my medicines anywhere. Not sure how much they will sell for or even the demand for medicine.

At the very least, I'm sure I will have enough to afford a single meal. Maybe I'll have enough to sleep in an inn, but I also don't mind sleeping on someone's roof. Maybe I should ask around and find a job.

I don't have any immediate plans and giving myself a routine to follow would be nice. Yeah, I think I'll do that. Or at the very least I'll try to get some sort of job.

There are a lot of people walking through here, though not as much as Bulgar. Then again this is not a fair comparison because Bulgar is the capital of Sacae and a major center of commerce.

Fuck, who bumped into me.

"Uhh… That hurts. I'm so sorry! I'm in a rush, do you know where the bakery is?"

"I do know. You travel down this street. Then you take a right when you see the big tree and travel down that road. The bakery should be in that area. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, thank you so much."

If that guy was a little bit more observant, he would have realized that I don't look like I am from here. I know that I stand out a bit in my clothing from the little that I have seen. When you ask for directions from strangers, always triple-check your information.

You will never know if they are lying, don't remember, or just have a horrible personality. I guess he must have believed in the stereotype that Sacaeans never lie. Still, he should have been more careful. You never know what type of person you will run into.

I lied because I'm a petty person. He inconvenienced me, so I inconvenienced him. I blame my best friend, he was the one who did this all the time. I thought it was funny, so I started doing it too.

Good times. I miss Max. I wonder how he is doing. Well, I guess he is getting that promotion now that I am gone. I hope he can finish what I started, I have left him a lot to do. I'm sure he can handle it, he is the only one alive who has an idea of how I operated.

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(Merchant Pov)

Today has been a good day for business. I sold a lot more of my wares than I expected, which makes me feel a little happier today. But I can't stop myself from worrying about tomorrow. The mercenaries I usually hire to protect my wagons were snatched away from me.

I think I did a pretty good job gathering a new group of people on such short notice. I haven't worked with most of these people, so I have nothing to base my expectations on. I like to think I am a good judge of character, but I didn't make my money by being careless.

Right now in total, I have hired 5 mercenaries which are 2 swordsmen and 3 axe fighters. If I want to be safe I could spend more gold to hire 2 more mercenaries. I at least want to hire one person who can take care of threats from afar.

From what I can see on paper, that is one of the weaknesses of my current group of guards. I don't mind spending a bit more money on safety. I would lose more money if my wagons were to be raided by bandits.

"Excuse me, are you the merchant who is hiring guards?"

Someone asking about the job, what a coincidence. I see a young man standing before me, a Sacaean from the looks of it. He certainly stands out, you don't see a lot of Sacaeans traveling through Bern. Even more so considering the appearance of this young man.

He is wearing boots, loose brown trousers, an orange Sacaean tunic, and an orange bandana. While he may be wearing the usual garbs of Sacaean nomad, he doesn't look like the typical Sacaean man.

He is tall, has black hair and dark grey eyes. Not at all close to the green hair commonly associated with Sacaeans and grey isn't an eye color Sacaeans usually have. Then again appearances don't matter in this instance.

What I need is a guard for my wagons, not a vendor for my booth. If he is Sacaean, then there is a high chance that he is either a swordsman or a bowman. If he is a bowman then he will most likely have a horse.

A horseback archer would be a good addition, mobility and range are something I wouldn't mind having.

"Yes, I am. I am looking to hire 2 more guards to accompany me on my journey down south. Right now I am looking for people to fill a specific role. Tell me, what can you do? And why should I consider you? My time is very precious."

"What are you looking for? I'm a man proficient in many skills. It would take some time for me to list them out. I don't want to do that, your time is precious after all."

Confident and knows how to talk. He is definitely not your average Sacaean, I get the feeling that there is more to him than what he shows. He certainly has my attention, let's see if he can keep it.

"I am looking for someone who can take care of far away threats. I would like to know more about the skills that you are proficient in. We may be able to come to an agreement depending on what I learn. Let's start with something simple. Tell me, what weapon do you use?"

"The weapon I am most proficient in is the spear, but I also know how to use a bow and sword. I can use all of these weapons on both foot and horseback. If that is not what you are looking for, then take a look at this."

He opens his hand and holds it out in front of him. Then it happens, I see him conjure a ball of lightning. I can feel the air around us getting hotter, this isn't a trick of the eyes. He knows how to cast magic, that's a nice surprise.

"Tha-"

"Ah... Ah... Ahaaa. I'm not done yet. Just stand there and enjoy the show."

The ball of lightning starts to get smaller and smaller, but something is growing bigger and bigger in the center of that ball. As the lightning begins to dissipate, what was forming in the center is revealed. It is a normal stone. How did he manage to do that?

After staring at the stone for a while, I start to see it change as well. Its texture no longer looks solid, it looks like mud or clay. The outer shell of the stone slowly disappears and what is revealed underneath is a clear ball.

The ball is like glass, I can see right through it. Curiosity gets the better of me and I touch the clear ball. When I touch it I see the surface begin to ripple and it feels wet. I'm sure of it, this is a ball of water. He turned lightning into a stone, and stone into water. What's next?

"For this one, I recommend standing a little back for your own safety."

I heed the young man's warning and step back. The ball of water begins to bubble and right before my eyes, I see the water light up in flames. Fire, the element most commonly used by mages for combat. It's a small flame, but the heat coming from it tells me this flame is deadly.

The flame is floating in his palm, I will never understand how mages can handle the elements. One wrong move, one wrong thought, and they get hurt. I don't think I will ever be able to do that, the pressure would be too much for me to handle.

That's why I respect mages and their craft so much. The heat of the flame disappears and a breeze blows all around us. Thunder, earth, water, fire, and now wind. That's five different types of magic all in a short amount of time.

"Rest assured, if you need someone to take care of away threats I can do that. I'm just letting you know that I have a lot of options available to me."

If he said that earlier, I would have thought he was making a bold and empty claim. I don't know anything about him as a warrior, but at the very least I know I'll get my money's worth. He is a mage with considerable skill there is no doubt about it.

I don't mind paying extra for a mage, magic is rare and very useful. It is something most people can't deal with and he doesn't look like a mage. I could use that to my advantage. The question is how much he will cost me.

"How much would it cost for your services?"

"I leave that up to my employer as a sign of good faith. You have to take the risk by trusting the words of a stranger. I leave it up to you to decide my worth. Whatever price you decide, I promise I'll do work befitting the amount you pay me."

Leaving it to me to decide, this is a difficult situation. Overvalue him, I lose money. Undervalue him, there is a chance he won't even use magic to help me. Sacaeans are honorable and always true to their word.

Even if I do overpay him, he will find a way to make it up to me. If he can't, I'm sure I can think of something. Either way, this all hinges on my judgment. I trust it, but I can never be too safe. I'll base it off what he wants to show me.

"I'll pay you a total of 4000 gold and I'll pay you 1000 thousand right now. If you don't perform to a level I don't feel is befitting the remaining amount, then I'll deduct it from your pay. Is that a fair deal to you?"

"I see no problem. If I want to get paid the full amount, then I have to work for it."

"Good, I'll let you know all of the specific details for this job."

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(Morgan Pov)

That went better than I expected, I got way more than I expected. Unfortunately for me, I now have to work a bit harder. I don't need much money to survive, but who can say no to more money?

Now, what should I do with my newfound wealth? Do I spend it or do I save it? Fuck it, I'll flip a coin. Heads I save it, tails I spend it.

*Ding*

Tails. Fate has decided, I'm going to treat myself to a nice meal and uhh… Hmm, I don't know what else to spend my money on. I don't really have many desires and I'm pretty happy right now. Oh well, things will sort themselves out later. I hope they do.