Leads to Second Warning

  Ruth continued to power-walk down the path to town, past her field of crops. The budding flowers mocked her as she ran away from her impending harvest; she had not planned to deal with it so soon. She mumbled to herself as she walked. “The only blood users were murder hobos. All the farmers I watched took their time. They physically did the work, though.” She walked past her fields designated for livestock. To her, it looked like a wall of bubbles. If livestock are tagged and are taken inside it looks like a fence. To anything else, it would look like an impenetrable wall. She continued, “Even if they could grow them fast, it's not good for the land. There is no planting in the morning, harvesting in the afternoon. Farming is all about hard labor with a long wait time. Enriching the soil to grow better delicious food.” Ruth is working herself up. Her voice is getting louder. “I should be relaxing and planning. Especially with how much of a cheat magic is. Now I need to go to town and get those Franken-fantasy creatures.” She entered the forest.

  Her thoughts turned inwards as the shadow of the canopy fell over her. Her distracted demeanor turned guarded. Her eyes scanned her surroundings in practiced patterns. She cast a spell on herself. “ I plead you take heed of my need for speed.” The ground under her feet seemed to expand and contract with every step. She doubled the distance she was walking. She kept an eye out for danger. She did not find any until she neared the dungeon territory. A particularly beautiful wisteria tree with plum- and peach-like fruit was surrounded by wolves. Look like a small family of rather large purple squirrels we're barking at the woods wolves below.

  Ruth immediately stopped the spell on herself, getting ready for a fight. She swung her staff in front of her and cast lightning.

  “Zap the puppies on the head. Slap the guppies, lead to dead.”

  She was getting a feel for when and how to implement her mana for the cantrip. It needs to pulse with the punch of the rhyme in rhythm. That one fell flat at the end. But it didn't seem to matter. All three wolves were fried to death.

  A wide, greedy grin grew on Ruth's face. Time for the best part about fighting dungeon spawn. She had a little hop with this rhyme: “Give me all your money honey. Give me every dime of time. Dough is best when I have it to blow, you know.”

  She gave a little giggle at how absurd that one was. She was starting to lean into this rhyming stick. The looted spell went to work. The bodies of all three wolves shattered into nothingness, and moats of lavender light rushed into Ruth’s book. She snapped and it fell open to the inventory list.

  “Three pelts, Wolf meat, ewe, fangs, and gold!Yes!”

  She glanced back at the wisteria tree and the squirrels were peeking out from behind the branches at her. “ Hello,” she called in a soothing and respectful voice. “It is nice to meet you. My name is Ruth Montague. I live down the road. I hope we will be good neighbors.”

  She immediately went to pass by the tree and carry on to the dungeon. But one squirrel barked at her and threw one of the plums at her. It did have a fuzzy exterior and a peach shape, but it was a deep purple. She glanced back at the squirrels and they were all staring at her expectantly. Looks one gets if they go to a person's house and are given a hand-cooked meal. She bit the plum in half. The flesh tore easily from the pit. The juice in her mouth had the tart sweetness of raspberries with cream with the texture of a mango. Ruth made sure to make the appropriate noises of appreciation and enjoyment. She finished off the rest and stored the pit in her book. “ Thank you so much!” She exclaimed. Licking her fingers as she edged down the road. “It is very good! Let me know if you need anything else. I could live off those.” The squirrels chittered as Ruth waved.

  She zapped many more enemies on her way through the dungeon area. Five more wolves, 10 vicious bunnies, and a group of six wild pigs with a big bore. Off the road, she saw adventures fighting a bear. The group was organized, methodical, and ruthless. She moved on before they could spot her. She was close to the town now. On the very border corner of her property was a final wisteria tree. The squirrel there was big, very big, muscled, and mean-looking. It has survived many battles, with scars all over its fluffy hide. It had one ear missing and half a tail. Ruth tipped her hat at it and commented, “I will be back this way. Do you need anything from town?” The squirrel bared his teeth at her. He shot her an evil eye. It was like she had tried to bribe the clean cop.

  She walked past without any harassment. The walls of the city have a small gate on this side, thankfully, for the adventurers. The walls are also high and thick for when there is a dungeon surge. As it was nearly noon, there was no traffic going in. She went through unchallenged. The guard dozing on the ramparts didn't stir. The buildings here matched her home. Built of brick and plaster with large courtyards and red ceramic roofs. You just couldn't tell one house from the other. Sometimes, the buildings were painted in different colors like deep browns, bright yellows, pinks, and blues.

  As you would expect from a place full of adventures, there are a lot of inns with bars. Just passed that spot. There's a lot of blacksmiths, leather workers and repair shops. Then there's the Adventurers Guild. Where adventures can sell their loot. She went inside.

  The inside opened up into a lobby. Plush couches were arranged around Ottomans with lots of quest books. A sign next to the receptionist with arrows down hallways saying classrooms, training Hall, bring loot here. The receptionist in a brown with gold accents business suit looked up when Ruth approached.

  “How may I help you, ma'am?” She said in a gruff voice despite her young appearance.

  “I would like to sell some loot from dungeon spawn, but I am not an adventurer. Do I need to join to sell here?” Ruth inquired politely.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The receptionist looked her up and down skeptically but responded, “No, but you get better rates if you join. If you are going to continue selling loot. I recommend it. Did you just move here?” The receptionist's monotone voice had a broad but respectful tone.

  Ruth nodded. “I will join then.”

  “Place your book here,” The receptionist directed. Ruth to a pedestal to the right of the reception desk. Once placed, the pedestal glowed with the same periwinkle light.

  “ Congratulations and welcome to the guild. It looks like you have completed three Open quests. The bunny quest, the boar quest, and a wolf quest. Present the loot at the counter down the hall, and they will pay you with the quest incentive.”

  Ruth thanked the woman then moved down the left Hall. She entered a big Warehouse with counters separating the adventures from the wares. She walked up to a middle-aged man in the same style suit as the receptionist. Who emerged from the racks of boxes to stand at the desk. He placed his book on the counter. “Place your book on top of mine,” he asked. Ruth complied and her book sprung open onto her inventory list again. This time with only the dungeon loot was displayed.

  “ Verify that these are all the loot you wish to turn in today. Looks like the completion of three quests. Would you like me to transfer the money directly into your book or do you like to count it first? Okay, transferring it now. Yes, people will stand there and count the physical coin before putting it in their book. It's crazy, I know. Looks like it's done. All right, I've got to sort these. Have a good day, ma'am.” He quickly went back into the labyrinth of shelving without Ruth having to say a word.

  On her way out she asked the receptionist for directions to a place to buy livestock and a bookstore. The livestock and bookstore are on exact opposite sides and she was halfway from both of them. She went to the livestock pens first. Ruth stuck to the main roads and was soon surrounded by people. It looked like a Ren Fair. Carts rattled in the center, and people moved around them like water. The livestock pens were easy to find once she got downwind.

  Animals are usually stored in containments while people are in town. The pet containers are round, and the livestock containers are usually boxes. At the livestock pens they take the animals out so you can inspect them before purchase.

  This is where the fantasy animals go crazy. Rideable or large animals can range from a cat or dog or a dragon. They're usually not displayed and are kept in a pet container. The breeders display pictures of The animals and talk up their early training and friendly or fierce demeanors. For livestock, it's usually just one animal. Early in the conception of the afterlife, one mad mage decided to make an animal that would give meat, milk, and textiles all the same animal. The final creature is the size of a pony, the shape and temperament of a capybara. It has soft, fluffy white hair that's as fine as silk and as strong as steel. It still retains its flexible nature and is easy to handle. It produces eggs the size of a football/ soccer ball. Can produce milk to rival any dairy cow. They're also considered an invasive species cuz everything is afraid of them. Their cuteness and docile nature do not change the fact that they spit acid. It makes for a very convenient cleaning solution. It has a citrus smell, repels bugs, and can clean the flesh off bones.

  They are also social creatures and you should get a family group. Or a pair that just fell in love. There was one such pair laying in the hay together with her nose touching, staring into each other's eyes with a cranky old lady glaring at passersby. Ruth approached the woman. " Are you looking to rehome your, um, fluffies? “ She asked nervously. Usually, the name is different depending on the region. The elderly lady glared at Ruth. “What do you want these fluffins for?” She asked roughly. Her hostile gaze looked Ruth up and down as she stepped towards her menacingly.

  “To build up a Happy home,” Ruth said defensively with her hands up in front of her. “She gets to keep all the eggs she wants when she wants. They'll stay together with plenty of land but contained.”

  The lady. Humpfed turned to the happy couple of fluffins and asked, “You want to live with this one?” Slowly, they turned towards Ruth, blinking like they just realized there were other people in the universe. They purred like a big cat, deep, and you could feel it in the ground. The lady smiled. “They like you. That means they probably won't eat you.” Ruth purchased them for 100 silver coins. The old lady counted them out in physical form before putting them in her book. Grumbling the entire time that it would be easier if Ruth had a gold coin

  With two fluffies in their carrier. They were able to be put in her book. And Ruth backtracked down the main road until she got to the fancy side of town. Next to the main gate is the bookstore recommended by the guild receptionist. For nearly the rest of her money, she purchased books about the local fauna, the local dungeon, the local animals, the local ocean life, and the history of this Town. The store owner dropped some knowledge about the postal service. “ You haven't heard of it yet. I guess it is pretty new. We just got it installed here last year. You have a box at the post office and a box at home and share inventory so you can write little messages and the post will buy it and send it and put it in the box for a fee. It's a whole gold coin to set up a box at your house, though. You said you lived outside the wall,l right? I would recommend it. I do believe it will be more expensive.”

  Next, Ruth went to the market, and she was right. Food was very cheap. Raw food was extremely cheap. The most expensive thing seems to be meat. The most popular was pig meat from the dungeon. But the higher level bear meat was not being sold by the street vendors. The plentiful bunny meat on a kebab with veggies can be purchased with three coppers. If she bought a bell pepper and onion, it would be half a copper.

  Am I going to have to be a dungeon diver to make money? Ruth thought to herself in horror. She bought bunny kabobs. The meat was tender and heavily seasoned, with perfectly charred vegetables lightly salted. She decided to head home before she spent her last coppers.

  On her way out there was a guard at the gate. He nodded at her and asked ”where are you headed?”

  “I live up the hill,” Ruth responded.

  The guard pressed his lips but bowed his head slightly. “ My Lady of the darkwood. Are you returning home? Do you require assistance? The dark beasts seem rather agitated today.”

  Ruth pressed her lips at the change of tone. She highly doubted she was a Noble lady, but the guard must have thought that she was high level. She quickly shook her head. “That will not be necessary. Have a good day.” She said in what she hoped to be a dismissive and bored tone. She could almost feel the guard's eyes stay on her as she walked towards the forest. She tried to keep her walk natural and relaxed. Like she was walking in the garden after tea time. The feeling of his gaze never left her back until she disappeared into the woods. She only stole a glance at the wisteria tree when she was out of sight of the City Wall. To the veteran squirrel, she asked, “What is a dark beast? That guard seemed very suspicious of me. Are there strange things in this wood? Are they dangerous?” Ruth nearly died of a heart attack when the squirrel responded. “ We are the dark beast they speak of.” He said in a deep, menacing voice. “The wood is normal. The only strange thing here is you. I like to think we are very dangerous but not as dangerous as you, immortal.”