March 28, 2026 — 1:34 am

Rain rested in the pool until the grumbling of his stomach overpowered his inclination to just float there for the rest of the afternoon. He wasn’t thirsty, having drunk from the pool after purifying the water for a few moments in his cupped hands. He trusted the skill to clear out any pathogens that might be lurking in the pool but still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of drinking bath water. The water was flowing in from the river, so he had decided that it wasn’t really as bad as all that, especially once he had purified it.

He climbed out of the pool and toweled off, shivering and pulling on his tattered pants and shirt, which were still slightly damp. The leather cord around his neck with his bronze adventurer’s plate hanging from it had held up better to the slime’s digestive juices than his cotton garments had. He decided to hold the little vial of Tel, rather than slipping it into his pocket. He didn’t trust the seam to hold, and losing it would be catastrophic.

Walking carefully around the edge of the pool, Rain looked at his vitals, seeing that his mana had risen to around 25% while his stamina was hovering at around half. His health had recovered a little bit as well, but he still wasn’t quite at full. His skin felt tight and itchy like he’d gotten a decent sunburn.

He approached the attendant to return the towel but saw that there was a small line. Content to wait, Rain got in line and watched as those in front of him handed the attendant a small brownish coin before retrieving their towels and heading into the bath.

As Rain got to the front of the line, the attendant seemed to remember him and smiled. Rain tried to hand him the towel, but the man held up his hands and pointed at a basket near the exit of the building. Nodding to show he understood, Rain pointed to one of the coins sitting on the desk, then asked:

“Bronze?”

The man just smiled and pointed at the plate hanging from Rain’s neck. “Bronze,” he said. Then, pointing at a coin, said a different word.

“Copper?” Rain repeated, and the man nodded.

Still confused at why he didn’t have to pay, Rain asked. “I you copper?” he indicated the coins then gestured to the bath.

The man shook his head and shrugged. “Bronze <something> adventurers <something> for <something>.”

Oh, adventurers get in free. Nice.

“Thank you,” Rain said, turning and walking to drop his towel in the basket. Halfway there, he turned back to the attendant and held up the towel to point at it.

“Word?” Rain asked.

“Towel,” the man responded, and Rain filed it away. He was pretty sure that he was starting to forget words, but he would never learn them if he didn’t ask. Rain thanked the man again and deposited his towel in the basket before heading out into the evening sun.

His stomach was complaining loudly at this point, so Rain followed his nose, eventually finding what looked like an inn and entering the common room. Several people looked up as he entered, a few of them doing a double take at his tattered clothes and watching him as he moved across the room towards a table. As he sat, a woman walked up to him, apparently a waitress, and asked him a question. Not understanding, he shook his head.

“Food?” he asked.

The woman eyed him skeptically. “<Something> copper,” she said, looking at his tattered clothing.

I guess I pay before I get my food if I look like a vagabond. I don’t have any of those copper coins though. Rain uncorked his vial and picked out a Tel, holding it up in his palm for her to see.

“Tel?” he asked, hopefully.

The woman sighed and grumbled something which sounded like it had the word adventurer in it, but she took the Tel and disappeared into another room. She returned in a few moments with a huge bowl of stew and a loaf of bread. She set them down on the table in front of Rain, then she surprised him by handing him a handful of copper coins.

“Thank you,” Rain said. The woman just harrumphed and went over to take an order from another patron.

Rain inspected the coins while he waited for his stew to cool, seeing that there were two different kinds. She had given him two large-ish coins with an unknown face on one side and the number 5 on the other, as well as two smaller ones with the image of a bird and an unknown character.

I’ll call that “1” for now. So 12 copper is my change, but how much did this soup cost? Less than 1 Tel apparently. Mmm, this smells amazing.

Rain started eating the soup, finding that the taste, while not quite as good as the smell, was agreeable. He tore off bits of the bread, dunking them in the soup and taking huge bites. Looking around the room, he saw a few people watching him, who quickly looked away.

Humm, so adventurers aren’t all that common away from the guild, or maybe I just stick out. Good to know I guess. Places like this inn and the baths use copper for currency and people give you the stink eye if you try to pay with crystal. I guess using Tel is just an adventurer thing. Makes sense I guess, they drop from monsters and aren’t as convenient to carry around as coins anyway.

Finishing off his stew and bread, Rain leaned back, satisfied. As hungry as he had been, the stew was filling and he felt quite full. Looking down at the film of stew remaining in his bowl that he hadn’t been able to sop up with the bread, Rain decided to try something.

Purify.

Rain concentrated, watching the remains of the stew disappear, leaving the bowl spotless after ten seconds or so of effort. So convenient! Relaxing, he smiled and looked up to see that the entire inn had gone quiet, everyone watching him. Oops.

Rain blushed a bit and stood. Looking at the coins in his hand, he decided to leave the two smaller ones on the table as a tip as compensation for the disturbance. He wasn’t sure if tipping was a thing in this world, or if 2 copper was generous or insulting. He decided to do it anyway on the principle of something being better than nothing.

The patrons watched him warily as he walked to the exit, the waitress just giving a long-suffering sigh as she went to collect his bowl.

Was that really a big deal? Experience can’t be that hard to get, these people should have skills or magic too. Everyone should, but I haven’t seen any magic other than what Brovose and Ameliah used, and whatever that stab move of Hegar’s was. What makes adventurers different? I mean, not everyone is going to be able to kill a slime, sure, but what about that training experience I got before? Why can’t they level up from that? Gah! I wish I could just ask someone this stuff without having to use interpretive dance!

Rain caught his thoughts wandering off into the weeds again and he jerked his focus back to his present situation. He was getting a lot of odd looks from passers-by as he stood there in the middle of the street. This part of the city seemed to be mostly residential, and his bronze plate and torn shirt were drawing some unwanted attention his way. Rain tucked his plate inside his shirt and started off down the road, feeling that it was better to be confused for a hobo than an adventurer for what he had in mind.

He needed some clothes, but he didn’t have a lot of money, or at least he didn’t think he did. He still wasn’t sure. He wanted to ask for directions to somewhere he could buy clothes, but he didn’t want to be directed to an adventurer’s shop like the one he had seen in the guild square. He had gotten the feeling that adventurers would have access to more money than the average townsperson, and he didn’t want to pay for top tier adventurer gear when all he really needed was basic clothing.

After walking for a little while aimlessly, Rain saw a tidy looking older man approaching from the direction he was walking. Stopping, Rain tried to look non-threatening as he spoke to the man.

“Hello?”

The man stopped, regarding Rain with a curious expression.

“Hello,” the man replied uncertainly.

“Hello. I no words, sorry. I…. shirt, pants… shoes. I… copper?” Rain attempted.

The man looked confused, and a little sad. He dug around in a pocket, retrieving one of the smaller copper coins and tried to place it into Rain’s hand.

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“No,” Rain said, gently pushing the coin away. Damn it, he thinks I’m begging. Pulling the two large copper coins from his pocket, he showed them to the man and tried again.

“No, I copper,” he said, holding up the coins. “I …. no shoes. I… shirt. Bad shirt.” Rain pointed to the torn shoulder of his shirt. Seeing that the man still looked confused, Rain mimed looking around the city, holding his hand to his eyes as if shielding them the sun, then, he shrugged.

A flicker of comprehension crossed the man’s face as he spoke. “You <something> shirt <something>? Shoes?”