38 – Loser

As it turned out, fortified walls were pretty good at keeping people out of the city. Alexandra stalked around the wall, trying to find a spot where she could climb but after scanning the entire perimeter, she had to come to reason.

It just wasn’t going to work. The wall was too smooth, too high, the torches up on the walk too many. On the white stone, she would get spotted in no time.

She stood some distance away from the ramparts, watching the guards patrol. There were not that many. Three pairs of two men had split the walk in sections that they each watched over. But even discounting all her other concerns, she was worried about their skills.

Alexandra had skills, and she’d only been there for eleven days. Granted, she allegedly had a very good class, but it couldn’t be enough to make up for years of experience.

She snapped her fingers, and walked away. This wasn’t going to work.

Thankfully, the walls didn’t surround the city, only the northern half of it. In the south, there was the sea, and on both flanks, tall white cliffs plunging directly into it. However, a short section of the cliffs dropped onto land.

Taking a detour to avoid detection, Alexandra climbed up the eastern cliff. The view over Esmera and its harbor was perfect, though few lights illuminated the sleeping city.

She stepped closer to the edge, and sighed. There was a reason why the cliffs stood unguarded. She was standing on an overhang that extended a good ten feet from the wall. The altitude was so high that the buildings below didn’t look real. There was no getting down there. Not in one piece.

“Maybe sleeping outside isn’t that bad.”

She shook her head. It wasn’t just about that.

Her search took her further along the cliff. The water was hitting the rocky shore below. She was definitely more than a hundred meters up.

“I’m going to die if I do that.”

Then again, the Diving skill quest was asking her to jump. She gave her face a light slap. “No. Bad. Alexandra. You don’t need that skill.” In any case, not before she was certain to survive the jump.

Even Olympians didn’t jump from that height. She expected to need a lot more points in constitution before she felt confident enough.

She scratched her head. Finding another way down to the shore outside the city and swimming around the bay wasn’t realistic either. She was better off waiting till morning, and using the door like a loser.

Alexandra smiled, and crossed to the western cliff.

The drop was identical. Sheer white rock falling straight into black water, no ledge, no gradual slope to ease the transition. She got on her stomach and leaned over the edge, searching the cliff face for anything useful.

Nothing. Well, not nothing, there were plenty of cracks, and spots where she could maybe climb down. The issue was getting to them in the first place.

The city wall met the cliff edge a dozen feet from where she lay. She turned her head and looked at the place where they joined. The builders hadn’t bothered to smooth the transition. The fortification wall met the cliff. The difference in elevation was such that it didn’t matter.

She stood, brushed the dirt off her front, and looked out at the harbor. The sea was quiet.

“Guess I’m really sleeping outside tonight.”

She looked at the wall one more time before standing up.

Alexandra found a secluded dip in the ground where the rocks sheltered her from the wind. Then, she quickly fell asleep.

She woke up right on time for her quest reset.

Quest Journal

Daily Reset: 06:00 | Streak: 11 Days | 1% All Stats

Next Milestone: 25 Days

Daily Quests:

• Unload twenty crates off a boat (0/20)

She blinked. That was one of her most specific dailies so far. She got up, and looked down at the harbor. The sun had yet to peek over the horizon, but the light was already rising. One of the two remaining vessels had left, yet a new one was approaching in the distance.

Running down the slope, she made for the gate. It was open, and a steady stream of farmers were already streaming out, ready to tend to their fields. Alexandra pulled her hood up, and made herself small as she pushed through the crowd.

The guards either didn’t notice her, or they didn’t care.

She walked down the main street that was slowly waking up. The merchants were setting up their stalls, sometimes glancing toward the approaching vessel, a glimmer shining in their eyes.

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The harbor was already active. Fishermen took advantage of the first light to put their boats to sea, while a group of men and women were waiting down a larger pier. Alexandra walked toward them.

She was stopped by a short woman looking at a ledger. “Looking for work?”

“I’d like to carry stuff.” Alexandra nodded.

“Strength?”

Alexandra stared. “Yes?”

“What’s your strength attribute?” The woman asked again, looking up from her ledger. “To calculate your pay.” She frowned. “Don’t get any idea, we’ll know if you lie.”

“Erm… Fourteen…”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “Don’t waste my time.”

“I’m serious!”

She shook her head. “Fourteen strength is way too low to unload a ship. Maybe you can come back when they load it with herbs. The crates will be lighter.”

Alexandra winced. “No, look, I’ll do it for free. Just let me participate. For experience.”

The woman looked her up and down, then sighed. “Fine, but don’t get in the way.”

Alexandra stood at the end of the pier, arms loose at her sides, watching the vessel come in.

Four masts. The hull was dark, almost black with tar and age, and it rode so low in the water that the freeboard was barely a meter. The thing was wide, wider than anything else in the harbor that it made the other ships look like toys. It came in under reduced sail, most of the canvas already furled, the water barely moved around it, as if there was no weight behind the massive vessel.

Around her, the dockworkers had stopped talking and watched.