Ashes of the Fallen

"That's the risk you take, but my skills aren't so bad that you would need to worry son," he replied sternly as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm confident."

"I'll take two swords then, if you will," I stated, having decided on my plan.

The goal was to judge the market on taking a trash item that was only worth ten copper each, and potentially turning it into a processed material and then into a new weapon. If this man's quality was sufficient to break even, it was worth it for me to bring back a hoard of broken and cracked swords to Dragon's Breach. The experience that my blacksmiths would accumulate from working the metal along with a hometown discount should net me a small profit and help usher in future success.

It was another win-win situation for me.

After paying him and letting him take his pick of the cracked and rusty swords, I thanked him for his time and collaboration and made my way back out into the town. A quick stop at the clothing store was next, as I saw a few adventurers talking to the shop clerk about the bandanas lying on the table.

A smile crept up on my face as a thought occurred to me.

It was time to play a bit.

"Oh! Bandanas, just what I was looking for," I said somewhat excitedly as I walked up to the table. "Do you think this will keep some of the ash out of my mouth old man?"

The clerk just looked at me, a bit confused.

Raising my voice slightly so people could hear me, I continued with my charade.

"Ah the dungeon air is so filthy, after a few hours in there… I just can't stand breathing and choking on that ash," I complained with a sigh. "I can't believe you haven't sold out of these yet, I would think anyone heading down to the second floor would need it. Let alone the third floor… you can hardly breathe at all down there!"

Rummaging through the selection that was out on display, I quickly pulled out two of them and waved them lightly in the air before tying one around my face. A quick glance at the window that showed my reflection and I nodded with enthusiasm, giving myself a thumb's up.

"I'll take two, mister. How much do I owe you?" I asked happily.

"Uh… you, well, thirty copper…" he muttered out.

"Oh that's it?" I replied quickly. "That's pretty cheap, thanks!"

Handing him the thirty copper like it was no big deal, I turned around and walked off with the mask still on my face. I had no reason to buy my own stock but I caught a few people's attention. As I walked on by, I could see from the reflection on the windows that a few people had walked over to the table as well.

I didn't need to do much, but if I could get a few people to start wearing bandanas and shawls, eventually a trend would get started. Psychology was pretty simple really, if you appeared to know what you were doing, other people with less of a clue would follow. I name-dropped the second and third floors as a way to convince the others that I was somehow in the know, now, they were interested to take part.

They would advertise for me, and hell, I was going to have Barik advertise for me as well. Maybe even his priest buddy could give it a try, the more the merrier, anyways. Having convinced myself that my ruse was a success, I now had one last place to stop at before I finished all of my affairs.

When I first set out for this town, I had one major interest outside of the Call to Arms and dungeon grinding, and that was to secure some sort of livestock for Dragon's Breach. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from up North and having it delivered was extremely expensive… not to mention, I couldn't check the quality of the animals I was purchasing. The chickens and such that arrived were fine, but those weren't big purchases.

I wanted cows, oxen, maybe even a horse or goats if I could.

The goal was to have a fully functioning metropolis all to myself, a self-sustained town with crops, livestock, and industry, all at the edge of civilization. Throw in some resort-like functions, and I was practically drooling at the daydream of a winter resort up at the base of the mountain. Easily accessible but just as defensible, with everything a person could or would need within reach.

That was where my real fun was, in the city and economy building.

Plus, I had two lovely female companions to keep me company… there was no reason to spend an excessive amount of time with the other players. I had enough of those pug-types already… and it was only a few days in.

But before I could get to my last destination, Barik messaged me out of the blue.

"Hey, up for a run?" he asked with the telepathic-like system.

Since he was on my friend's list he could open up a video chat, similar to a conference call or send voice messages or even typed-chat if he wanted. There were a lot of options, and I personally preferred the chat interface over phone and video calling, but I was probably in the minority there.

"Yeah definitely, when are we starting?" I replied quickly.