Chapter 9: Rats, Soap, and New Threads

Chapter 9: Rats, Soap, and New Threads

The last stop in the guild hall was the pick up the package for the delivery quest. We made our way over to a window where a young teen of about my age rummaged through a stack of boxes to give me a small sealed package. “They will pay you on delivery,” he said. “This quest doesn’t require a return receipt.” “Then how will you mark it complete?” Leslie asked, folding her arms over her chest. He sneered at her. “Don’t do many delivery quests, do ya? The parcel contained a twinned charm that breaks when the parcel is opened. Before you ask, we can also tell if you don’t deliver it and open it yourself. I am not permitted to tell you how that charm works.” “Fair enough,” I said, turning to leave. “Thanks for the help.” “Anytime,” the kid muttered, watching us go. “You need to get used to Monster Vision,” Leslie said as we walked through the guild. “You’re going to see monsters everywhere. And not only that. Now they will be able to see you and interact with you. The F ranked monsters that the buff allows you to see will probably ignore you or run away but you need to be prepared for aggressive monsters when you get higher-ranked buffs. The guild won’t always tell you about that when they buff you.” “I understand,” I said, looking around for monsters in the guild. Leslie realized what I was doing and pointed at the floor. “There, in your shadow. Everybody had one. They have many names, Shades, Shadows, or Closet Monsters. Think of yourself as a crab shell and these monsters as opportunistic hermits who decide to make you their home. In this case, it’s your shadow. They are harmless though.” I looked down at my shadow. Did it just wink at me? How had I never noticed before? Then I remembered the passage I’d read in the book about magic bags.

The bag itself is not magic. The active ingredient is the hair of a Shade that ties shadows to the void.

Could it be the same thing? I made a mental note to experiment with my shadow the next time I was alone. I was lost in thought as we made our way down the elevator and out to the city streets. As soon as we left the Chrysler Building, I understood what Leslie was talking about. Exotic birds wove through the buildings of Manhattan while a pair of Slimes slithered down the city sidewalk. Magically, both Humans and Monster instinctively avoided one another. I walked into the intersection and stared down an open sewer grate. “How exactly is this an adventure?” Leslie chuckled. “It beats the alternative. If you were a pea…I mean if you were unawakened, you’d probably be in school right now.” “Not exactly,” I admitted, realizing I’d be headed back to the orphanage for lunch before going to work with Mr. Branch. “I suppose this is better than what I would be doing.” I watched in awe as Leslie walked up to the manhole and climbed inside without hesitation. Not a single one of the many pedestrians that buzzed around like bees paid her any mind. Taking one last breath of fresh air, I followed her into the darkness.

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“This place reeks,” I muttered as I waded through the muck of the New York City sewer. My shoes were quickly ruined as I was submerged up to my ankles. Leslie marched ahead of me with her bow at the ready, oblivious to what she was walking in. “They should be just up ahead,” she whispered, nocking an arrow as she strode ahead. I squinted into the darkness, wondering if it was my eyes or if she was just exceptionally good at seeing in the dark. We heard them before we saw anything. Loud squeaking came from a tunnel up ahead and a flurry of rats splashed by in the darkness. “We want the ones with the glowing red eyes,” Leslie announced as she let them pass beneath us. If there had been a ledge or table, I would have jumped on top of it. As it was, I danced around, splashing sewer water all over the place. Leslie yelled at me. “Ew, gross. Stop moving around so much. These are harmless. Remember, you got disease immunity.” “Oh, right,” I muttered, pressing myself to the wall to give the rats as much berth as possible. Then I saw it, a pair of beady glowing eyes in the darkness. The monster rat growled and shot toward us like a tiny vermin torpedo. Leslie wasted no time loosing arrow after arrow. The first sailed over the monster’s head but the second nailed it between the eyes. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. “One down. Do you want to want to do the honors?” “Honors?” I asked, looking at her in confusion. “The tail,” she replied with a crooked grin on her face. “Do you want to cut off the tail?” I gaped at her and then at the rat. Even dead, it stuck out of the water by a good foot. Its tail had to have been somewhere underwater but the last thing I wanted to do was touch it. Analyze had other ideas.

Suggestion: Harvest the monster’s body for a variety of crafting components. Meat: Cooking ingredient Bones and claws: Bonecrafting Pelt: Leatherworking Blood and Organs: Alchemy Tail: Quest Reward

It was times like those that I wished I had that magic bag. If I let Analyze have its way, I’d be throwing away less than I was keeping. It would be better to take the whole thing and deal with it in a place that wasn’t filled with poo. That couldn’t be good for the meat. Leslie chuckled at my hesitation. “Just kidding. I won’t make you carve it up on your first time.” She produced a dagger I hadn’t seen before and knelt beside the corpse. A few slashes later and we had our first rat’s tail. What she did next, made me want to be sick. She tucked it into her belt and began stalking the next rat. I stepped around the corpse, feeling a twinge of regret that I wasn’t following instructions and carving up the rest of the body. It felt an awful lot like leaving money on the table. We continued into the sewer for several hours. Each time it was the same. A single monster rat wandered the sewers surrounded by packs of non-monster rats. “The regular ones you can see without the buff,” Leslie explained. “You can get a reward for turning in their tails but the guild gets mad if you do that. The quests are designed to cull the monsters, not the normal ones. We can leave those for regular exterminators. The monsters cause problems down here if you let them get too big.” “Those aren’t too big?” I asked, gaping at a corpse the size of a pony. She laughed. “Not even. I heard one grew so big that it got stuck in the tunnels. The city sent some plumbers down to look at it and they thought there was a cave-in. Killing it must have been easy considering it couldn’t move at all.” “I’m not sure I like monster hunting,” I sighed. It was one thing to do a job but I never signed up to kill anything. Leslie sighed. “Well, you get used to it. Trust me. Besides, this will be a lot easier once you learn a fighting skill or two. You just need practice. I suggest we use your cut of the earnings on a weapon for you.” “I already spent my earnings on breakfast,” I replied. She frowned. “Oh, right. Well, we can just kill extra for the bonus. I’m sure they will take an extra five tails for some extra copper.” And that was how I spent half the day down in the sewers. It was nearly dinner time when we finally emerged. I was covered in grime and smelled like a well-used toilet while Leslie looked like she’d just stepped out of the shower. “How are you so clean?” I asked as she moved away from me. “My armor is enchanted,” she admitted. “I forgot to tell you about that. You’re going to need some extra buffs next time we go out to protect your normal clothes.” “But these are my only clothes,” I groaned, peeling the shirt away from my skin. “Um,” she hesitated. “Are you homeless?” I shook my head. “No. I live at the orphanage.” “I’m sorry,” she said, looking like she felt sorry for me. A fierce sense of independence overwhelmed me, and I found myself snapping back at the girl who’d been nothing but kind to me. “Why are you sorry? There’s nothing wrong with living in an orphanage. It builds character.” “I’m sor…” she began again before catching herself. “I mean, can I at least help you borrow some clothes while these get cleaned?” I sighed heavily, not wanting to continue the conversation but also not wanting to go home smelling like a turd. “I guess. Is there a place where I can get cleaned up too?” She smiled, her face lighting up when I accepted her offer. “Yes! I know just the place.”

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The place Leslie referred to was a hole in the wall in a small shopping plaza. It was out of the way and I would have missed it if Leslie hadn’t been there to point it out. “Hello,” she called out even though she didn’t need to as a pair of bells jingled when the door opened. “Miss Spencer? I have a new customer for you.” A woman with straight black hair and a pointed nose pushed aside a curtain that hung in place of a door leading to the back. “What’s this about a…oh my, he certainly smells fresh, doesn’t he? A quest in the sewers, was it?” “That’s right!” Leslie announced, dragging me by the hand through the door. “This is Oliver. He’s a brand new adventurer too. It’s his first day.” “I see,” Miss Spencer said, giving me a once over. “Want to be a mighty warrior, do you?” I shook my head. “No! That’s the last thing I want to be. I just need to make money.” “Then why would you go to the…” she hesitated before giving Leslie a knowing smile. “Oh, I see. So, what do you need money for?” That seemed like a very personal thing to ask. Where would I even begin? I supposed I mainly wanted money to take care of Grace. There was no way I could trust my stepmother to do it. Then there were the kids at the orphanage. It was a dream of mine to get rich and take care of everyone. Then there were more immediate needs. “Food,” I replied simply. “I need money for food.” Miss Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” I couldn’t be sure but it felt like she was patronizing me. “Is there any place where he can get cleaned up?” Leslie asked, letting go of my hand and wiping it on her tunic which didn’t seem to get soiled at all. “Yes, I have a shower in the back,” Miss Spencer replied. “Be sure to leave those filthy clothes in there when you’re done.” “But what will I wear?” I asked, feeling awkward for not having asked how I was supposed to pay for new clothes earlier. “Don’t you worry about that,” she replied. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll have you all sorted out.” While I was still frustrated not to have any answers, I was equally tired of being filthy, so I took her advice and marched into the back. I heard the women talking up front while I stripped off my now-ruined clothes and stepped into a small shower. The room looked like much more than a stock room. With a cot and a small set of drawers, it appeared that Miss Spencer lived there, at least some of the time. The water was instantly hot just the way I liked it, which made me wonder if magic was involved.

Mana Heated Self-Cleaning Shower Owned by: Spencer

Suggestion: Add a condenser pipe for more water pressure.

I grinned at the shower. It was my first magical one. Then I tried the soap. The muck and grime fell off of my body when I applied a small amount of the liquid to my skin. I didn’t even need a washcloth.

Crud-Be-Gone Owned by: Spencer

I stared at it. “No suggestions?”

Your Research skill has increased: +1 (2)

Suggestion: Soap can be optimized with a variety of magic ingredients. Do you wish to know more? Y/N?

I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe later.” No other words popped up, so I assumed whatever it was had listened. I spent another ten minutes luxuriating in the hot water while triple checking I was meticulously clean. It was the first time that I wasn’t rushed by knocking on the door or forced out by frigid water. When I finally peeked my head out of the shower curtains, I saw that my old clothes had gone and in their place was another set all nicely folded up. I noticed they were kind of ragged when I put them on. Even the underwear looked worn.

Custom Disguise Made by: Spencer

I tugged them on, wondering just what the disguise was supposed to be. I looked, for lack of a better word, normal. Once I was fully clothed, including a ratty-looking pair of shoes, I made my entrance. I marveled at how comfortable everything was despite its lackluster appearance. The clothes felt like they were made to fit me and didn’t snag anywhere no matter how I moved my body. The shoes fit so perfectly that it felt like I wasn’t wearing any while walking on a cloud. “How do you feel?” Miss Spencer asked while Leslie giggled behind her.