Dungeon Item Shop - Chapter 8

Daylight shines with rich intensity, as Fresh steps out of the dungeon with her singed mushroom cap in hand, feeling much better than when she had entered inside of it the night before. It takes a second for her eyes to adjust, but then as they do, she sees the familiar sight of the bustling city during the early day. Adventurers of all manner and type hustle around her, moving in and out of the dungeon gate and swarming down the way towards the nicer market square which was near the entrance. Is that where all the shops were, all the way down there?

She looks around, wondering why there were none here, right next to the dungeon. Wouldn’t this be prime real-estate? But as she stands there, clutching the single mushroom cap against her chest, she notices again that the buildings here are rather drab and poorly built, compared to the high-standards that had apparently been applied to the other end of the city. Maybe it wasn’t popular to live by the dungeon? Odd. She wonders why and keeps walking, following a stream of adventurers down towards the entrance to the city.

Looking as she walks, she notices many things that she simply walked past on her first two excursions down the road. Smiths that were busy at work hammering on metal constructions out in the open, as if putting on shows of their craft. Fletchers weaving threads and spanning wood, a tailor measuring a dainty woman for a new dress, an alchemist and a broad-jawed swordsman arguing loudly about some potions or something of the manner. She wonders who she could sell her cap too. She wonders if the money is enough to even do anything with. Still. It will be a start. Even if it’s only a few cents, a few coins that didn’t even add up to a loaf of bread. It’s a start and that’s all she wanted.

If Mr. Mushroom can respawn too like she did, then maybe she could get him again. If that works out, she could get one of these caps every day; assuming that she caught him off-guard each and every time. Fresh lets out an uneasy groan, she has her doubts about that plan. Mr. Mushroom recognized her, so if he respawns too, then he’ll know about her trick now. The girl looks ahead of herself, a man in leather carrying a large pack covered in the little orange caps is walking just before her and turns into a small store, the door jingling as he enters. A sign outside reads ‘Bits and Bob’s.’ Some kind of general store, perhaps?

Stepping to the side, she watches through the window as he goes to the counter and unloads his wares. The shopkeeper studies them for a second and then nods to the man, giving him a few assorted coins before they part ways again, not a minute later. Fresh steps back as the door opens and the man in leather steps out to continue on with his day. She hesitates for a moment. What if she makes a fool of herself? What if the man laughs at her for trying to sell him one dinky, little, burnt mushroom cap? She gulps. It’s all that she has. She has to try.

Her hand catches the door just before it slams shut and she steps inside. The man looks up to her curiously. He’s past middle-aged, a thick, salt and pepper, mustache adorns his sun-worn face.

“Welcome to Bit’s and Bob’s! I’m Bob, how can I help you today, missy?”

“Uh, hi…” mumbles Fresh, stepping forward somewhat nervously. “I… uh… I’d like to sell this, please!” she says, holding the single mushroom cap out towards the man and closing her eyes, expecting to be yelled at for her foolishness.

“Well, what’ve you got there?” asks the man and she feels the large mushroom cap being taken from her grip. “Just one?” asks the shopkeeper, looking at the mountain of them already behind him. “Mm… we usually have a minimum purchase allotment of five. Time is money, you know?” he says, somewhat bothered.

Fresh nods, clenching her fists. She was afraid of something like this. “Yes. Sorry.”

The man makes a puzzled, somewhat annoyed noise. “It’s burnt.”

Fresh nods, slowly opening her eyes. “Yes. Sorry…”

He lets out a groan, as if unsure and turns the thing around in his hands. He sighs and sets it down on the counter, shaking his head.

“I shouldn’t do this, but okay. I’ll take it and I’ll give you… uh, let’s see…,” he turns it around on the surface, leaning down towards it and inspecting it before looking up to Fresh again and then back to it. “- three obols.”

Was that a lot? She had no idea. Probably not. Still. Fresh raises her hands in excitement. “Yes please!”

The man tilts his head, somewhat perplexed at her spontaneous reaction, but then simply nods and digs down into his till and slides three small bronze coins over the counter. He looks her up and down. “Was this your first?”

[ Earned: {3} Obols ! ]

“Yes!” says Fresh proudly, taking the coins and clutching them tightly in her fist, pressing it against her heart. The metal discs feel cool and satisfying to hold. She earned these. These were hers. “It wasn’t easy, but I managed!” she says with a sigh of relief. She reopens her eyes and looks at the man staring at her, realizing she shouldn’t talk so personally to the strange shopkeeper, who probably thought her much the same.

“Are you new to town?” asks the man leaning back.

Fresh looks at him, now unsure. Was she allowed to talk to him about these things? Not like… legally, but wasn’t it weird? She sighs, no. No more being afraid. This is a new life for her and she won’t carry her old anxieties with her anymore. She refuses to.

“Yeah, I just arrived,” she says meekly.

“Ah! I bet you’re from the south, eh? You got that look,” says the man with a bright smile shining out beneath his mustache.

 She isn’t sure what that means, but simply nods with a “mm!” A question comes to her mind. Should she? She still feels uneasy, talking to this strange man. “Ah, this might be a weird question, but… do you know where I can learn about magic?”

“About magic?” responds the shopkeeper, leaning forward against the counter. His gaze lowers to the mushroom and then to her bruised arms. “Ah, soft-skinned, eh?” He laughs. “Just down the road here, near the gate. There’s the adventurer’s guild, they can answer any questions about that stuff better than I can. I’m just a merchant.” He waves her off.

“Ah!” She clutches the coins tightly and turns to leave. “Okay, thank you very much!”

“You’re very welcome,” says the friendly shop-keeper. “But next time, come with five and no burn marks, okay?”

“Okay!” she laughs and steps outside. What a friendly man. Her shoulders drop as the tension leaves her body and she looks at the three small coins in her hand, which she had been squeezing so tightly that they had left an indentation in her palm. Her pride-shining gaze rises up to the bright blue sky above. Her first adventure was a success! The first day of her new life was sort of a fiasco, but the second one was turning out to be it. It was turning out to be exactly what she had hoped for, she thinks as she turns to the right to go find the guild, smiling brightly as she walks, unaware of the eyes watching her from behind, through the glass of the store’s window.

An adventurer’s guild, of course, it’s too obvious! She should have looked for something like from the start!