Ren tapped the first unassigned point.
A small confirmation window appeared.
Allocate 1 Stat Point to Strength?
[YES] / [NO]
He cancelled it.
Better to think first. He had no class making those choices for him.
The two players outside the gate had only been allowed to place two of theirs. Their classes had decided where the other three belonged.
Since the assessment, Ren had wanted Pantheon to tell him what he was supposed to be.
For once, not having an answer was useful.
He looked over his stats again.
Strength: 11
Agility: 10
Vitality: 8
Intellect: 10
Perception: 11
The rabbits had given him a fairly direct review of his weaknesses.
He had been too slow with the spear. He had nearly lost half his health to the Elite. And when he did land a clean hit, Strength still mattered.
Intellect could wait until he actually had something magical to do with it. Perception was already one of his better stats.
Ren put two points into Agility. Two into Vitality. The last went into Strength.
Strength increased: 11 → 12
Agility increased: 10 → 12
Vitality increased: 8 → 10
Unassigned Stat Points: 0
Maximum HP increased: 100->110
Ren closed the menu.
Nothing dramatic happened.
No light. No sudden understanding of martial arts.
He flexed one hand, shifted his weight and took a few steps along the road.
His body felt slightly easier to move. Not faster exactly. More responsive, but he would need another rabbit to tell him whether that was real or wishful thinking.
That could wait. For the moment, Ren had ten copper.
He opened his Inventory. The coins occupied their own currency line rather than a slot.
Below them sat his only actual possession from the fields.
Cracked Horn — Grey
Ren looked at it. Then toward Market Street.
He had already learned what harvesting a corpse with a borrowed spear looked like. A knife seemed like a reasonable investment.
Market Street began two roads away from the assessment square.
Ren knew he had reached it when the shouting changed from recruitment to prices.
Canvas awnings covered both sides of the street. Smiths had propped racks of cheap weapons outside open workshops, herbalists displayed bundles of plants from hooks beneath their signs, and food vendors were doing excellent business with players who had apparently decided simulated hunger was still a reason to buy pastries.
A broad-backed blue lizard the size of a pony pulled a merchant cart through the crowd.
Ren stumbled aside to let it pass.
The creature had six legs.
He watched it for a second longer than necessary.
A boy sitting on the cart noticed.
"First time seeing a road strider?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"You stopped walking."
"Damning evidence."
The boy grinned as the cart continued down the street.
Ren watched the six-legged animal disappear between the stalls.
Pantheon had dragons in its trailers and monsters large enough to attack castles. Somehow the weird cart lizard made the place feel more real.
Then a player beside him shouted, "THREE COPPER FOR BREAD?"
Reality recovered quickly. Ren continued down the street.
The first general-goods stall had several harvesting knives hanging behind the counter.
Most were small blades with hooked tips and sturdy wooden handles. Nothing impressive.
Exactly what he needed.
Ren pointed at the cheapest one.
"How much?"
"Twenty-four copper."
"For a knife?"
The shopkeeper glanced at him. "For a harvesting knife. Cleaner cuts, better yield, less chance of ruining what you’re taking."
That explained the price. Unfortunately, it did not lower it.
Ren checked his currency as if the number might have improved while he was walking.
It had not.
"Do you offer a discount for customers carrying forty-two percent of the asking price?"
"No."
"Very strict policy."
The shopkeeper had already turned toward another customer.
Ren took out the Cracked Horn.
"What about this?"
That got another glance. The shopkeeper held out a hand and Ren passed it over.
The man turned the horn once, ran a thumb along the fracture and handed it back.
"Two copper."
Ren looked at the horn. Then at the knife.
"That feels personal."
"It’s cracked."
"The name did warn me."
"Two."
Ren considered it.
The horn was doing nothing in his inventory. Two copper was also doing almost nothing.
He put it away.
The shopkeeper shrugged. No hard feelings on either side.
Ren stepped away from the stall.
A larger shop across the street had a painted sword above the door and three players arguing outside it.
One was holding a thin book bound in red leather.
"Thirty-five silver?"
The merchant inside did not look remotely apologetic.
"Thirty-five."
"For one skill?"
"For Power Strike F."
The player looked at the book again.
"It’s called Power Strike."
"Correct."
"That sounds like the free skill every swordsman gets in a bad game."
A second player leaned over his shoulder.
"Buy it and tell us."
"You buy it."
"I’m a Cleric."
"So heal my finances."
Ren slowed. Books filled an entire shelf behind the merchant. Small labels floated beside them.
Power Strike F
35 Silver
Quickstep F
42 Silver
Minor Recovery F
58 Silver
Steady Aim F
31 Silver
There were more farther down the shelf. Some had class requirements. Some required particular stats. A few only listed a minimum tier.
He opened his Skills menu.
Keen Bite F sat there quietly.
He had paid nothing for it. Getting bitten had been unpleasant, but financially competitive. More importantly, Keen Bite was not on the shelf.
He looked back at the red skill book.
Power Strike belonged to players. Keen Bite had belonged to a monster. Ren’s attention settled on that distinction.
The Scarred Rabbit had used something Pantheon had never intended to hand out as part of a class starter package.
Plunder had taken it anyway.
A player came out of the shop muttering, "I’m going to farm until my grandchildren can afford Quickstep."
Ren stepped aside.
He was beginning to like his empty Talent column considerably more than he had at the assessment. Not enough to forgive it. But negotiations had begun.
He continued through the market.
His ten copper bought almost nothing useful. A basic healing potion cost six.
The cheapest harvesting knife was twenty-four. A simple wooden spear cost eighteen, and the iron-tipped versions started much higher.
Food was cheap enough, but Ren was not currently in danger of starving inside Pantheon.
Outside Pantheon was another matter.
He checked the time and pushed that thought away for now.
Ten copper was not rent money. It wasn’t even knife money. But he had started the afternoon with nothing. That part was at least moving in the correct direction.
Near the far end of Market Street, a wooden board stood beneath a striped awning.
Players crowded around it.
Dozens of notices had been pinned across the surface. Most were already surrounded by people comparing requirements, rewards and directions.
A man near the front tore one free.
"Three silver for escorting a merchant caravan?"
His friend looked over his shoulder.
"Level requirement?"
"Eight."
"We’re Level Two."
"Details."
Another player reached for the same notice.
The first man slapped his hand away.
"Find your own future."
Ren moved along the edge of the board.
Most of the useful jobs wanted levels, classes, parties or equipment he didn’t have.
Then he found one near the bottom.
Pest Control: Orchard Burrowers
Rank: Common
Something has been tunneling beneath the western orchards and damaging young trees.
Objective:
Cull 6 Orchard Burrowers.
Requirement:
None
Reward:
20 Copper
XP
Report to Orchard Keeper Della west of Aldern.
No class. No weapon requirement. Twenty copper. He’d have enough for the knife.
A player beside him leaned closer.
"Those things go underground."
Ren looked over. The player wore beginner mage robes and carried a staff.
"You’ve fought them?"
"No. My friend did."
"How’d it go?"
The player considered the question.
"He learned they go underground."
Ren waited.
"Anything after that?"
"He died."
That made the quest slightly less attractive. Then Ren remembered the Scarred Rabbit.
Keen Bite had come from a monster. If the Burrowers had a skill of their own, Plunder might be able to take that too.
Ren pulled the notice from the board.
The quest window opened.
Quest Available: Pest Control — Orchard Burrowers
Rank: Common
Requirement: None
Reward: 20 Copper + XP
Accept?
[YES] / [NO]
Ren selected [YES].
Twenty copper for the knife. Experience toward Level Three. And maybe a skill worth stealing.
Ren headed west.