Zortex found what looked an abandoned building with old shuttered windows, and he got inside by transforming into a slime and fitting through a samll opening. Before relaxing he checked all the rooms and found no one apart from a couple of small rats which ran away at his presence. He sat down in a corner and rested. His frozen status had dispelled so his HP were regenerating steadily and soon he would be as good as new. Still it was quite a traumatic comeback to the city proper. His actions kept replaying in his mind.

I should have planned better my behavior. Everyone would be startled from the approach of a men in a dark cloak in the middle of the night. Especially in a not particularly respectable neighborhood. I was also quite unlucky that my first encounter was with a thief or assassin of higher level than me. Pravin gave up his life to save mine. I cannot allow that to happen anymore. I should be able to handle enemies by myself. I didn’t even think about using my sword. I’m such a noob.

Zortex kept resting and thinking. He tried to imagine all the possible outcomes depending on the situation. He decided he would need to interact with someone during the light hours instead of night, but better during early morning or dusk, when it would be less problematic for his senses. The simple idea of getting through the chaotic streets in the middle of the day made his headache increase. He faced two big problems at the moment: money and smell.

The first one was obvious. He needed money right away. The second problem was something he hadn’t thought about until the woman said that he smelled awful. If she had the time to comment about it during a battle it meant his stink must be really powerful. It was reasonable considering that he had spent more than eight months in the deepest part of the sewers. When he first started his hunt of rats, he had felt like throwing up as soon as he got inside the sewers, and for all the trip going down he could not completely dispel the need to gag. Afterwards he simply got used to it and it became so familiar that it felt weird to him what he was smelling right now. Other people would be repulsed by him, so he would have trouble going around without making a scene.

I need water and soap to clean myself, but where can I get them? I should be able to find water somewhere for free, but soap for sure would cost money. This is a vicious cycle. To get money I need to interact with people and to interact with people I first need some money. Zortex pondered for a while.

It was still night outside, but it would not last forever. Zortex wanted to get something done right away, otherwise he might had to stay hidden for the whole day without doing anything useful. From his point of view there were only two options left.

The first one would be to kill himself and respawn in 5 days. He guessed that his body would come back clean after the death, but he didn’t really know for sure and he didn’t want to bet so much time on it. And to him it looked stupid to die by his own hand after all the struggle he had done to avoid dying externally. On the other hand if he lost an item dying in such a spot there would be none to steal it from him in this abandoned place. In this World during death sometime the person loses an item. That's why there are travelers killing other travelers and that's why people don't want to die too easily.

The second option was to take by force what he needed. Without killing or fighting anyone he would have to break into an house and rob the money, hoping to not be noticed. Maybe he could directly take the bath in there if the owner was not present. He didn’t like the feeling of doing something so low level, but he didn’t see any other option.

Zortex got out from his new residence and started walking around. He needed to explore the neighborhood a bit to find a proper target. No one was around and without blindfold he could see perfectly around himself, a gift that any thief would have paid for. They didn’t know about the repercussions. After one hour Zortex had identified the perfect mansion to rob. It was a bit isolated from the nearby houses and more heavily protected, with an high fence and heavy wooden door and windows. Barriers were not too much of an obstacle for Zortex at the moment. As long as the precinct was not surveyed by guards, Zortex was sure he could enter undetected. Unless there was magic, but he had no idea what to expect in that case. The problem would be what was in the inside. He had to be silent enough to steal without waking up the owners. He absolutely didn’t want to end up fighting. If he lost and got captured and arrested he might lose months in a jail. For Travellers it was available the possibility to pay a fee to get out right away, but since he had no money he would get full time.

I have to do it now. I can already see the sky brightening on the East. People will wake up in one or two hours.

Zortex used slimification and squished through the space in between the metal bars of the fence. He silently and slowly walked the little garden until he reached the front door. Usually a thief should look for a backdoor or any other easier entrance, but for Zortex the little gap between door and floor was more than sufficient to slid inside. Actually it was easier than entering the crypt of the skeleton warrior. One minute later he was standing inside, keeping still to hear if anything got spooked by his appearance. The light was dimmer than outside, so even he could not see too well, but it was at an acceptable level to move around. He was more scared about a dog or a cat noticing him. His smell especially would alert any animal in a range of fifteen meters or more.

Are there dogs in AoL? I don’t remember seeing any the little time I have spent outside. It looks like I have made it through unnoticed. Inside here I can even drop my sensory defenses.

Zortex took away the strip of cloth around his head to use his nose and hears at full power. That was a mistake. He was not prepared for all the smells that wafted from the different rooms of the house. He had to cover again the nose, but let the hears free.

He could hear the presence of people upstairs. This was a two stories home and on the first floor there were probably the bedrooms. There was the soft snoring of a man and the more quiet breathing of a woman coming from a room directly on top of his head. On an adjacent room he could hear the breathing of what felt like two kids and in the furthest room away from him there was another person. Zortex could not say if it was a man or woman. During all this time he was keeping his eyes closed and he stopped breathing to allow himself to handle so much information coming to his ears. When he was done assessing the situation he covered again his ears and proceeded to the room he had been wishing for. When he had let his nose free he had smelled it right away, but even now the fragrance of the kitchen was calling to him. Every step closer made him more and more excited. His mouth started to drool, but he reminded himself that he could not eat just yet. He opened the door and looked around. A table and chairs stood at the center with a vase of flowers on top. The flowers looked very different from the ones he was used to on Earth, but Zortex was no expert and he guessed that in the other climates they could have all sort of plants.

On a counter there was already a basket containing brown bread with some seeds sticking out. That was the first thing he took and put in his backpack. Luckily he had not lost that into the sewers. There were plenty of closets and a place that looked like an oven. At the bottom there was some ash and remains of a fire. On the other side there was a cauldron over another spot for a fire. Zortex didn’t care at the moment about cooking tools, so he went right away to open all the closets one by one. Tears started forming into his eyes, and not only because of the strong smell of spices. There was food of all kinds, from meat to vegetables to fishes to pasta. Most ingredients didn’t look familiar to him but he was more than happy to test the differences from the old world food. Trying to be silent he took as much as he could carry, choosing foods that didn’t seem to require cooking, or ones that would require just a normal fire. He also looked for something to start a fire but there was nothing he could recognize for the task. Before leaving he stopped and went back to the oven.

For light they use light crystals, so maybe to start a fire they use fire crystals.

He touched around and found a small compartment with a few red crystals. Bingo! I will have to test them later. Zortex thought.

He left the kitchen and roamed around the rest of the ground floor. He found some more valuables, but nothing worth carrying outside apart from some clothes close to his size. The money was probably kept safe in the bedrooms above him. He decided to risk it. He would not enter directly into one of their rooms, but there should be a bathroom and hopefully some soap there.

He climbed the stairs, cringing every time the old wood made a sound, but finally he reached the top without waking up anyone. He could hear the three occupied rooms, so he went to the only one without any occupant. The opening door made a creak sound that felt as loud as a scream to him, but there were no consequences. The owners were still sound asleep apart from a rolling of the person alone in her single room. Now that Zortex was closer he could distinguish the gender. He looked around the room and he saw a toilet, a big barrel working as a bathtub and a mirror above a sink. In the corner over the bathtub there was a shelf with three different pieces of soap and a bottle containing some green substance. There were also a few blue crystals and red crystals.

Zortex basically rushed to the products and snatched them away and into his backpack. Now he had everything he needed. He couldn’t get the money, but he could go on for a while with what he had stolen. He exited the room and he went down the stairs, once again trying to be as soundless as possible. When he reached the bottom step, one of the doors of the bedrooms opened and he heard footsteps on the wooden floor.

“What is this smell? Did someone clog the toilet again? I will have to punish the kids. I bet it was one of them” a woman said.

Zortex didn’t wait a second more and he kept walking to the entrance and then he slimified himself to pass through the slit at the bottom. Luckily when he turned into a slime all his clothes disappeared to reappear again after he returned human, and the backpack was the same. He went out into the garden and walked faster to the fence. The light was already too much for him. Dawn was starting and with it his sight became too much to handle. Once he came out into the street he started running in the darker alleys as fast as he could, both to avoid being nearby when the owner of the house would recognize the theft, and to reach his new hideout as soon as possible. After ten minutes he had arrived and he threw himself in the sweet darkness. People were already starting to get out in the streets and the last couple of minutes were a real struggle for him with all the noises and smells, but especially the sight. He had not dared to take out his blindfold and stop his vision. He had to run as fast as he could to hide himself. His headache was really strong from all the sensations he had to confront, so he decided to wrap up his cloak all around his head and fall asleep.

When he woke up he yawned and looked around himself. There was still light outside, but inside the building it was quite dark. It was probably afternoon and the sound of people outside reached him. He was feeling better now after resting his mind so he recalled the events of the night before. Zortex smiled because it was time to check his loot. The most important part to him was the food. He will never forget the sensation of almost starving to death. Never again he will find himself without a nice amount of food stored somewhere for him to eat. He had collected enough to eat for a whole week if he didn’t indulge too much. He decided to consume first the things that would spoil the fastest. He picked up a fruit in a shape similar to a banana. He peeled it off and stuffed it into his mouth. The taste was a combination of sweet and sour. He started chewing it and take bite after bite, until it was finished. His eyes were teary from the intensity of the flavor and the joy of an human meal. He reached for the next fruit, a circular thing the size of his hand, covered in small spines. Zortex took out his sword and with the edge of the blade he made some cuts on the skin which he then removed by hand. He took a morsel of the dense fleshy substance and chomped on it. He spit out right away what was in his mouth, but it was too late. This fucking fruit is spicy! My mouth is on fire!!! I’m about to explode. Right after thinking that, Zortex passed out, overwhelmed by the spiciness of the food.

Zortex woke up again after a few hours. His tongue was still hurting, but otherwise he was feeling fine. He decided to continue his tests about the food and picked up another fruit, this one yellow with brown spots and in the shape of almost a cylinder. He cut away the skin and just licked the outside without chewing any part of the pulp. The flavor was sweet and resembled that of a pineapple. He kept eating it slowly enjoying every bit of it. He was not satiated yet, as a couple of fruit were not enough. Probably nothing would ever be enough to him after what he went through. For last he took some bread together with some slices of meat. He took a big bite and chewed it with delight.

This is awesome. I have missed meat so much! The consistence, the fragrance, the taste, the feeling in the stomach after I have finished. This is Heaven. I still have different kinds of meat to test, but I need to stop right now, otherwise I will finish all the food in one day. Also those sausages need a fire to be cooked. I should hide the food otherwise I will never stop drooling.

Next, Zortex took out the clothes he had scavenged. There were new brown pants, two white shirts and a black dress especially thin. He picked out his sword and started to cut long strips of black cloth from the dress. He would use them as bandages to roll around his head to smooth his senses. Being so thin the dress, it permitted him to put more than one bandage at a time to obtain the result he needed. He could remove one or more layers to adjust the senses depending on the situation. This was the best solution he had thought to solve the problem of going out during the day. He could not keep living outside only in the darkest part of the night. He decided to not wear his other new clothes because he didn’t want to pass the stink into them. He would take a bath first.

For last he took out the spoils of his trip to the bathroom. He had three pieces of soap of three different colors. He sniffed at them one at a time and he concluded that the only thing which changed was the smell of them. To him all three smelled nice, so he didn’t really care which one he should use. He opened the cork of the bottle of green fluid and smelled it. Once again it felt like a soap with a flowery smell.

Maybe this one is for hairs? There were women in the house, so they probably cared about this kind of stuff. Even in the real world I didn’t pay attention to such things. As long as I got clean it was enough for me. Maybe it was just me and Matthew who didn’t care. Other guys were more interested on their style, including perfume. Fucking Matthew! Why does he keep coming into my mind?!? I need to kill him. But not right now. Now what is important is to get clean.

Zortex put aside his new collection of soaps and focused on his new crystals. The only other time he had touched one was when Matthew passed to him a light crystal. At the time he didn’t know how to use it and he had just held it already infused by the mana of his friend. Now he understood how to move mana through his body. He already had Mana Control at level 12. It should be easy to activate one, but he had never done it before so he was cautious. He also didn’t know the properties of these two kinds of crystals. He supposed that the red ones were for fire or at least heat since they were close to the fire positions in the kitchen, but he found them also in the bathroom. The blue ones were probably for water.

He picked up a red crystal and held between index and thumb, searching for any clue on how to make it work. Visually it looked like a pretty stone five centimeters long, but nothing more. On the other hand focusing on his mana he felt like a channel had opened for him, where he could pour his mana without need of control. Zortex sent just a trickle of energy into it and the crystal came alive in his hand shooting a fireball the size of a thumbnail which hit the floor and winked out. So this is how to start a fire Zortex thought. Basically it seems like crystals are solidified spells for anyone to use just by pouring mana into it. This way even non-mages can use basic spells. Probably there are also crystals for stronger skills, but those ones should cost more. With money you can accomplish a lot, whichever world you are in.

Zortex then picked up the blue crystals and repeated the action from before. This time a small bullet of ice came out and struck a wall.

So it is not water but ice. Ice is still water but too cold to be practical aside for attacks and conserving food. The people in the house kept them in the bathroom of the house, so they should have been able to use these for mundane tasks, like bathing and washing stuff. Thinking again, there were both red and blue crystals on the shelf, so they were probably using them together to form just water, combining ice and fire.

Zortex tried a few times shooting first an ice strike and then a fireball to melt it into water. It was not very practical. Both of the crystals looked more suited for attacks, shooting fire and ice. He stayed quiet thinking about what he was doing wrong.

If only there were the instructions for each item, life would be easier. Ah! I’m being again an idiot. There are instructions in the game. I always forget to read them.

“Show me the stats for the crystals” Zortex said out loud.

Fireball crystal

By pouring mana into it, you can shoot a fireball. The amount of mana determines the strength of the spell.

Durability 12/25

Ice bolt crystal

By pouring mana into it, you can shoot an ice bolt. The amount of mana determines the strength of the spell.

Durability 23/25

Well…nice to know, but I had figured that out by myself. At least now I can see how long before they will stop working at durability 0.

Zortex kept thinking and testing until he found a solution. By holding them in the same hand at the same time and adding mana, he would shoot directly water outside. The warmth of the water depended on the difference in the amount of mana he sent to one or the other. The more the total amount of mana and the more the water that would spurt. Also, the more mana he used, the more the durability decreased. Now that Zortex had everything figured out he decided that it was time to move to the second part of his plan. Zortex needed power, and for that he needed skills.