‘So should I really follow the Fauns advice? What if Jones can see my status and knows I have got a mystic essence and a level?’ “Gatex? Can someone see, which essence I’ve got and their rarity? Or even my level?” Alex heart pounded. Had he done something stupid? Would the others understand the danger he was in? Would he get punished?

“Tricky question,” Gatex answered after a minute of thinking. “There are skills and class-skills, that let you see anothers level and if they are strong enough, even the essence you’ve got. As for its rarity? Not that likely. That info is hidden behind the deepest parts of your status and isn’t as easily found. The general skill Appraise is quite expensive and rare, so I don’t expect them on this planet yet. But Appraise as a class-skill are found with merchants, appraisers, generals, or a plethora of similar classes. My Appraise for example lets me feel how strong a customer is, in comparison to me. As you feel like a small puff of wind, it wasn’t that hard to guesstimate. Don’t ask me about Essenceskills, as they are even more numerous than class or general skills.” Gatex laughed at Alex dumbfounded expression.

“Okay, I understand, I think…But how did you know of my essence?” Alex clenched his fists. If the Faun could find out that easy, his secret wasn’t safe. “Oh that? I saw you, dragging the boar with your clone. A dark, wavering clone? Only darkness and shadow have them like that. The rest was a lucky guess.” Gatex smiled at Alex. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t or can’t tell anyone. We early traders have an oath with the system, that we can’t sell or trade any info, we find out about our customers. You are a customer, aren’t you?” the Faun threw a look at the boars carcass.

While not quite satisfied with Gatex’ answer, Alex let sleeping dragons lie and praised his kill. “You see, except in the head, the hide doesn’t have any holes. And the meat is still fresh. The tusks are undamaged and from a younger specimen.” Alex eyed the boar up and down. Did he forget something? Did he miss something?

“You’re right, there are just a few holes near the head. But one side of the pelt is completely scored and there is no hair left. The tusks are small and useless as a decoration. They may be good for a small dagger, but who can craft them here? You forgot to let the animal bleed out, so the meat is nearly useless,” Gatex grinned, showing his teeth.

“Mhm, I’ve already removed the hairs from one side, so it’s easier for processing later. You don’t really need a boars pelt to keep you warm, do you? They are scratchy and don’t smell that good,” Alex grinned back.

“Good argument. So how much do you want for the whole animal?” Alex faltered, “Let’s be honest…I have no idea how much any of this stuff is worth. If you give me a hundred coins or just ten, I wouldn’t know the difference.”

Gatex laughed uproariously. “Brilliant. To be young again…” Gatex wiped away his tears and answered earnestly, “This cadaver right here is worth around 50 to 70 coins. The Pelt is, even with the scoring, pretty useful and would get you around 15 to 20 coins. The tusks are the most valuable at around 20 to 30 coins. The meat is useless for humanoids as you didn’t bleed it dry. But if you know a Beast Master or Trainer who could feed their pets. You could get one to two coins per kilogram of meat. Of course the price rises to dizzying heights the higher the beasts level was. The bones, teeth and sinew are useful for any crafter i.e. Jeweller or Buoyer or even a Smith and worth around 10 to 15 coins. If it still held fresh and uncoagulated blood, an Inscriber or Alchemist could use it. But as it doesn’t, it’s worthless. The brain and heart are useful for some classes or beast races, but on this planet, you don’t have any yet, do you?”

Alex just shook his head. Beast races? Crafter? Blood? The words tumbled through his mind. Gatex grinned and continued, “Let’s make it an even 60 coins and I keep 10 for the crash course in trading?”

“That’s alri…,” Alex sensed a Trap, but before he could react, it snapped. “Ah right, and 40 more for the help with your essence and the mass of questions you had…So you get…,” Gatex tipped a finger at his chin, “Ten. I get ten,” Alex grumbled. “Give me 20, and we’re fine.” The teenager blinked and a sudden wind buffeted him. The boar was gone and he held 20 coins in his closed fist. “How? What?”

“You look like a fish,” the Faun laughed, “close your mouth before a fly lays their eggs in it.”

Alex nodded, “Last question before I go home…How do I put the coins away? Oh right, dumb question, sorry.” He thought about, putting them into his status and they were gone. The new line said:

Class: Shadowblade

Level: 1

Coins: 26

“Now that I have considerable wealth. What should, could or would I want right now?”

“Nothing and everything,” Gatex answered. “Do you need clothing? A weapon? Ammunition? Gear? I have ropes, tents, torches, magical or mundane. I sell skills, lore, entertainment and spells. Do you craft? Do you play music? Do you cook? Ingredients and the finished product, you can get here.”

Alex was stunned. He opened his mouth, made a sound, closed it again, blinked his eyes and opened his skills.

Essenceskills:

Attack:

Shadowweapon (T1)

Shadowcurse (T1)

Utility:

Shadowcloak (T1)

Shadowclone (T1)

Classskills:

Active:

Eviscerate

Shadoweyes

Passive:

Shadowdrinker

Muffled

“My gun is lost and my dagger is broken, but I can summon a weapon, so I don’t necessarily need one, do I? My backpack is gone, so I have nothing to put away any other gear. How much are spells, and whats the difference to skills?”

“A spell is just another name for an Essenceskill and to be honest…come back in a few months. Right now you haven’t even enough to smell my spells. Also, spells are more useful for a caster-class. There are shadow-casters, but I don’t believe you are one, right?”

Alex shook his head.

“Right. As for skills…thats similar. I have an Identification here but supply and demand are a thing and the skill is sold for a few hundreds up to a thousand coins. My humble suggestion is…Buy a weapon, you need and know how to use. Get a crafter or Leatherworker to make you some armor with the next hide you find and save up for a Ring of Holding™. A cheap, unbound one costs around 100 to 150 coins. You won’t get weighted down or hindered by a backpack. Afterwards and depending on your strength, we can revisit the topic of your gear, okay boy?”

Alex nodded, holding in any new question, out of fear to be bombarded by more information and losing more of his hard earned money.

“So, what weapon do you want? A spear is a pretty solid starter weapon. Personally I prefer the long spear, but looking at your stature, your class and essence, I would suggest a short spear? It’s easier to handle in tight quarters, faster to learn than a sword and lighter than any cudgel or mace. Also you can hold your enemies at distance and if they break through, pull out or summon a dagger. I have a cheap set, dagger and short spear here for 25 coins. That’s alright with you?”

The teenager wanted to retort, but thought better and held out the 25 coins. ‘The less I have right now, the less I have to give to Jones…Also, it’s always nice to have some good will with one's merchant.’

Gatex pocketed the money and held out a wooden spear with a leaf-like iron tip and a slightly curved dagger. Alex wanted to grab both weapons, but saw that they had no sheath or holster. The Faun saw the youth balking and with a sight, added a sheath for the dagger and clip holster for the spear. “Just add the sheath to your belt and the holster is for your back…Wait…let me help you.”

Alex stood still, while Gatex showed him how to wear the holster. It had two straps, similar to a backpack and a metal clip held the spear in position. A quick grab to his back and he had the spear ready to strike.

“Just practice the movement some more and try to find new ways to pull it from your back. Sometimes the first move can be an attack or a defense. Be creative boy.” Gatex smiled, “And now…leave, it’s nearly dawn and I haven’t slept a wink tonight.”

“Thank you for everything! Without you, I…I…” Alex stuttered. “Don’t mention it. Seriously don’t, otherwise your friends want the same service, and I won’t ever get some peace and quiet,” Gatex grumbled and went back into his shop.

‘Blank again…But some advice, weapons and maybe a friend richer.’ Alex grinned, waved at the closed shop and left.

He thought about sitting down and close his eyes for a few hours, but the floor around the shop didn’t look that comfortable and his friends were probably dying of worry. So he sucked it up and started to walk back to the camp. It was just a mile away, what bad could happen.

Two suicidal rats, an angry cat, creeping after those rats and a curious, but slow pigeon happened. While he quickly disposed of the rats, and didn’t want to kill a house kitty, it had grown to at least double a normal cats height. It’s mad rush and evil hissing were enough to break Alex out of his stupor. He lowered the spear, he had bloodied just moments ago and the cat, not caring for a boring piece of wood, pounced and impaled itself on it. The teenager quickly drew his dagger and ended the cats mewling suffering.

You have slain: Sewer-rat (Lvl 1). (2)

You have slain: Housecat (Lvl 3).

You have earned 6 coins.

You have gained 400 unrefined Essence.

‘I’m halfway to the camp…should I refine the essence here or at home? It’s not really safe here, but what if I lose too much of it? Or what if Jones can somehow steal from me? I should find shelter and quickly refine it.’ Alex ducked into the nearest shop, scouted it out, and found the pigeon sitting on an empty shelf. He crept closer and with a quick blow, brained the air-rat.

You have slain: Pigeon (Lvl 1).

You have earned 1 coin.

You have gained 50 unrefined Essence.

“Am I becoming a Murderhobo?” Alex asked the empty air. He didn’t get an answer, but the wind sweeping through the empty street sounded like a drawn-out, ironic “Nooooo.” The teenager went to the back of the shop, spear leveled against any danger that might jump out of the dark, but nothing moved. He sat against the back wall, closed his eyes and pictured the essence strands stretching through his body. This time he tried to move two strands at once, but they wouldn’t budge, so Alex began the arduous work of collecting them in his chest.

Some time later, he grabbed the eight strand and pulled with all his might, but the pain and effort accumulated before were too much and he soon let go and again threw just seven strands of essence to his status sheet. ‘Right now I’ve got 495 refined Essence…I shouldn’t level just yet. What if Jones can examine me and knows that I’ve killed things? He would want my coins and probably my essence…I can’t let that happen. Better to…’ He called up his Essenceskills. “I can’t put my essence into my class skills, they level with my class, as far as I understood…So where should I tier up?” again the empty air held no answer.

Essenceskills:

Attack:

Shadowweapon (T1)

Shadowcurse (T1)

Utility:

Shadowcloak (T1)

Shadowclone (T1)

“The weapon helped me once already, but I have no idea what Tier 2 will bring and it’s probably not useful in the camp. Maybe the clone or the cloak?” Alex debated, mimicked flipping a coin and put point per point 100 refined essence into Shadowcloak. ‘So it needs more…but how much? Why is this so complicated?!’ The teenager soon added another 100. Finally it felt like a door opened inside him and a message by the system popped up:

You have levelled Shadowcloak Tier 2.

‘So two hundred for a Tier 1 skill? I have enough for another skill. Or should I try Tier 3? Better to first try out the new tier.’ Alex grimaced, ‘I should have done this before…but what’s done is done.’ The teenager cast Shadowcloak and a black, wavering mass quickly engulfed him. He searched for a mirror, but found nothing. ‘I know that I can summon a shadowdagger and a somewhat helpful clone, but what does curse do?’ Alex tried to use the skill, but nothing happened. ‘Maybe with a target?’ He would deal with that later. Right now, he needed to decide whether to try for Tier 3 or raise up another skill to Tier 2.

Alex sat down again and put 200 refined essence into Shadowclone, but this time, the skill didn’t tier up. ‘Damned, that was so obvious that that wouldn’t work…’ He slowly added another 50 points and still, no change. Annoyed, he added the last 45 points and resolved to add five and try for an even 300, the next time.

Finally done with his improvements, he continued on his way. Nothing new wanted to add itself to his unrefined essence and soon Alex only needed to round a corner and would be in viewing distance of the orphan camp. He found an empty cellar, which he knew was cleared out before and stowed his weapons away. ‘Better to hide them, otherwise Jones would confiscate them and ask how I got them…I don’t want to go down that road.’ Alex grinned. He wouldn’t give his tormentor a drop of water in the desert, why give him two perfectly fine weapons.

He slowly wandered into the camp, a quick wave to the two guards at the front. But Alex was careless and was ambushed as soon as he got in.