"Maybe I can...” - I doubted. - "What's your name, by the way?"

“I am Kamhen son of Adham.”

"I'm Freddy Krueger. Tell me, Kamhen, is it possible to buy a map of the surrounding area of this city?”

"A map?" - The guy thought for a second. - "I think we should ask Mr. Kahal in the house of Secret Ways. I've never been inside it myself, but people say he sells information about caravan paths and distant countries.”

“Um... What kind of money do you use here?”

The boy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Mr. Kruger, there are two types of money in our city. The first is the coins of the trading house of Harshuta. They come in copper, silver, and gold. And the second is a Soul’s Dream. I don't know why they're called that, but they look like glowing pebbles. They say that magicians can use them to prolong a person's life. One Soul’s Dream is worth more than a thousand gold coins.”

"Can I see these pebbles somewhere?" - I asked, looking around to make sure that no one was interested in my conversation with the guy.

"See it? Unlikely.” - Kamhen said with doubt. - "But you can buy them from the city money-changer for gold coins.”

"Where can I see a gold coin?" - I continued the interrogation.

"I think there are in a jewelry store Golden Stream. Its owner often counts coins in front of customers in order to appear richer. Why would you need that?” - The boy's eyes lit up with interest.

"Ok, let's go." - I looked around, and went in direction of a quiet alley, so as not to loom under the eyes of passers-by. - "Do you have a copper coin?"

“Yes, I have...” - the guy answered with doubt

"Give it to me."

Softly shuddering, Kamhen reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin that glittered yellow metal with a greenish tinge. I picked it up, twirled it in my hands, looked at it carefully, tossed it in the air, caught it with my right hand, and then created the same image in my left fist. In the dream world, any object was just an image. In this dimension, the dream images were fairly stable, making you believe that the world around you are material. For me, the materiality of this city was a deception. I could believe in it; I could not believe in it... or I could cheat it. All I had to do is to create an image in my mind, and then feed it with necessary amount of 'laws' taken from the world of Order. This is how my 'magic' works, so creating a coin was no different from creating a fireball.

Opening both hands, I compared the two coins lying on them. Then I folded my hands, shook them, and gave two coins to astonished kid.

"Which one is real?" - I asked.

“Both!” – Kid correctly answered, examining the coins carefully.

"Now, do you understand why I need to see the gold coin?"

“Yes, sir mage.” - The boy nodded, hiding the coins in his pocket and smiling mischievously.

"Then lead the way."

We left the alley and began to wander through the city. Actually, the settlement itself was small, so we got to the right place in about five minutes. The Golden Stream jewelry store fully justified its name. Gilded ornaments were displayed in the window. I realized at first sight that they were actually made of copper.

Going into the shop, I saw a well-fed man in colorful clothes, who immediately rushed to meet me, bowing slightly.

"What does noble gentleman wish?"

"Gentleman wishes to sell a gem for a fair price.”

With these words, I placed a small stone the size of a little finger nail on the counter. It was an image of a grass-colored emerald. The merchant immediately grabbed it and began to examine it through a magnifying glass. After that, he weighed it and checked it with some sort of magic artifact. While all these procedures were carried out, I paid attention to the window, where behind the glass on two cups of scales lay gold and silver coin, arranged in beautiful columns. I didn't have to hold coins in my hands to make copy of them. I simply copied them one by one, creating dozen gold coins in my pocket.

Meanwhile, the merchant appreciated my stone and took an important appearance and made a generous offer.

“I will give you two gold coins for this stone.”

"I see.” - I replied, taking back the gem with a swift movement. - "I'm going to look for another store."

As soon as I turned around, the merchant cackled as he smelled the departing profit.

"Wait, sir, wait. Twenty... I'll give you forty coins. No one in this city will offer you a better price.”

"Twenty times forty gold coins?" - I asked. The merchant hiccupped at such price.

"Please show mercy, this stone is not worth eight hundred coins. Soul's Dream is worth a thousand coins. And this is just a small emerald. It is of excellent quality and unusual cut, but I offer you a great price. Forty coins. Here, look, a ring with an emerald, only a little worse, is worth sixty coins. But it takes into account the price of gold, the work of a jeweler, and my small margin.”

"If my stone is worth forty coins, this muddy piece of glass can't be worth more than ten.” - I didn't agree.

"Oh, sir, please. This is a great price. For the sake of our good relationship, I can offer you forty-five gold coins. I already have to trade at a loss, but sometimes I have to do it to get the right people's favor. Forty-five coins. What do you say?"

I scanned the merchant's emotions and saw that greed and the desire to get the stone at any price were now competing on an equal footing. He also felt regret at having to tell the real price.

"All right, I agree.”

I put more Order energy into the stone so that it wouldn't disappear in a couple of hours, then returned it to the merchant. He again examined the stone in all possible and impossible ways, and then counted to me forty-five coins, making every effort to show how sorry he was to part with these golden coins.

After taking the money, I went out into the street, found my 'accomplice', winked at him and went to the nearest alley.

“Take.” - I tossed to the boy a gold coin that had just been created from air.

"Thank you, sir.” - He shone, looking at the golden roundabout, and then immediately hid it in his pants.

"Now lead me to the money changer."

We walked around the city to the other end, and then I went into a beautiful, pompous building that looked more like a Bank. Here I expressed a desire to buy a Soul’s Dream. Only after hearing these words, I was immediately surrounded by respect and care, after which they announced the price of one thousand one hundred gold coins. Since I still created money from the air, I did not bargain, and immediately agreed and began to put on the table gold coins ten pieces at a time. When a rectangle of ten by eleven columns was formed, they immediately brought a small box containing one small stone that glowed... energy of Order. I almost laughed when I saw it. I spent ten times more energy to create gold coins comparing to energy in this pebble. However, energy of Order could not be extracted from my gold coins, but this stone was a simple energy storage device. And the energy spectrum was still a bit unusual, so I wasn't sure if I could create exactly the same stone. What if my energy of Order turns out to be non-standard?

When I left the Bank, I called the boy again, and he led me to the house of Secret Ways. It really was a map shop where I could buy a map of all the surrounding areas of the Great Desert for just three hundred and twenty gold coins. The location of the cities of Sanagar and Harshuta, as well as the Crystal Hills between them, was clearly visible. After that, I gave to my conductor a handful of copper, and then headed to the exit of the city.

As it turned out, the city was surrounded by a high stone wall, and covered with a protective magic dome. So, the only way out of it was through the familiar archway into the desert, or through a simpler gate that led to the harsh outside world. But as soon as I got to that gate, a man ran across me.

"Mr. Freddy Krueger, please pay me some attention.” - He knelt down in a bow. – “My name is Marcos Thurman. I'm a merchant from the city of Harshuta. My caravan is stuck in Sanagar because of an unknown disaster that has already swallowed up two caravans without a trace. I have assembled a team of two mages and I heard that you also want to go to Harshuta. How would you like to join my caravan and get to the city in safety? After all, a group of armed guards and three mages is much better than one mage.”

"When are you planning to depart?" - I asked.

"If you agree to accept my offer, then tomorrow morning at sunrise."

“...Ok.” - I agreed, considering the situation. – “I'm not going to Harshuta, I'm going to a monastery near it. So near to the city our paths will diverge.”

"Of course, master wizard. The monastery is located in the suburbs, so the caravan will be safe there.”

"Then I'll need a place to stay." - I said my thoughts.

"Don't worry, master wizard. You can stay in the house of delights, where I already rent a room for myself. I'll take care of everything.”

Following the helpful merchant, I headed to an ornate hotel, combined with a brothel and a restaurant. I didn't stay for dinner, I refused to take whores, and instead I locked myself in the room assigned to me to meditate and prepare for the further journey. To be honest, this was the first time in a very long time that I decided to really take a rest. Before that, without the need for sleep, food and rest, I was on the road all the time. However, not least because there were no safe places along the way