Tasim looked to the beautiful lady who resembled Anemone, glancing at her brown hair that flowed down to her waist.

  “Could I get some meat for this dog, and a bucket of water?”

  “Sure thing, darling.” The lady replied, also entering a side room and exiting with a large slab of meat. “One silver, darling.” The lady said with an enchanting voice.

  “Thank you, hone-” Tasim said before catching himself.

  ‘What the hell am I saying? I don’t like anyone.’ Tasim scoffed at himself and paid.

  “Don’t worry, call me whatever you like. The water behind this building is in a well.”

  “Thank you, hon-”

  ‘Oh my god, again? You are better than this, Tasim. Stop it.’

  Tasim stepped out with the piece of meat, finding a dirty plate that someone had left in the alleyway way then wiping it clean on his shirt. Tasim carried the plate as the scrawny dog followed him tiredly. He then found the well that the lady had been speaking of. He lowered the bucket into the well and watched as it filled up. Once it was full, he used the windlass to pull up the bucket, then pulled it out of the well and set it on the ground.

  The dog immediately began to consume the water, splashing it everywhere as Tasim set the plate and piece of meat down beside the dog. Tasim reached out to pet the dog, but it growled in return, so instead, Tasim gently lent an open palm to the dog. The dog, in return, stopped its growling, sniffing Tasim’s hand, and once again began to consume the water. Tasim began to pet the gaunt hound, enveloping it inside magic’s warm embrace.

  The green aura surrounded the mutt, helping it rejuvenate its lost energy as the dog began to consume the piece of meat. Tasim was shocked as he witnessed the stray consume the piece of meat whole with only a few bites. Despite not choking, he felt some worry for the poor thing, so he spent his mana to mend the beast. The dog soon consumed the entire bucket of water, and Tasim in turn filled it again, setting it down and once again petting the dog.

  Tasim soon felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him, causing him to stand up and leave the puppy, despite the dog looking at him as he left. Tasim also knew, with him being an adventurer, he had no time to take care of an animal; despite his deep-down love for them, he had no time, so he didn’t. He left it in the alleyway after taking care of it.

  Tasim soon returned to his place of rest with Master Chi, and as he entered the home, he remembered as he closed the door behind him.

  ‘I still have dishes to do, damni-’

  ***

  Morning arrived, and Anemone woke up early. She decided to go shopping alone today at the brink of dawn. As she exited the building, she witnessed a breathtaking sunrise; the sky was orange and shifted to pink over time to create a magnificent sight. She walked down while gazing at the sunrise, which slowly caused her eyes to hurt from pain, though she only stopped once the sun rose over the horizon, pushing away the rosy hues that plagued the sky.

  Anemone’s shoes clicked as she walked against the stone as she walked down the road. She passed by many stores until she came across a large, complex building with many stories, which stood out as it didn’t resemble any buildings that stood beside it.

  She entered the extensive building and walked around. The store was filled with many garments that caught Anemone’s eye; some were silk and were for higher classes, while some were for lower classes. Anemone was in between and could afford the higher-class items if she wanted, though it might be impactful on her purse.

  Anemone walked all three stories extensively, searching for the perfect dress, and she found it, causing her to gasp in awe.

  “Wow…” The dress before her was breathtaking.

  It was a white dress with black accents that hung near the contours of the dress, and flowers were blooming all over the white open area of the dress. It was beautiful, alongside it was a corsette and a white blouse, the corsette was beautiful as well, it was a plain white with black accents as well. Anemone immediately set her eyes on it and decided to buy it, despite the fact that the price was high. She was also excited as the dress went just above her ankles, and the silhouette was not too large.

  “I’m going to have to find a way to take this off quickly; this cannot be a dress for quests.”

  Anemone walked to the closest clerk and began to talk.

  “Could I buy that dress in the corner? The white one with black accents.”

  “If you have the money.” The woman scoffed as she looked at Anemone.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “I have the money.”

  “Then let me see it. Fifty gold coins.”

  Anemone was internally broken at the fact that she would have to depart with so many funds, but she wanted it, and she worked for this money; she could get more quickly when they began to sell artifacts they had acquired, especially the bracelets that she currently wore and had yet to take off. Anemone grabbed the satchel she carried with her to this place, and slowly got out fifty gold coins. This was her final chance to back out of the payment, but she went through; she put all fifty gold coins onto the counter and tried not to look at how much she was spending.

  “Did you steal this from someone? And what about those bracelets, you thief?”

  “No, I didn’t steal them. I am an adventurer.”

  “Oh, right, sure, Miss Adventurer.” She said mockingly, “We both know you could never pay for something so expensive; you must have stolen these from someone.”

  “I earned this through hard work-” Anemone began to get irritated, but she took in a deep breath and calmed herself, “can I have the dress or not?”

  “Prove you are what you say you are, Miss Adventurer.” She replied again, mockingly.

  Anemone put her wrist forward, where she had her adventurer bracelet.

  “You must have stolen that too, whatever, coin is coin, but I don’t want to see your face again.”

  “Whatever.”

  Anemone walked up to the display of the dress, corsette, and blouse, sticking her hand out to touch it, then made it vanish into her spatial ring so she didn’t need to waste the extra energy on carrying it home.

  Anemone quickly returned home, glancing at the clerk as she descended the stairs. Anemone entered the tavern she was staying at and quickly returned to her room, waiting for Father and Astrape to awake. She didn’t wait long as a knock resounded from her door, the rhythm that the three of them had made to know who was at the door: two back-to-back knocks, then a short silence, followed by a third knock. Anemone opened her door to see Astrape standing there with her rings and trinkets in a small pouch.

  “Anemone, do you know when we are going to get the items appraised?”

  “No, I will talk to Father; we also have to somehow find Tasim in this gigantic city before we sell anything.”

  ***

  Some time passed, and the three of them gathered together to finally go get every item appraised. Anemone wore her bracelets, while Astrape carried a small pouch with rings inside, whereas Father had nothing.

  They exited the tavern and walked down the vacant street, entering an appraiser’s shop that was bustling with people, many clerks, many items displayed on shelves or in luxury, glass displays that were hard to come by. Each clerk had five customers waiting in line, and in the corner of the store, stood a large man with a bald, shiny head and a monocle. The man was scanning the room while he held a cane in front of him. The man’s eyes settled on Anemone’s wrists, which were adorned with the bracelets.

  Before they knew it, the man greedily walked up to them and asked.

  “Where did you acquire such.. Beauties, madam.”

  Father replied in Anemone’s stead, “Are you an appraiser? We would like each of these appraised, please.”

  “Oh, yes, yes, I am. Please, let me have a look, follow me.” The man turned around, greedily rubbing his hands together before snapping back and looking at the group. “I will take these off your hands right now for one hundred platinum.”

  The store became as silent as the night, and everyone turned towards the man wearing the monocle, and even Anemone, Father, and Astrape stood gasping at the situation. One hundred platinum, or one thousand gold, was more than what most would earn in a lifetime. Yet something felt off about the situation, to be offered such fortune simply from entering the building, nothing had yet to be appraised, yet they could acquire it as long as they said a simple word.

  “Ye-” Anemone was cut off as a familiar voice cut in.

  “Don’t do it. Just get them appraised.” Tasim stepped out from one of the lines of people. “Don’t, for him to offer such fortune so quickly, it should tell you everything you need to know; these artifacts are worth much more.”

  Everyone stayed as silent as a mouse as Tasim spoke; the fact that these may be even more expensive shook people to their very souls.

  Father Hatheway stepped forward, “Sir, would you mind appraising them each and giving an approximate value and telling us what each is used for?”

  The man scoffed slightly but hid his disappointment. “It will cost ten gold for me to appraise the lot.”

  “Three,” Tasim responded in Father’s stead.

  “Six.”

  “Four.” Tasim was beginning to get annoyed.

  “Five.”

  “Good enough.”

  “Follow me.”

  The appraiser thus led everyone to a private room that seemed to be a study. Off in the corner was a desk with some supplies, with a full bookshelf to the side. In the center of the largest wall was a lancet window. Then, directly in front of the window was another desk, but this time with a magnifying glass and trinkets on the table. The appraiser then walked to the center desk and put each trinket in a drawer, and then sat down.

  The appraiser suddenly seemed to have a smug look on his face, which no one noticed. “Would you mind giving me each artifact for me to appraise?”

  Astrape thus gave the man her leather pouch that was full of rings, and the man pulled them out one by one, appraising each and organizing them in a way that no one understood. In the end, the fifteen rings that she had given to the man were organized into five groups.

  The appraiser then began to speak in a condescending voice, “As you each know, when rings are made of silver, they will affect the wearer’s magic when worn, whereas when made of gold banding, they will affect your physical being, then gem color changes what it affects, and well, you get the gist. But no appraiser can tell you everything there is about a ring. You bunch have rings made of red gems, which are related to fire or physical strength, white, meaning wind or physical speed, brown for earth magic or increasing your mass, and green, which is for life magic or recovery and vitality.

  Anemone listened carefully, happy that the appraiser didn’t ramble too much and bore her, wondering what rings she would take. She didn’t know if she wanted her wind magic to become more powerful or to potentially be as quick to attack as Astrape when she once wore every ring. As Anemone thought of the new information she was given, she looked down to her ring that she was given by her mother.

  ‘So this ring increases my physical strength and not my relation to fire.’

  Father Hatheway had a similar thought as he brought his hand up, glancing at his gold ring with a green jewel.

  ‘So this increases my recovery and vitality? No wonder I feel so healthy for my age.’

  “Now would you tell us about the bracelets?” Anemone said, slowly taking off her bracelets.