Realm of Opportunity

5: Working Man

^^ Oscar Vivaldi ^^

--- Xavier ---

My search for work was actually fruitful, surprisingly. Usually, people wouldn't trust strangers enough to allow them to handle things, but these people seemed... confident.

Took me a moment to get it, too... these people were Adventurers, and so had the Blessings of a God already. They weren't afraid because they thought they could kill me where I stood, no contest.

In the first hour, I had chopped lumber for a blacksmith, and made 100 'Valis', (which I saw as basically a dollar coin, made of iron, because those potatoes were 200 Valis for a serving,) then I hauled water up from a well for an elderly woman, and made another 100.

I took a break, and walked up to the potato stand.

The person working the stall, (a small girl with purple eyes, brown pigtails, and a rather disproportionate chest,) looked up at me. "How many, sir?" She asked in a lilting voice.

I hummed. "Just one, please." I handed her the two coins, and she nodded.

She picked up a basket, and then a potato, cutting it in half and sprinkling salt over it, before handing it to me. "Enjoy, sir!"

I nodded. "Thank you, miss."

I sat on a bench next to Johnny, and handed him half. "And now, we Feast, Abu!"

He grumbled. "I ain't a monkey, ya bastard."

"Eh, I did the work, I get to pick the puns." I shrugged.

"Thanks for the food..." he grumbled again.

"Well, I can't let you starve, you know. You're the only person here who knows me." I smirked.

He chuckled and took a bite of the potato. He stopped for a moment, then looked up. "Hey, this is pretty good, you know?"

I blinked and bit into mine, interested. "Oh! Wow! That ain't a normal potato! Very nice." I grinned, and scarfed the rest down, licking salt off my hands.

He laughed at me, calmly eating his half. "Youngsters, always in a hurry."

"Shaddup, old man." I laughed back, and stood. "Well, I'm gonna find some better work. You head back to Apollo's place, yeah? I'll be a while."

He nodded. "Sure. Be careful."

"When am I not? You're the one who always gets hurt." I chuckled.

Dotty appeared, surprising me, and licked some leftover salt off of my cheek. Then she leapt onto Johnny's shoulders, and gazed at us both unflinchingly.

Sadie appeared soon after, and grinned. "I knew she would find you! You guys didn't think you were just disappearing, huh?"

"No, I was about to look for some work for currency, actually..." I shrugged.

She nodded. "Well first, we have to register you as citizens, before we do anything else. Come on." She started walking towards the tower, and we followed her lead easily.

---

We entered the tower, Johnny and I examining the entire room, which was indeed impressive.

Almost 200 feet tall, if I was any judge, the walls lined with walkways and stairs and ramps, leading off into different places. Elevators were also at several parts, which amused me.

"Elevators... so they do have some Technology." I grinned.

Johnny nodded. "Seems it's not run on electricity, though. No wires."