Might as Well

As the sun set behind the horizon, casting the city of Deepanchor into an orange glow, the shadows lengthened and beings who disdained the light began to stir.

The city streets also slowly began to fill with the beginnings of nightlife that could be found in any port. The hawkers slowly packed up their stands or blankets, either happy with the day’s earnings or disappointedly looking at their empty coin bags.

Certain quarters of the city began to shine with inviting lights, women in all sorts of clothing filling the street, smiling flirtatiously at people walking by.

Sam walked around a little, enjoying the sights, and the smells emanating from the restaurants and stands serving quick meals to those who wanted to fortify their body against the alcohol they would be drinking, or to those who were returning home from a hard day of work.

He navigated around pickpockets that were attracted to the crowds filling the streets, as well as tiny maybe-fey children running around annoying people, or snacking on food and sitting on the edge of the streets and watching people while chatting and laughing with each other.

As Sam walked by, one of the children, indistinguishable from the others thanks to their androgynous look and the dirt covering them, looked directly into Sam’s eyes and smiled.

The smile was unnatural, much wider than it should have been possible, and containing razor-sharp teeth.

Then Sam blinked, and the child was back to normal, chatting with their friends as if nothing happened.

He shook his head and hurried away. Fey always creeped him out…

The meeting place on the small piece of paper that was given to him indicated a small square where a few warehouses had their entrance. The cobblestone streets were dirty, and based on the graffiti and the general gunk on the walls and the ground, Sam was pretty sure it was one of the less frequented areas of the city.

As he approached the address, he saw a lot of homeless people, some of them real, some of them clearly there to keep an eye on the area, their generally higher amount of mana, and their control over said mana, giving them away.

He studiously ignored them, as the character he was currently playing wouldn’t notice them. Though he made sure to stop by a few of them and put a few coppers in their collection cups with a smile.

Arriving at the square, with a small well in the middle covered by a wooden roof, for a minute he was alone, then the doors of one of the warehouses opened and Herbert appeared, furtively looking around then smiling at Sam.

“Timmy! You’re here!”

“It’s Tom, Herbert…” he said, acting exasperated.

[Quest “Seaside opportunity” completed!]

[You managed to meet up with your new friend within the time frame specified. Go you!]

[Reward: Increased reputation with Herbert]

The other man walked closer and nodded with a smile. “Alright, Rob! I’m glad you came!”

Sam just sighed, playing up the annoyance and gave Herbert an awkward smile.

“Hopefully, it will be worth it…”

The other man slapped him on the back and exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, my young friend. You’ll make more money than you know what to do with…”

“How?”

Herbert smirked at him.

“You just need to help us move some merchandise,” he turned around and pointed at the warehouse he came out of. “From there to the harbor.”

“This late?”

Herbert just shrugged nonchalantly. “The clients always want the product yesterday… You know how it is…”

Sam didn’t even have to fake the commiserating tone of his voice. “That I do!”

Herbert laughed out loud, then looked around once again and began ushering Sam toward the warehouse door.

“Come on! Let’s get started!”

Inside the warehouse was bustling with activity. People looking much more suspicious than Herbert were walking around and placing crates on a horse-drawn cart at one end of the warehouse. None of them were wearing any kind of uniform, and most of them had a weapon on them.

‘Can’t look more suspicious than that…’ Sam mused as he took in everybody. ‘Sadly, none of them are on the top ten of the bounty board. But I can see a few who had a price on their head…’

As they stepped through the door all eyes fell on them scrutinizing both him and Herbert for a long moment before everybody returned to their job.

Sam looked around curiously, as well as reaching out with his mana to see if there was anything dangerous close by. But the only thing he could sense were the broken defenses on the warehouse and the frankly tiny amount of mana these robbers had.

He was then directed to the front of the warehouse (which he pretended not to notice) and was told to start taking crates from one of the stacks and put them near the carriage.

“And the contract?” he asked, looking worried.

Herbert just smiled. “Trust me, my friend! We need these crates to start moving, we can deal with the details tomorrow after we are finished…”

“A-alright, if you think so…” he answered causing an ugly grin to sprout on Herbert’s face.

For an hour he just did what they asked him. He took crates from one stack and placed them next to the carriage where one of the grizzly men looked them over and selected a few based on some unknown criterion. The rest of the people in the warehouse did the same, staying silent and only speaking in low tones near each other out of Sam’s hearing range.

Then his mana senses prickled and Sam had to hold back his smile.

When he was at the bounty office, walking near a few grizzly people who looked like they ate gravel for breakfast without milk, he dropped off a small piece of paper with the address he was given, plus Herbert’s name.

It seemed the bait was taken.

Not even a second later the activity increased inside the warehouse.

“What the hell?”

“Who tipped them off?”

“Who is coming?”

And then after half a minute of a frantic discussion, one person had a very logical thought.

“Where the fuck is the new guy?”

But Sam was already gone.

Sam watched from the top of the nearby warehouse as several bounty hunters swarmed the warehouse and a fight broke out. He could’ve taken out every one of them alone, but he had another purpose with this charade.

He watched as the fight went on and crafty Herbert tried to sneak away holding a box in his hands tightly, stress clearly seen on his face.

Sam raised his hand and formed a small sphere of wind, then after some calculation, he narrowed his eyes and released the sphere. The sphere of wind traveled too fast for anyone to see, impacting the side of the warehouse, instantly expanding, causing an explosion and a shower of debris that momentarily distracted everyone.

But most importantly, it threw poor Herbert to the ground, having him let go of the box. Sam jumped down the roof and with the help of his speed-increasing skill quickly opened the box, noted the glass container full of some kind of white powder, and quickly deposited the notes he had made.

Closing the box he put the box near Herbert’s hands, and by the time the scammer gathered his wits, he was hidden by the shadows of a nearby alley.

“Holy shit! Holy shit! I have to get out of here…” the man muttered to himself as he scrambled to his feet, grabbed the box without looking, and sprinted away from the partially demolished warehouse as the bounty hunters began to holler in cheer as they identified a few men among the people stealing from the warehouse.

Sam smiled and began walking away. After all, cool guys didn’t look at explosions.

‘A job well done, now how about that property deeds…’

Sam had two quests in mind that would allow him to get some properties in the city. The first one involved going around, talking with people, then killing something really strong.

However, he preferred the other one. It involved going around, talking with fewer people, then going around again, and then killing something strong.

The difference between the two quest chains?

The Loot!

He grinned, knowing he had sowed some rather chaotic seeds, and headed for another inn. He had a quest to get.

His target was the Giggling Donkey Inn, where a well-known NPC resided. It was another NPC that became famous after people figured out their quest chain. Before that, they were one of those annoying NPCs that cried a river and gave a stupid quest that could be solved in five minutes but didn’t give any more rewards. The man just cried more.

However, once again, thanks to his foreknowledge, Sam knew where those people went wrong.

The Giggling Donkey was a traditional inn, catering more to the low-level merchants compared to Anchor Away which was exclusively a sailor and ne’er-do-well inn.

The area was much cleaner, and the people looked less likely to shank him and more likely to cheat him out of his money.

He entered through the door and was instantly hit by the sound level of the people chatting in the big hall of the inn. Wherever he looked, he could only see merchants and businessmen doing business, discussing business, or preparing to do the aforementioned two things.

Sam nodded to the bartender – another grizzled, old man cleaning a glass with a rag – who returned the nod and then motioned with his head toward the back where Sam could spot a few empty tables. He bowed his head a little then held up a finger. The barkeeper in response put down the glass he was cleaning and went to get him a drink.

He then maneuvered around people until reaching an empty table. Taking a surreptitious look around Sam smiled inwardly when he spotted his quarry.

There he was, an old man, dressed in old clothes that had seen better days, stained with all manner of things, holding a pint of beer between his hands and looking like he had spent the past few years crying.

As soon as he sat down, a waitress appeared, dressed similarly to the one he had met back in Anchor Away. She placed the beer in front of him, and he held a silver up in his hand. The young woman’s eyes began to sparkle, and showing that she had been working for a while at this pace, instantly spoke up.

“How can I help you, sir?”

Sam nodded toward the crying old man.

“What’s wrong with him?”

The girl let out a disappointed sigh.

“Oh, I thought it would be more interesting. That old man is James Morrison. He was a merchant before handing over the reins to his son. Who went out one day and never returned.” She smiled sadly, looking at the old man. “He spends most of his days here trying to find the location of his son on the bottom of a beer.”

Sam handed over the silver. “Thank you, miss!”

The silver vanished between two blinks.

“You’re welcome, sir!” Based on the smile on her face, Sam was pretty sure he had overpaid for the information. “Anything else I can help you with?”

Sam gave her a smile and a shake of his head. “No thanks, but you’ve been very helpful. I will make sure to find you if I want to know something!”

The young woman grinned at him and leaned a little closer, showcasing her generous bosom, and began whispering. “Name’s Sandy. I know a lot of things, mister…”

Sam winked at her and she returned it before flouncing away, heading toward another customer who was waving his hand.

He waited for a minute then took his beer, stood up, and walked up to the old man’s table along the wall.

“Is this seat taken?”

The man just grunted, not even looking up from his drink. Sam took it as an affirmative and sat down across from the man.

They sat there for a long minute, both of them occasionally sipping their drinks, then the old man let out a bone-weary sigh and looked up at Sam with empty eyes.

“You’re an adventurer, right?” he asked, his words slurring a little.

“That I am, sir,” he answered simply.

“You know how to search?”

Sam nodded. “Worked with druids before. Got good senses.”

The man nodded as if not even registering his words.

“Good, then go out and find my son’s ship. I have only a need for one thing. A ring. A family ring,” the old man muttered, as if he was in a trance. “Return that to me, and I’ll reward you handsomely.”

“You got a deal, old man.”

The older man nodded and returned gazing into the depths of his lukewarm drink.

Sam, however, was distracted by the notification screen.

[New quest acquired!]

[Another seaside opportunity]

[This time you were promised reward by an old and sad gentleman. Let’s see if this goes better than the last one! Go out and find the ship that carried the old man’s son and retrieve the ring he wants to hold in his hand.

[Time Limit: None]

[Reward: A handsome reward]

[Penalty: The old man will become sadder!]

Nodding in satisfaction he downed the last of his drink, said his goodbye to the old man and then Sandy at the door, and left the Giggling Donkey Inn. He needed to hurry. There was research to be done to satisfy the system that he didn't pull the location of the sunken ship out of his ass. Sadly, he knew from his inherited memories that the old man would be useless, as he was so grief stricken that he couldn't even tell you what color his son's eyes were. Thankfully, there were several information brokers in the harbor city who even knew what type of underwear the Morrison heir preferred.

After that, the next step in the quest would be acquiring transportation. Thankfully, he had wind magic, so getting a small sailing boat would be enough for his purposes. While Deepanchor was next to a seacliff with unfathomable depth, the ship sunk at a part where the seafloor was merely deep and not abyss-deep.

With his Mana Shield, Mana Sense, and the Rebreather Liz crafted it would be an easy journey…