Chapter 40 – My First Capital in Shimoor (Patreon)

On the morning of our sixth day in the wilderness, I walked out of the tent and saw snow. It was thin on the ground, and I knew it would melt soon, but it was still snow. I didn’t feel cold, but I didn’t know if it was the actual weather or my stats and decided to pick up the pace; it might get colder. It was a long “shortcut,” but I wasn’t in a hurry and needed the time to clear my mind and recharge my peopling.

After coffee and breakfast, I stored the camp, checked the Map to orient myself, and started walking faster in the direction of the city. After about an hour, we walked from between two hills, and I saw the river and the city about two kilometers to our left. The river was wide and looked deep; it reminded me of the Hudson River in New York. I climbed the hill on my left, took out my binoculars, and looked at the city. Stretch looked at me, and I sensed a question from him.

“I just want to see where we are headed.”

It was enormous compared to the towns we visited. It spread on both sides of the river with two- or three-story wooden houses and bigger stone mansions. The stone mansions were behind walls, but the city wasn’t walled. It suddenly occurred to me that in medieval times on Earth, everything, or almost everything, was behind walls, but here it was the first time I saw walls. I suspected the walls were more to separate the nobles from the commoners and less for protection. This absence of protective measures seemed strange to me. I read and experienced that this world was peaceful, but I did buy weapons left from the war.

On the opposite side of the river, a massive mansion or palace, probably the royal palace, was on a hill overlooking the city, with flags flying on the watchtowers. I saw boats and barges of various sizes on the river going in both directions. Hmm, that can be an option; maybe Stretch won’t mind a bigger boat. Bridges over the river connected both sides, with people going in both directions. It looked nice and peaceful. I hope it's clean. I read that medieval cities were stinky.

Before going to the city, I opened my Profile and looked at it again; I learned from the experience with the Appraisal skill. I looked over all my skills and spells again to remember that I had them.

__________

Name: John Rue

Age: 20

Class: Healer Level 10

Spells:

Heal Muscle - 14
Diagnose - 10
Stop Bleeding - 3
Heal Bone - 7
Control Blood - 11
Healing Touch - 22
Neutralize Poison - 1
Purify - 10
Clean - 15
Anesthesia - 7
Regrow Flesh - 1
Fortify Life Force - 5
Cleanse - 1

Hidden Class: Gate Traveler Level 3

Gates to next level: 2/8

Class Abilities:

Conversion
Travelers’ Archive
Identify - 1
Storage - x4
Local Adaptation - Spoken language
Map
One of the Crowd

Profession: Merchant Level 5

Skills:

Bargain - 3
Sense Honesty - 2
Appraisal - 5
A Nose for Business - 4

Sub-class 2: Wizard Level 2

Abilities:

Mind Split x3
Mana Sensing [Apprentice]
Mana Saturation [Apprentice]
Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress]
Harvest Game [In Progress]

General Spells:

Mana Dart
Mana shield - 1
Spellbinding - 3
Invisibility - 2
Mend - 1
Adaptable Light Ball - 4
Restore - 4

General Skills:

Pencil Sketching - 1
Making Beer - 1
Staff Fighting - 10
Krav Maga - 10
Archery - 14
Minor Spell Adaptation - 1
Mana Sense - 3
Mana Meditation - 8
Develop Negative - 2
Print Photograph - 1
Guitar Playing - 10
Mining - 5
Butchering - 1
Skinning - 1

Health: 3750/3750

Mana: 7200/7200

Strength: 27

Agility: 29

Constitution: 35

Vitality: 40

Intelligence: 49

Wisdom: 56

Perception: 31

Luck: 29

Available stat points: 0

Available ability points: 41

_______________

My mana rose again, and again, I had no idea why. I activated my Luck and sensed the same direction and “No hurry.” I’ll get answers soon; write the book faster!

I went twice through all my skills and spells to remember them. I still hadn’t used the Mana Dart—one day…

We came back down the hill and headed toward the city. We approached a cluster of wooden buildings that looked like warehouses and were separated from the city, and I started to smell something nasty. I wanted to turn around and go in a BIG arc around them, but then I saw leather sheets hanging on lines between two of the buildings. Tanners? I knew that tanning in the past was stinky work. I decided to brave the stink and ask. I saw two people near one of the buildings and approached them.

“Good day, gentlemen.”

They both gave me a funny look, and the older one answered, “Hello, stranger.”

“Are you, by any chance, tanners?”

“Yes …”

“Would you be interested in buying mukar pelts?”

The older of the two headed inside, saying, “Come inside, and we'll see.”

I saw that he was limping and asked, “Excuse me for asking, but I'm a healer. What happened to your leg?”

“A war injury from a sword. Got me home early in the fighting.”

“I heard about the war during my travels in the area, but I’m from the islands in the south, which is very far away from here. What exactly happened?”

“The old king died, and both his sons wanted the throne. Both had nobles who supported them and assembled their vassals to fight. It was a bad time in our history,” he said sadly.

“How did it end?”

“The older prince was killed in the fighting, so the younger ascended the throne.”

“Sounds unpleasant.”

He winced and said, “Very.”

“Would you like me to examine your leg to see if I can help?”

He looked at me suspiciously and said, “I saw a healer once. He charged me a silver for meeting him and said he can’t help.”

“I won’t charge you for checking. If I can help, I’ll tell you the price in advance.”

“Let's see those pelts first, and I’ll think about it.”

I took out all eight pelts I had collected and showed him. He examined them all and pointed at the first two pelts I collected by “exploding” the bison, “You didn’t do a very good job there,” pointed at the other six and said, “Much better.”

“I was learning. Thanks for the compliment about the rest.”

“I’ll give you three silvers for the bad ones and six silvers for the good ones, for four gold and two silvers. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, thank you.” I said, “Do you want me to check your leg?”

He hesitated momentarily and said, “Go ahead, but I’m not promising I’ll pay for the healing.”

“No promise needed.”

I diagnosed him and saw he had severed muscles. I knew how to fix that after treating Stretch when we met.

I told him, “I can heal your leg, but it’s more complicated than just casting a healing spell. I’ll need to put you to sleep so you won’t feel anything, cut your leg open, regrow parts of your muscles to reconnect them, remove scar tissue, and heal the leg. It will take a while, and you will be starving and tired after the healing. If you eat and rest more than usual before I treat your leg, the hunger and tiredness will be less severe. The healing will cost you one gold.”

He thought for a minute and asked, “Can my wife be present when you heal the leg?”

“Of course.”

“I need to think about it and talk to my wife. Where are you staying?”

“I don’t know yet; I just arrived. Do you have a recommendation?”

He thought momentarily and said, “Cross the second bridge from here, head straight, and turn left on the third street; look for the Peaceful Nights Inn.”

“Thank you. I hope I’ll see you again.”

It occurred to me that I had learned to speak the language but not read it. I also didn’t have the ability to learn written language. I needed to buy it and spend the mana to learn to read Shimoorian. Bye-bye, another Ability Point.

I followed his directions, quietly singing “Bye Bye Miss American Pie” by Don McLean under my breath. Stretch occasionally howled quietly as a background singer; he was adorable. I told him that and got paws on my shoulders and a lick from chin to forehead.

We entered the city, and it was a surprise. I didn’t know what to expect, but it still surprised me, maybe because I was expecting something from Earth's history. The city was very spacious and spread out. The streets were cobbled stone and very wide. There were no sidewalks, but short spikes all along the road marked a clear distinction between the cart lanes and the pedestrians. Four carts could drive side by side on the street, and the pedestrian section had occasional merchant stalls selling food or trinkets that didn’t impede traffic at all; there was enough room in front or behind them for many people to pass. All the houses stood on plots of land with front and backyards, and there was enough distance from the next house to fit another house between them. It made sense. I traveled in the wilderness for weeks without seeing towns or cities; they had a lot of available space.

From what I could see, there was also no separation by area between the rich and the poor. I walked by two tiny wooden houses, maybe one bedroom, that looked weathered, and beside them stood a beautiful three-story house of wood and stone. Further up the street, after a few average two-story wooden homes, was a big walled mansion with a guard at the gate. It continued like this all the way to the second bridge and on the other side of the river. Dilapidated tiny homes, nice two-story or three-story wooden houses, big stone houses that on Earth will occupy half a block, and giant walled mansions, all mixed. It looked like the city spread outward, and the people built whatever they could afford.

While I walked, I looked at all the signs. Initially, I could recognize only some of the letters, but with each sign, my reading improved. I was pleased about the language abilities; they were fantastic.

I found the Peaceful Nights Inn quickly, following the tanner's instructions. It was much larger than the other inns I stayed in and made of stone, not wood. The common room was long and wide, with three lit fireplaces, one in the back and two on the right-side wall, and more than thirty tables, some occupied by people eating early dinner. I could see three servers moving between the tables. On the right side was a long wooden bar with two people behind it; one was polishing glasses, and the other was shouting something through a window behind the bar. I assumed it was the kitchen. The right side also had a small stage between the fireplaces.

I told Stretch, “It looks fancy. I hope they won’t have a problem with you staying with me in the room.” I got the equivalent of a shrug from him. I shrugged, too; it was the correct response.

We approached the bar, and the shouting man turned to us and said, “Welcome to the Peaceful Nights; sit down, and a server will see to you.”

“If my dog can stay with me, I want to rent a room.”

He looked surprised and said, “Of course it can. It’s a dog, not a horse. Do you want a regular room, or with a sitting room?”

I thought about it and answered, “With a sitting room.” If I’d see patients, that would be convenient.

“One silver a night with dinner and breakfast. Food for the dog is extra.”

I gave him a pouch with 50 copper coins from Earth and said, “Here’s for five nights; I’ll pay more if I stay longer. You can keep the pouch as a gift.”

He examined the coins but didn’t ask about them. He probably saw strange coins in a capital city with significant river traffic.

He gave me a key and said, “Third floor on the right, room 34. Dinner is served for another three hours. Welcome and enjoy your stay.”

“I would also like a hot bath in my room.”

Now, he gave me a funny look and said, “Why? Go to the bathhouse; it’s much nicer and right around the corner.”

I thanked him, and we went up to the room. It was very nice. The sitting room had a fireplace with five couches in front of it. A small dining table on the right side had two chairs and a big window overlooking the street. The bedroom was smaller, with a twin bed, a large chest at the foot of the bed with the key sticking out of the lock, a small table with a bowl, cup, and pitcher of water, and a door leading to the toilet. Unfortunately, there was still no plumbing, just a seat over a bucket that must be carried out. Maybe I should ‘invent’ plumbing and sell the idea. The thought made me snicker.

I decided to visit the bath tomorrow; I just wanted to relax, sleep in a nice bed, and explore the city tomorrow.

We had dinner in the room from our stock; I spread Stretch’s blankets for him, petted and scratched him a bit, and we went to sleep.

Tomorrow, we’ll see what the city has to offer.