“I'm sure it’s of great interest, but will you able to work the spell?” said Namzu with a slightly irritated look at the younger man
“Of course,” replied the Etel-Pisha, not looking up from the amulet.
The large man interrupted Etel-Pisha before he could continue speaking and looking at Namzu with an intense gaze and said, “Remember, we are in this for the wealth we can get out of the job and not for some favor to the guild!”
Before the thin man, Namzu, could reply, a serving woman walked up to the table with five bowls. She placed them in front of everybody at the table, including Ahava. The large man smiled at her as she placed his bowl, while Etel-Pisha, the younger man, did not take his eyes off the amulet.
Ahava looked into the bowl to see what the meal was. It was a barley soup with bits of meat and vegetable. It tasted of spice. Ahava choked a bit due to the spicy taste and the four looked at him and then returned to eating from their bowls.
As he ate Ahava carried on listened to their conversation. From what he heard they would be hunting some type of wolf for the guild. The guild would then sell off the material from the animals to another third party. This was Etel-Pisha’s first job with the others, but the others seemed to have been working for a while together. Etel-Pisha was a magic user and seemed to be only interested in different spells and amulets. The larger man, named Nasha, was keen to buy a new weapon with the wealth from the job. The woman, Istar, who often berated Nasha, was the archer of the group. Namzu, as the leader, kept trying to bring them back on topic but it was a difficult task.
During the meal, a serving woman brought out a jug of what tasted like a very weak beer, with five ceramic cups. As the people around the table passed around the jug, it gave a chance for Ahava to cut into the conversation.
Looking at Nasha, the large man, Ahava said, “I couldn't help overhearing that you know a lot about weapons. I have a knife that I was wondering if you could look at and give me your opinion of it.”
Nasha, with a bit of surprise on his face that Ahava had interrupted the conversation, answered a bit curtly and said, “Hand it over and I’ll have a look.”
Ahava pulled one of the knives that he had made of steel out of his bag. He had been wanting to test a suspicion that was in his mind as he started traveling that there was no steel in this country. He passed the knife over to Nasha tentatively. The initial reaction was to look at the knife in surprise and a bit of doubt. He moved the weapon around in his hand, looking over it. His eyebrows were raised. Taking the knife, he tapped it against the table, then brought the knife down quickly and stabbed the rough wood table. The blade of the knife went deep into the wood. This was met with an excited look on Nasha’s face. The final tests were to take out a copper colored dagger and try to make a scratch mark on the surface of the steel knife. With this failing, Nasha stood up and using his knee and tried to bend the knife. When it did not bend, he sat down with a shocked look on his face. By this time the whole team was watching, and even Etel-Pisha was looking up from his amulet.
Nasha said in a hushed voice, looking at the knife with excitement, “How much do you want for this? I must have it! What is the material? Do you have any more weapons made out of this material? I will buy them too!”
Ahava was a bit shocked by Nasha’s reaction to his knife and replied by saying, “I was not thinking of selling it just yet. The metal is steel and I do have more weapons of the same material.”
A look of disappointment was seen on Nasha’s face, but he said, “I’ve never heard of this ‘steel’ before but I am determined to have it. How did you get such a weapon?”
By now Ahava was a bit nervous about the intensity of the large man's demand and quickly blurted out before thinking, “I made it and if you want it, how much will you pay?” He had no clue about the cost of any items.
Nasha blinked and replied, “I can only give you barley tokens now but when we are back from the mission, I will give you two silver grams.”
Ahava though it was best not the anger the larger man and indicated that was fine with him. They agreed that Ahava would leave a message of how to find him with the guild hall in the main city north of here, Bad-tibira. The city was half a day’s travel and it was where the adventurers were from.
The rest of the meal the group talked to each other while every now and then glancing at Ahava. When Ahava had finished he said goodbye to the group and went to his room.
The next, morning he set off early, determined to arrive in the city of Bad-tibira by midday. As he walked toward the city, he noticed the irrigation for the farmland. There was a sophisticated arrangement of ditches supplying the land with water.
When cresting a small hill, he looked down on to the city. The impression was that it was large. All of the houses were built of sun-baked mud brick. The houses were very close together, with small, winding streets. There were some large streets that led from the city walls to the major buildings in the center. The major buildings included a ziggurat and a large complex of buildings with their own walls.
Walking down the hill and toward the city, he started toward a gate. Through the gate were traveling a large number of people being watched over by guards. The guards were in similar attire to the guard at the fort. Ahava joined the people walking through the gate on the city wall. Nobody stopped him as he walked past the guards that had disinterested looks. As he passed under the shade of the wall, with the sun glaring in his eyes, he saw that he was in a large open area. The area was full of people except for a road area that led into the city for wagons to pass. The people were milling around a small market store. Sometimes the store had a table with what was for sale on it, shaded with an awning. Others were selling items from a piece of cloth in front of them.
Ahava started to walk around the market stores. The range of products was wonderful. He ambled around in the hustle and bustle of the market and saw weapons of all types, ranging from knives and daggers to axes and clubs; food like bread, cakes, dried meat, fresh meat and barley; jewelry made of gold and silver with stones set in them; and pottery, empty and containing oil and other liquids.
Going up to a stall with some small cakes, he asked the old woman in a sheepskin tunic and shirt, “How much for the cakes?”
She replied, squinting back, looking at Ahava, “Well good sir, it would be one eighth barley token piece for five.”
Ahava reached into his bag and brought out the required amount for five and handed the token over. The woman took the token and wrapped the cakes in a leaf and passed it over. Thanking her, Ahava moved on, eating one of the cakes. It was full of a cinnamon flavor with some hot spice mixed in. Overall he enjoyed it. For the next hour, he wandered around the market, taking in the prices of different items and the selection available. Finally he decided to find an inn for the night.
Not knowing where to go, he asked a man at a store that was selling weapons. The man was very burly, with a thick mustache and leather clothing. In answer to Ahava’s question the man said, “Well, that will depend on what type of inn you want are you looking for: cheap or expensive; one with or without company?”
Ahava thought it was safer if he went for the more expensive inns, as he did not know the city yet. He definitely did not want company!
He replied back saying, “I’ll go for more expensive and without company.”
The burly man answered, “Oh well, each to their own. You can find the expensive inns around the main square, close to the bottom of the ziggurat. You can't miss them with all the signs.”
As Ahava was thanking the man, he felt a sharp tug on his bag. Looking around, he saw a young boy running away from him. He checked his bag and found that it was still there. Grateful for the magic of the bag, being bonded to him, he heaved a sigh of relief.
The man said, “You have to be careful with your bags here, as there is a lot of that type of thing in this market.”
Moving off, Ahava started toward the center of the city. Walking through
small streets, he had to navigate the human traffic. He was amazed by the human activity. Eventually, he came to where the streets were wider, with fewer people milling around. The clothing and jewelry the people were wearing got better. Soon he was close the ziggurat and on a street with a sign for inns. Picking one of the first ones he came to, he approached the building. It was on some ground with a wall around the outside. At a gateway sat a man with a large club by his side.
Ahava tried to go into the grounds, but before he could pass the man barked at him, “Where do you think the likes of you are going? You need some serious wealth to stay here!”
Not wanting to have trouble, but needing a place to stay, Ahava got out a piece of silver the size of a finger and showed it. The man raised his eyebrows in surprise and doffed his hat, and said in a polite tone, “Sorry sir... you did not look the type to be having silver. Please go in.”
Walking through the grounds and through some large wooden doors, Ahava walled into a large building. It was set out like the previous inn he had stayed in, but with carved furniture and a glazed picture of an animal on the wall. The clients were all very well dressed. A man behind a table got up and came over. With an inscrutable look at Ahava he said politely, “To get past the guard you must have some wealth, so how can I help you?”
“I am new to the city and need a place to stay for a while. Do you have rooms available?” said Ahava to the man.
The man replied with a curt nod and said, “Yes, we do. They range from a single room to a suite of rooms with your own private dining area and slave to serve you.”
As Ahava wanted a bit of privacy and comfort after the last weeks he said to the man, “I will take one of the suites of rooms, please.”
The man looked doubtful while shifting on his feet, and said, “The cost is expensive, sir. It will be 20 tokens of barley per night and I will need at least one hundred tokens up front from you, sir!”
Ahava quickly handed over the one hundred tokens to the man. The man looked a bit shocked but soon had a smile plastered across his face and led Ahava to the back of the inn. He opened a large wooden door into a good-sized room with three doors leading to different rooms. The first room had a dining table with chairs and sideboards. As Ahava was shown around the three other rooms he saw one was a bedroom with a massive bed in the center and some wardrobes on the edge of the room, all with carvings of animals; the second room was like a living room with some comfortable chairs, sofas and a desk; and the final room had a wooden tub about the size for a person to fit in and a seat with a bucket under it. Ahava felt that maybe he was being a bit excessive in having it all. Before leaving the man introduced him to the slave, whose name was Shulgi. The slave was an older man with a large stature and acted humble. After being told if he needed anything to ring, they left Ahava alone in the suite of rooms.
Chapter Eight: Training
Waking up on the overlarge bed, Ahava considered how comfortable he was. Last night he had managed to have a bath and get clean and while his clothes were being washed, he was borrowing a long robe from the inn. In his mind, he was planning what to do in the city Bad-tibira. As part of this he checked on his stats:
Gender: Male
Biological Age: 45
Intelligence: 14, Stamina: 8, Strength: 8, Constitution: 8, Dexterity 6, Charisma: 11
Points: 725
Element -Flux rate per second
Earth-550; Water-110; Air-550; Fire-610; Ether-51,014
Aristotle's Rhetoric Emotions
Emotions-Flux rate per second
Anger-50; Calmness-40; Friendship-30, Fear-120; Courage-150; Shame-2, Confidence-50; Kindness-12; Cruelty-20; Pity-20; Envy-50; Love-10
Using a wet clay tablet from the living room, as he thought it would be cool to try to use it to write on, he made a list and some comments:
First, he needed some training in combat. Olga had helped somewhat but he needed a lot more if he was going to survive this world;
Second, with the training, he should be able to get fit and increase his stats, for the Thoth task. As he was older than an average man this could be hard, but he would be able to use his healing power to overcome this and push the exercise to the maximum;
Third, he wanted to experiment with the elemental powers and make the item. For this he would need his own house in the city as he planned to use this as a base of operations;
Fourth, he would have to get hold of some materials to make an item out of, the most important being iron for weapons. He would have to take trips out the city find some ore. He thought that he might join the adventurers guild, as a cover for this exploration;
Finally, for now, he needed knowledge about this world and their politics. He had the information from the tomb that he would have to read through as well.
Remembering that his wife loved to make lists, he felt a wave of despair hit him. To overcome this, he tied to bury the thoughts and feelings deep so he could manage to get through the day.
After a while, he used the elemental power to dry the clay tablet just because of the fun of being able to do it. Ringing the bell for Shulgi, Ahava got ready to leave the inn, explaining to Shulgi that he needed to find somewhere to do weapons training and then wanted to visit the adventures guild in afterward.
Shulgi said, “Sir, I know a good weapons college that has an excellent reputation and I can take you there. If you do not mind me suggesting, sir, you might want to buy some clothes first as what you are wearing is... strange. It would be better for you to fit in more, sir.”
Ahava looked at his shirt and jeans, thinking that they were very different from anything in this world. Accepting Shulgi’s suggestion, he soon found himself in a shop being fussed over by a number of people. Ahava had never been one for clothing shopping and mostly accepted Shulgi’s suggestion of what would be suitable. He walked out of the shop with a new set of clothes, feeling like he was a kid playing dress-up. He had a tunic, a long robe and a wraparound skirt pinned in place and extending from the waist to the ankles.
Ahava and Shulgi then set off to the weapons college, going through some small streets in the vast city. In one section that was deserted of people, a large man, badly dressed and dirty, stepped out in front of them. Pulling a copper dagger from under his grimy robe and blocking the way, he said in a tone of contempt, “I will be needing some tokens of some form to let you pass!”
Ahava quickly looked behind, with the thought of going back, and saw two additional ruffians, with daggers out, coming from behind. Before he could think about defending himself, Shulgi moved in front of him. Shulgi quickly moved in close to the worst dressed man, avoiding a dagger thrust, and grabbed his arm, throwing him to ground while hitting him in the neck. The man slumped in unconsciousness. Quick as a flash, Shulgi moved to the back as the two other men charged and he swept their feet from under them, kicking them in the necks. Both of them were unconscious as well.
Not even out of breath, Shulgi said, “Sorry about that, sir; maybe we should have taken a different route.”
He led Ahava out of the alley. Ahava looked back at the men on the ground and wondered what type of man Shulgi was to be so well trained in unarmed combat.
In a few minutes, they arrived at a large complex of buildings with some dirt fields, where people of all ages were practicing weapons drills. Shulgi led Ahava into the building past different gymnasiums. Eventually, in one of the gymnasiums, Shulgi led Ahava up to a well-built but smaller man who was shouting at some students, waving a stick at them. As the man saw Shulgi a range of emotions played across his face, finally ending up on pity.
Moving over, he talked to Shulgi in a respectful manner. “Good to see you, sir.... sorry Shulgi, how have you been?”
Shulgi replied with a nonchalant voice, “I am alive. I have a customer of the inn that wants to do weapons training. Could you train him for me?”
The man walked up and examined Ahava and said, ”Aren't you a bit old to be starting training?”
The man looked Ahava in the eyes and said, “I will not go easy on you and at your age, it is going to hurt, but it’s your money. My name is Alalngar. Be here just before sunrise tomorrow and you can start. Shulgi will tell you what to wear and bring.”
With that comment, the man walked away and started shouting at the students, hitting some with a stick.
Ahava thanked Shulgi and he smiled and said, “You may not be thankful tomorrow, as is he’s a tough weapons master but he is the best I know.”
The next place on the list of places to visit was the adventurers guild. On the way, Ahava asked some questions of Shulgi. He found out that the guild worked out of all the cities in the area; it was arranged into levels which one progressed through; the higher the level the better the job available; the type of job could vary from extermination of some dangerous creature, escorting caravans, guard work and sometimes working with the army for defense of the city. To be a member of the guild you needed to pass an entrance test.
When they arrived at the guild, which was in a large building, with offices in a central courtyard, Ahava was eventually led into a small office. The person behind the plain desk asked, “What can I do for you, sir?”
Ahava answered, “I need to leave a message for a man Nasha, an adventurer, and can I have information about the entrance exam?”
The man behind the desk said, “That will be one barley token for the message and information.”
Ahava handed over the token and gave the message that he was staying in the Blessed Gardens inn. The information about the exam, on a clay tablet, was handed over to Shulgi.
Early the next day, Ahava woke up before sunrise to start at the weapons training college. Shulgi had suggested he wear a tunic and short wraparound skirt. Ahava felt a bit foolish in the shorter skirt. When he arrived, Alalngar was already shouting at a group of young people doing weapons drill. They all were wearing similar clothing to Ahava.
The First Era Page 7