Gordon kept on laughing at Ian. As a master blacksmith his usual rate was much higher than a few silver.
"What's so funny man? Will you take my commission or not, I'm confused here"
Ian interrupted his laughing fit looking lost.
"Ah it's nothin Ian. I just thought it was funny how ye put down that bag like it's a lot of money"
"Damn... I didn't know I was broke. That's enough for 6 nights at an inn you know."
Once again Gordon laughed. He took a breath to compose himself before responding.
"It's not that yer broke. Not to brag but I'm a master blacksmith. My clients usually come to me with bags of gold."
"And I came with a pouch of silvers... Yeah I can see how that's funny."
Inwardly Ian was thanking his lucky stars. Meeting a master level individual this early into his game was a godsend. He could get high quality weapons and armor from Gordon. That would be huge in the early game.
"Don't be down on yerself Ian. I'll take the job. Just cause yer funny I'll give ya 20 arrowheads for those silver."
"Really?! Thanks man!"
Ian beamed hearing Gordon's words. This was why relationships mattered in this game. NPCs who favor you can help out in a lot of ways. From handing out higher rewards to joining your party.
Since Gordon was a vendor type NPC this help manifested in discounts and priority to his commission.
"Don't get too excited though. I'll use my lower ranking ores for this. I'm all for helpin ya out but I'm not wastin money."
"Fair enough. I'm not gonna be fighting high rank monsters yet anyway so high ranking ores would be wasted on me."
Ian figured low rank for a master level individual would still be helpful at his current level. There was no need to be upset since he was getting a great deal here.
"Come back in 5 hours Ian. The arrowheads will be ready then."
"You got it Gordon. Be back soon."
Ian walked out of the forge and whistled to Arrow who was perched on the building across the forge.
Arrow dived and perched on Ian's shoulder as he began to leave.
Now that he had 5 hours to kill Ian wasn't sure on what to do. He could return to the inn but looking around the city that felt like the boring option.
Now it had ben 30 minutes of Ian just wandering around taking in the sights. He had reached the main square of Canopy City. He looked up at the tallest tree he's ever seen. Around the large tree was a park kind of area surrounded by important buildings.
Arrow immediately flew up to perch on the huge tree. Following him with his eyes Ian headed the same way. He walked up a small hill and saw that under the trunk was an elf.
She had long green hair and wore silky white robes with green accents. As he approached she twitched and her eyes flickered open
"Hi, sorry to disturb you. Didn't see you there."
"Hmm.. What's going on?"
The woman sat up and groggily rubbed her face. Taking a closer look at her it seemed she was a player. Right above her head the name [Jasmine Aglain].
"Again, sorry to wake you up. My name is Ian Nightgale. I'm new to the game."
"Oh hi, I'm Jasmime or Jaz if that's too long for you."
"Nice to meet you Jasmine. Why wre you sleeping here?"
"No reason really. I just sat here to rest for a second and before I knew it I dozed off."
Ian sat across from her as she finished speaking. Jasmine's green hair and eyes reminded Ian of dryads. She looked like a spirit.
"What class are you? From the looks of it you're a magic class."
"You're spot on, actually. I'm a druid."
"That's cool! What can druids do here? Do you control plants or maybe turn into animals?"
"They can do both actually. Depends on what you focus on though. I'm focused ok croud control and support. My thing is mostly controlling vines and healing."
As she finished her sentence Arrow zipped down and landed next to Ian.
"And who is this guy?"
Jasmine turned to Arrow with a look usually reserved for puppies.
"His name is Arrow. I tamed him in Evergreen Forest before coming here. He's a funny little guy."
Ian introduced Arrow while scratching his neck.
Arrow had a pouty look on its face seemingly embarrassed. Jasmine then suddenly started laughing.
"Hahaha he doesn't seem to like being called little. God, so cute!"
Ian looked at her confused.
"Wait.. Can you talk to animals?"
"Yeah, it's one of the random skills I got at the beginning. It's called [Animal Speech]."
"That's amazing! How does that even work? Can you talk to all animals?"
"No there's some limitations. I can only speak to animals with lower or equal level to me. Super high ranking creatures I can't really talk to."
"Still that is awesome. What is it like? Do you just hear them talk like regular people?"
"Its more like I can instinctively understand what they mean. Not necessarily just hearing them as if they were human."
Time flew as the teo sat there chatting. Jasmine was very open to conversation and didn't seem bothered by Ian's questions.
Both of them were curious about the others experience in the game. They traded stories about their starts in the game and what had happened since.
"Do you mind if we add each other? Talking to you has been fun, and I'd love to hear from you again later."
Jaz asked before Ian left to get his arrowheads.
"Sure, I was gonna ask too. I am leaving the city soon with my buddy and I say you're free to come if you want. We don't have a support in our party."
"Actually? You know, that doesn't sound half bad. You said your friend was silver level right?"
"Yeah! He can carry both of us up there in no time."
"I'll take you up on that then! Message me before y'all leave. I'll meet you at the gate."
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Chapter 10!! Ne characters unlocked!! Let me know your thoughts