Chapter 3: Brave New World

Summary: Killing monsters is tougher than it seems.

The capital was bigger than I expected, with streets of cobbled stone winding between houses at seemingly random. People walked around, going about their lives, not paying me any mind.

'Where do I start?' I wondered.

Helia was right, I didn't know the first thing about this world. But I couldn't go asking at random, that would've raised suspicions. I needed to observe from afar and draw my own conclusions, at least for the time being.

The first thing I noticed was talk about the holy heroes. Snippets of passing conversations were mostly about them, and how relieved everyone was that they were finally summoned.

"I swear," I overheard someone saying, "the king should've ordered their summoning as soon as the first Wave of Calamity was repelled."

Waves of Calamity, huh? That sounded very exciting, so I made a mental note to find out more about them.

Next up, I wanted to get a rough feel for the economy. I did so by sticking close to food shops, which weren't hard to find by the delicious smell alone. People came and went, buying meals for themselves, and I saw them paying with small, brown coins they called Bronze. The average cost for a meal was between five and ten Bronze, but that didn't tell me much about the value of it as currency. I needed to earn some money myself in order to judge that properly, as I had no idea what the average wage was.

Walking around, I found some other establishments, like blacksmiths and medicinal shops. I looked inside through the windows of the latter, expecting a pharmacy, but it looked more like a flower shop. Potted plants lined the walls and shelves, and an older man was busy turning some of them into paste behind the counter.

'I take it their medicine isn't very advanced,' I concluded. 'But they do have magic, so who knows.'

Speaking of magic, that's the next thing I found. A magic shop. I didn't even bother approaching that one though. Still, its mere presence told me plenty: magic wasn't a guarded practice, it wasn't kept under lock and key by the king. Everyday people had access to it, otherwise a shop like this wouldn't be justified.

Most of the buildings had wooden signs above their doors, but I found that I couldn't read them. That got me thinking as well. I could understand everyone, and everyone I talked to this far could understand me. That initially led me to assume that we spoke the same language, but it didn't seem to be the case. Paying closer attention to people's mouths confirmed it, their lips didn't move in the way I expected them to given the words they spoke.

'Then how can I understand them?' I wondered. 'More magic? Some kind of translation spell? Will it run out?'

At any rate, I couldn't read their language and that made it harder to explore and learn about the world. I needed to pretend that I didn't know how to read and write, which was a blessing in disguise as much as it was a curse. Peasants in settings like these rarely knew how to do either anyway, so it would help with my cover story.

'Shit, right,' I realized. 'I didn't ask Helia for any information, so what do I even tell people? If they ask me too many questions, they'll figure out that I don't know jack.'

So I needed to talk less, at least until I knew enough to fabricate a backstory for myself. Pretending to be mute or deaf did cross my mind, but I couldn't afford to do that. I had no other way to communicate, and I didn't know how people would react to disabilities in this world. Maybe it was fine, like back in my old world, but then again maybe it wasn't and disabled people were shunned. I couldn't risk it.

Something else I noticed pretty fast was the presence of these…people with animal features. Think catgirls, but with more variety. They were few and far between, but I saw one with dog ears, and another one that looked more like a werewolf of sorts than a human. Some of them even had scales like reptiles, so it wasn't limited to mammals.

One of the shops I came across was in the process of unloading supplies, and more of these animal people did that. But they…they were just kids, no older than ten or twelve. A man supervised them, with a whip by his side, and he didn't hesitate to unleash it on a little girl that tripped and dropped her box.

'Helia did mention slavery.'

Ignoring it felt so wrong, but I couldn't do anything about it. Everyone else acted like it was a normal occurrence, a part of daily life, so it likely was. I couldn't go against the status quo. The little girl cried as the whip cracked against her skin, and she looked around with desperation for a brief moment. Her eyes met mine, and my heart split down the middle.

No, I needed to steel myself and ignore it. I couldn't afford to stand out. Blinking fast a few times to hold back tears, I turned around and left.

'What a shitty world,' I thought.

My exploration took me past a circus tent at some point, with a short, fat man idling outside. He looked so out of place that I couldn't help but stare at him, with his tophat and fancy ringmaster tuxedo. When he noticed my gaze, he peered back at me through his glasses and a grin formed below his handlebar mustache.

He gave me the creeps, his mere presence exuded a deep sense of dread. I didn't stick around to find out what his deal was, I turned around and walked off.

When I finally came to the conclusion that I needed help, I stopped a random passerby on the street.

"Excuse me, madam, I'm new in town and don't know my way around," I started, but she talked over me.

"I don't have any money, so…" she tried to blow me off.

Why did she assume right away that I was a beggar?

"Oh no, I don't want anything besides a bit of information. I want to find work and earn my own money," I answered. "Do you happen to know where a peasant that can't read or write could find work?"

She scoffed at me.

"Jobs are in short supply these days," she answered, turning up her nose. "Too many of you low lives are flooding in from your small towns, the capital can't support all of you. You'd have been better off staying home, boy."

She walked away without another word. But even though she didn't give me the information I needed, she helped me understand the world better, if only by a little. Waves of Calamity, Holy Heroes being summoned to save the world, people fleeing their small villages to seek refuge in the capital.

'Maybe the king wasn't that big of an asshole to summon us, he ruined our lives but by the looks of it he really needs the help,' I realized. 'Four lives to save a kingdom of potentially millions, if the population density of the capital is anything to go by.'

I tried asking for help from other people, but the universal reaction was to basically tell me to fuck off in polite words. Would I need to knock on every single door until I found work?

'No, I should look for places that are likely to need a hand. Farms, blacksmiths, stuff like that. Unskilled physical labor.'

As I walked around looking for another shop, I came across one with quite the line at the counter. The man serving people looked like he was in need of help, so I decided to shoot my shot and pray for the best.

"Hey, don't cut in line!" Someone yelled, reaching out and grabbing the collar of my tunic to stop me. "We're all in a hurry to sell our battle loot, so get back there and wait your turn like everyone else."

'Battle loot? I like the sound of that.'

"I'm not here to trade," I let the man know. "Just looking around."

He let go of me with a grunt, so I walked closer to the front of the line to observe. The people in line didn't look like the rest of the peasants, they had weapons and armor ranging from leather to chainmail to outright metal plate. They looked like fighters, and the mean looks in their eyes confirmed it. This was exciting, maybe I'd get my thrill after all. If not as part of the king's army, then as a lone adventurer.

"...so that will be a silver and twenty bronze," the merchant said.

That attracted my attention.

"Give it to me in bronze," the customer answered.

"Very well, one hundred and twenty bronze it is."

So the economy wasn't limited only to bronze, it went to higher tiers. That felt oddly familiar, like one of the many video games I used to play. But they went up in increments of one hundred by the looks of it, not the ten I was used to. One hundred bronze made a silver, and one hundred silver was likely to make something else, like gold.

'Fascinating.'

The customer took his coins, stashed them in a leather pouch, and he was off. The next man in line came up to the counter, unloading a ton of stuff from his backpack. Items that looked like orange and white pelts, as well as bones and teeth. Animal parts, basically.

"Eighty bronze," the merchant said after he evaluated the items.

I walked back towards the end of the line, to the guy that had grabbed my collar, and stopped next to him.

"Say, where can one get some battle loot if they're a complete beginner?" I asked him.

The man seemed annoyed by my presence and question, but he answered.

"Depends. What level are you? What equipment do you have?"

I could understand equipment, it meant stuff like armor and weapons, but level? Was that a representation of your skill? Did fighters earn levels by being stronger, like a danger rating or something? A sign of their reputation?

"I don't know, and nothing," I answered.

He gave me a strange look in answer, but he continued.

"In that case, you're better off staying in the capital," he answered. "Look for normal work, plenty of people hire these days. The cemetary can't dig graves fast enough, and the medicinal men will take in just about anyone."

"Just…humor me for a moment and answer," I demanded. Digging graves didn't sound appealing, and I couldn't be of any help to these medicinal men I assumed were doctors since I couldn't read. "I'll decide what to do after that."

"Fine, but if you end up hurting yourself, don't come looking for me. The fields around the capital are full of low level monsters, but you'll need at least some basic weapons. Armor you can do without if you're quick on your feet, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"I won't come looking for you, don't worry," I answered. "Don't even know your name, anyway. Thanks."

With that, I took off towards the capital's periphery.

"Take care out there, you hear me?!" The man yelled after me.

I got lost and turned around a few times, but I eventually made my way out of the capital about half an hour later. It was just like the man had said, sprawling fields of tall grass surrounded the protective walls as far as the eye could see. Lone trees dotted the landscape here and there, and a proper forest was visible just on the horizon.

'Judging by the loot I saw, these low level monsters are things like rabbits,' I concluded as I headed off into the fields. 'I don't have anything to butcher them with though, so hopefully I can catch a couple of them and sell them off whole at a lower price.'

Hearing them referred to as monsters was intriguing, and hearing the low level part also gave me pause. Were these monsters also rated for the danger they posed, going from low to medium to high level? Were there predators like wolves and tigers lurking around, and if so, were they high level? I assumed they'd be medium at the very least, and it was also a safe bet to assume that the monsters could use some form of magic as well. I had to be careful.

The sun started to set, so I had to move fast. Worst case scenario I couldn't earn enough money in time to afford a room, but I at least didn't want to go to sleep on an empty stomach. Plus who knew for how long the shops stayed open. They likely closed around sundown, and I needed to find one willing or able to buy live prey from me.

The grasses were thick, and with the waning light, I couldn't spot anything. I was hunting for needles in a mile wide haystack.

"Gah!"

The loud cry took me by surprise, and I turned around just in time to see a…

'The hell is that?!'

It looked like a…I don't know. Ball? Balloon? Orange in color, with eyes squinted in anger and a mean mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It flew through the air towards me, and I dodged it in the nick of time. The thing landed behind me in the grass, spun around, and jumped at me again.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

I dodged it again, and made up my mind to attack it back. On its next charge, I pulled back my fist and unloaded a full force punch into its side. It was launched away a great distance, and I felt like I punched a basketball.

"Hey, come back here!" I yelled and took off after it.

"Ah!" It answered, wading through the grass in my direction.

I punched it, again and again, but it looked like a fruitless endeavor. The thing was too light and soft, so all that my blows accomplished was to send it flying.

"Gah!"

Another one, this time from behind me. I raised my guard, but I didn't turn around in time. It bit into my left arm, hard enough to pierce the skin and draw blood.

"Fuck!"

I shook my arm wildly, trying and failing to get it off. The more I struggled, the harder it held on. The pain its bite inflicted grew steadily, and the other monster returned as well so I needed to think fast.

"Fine, if you're some sort of monster ball I'll pop you like one!"

I swung my left arm down, smashing the creature into the ground. Its grip around my flesh loosened, so I brought my right fist down onto it as well. I punched it repeatedly, and with nowhere to go since it was pinned, it finally took damage.

"Die!"

"Gah!"

The other monster jumped at me, grabbing onto the right arm I raised up high. I didn't flinch though, I kept punching the one I held down. It took a good two minutes, and I felt weaker and weaker by the second, but it finally died.

Pop.

That was all. A pop like a bursting balloon, and the creature around my left arm was gone. All that remained of it were some scraps of orange material on the ground. I brought the other one to my eye level and looked at it.

"You're next."

It responded by chomping down harder, sending more bolts of pain up my arm. In a repeat of my previous strategy, I slammed it into the ground and held it steady with one hand as I punched it with the other. It took a few good minutes again, but it finally popped, leaving more scraps at my feet.

'They'd probably be easier to deal with if I had a blade,' I thought as I kneeled down.

Not to check the battle loot, but to catch my breath. Killing only two of them did a number on me, I was breathing heavily and my arms were peppered with shallow gashes that bled. Would they stop on their own? Did I need bandages? Did these things carry disease, was I running the risk of some nasty infection?

I didn't know, and those thoughts got me on edge.

'I should've thought this through better,' I admitted to myself. 'It wasn't even all that thrilling.'

Thrill or no thrill however, I needed the money. One of the clients did sell some of these scraps, so I at least knew they were worth something. But he also sold some other loot, and since these were considered low level monsters, I didn't get my hopes up. I wouldn't make a fortune with them.

I gathered the handful of scraps off the ground, and they felt like leather between my fingers. The sun nearly set when I stashed them in my backpack, but I wanted to kill at least a couple more of them before I headed back.

That plan didn't pan out quite as intended. I found another one, caught it mid-air as it lunged at me, and wanted to keep it pinned with my foot while I pummeled it with my fists. Just as I got it on the ground however, more of them appeared. A couple at first, then five, then ten, all drawn to the commotion this one was making.

They jumped towards me at once, and I couldn't dodge them all. A couple grabbed onto my left arm, one bit into my right, a few more got their teeth into my sides. In a matter of seconds, it felt like every inch of me was being assaulted by teeth.

"Fuck!"

I'd die to god damned balls with mouths, not even a day into this world. It was true, I wasn't a hero or anything more noteworthy than a commoner. As the monsters bit away at me, I imagined the four heroes coming out here tomorrow, killing these things with their fancy weapons without breaking a sweat. It wasn't fair.

Adrenaline rushed through me before I fell over, and I felt my body going light. New strength imbued my muscles, fueled by my anger, so I yelled out loud enough to drown out the droning of the monsters.

"Ahhh!"

I grabbed the one beneath my foot, pinned it between my hands, and squeezed. It squealed out in pain as it deformed, going from round to oval, until it resembled a giant egg.

"Just die!"

"Gah!"

It popped between my hands, and the force of my own arms crossing each other nearly sent me stumbling. The sight gave the rest of them pause.

"I'm not done yet, I'll pop every single one of you," I said with anger.

Not like they would understand me, but it made me feel better. I grabbed one around my ankle and started pulling, feeling its teeth inflicting more damage before I pried it free. But I popped that one as well, and then the next one, and the next one, until all of them were off of me. Scraps of their orange leather and splatters of my own blood littered the ground around me when I was done, and I felt like passing out from the wounds and exertion.

"That's…enough hunting…for today," I decided.

I spent a minute catching my breath, then I gathered the pieces and stashed them in my backpack. The sight of my old shirt gave me an idea, I could rip it apart and use it as bandages to stop the bleeding. Those clothes were the only thing I had from my old world, but with my immediate survival at stake, I couldn't care less about the sentimental value they held.

So I ripped them apart. One by one, I turned them into long strands, taking off my leather clothes to dress the wounds beneath. When I put them back on, I realized that the improvised bandages around my arms were visible since the tunic and undershirt were both sleeveless.

'Whatever, people will just think they're funky bandages.'

I wandered back into the city, and it was already dark outside by the time I made it inside of the walls. With little time to lose, I ran around in search of the loot merchant, and found him right as he was closing up shop.

"Wait, I have some loot!" I yelled from afar, flailing my arms.

The man grunted visibly, pointing to a sign on the door. I still couldn't read it, but I guessed it said closed, or something to that effect.

"Please, I'll make it quick."

"Fine."

I pulled off my backpack and retrieved the scraps, about thirty of them. A quick mental count revealed that I killed some twelve of those ball monsters, so they dropped about two to three of these on average.

'Wait a sec, the hell am I doing calculating an average drop rate? This isn't some video game.'

"Orange balloon skins? Really?" The man complained.

"I'm…a beginner," I excused myself with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of my head. "Anyway, what are these worth?"

"Two for one bronze piece," the man said, taking the skins from me and counting them up. "You're looking at sixteen bronze for these."

I breathed a sigh of relief, that was enough for a meal.

"Make that fifteen for inconveniencing you," I answered.

At that, the man's frown melted and was replaced with a soft smile. He took the haul inside, returned with my coins, and we parted ways.

All of the food shops were closed as well, so as I looked for one that might still be open, I thought over my…discoveries again. Why did I calculate an average drop rate? The orange balloons seemed to have one though, which also didn't make sense, now that I thought about it. Given their initial size, and the sizes of the resulting skins when they popped, I should've had many more drops than that.

'Some of them would fly away randomly as they exploded, sure, but losing that much material?'

More questions for later, but until I found the answer I decided to assume that it's more magic. Why not?

I found a tavern that was still open and bustling despite the hour, so I entered. People were crowded inside, and every table was occupied, so I went up to the counter to order and I'd eat outside.

"Give me your cheapest meal that includes a drink, please."

"Sure, that will be five bronze."

I raised an eyebrow, it was cheaper than the street food. Was the portion smaller or something? Had I made a wrong initial assessment by staking out a more expensive parlor than average? Likely.

"Is…anything wrong?" The woman asked.

"Oh no," I answered, refocusing my attention. "The price is just lower than I expected, that's all."

The woman smiled.

"Everyone expects the highest prices in the land from us capital folks, don't they?" She said with a giggle. "But we're not in the business of robbing people blind."

"I see, in that case you just earned yourself a loyal customer," I joked.

"Your meal will be ready right away, please wait here."

"Make it to-go, you don't seem to have free tables."

"Oh, we can't have that," the woman answered, her smile turning a degree warmer. "Get yourself a chair and eat here."

I chuckled and accepted, so I went around looking for a chair while they prepared my dinner. By the time I returned with one, the woman was bringing over a plate and a bottle of wine.

"I'm sorry, I should've been more specific," I said as I sat down. "Do you have anything…non-alcoholic?"

"It's not a fancy wine, but it's pretty good," she reassured me.

I wasn't so much worried by the quality though, given how thirsty I felt I was ready to drink anything short of piss. But I was wounded and I lost some blood, which meant I would've gotten plastered from that bottle.

"Maybe another time," I answered. "I'm not feeling too well so I'll avoid alcohol tonight, water is fine."

"Okay," the woman said, taking the bottle away and returning with a jug of lukewarm water.

I dug in, wolfing down the food, and I expected her to leave to serve other customers. To my dismay, she stuck around.

"You're not from the capital, are you?" She inquired.

"What gave me away?" I answered with a chuckle, pausing the fork of food near my mouth.

I had no idea what exactly it was, but some kind of meat at any rate. Edible, and it didn't taste half bad, so it was good enough.

"Oh, us Innkeepers just have a sense for this kind of thing," she answered.

"Well your innkeeper sense didn't deceive you, I'm not from around," I answered, shoveling more food into my mouth in the hopes that she'd understand and stop asking me questions.

She didn't, of course.

"So where are you from?"

I nearly choked. That was one of the questions I dreaded the most, right up there with what's your name and what do you do for a living? Okay, so every question stressed me out, fine.

"It's…uhhh…it's a small town. Tiny. And really far away too, you likely haven't heard of it."

"Don't be so certain about it, stranger," she teased playfully. "People from all over the kingdom have walked through my door, I've heard of every last town there is."

I sighed, placed down the fork, and leaned back in the chair. Another tactic was needed, and I came up with one that I hoped would work.

"Promise not to laugh or judge me?" I asked.

That piqued her curiosity.

"Of course."

"I'm…not actually from any town. I'm homeless. But I'm hoping to settle here, in the capital."

Not exactly a lie, it was sort of true. I haven't always been homeless, but now I was since I didn't own anything save for the clothes on my back in this world.

"I'm sorry to hear, it must've been rough," she said, her amusement gone.

"It's no big deal, don't worry about it. I'll manage."

"So you traveled around a lot?"

'Man, she just won't take a fucking hint. Give me a break already,' I thought with frustration.

If this kept up, if I had to make up more lies on the fly, I'd dig myself deep enough to come out on the other side of the planet by the time I finished eating.

"I'd…rather not talk about it," I tried another tactic.

"I understand, I'm sorry for prying. It's just that, since the Waves started, the world has changed so much. Travelers have always had a lot of stories to tell, but nowadays they have more of them than ever."

"And not all of them are nice," I said.

"Most of them are horrific. The first wave wiped out so many towns, many of which we don't even know about yet. I was just hoping that…" she trailed off, her words stopping abruptly. "Sorry once again for bringing it up, but please enjoy your meal. I'll be over there if you'll need anything else."

I pulled out five bronze pieces, paid for the meal, and let her leave. After I finished, I bid her a good night and saw myself out. They had rooms as well, but at thirty bronze pieces a night, I couldn't afford one.

'Now to find a place for myself.'