Eternal Dream

Alisa was sitting in the inn, eating a sumptuous breakfast. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, bread, and some fruits for dessert. It wasn't anything fancy, but delicious nonetheless. She wondered how this little inn could even have all this sort of food, but that might just be the magic of video games.

If she really was a character in a video game, she didn't understand why she had to eat or sleep. Did they need to make it so realistic? But on the other hand, it was a completely different feeling than just logging into a game. Whether it was the taste of food, the breeze of the wind on her skin, or the pain she felt when she was hurt, it didn't feel any different from the real world. But while she appreciated the tasty food, she could live without the pain.

She had stayed for two nights in the inn by now, and she didn't have to pay a single coin yet. She was curious for the reason, but also kinda afraid to ask why. Maybe they had just forgotten to charge her, and she would remind them by asking. But her curiosity won over her in the end. She never liked to be kept in the dark. No matter how painful or disappointing the truth may be, she would rather just deal with it right away than be driven mad by her worries and dark imagination.

"Hey, River, how come you haven't asked me to pay for my accommodation yet?" asked Alisa.

"Hmm? Haha, have you already forgotten? You have already paid for a full month upfront when you arrived here," said River. "It has been only three nights since then."

"Ah-haha, right right. Now I remember again. Silly me," said Alisa partly embarrassed and partly awkward. So that was the case. It might have been just the setting for her character, but it sure was a convenient surprise. She didn't have to worry about her living expenses for the entire month. But she still needed to find a way to make more money in the future, because paying for food, potions, spells, and so on would still cost her a lot. Especially since higher tier items and spells were usually way more expensive.

Since her current focus was on leveling, she decided to sell her loot for now as a source of income. She still had the meat and fur from yesterday's hunting session sitting in her inventory.

"River, do you know where I can sell meat and fur of dire rabbits?" asked Alisa.

"Meat and fur you say? You can sell some of the meat to us if you want to. The butcher's shop is also always a decent option. That's where we are usually buying our meat from as well," she said. "For the fur…why don't you try going to the leather workshop? I can't think of any other place that would buy it."

"Okay, thank you!"

Alisa went to the butcher after her breakfast. She wanted to compare the prices before she made her final decision. There was a shop not far away from the inn, so she didn't have to walk for long.

When Alisa entered the building, the smell of raw meat assaulted her nostrils, making her feel nauseous. She wasn't accustomed to this kind of stench, as she has never visited a butcher before in her entire life. There was a showcase made of glass displaying different kinds of meat sitting on metal trays, and a female dwarf was staying behind the counter. She had red hair braided into a bun and was wearing white gloves and a white apron, giving her a clean look.

The shop was already half full of customers lining up, and the bad smell didn't seem to bother them. They looked like regulars and were most likely already accustomed to it by now. She joined the queue and waited for her turn to come. It didn't take long before she found herself before the cashier.

"Welcome! What would you like to buy?" the cashier greeted her with a lively voice and a bright smile.

"Oh, I am not here to buy anything. I am here to sell!" said Alisa. "I have some dire rabbit meat with me, and I was told you might be interested in buying."

"Selling you say?" the cashier said somewhat surprised. "Haha, sure. You have to talk to my husband about that though. Henmar! Henmar!" she called to the back of the shop.

Soon a male dwarf appeared through the back door wearing a black apron. He was broad-shouldered and had a potbelly. "What is it? Why all the racket?" he asked.

"Henmar, this young lady is here to sell some dire rabbit meat to you!"

"Hmm? Dire rabbit meat?" Henmar looked at Alisa. "That's fine. Come with me to my working area; we will take a look at your product there." They entered together into the room in the back, where the stench was even more profound. Alisa tried to ignore it as best as she could.

"Well then, show me what you're selling," he said.

"Where do you want me to place it?" she asked and the dwarf pointed at a clean-looking table.

Alisa took out the meat out of her inventory and placed it on the table for him to assess.

"Hmm…it is definitely top quality. There were no needless cuts made to the meat, and it was preserved flawlessly!" he said. "Did you take the animals apart yourself?"

"Eh, yes! It was all me!" lied Alisa shamelessly.

"Seems like you have great skills then, har har," he said with a laugh. "I am willing to buy all of it if the rest is of the same quality."

"Of course it is!"

The offer the butcher made was the same as the inn's. Alisa decided to sell everything right away, so she wouldn't have to make a trip back. But the total amount she got wasn't even 1 silver coin, as the meat is only from a low-level monster and quite common around the town.

"I have an opportunity for you, lass. One of the hunters I was working with retired recently, and now I require a new supplier," he said. "I tell you what: I will make you a partner if you can bring me the meat of twenty crimson-fanged boars. Deal?"

[Quest: Meat of Twenty Boars]

[Description: Henmar asked you to bring him the meat of 20 Crimson-Fanged Boars.]

[Rewards: 2000 EXP; 1 silver coin; Unlocks Henmar's Daily Quests.]

[Do you wish to accept the quest?]

2000 EXP! That was a lot for Alisa right now, so she immediately accepted the quest. "Great! I'll be waiting for you then," said Henmar.

Alisa left the butcher's shop and went to the leather workshop next since she still had the furs to sell. Unfortunately, the leather workshop was on the other side of the town, so she had quite a distance to walk. After a while, she finally arrived at her destination.

The leather workshop was a huge building compared to the rest of the shops she visited before. The store was the face of the workshop, displaying all kinds of items made out of leather and fur: bags, aprons, pants, vests and jackets, and more. The back-door, as typical for the stores here, was leading to the working area.

"Excuse me, I want to sell some fur! Who can I speak with regarding this?" asked Alisa a free employee.

"You can talk to me!" said the employee. He was dressed in a black leather vest, pants, and shoes. Only the shirt underneath the vest was white, giving him the look of a bartender. "Let me introduce myself: I am Zandos Golfell, the manager of this workshop. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you! I am Alisa Adderley!"

"Well then, lady Adderley, let us get to business! What kind of fur do you want to sell?"

Alisa took out a piece of fur out of her inventory, but before she could even say something Zandos said, "The fur of a dire rabbit."

"You know it with just a glance!" said Alisa somewhat astonished.

"Of course. I've been working in this profession for most of my life. If I can not even determine the type of fur in front of me, then I have just wasted away my life in vain!" he took the fur from Alisa's hands to examine it more closely. "The animal was skinned nicely, and there was no damage dealt to the fur. Unfortunately, the grade of the fur cannot even reach the common rank, since the animal can be found practically everywhere and is of a low level, to begin with. But it still makes a good practice material, so I will take it off your hands."

"Then how about this one?" Alisa took out the fur she received from the dire rabbit king.

"Oh, now this is something else! The fur of a dire rabbit king, I presume? This piece is worth ten times more than the other ones," he said. "Are you willing to sell it?"

"Naturally! All of it!"

"Great! It would be even better if you could deliver more high-grade furs and hides," he said. "We are currently in need of gray wolf skin. Do you think you could hunt some for us? I would pay you the market price, of course!"

[Daily Quest: Furs and Hides]

[Description: Zandos wants you to hunt 20 gray wolves for their hides.]

[Rewards: 2800 EXP; 1 silver coin, 40 copper coins.]

[Do you wish to accept the quest?]

Alisa immediately accepted this quest as well. "Be careful around the wolves. They like to stay in packs and come running once you attack one of them," warned Zandos.

"Thanks for the warning!" said Alisa. She sold all of her furs for a couple of copper coins and went again to the alchemy shop to restock her supply of potions. Since they were quite expensive, she only bought five minor health potions and five minor mana potions for a total of 100 silver coins for now.

Ready to continue her EXP grind, she went again into the Blackwood Forest.