"It's better that she explain."

"What do you mean 'it complicates things'?" I asked now more puzzled than ever. Slowly the realization that the shock had meant far more than one of us simply rubbing our socks on carpet dawned on me. I had already had some suspicion that Eros had something to do with it, but what could a little electricity mean? "Alright, I'm officially lost. What's going on. It wasn't anything crazy? It didn't hurt either of us, I don't think."

"When you touched her skin it felt like... like a shock, as you said. It means a few things that would be better to come from her lips, than mine. It'll mean more that way."

"Mean more? I'm just more confused with every other sentence." I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to figure out what was going on. Mentally cursing Eros for leaving me so alone and lost. "Alright, so what's next? I go back to the Hux? I start work as a farmer? What's next?"

"Next? Next we see how much you can afford. If you're lucky, you'll only need to pay your way, if not? If not you're gonna have to figure something out. Give me your hand." As I do she reaches down into her apron, pulling the crystal... rock... thing. She presses it to my hand as the symbol glows once again. After a few moments a series of numbers form in the air above the crystal. For the first few moments I couldn't read the symbols, but as with the languages, it shifts in the air to English. Two-hundred , as the symbols read. A little more than what I would have called a small sum.

"Mmm... it's nowhere near enough to afford her, or any other of the courtesans. About four times too low, in fact." She took the stone away and sat back into the seat. "The way I see it, there's three options. The first? You put in some work. Earn the funds and pay for her time. Second, you can take a loan, then pay for the time. The third, and most difficult, by far, is to somehow break into the brothel, and find her yourself. It's definitely the most difficult. I'd wager that even taking jobs would be safer than breaking into one of Kerg's estates."

"So my options, as I see them, are: One, take on dangerous jobs. Two, take on a debt that would take a long while to pay off,. Last but not least, third, become a wanted criminal in a village I have no support or experience in." For a moment my mind goes back to my own time. Sitting in the dark playing fantasy games. Thinking back to which option I would choose, the easiest would be to take a loan. However it would likely cause issues later. I could go with the first option, but it would likely take the longest and be dangerous. Finally, the renegade option. To break in and somehow steal her time. Or simply steal her away. "For now, let's just avoid a long stay in a cell. Or worse. I'm not keen on going into a large debt, either. Where can I get work? Worst case scenario I figure something else out later."

"So work for the marks? It's certainly an option. What are your skills? Any magic or martial skills to speak of?" She asked looking me over. Though I was much skinnier in the past, long past, I wasn't exactly a swordsman or ninja. A large part of the reason that I didn't want to break into the brothel either.

I took a moment to think before answering. "I... don't know. I think I have something but I don't know what. I've also never trained or even held a proper sword."

"Shit." She replied with an exasperated sigh. "That makes it all the harder. Have you been by the guild, at least?" After shaking my head she continued, "Figures. Well... that would be the first step. They can scan your signature, you can also buy a weapon from there. With only a few hundred gold you can at least get a simple blade or an axe. You won't be able to get any armor, but maybe we can at least get you something less... whatever you're wearing."

"I... alright." Looking down at my still tattered clothes I became increasingly aware of how strange I look. With everyone else wearing more simple garbs, I stand out a good deal with my graphic T. "I don't think a change of clothes would be a bad idea. Certainly wouldn't hurt to have something other than a few shredded pieces of fabric."

"Alright, then I'll take you myself tomorrow morning. It's already late in the afternoon, so you'll get a room here tonight and I'll send word that you'll need a reading. Don't worry, the rooms here are only a few silver a night. I'll make sure you get a fair rate." As she finished speaking she rose up off the table. Knocking back her drink as she did so. "Come on, let's get you taken care of."

Though it wasn't yet night I didn't care to disagree with the woman. "Worst case, I just come back down and get another drink or some food. Yeah, let's go. A bed sounds nice right now." Following her lead she took me back out front of the bar. While she went around once more to the working area I returned my mug to the other bartender. Only a few moments later my newfound ally returned with a key. Simple and the color of bronze, though it felt too heavy for that. At least to me it did.

"Pay first, I'd lose my head if you just got a room for free." Laughing a little to myself I held out my hand and let her scan me. The stone glowing above the equally luminescent mark on my hand, it all still felt unreal. I had come to terms with the idea of magic. Of different races that had taken the world. Of the grim reality that I faced. Once the rock was pulled away, "Alright, I only charged what we agreed to. Come with me, let's get you situated."

"After you." Following her lead once more she brought me around the side of the tavern. On the opposite side, to a set of stairs that I had previously not noticed. With all the liveliness, interruption to my drink, and the subsequent conversation after, I hadn't noticed a good deal about the tavern. Besides the stairs I hadn't paid enough attention to the tavern customers themselves. Particularly... that many of them weren't the same race. At one table near the stairs, for example, sat a group of men and women. Two of them bore the same grey skin and dark freckles that I had begun to not notice. One of the women seemed to be rather human. Her skin and body structure seemed mostly the same to any other, yet... the ears and tail proved otherwise. She had a pair of rather reactive ears and a tail of fluff. The man next to her was much the same, save for a set of antlers rising out of his head. Deer folk? I couldn't think of any other way to describe them then that.

"Done staring at people?" The bartender said in a teasing tone. "Have something for deer folk or something?"

"I... uh, no. Little lost in thought, sorry. So those are adventurers, aren't they? The armor and weapons kind of give it away. Is that what we're going to see tomorrow?"

As she spoke we continued up the stairs and down the hall. "Huh? Yeah, the local guild. It isn't very big, but it is profitable. Only about... two dozen? Less than thirty of them here. For the most part, the big jobs are handled by traveling bands. Mercenaries or adventurers that go town to town. They take the hardest quests, so that the weaker groups don't get decimated. That little group down there? They're a local band, they haven't made a proper name for themselves, but they're trusted enough to get decent work. As for you, you'll be lucky to find something worth a handful of gold. At best you'll probably have to start with silver."

Before I got a chance to speak she stopped and turned towards me. "Well, this is your stop. Just a simple bed. I couldn't put you in a more fancy room without it costing much more. For now, I think a bed and private space is gonna be enough."

"I don't disagree. I'm fine with just having somewhere to rest and sit by myself for a bit. Thank you, miss..." In an instant it hit me that at no point had I even asked the bartender her name. I immediately felt like a dick.

"Miss? I feel like I should be offended by the formality. My name is Yura. It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo." I didn't get a chance to ask how she knew my name before she answered it for me. "I read it off the scan. Heads up, anyone can read at least some of your private info. Name, funds if you allow it, and any previous purchases you made with them."

"I see. Thank you for the warning. I hadn't thought about that." Taking the key she gave me I opened the door and got my first look into the room. Simple and far from luxury. Though the window had a nice amount of light, the bed looked comfortable enough, and the door locked. Good enough for me. "Thank you, Yura, I'll probably be here the rest of the night. Meet down stairs in the morning?" She didn't respond other than a simple smile and nod. Leaving me alone for the first time since I had arrived.