Chapter 28: Chapter 27

The very first thing Nym noticed when he appeared on the platform was that Abilanth was so much colder than Zoskan. He yelped at the shock of sudden cold air, drawing a chuckle from the attendant mage. “Don’t worry, that happens a lot,” she said. “I can recommend a good tailor if you need.”

Nym considered his limited remaining funds. “Is it going to get much colder than this?” he asked.

“Oh Goodness, yes. This is the summer season. Abilanth is so high up in the mountains that it never really gets warm here. Let me guess, here for the Academy, not the city?”

“Um, yes, I guess that’s true.”

That was one reason at least. The other was that he sincerely doubted anyone in Abilanth had even heard of a small coastal fishing village called Palmara, let alone kept up to date on the latest happenings there. The giant knot of anxiety strangling him had instantly loosened as soon as the teleport went off. He’d made it out of Zoskan; he was safe.

“Well you’re a bit late, but not completely out of luck. Entry exams started a week ago, but you have today left to test in,” the attendant told him. “You, er, may want to see the tailor first. You look like you lost a fight with a blade juggler.”

“Ran into a tree flying away from some monsters,” he admitted. “Lost my cloak and my pack then.”

“That’d do it. If you still need healing, I can point out a nearby clinic. They’re a bit more expensive than some of the ones in the outer ring, but the quality is there to justify it.”

Nym didn’t think he’d have enough for both. “Maybe after the tailor. It is freezing in here.”

“Colder outside,” she told him. “Come with me then.”

She led him to a map framed on the wall. It showed the city’s layout, including a series of walls set in concentric circles that the top had been scooped out of due to their position on the side of a mountain. The center was occupied by a sprawling castle, which was itself surrounded by a series of large estates containing nobles’ manors. Outside the core was what was labeled as the inner ring. The Academy was there, taking up the top third of the circle and extending out into mountain outside the city walls.

The attendant pointed out where the guildhall was located in the middle ring, then tapped a few other spots and listed off businesses she thought he’d be interested in. That included a lot of restaurants and cafes, an inn, the tailor she’d mentioned, a barber, a postal service, the clinic, and a cobbler.

She then moved on to the outer ring and pointed out a few more clinics and a lot more taverns and bars. While the outer ring was the biggest, it also seemed to be the poorest. A lot of the city’s artisans practiced their crafts in the middle ring if they could afford it. There were similar places of business in the outer ring, but the attendant warned against their quality.

She seemed to have an over-inflated opinion of Nym’s financial situation, but he didn’t correct her. It did make him uneasy that she assumed he had money. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d come through the teleport platform, which was a prohibitively expensive way to travel, or if it was because she thought he was going to the Academy.

It was nice to know that the exams ended today, but he knew there was no chance of him getting in. He hoped that next semester, things would be different. For now, he needed time to acquire funds.

By the time she was done pointing things out on the map, he was starting to shiver. “Thanks for all the help,” he said. “I’m going to go find that tailor now.”

“You’re quite welcome.” She gave him a pleasant smile and looked him straight in the eye, like she was waiting for him to do something.

Confused, he waved goodbye and left the guildhall. The map was too big and she’d pointed out too many places for him to remember even half of them, but he’d taken special care to commit the tailor’s shop to memory and found it easily enough.

There was a bit of a line when he got there, mostly teenagers, but their orders were easily filled. When it was his turn, the tailor beckoned him over. “Oh my God, you poor thing,” she said, clucking over him. “You must be freezing in those rags. Let me just get your measurements here. Do you need school robes or town clothes? Or both, hmm?”

Nym blinked. Everyone seemed to assume he was on his way to the Academy. It stung a little bit that they were all wrong. He supposed it made sense, given his age and that it was apparently the start of a new semester. “Just a set of clothes for town,” he said. “I’m not going to the Academy. Not yet.”

“Well I did think you looked a bit young, but there’s all sorts of talent. Next year, I’m sure you’ll be there. You do come back then and I’ll get you some nice robes.”

“I would have thought the Academy would provide them,” he said. Considering how expensive everyone said the place was, it seemed like the least they could do was to house, feed, and clothe the students.

“Oh, they will. But if you want something that fits you, you’ll want to come back here to have them altered. And if you want more than two of them, why, I can make you a few extras. If you want them lined to protect against the cold, and honestly, who wouldn’t, I can do that for you too.”

“That sounds wonderful, but for today, just a pair of pants and a shirt, please.”

The tailor clucked her tongue again, but she finished the measurements and in no time at all, had picked out a set of clothes for him. “That will be two shields six for the clothes, or three shields two with alterations.”

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Nym pulled out his three shields from his pocket. “This is all I’ve got on me, so I guess just the clothes.”

“Hmmm. Indeed.” The woman’s friendly demeanor disappeared.

“Hah, don’t be like that Aggie,” the teenager in line behind him said. “Here, I’ll cover the two for you, friend. How are you going to look nice and catch the eye of a cute girl if your clothes don’t fit you properly?”

Nym wanted to refuse the charity. It was a nice gesture, but he needed that last four shims for food and shelter. Abilanth was way too cold for him to consider sleeping outside, and he wasn’t even sure where he’d find food on his own. “No, you don’t have to do that. I’ll just pay the two and six.”

“It’s really no trouble. I insist,” the teenager said.

“No, it’s… thank you, but no.”

The tailor waited impatiently while the two boys argued about whether or not Nym would accept his charity, but finally got sick of it and stepped in. “He said no. Fool boy wants to wear baggy clothes, that’s his choice. Now, two shields six, here’s your four back, and your clothes. Please step to the side so I can help the next person.”

Nym left the shop in his oversized pants and shirt. His old clothes were bundled up under one arm, and he had four shims left. He found a nearby café and paid a shim for lunch, which he felt was grossly overpriced. Everything in the city was more expensive than he thought it should be, but no one else blinked at the price of things.

He had three shims left to his name, and while he wanted a cloak, that seemed out of his price range considering what he’d paid for just the pants and shirt. He hoped there was enough left for a bed at an inn, or at least a spot near the hearth in the common room. If Nym had known how much more expensive everything was, he would have at least bought new clothes in Zoskan.

He considered that idea for a second. He knew that logically, it would have been a smart move, but getting out of that town was an enormous weight off his mind. He was already feeling so much better in Abilanth. It was easy to walk around again. He didn’t feel like a guard was going to grab him and haul him off here.

Smiling despite how little he had left in his pocket, Nym turned his mind to finding work. His greatest advantage remained his ability to move rapidly and ignore terrain outside of town. He needed to find someone who wanted something moved from one spot to another. With that thought in mind, he decided to try what had already worked for him. He went and found an alchemist’s shop.

The first one he found refused to even talk to him. As soon as the manager found out he wasn’t there to buy something, he kicked Nym out. The second one was run by an older man with shaky hands that gave Nym grave concerns about his ability to mix things properly. It was irrelevant though, since his supply lines were already sorted and he didn’t want to make changes. The third shop owner just laughed at him and told him to get lost.

He hit a few random stores, just to ask if they needed help with anything, but no one had work for him. Dejected, he decided to widen his search from the middle ring to the outer ring. There were three gates leading to the outer circle of the city, all of them guarded. Nym headed straight for the wall and then followed the street along until he found one.

The guards let him through without incident, and he resumed his search for gainful employment. He had hoped to avoid the outer ring since he expected the pay would be less, no matter what he found. He hadn’t expected the job situation to be just as hopeless there. Nobody needed anyone. The taverns didn’t want a dish washer, or a server. They didn’t need anyone to run to markets. The forges didn’t need a kid to pump the bellows, and the tanner didn’t need anyone to scrape hides.

It was getting late and Nym hadn’t managed to find any kind of work at all. He gave up for the day and headed back to the middle ring, only to be stopped at the gate. “Badge,” the guard said, holding his hand out.

“What?” Nym asked.

“I can’t let you through without your identification badge unless you pay the fee.”

That was the first he’d heard of a badge. “How much is the fee?” he asked.

“Two shims.”

Inwardly, he cursed. The trip to the outer ring had been a complete waste of time, and now it was costing him almost all his remaining money to get back to the nice part of town. He reached into his pocket, only to discover that it was empty.

Frowning, he patted his other pocket. That one was empty too. “I… seem to have lost my money,” he said.

“No entry then. Step aside,” the guard said. He didn’t give Nym a second glance and just called out for the next person to step forward in a bored voice.

Defeated, Nym trudged away from the gate. It was a good thing he’d spent most of his money on a new set of clothes after all. It had taken less than a day to lose the rest of it to some random pickpocket. He followed his own trail back a few blocks and found a dead-end alley he’d noted when he was looking for work. It wasn’t pretty or even clean, but it was mostly protected from the wind.

With a dejected sigh, he sat down in a corner and spent his first night in Abilanth shivering in the cold.

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