Sam pulled the tarp back and stored her workbench in her inventory then hopped back down to place it against the cart inside her stall. At the moment it was just a gap between two other stalls. Though there was a waist high dividing wall between the two.
She tapped the mana-pad and looked up the blueprint for a table, a comfortable chair, and even found a sign and price tag blueprints under commercial needs. Grabbing the necessary items from the cart she proceeded to make what she needed right there in front of everyone.
'If only I had the tailoring tab open, I could make a tablecloth,' she thought as she finished the items, placing them in their spots.
{Crafting Report:
One Large Good Quality Table:
+200xp
One Good Quality Chair with Padded Seat: +150xp
One Good Quality Standing Sign:
+80xp
Two dozen Good Quality Price tags:
+48xp
Total XP: +478xp}
Sam then started to unload her items. Separating them into home, travel, and decorative. She then placed the price tags and looked at her work. Satisfied she went to the front of her table and set the sign out. Each side said the same thing. "Creations by Sam (Customization orders available on site)" and then an arrow pointing to the stall.
She came back around to the cart, picked up the egg crate and Iggy and placed it beside her. Tempy followed, jumping into her lap.
"Let me know if you get bored and I'll send you to your Beast Space if you want." She said to the purring gray cat.
'Tempy stay and zap meanies and tricksy thieves, protect Sam' she said.
"Alright, thanks" she laughed while pulling out one of the books she found in the cave.
"Beast Tamer are ya?" Asked a grizzled old voice to her left. She looked in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a rugged man in his fifties. She couldn't see his sign but from the number of weapons he had it wasn't too hard to tell what he sold.
"That I am," she smiled politely. "Was it the, having a conversation with my cat, or the disappearing horse that tipped you off" she laughed.
He chuckled in return. "It was that or you're some evil genius who figured out how to store livin' things in a storage space" he winked "Names Franklin, Traveling Blacksmith by trade and class"
"Lovely to meet you Franklin, I'm Sam, Master Crafter by trade, Beast Tamer by class." She smiled at him. She put the book away and lifted Tempy into her arms. She took the two steps between them, readjusted to hold the car in one arm and gave Franklin the other. "Nice to meet you"
"So what brings you here…besides selling your wares. Off to the great North?" Franklin asked, most people traveling to Crossroads were, so it wasn't too hard to guess. However he was shocked to learn that he was wrong.
"Nope, just passing through. On my way to Solaris City to set up a store. Probably take a trip to Dungeon city to sign up as an adventurer too. You?" She asked, sitting back down and placing Tempy back on her lap.
"Solaris huh? Pretty girls like you should be careful, all kinds of rumors about that place. The kind I don't care to repeat." He said with a shake of his head.
Curious, Sam let the subject drop as her first customers approached. They were a pair of young adventurers, both men in their early twenties. One was tall and broad—his presence somehow louder than his voice—while the other moved with the easy confidence of someone used to drawing attention without trying. As they glanced over the displayed items, a notification popped up in front of Sam, momentarily distracting her.
{Special Quest:
First Sale - Make your first sale. Sure crafting your own things is fun, but seeing the joy in others' faces is just as enjoyable.
Objective: Sell a bundled combination of items to maximize profits.
Rewards: +XP, +1 Charisma}
"Care to give us a deal, beautiful? We're headed north and looking for supplies," said the one on the left.
Short-cropped brown hair, hazel eyes, and a grin that was about three drinks too confident—he had the easy build of a swordsman, but the thickset frame and tower shield on his back marked him as a Tank. That, and the way he leaned on the counter like it was a bar. This was Kevin "The Wall" Harven—a man with more bulk than tact, and a charm stat clearly not pulling its weight.
"What are you looking for? Anything in particular?" Sam did her best to be polite as he gave her, what she was sure he thought, was a seductive smirk. She just bristled at that.
Here it comes, she thought.
"Well I heard it gets quite cold up there. Wouldn't mind having you to warm me up at night," he said, winking.
She barely withheld the disgust on her face.
"If you're worried about the cold," she said in her best customer service I-wish-I-could-stab-you-but-it-would-hurt-my-sales voice, "I recommend the Traveler's Kit. It comes with a firestarter for your campfires, along with a bundle of rope, some bandages, and a knife. I can even bundle it up with a foldable camp stool and a bowl-and-spoon set for your meals and give you a discount. Everything you need to keep you warm… near your fire." She raised an eyebrow pointedly.
"For the love of the Gods, Kevin, leave the poor girl alone. Clearly you haven't been putting enough stat points into Charisma," said the other man with a sigh.
He was a little taller than Kevin and broader across the shoulders, though less bulky—a fighter's build, but more precision than brute force. Long hair tucked behind his ears, striking green eyes, and a voice that slid in like a welcome breeze. Definitely the more handsome of the two. Sam figured he knew it—but at least he wasn't weaponizing it.
This was Joren Vale, and where Kevin plowed ahead with a grin and a foot in his mouth, Joren moved with the awareness of someone who had spent a lot of time smoothing over someone else's mess.
"I apologize on behalf of this half-wit. He's under the deluded impression he's charming." His eyes sparked with mischief as he smiled. Sam was sure he was just as much trouble, just quieter about it. "How much for the bundle?" he asked.
"Individually they'd come to 1 silver and 25 copper, but for you, 1.15," she said, smiling back. "1.20 for your friend."
Joren laughed and turned to Kevin. "See? Never piss off the people you need help from." He shook his head and looked back at her. "Deal. And it says you can customize things?" he added, pointing to the sign and lifting a pendant with a leaf and rabbit motif. "How much to put a name on this?"
"The pendant is 15c, another 2c for the name. That one in particular was made from a Cinderhoof antler. Still retains a heating buff." She gathered the items he wanted and placed them in front of him, then took the pendant in hand. "What name?" she asked, activating Material Manipulation.
The skill was handy for stripping bark or crushing stone—but for carving? It was unexpectedly perfect.
"Brianne," he said, spelling it out.
With a flick of her fingers, the name appeared on the back of the pendant in a flowing script. The flakes of antler rippled in a wave of mana, reshaping into tiny flowers that reattached themselves to the pendant's surface in a curling wreath.
The intricate work boosted her skill enough for a notification to ding.
{Ding! Your skill in 'Material Manipulation' has increased the quality of your item from basic to good. Your knowledge has increased. Material manipulation can be now upgraded"}
Smiling to herself, she placed the pendant on top of the other items.
"That'll be 1 silver and 32 copper please." He handed over the coin and Sam sent it to her inventory. As she did, another notification popped up.
{Quest complete! First Sale.}
{Rewards: 100xp, +2 charisma}
{Ding! You've Leveled Up! You are now level 12 127/8675xp}
{You've Gained +4 STP, +10 SKP}
She looked back to his friend "And you?" She asked, not quite as pleasant.
"I'll take the same, no pendant though," he grumbled. She collected the items and placed them in front of him.
"1.20" she smiled. He took out the coins and handed them to her. She kept five copper and handed them back saying "I was only joking. Enjoy the items, stay safe on your trip." She said, Tempy jumped into her arms, his fur giving off electrical sparks. "No, Tempy, we do not zap our customers." She said to her, rubbing her head.
Kevin's friend laughed, elbowing him in the ribs. "See, told you not to piss her off" he laughed, stowing his items in his inventory. "My little sister will love this, thanks." he said, dangling the pendant before sending it to his inventory as well.
"Have the day you deserve, gentlemen," she waved them off and sat back down.
The rest of the day continued on, more customers came, more sales were made. By the time night fell, she had more than enough to recoup the cost of the stall, pay for some resources and a good meal with plenty left over without dipping into her savings.
She gathered the few remaining items, keeping back a heat resistance pendant with a more manly design. She packed away the workbench, table and chair, put Iggy and the crate back on the cart, and walked over to Franklin.
"Lovely to have met you Franklin, here, a token of appreciation for the advice earlier. It's made of Ash-Boar bone. Might help to reduce the heat coming off your forge," she said with a wink. He smiled and said thanks.
"Are you going to be here for a while? I need to pick up a few things." She said pointing to her cart. "Mind keeping an eye out? I don't think that thing will fit between the stalls and people." She asked.
"No worries, it's safe here. Guards keep an eye on things too," he replied, pointing to the wandering guards.
"Excellent, just in case…" she brought Sunblaze out of the beast space and reattached her to the cart. Patting the side of her face, she said, "I'll be back in a bit, and then we can go back to the inn." The horse nodded and rubbed her face against Sam.
'I'll wait here with Iggy and the eggs, be sure to take Tempy with you,' she said. 'She can give them a zap if they try to cheat you.' Sam just laughed, wondering if it was Sunblaze all this time, being a bad influence on the little ball of energy all this time.
Walking away with Tempy following behind her, she looked over the stalls. Some were a little less full than they had been when she arrived. Sign of a good day of sales. She found a few sellers that carried the remaining resources she needed for the incubator.
Cursing herself for forgetting to go back to the grove for the Cinderwood. Thankfully, it didn't cost her that much and now she didn't have to brave the spiders for the ironshade thread. Getting everything she needed and a few extras, she made her way back to her temporary stall.
She thanked Franklin for watching her cart and then got on board and set off back to the inn.
Along the way, she passed some restaurants. She stopped the cart and got down, looking from one to the next. 'Hmm, fancy restaurant that can pay, or homestyle that needs a boost…decisions, decisions.' She thought to herself. Finally, she figured she'd just split her chances.
Having worked in a few restaurants in her youth (much to the disgust of her parents) she knew going in the front wouldn't help; she didn't exactly look like a fancy merchant. So she counted the buildings from the alley to her targets so she wouldn't end up at the wrong places, and then got back on her cart and led them down the alley around the back of the various restaurants and stores.
"3… 4… 5…6! This should be the first one," she said to herself. "Jarvis, this is the right one, right?"
{"Yes Sam, it is."}
"Ok, good, here goes nothing.." she knocked on the back door and waited. The head of what looked like a busboy or the dishwasher peeked out.
"Yeah?" He questioned, a look of confusion on his face.
"Hello, I was wondering if the chef was available. I have some beast meat to sell…among other things." Sam said with her best smile
"Uh, one sec." The kid pulled his head back inside, and she could hear him yell. "Oi, Boss! Some lady is here to sell some beast meat? Think she wants to talk to you," from deep inside, Sam could hear a man respond.
"Fine, let her in."
The kid widened the door and motioned her in.
Once inside, Sam looked around. It wasn't quite the industrial kitchens of earth, but also not some terrifying medieval workspace that would make health inspectors faint.
"Whataya got?" A man asked her to her left. He wore an apron that had done its job, covered in various stains; it looked like it was once upon a time white. Hair tied back and a clean shaven face, he would never have been called handsome, but despite his attitude, he wasn't an ogre by any means.
"I have Ash-Boar, Dappledback, Cinderhoof and Silverhide…venison now, I suppose, since it's dead. Rabbit…and squirrel if you're really interested." She placed a small portion of each on the table in front of him. "Feel free to try it, see what you want. I also have this".
She brought out one of the fruits from the Nature's bounty tree and a few if the nuts. He took a look, his eyes dilating in awe.
"Unfortunately, I don't have many I can part with…5. Honestly, I haven't thought of a price for them yet, but you have to agree that the benefits are amazing. I was thinking 5 silver each, I'm not sure what kind of customer base you have, but I suppose adding one to a mixed berry or fruit pie, then charge a 50-75c per slice, 8 slices that's…400-600c a pie. I'll admit, I've worked in a restaurant, but not doing the whole cost and profit part."
"You're not very good at this are you?" He said with a smirk.
"I'm a Beast Tamer and a Master Crafter, not a restaurateur. I kill it, make things from its parts, and sell it…I don't have to hold to a menu every day." She huffed, "I'm trying to give you a reasonable price considering its benefits, while thinking of what you are going to need to charge to make a profit. I can always go down the street and sell it to that fancy place." She said, gathering the fruit and nuts.