Ero-Game: Power and Sword

The cat, where did I find it before. I tried remembering all the places the cat could hide in the game. It was a black cat with white stripes. I believe some neighbors were feeding it, so it always went there. Am I missing something? With that feeling that I was forgetting something, I walked down the street.

I tried to look for landmarks I remembered from the game to better navigate the city. Finally, I ran across a sword shop I knew in the game and went in without even thinking. 

The doorbell rang as I entered.

The receptionist was a young woman with messy hair. She didn't pay any attention to me and continued to read her book and smoke her cigarette. I looked around the shop. Even as a magician, a sword could be useful, though I've never used a sword as a magician in the game. But this wasn't a game anymore. It was possible to exercise like on Earth and train oneself.

"I heard the door ring." A muscular woman with messy hair came out from the back. It was the young girl's mother. She's the blacksmith and owner of this shop. "Greet the customer, idiot." She smacked her daughter in the head.

"No need for that. I'm only browsing. I'm a magician."

"A magician, never mind then." The muscular woman turned to leave.

"Wait, would you recommend any of these swords to a magician."

"A magician wanting to use a sword." She looked me over from head to toe like she was looking at a rare animal. "Wouldn't a dagger be more suitable for a magician?"

"Okay, then I'll buy a dagger." If someone gets close enough, it'll be good to have something to stab them with.

"If it's daggers you're looking for... Wait a second." She went to the back and came back with a tray. 3 daggers were on the tray. "This one's an alchemical mixture of Oger blood and Adamantium, so it can regenerate a little. Don't mistake it for some kind of magic sword. It can only regenerate from cracks and little chinks. If a big part breaks off, you'll have to get it fixed." She said, holding up the first of the 3. Then she touched the second one and said, "This one might be good for a magician. It has a poison effect if you pour in some mana." Finally, she pointed to the 3rd one. "This one isn't anything special, but it's made out of adamantium and dragon blood - diluted dragon blood." She shrugged. "I'm not saying it's invincible (it's not), but it'll be hard to break, so if you want one you don't need to constantly take care of, then this'll be your best option."

"Then I'll go with that one." I didn't want to spend time repairing and sharpening. Something that can just be used without maintenance is the best for me.

"The dragon blood, then." She brought out a sheath and took the rest of the daggers back.

"That'll be 4 slivers." Her daughter said, opening the register. I handed over the 4 slivers.

The mother returned, put the dagger in the sheath, and handed it to me. "Thank you. Come again." She said.

"Yeah, thanks." I exited the shop a little disappointed, but it was expected. There was a quest related to the shop, but it's only available to martial-type players. If you were a martial, she'd bring out a sword that's way too expensive and let you test it out. If it responds correctly, you get the sword for free. But since I was a magician, she never even mentioned it. Well, it didn't matter too much because, in the game, there was a trick to making the sword respond to you, but in the real world, I had no idea how those game mechanisms would translate.

"Oh well." Now that I'd gotten a general sense of where in the city I am, I know where the cafe is and where the cat might be... Should I go to the cafe first or for the cat?

***

I decided to find the cat first. The cafe quest would last till I completed it, but the cat easter egg wasn't the same. I had no idea when it'd end.

"If sword shop's there, and then the arena... so the market... that alchemist..." I mumbled everything that came to mind as I navigated to the witch's house. The cat was usually in the neighborhood to the witch's house. "The cat should be..." I walked from the witch's house to one of the neighbor's houses, about 4 houses down the street. I tried climbing over the wall, and it was then that I wished I'd become a martial. "I need to exercise." Being a magician was great and all, but in life, you need a certain amount of physical fitness no matter what. In the game, this would've been a few clicks no matter what archetype I'd chosen. I rolled over a big rock from another neighbor's garden. There was very little traffic in this area, so I didn't need to worry about holding up the street. This was a remote part of the capital made of old houses and big trees. If a witch wanted to live in the city, it was the perfect place. A little slice of remoteness right in the middle of the city. 

Stepping on the rock, I climbed over the wall. Then I walked to the back terrace, and just like in the game, there was the cat. "Tck tck tck tck." I made cat-loving noises with my mouth, and the cat slowly awoke from its morning nap in the sun. It looked down and at me, then went back to its cat bun ways. I didn't want to intrude on a stranger's property for too long. I climbed up the terrace and tried grabbing the cat, but it hissed at me and ran away. "Wait!" I yelled, running behind it. It effortlessly leaped on the wall and escaped. I mimicked what it did, stood on the edge of the terrace, and jumped onto the wall. I managed to get on the wall and over.

There was the cat leisurely walking away. I ran for it and tried to catch it. The cat noticed me and started to run. "You're not getting away from me," I said and chased after it.

I kept chasing after it, and finally, I thought I would catch it when the cat turned around, transformed into a black and white striped tiger, and roared. I instantly remembered what I'd forgotten and froze. It morphed back into a cat and ran away.

I had totally forgotten it wasn't a simple cat. "I'm an idiot." To subdue this cat you need spider's milk.

***

As I entered the main streets, I managed to hail a rickshaw. The only place in the capital that sold spider's milk was in the ghetto. The driver/laborer was not happy to go to the ghetto and charged me extra.

"I'm not going any further in." The driver complained. "The roads are trash, and it's impossible to pull on them."

"How much is it then?" I got off the rickshaw.

"20 copper." That was a lot more than I expected it to be.

"Isn't that a bit much?"

"This place is dangerous. No one else will come here." She said.

"Okay, fine." I handed over two days' worth of the inn fee.

The driver smiled happily. "Thank you very much." And ran off in the other direction.

Maybe I look too rich in these clothes. I looked myself over. I was wearing a wolf-skin jacket, dress shirt, and dress pants. My new dagger and money bag were fastened to my waist. 

I never had to worry about being robbed when I was in the game.

There was the market in the capital and the black market in the capital ghetto. It was called a black market, but it wasn't like the real market, which was open and for everyone to go and buy. You won't see old men haggling in the black market. The black market was just a few shops and places hidden from the public.

I followed the landmarks I knew from the game and arrived at a basement corner shop. I went in, and the shop's bell rang. The inside looked like any normal alchemist shop you'd find in the capital.

I went straight up to the counter. The old woman at the counter looked at me. This old woman was actually a goblin in disguise. No one here knew. It was revealed in the game when you did some quests for the Internal Patrol Knights. Anyway, I ignored that and asked for what I came for.

"I'm looking for some spider's milk," I told her.

"Spider's milk? Monster material of that kind is illegal, you know." She said, stroking her chin.

"Yeah, I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah." I felt her mana probe me. This was a half-baked skill similar to [look-a-look]. [look-a-look] wouldn't alert the person being probed, and this skill only looks at the other person's strength.

She looked at the door behind me and asked. "Anyone else with you?"

"No," I said.

"Sounds like you're telling the truth." She nodded. "Okay, how did you hear about me?" She asked as she opened the door to the basement.

How should I explain that I knew about her from the game? How did I figure it out in the game? I decided to be honest. "Don't know, forgot."

"You forgot?" She said as we descended down the flight of stairs.

"Yeah, I learned about your store a while back, and I forgot how I learned about it."

"How old are you kid?"

"I'm 18."

"You look like you have money." She looked at my clothes. Yeah, I need to buy different clothes, adventure/commoner type clothes. "But you have a slight northern accent. Did you come to the capital when you were 14, probably later, 16?" You had to have lived in the capital for a while to have learned about this shop, she thought.

"Something like that." I went along with it.

She nodded. "Why do you need spider's milk?"

"Do I need to tell you?"

"No, I can probably guess. Maybe, you want to make a strengthening potion, though how are you going to do that without concentrated dragon blood? No, maybe Regenerating Bone Silk or a freezing agent for the Preservation Potion. Did I get it right?" She'd guessed completely wrong; who'd guess I'd use spider's milk for a cat. I shrugged and let her think whatever she wanted. If I didn't know that the reward for catching that cat would be worth it, I'd never use spider milk for it. "Here, I keep it in the freezer." She opened the freezer door, and there were all kinds of frozen things in there. I felt the cold coming from the inside. She grabbed the bottle of milk and closed the freezer.

"It'll be one gold." She said, looking me over again. "You look like you have it." I really needed to buy other clothes. I went through my money pouch and took out the gold coin. "Good, good." She smiled and handed me the bottle of milk.

"Do you have a space expansion bag?" I needed to be able to put this milk somewhere safe. Space expansion bags usually had stabilizing magic cast on them.

"Couldn't you buy that in a regular shop?" She asked.

"Yeah, but do you have it or not."

"The ones I have are a little expensive." She said and walked over to a cabinet and opened it up. Then she tossed me one of the bags. "That one can store 60 square meters of stuff. And you see the screen here. You can slide through the items in your bag using it." There was a small magical screen on the side. I understood why it'd be expensive. "This one can store 100 square meters." She was taking out even larger versions of the same bag. 60 was already much larger than the ones you'd find in regular stores.

"Is 60 the smallest one you have?"

"You want something smaller." She looked like she was disgusted by my suggestion. "Let's see, I have- no, this one's 70... 65... 68... Oh, this one's 50." She handed it to me. "It's the smallest one. Yeah, it's the smallest one."

"Okay, how much is it?" I took the 50 square meters one and put my milk bottle in it.

"50 silver." It was a fair price, given the size and features it had. 

"Okay." I handed her another gold coin. "I don't have change."

We went back upstairs, and as she counted out the change for me, I picked up a bowl. "How much is this?" I would need it for the cat.

"That? Half a copper. It's sold in twos." She said, continuing to count my money.

"I'll take two then."

"Okay."

I put them in the bag too.