Takuma had to admit, he felt a little guilty as he watched one of the bar girls wiping up his spilled blood. He pretended to look the other way as he awaited service. He didn't actually need to use the restroom, aside from cleaning up the blood splatter on his clothing. Soon, it dried, and he just gave up on it completely. Even his hand would be healed in another twenty minutes or so. The wounds had already begun to close with each passing regeneration cycle.
"Welcome to Wyvern's." The voice of a young woman said as she approached his table. It was the same young girl who'd been scrubbing dried blood from the tavern floor.
"Oh. Uh, hi. Look, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to make such a mess." Takuma apologized.
"No worries! That's nothing!" She replied.
"I'm Jillia. Is there something specific I can get you? Bluewater Mead? Fried Meat Shells?" Believe it or not this was a common problem for Takuma. Each new world's cuisine evolution made it pretty much impossible to order something he might like on the first outing.
Veggies were usually a safe bet, besides, he wasn't really hungry if he was honest with himself. Although the urge to eat found him when an appetizing scent would reach his nostrils, for the most part Takuma hadn't felt the need to eat (or drink) anything.
This actually wasn't unusual to him, as he'd been in several worlds where life was more game-like than "realistic". Adventurers often only needed to consume potions and other consumable items to get by.
"Food System [1] Food will impart temporary buffs of various types, depending on what you eat. Based on the quality of ingredients, the duration and potency of effects will vary. Experiment to find the best combination of food for your needs."
"How convenient," Takuma whispered to himself. This was the second time the system alerted him to a relevant topic without any perceivable prompt. Perhaps there was more to the system than meets the eye?
"What do you have on your menu?" After spending a significant amount of time speaking to Jillia, Takuma decided on a type of meat stew. He wouldn't be sure of the dishes' effects until after he consumed it but meat is meat--right?. He decided to also try an alcoholic beverage, he wasn't a big drinker but he felt that perhaps he should de-stress before tackling more curses later on.
Takuma couldn't help but think about the sheer number of cursed items in Dot's shop as he awaited his order.
"That just seems….impossible." He thought to himself. He'd already decided on a plan of action, but he wanted to run a few more tests with relics before making a move.
"Here you go!" Jillia said as she placed a small wooden platter on the table. Aside from the meat stew, there were a couple of large dinner rolls as well.
"This looks great," Takuma said. He then motioned for Jillia to draw closer before he slipped a gold coin into her palm.
"For all of the troubles." He whispered. Jillia's eyes lit up as she prepared to refuse immediately.
"I insist." Takuma quickly added before she could even speak.
Jillia's gaze lingered on Takuma for several moments more as she bit her lip and smiled in gratitude.
"Bless you!" She said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask!" She said as she dropped the gold coin into a small waist pouch fastened to her hip.
Takuma had no idea of the value of a gold coin, but if he had to guess -- one hundred coppers was equal to a single silver. A hundred silver, in turn, was equal to one gold, or put another way a single gold was worth about ten thousand coppers.
If that was true his meal couldn't have been more than ten silvers, and judging by his reaction Jillia seemed happy enough. He would have to test the value of gold later on through other means.
Takuma took a long, deep breath as he eyed the meat stew. The scent alone was enough to make him salivate. The moment he swallowed a spoonful of broth, a new alert appeared.
"Food System [2] New Subsystem unlocked. 'Food Menu'. The food menu records all of the meals you consume and their effects."
"Roasted Ram Stew : +25 Stamina, +1 Force. Duration : 6 hours."
It didn't take very long for Takuma to devour his tasty dish. He had to admit that once he began to feed, it was almost as if he couldn't stop! Finally, his stomach felt full -- but only for a brief time, a few moments late,r it was as if he could no longer feel the weight of the consumed food in his stomach.
"Quest Complete 'Meals With Benefits'. +50 System XP."
"Oh.. nice. I must have hit upon another hidden quest."
"Did you say quest?" Jillia asked, her voice echoing from behind Takuma's shoulder. He couldn't help but jump at her unexpected presence.
Jilla just scooped up Takuma's finished dish and flashed him a smile.
"Sorry hun. I didn't mean to startle you. If it's tasks you're looking for, check the Billboard over across the way." Jillia nodded to an old wooden board across the tavern. There were about a dozen people crowded around it ,and from the looks of it they all were adventurers.
"Tavern Quests [1] Unlike system quests, tavern quests -- also known as Tasks -- reward currency payments upon completion. As a bonus, your current quest system will register any tasks you inspect from the Billboard. Complete them to obtain System XP as well as coin."
"Well, well, System, there may be hope for you yet." Takuma thought as a somewhat creepy smile spread across his face. Jilla seemed wholly unfazed, suggesting she'd grown used to men turning into creepers at the drop of a copper.
" +25 System Points."
100 System Points earned. The Curse System has gained enough XP to level up. Would you like to do so now? Y/N".
"Don't mind if I do." Takuma said.
"The Curse System has leveled from 3 to 4. 'Telepathic Control' engaged. You may now access menus and submenus by using your thoughts."
"Quest Complete 'Level The Curse System[3/3]. +100 System Points."
"The Curse System has gained enough XP to level up. Would you like to do so now? Y/N".
"Wow, twice in a row, hmm? Nice." Takuma said to himself. He'd completely forgotten about Jilli,a who quietly excused herself the moment Takuma began jabbing his finger at thin air and talking to himself.
"The Curse System has leveled from 4 to 5. 'Interaction Upgrade' has been enabled. You can now view detailed information of normal objects, creatures, or humanoids by focusing on them for a short period. This feature works in conjunction with your Relic Appraisal Ability."
Takuma couldn't believe his luck as two very interesting quality-of-life updates happened before his very eyes.
"I'm actually starting to like this Curse System. Now, only if I could do something about the near-death experiences…."
Takuma decided to try out his new update by focusing on a young adventurer at a nearby table. He was pleasantly surprised when extra information appeared via a tooltip. All in all, the process took about five seconds, which made sense. It would be a bother if tooltips popped up for every single thing.
"Glen Lockhart. Class - Spearman Rank 2/10.
An average adventurer that you might find anywhere.
Height : 182 cm
Weight : 86 kg
Party : None
Guild : None
"
"Hmm. Name and class description. Also, party and guild info. I'll have to look into that later on."
Takuma played with his new features for a few minutes more, then called Jillia over to his table.
"Excuse me, but do you know how much a room at the inn costs?" Takuma asked.
After speaking with Jillia for some time, Takuma had a better idea of the monetary value. He currently had five gold coins and three hundred and fifty silver. Altogether, it was about eight hundred and fifty dollars-give or take. Inflation didn't seem to be a problem in this world; in fact, Takuma learned that the price of a meal was just one or two coppers usually. In relation, the price of a room for a single night was five coppers -- ten if you were staying at a fancy establishment.
"I'm wealthy and I didn't even know it- ha!" He said with a chuckle as he walked down the cobblestone street. Eventually, he came to the inn, 'Cloud Dream', which was only a few minutes walk from Wyvern's. The view from the outside was very quaint. Much like every other building in Arnia ,it was completely made of wood but boasted three floors. After a few lingering moment,s he made his way into the Cloud Dream.
"How long of a stay does one gold coin buy me?" Takuma asked as he placed the coin on the wooden counter and slid it towards the old man behind the inn's front counter.
The old man hopped to service, quickly sliding an abacus back and forth as he ran tallies. It was clear the man had limited math skills but Takuma already had a rough idea of the answer. Five years, slightly less with board fees added in.
"About 200. No.. 2,000 days." The older gentleman said hopefully as he glanced at the gold coin still pinned beneath Takuma's fingertip. It was doubtful that the man had ever seen a gold coin before based on his reaction. Primarily, Takuma did this in order to double-check Jillia's information. Since there wasn't a bank in town, Takuma doubted that many places had the coin to make change for so many gold pieces. While a place to stay was important, he also couldn't see staying in a city like this for five years.
"Hmm. That's a bit much, but I tell you what." Takuma said, sliding the gold coin back and placing twenty-five silvers on the desk instead. Much like his dimension storage, all Takuma had to do was think about the amount of money he wished to call forth, and it would simply appear in his palm.
"I'll give you these silvers for three months. In exchange, I'd like the biggest room you have, as far away from other patrons as possible. Oh-- and preferably one on the top floor. This includes daily meals too, right?"
"Yes, yes of course." The old man eagerly said. Takuma couldn't remember the last time he saw an elderly person so happy. Even twenty-five silvers was an amazing deal for him. There were a few reasons that Takuma was willing to go this far. The first was to circulate more coins in the town because, frankly, Arnia was far from wealthy by most standards. The second was that he mostly just wanted to be left alone to his own devices. He wasn't sure just how far miasma could spread so it was a good idea to seclude himself -- just in case.
"Great. Oh, and one other thing. I really, really like my privacy." Takuma emphasized as he finally released the stack of silver coins to the innkeeper. The old man nodded in understanding and eagerly snatched the coins up before turning to grab a small, yellow key from the wall behind him.
A few minutes later, he and Takuma were standing in front of a door on the third floor of the building. According to the innkeeper, he generally only rented out the first and second floors, and only one or two rooms at a time. For the price Takuma paid, the innkeeper would allow him to use any of the rooms on this floor. He vowed to keep them all unlocked, save for the door the two were currently standing in front of. Door '6'. This was perfect as Takuma could have an entire floor to himself which would be invaluable during his tests with miasma.
The old man thanked Takuma for his patronage and quickly shuffled away, leaving Takuma to his own devices.
"Now, let's get down to business."