There are some, who would bet, Prof woke up the next morning with a naked Mini sprawled across his (also naked) body, and him having vague recollections of the night, and how they ended up in the same bed unclothed. Waking up to the shrill scream of a certain Prude mercenary, just to add to the comedic effect.


    Those folks would lose the bet.


    Prof wasn''t drunk enough to forget, what happened (nothing), how he got into bed (tired), and with whom (nobody), and he did not forget to lock his door to prevent evil-doers or a horny Vampire to enter. There wasn''t even a shrill scream. What he woke up to was the Granite version of a wake-up song, playing down in the restaurant part of the inn. It was much better to wake up to Granite than to a kick in the ribs, as Shinead used to do or a scorpionlizard licking your face. Or a cat sitting on it (the face, not the scorpionlizard, if you wonder) and demanding breakfast.


    For a second, horrifying images raced through Prof’s mind. A scorpionlizard sitting on his face, demanding breakfast, a cat sitting on a scorpionlizard, both demanding breakfast, Mini sitting on a scorpionlizard, demanding breakfast… Waking up to Granite after a long night drinking, and maybe still being a bit tipsy, wasn’t all good, probably. He had a headache, Greenskinian wines were too sweet for his taste, even the driest the inn could provide.


    The first thing they needed, was spare money, to spend on clothes, armor, and gear.


    No, actually the first thing they needed was a normal breakfast, that was not porridge or dried goods. In this regard, they were partially successful, they got oatmeal with fruit tea. Maybe Prof should introduce Continental, English, and American hotel breakfasts to Arkadia? Oatmeal was better than leftover, a few days old venison, but a good croissant? Toast? Sausages and eggs?


    Well, as soon as they got some more local spending money, Prof swore to taste everything that was real food. He saw a few food stalls on the way to the city center, so he had his goals firmly set. There was no food safety agency on Arkadia (the Elves probably had one, though), but what was the worst that could happen when eating unregulated food brought from an unknown source? His Health was 14, and he had an Anti-Poison gadget, that most likely worked against food poisoning! Every tourist’s wet dream!


    Wolfgang obviously made some inquiries, since he led them directly to a Redcap jeweler a few streets over. Prof was conflicted in this regard – on one hand, a well-known, high-Level jeweler probably had enough money to buy the high-class stuff they had, on the other hand, a big, well-known jeweler would probably have a high [Commerce] and would bargain harder and more successfully. And pay less.


    Very surprisingly, even a well-known jeweler did not have thousand-seven hundred marks sitting around in a safe. He did not even have a hundred-seventy. He did have ten, plus could scrape together another five within three days. He was willing, however, to take on the jewelry in commission, for only a five percent fee. From the gems, he was interested only in an emerald, valued at exactly fifteen marks. How strange.


    Prof shook with him on the emerald and left the jewelry there. It was harder to pawn off seventeen million (in Earth currency) worth of high-value things than he thought. He had the impression, he just needed to walk into a convenience store and the clerk would happily take over every piece at market price. Or, there would be an auction in only a few days, where to super-rich would pay through their noses to get their grubby hands on his family jewels. But no, the next auction he could sell the gems was scheduled for the end of December (Freezy in Elven, Tenth in Bergian, and Siegfried''s in Greenskinnian), to the twenty-fourth, to be precise.


    Until then, they had to survive on only fifteen marks from the jeweler, around three from the Ostwaldland government, and the amount they had on their persons. The paltry two hundred marks or so for the jewelry had an unknown estimated time of arrival. How could four (or five, if Wolfgang was included) people survive on only eighteen gold for four months? That was only one hundred eighty thousand in Earth currency! Prof''s happy giggling was interrupted by Wolfgang, who didn''t understand the profound hardship of having a such low level of monetary assets to blow on food, booze, and chicks! Yes, you read right, chicks! Prof still needed chicken for the daily donation for The Chopper. The scars he suffered from the bonding and a few days of donations were wickedly ugly.


    “We should move on to the armorer I told you about. You can finally get rid of those idiotic pieces you have."


    Oh yeah, they still had their costumes to sell! Would that money help feed and train them? They were sooooo unbelievably poor!


    “Stop giggling, my friend. You look like a little girl. No, even those would be ashamed!”


    Looking like a girl? That was just because of his Girly Backpack of Holding, not because of some alleged giggling! The giggling would make him sound like a little girl.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Prof thought, the armorer would be located in a smoky forge, but found out, the actual work was done in the back, and business was made in the front of the shop. Also, it was not a blacksmith they visited, but a leatherworker – logical, since everyone was using leather armor. The shopkeeper was only willing (or able) to buy the Champion''s Shinguards, but was willing to take the other pieces in commission – this time for 10%. After a long and boring session of haggling, Prof declined to leave the other four pieces there. He hoped he would be able to sell them somewhere else for more.


    Since they were already there, they placed an order for two matching sets of mundane armor for Bianca and Prof: brigandine, vambraces, and greaves. In total, it cost them five whole marks, but everything was of high quality and had a higher armor rating than his old set. That was a fourth of their total wealth, after receiving payment for the Shinguards.


    At least, the most expensive part was taken care of, and they still had clothes to sell.


    Prof was more or less content with his eclectic attire – meaning, while he wasn''t exactly willing to wear them, selling them wasn''t a priority either. The shoes he actually liked. Bianca, on the other hand, wanted to forget hers as fast as possible. The tailor-shoemaker, Wolfgang brought them to, was actually willing to buy Bianca''s three pieces, for a comparatively good price of five marks. They left almost fifty schillings for their wardrobe, boots, pants, shirts, socks, underwear, and capes. Not to forget some cheap stuff for working and running dungeons. Prof stayed with his previous style, black and dark green pants, and shirts, Bianca settling on blue and white.


    The new clothes looked indeed different from what Prof previously had, or saw on Elves. The latter were addicted to form-fitting attires to the extreme – when they care to wear anything at all – while Prof''s system-bought pants were what one would see anywhere in Western Europe. The Greenskin-styled ones were sturdy, practical, and a bit baggier than he liked. However, it was still better, than the mismatched set he acquired in the Valley.


    With around twenty marks to their name, it was time to look for training opportunities.


    With how dedicated Greenskins were to getting excellent, there were actually quite a few schools, courses, training rooms, and private teachers around. After asking around, they learned that lessons could be had for anywhere between half and five schillings – the more expensive teachers being better. As Prof found out, it was not enough to have a high Level in the Skill one wanted to teach, good teachers also had a high Level in [Teaching]. Someone with below 100% in [Teaching] would be able to raise the pupil''s Skill by less, than 1% per day, that is eight hours of "teaching". A real teacher with above 200% could do more, than double that. Of course, the exact amount depended on the Skill Level they had and wanted to teach.


    The trick wasn’t just to find a willing person with a high Level in a Skill, but a teacher, who had a high Level in a Skill they wanted to teach, and a High Level in [Teaching] at the same time. That combination was expensive!


    Luckily, each teacher advertised himself with the exact Skill-Level they wanted to teach and the exact Skill in [Teaching]. Another mathematical problem to solve. What was the most cost-efficient way to raise a Skill? Were the best teachers with the highest Level of Skill really worth the additional cost? Was it worth hiring a private teacher or just joining a class?


    Everything calculated against their ready-use money.


    Prof’s share was theoretically five marks, but because he kept most of his pilfered gear, technically he would have to pay others for them, and that meant, he was not just broke but was deeply in debt. At least until they received the money from selling the jewelry and the auction for the gems started. Luckily, Wolfgang was hesitant to claim anything from the loot, Mini did not care that much, and Bianca was content to wait. Sharpclaw… Prof wasn''t exactly sure, the Kobold understood, she was entitled to an even share.


    First, they put three gold marks aside for three months'' food and lodging and another for unexpected expenses. If they took lessons from a two-silver-schillings-teacher, they were good for eight hundred and fifty lessons – Prof rounded that down to two hundred lessons per person. All their current wealth came down to a month of training and just fifty Skill Points for every party member. Prof was hoping for a bigger return, but realized, the going rates for learning and training on Arkadia were actually much better than on Earth. He doubted, getting semi-professional in any field in just one month was possible back on the blue jewel.


    The System and the Rules basically guaranteed he got what he paid for. All those scams back home were just empty promises with fine print, on Arkadia he could be sure, a teacher with high [Teaching] and Skill in their chosen field would deliver a guaranteed amount of Skill Points every day. No need to guess the teacher''s Skill – you just took a look at their Character Parchment and did the math. Or looked the rates up on a chart. Every school and training room they checked, had a regulated chart displayed openly.


    It probably had legal reasons. Or was it because doing otherwise wouldn’t be excellent?


    Prof tried to remember, how the Elves did things but came up blank. In Willowflower, he didn''t mingle with the locals or explored the town much – if what Mini told him about Foxy was true, he was quarantined from the general population. Thinking back, Foxy was always hanging around when he contacted a local, and she more or less steered the conversation – especially at the time when Prof didn''t speak the language yet.


    What an asshole move.


    Hopefully, the Greenskins were more excellent to a poor displaced Human. Or didn''t learn, he was a literal Alien…