I finished my Clear the City quest in the next couple of days, earning enough experience to bring my Gunslinger class to level 10 as well. My attribute enhancements followed the same pattern as when I leveled the Archer class, earning me another +4 to coordination, +3 to strength, and +1 to endurance. I could see why rich merchants purchased a variety of classes. The early levels gave easy boosts that made you feel powerful, but it was a bit of a trap, because without skills, attributes could only get you so far.

  I used my Duel Me skill on each boss of the dungeons I completed, but I didn’t feel the tingle of Gambler’s Eye a second time and only ended up getting an attribute point from two bosses and experience from all the others. One of the attributes was for endurance, and the other was for my magical capacity, which was useless to me.

  Congratulations, you have received enough experience to level your Gunslinger class. You are now level 10.

  Please choose a level 10 class skill:

  Sucker Punch: Stun an enemy with a punch of your fist.

  Elemental Adaptation: Select one element. Your bullets are infused with the essence of your element, increasing damage and having a secondary effect based on your chosen element. Elements available: fire, ice, earth, wind, demonic, eldritch, space.

  Rapid Reload: Instantly reload your revolver with ammunition of your choice.

  Returning Knife: Your knife can be recalled back to your hand after a throw.

  Bonded Weapon: You bond with your weapon, and your skill with the weapon is improved. You may summon your weapon to you from any distance, and your weapon is resistant to being damaged.

  Improved Dodge: You instinctively know how to dodge, avoiding strikes and blows from enemies.

  Gambler’s Luck: You push luck to the limit, changing the odds around you to guarantee a more favorable outcome. Unlocks a new attribute: Luck.

  Spread the Bounty: You and your allies gain a temporary increase to luck, a bonus to your coordination, and a bonus to the loot you receive.

  Bounty Hunter: Mark your target. You can sense your target from any distance. You gain an increase to all damage done to your target. You are resistant to damage and harmful effects from your target. You can only have one target at a time and must kill or subdue your target before selecting another.

  The first thing that struck me about my skill selection was that I could still pick the level 1 skills, which I hadn’t been able to do with my Archer class. I wasn’t sure if that was due to my new class being unique or because I had created the class or something totally unrelated. Either way, I appreciated the diversity of choice.

  I had been debating where I wanted to take my Gunslinger class and thinking about diversifying myself now that I had the means to afford another class. Because of that, I didn’t want to limit myself to purely using my firearm, like what Elemental Adaptation would do. Same thing with the Bonded Weapon skill. Spread the Bounty was interesting, but I didn’t see myself spending enough time around others to make it worthwhile at this point despite enjoying the company of Romanus and Valens. Bounty Hunter would be extremely helpful in finding and eliminating the annoying priest that had been bothering me, but I wasn’t completely confident I could kill him unless I took him by surprise, so I didn’t want to waste a skill on a mere chance for revenge.

  I was considering buying the Warrior class next to give myself a boost to strength and, hopefully, endurance. The class would also supplement a current weakness of mine, which was when enemies got too close for me to use my firearm.

  My new perk Regeneration was outstanding, as I had discovered after some experimentation in the various dungeons I completed after stealing it. It synergized with my enhanced body and endurance attribute, allowing me to regenerate a shallow wound within seconds. Deeper wounds took longer, but I could regenerate a finger in a matter of a minute, as long as I had eaten enough food recently. It was a game-changer, allowing me to go toe to toe with enemies that I had been concerned about fighting up close before, where I could suffer an injury more easily.

  I decided to go with Gambler’s Luck. It unlocked a new attribute, which seemed powerful, and gave me a bonus that could increase my luck in combat, both ranged and up close, in earning rewards from dungeons, and in duels. My luck had already paid off once and I thought it was smart to build upon that success.

  Attribute Unlocked: Luck. Your base luck is 1 and you receive a +1 to luck from your Gambler’s Luck skill.

  Once I finished leveling, I focused on my class in my head. Momma Lena had told me that a person could make a class active or inactive at any time. Experience would no longer go to the class, but all of the attributes and skills that had been unlocked would remain. This was similar to how my Archer class evolved into Gunslinger, which restarted at level 1, but I still had all the benefits from leveling my Archer class.

  I found whatever “trigger” worked to turn my class inactive. I somehow instinctively knew how to do it once I looked for it. I turned my Gunslinger inactive, leaving it at level 10 for now.

  Once that was done, I checked the overcast sky and determined there was still plenty of daylight remaining for me to take care of a few more of my chores.

  I dashed to a nearby rooftop and then made my way across the roofs toward Perama. When I arrived, the guards let me in with no issues, and I found Constans was back at the gate, offering to guide strangers through the confusing enclave. When she saw me, her dirty face broke into a grin and she waved. I was happy to see her as well and glad I had made such a positive impression on her that she smiled to see me.

  “Alexander!” she yelled, running up to me and then stopping awkwardly in front of me as if embarrassed by her outburst.

  “Constans,” I said, smiling. “I’m happy you are working today. Would you be able to show me around the city like last time?”

  “Of course!” she said. “Where do you need to go today? Where have you been? Did you find any treasure while you were gone?”

  The dam was apparently broken, because she sent a barrage of questions my way. I didn’t really need to hire her anymore, since I had a decent sense of the enclave now, but I liked her and wanted to help her out. She was a good child facing a difficult life and deserved help when she could get it, and it would cost me almost nothing now that my wealth had increased.

  I tossed her a full silver. She gasped at the sight.

  “Let’s go to Momma Lena’s to start,” I told her as she polished the silver coin and then made it disappear somewhere in her clothes.

  “Let’s get going!” She turned and led me through the narrow street that ran up the middle of the bridge.

  I told her some of my non-dungeon stories as we walked. I tried to emphasize the dangers of what I did, but I could tell the young girl dreamed of someday being able to hunt monsters and find treasure like a scavenger.

  Momma Lena was busy when we arrived, working on another tome at her desk, but when she saw me, she put her work down and turned to look me over.

  “My, my,” she said, “look who has survived to return once again.”

  “He has been out of the city, Momma Lena!” Constans interrupted. “He says he went north and killed drakes and got their skin and is having magical armor made, like in the old stories!”

  Momma Lena raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged in return.

  “I was hoping to buy another class from you,” I told her, trying to change the subject. “Do you have a Warrior class available?”

  “I do,” she replied, turning in her chair and grabbing a tome from the side of her desk. “I finished one just the other day and haven’t had a buyer yet. It isn’t in as much demand as the ranged classes. I also have a Rogue class available, if you are interested. I know you don’t want a Mage or Scholar class, so I won’t try to sell one of those to you.”

  “How much for each one?” I asked.

  “One hundred blue orbs each,” she replied, hefting the book up and setting it back down.

  I had forty-two gold orbs and well over a hundred blue orbs now, even with the cost of replenishing my ammunition continuously draining some of my blue orbs. I counted out ten gold orbs, not bothering to negotiate with her since she had helped me so much when I first came to her.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I handed her all ten, and she grabbed a second book and handed them both to me.

  “Thanks,” I told her as I reached back and tucked the books into my backpack.

  “Anytime,” she said, smiling at me. “Anything else I can help with?”

  “No, that should be it,” I replied. I stood awkwardly for a moment as she and Constans stared at me, but I realized since I had nothing else to talk about, I should leave. I said my goodbyes quickly and then Constans led me out of the shop.

  “Constans,” I said as we walked back toward the central road, “what’s your plan in life?”

  She stopped and looked back at me, surprised by my question. “My plan in life?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “You know, your long-term plan. Everyone should have a long-term plan. If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?”

  “Why?” she said, looking away and crossing her arms, hunching over defensively.

  I held my hands up placatingly. I had been tossing around the idea of finding a few trustworthy people to help me survive in the city, and Constans was one of the first to come to mind. As I thought about explaining to her what I was thinking, I felt the spinning coin of my luck erupt in my head. I took that as a clear sign that now was the time to propose my idea.

  “Listen,” I said, “you know more about me than almost anyone else here, right?”

  She shrugged, still not meeting my eyes.

  “I need some people I can trust,” I told her. “People that can help me navigate this place. I trust you and you’ve already helped me a bunch. And I want to help you back, but I want to know if my help would be something you would be interested in.”

  “What kind of help?” she said, finally looking back at me skeptically.

  “Like getting you a safe place to live, an education, a class, helping you grow and survive so you can do what you want in this world.”

  “A class?” she said, clearly only hearing what interested her.

  “Yes,” I said, “if you are interested. It wouldn’t all be fun and games. You would need to change a lot of things and have to work hard, but I think you would be a good ally to have in my corner as I keep trying to figure things out for myself. And you have shown me you are trustworthy, smart, and hard-working. I couldn’t ask for better.”

  I could see my words had impacted her, or maybe she was touched by the idea that she could possibly learn a class someday, because I saw her eyes start to water as I spoke. She angrily swiped at her tears, looking away from me again in embarrassment. I looked away as well to give her a chance to recover.

  “What would I do?” she said after she felt a bit better.

  “I’m not really sure yet,” I told her, “and it may not be for years before we really figure it out. But in the meantime, I don’t want to see you disappear like so many others have done in this city. If you agree to work with me, your life will change significantly, but for the better in the long run. I promise.”

  “My life is pretty shit anyway,” she said, looking down at the ground. “I pretend because nobody wants to hire a guide that is gloomy and angry all the time, but . . .”

  She choked up and I stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do to comfort a crying teenager. As she turned away, hunching over as she cried, I finally reached over and gave her a pat on the shoulder, even though it felt strange to do. She took that as an invitation and turned around, burying her face in my cloak. I hugged her carefully, not wanting to encroach too much on her personal space, but she was crying so hard I didn’t think she noticed what I was doing at all. All it took was the smallest amount of sympathy and the wall she had built to protect herself came crashing down. I felt a surge of empathy for her and knew I had done the right thing by offering to help her.

  “Do you have any family here at all?” I asked her as her tears began to slow.

  She shook her head into my cloak.

  “Okay then,” I said. “Come with me. Let’s see about making some changes.”

  She stepped away from me, clearly embarrassed, but she nodded anyway.

  I turned and led the way for a bit, giving her a chance to recover more. I led us to the gate and didn’t slow, heading toward the tunnel that led outside.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, catching up to me.

  “We’re going to Sycae. I think we can find more of what we need there to get you started.”

  I led her out of the gates and we walked along the waterfront for a few minutes. Constans had clearly never been out of the city, because she stared at everything as we walked, equal parts excited and terrified by the city beyond the gates. I stopped us when we were some distance from the bridge enclave.

  “Ready?” I asked her.

  “Ready for what?” she said, looking around us, unsure of what was about to happen.

  “Climb on my back,” I told her, crouching on one knee. “And hold on very tight.”

  She stared at me for a second until I raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, climbing on my back and wrapping her arms around my neck.

  “Here we go!” I said, smiling in anticipation of her reaction.

  I activated Trickster’s Dash, sending us shooting across the water. Constans screamed, her thin arms trying to choke the life out of me as she held on as tight as she could. I activated the skill again halfway across, sending us soaring perfectly across the water. This time, I had aimed correctly, landing us directly on a dock in Sycae. Our momentum froze, so all I had to do was step down and walk into the city.

  We were invisible as we flew, but the sound of Constans screaming drew a lot of attention. When we appeared out of nowhere on the dock, people reached for weapons or began to step back from us, but I pulled Constans around in front of me and put her down on the dock, acting like what we were doing was completely normal.

  “We’re here!” I said, trying my best to hold in my laughter as I took in her scrunched-up face. Her eyes remained closed as tightly as possible even after we stopped moving.

  She opened one eye, peeking to see where exactly we were. When she saw we were on solid ground—well, the dock at least—she turned and began to pelt me with her tiny fists over and over.

  “You jerk!” she yelled.

  I couldn’t restrain my laughter any longer, laughing uproariously at her reaction to our flight. “Welcome to Sycae,” I told her, trying to get her to stop hitting me. She eventually got tired and stopped, looking around her. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she took in the number of people around us, the open streets and well-maintained buildings, and the fact that we weren’t in the crowded, smelly, and dirty enclave she called home. I enjoyed watching her look around at all the different sights and come to the realization that she was really here. After a few moments, I tugged on her arm and led her through the city. She followed me in a daze, staring at her surroundings unashamedly like an absolute tourist. I was sure my face looked similar the first time I was here, so I didn’t make fun of her for it.

  I took her first to the bookstore I had visited before here in Sycae.

  Inside, I asked the clerk what classes they had available. I wanted one that would enhance Constans’s memory attribute, which would help her learn more quickly while also giving her useful skills that could benefit both of us. After going over the available non-combat classes, I bought the Merchant class for fifteen gold orbs. It was one of the most expensive classes I had seen so far, even more expensive than my Archer class, but it was worth it.

  Constans was quiet the entire time, overwhelmed by the city around us. After buying the class, I took us to the inn I had stayed in before and spoke briefly with the innkeeper. We came to an arrangement for a long-term room rental, and I explained that Constans would be coming and going when I was gone. The innkeeper had no problem once I paid for a suite with two rooms in advance for three months. It cost me ten blue orbs, but it was the nicest room in the inn and the innkeeper assured me Constans would be fed daily and have free access to the room even if I wasn’t there.

  After we secured the room, I took Constans to a nearby bathhouse and paid the female attendants to clean her up as best as they could. At this point, Constans was nearly catatonic, and I waved goodbye to her as the attendants led her to the women’s side of the bathhouse. She stared blankly at me but followed the other women without complaint. I smiled at the sight, enjoying the normally exuberant young girl’s culture shock.

  While she was getting a thorough scrub, I searched the city to find a few clothes that might fit Constans. I found a shop that sold a few basic dresses, which I bought, and then paid to have the other essentials she would need delivered to our room in a few days when they were ready.

  I brought the dresses back to the bathhouse and asked the attendants to dress her in one before she left. Sometime later, a dazed and thoroughly clean Constans left with me, smelling pleasant for the first time in . . . probably her entire life.

  I took her to a street stall and bought her dinner. She ate what I put in front of her but didn’t seem to appreciate the food as much as I had hoped.

  “This is too much,” she told me after she ate. “Are you going to kill me?”

  “What?” I said, choking slightly on the bite of food I had just taken. “Kill you?”

  “Yeah!” she said, shaking her head and staring at me as if she had just woken up from being under a spell. “Like, is that how you got so powerful so quick? You sacrifice children and steal their powers? I knew it! I absolutely knew that was it!”

  I couldn’t help myself. I started laughing again.

  “Honest,” I told her through my laughter, “I’m not going to kill you. I have the currency to do this now and I need people I can trust. That’s it. I promise. Come on, finish eating and let’s go back to the inn.”

  She glared at me the entire time she ate, while I smiled, happy to see some of her spark returning so quickly. After we were done, we walked back toward the inn.

  “I’m going to be gone again in a few days,” I told her, “but I’m going to try to set you up with some work while I’m gone. Are you ready for your first job?”

  “Yes,” she said, a serious expression on her face. “Anything is better than starving to death on that damn bridge.”

  “I understand,” I said sympathetically. “Here is your first job. First, we are going to find you a tutor.”

  Her glare intensified.

  “No, don’t make that face,” I said, laughing. “You need to be as educated as possible if you are going to survive this world. Trust me. Next, you will start to learn this city just like you knew Perama. Find its secrets, learn all of its nooks and crannies, but be careful. This place can be just as dangerous, if not more so, than Perama. Stay away from the guards. Don’t get caught alone by anyone that can hurt you, understand?”

  “Got it,” she said, looking around her with fresh eyes now that she had a mission to learn the city. I was grateful to see the look of cunning and focus on her face, because it was one of the reasons I had picked her. It was clear she was a smart cookie and had the drive to go far, if given the right tools. I could see the raw potential in her. Given a chance to grow, she would be a menace to anyone that stood in her way.

  “I’ll leave you with some funds,” I told her, “but don’t waste them. Work hard with your tutor and start to explore the city, but that’s it for now. Can you do that?”

  “Absolutely,” she replied, looking around her as we walked, as if she could find the secrets of the city.

  “Good. Let’s get some rest at the inn and I’ll see about the tutor starting tomorrow, if possible.”

  Back at the inn, we sat in the common room together and I handed her the Merchant class book. She took it gingerly, as if it was made of pure gold. When she saw me pull out a second book, she gasped. I handed her the Rogue book as well.

  She took it in her hands and I could see that she was shaking. This was a life-changing moment for her, and I treated it with the seriousness it deserved.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “This is just the start of your adventure. Trust me. You will grow up to run this damn city someday, if you want. The world is yours for the taking.”

  She looked away from the books for a moment to meet my eyes, a hungry smile on her face. I recognized the burning ambition that filled her at that moment, and it inspired me as well, making me want to do right by her and this city. I could tell we shared a common goal to grow in power, survive, and fix this broken world.

  “Exactly,” I said, smiling back at her without her having to say a word.