Chapter 5: Breaking Fast and a Day Job

Waking up refreshed, Ki Jung repacks her SHTF bag and heads out in search of food. She doesn’t know what to expect but is delightfully surprised at the various offerings she finds. There’s a vendor was selling burritos filled with the equivalent of a Western scramble, another vendor selling bowls of cooked oats (you had to eat there and return the bowl and spoon), and many more, all of them wonderful after rations and foraged foods for most of a week.

She chooses the omelet and pays for it from the coins she received from the bully. It comes to two coppers. Being unfamiliar with prices and the values of the coins she has, she pays without a fuss. After six days of traveling and eating berries, fungi, and a few roasted beetles, she really wants something more reminiscent of home. The omelet hits the spot. She washes it down with a drink from her canteen. That out of the way, Ki Jung begins her search for a place to sell the badger.

After a quarter-hour, she gives up on the idea of finding it on her own and asks a street vendor for help. She picks the vendor using her Qi-empowered senses and reading the person’s energies. It is a simple task to find the most honest and helpful of them lining the streets.

Vendor June Pak is happy to point her in the right direction and is even more delighted to make a sale. Vendor June Pak sells rings and pendants of storage. This wasn’t something Ki Jung imagined would be possible. The Realm holds many surprises for her, it seems.

The ring is of simple design and has a capacity of a half cubic meter. This is more space than her pack provides, and because it nullifies the weight of its contents, she becomes unencumbered. She quickly stores all of her items, other than her weapons in the ring. She has grown accustomed to using the spear as a walking stick, the sword hangs from her waist, and her Tanto, which she keeps strapped to her left forearm. Vendor June Pak advises her to unpack her bag before storing everything in the ring. Doing so will allow her to retrieve items individually with a simple thought. If they are packed together, she will have to withdraw the whole and rummage through it to find what she is looking for. Ki Jung thanks her for the advice and takes off with a wave and a smile.

Ki Jung follows the directions the vendor had indicated. This leads her to the shop of the merchant who Vendor June Pak directed her to with ease. Inside the store, there are many wares for sale, most of which seem to be related to leather working. The sign above it door states that this is Mr. Jaden’s Leather Emporium.

Stepping up to the counter, she is immediately greeted by an older man who asks, “How may I assist young Miss today?”

“Good morning, Sir. Vendor June Pak sent me. I am looking to sell this badger. What is it worth to you?”

“Well, let me take a look at it,” he says and accepts it from her.

Ki Jung watches in wonder as he utters a couple of unintelligible sounds, they may have been words, and the badger separates into piles. Each pile is the a different portion of the beast. There’s the meat in one, the claws in another, and then the bones, the sinew in yet another, and finally the pelt. All in their own tidy piles.

Without thinking, Ki Jung asks, “Can you teach me that spell?”

The man studies her as if attempting to learn something before smiling and agreeing to do so.

“Yes, Miss. It should be easy to teach you the spell. It is worth more than this badger, but I will make you an equal trade. Does that sound good to you?”

Ki Jung smiles and said, “Deal,” and sticks out her hand to shake on it.

After shaking on it, Mr. Jaden puts the remains of the badger away. He then invites her behind the counter and teaches her the incantation. Usually, it would take a person, new to casting, days or weeks to learn to cast such a spell, but she had him show it to her three times and then walk her through it, step by step. As with nearly everything, she has it down perfectly after that.

Mr. Jaden is so amazed by her progress that he asks her if she would like to help him at the store, for the day. He is willing pay five silver for the her help. His son is out for a few days, and he could use the help.

Ki Jung agrees. She doesn’t know if five silver is a good wage, but it is more than she’s likely to make otherwise. And, she may learn something along the way.

At the end of the work day, Mr. Jaden directs her to an Inn that he considers a good value and wishes her well. As she is leaving, he watches her thinking about what he saw in her that morning. What he observed was enough to take a chance to teach her the spell. It was luck. Few people are able see their own luck skill, but Mr. Jaden isn’t like everyone else. He can see his and other people’s luck stats. He knows from years of observation that the average was 25 and never seems to change.

Before Ki Jung entered his shop, he had never seen anyone with a Luck score higher than 50. In fact, he didn’t think it was possible to go any higher. Yet, this young lady had the luck of the Gods themselves. Her luck score is 77 and thus the doubly lucky. And, as he had hoped, the young woman’s luck bled over to his shop that day. He hadn’t even lied about his son being out and his need for help.