Chapter 22: Silvertide

Chapter 22: Silvertide

Noah strolled down the campus streets, walking without a deadline or pressing goal for the first time since his arrival. It wasn’t like the clothes were going to all run out of the shop before he got there, after all.

He savored the brief respite, enjoying the smells of freshly baked bread and savory meat rising up from the street vendor carts that dotted the corners of some roads. Students gathered around them and sat on tables lining the road, talking and eating cheerfully.

It was peaceful. A stark contrast to the blood and ash that had been his life for the last few days, and the infinite nothingness that he’d wasted hundreds or thousands of years in. He smiled to himself.

He joined the line at a vendor selling meat pies and fished a coin out of the pouch that Moxie had given him. It was golden, with a silver trim along its edge. One face of the coin was engraved with Arbitage’s silhouette, and the other had a rising or setting sun – Noah couldn’t tell which.

The line shrank quickly and he soon arrived at the front. Noah held the coin out to the portly vendor and gave the man his best grin. “One pie, please.”

He wasn’t sure how much money the coins were worth, but if the man looked offended at the offer, Noah had quite a few more to add to his pay. Luckily, the merchant took the coin without a word. He dug into his apron and pulled out nine pure silver coins that were a little smaller than the gold one, dumping them into Noah’s outstretched palm before sliding a pie over to him.

“Much appreciated,” Noah said, sweeping the silver coins into his pouch and snagging his pie from the table. The merchant grunted, not even gracing him with a response. Noah took no offense to that – he hadn’t seen the merchant speak to anyone in line ahead of him either.

He’d gotten quite a few coins in exchange for what he’d paid, which meant Moxie had given him a significant amount of money. Noah jingled the pouch thoughtfully. For someone that didn’t like him, she was helping more than he’d expected.

How much do I get paid? I promised to pay her back completely, but if she gave me more than I earn and I spent all of it... maybe it’s best to figure out exactly how much all of this is worth before I use too much. I got nine coins back, so it’s probably a safe bet to assume the pie cost one silver.

How much money is food worth again? I can’t remember. I feel like one set of clothes is probably worth... twenty meals, maybe? That seems like a good trade. And if I get paid monthly, I’d expect to earn enough food to eat three times a day at minimum.

That adds up to ninety silver or around nine gold, assuming months are the same length here as they were on Earth. Moxie gave around twenty coins... so more than the absolute bare minimum I’d expect per month.

Much more money than I’d need to last a few days. That’s fishy. I’m going to have to make sure to spend as little of it as possible.

Noah wandered through Arbitage’s busy streets, content to enjoy listening in on passing conversations and appreciate the well-kept flowers and trees lining the sides of the roads. Eventually, his wandering led him to the shopping district.

After peering through the windows of several stores, Noah found what he was looking for. A small bell attached to the door jingled as he entered a shop. Rows upon rows of mannequins greeted him, arranged in neat lines along the right side of the room.

There was a large mirror along the entire back wall, and several lanterns hung from the ceiling beside it, completely illuminating the wall. At the left side of the store were several doors and a counter, behind which sat a short woman hunched over a bright red garment.

A tall student stood across from her on the other side of the counter. He had the broadest shoulders Noah had ever seen and stood two heads taller than him. His hair was short and his features sharp.

The seamstress flinched as Tyler spun toward Noah, his wide mouth pressing thin in anger. Tyler raised his hands and bared his teeth in a snarl.

“Don’t make me toss you out of the–”

Noah didn’t hear the rest of his sentence. As Tyler’s large hands rose into the air, the only thing that he could picture before him was the towering bulky form of a Slasher, its hands lifted to split him in two.

Noah shifted his weight and drove his palm forward. Energy sparked against his fingertips as he sent a powerful vibration out of his palm and into the Slasher’s chest, striking before it could finish the blow. A brilliant red hue flared around the monster and a shield bloomed to life around it. He –

The Slasher was gone.

Tyler stared up at him from where he’d fallen on the ground, his hands raised defensively before his face and his shield burning with desperate light, cracks spiderwebbing throughout it. His eyes were wide in terror.

“I – what?” Noah spun, searching for the Slasher. It was gone. He turned back to Tyler, but any questions he might have had died on his lips.

The door to the shop slammed open. A gray haired man strode inside, a blood red coat rippling around his shoulders. Streaks of white hair interwove with gray in his beard, and the weathered lines on his face marked his age well into the fifties. The light from Tyler’s shield reflected off the man’s right leg, which was a construct of pure silver engraved with Runework.

“I leave you alone for one hour,” the man said, his voice calm but deadly, “and you break your shield already. Inside Arbitage no less.”

Noah squinted at them in confusion. The throbbing pain in the back of his head pulled back completely. There was no Slasher. He’d just attacked a student and, if it hadn’t been for the shield, Noah would have killed him.

“He rocked me, Professor Silvertide,” Tyler said, his eyes still wide. “No hesitation at all. One second, he was just standing there. The next, I swear he was trying to rip my throat out.”

“I–” Noah started.

“Idiot.”

Noah and Tyler both stared at the elderly man, baffled for completely opposite reasons.

“He’s seen combat. Look at his eyes, you imbecile,” Silvertide growled. “I’ve told you not to make threatening moves toward soldiers. You’re lucky he showed restraint, or you might have gotten killed before I got here. Anyone that fights monsters doesn’t have the liberty to determine if you’re friend or foe before making a move.”

Wait, what?