Jakarta

"High or low?"

"Uhh, high"

The dice rolled across the ground, clinking against the stoned floor, finally landing on a three.

"Godsdamnit! There goes my drinking money!" Said a tall and lanky guard. He was wearing his leather armor dyed dark green in color. The other guard, also in his dark green armor, was greedily scooping copper coins into his money pouch. "You know you're not very good at gambling, I don't see why you still try, though I'm happy you do! Ha Ha!" Said the shorter of the two.

There was not much to do to pass the time while on guard duty at the city gates. Although they were busy during parts of the day, other parts were quite dull. Most travellers and farmers would enter during the morning hours, they didn't bother checking the people exiting the city. Right now it was about an hour before sunset. In the distance the guards noticed a pair of travelers and an ox pulling a wagon towards the city gates.

"Time to get to work," one guard said to the other.

Exiting the guard shack they straightened their armor and prepared to welcome the wagon. Being a gate guard didn't require any great combat skills. All it required was to search any wagons and travelers wanting to enter the city and to collect the entrance fees. It was a safe and good way to make a living.

As the pair closed the distance they noticed the size difference of the two.

"Gods, is that a giant?" One guard jokingly asked.

"No. Only a half giant!" The other said chuckling.

"Halt! Stop for inspection!" The taller guard stated, putting on his serious face.

"Hello William, hello Sven. I got my monthly cheese delivery with me here." Issac said waving at the two guards.

Sven was the taller of the two, with blonde hair, closely shaved to his head. A Clean shaven face and sunken in brown eyes. William was the shorter one. Brown shoulder length hair covered his head and brown eyes to match. He had dark stubble on his face and a scar over his right eyebrow.

"Ah Issac, almost didn't see you behind this mountain of a man here." Sven said with a smile, but still put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"This is Marcus, he's been helping me on the farm this past week. I'm just taking him into the city, he'll be staying here from now on." Issac said, seeing that Sven was tense, looking at Marcus.

"No need to worry about him."

"Ok, if you say so Issac, still, if you need anything make sure to let us know." Said Sven, lowering his hand.

While Issac was talking to Sven, William was searching his wagon. Lifting the tarp and inspecting the contents, making sure no contraband would find its way into the city.

"All good here." Said William, walking back over to Sven.

"Alright, you know you don't have to pay a fee being a farmer and all, but your farmhand here is going to have to pay the fee. That'll be two coopers." Sven said, holding out his hand.

Pulling out the two coppers, Issac placed them in his hand. Putting the two coins in his pouch Sven nodded and turned to yell. "Open the gates!"

With a creak and a groan, the city gate started to retract upwards into the wall. After they finished, an opening that was twelve feet tall and twelve feet wide was left in the wall. Stepping aside, Sven and William allowed them to drive their wagon into the city.

...…

"Thanks for paying the fee." Marcus said as they were entering the city.

"Don't thank me, I'm taking it out of your pay.!" Issac said with a grin.

"Now let's take this wagon to the cheesemonger, I usually get about nine coppers per wheel. Once we sell 'em we'll go to the inn. I'll pay ya there, sounds good?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Marcus said nodding his head.

Later that evening, Marcus pulled out the chair that was across from Issac, and sat down. With the chair creaking in protest, Marcus adjusted himself to get comfortable, which might be impossible given the quality of the chair.

"We're in luck today!" Issac said with a smile. "Each wheel went for fifteen coppers today! That's almost double than I was expecting."

Issac had brought fifty wheels of cheese with him to sell. Given that, his total for this trip was seven and a half silvers.

As Marcus and Issac were talking, the waitress came over to take their order.

"What will it be for tonight?" She asked with a plastered on smile. She was a pretty girl, maybe nineteen or twenty. With waist length brown hair braided down her back. Fair skin, slim waist, and small bust. Her arms were toned though, probably from lifting and carrying trays of food and drink everyday.

Reading her body language, Marcus thought that either she didn't care much for her job, or was just unsociable. He couldn't really blame her, he knew how rowdy people, especially men, could get with just a little bit of alcohol. He saw it every night he worked at the club.

Putting on his best friendly face, Marcus ordered an ale with bread and soup. Issac ordered the same. She just nodded, spun on her heel and left for the kitchen.

They were at Griffin's Hearth. A mid size inn at only five coppers a night, with about twenty rooms and a dining area. It had about ten tables set up, and right now there were only three other tables occupied other than Issac and Marcus's. It served both breakfast and dinner. The kitchens are closed during lunch hours in order for the staff to be able to clean the rooms that were vacated.

"Thanks for the help this past week, I appreciate it. With all that wood you split, it might last me two winters! Haha. So with that, I reckon I'll pay ya. Here's two silvers, should be enough to get ya set up here at the inn for a while." Issac said while handing Marcus a leather pouch filled with coins.

"I can't say how much I appreciate this, you've really helped me out." Marcus said, pocketing the pouch. "I thought I was going to be screwed when I woke up. Really, if you need anything, anything at all, I'll do my best for you."

"Nah, you've helped me, I paid you. That's it. You don't owe me anything at all." Shaking his head, Issac noticed the food coming towards them.

"Enough of that, let's eat before the soup gets cold."

Nodding his head, Marcus dug into his soup as well.

...…

Waking up with the dim morning light leaking through the paper windows, Marcus opened his eyes. Getting up, he made his way to the bowl of water that was sitting on the table in the corner of his room. At only five coppers a night, it was a sparsely decorated room. It only had a straw bed, chamber pot, and single table.

Washing his face and brushing his teeth in the bowl of water, Marcus went over his plans for the day. Last night Issac mentioned the Mercenaries Association as a good place to look for a job. Issac figured that given his build, Marcus should have no problem getting registered. All you had to do was sign up, then you'd be able to take on missions.

Leaving his room, Marcus went to the dining area to grab some breakfast. The only thing available was a cup of goat's milk with rye bread and cheese. Ordering his food and giving the waitress the two coppers, he ate his meal.

He was eager to make some more money. He knew his now less than two silvers wouldn't last him long. Especially since he needed to buy some more clothes and equipment for his missions he would take on later.

Leaving the inn, Marcus made his way to the Association. Taking in the sights as he walked down the cobblestone road he saw the way that people dressed were drastically different from what he was used to seeing. Which would only make sense. Most of their clothes were made from wool not cotton. The color pallet was also very small. Blues, reds, and greens were the main colors that the people had on. Marcus figured that other colors were more expensive.

The buildings were mostly wood and thatch, although some of the larger buildings were made of stone. All the windows were paper windows, glass seemed like a luxury. The smells were something that he didn't particularly care for. Horse manure was piled on the ground in certain places. Although sometimes workers would come by with wheelbarrows and clean up, that still didn't help with the smell.

Finding the building he was looking for, a large stone building. With two symmetrical columns supporting an eav that covered the dark oaken double doors. The building was three stories tall and maybe covered ten thousand square feet. It truly stood out among the other buildings.

Entering the double doors, he looked around and saw the counter he was looking for. Behind it was a gruff looking old man, with wispy white hair and a crooked nose. At the moment the Mercenaries Association didn't seem too busy. There were a few people milling about looking at the mission board or turning in missions at one of the counters.

"State yer business." Grumbled the old man.

"I'd like to register with the Association." Marcus said.

Scrutinizing him, the old man looked him over.

"Alright, ye know how to read n write? If not I can read the contract, but it'll cost you one copper."

"I can read and write just fine." Marcus said as he looked over the parchment that the old man slid over to him on the counter.

For some reason, this world seemed to speak and write in English, at least as far as he'd seen. Although he was sure there were other languages, he just hasn't seen them yet. As far as to why it was English, he wasn't overly concerned about it.

Looking over the contract, it read as follows.

A monthly fee of five coppers is due.

When signing up you must pay three months in advance.

All disputes between members are settled with arbitration.

Disputes can be settled by combat, but each member must agree.

When on a mission, each member has the full power of the association behind them.

All rewards from missions are payable upon completion.

When posting a mission, the patron must post the reward in full.

If you fail a mission a member may be liable for compensation, depending on the mission.

Any member found breaking laws will not be protected by the association, unless special circumstances occur. Any such circumstances are decided by the Association.

Any member will have a 10% discount at all Inns with the Association's symbol posted outside.

Members are ranked in the following. Copper-Iron-Silver-Gold-Platinum.

Platinum is only attainable with no less than two recommendations from a noble or equivalent, a 95% completion rate on all missions taken by the member, never found guilty of a crime that causes death, finally the recommendation of the Association head.

Once you reach Gold rank your fees are waived.

There were other stipulations as well, but those were the main ones. All in all it was similar to joining a union, as long as you were a member in good standing, the union would have your back.

Seeing nothing too troublesome in the contract, Marcus signed his name and handed it back to the old man. Looking over his signature, the old man also signed it as a witness and filed it away. After Marcus paid the fifteen copper coin registration fee of course.

"Now here is ye ID badge, show this to the guards at the gate and you can avoid the entrance fee, also the inns will give you discounts for staying the night. Ye can choose which missions you want to take over there on that board. You can only take missions up to one rank above copper for now, you need to complete one-hundred missions to rank up." The old man started with a disinterested face, as he pointed over at the mission board.

Marcus nodded his thanks and headed over to the board. Looking at the copper ranked missions, he noticed that they were all mostly shit jobs. Either manual labor around the city or gathering herbs or lumber in the woods not too far from here. He could do some iron rank jobs since they were only one rank above his, but they were mostly all escort missions and he didn't have any weapons or equipment. Deciding on the copper ranked mission to help unload/load cargo at the docks, he took the parchment from the board. It paid two silvers a day, for a total of a week, which was six days in this world. So he figured he could work a couple of days there, then buy himself a weapon and new clothes. Taking the piece of parchment off the board, he took it up to the counter to register for the mission.

...…

The city of Jakarta covered an area of about fifteen square miles, surrounded by walls that were thirty-five feet high and ten feet thick. Situated on the east coast of the New World, straddling a natural harbor. Being on a natural harbor made the city thrive. Ships were entering the harbor nonstop, some of them were from the Old World, bringing over new immigrants and indentured servants. Most of the ships were fishing vessels though, bringing in their catch from the day.

The docks were in the most eastern part of the city, the merchant district was in the western part, the residential area was located south of the merchants district. The nobles enjoyed the open and hilly area in the northern part of the city. The academy that Mary told Marcus about was located there in the nobles district. The inn he was staying at, the Griffin's Hearth, was about an hours' walk from the docks. The inn was located in between the merchants district and the residential area for commoners. This allowed the inn to keep a steady stream of patrons filling their rooms. From traveling merchants, to the farmers coming in to sell their goods.

This has been where Marcus has been working for the past six days. Over this last week Marcus had made twelve silvers. Minus his food and lodging over these six days, he now has thirteen silver and twelve copper. Marcus figured that he would have enough to at least get a cheap weapon so he could take on missions that paid more. With his pouch full of coins, Marcus decided to find himself a blacksmith to get himself a weapon.