Starting The Grind

Clay looked at the roughly 200 cits or 2 silts in his hands, almost unable to hold them all. Still grinning ear to ear, he placed them on the maps to carry back home.

Looking at the money that he got, which could last an average family of four for a week, Clay wanted to see if he could already purchase the materials, so he went back to his house, grabbed a pouch, placed the coins in there and wandered the village in search of stores that could sell him the materials he needed.

Clay walked around for a while until he could find a store that looked like it could sell the items he needed. About 5 minutes had passed since he started walking before finding a shop called 'Writing Materials', a very straightforward name that hopefully sells what it says.

Clay entered the store, being greeted by the sight of an interior that had brown and white striped walls, the shop was almost like a study room, and there were other people inside looking at the wares the shop has to offer. Clay saw this and his eyes lit up.

He found that there were empty scrolls that looked very much like the scrolls he needed, Quill's that were more pleasing to the eye, and Ink that seem to be made of better quality than what Clay had seen.

Hoping that this store had what he was looking for, Clay hastily walked up to the nearest scroll he could see, checking its description with the help of the system, a feature he had found not too long ago.

*Ding!*

|Blank Scroll|

\A long sheet of parchment/

Clay's eyes lit up seeing that this shop really sold one of the items he needed. He began walking to another item, this time it was the ink that he saw that looked better than the small jar of ink he had.

Clay touched the item prompting the system to take action.

*Ding!*

|Jar of fine Ink|

\Ink created from well-grown plants and herbs mixed with other materials/

'Sweet' Clay thought.

Clay then went to the final item, the quill that was more pleasing to the eye, being more decorated than the previous quills he had seen.

Clay touched it wanting to see the information, hoping that this store would have everything he needed for his quest.

*Ding!*

|Quality Quill|

\A quill made from a silver goose/

"YES!" Clay thought aloud, causing other customers to look at him making Clay feel embarrassed.

'This shop really has what it says'

Clay walked to all three items and proceeded to bring them to the counter.

"How much for all of this ma'am?" Clay asked the woman behind the counter who was wearing traditional neat scholar clothes that were color white.

"Hmm, each of those cost 10 silts each young man" The woman replied.

Clay's mouth dropped, he had thought that with the money he had earned today it would be enough to purchase at least one of the quest items, but reality states otherwise.

'10 Silts each, meaning 30 Silts in total if I want to buy them all, and 30 Silts is equal to 3000 Cits, what, am I wrong? There is no way it could actually be 3000 Cits, okay, 1 Silt is equal to 100 Cits, and 10 silts are equal to... 1000 Cits' Clay cringed at the thought of having to earn 2800 Cits more.

"Excuse me"

"Excuse me sir" The woman snapped Clay out of his daze.

"Are you going to purchase these?" The woman said seeing that Clay was looking at her again.

"Uh, no, maybe in the future so could you please reserve it for me?" Clay asked.

"Sure but we can't guarantee anything as who knows when you would purchase them"

"I can guarantee that it would take no longer than 2 months so please have some in stock just in case I would come by again" Clay promised.

"With that said, I'll go now, lest I might disturb your work, ma'am, goodbye"

"Bye, please come again soon!" The lady cheerfully said.

Clay exited the shop and walked back to his home thinking about his next plans for the future.

"If I get 200 Cits in one day each day, it would take about 15 days to gather enough money to purchase all the materials" Clay thought with a sigh.

Clay tried finding other ways to get the money quicker, but to no avail, the only other method he had found is using Josh's system again, but Clay wasn't that thick-skinned to ask his friend to pay something for him for free.

'Maybe I can ask Josh to buy them, in exchange for being able to use the next map I make as a last resort' Clay thought.

Clay arrived back home, just in time for dinner, when Clay arrived he ate a hearty meal, then slept in.

The next day.

Clay stretched as he got ready for the long day ahead of him.

Then he suddenly remembered about standing out in the heat again.

He groaned.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to give some money to Mom, It should help us out a bit with what she's going through" Clay remembered what his mother was going through, taking care of two teenagers was no easy task mind you.

Clay ate some bread, dropped off 50 Cits at the table, and went outside bringing his makeshift stand with him.

Clay stood outside for 2 minutes before someone walked up to him asking if she could use his map. Of course, Clay happily said yes, thinking that his works had already spread through the town.

Clay got a total of 320 Cits today, a bigger harvest compared to yesterday's earnings. Feeling that he had done enough work, Clay decided to take a well-deserved lunch break consisting of chicken and beans before continuing the grind, in total he had collected 560 Cits including what he had earned today before and after his break.

And just like that, 5 days passed by.