I logged in for the third time. 

As a result of yesterday's training at the training center, I now have 6 in 【hand to hand】and 4 in 【spirit magic】. At any rate, I should be able to fight monsters outside with ease now. I have to play solo because my style of play is what it is and since I am a working person, there will be times when I can't log in due to work. So I have to do most things on my own. I don't mean to disparage player interaction, though.

Well, today's plan is to procure equipment. I hear that most players get that done on their first day of logging in, and then they are on their way to the field. Considering that, I know I'm a very slow starter.

I buy the usual Tiokris chickens and look for a store while eating them. The things I want to buy are weapons and tools.

Players have initial equipment. It comprises three initial pieces of cloth clothing, pants, and leather shoes, which are given upon logging in. Clothes, of course, have no protective effect. They are only intended to ensure the minimum necessary appearance.

And weapons for combat skills. I chose [Hand-To-Hand] and would have no weapons, or so I thought. But in fact, I did have a weapon. When I opened the item menu, I found a cestus. I looked for it and found it in my pants pocket.

A cestus is a type of knuckle duster, which might be more commonly referred to as a kaiser knuckle or a merikensack. It is a type of weapon that is worn on the fist.

And the cestus, as I recall, is a kind of leather bandage used by Roman fist fighters. The one I have in front of me certainly looks like a leather belt, and it has studs in it, so I suppose it protects the fist and strengthens the blows. But what do you mean by "one side"? Normally, a weapon like this would have to be equipped on both hands. And even if it is the initial equipment, it has only one attack power correction, which is not good enough.

That's why we have weapons and armor first. But I also have a problem. I had spent a lot of money on the first food walk. And yesterday, I spent 170 pedia on Tiokris chickens and the use of the training center. The initial amount I had was 10,000 pedia and the current amount I have is 7020 pedia ...... by simple calculation. That means I have spent about $30,000. Just for food. And in two days or a few hours, if you convert it to hours.

No, no, I didn't have a choice. In my defense, in this game, there are hunger and thirst levels for the characters. It is a parameter that shows hunger and thirst, and when it is maxed out, it causes all kinds of problems. So players will need to eat and drink in this world. That's fine.

　But the problem is that even if your hunger and thirst levels go to zero, you will not have a full belly. In other words, you can keep eating as much as you want. If this were real life, you would be full and feel satisfied, but in the game, you may have some satisfaction, but you will not feel full. In other words, you can eat as much as you want. ......

The result is my current balance. No, I'm sorry I didn't weigh in.

Anyway, I have to get a lot of things in order with the rest of my money. At the very least, I need weapons for both hands and armor for my upper body. And recovery medicine.

I came to the street of weapons. As the name suggests, it is lined with stores that would have weapons and armor. Naturally, many players come here to shop. And, with so many shops, you know....

「I have no idea where to go ......」

If there would be only one weapon shop or tool shop in town, like in computer RPGs, I wouldn't even have to worry about it, but with so many, the prices, quality, and selection would be a thousand times different. I honestly doubt that you could hit the jackpot in such a situation.

Somehow, though, I have the feeling that NPC stores are more stable. Instead, they don’t seem to have any sharp edges. The player’s store, on the other hand, seems to deal with high-quality products, although they have their own quirks.

And my hunch was right. While using my 【Farsightedness】 skill, I walked around the store and checked the prices of the items in the store and on the shelves, and that's exactly what I did. But.

「No. .......」

First, no store has weapons for 【Hand To Hand】. Some stores had cestus, but that was it.

And the armor was expensive. A quick look at the soft leather armor alone showed that the minimum cost started around 2500 pedia. Since I am a vanguard, I don't want armor that is too fragile. If possible, I want at least hard leather armor, but even so, it starts at around 5,000 pedia. And this is the price for just the torso. It would be a bit much if I wanted to buy a complete set.

If I buy this, I only have 2,000 pedia left. How much can I spend on weapons, considering that I have to buy consumables and tools?

「......In the meantime, I can use magic, too. ......I should give priority to armor and build my attacks around magic. ......」

With this in mind, I proceed in the opposite direction along the armory street that I once passed through. I look around the stores again, wondering if there are any bargains to be had anywhere.

「N...... what's that?」

It was a certain stall. It seemed to be an arms stall, with several weapons on display. I had missed it because I had already seen some stores.

I approached to check out the goods. The price is rather expensive, but the quality seems to be good.

「Welcome, what can I get for you?」

The man who owns the stall looks up at me. He looks about 30 years old. He has short black hair mixed with silver. His dark eyes are sharp, but not swarthy.

「Do you have any weapons for Hand-to-Hand?」

「Hand-To-Hand?　That's unusual. Besides, you're still in your initial gear.」

「Yes, I just started two days ago, and I had been checking out the city until yesterday. More importantly, it's amazing that you too have a stall in a place like this.」

Is he a player if he says "initial equipment" the way he says it?

I answer the man and say what I was thinking, too. In a place with a high concentration of stores dealing in armaments, this is a stall I didn't expect. I think he has some nerve in a way.

But the man smiles bitterly and says

「Yeah, we're actually in the middle of setting up the store.」

He pointed behind him. If you follow it, you will see a building that is currently being renovated. People who looked like craftsmen were working inside.

「I was bored doing nothing until it was finished. So, I opened a stall in front of the store. It's also a way to advertise.」

The man took out a sheet of paper and handed it to me.

「I am Leias, the blacksmith. I specialize in metal weapons and armor.」

The paper handed to me was the size of a business card, and its contents were exactly like a business card. It reads, 『Leias Workshops.』

「So, you said Hand-To-Hand weapons. Unfortunately, we don't have any of those weapons, but we do have ......」

As he says this, Mr. Leias offers me something he took out of a box on his side.

「Gauntlets?」

It was a pair of gauntlets. They were a combination of metal and leather, with the fingers covered to the second joint, but without thumb protection. The arms also had metal parts only on the front side. The construction is simple and unadorned, with a belt through the fingers and two arm parts. I think the material is iron. The base is made of――

「I think the base is Wolf's leather.」

「What, are you in the same business?」

「No, I have animal knowledge, so that probably helped.」

I answer Mr. Leias' question. I can think of no other reason why information about the material was displayed. Mr. Leias seemed convinced.

「But how did you know we weren't in the same line of work?」

「 So, for example, if a player, for the first time in the field, kills an animal of unknown name, which is obviously a wolf, and gets its skin, what is the meat and skin, the items available? I think it will show up on the display. Exactly like that, unless you get the item after it's appraised. It will reflect that and give you the name of the animal.」

So you thought I had skills in that line of work, having discovered the identity of the material. But.

「I think that would mean that once someone has killed the Wolf and got the Wolfskin, they would know it when they saw it, right?」

「Once the hide is turned into processed leather material, it is treated as a separate item. Unless, if you had seen the place where it's processed, of course.」

「I think it's kind of complicated ......」

For example, if I get the Wolfskin first with an explanation, does that mean I don't know the identity of the living Wolf or the identity of the skin that the Wolf dropped? It would not be a series of information unless the point can be reliably related. What a hassle.

Anyway, it is possible to appraise materials if you have the relevant skills. For leather materials, I think it would normally be a Leather-working skill. For ores, it would be blacksmithing, and for medicinal herbs, it would be pharmacology, and so on. Come to think of it, there are also skills like gathering and mining. I think that was a skill that would be compensated for the number of plants and ores collected. I think that would also include knowledge of materials.

But if I think about it that way, is animal knowledge quite versatile? Even though it was a simple dish, I knew the original animal when I saw it, and I knew the original animal when I saw the animal-based material after processing. After that, it would be perfect if I could know the details just by hearing the name.

It can be said that skilled people are privileged in this area. Well, it is not impossible to rely on the information on the bulletin board.

If looking is important, then maybe some compensation could be made by looking at and memorizing things like illustrated books. Come to think of it, there should be a library. I could try to study it.

Well, let's get back to the story. This is armor for the arms, but it is also useful enough to protect the fists. If you only look at the offensive power, it is probably a little better than the cestus on the market. I've never heard of anyone making weapons for Hand-To-Hand or Footwork; some people made their weapons themselves when they were in Beta, but they never put them up for sale.

A sigh escaped me when Mr. Leias said, “I knew it”. Well, originally, as the saying goes, “Speak with your fists,” perhaps there is the idea that it is tactless to wear a weapon there. Whether you are a martial arts player or a weapons craftsman.

While I was thinking about this, Mr. Leias asked me a question.

「Do you know the common arts of combat skills?」

「Magic Strike, was it?」

As the name implies, 【Magic Strike】is the first art that delivers a powerful strike imbued with magic power. It is an art that exists in basically every combat skill, and I hear that even flying weapons such as bows are no exception.

「Oh. This magic strike is a little special. The effects of Hand-To-Hand and Footwork last for a certain period of time. But it is less powerful than the magic strikes of other weapon systems.」

That was new to me. Does that mean that the situation would be no different from creating a pseudo-weapon with magical power? The price to pay for this is a decrease in power.

In addition, it is a fact that Hand-To-Hand weapons that are attached to the fingers or clenched in the hand are not respected because they can get in the way when grabbing or grappling with an opponent in close quarters. Therefore, many of them wore gloves or baskets, but only a few of them had Hand-To-Hand weapons.

Separate skills exist for throwing and joint skills, but if you don't care about striking, it would be an advantage to not have your fingers crippled.

Unless the management comes up with a unique weapon for Hand-To-Hand, I'm thinking that baskets and gloves would suffice. Then, we have to talk about the price.

「How much, sir?」

「It's a practice product. I don't intend to put them on the store shelves. How about a special price of 1 or 2 thousand for a pair?」

After deducting the money from my possessions, I have 5,000 left. I guess that's reasonable since I need to buy other supplies.

「If you are going to do your acclimatization near the town, soft leather should be enough. Then you can afford to buy potions, etc., even if you only need to protect your torso.」

Since it was good advice, I bought it. I pay the price and equip it. It is not as heavy as I thought it would be. I fired my fist into the sky a few times to check my senses, but there seemed to be no problem.

「If you find any ore or other materials, you can bring them in. If it is good, I will buy it from you. I can also take orders for armor, so come back again if you like.」

「Thank you, you've been a great help.」

I thank Mr. Leias and leave. Now, on to the armor.

As a result, armor was purchased: soft leather body armor and boots. I left the other armor on the table.

The rest are potions for recovery, some bread, and a water bag for drinking water. And a portable cooking set and an adventurer's kit.

The Adventures kit is not an item as such, but a set of tools promised in a TRPG. A blanket, torch, firebox, knife, and rope packed in a leather backpack. I don't know if I'll need it for this game, but I bought it on the spur of the moment. On reflection, I don't regret it.

My money was almost gone. The rest of the time, I will fight hard, earn well, and improve my equipment.

Now, finally, I am ready to go outside. So I headed straight outside.

Here in Einfast, surrounded by walls, there is one gate each on the east, west, south, and north sides. You can go out through any of them, but players seem to decide which direction to go depending on their objectives. From what I have heard briefly, the mountainous area is to the north, the plains to the south, the forests to the west, and the marshlands to the east. There are some small villages scattered here and there, but they are not likely to get involved at this point.

As for enemies, most of them are animals in the town's vicinity, and those that could be called monsters are said to be found only at a considerable distance from the town. Well, it is not safe if there are a lot of monsters near the town. But that's a realistic viewpoint.

Now, thinking about where to go, I think that the forest would be a better place to get food. I think little about the strength of the enemy MOBs. I have the skill 【Farsightedness】, so if I see something dangerous, I can just run away.

As I approach the west gate, the buildings become sparser and sparser. Vacant lots stand out. And there is a sign with a price and contact information. It looks like land for sale. Since I can't afford it right now, I keep it as a reference for the future.

Eventually, I arrived at the west gate, where two gatekeepers were watching people coming and going. There were also soldiers on the ramparts, which seemed to guard the outside of the gate.

「Excuse me, do I need to go through any procedures to get out?」

I'm not sure, so I check to make sure.

「No, I need nothing in particular. The same goes for when you come back. However, the gates are closed at sunset. Be aware that the gates do not open until sunrise.」

It is said that there are many dangers at night. There are nocturnal animals, etc., and visibility is reduced, so it is easy to be caught by surprise. He politely told me that it would be safer to return to the city before sunset because you never know what might happen.

I thanked him and passed through the gate. In front of me was a spacious grassy field, or rather, a cleared square. A little further on, I could see wooden fences dotted around the walls of the castle.

「What is this?」

「It's an urban development area. Eventually, a lot of buildings will be constructed here. But first, that fence will have to become a wall.」

　The gatekeeper must have heard my muttering because he told me. So you mean space for urban expansion. This city is big enough at the moment, but it has the potential to get even bigger. The scale is huge.

　Well, I finally took the first step. What is waiting for me outside the city? I'm looking forward to it very much.

「I hope there will be lots of delicious food.」

Really, I think I'm looking forward to it.