BXBX NOVEL Chapter 336 335: Location
Kat PoV
Entering the bookstore that the merchant I had dealt with suggested, I looked around at the various shelves laden with leather bound books, each one adorned with some kind of symbol or writing along their spines.
Lounging in a chair behind the counter, an older woman flipped through book of her own, uncaring of the bell that clanged when I opened the door.
Her long gray hair was pulled into a tight bun, held in place by a gleaming silver pin, while her palish blue skin was spotted with small sparkles of silver.
Looking around the store, I frowned before approaching the counter, observing the woman for a moment longer before asking "Um, excuse me Ma\'am? Do you carry maps inside this store?"
She remained silent, flipping over another page as her silver eyes scanned the worn paper, letting out a low sigh as she placed her finger one of the words - likely to hold her place - before finally turning to stare at me.
A face filled with deep creases and wrinkles greeted me, while strands of her gray hair fell over her cheeks.
Thin blue lips were pursed as she tilted her head, narrowing those silver eyes at me as she spoke, her voice gravely and rough.
"Maps? Yes, I have maps for sale... Maps of the Rimelands, maps of Nevrokopi State, maps of the Cimmerian Mountains... Well? What kind of maps do you need, girl? You interrupted me when I was getting to the good part..."
Standing up, her knees popped slightly, and she let out a low groan as her jaw clenched, likely from aches and pains waiting for all of us in old age.
"Oh, sorry... Do you have world maps? Or at least maps of this continent? I need to get back somewhere, but... I don\'t exactly know where I am, nor where to go..."
"World maps you say? Those are expensive, girl. Can you afford it? If you can\'t, then I\'m not showing it to you; learnt that lesson long ago."
Frowning, I continued to stare at her for a few moments more before asking "Is 30 Gold good enough?"
I didn\'t want to ever give out the entirety of my wealth to anyone, since those 15 Golds could cause some troubles or an uptick in prices; a trick I picked up from bartering with the receptionist back in the Capital.
"30 Golds you say? Hmm..."
Staring at me, she wordlessly turned and began to shuffle towards one of the shelves, pulling out a few books to reveal a small case behind them.
Unlocking it with a key, she pulled out a furled up scroll and returned to the counter, placing it on the open space between us.
"Now, I do need to warn you that it isn\'t entirely accurate. I never had the tools to measure distances properly, nor did I explore every nook and cranny this world has to offer... some of it is also using other maps to fill in the blanks, so again... don\'t come crying to me for a refund if it isn\'t the most ideal map ever created, girl."
Her voice was dry as she stared at me, those silver eyes searching my face as I listened to her speak.
"Wait, you made this? You were an adventurer?"
eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ Grabbing my coin pouch, I counted out some coins as I stared back at her, waiting for Botha. price and an answer.
"I was. 25 Gold; it\'s not doing an old woman like me any good anymore... well past my prime now. What? Surprised to know that an old sack of bones like me used to adventure around?"
Shaking my head, I put down the coin for the map and watched as she slid them all into her hands, counting them out and inspecting each of them.
"No, it\'s just... I don\'t think just any adventurer would want to ink out their own map! Let alone one of the world! That\'s really cool Ma\'am!"
The old woman just stared at me as I reached for the map, continuing to count the coins as I unfurled it in front of her.
"Here\'s Nevrokopi State, and this is us, Polaris City. Understood? I\'m not teaching you anything else girl, so goodbye, and thanks for the coin."
Putting the Gold in a pouch of her own, the older woman moved away and sat back down, picking up her book and going back to reading.
Smiling slightly at her helpful, yet also annoyed tone, I turned down towards the map and studied it, taking advantage of the silent store to gather my thoughts.
The Labyrinthian is situated directly in the middle of the continent, and it\'s large; like, really, really large.
Considering that the Empire was roughly in the thousands of miles across, and even that was dwarfed by the Labyrinthian below it...
Yeah, this world is huge.
So, taking the size of the Empire and using that as a measuring device, I found the spot that the old woman had pointed out and frowned, my heart dropping slightly.
The Empire was pretty much the northern most section of the continent, while the very tip of the Nevrokopi State was in the middle of the eastern most section of the continent.
What did that mean?
I had to travel a probably around twenty-five thousand miles straight north to reach a place called \'Wekalian Steppes\' before heading ten thousand miles east to reach the Sultanate, where I could consider myself \'safe\' as long as I made contact with the Sultana.
In all, we\'re talking tens of thousands of miles traveled to reach home, and that\'s if I am lucky enough to have a road to follow for a straight journey; who knows how many ups and downs there are from here to the Steppes...
Now, that number was definitely daunting; in the moment that I measured everything out, my heart dropped and filled with dread.
It would take YEARS to traverse that distance!
On foot, and at a slow and steady pace that humans were capable of...
Tapping my finger against the counter, I pushed the thought of time out of mind for a moment, instead focusing on what advantages I had that a normal human wouldn\'t.
Sure, that distance was still mind bogglingly gigantic; I mean just this continent was likely the size of my old planet!
So how did that all work; gravity wise, I mean?
No idea, and who cares~!
Anyways, I was no longer a \'human\'; that\'s a fact, and that comes with various things I need to account for.
First, me being a Dogkin gave me much better stamina and endurance then when I was a human; I might not have been running marathons to give myself a comparison, but I knew that I was more physically fit then I used to be.
Second, magic.
That in and of itself means so, so much.
Now, I don\'t know what exactly my speed is utilizing magics, but I do know that I am roughly two or three times faster when I use Wind Enhancing spells on my legs.
My regeneration of mana is equivalent to the atmosphere around me, and as I scanned the map, there were only a few spots where I would find mana regeneration a nuisance; the large savannah next to the Wekalian Steppes, the Sultanate\'s desert, and the small patches of desert below the Steppes.
So I would need to get myself some potions for those areas to help expedite my regeneration.
Also, if speed enhancing potions exist inside the System Shop, I could buy those as well...
With that in mind, I could likely return home, on foot, faster than I would expect, but...
I could also look for things like horses or other ridable animals to help take me places even quicker; those animals would be more suited for traveling then a Dogkin, and if I gave them spells to enhance their physical traits as well, it would be even better.
Continuing to ponder my situation, I nodded to myself as I furled up the map and slid it into one of my packs, making sure it was safe and secure before nodding to the older woman.
"Thank you for everything, Ma\'am. Have a good day."
Bowing slightly to her, I left the shop and made my way back into the bustling trade city, deciding to look around for a bit longer for supplies I could use on my journey.
After all, it would be a long one...