Even at this early hour, the streets were busy. It seemed as though most of the people were heading to the north side of town, and based on their tools Trevor guessed that they were the ones cutting down the trees up river. He stepped aside and watched them as they passed. Not all of them wore cold weather clothes despite the brisk air, but their work would undoubtedly keep them warm.

Almost without realizing it, he ended up counting the humans again and got remarkably close to what he had seen on the bridge. Just a little over fifty percent were his kind, as opposed to yesterday’s forty. The rest were mostly dwarves and orcs, though there was a smattering of gnomes and kobolds here and there, and even one minotaur.

Trevor picked out Gad, the dwarf whose wife had given him the taco bread ball, and raised his hand to wave, but saw that he was deep in conversation with some of his coworkers. Putting his hand back down, the young man waited for the procession to clear. Gad probably didn’t want to get disturbed at work, anyway. Without thinking about it, he reached up and started petting Mr. Tiggles, who had taken to wrapping around his neck like a scarf.

“Purr,” the cat said.

The man bringing up the rear was an orc nearly as tall and wide as the minotaur near the front, and carried a very fine, though well worn, axe over his shoulder. He gave Trevor a curt nod and tusky grin as he passed by. Bowing on what was essentially socially polite reflex at this point, the orc gave him a slight one back before turning away and moving on.

It seemed as though the logging industry was quite large in Tosa. Once the mass exodus of lumberjacks had left, the remaining population was more like what Trevor expected this early on. People were scattered, but were often entering shops, restaurants, and what he assumed were offices to prepare for work. Peaceful and idyllic as it may be, all of that would go down the drain without people putting in the effort.

Retrieving the map from his inventory, he unfurled it and gave it a look through. Trevor already knew he was nearing the market place, and that would be around where Thimbleden’s Sundries would be. Yesterday he had been more interested in making it to the Hero House before deciding to see the river, and now he took the time to really look at the map in detail.

The tower he had been summoned to was labeled as Summoner’s Tower, and both it and the Hero House were prominently marked in English. This was no doubt so that anyone who just arrived would be able to find their way at a glance. Other places were listed as well, though not nearly as boldly.

Thimbleden’s Sundries was one of these, and nearby in the market district were Dory’s Potions & Alchemical Supplies, Grunder’s Superb Protection, Fine Steel, and Corrin’s Couture. While the first listing had a backpack next to its name, the others had a potion bottle, armor, sword, and clothing next to theirs, respectively.

There were a few places listed as restaurants near the river, but almost nothing was listed across it. Instead, the map indicated that this area was full of houses, the Mayor's office, and the Tosa School, which was one of the largest buildings in town. Seeing as the people here seemed open minded enough to try new things from other worlds, Trevor imagined the education system here had to be pretty progressive.

Before he knew it, the young man found himself back in the market district. As he expected, most of the people running the stalls here were still setting up. A few wagons had been parked nearby in the plaza. The drivers were nodding off while their lizard horses were fed and workers removed boxes. Absent-mindedly, Trevor wondered how far they must have come to get here.

A crash from the other side of the plaza caught his attention, and he heard disgruntled screams. Turning his attention towards the noise, he managed to make out two small creatures fleeing from a now broken wagon. One was flying on what looked like dragonfly wings while the other climbed up the side of the building with oversized hands.

The reptilian horses had been spooked, rearing up, but workers had grabbed their reins and were trying to get the animals under control. Taking a glance at Mr. Tiggles, the cat was watching where the noise came from with interest but didn’t seem scared in the slightest. Figuring he might be able to help, Trevor started heading that way.

As they got closer, it became apparent that the cargo this particular wagon had been carrying was now floating in the air. A solid block of marble taller and wider than Trevor himself was levitating at head height. The wagon under it had collapsed as if everything that had held it together disappeared all at once, and the walls that had once sheltered the stone had swirling patterns etched all over.

The human and orc moved away from the reptile horses and attempted to pull the stone closer to the ground with ropes. It resisted all their efforts, however; Trevor wasn’t even sure if it was moving. If it was, then it was at a pace a snail would have lapped.

“No, no, no! How could this happen! What did you two do?” A wrinkled gnome with flamboyant pink hair stepped out of the shop labeled Thimbleden’s Sundries that the wagon had been parked at. He wore thick glasses that made his eyes seem twice as big along with fine, albeit dusty, clothes.

At first, Trevor wasn’t sure whether to take him seriously as the man was a third his size, but discarded that thought almost immediately. He may have been short, but he was also clearly in charge.

“Wasn’t us, boss!” the human protested.

“Yeah, it was those gremlins that were mucking things up in town,” the orc said. “We didn’t even have time to stop them.”

The gnome grumbled as he squinted up at the gravity-resistant marble. “Oh, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. Drelik was expecting his Floatstone this morning. I knew I should have sent you both straight there! Torlock, start picking up the pieces. Can’t have people stumbling over wagon parts on their way to the shop. Billan, take the wracors to the stable and fetch the wainwright. The sooner we can get this back in one piece, the sooner we can make the delivery.”

Trevor had stopped a fair distance away and watched the exchange. The human took the reptile horses, wracors if context clues were right, and started leading them away. Left behind, the orc started taking the different pieces of wood aside and setting them off of the road. To his surprise, the gnome helped with this, though he didn’t grab any pieces too large. He seemed to struggle with the manual labor.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Without really thinking about it, Trevor started walking towards the mess. Mr. Tiggles jumped off to go and flop on one of the larger boards Torlock had already moved.

“Good morning,” Trevor greeted. “I can assist, if you’d like.”

Torlock gave him a look, but continued working. The gnome paused to give him an assessing look, squinting through his thick glasses. “If you’re willing and able, stranger, then please do. But!” he pointed at the stone. “Be careful of the Floatstone. We are to deliver it in pristine condition. No scratches, no chips, perfect.”

“Of course, sir,” Trevor said before bowing. “I’m Trevor, by the way.”

“I am Thimbleden, I run this establishment, and this is Torlock,” the gnome replied, bowing as the orc did the same.

With introductions out of the way, Trevor got to work by grabbing a wheel in each hand. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is going on here?”

“Gremlins,” the orc said. “Been causing trouble all over town.”

“Yes, this was done by a fey curse,” Thimbleden concurred. “Removed all of the metal from the wagon. While the mischief makers have yet to hurt someone, they have been wreaking havoc for the past few days. It’s only a matter of time before something goes terribly wrong.”

Trevor nodded as he returned for more. It felt good to be helpful. “And what about the Floatstone?” he asked, gesturing towards it. “Never seen levitating rocks before. Well, not without magnets.”

“It’s a rare stone that can only be found in the lands far to the north,” Thimbleden explained. “It’s highly sought after by nobles and sculptors, which makes it worth a lot of money. They are incredibly resistant to being moved, unless, of course, you have the proper enchantments set up on at least five sides at exactly the right distance.”

“That’s these here,” Torlock said as he picked up one of the white walls. He went to put it aside only to stop upon seeing Mr. Tiggles laying in his path. He paused before deciding to rest the debris somewhere else.

“Yes, this magic was only discovered some fifty odd years ago. There’s no easy way to move it without these walls,” the gnome said with a sigh. “Go ahead and give it a try, if you like. It’s not like it’s going anywhere, anyway.”

Trevor moved the last of the wheels aside before standing next to the Floatstone. It was hovering level with his head, and he reached up to push it. The marble was cool to the touch, which made sense given the weather, and resisted his efforts. He put both hands on it and dug his feet into the cobbled stone streets to push with all his might.

“Looks like he got it to move an inch,” Torlock said, amused. “Strong kid. Too bad it also got pushed further from the ground.”

While Trevor had felt it move just a little bit, he knew it was barely anything to be proud of. Even still, he marveled at the levitating rock in front of him. This was the kind of thing that he would never have been able to witness if he hadn’t been summoned here.

No, this was something that so many people would never know about. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

“Yes, that’s the issue with Floatstone,” the gnome said, misreading the look on the young man’s face. “And it also means that wagons will have to go around it. Not ideal. Not ideal at all.”

Trevor stopped pushing, but left a hand on the rock. It seemed like this thing was going to cause trouble for everyone. The one who ordered it, the people on the street, and Thimbleden himself. He looked down at the gnome.

“You’re a Quest Giver, right?” he asked. Thimbleden looked surprised, but nodded. “Could delivering this be considered a quest?”

“Why, yes,” the gnome said, though he barked a laugh. “Summoned or not, however, I won’t send you on a fool’s errand that will take you days of effort. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours before the wagon is repaired.”

“But, if I can take it, could it be considered a quest?” Trevor asked again.

Thimbleden regarded the young man curiously before giving him a slow nod. Returning the nod with vigor, Trevor looked at the Floatstone and attempted to pull it into his inventory.

It didn’t work.

However, it didn’t feel as though it wouldn’t work, and that made all the difference in the world.

It seemed to Trevor that his space simply wasn’t big enough for it. The Power was eager and willing, just unable to do as requested. The young man frowned before speaking again.

“Status screen, please.”

[[Trevor Anderson

Human

Level 2

Banked Points: 4

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 1

Stamina: 1

Magic: 1

Mana: 1

Speed: 1

Specialty Stats

Capacity: 1

Power: Inventory

Skills: Quick Growth (Human), Dimensional Storage (Inventory)]]

The frown turned into a grin as he was reminded of his specialty stat that came from the Power of Inventory: Capacity. Surely, this had to be exactly as it said on the tin, right?

“Please spend one of my banked points on Capacity,” he said aloud.

[[Stat increase complete. Capacity is now 2. You still have three (3) banked points remaining to be used at your leisure.]]

The Quest Master may have told him that his capacity had increased, but even if he hadn’t then Trevor would have known. He could feel the space attached to his mind grow, expanding to a considerable size. The fact that he didn’t know exactly how much he could store in his inventory wasn’t lost on him, but he felt like taking in the Floatstone would now be possible.

Having never taken his hand off of it to begin with, he attempted to pull it in. This time, it worked, and he threw his hands into the air in triumph as the marble disappeared. His inventory felt full, but it had been successful.

“What happened to the Floatstone?” Thimbleden asked, panic lacing his voice. “Where did it go?”

Raising his other hand, Trevor made sure to check that no one was there before summoning the stone next to him. “I’m something of an inventory…man…” he started, but switched gears when he realized that wasn’t a thing anywhere. “I, uh, I have the Power of Inventory. I had to increase my Capacity stat, but I could store it in my little pocket dimension and take it to where it needs to go.”

“Yes, yes, young man!” Thimbleden exclaimed. “We can make it a quest!”

Trevor had to stop himself from celebrating, and instead went with a self-satisfied smile instead.