It was early afternoon. She wished she could say it was a pleasant day to relax and just take in the sights and smells of nature, drinking a warm glass of tea while listening to birds chirping and the rustling of the early Autumn leaves billowing in the wind. Unfortunately, that kind of life didn't put food on the table. Especially when she had other mouths to feed. That wasn't to say she regretted her choice to settle down and start a family. No, that was the one choice she made in her life that she could say with complete confidence, she would never regret.

  Julia sighed as she pushed through the crowd, holding tight to her precious few coins. The streets were bustling with people, and the air was thick with the smell of filth, body odor, and desperation. The sounds of excited chatter, haggling, and the usual petty arguments filled the streets. Bodies were lined up and down the road, jostling bystanders and trampling feet as they raced along, running whatever errands needed doing. Beggars could be seen panhandling on the street corners or resting, huddled beneath ragged cloaks in shadowed alleyways. Sharp eyes could almost be felt, scanning anybody who made the grave blunder of standing out too much. One needed to learn quickly to keep their head down in these parts, lest they offer themselves up as a mark. Trash, rotten foods, shreds of stained and soiled cloth, and countless other filths made up the majority of the ground she stepped on as she rushed ahead. She made an effort to not think about the fluids that stuck to the soles of her shoes.

  There wasn't any prize money for guessing this wasn't the wealthy side of town.

  Julia had grown up here in Saltbrook. From her earliest memories, these southern thoroughfares had always been her home, whether she liked it or not. As a girl, she had dreamed of seeing the world and traveling the great cities. Or even just exploring the fancier parts of her own city. But money was something that just never seemed to stick around her family's pockets. It was a constant struggle to keep the cupboards from being bare. And she had to admit, it was hard to not let it get to her sometimes.

  Despite all of the negatives, there were some things she really did love about this place. The people here had a certain tenacity and stubbornness to survive that she couldn't help but admire. Her husband, Steven, had that quality in him. It was that inner strength despite all the world against them that made her fall for him in the end. When you didn't have much to call your own, you gained a new appreciation for the bits that couldn't be taken away. That was your rock in the storm. You held on to your true self, no matter what the world threw at you. When life got hard, you kept your head down and took your punches, then made sure to make tomorrow a better day. That was the motto she lived by.

  She felt a light brush against her side as another person bumped into her. She tensed at that moment, her hand darting to clutch the coin pouch on her hip, her body shifting to block any easy access to it. It was an all too common occurrence. The figure caught the sudden movement and slipped away before she could catch a glance.

  She felt at her pouch. Her decoy pouch, anyway. As expected, it had a small slit at the bottom where the perpetrator had tried to rob her, only finding a handful of pebbles for their effort. She turned her attention towards her actual coin purse, careful not to look in that area and give away its location. It was tucked away in her cloak, belted to her inner thigh. She ducked out of the crowd, using a small alleyway to count her remaining money. She was careful not to count her savings directly. Instead, she ran her fingers over the coins, counting them in her head. She kept her cloak pulled taut against her, concealing her hands. Four delwin standard coins, and twelve delwinbits. Everything was still there. She let out a sigh of relief and took off down another alley, just in case she still had any eyes on her. Seven random twists and turns later, she reemerged back into the market at a different location, confident she was safe.

  She wandered the rows of stalls and carts hawking off goods to anyone who walked by. Eventually, she found a stall for monster meat. The exact creature it came from was not listed, nor did the meat look particularly fresh. It still seemed edible enough, so she approached.

  "Excuse me, how much per kilo?" She asked the vendor.

  "Two delwin." The vendor grunted, looking at her with tired eyes.

  She winced at the price, but she already knew it was still cheaper than anything else in the area. "And, um, may I ask what type of meat it is?" she asked sheepishly, already suspecting the answer.

  The vendor gave her a flat look. "What's it matter? It's good meat. It's all butchered and ready to cook. You're getting a good deal."

  "Of course," Julia replied. She hesitated, but the weight of her purse told her she didn't have much of a choice. "Alright. I'll take one kilo please." She handed over two of her precious few coins.

  "Thanks." The vendor replied, giving a curt nod as they handed over the mystery meat, wrapped in a piece of waxed cloth. Julia quickly tucked it away in her backpack and moved on. The vendor had already moved on to their next customer, promptly forgetting her existence before she even left the counter.

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  It was far more money than she would normally spend on a meal, but they were expecting guests over, so it couldn't be helped. Although, the rest of the week might be a bit tight.

  She was still looking for work, with little success. She had applied to dozens of jobs over the past month, but heard almost nothing back, no matter what she tried. However, if her luck held out, that might change very soon. But she didn't let herself linger on the topic.

  She didn't linger. Instead, she moved on to another vendor, this one selling vegetables. While the vendor tried to convince her of the quality of the stock, she couldn't help but think the plants were looking a bit withered and dry. Vegetables were a bit more affordable due to the ample farmland that surrounded the city, so she was able to haggle the price to something she thought was reasonable.

  "Fine, 35 bits and you get the whole lot," the vegetable vendor said with an exasperated sigh. Julia was happy she was able to get some potatoes and carrots. The onions were a bit pricey, so she had to skip those. She also found some turnips, which weren't her favorite but she could make them work.

  She handed over her final two delwin. The man pocketed the first coin before holding the second delwin coin between the thumb and index finger of each hand. He snapped the coin in half and the metal fell apart. The delwin was a magical metal with few practical properties. But it was an engineered metal alloy, created for the sole purpose of acting as a currency. And it did that job very well. When the metal coin fractured, the metal bits fell, pulling themselves into exactly twenty identically sized and shaped spheroids. Or, twenty delwinbits, the exact value of one delwin standard.

  He swiped fifteen of the bits off the table, leaving her to collect the remaining five and her haul of veggies by herself.

  Delwin was a dull brown color that had an unnatural greenish-gold glint. It was a very soft metal and incredibly light to carry. Almost weightless. It was easy to break a coin down into delwinbits for smaller purchases, and twenty delwinbits placed in the same place would pull together into a single coin for easier carry. The coins, named after the metal they were formed from, had been the standard currency across the fractured worlds for countless millennia.

  Julia didn't know the specifics, but it was a lot more useful than some of the other types of metals fools attempted to use in the past. Like gold. Why gold? It was far too heavy to carry in bulk, and its rarity meant its value was too high to be useful for everyday purchases. That just meant juggling more types of coins and having to exchange between them during every purchase. Want to buy a few potatoes, but only have a gold coin on you? Well, that vendor sure as hell doesn't have the change to break a gold coin, so you're just out of luck.

  Just as Julia began to turn away from the stall, two men who had been quietly arguing over food prices a moment ago had erupted into a full-blown fight. A crowd of onlookers was forming, watching the fight as if the morning's entertainment had just shown up. She made the wise decision of slipping away, not wanting to have to deal with whatever that mess was. She couldn't make out the details of their yelling match, but the gist seemed to be the customer wanted a discount because his business had gone under the past months. The vendor clearly had no intention of giving the man any charity over his failing business and the customer took offense. The woman scurried down the road before the conflict escalated too much.

  With dinner secured and her coins nearly all spent, she headed home. The family was having guests over, so she was forced to spend a bit more on food than she was hoping, but it couldn't be helped. She hoped they didn't mind too much that the stew would be unseasoned.

  She turned down an alley, moving into a part of town she was very familiar with. The roads were narrower here, and the buildings were more old and decrepit this far away from the market streets. There were broken windows, and trash was strewn about. The smell of waste was strong here.

  A man sat huddled against one of the walls, bones showing through his skin. His clothing had more holes than actual material and hung loosely from his skeletal figure. He was muttering softly to himself, but she couldn't make out the words. Julia grimaced, feeling a pang of pity for the poor man. As she walked by, the beggar lifted his head and looked at her, eyes wide with desperation. "Spare a bit of change?" He asked in a weak voice, his tone pleading. He weakly raised a palm, even that simple motion seeming to cost him great effort. The extended hand shook from the strain. "Please, miss."

  Julia stopped, hesitating. She knew that she really couldn't afford to spare even a single delwinbit, with her being nearly out of money herself. Seventeen delwinbits. That was all the spare change her family had left at the moment. She bit her lip and looked away, conflicted. She still hadn't managed to find a job, despite applying everywhere she could. Her husband, even working as many hours as they would let him, still only pulled in just enough to keep their head above water, if only barely.

  But she didn't want to see a man starve to death. She pulled out seven bits. A small sum, but it might get him two of three meals if he shopped sparingly. She dropped the metallic spheres into his open palm. He looked down at the change, a brief flicker of surprise crossing his face, before a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Bless you, miss." He said softly. She returned his smile and pulled off her bag.

  "Here. You'll need your strength if you plan on using those." She said, placing a couple of the carrots she had just bought into his hands. He nodded his thanks, his eyes glinting with a touch of gratitude. The beggar didn't say anything, but Julia could tell that the small act of kindness had meant a lot to him. She quickly moved on, leaving the man to his small meal.

  A short time later, she reached a familiar door and quickly stepped inside. Home at last.