Xane woke up a bit later, his body still aching. His health might have been topped off but his body felt like he had just run a marathon and then let an entire football team take turns ramming into him. His muscles hurt, his skin had shadow pains from all the cuts and bruises as he went over the previous flight from danger. Xane first looked over his notifications.
Congratulations! You have gained a new Feat.
Paracausal Scare: Fight something far beyond your capability and survive to tell the tale.
+1 to any stat of your choice.
What did you expect, not like you killed it or really even hurt it.
Godly Imbuement 2: You have “willingly” imbued yourself with a godly body part.
+10 to intelligence and wisdom.
+5% to all stats.
Overwhelming power: Your body can’t handle such overwhelming power building inside you. In order to remove Overwhelming Power, become stronger.
Brittle: Due to overwhelming powers surging through you your body needs to take more time to heal injuries and takes them more easily. As well as a reduced gain in experience.
+15% to all damage taken.
-15% to natural healing.
-15% to all experience gained.
Xane, not wanting to waste the opportunity, put the free point into luck since he couldn’t do so normally. The negatives of overwhelming power were insane. But nothing he could do now about it.
Looking around he saw Von sleeping on the ground with only a few leaves as support. Of course they were on the ground. Xane had passed out with all the supplies on him. Need another one of these rings. He thought looking at the gemmed ornate ring.
“Good Morning…well it's now night but who cares. And well the likelihood of that is quite low. Those are really rare, you know? So how was your nap?”
Xane was startled by this as he spun around looking around. His brain hadn’t fully turned on yet. And as it did he remembered the voice in his head. Ignoring the question Xane asked his own. Who the hell are you and how do I get you out of my mind?
“Well that’s a rude way of saying hello. And to answer your rude question the only way to do so is to find my body of course. Once you do so you just put my brain back inside and I'll transfer back over. Simple.”
None of that sounded simple to Xane. If it was anything like what he had just went through then it was going to be a challenge that he didn't know if he wanted to do. “Oh and my name is Lyenn I’m the goddess of the ocean and hidden depths. Well at least I used to be. That's a long story.”
Xane calmed himself down. Explain please.
“Fine but as I said it’s going to take a bit to do so.” Xane wanted to do the ‘go on’ motion but since she was in his mind it wouldn’t make sense and he felt dumb just thinking about it. “Well as I said I’m a god. About 60 years ago I was betrayed by a ally of mine. His name was Quintin Glowdew. I’ve only really been a god for 300 years which isn’t really long-”
“What do you mean by only 300 years?” Xane said out loud this time. He quickly looked over at Von how didn’t stur.
“Ahh yes you aren’t from here. Well gods either die, retire, if the god ascends beyond or are usurped all the time. God hood is just another level of power really. I took over from my biological father who was the god of the ocean before me. He was Urbain, he ruled for over 6000 years until he retired. That is really off topic. About 60 years ago me and Quintin were trying to root out an evil that was infecting my waters. My father thought he had killed it eons ago. That evil is the one that was trying to consume my mind and tried to kill you. I managed to trap him mostly in another realm but he seems to be getting out.” Xane pondered on this information. Why should he believe her. It made sense and she did sound less evil than something made of shadows.
“During our last fight I was wounded by a nasty bit of magic. That is when Quintin used something on me. I don’t know what it was but it removed my godly powers from my body. I was mortal again for mere moments and he used that time to disassemble me. I don't’ know why he did it. All I know is that pieces of me were scattered. You first found my eye. And then I-”
Yeah about that. What happens when we find your body? Do you take back your eye? Do I get mine back? Xane was concerned about this. Weirdly more about the loss in stats than anything else.
“Well yeah thats a tricky subject. You see unless you die or I- OR anyone really, just pulls it out then its apart of you. Taking it out will most likely kill you at this point as well. I had to uhmm take a risk in that regard.”
What about your brain then or mind? Xane asked confused by it all.
“That is different. While the eye melded with you. I’m more like a symbiote right now. I feed off some of your mana and just live in here really. The only reason this is possible is your exotic ability perfect memory without the process well…lets just be happy you have that. I made myself part of your memory storage. I’ll be able to move out once we find my body.”
Symbiote was a weird word. Wait you are feeding off my mana? The realization of what she said shocked him.
“Ohh really didn’t mean to say that one. But yeah about a quarter of your mana regen goes to me. But! You are getting another feat for having a gods body part right. It evens it out with the massive boost to wisdom you are getting.”
And the whole overwhelming power thing doesn’t sound good though. Xane was starting to get a bit miffed.
“Well ok that one is bad but if you reach level 25 it should go down to 5%.” She truly did sound sorry about it but with a hint of desperation.
Fine. Just continue your story. When I feel better we are going to move out. I want to go back to the first island I was on for more supplies.
“About that you won’t be able to find that again.”
At this point Xane wasn’t angry or confused. And why would that be?
“Well because that ‘island’ is really just a GIANT sea turtle and it moves…a lot. As well I put a spell on it near the beginning of my godhood that makes it hard to find. Sorry. I made you land there but with my powers dwindling I won't be able to find her again. Also her name is Twila and she is a sweetheart.” Xane blinked a few times. He was too busy trying to survive he never noticed. “You probably wouldn’t have been able to notice that anyway. I’m astonished that a wizard found her and built that weird tower there.”
“Back on track though Quintin or I..I don't remember, scattered my pieces about. And we need to find them. I can sense how many there are and we only need 3 more. My body, my heart and other eye.”
Why- before he could finish a new notification appeared.
New Quest:
Pieces of a God:
You have been tasked to find the missing pieces of the God Lyenn the Goddess of the Ocean and Hidden Depths. You have recovered 2 of the 5 pieces.
Find the Body of Lyenn: Uncompleted
Find the Brain of Lyenn: Completed
Find the Heart of Lyenn:Uncompleted
Find the Left Eye of Lyenn:Uncompleted
Find the Right Eye of Lyenn: Completed
Reward:
Experience
???
A quest? He thought. Guess it is par for the course at this point.
“Oh you finally got that? I would have assumed that you would have gotten it back when I first sent you that dream. Averinth works in weird ways.”
Who is Averinth? I thought the world was called Averinth.
“Yes and no. Averinth is the one in charge of the system. Think of him as the god of gods. Well he really keeps to himself nowadays. He has his systemlings to deal with most of the day to day stuff.”
Systemlings?
“Yeah they are the ones who control all the notifications you receive. They have grown to have their own personalities over time. Have you noticed that they change in tone or way of speaking? If you turn on text to speech you will see a major difference.”
Xane was having more and more questions. And Lyenn seemed content to answer. Wait, can I have it read to me instead?
“Of course. How do you think people who can’t read understand the notifications? You can also just have it absorbed into your mind but I’ve also hated that way.”
Xane hadn’t thought about that. He had assumed it would just translate or whatever. Which brought another question.
Wait, how are we talking to each other? When I tried to talk to Yug she couldn’t understand me and vice versa.
“Wait you talked to Yug. You didn’t make a deal right.” She seemed panicked.
Well I was kinda forced too. She threa-
“She tricked you.” She audibly calmed down. Which felt weird in Xanes mind. “I cursed her in my early years to never harm a living soul. Apparently I wasn’t accurate enough and she found a loophole where she made a deal with the creature. If they accept the pain it isn’t harming them or some nonsense. That is why I hated politics and family dinners.” She cringed in his mind which made Xane cringe from the feeling. “What deal did you make. I’ll be honest I can see some of your stuff but only if you are thinking about it. And to answer your question I have a skill called Linguist at max rank allowing me to understand any language with only a few words from it.”
Xane was already in it so he went full in and let her have full access to his character sheet. “Holy me. Your stats are bloated. I didn’t know you had so many feats and great ones in fact. Also you were lucky with your encounter with Yug her actually giving you a good boon is rare. She usually only doles out +1 stat boons and maybe training in mind manipulation for most of one's memories. Not worth it. And yikes 15% damage taken increase…please be careful there are two of us in here now.”
That brings up the question: what happens if I die?
“I’m not sure. This is new territory for me.” Weirdly Xane got the smallest hint of a lie. But he couldn’t tell if that was his own distrust or not.
So what do you mean as bloated that sounds bad to me.
“Well it really isn’t all bad. Higher stats means you are stronger than someone of a similar level without increased stats. Which I will add doesn’t mean your are a god to them they can and will kill you if you don’t really try. However, being stronger comes with a cost. I’m going to assume you have no idea what experience truly is.” She paused for a moment thinking.
“Well it is condensed mana mixed with one's memories, experiences, hardened by will power and strength. As to say no one really knows. But when you kill something you take into yourself parts of that beings experience. You don’t notice but killing someone with better swordsmanship than you gives you a slight edge with a sword. Killing a beast gives you a more bestial instinct. And so on. The system takes it a step further and allows one to push that energy into specific parts of oneself. The basic attributes. We don’t know how old the system is or if it was here all along.”
“Something I do know is that your body wasn’t made for this system it feels foreign and odd. As if it was built for something similar but something else. I’ve heard of people with the cultivation ability but they are so rare. Perhaps they too are from another world.” Lyenn pondered very loudly.
Ok ok but how does that have to do with my bloated stats. Xane was getting annoyed by the sidetracking.
“We were talking about that? Well the higher your stats the stronger you are. Since you don’t gain as much experience from fighting something weaker than you, you will need to fight things higher level than you to gain similar experience than someone lower than you. I don’t know if it is some sort of balancing thing or limitation.”
Before Xane could ask more questions that were bursting to get out Von started to get up. Xane didn’t notice that he himself had gotten up while talking to Lyenn, a pot of water half drunk. “Can I have some of that?” Von asked, pointing at the pot.
“Of course. And how are you feeling?”
“Good Boy but I should be asking you that question. You are a spry one but running all that way knocked you out. I expect running out of stamina isn’t a good thing.”
“No it isn’t.” Lyenn helpful said.
“No it isn't,” Xane repeated.
“Oh he doesn't know about me. You should tell him.”
“And sa-” Xane stopped himself but continued in his mind. And say what? There is a god inside my head telling me things and telling me to do things? Hell no.
“I don’t see a problem with that.”
Xane decided to ignore her. “How about we get going.”
Von stared at Xane deadpan. “Really boy have I not taught you anything? Look out there.”
Xane decided he needed to pay more attention to his surroundings. Having a distraction in his mind wasn’t an excuse. What Von was referring to was the massive storm raging outside. The outcropping of rocks mostly sheltered them from it. Definitely with the scavenged wood blocking all but a few spots. How did he not notice it? “Fine you are right. Going at day is probably the correct choice anyways.”
Xane set out the bedding and food for the two and they waited for day to arrive. The time wasn't’ wasted as Xane asked every question he had stored up over time. And even the cheerful Lyenn started to have an undertone of exasperation to the endless questions. “How many more could you possibly have? Why not spread them out. Learn a bit every day. Lets go with that.”
Fine but I do have one last important one.
“Uhgg shoot.”
Why me? I mean why did you choose me to save you.
“Ohh if you are expecting some grand you are the chosen one nonsense I’m sorry. Really it was out of convenience. You know how many people miraculously gets shipwrecked near here. Well you wouldn’t but it is surprisingly low. You also had a high affinity to water magic. Really you were my last gamble. I almost ran dry on energy just sending you that memory and direction. I had Twila pick you up and get you closer. A loyal friend she is. ”
“Huh,” is all he could even think to say.
“What?” asked Von.
“Nothing just thinking,” partly Xane lied. “The storms been over with for a bit and the suns just about to shine, ready Von?”
“Always Boy.”
They set sail soon after. “Where should we go?” Xane asked out loud but mostly was hoping Lyenn would know.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“How the hell should I know, Boy?” Von said making sure all the sails were in their correct place. At this point just pick one and start sailing.
“I advise you head west. We should go right towards the small but strong empire of Zakor. They are purests but since you are human you will be welcome.”
What do you mean by that? Is there a problem if I bring Garry along or is it something else. Is there like elves?
“No to the Garry question he is fine. Probably should keep him on a short leash but he is fine. And yes there are many races. Most common are humans, elves and dwarves in this region. Zakor is owned and run by high elves and they don’t like most other races. They do have a pact with the neighboring empire of Tortuga. Torotga is a human empire holding most of the landmass with moon elves holding stake in the Crescent Bay and a dwarven city in Crown Peak.”
She accompanied the words with images of the locations. He saw a city in a hole, towers spilling out of its depths like fingers grasping for the sky. Saw a grand castle made of marble white stone and a sprawling city surrounded by water. Boats fished and moved shipments in the water. As well as a dark yet glowing city of darker stone where star speckled skinned humanoids walked on moonlit roads. Lastly a tall and oddly flat topped mountain teemed with bustling short and stocky men and women.
That was a lot. He kept replaying what he saw. It wasn’t like a recording but more of a dream. There was little detail.
“Honestly I didn’t know if that would work. But really that was my memory when I last went to those areas. Stuff changes in 60 years. But we are currently in the Aspris Ocean a good two hundred miles or so off the shore of Zakor.”
This is going to be a long trek.
“Don’t worry, I'll make it easier. I’ll need you to cultivate and I can only really do this a few times.”
Do what? Xane still didn’t fully trust her but did as asked.
“I’m going to teach you a spell I know. Since I’m a master in water magic I can teach you it. It’s called Smooth Sailing. Basically just allows a ship to more swiftly move in the water. Since you aren’t ”
Before he started he asked one more question. Why can you only teach me the minor version while the book I read taught me a greater one. The differences of ranks was some of the questions Xane had asked while waiting for the storm to blow over. The ranks in spell forms, boons, and enchants. All with the same rank names. Petty, Lesser, Minor, Great, Greater, and Grand.
“Well if I was in my body and full in power I’d be able to teach you up to Minor. However, I'm not. Spell Books though are heavily enchanted, runed, and scribed magical books. They take up to a year or more to craft one. Taking multiple high level skills to do so. Only stats are usually needed to be able to read one. With intellect being the important one for spell books. They can impart any rank. They however are one use and also have a chance to fail.”
That information startled Xane. If that spell had fizzled out he wouldn’t be here right now. He put that out of mind cultivated. He felt all the energy instead of going into him like usual. Go instead to a space in his mind he couldn’t see. He kept filling the space till four hours later when he got a new notification.
You have learned a new spell!
Smooth Sailing(Common)(Petty)(Water)
Smooth sailing is a simple spell. It is a concentration based spell meaning the caster needs to continue channeling into the spell for it to continue working. Will increase sailing speed of vessels big and below in size scale. Only usable on water craft while in water.
Speed increase: 5%
Mana Cost: 10 mana per minute.
After casting the spell he got a similar skill to his conjuration one.
You have learned a new skill!
Water Magic(Uncommon) Rank 1
This is a school of magic. This skill affects water based spells. Affects strength and mana cost of water based spells. This skill is slightly affected by Intelligence and Wisdom.
The journey wasn’t too interesting no ships filled with pirates tried to fight them. Or giant sea monsters dained to attack their vessel. There were a few flying creatures that looked like fish with a birds beak and a school of fish that Xane had at first though harmless. That was until the weird flying fish dived bombed him. It was easily handled but the wood on the ship was cut easily by the beak as if it was paper. And the school of fish started to devour the hull as if it was a tasty carcass. However a few shots into their pack scared them away. Few as in about three clips full.
It took a little under two days till they arrived. Even a day away Xane could tell they were going the right way. There was a massive spire peeking out of the water. The water became land as the spire grew. “That my friend is Wantags Sight. It quite literally sees all. At least that's what is advertised: the place was taken over by some powerful creature. At least it was 60 years ago.” Lyenn helpfully added.
They went towards the harbor. As they got within a few miles two ship much faster than their own and slightly larger was on a direct course towards them. Xane yelled down inside where Von sat eating, “Von we have company.”
Von came up quickly with milk in his beard. Most likely the last of the milk. “What’s going on boy? Under attack again?”
“No. Maybe? There are two large vessels moving very quickly towards us. Should we do anything?”
“Don’t know. They don’t look like any modern ship I've seen. Looks old. More akin to a frigate but stylized differently. Should probably stop as we get close. Have a feeling they ain’t here to attack but make sure we aren’t here to do it.” Von stated as he looked into binoculars.
“I agree. They look like Zakor vessels. Specifically the navy. Don’t remember them meeting with other ships like this but seeing their flag being green then they don’t plan on attacking.”
I’m assuming colors show what they are doing? Xane asked, thinking of how people did similar things before in his world.
“Yes. green means neutral, red means threat, blue means surrender, and yellow is a request for aid. Really we should have put up a green flag showing that we are friendly. Welp most likely we won’t be attacked.”
Likely! Xane complained to Lyenn.
It didn’t take long for the three to meet. A voice projected as if in a megaphone yelled out. At first Xane didn’t understand a word that was being said until somehow he knew. It felt similar to the spell book and when Lyenn taught him the smooth sailing spell. Lyenn also filled in the missing pieces. Xane knew this was going to happen as Lyenn said she would. “Hail voyagers. May we ask who you are and what business you have in Zakor? As well as where your flag may be.” They weirdly had an accent more akin to a Russian accent. And the language they were speaking was called common. It was well the common language most spoken when interacting with other empires.
What should I say? I’m not great at talking.
“Uhm say you lost the flag and that you are here to trade.” Xane did so.
“May we ask what you are here to trade? We wouldn’t want contraband coming ashore. Also what kinda of ship is this. Never in my forty-seven years of sailing have I seen one of this make.
“We don’t actually have things on board to sell. We are here to pick things up to sell in other ports. Also this is a ship of my own design” Lyenn told him to say the first part but the last was Xane’s addition.
“Well you wouldn’t mind us coming aboard to make sure your claims are real?”
“Of course. It is only me and my co captain Von. He though does not speak.” This was something they had talked about before. They decided that Xane should do all the talking and Von should just pretend he was mute. Xane had lied and said he found something that gave him the ability to learn languages just by hearing it for a bit. It wasn’t really false as Lyenn was basically using her skill to do so to teach him the language. It consumed a large portion of his mana and had taken a few hours of cultivation to do so.
The ships didn’t get closer nor did a plank of wood get put down. Instead water rose from the sea allowing three humanoids in intricate uniform similar to navy outfits to walk across the water and reach Sierra’s Song. The water bridge splashed back down causing water to splatter on the ship as the men reached them and landed aboard. “Well met voyager. My name is Sirus Groon captain of the Beckon Call.” He said this slightly bowing. “These men will begin their search as we have a lovely chat. And may I ask whom I am speaking too?”
The two others, a man and a woman walked down below. A slight pulse coming from a rod they both held. Now that Sirus and the others were closer Xane got a good look at them. He didn’t really know what an elf should look like as he wasn’t much of a fan of fantasy. But from what he had seen due to his friend they looked pretty much on par. Sirus was a tall man with a bit of bulk in the shoulders but mostly lean. Had darker skin and sharp ears protruding from the hat he wore. It looked like a sail and was a bit absurd not that Xane was going to say so. His outfit was filled with cords and strings of multiple colors.
“My name is Xane.” Apparently it was common for non nobles to not have a last name. “What would you like to talk about?” Xane asked hesitantly.
“Mostly the designs of this vessel. It is sleek and compact but I get an odd sense of power and durability behind it. And for it to not be enchanted or runed and sailing in those waters intrigues me. The Zakor armada is always looking for new vessels. On behalf of my people I would make a deal with you.” The elves' face didn’t reveal anything to Xane.
“The plans are not for sale. At least for now. I don't even have them with me.” That was a complete lie; he had a copy in the ship that he moved to his ring shortly after. It was in a picture frame that he had hung above his bed.
“Well if you ever change your mind, come find me.” Sirus said this while taking out a small metal disk the size of a coin. It had intricate designs that Xane had a hard time trying to figure out. He knew them as runes. Lyenn told him about them earlier. “This will tell you where my headquarters are.” Sirus smiled broadly when Xane took it.
“Sure I’ll see about that.” Xane pretended to put it into his pocket but it went into the ring instead. Never could be too careful. Lyenn had also told him that nothing can affect whatever was inside. Since it was technically in another space all together. It confused Xane but he just went with it.
It didn't take long for the two to come out slightly puzzled. A different language was spoken and was then translated. This time high elven. “It is odd down there. We think the hull is also made of metal. As well as weird contraptions like gnome work down there.” One of them said.
The female added as second later,”No contraband though.”
“Good good then we can let them through.” He had a look on his face that Xane didn’t like. Xane didn’t trust the guy as far as he could throw him. Which would be farther than he could have on earth.
“Thank you Captain Sirus.” He said this bowing with his hand pointing out touching his chest. Lyenn had told him it was customary to do so to a higher up as a captain.
“Odd for an outsider to know that and even do so if they did. As well as that is the older way. Haven’t used that one for the past twenty years. Since Queen Tarnis was crowned. It is appreciated Xane. The old ways are still cherished.” He turned around and left without another word.
The Zakor ships still stayed close and showed them where to dock. Once docked Xane thought about shoving the ship into his ring not wanting anything to happen to it. Lyenn however warned him against such a thing. It would put a large target on his back. A ship that can shrink/disappear. Or a storage device that can hold such a large object were rare and super valuable. She warned that he really shouldn’t show off the ring he had on at all. Xane took the information to heart and had taken out money and a few other items so he had easy access without using his ring.
The city was not what he expected. It wasn’t the capital which was in the middle of Zakor and in a deep valley. The city they were in was simply just named Port of Zakor. A bit bland but Xane didn’t pay attention to that. The city itself was made of mostly rich colored tan wood. The rich color was accented with vibrant colors like blues and deep greens. Weirdly it all fit together. Large tapestries hung from buildings depicting soldiers, ships, beasts and monsters. People milled about most wearing similar attire to Sirus. Very militaristic. There were also sailors and commoners.
They were all taller than Xane. The children were even tall. The plan was to go and buy supplies. And then gain travel to Zakor to go to a library and ask around about possible locations and knowledge of pieces of Lyenn. Xane was reticent about that actually bearing fruit but didn’t have a better idea. Xane left Von on board Sierra’s song as he went out but kinda wished the old man was with him. Xane was nervous about walking through an unknown place. It also was built weirdly. Some buildings were large and grand while another right next door looked like low wage housing.
Xane walked up to someone who was putting clothes on a rope. “Uhmm excuse me mam. I’m new here can you point me towards where the shops mi-” She didn’t say anything, just pointed and went back to doing her work. “Thanks.” I guess. The point was vague and Xane just walked a bit and tried again. “Hey sir would you happen to be able to point me in the direction of shops?”
“Yes, just keep going down this road. There is a market area. You can’t miss it.” Xane had assumed he too was a high elf but when he turned around Xane saw that he was a dark skinned human. The more he looked he saw that the man's ears were slightly pointed. And the jawline more angular.
“He is half human, half high elf. They are actually really rare since most high elves believe in purity.” Lyenn answered Xane’s unasked question.
Xane thanked the man handing over two bronze coins which apparently was still a decent amount of money to most people. He had a lot of money. If only he had his ring in Yug’s ship he probably would be the richest person except kings and queens. He hadn’t counted it and dreaded to do so but he had a huge pile of coins in his ring. As well as precious bars and other tradable things.
It wasn’t long till he had found the market area. It was a large square shaped area with actual buildings taking up the walls and stalls scattered around like a flea market. There were people bustling around going from one stall to another. Some had these plates of metal that seemed to just hover around them items being put in baskets then placed on the metal disk. What is that and how do I get one? Xane had seen a lot of magical stuff but weirdly that simple thing was the best thing he had seen yet.
“No idea they weren't a thing when I was around. And if it was then not common. You can always ask.”
Yeah why not. Xane was hesitant but walked over to a lady’s stall,” Hey can I ask how would one acquire one of those floating disks over there?”
“How the hell would I know? I run a fruit stand.”
“Indeed you do. I’ll take one of each.” He only bought that much because the face he got would have scared a seasoned warrior. He ate one as he looked around it was so good he ate it in mere moments.
He decided to ask someone who actually had one instead. “You don't look like you could afford such an expensive piece of magic.” The man said this in the most stuck up russian accent he had ever heard. He didn’t know that was a possible combination in the first place. He just turned away.
What the hell did he mean by th-. Mid thought he looked down and saw the ruined state of his clothes. He had forgotten to change clothes before leaving. He decided new clothes were first on the agenda. He saw a stall selling such things and browsed the wares. There wasn’t really the fine works that he had seen most more well established people wearing. Here was more sailing and outdoor clothing. What he needed was armor. “Excuse me sir but I'm new to this area. I need new clothes, obviously, would you be able to point me to somewhere I can purchase armor of some kind.”
“Yes. A good friend of mine makes leather armor. The building right over there. The store's name is Furs and Leathers. I would recommend more casual wear as well. Do you like anything?” The stall owner said pointing at their wares.
Xane ended up buying a few pairs of clothing if not just to pay for the mans information. It was such a drop in the bucket he didn’t mind. They were quite good as well…for non modern standards. He was also asked where he had gotten his clothes from but ignored his question. Xane didn’t know how to tell the merchant he fell into a vortex of water and woke up on a giant turtle. For the people here it was probably another tuesday but he still felt weird about it.
The store simply called Furs and Leathers was a large building covered in furs and leathers. It also smelled acrid as he walked into a slightly visible film. He tanned them right in the store and had a force field of sort that blocked the smell from getting out. Xane wouldn’t admit it but he did go back and forth a few times wonder in his eyes. “Can you stop, I'm embarrassed for you.”
Inside was a man named Luy Hargs. “Welcome, welcome. We have many wares. We can custom fit too for a small fee." There was armor of all kinds on shelves and wooden mannequins. His fighting style needed something light and the fact he needed to fight much tougher enemies than a normal person meant he needed something stronger than usual. “What is your preference? We have light armor which comes in hide and leather. We have medium studded and scaled armor. As well as a few half plates courtesy of my brother's forge work.”
“Is there a difference between different creatures' skins? I’ve fought a few different beasts and this hog like creature had really tough skin while others didn’t.”
“Indeed, beasties all have varying toughnesses. Over here we have two hide armors. The cheapest option. One is made from elk skin while another is made from a bear's pelt. The bear was higher level as well as had naturally strong skin. Hence the bear’s hide armor has higher protection than the elk.“
“Ok thanks for the information. For your first question I was wanting something that doesn’t hinder my mobility but still gives great defense. What would you recommend if money wasn’t a problem?” Xane regreted wording it that way. He saw a glint in the mans eye that every merchant shared. Greed.
After much showing off of clearly good quality goods but not what Xane was looking for the merchant just so happens to remember having a set that was supposed to be picked up by some other adventurer that never came. It just so happened to have a deposit on it that Luy would just so happen to waive for a little extra. Xane was tempted by the offer. It was stunning armor. And had amazing protection and yet was flexible. Apparently the adventurer managed to kill a beast called a wartig king, as tough as steel yet pliable as cloth. It had little protection against blunt attacks but amazing puncture and slashing. The creature rarely comes out of its nest but a storm that swept through scared it out and the man killed it. He then ordered Luy to make something out of it and never came back. “Been about two months. I would usually hold on for four months but a sale is a sale. And most likely he died in some bar brawl the man had a temper on him. Only going to cost you 1800 gold coins.”
“I’ll take it.” Xane said after coming back from getting more money and conferring with Lyenn about it. The price was insane. 10 coppers made a silver, 10 silver made a gold, and 10 gold made a platinum. There were other currencies like bullions of silver, gold and platinum. Each worth 100 of each respectfully. The other options of armor weren’t even close to that price. With the bear hide being 10 gold and a studded leather being 430 gold clearly the difference of animal and resources used to make the armor changed it as well as craftsman ship. The stats on the armor he was buying were good.
Scale Mail armor of a Wartig King(Rare)(Exquisitely Crafted)
This scale mail armor was made from a Wartig King. Damn those guys are tough how did you-wait you didn’t kill it. I made this description for someone else. Well anyway it has great defense against piercing and slashing attacks while less protective against blunt attacks. It was crafted by Luy Hargs.
Xane ignored the last part. And paid the man. The store had a room where one could try things on but it was made for someone a bit more built and taller than Xane so he would have to wait. He also bought a bunch of other things. New boots, gloves, bracers, a helmet, pants and a backpack. The last one was for show but might come in useful. “I do have another question. Is there anyone that could maybe enchant or rune this armor?
The difference between runed and enchanted were only in how they were created and what they excelled at. Enchanting is pushing energies into something and making it do a certain thing. While runesmithing is etching runes on to something to make it do a certain thing. Enchanting usually catered passive stat increases or damage modifiers like +1 to strength or +20 to health. While runesmithing involved more active things like casting a fireball out of a sword or a burst of healing energy from a ring. Both can do both but enchanting was just better at passive and runesmithing better at active.
“Sorry kid, no one in this town can do that. However, a cousin of mine in Zakor itself has a shop. If you bring it to her she can enchant it.”
“What about runes?” Xane didn’t only want someone to enchant his things, he also wanted a teacher. Two of the books he found and tools in his ring were about enchanting and runesmithing. But he had no idea what it meant. Lyenn was also no help as she stayed to practical magic.
“You really are new, we don't do much rune work in Zakor. Was against the law for a while but the knew queen allowed it a while back. Tell my cousin I said hello and maybe she will give you a discount… or maybe she will charge you more. I don’t remember what our standing was last time we spoke.” Luy said that last part contemplatively ignoring Xane as if he had already left.”
“Ok I’ll be back tomorrow then.”
“Yes yes now go.”
The moment that Xane was out of there and not within direct sight of anyone he stashed his stuff in his ring. Xane didn’t like the idea of carrying so much stuff worth so much. He spent in total 2156 gold in that place. And he knew for sure he was scammed somewhat. He did though barter a bit and got the Barter skill. Lyenn said that trading was based on the barter skill and one's charisma and wisdom stat. Luy probably had the merchant profession giving him bonuses to those stats and skill. Even with Xane’s bloated stats he wouldn’t be able to win in a barter match with Luy. That didn’t make him hate the guy though Xane had so much money that he didn’t mind. None of the others shops but some food ones interested Xane. He did buy way to much pastries, bread, and other food.
Lyenn complained, “Do you need to buy so much? You have loads of food already.”
“You mean really badly prepared meats and a kinda bad stew?” Xane quipped back while eating. It was the first time he was happy that he could speak telepathically since he could chew while doing so. Over time he slowly put things in his ring so the carry back was more manageable.