“Well shit.” Lyenn said worry was evident in her voice. “This might not be good.”

“Depends on what you have to say for yourself, Lyenn goddess of the Ocean.”

“Ohh you can hear me. Hiii Vir God of the Moon. How are you doing? So uhmmm what might be the problem?” Lyenn asked hesitantly.

“You managed to let your godly body be taken by a mortal. And now it terrorizes my shores. Explain yourself.”

Xane wasn’t about to talk while two deities were having a conversation. Even if he wanted too he felt a presence that practically told him to just not speak. Lyenn calmed as if she thought it was something worse. “Ohhh that little problem. I really have it under control. Don’t you worry your silly little head.” She blanched at what she said. She might have been a god for a while but manners and interacting with other gods wasn’t her forte.

“You dare mock me little godling. The other gods have waited for your fall. But you cling onto it like a cockroach. Just fade away and let the next rise.”

“You know Vir. I really like living though. Perhaps later. On second thought never. But I’ll tell you this. I’ll fix the body situation. And it will all be fine.” She seemed more confident but not by much.

“This isn’t the only problem you have. Your heart is being used godling.”

Lyenn was excited, “You know where it is? Tell us and we will solve that too.”

The moon god actually laughed. Though it was more melodic than Xane thought it was going to be. “You think I will just tell you? You know the rules, Lyenn. Can’t divulge such information for free. If you gain your body back we will talk.”

Xane felt the presence leave as if it was never there. He also noticed that the shine of light beaming from the moon above the temple waned. Finally he spoke. “Lyenn what was that?”

She sounded nervous again. “Just two gods talking, that's all. And we now know that we can get information on my heart from Vir. That is a win.”

“But he did say that there would be a price. What do you think that price would be?”

“I don’t know. Some quest probably.” Xane blanche. He was already doing one godly quest. He didn’t want to add another to that. “Really that is for later, way later. Let’s get a move on.

She was right but Xane had a sense of unease. They needed to first kill the Lord of Iron.

They handed off a sad-looking Pyn to the guards and were given a lump some of cash for his bounty. This guy wasn’t worth a large amount but it would be worth it since they were about to spend an insane amount today.

The city was even more beautiful up close. People moved around on those flying disks above they’re heads as they walked. Xane’s neck hurt from looking around so much. But he couldn’t help but be the tourist. The place was so mesmerizing. And if he there was the small problem of having to be part of the church of the moon or whatever then he definitely would want to live here.

The place somehow seemed even more clean than Zakor. Not one person looked malnourished or dirty. All wore immaculately crafted clothes as if all were nobles. Xane knew though there had to be some sort of dark secret for a place like this to be so nice. But then again the whole religion and one with the moon thing might just be that dark not so secret thing.

Something he did notice a lot of were shops. He swore every home had some sort of shop on the first floor. From florists to painters to armor and general goods. Calrin had said that most people here were encouraged to fill up their professions. And having hobbies or entirely secondary jobs. Mostly because of their unique ability of being moon people is that they never need to sleep if they don’t want to. Xane liked the mental side of sleeping and resetting even though he didn’t need to sleep very often.

Xane actually stopped at a florist and bought some flowers that would last a very long time. He wanted to spruce up his ship a bit. Taking most of the things out had the effect of making it look drab.

Something he also did was pick up Crescent City cuisine. He liked having different and nice foods to try. He even found one that would boost his mana regen by 15% for 4 hours. It cost a pretty penny but would be worth it for later. Sadly he was only allowed to buy two. Being an outsider had restrictions.

Next on the list was a magic curios shop. It sold runed items with interesting effects. Similar to the items that Calrin had been using in their journeys. Balls that exploded in various elements. Item identifying one use rods. Short lived barriers. Consumable items.

Xane spent an ungodly sum of money here. He bought ice orbs, fire orbs, a single identifying rod to test out, a few barriers, and lastly a one use teleportation token. The user marked an area and would be able to crush the token to then be teleported to that set location. They were pretty brittle and Hatchet had a story about one.

“We were doing a dungeon one time, mind you can’t just tp out of a dungeon with these weaker tokens, but we had set up a spot near the exit. We were fighting the boss, a giant with a large club. Those guys are nasty monstrosities. As we were fighting Calrin took a nasty hit. We didn’t see him fly away though. Thought maybe he turned into such a fine mist that there was nothing left.” Xane was starting to realize what might have occurred while eating a street food vendors take on popcorn. “We of course kill the thing and look for Calrin. Anything. We then left to find him licking his wounds at the entrance. That is when we realized that the token was smashed when he got hit and he teleported away.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Calrin didn’t seem to like this story. “I did most of the damage to the boss and you two refused to let me have any of the loot.”

Next the group went to tomes and scrolls shop. Xane had looked over the one in Zakor but didn’t care about any of the spells it had. Even though his class didn’t cater directly to magic and spell craft there could be some useful to him. Sadly they were overpriced do to him being a tourist and the interesting ones were completely locked out. Xane guessed they only showed those as a ploy to get people to join.

The shop he was excited about was the magic armor and weapons. He wanted an upgrade to his rapier. It had gotten him this far. But it wasn’t up to the task for what he needed to do. He looked around finding greatswords that could bend space slightly making it seem to teleport towards the target. A short sword that had a 3 times a day use to make the user fly for a minute. They had to point the sword in that direction though. Didn’t seem practical to Xane.

He liked a set of leather armor from some creature he didn’t know. It gave a very high damage resistance to both fire and ice damage. Though it only took on the resistance of whatever damaged it first. And took an entire 12 hours to reset. It sounded nice but he liked another one better.

It was simpler in what it did.

DracoSpine Scale Currais of Protection(Rare)(Enchanted)(Runed)

This currais was made from an old DracoSpine. Cousins of dragons, they inherit similar strength in protective scales and natural defense to fire. This item has been enchanted with a powerful protection enchantment. This item has been runned with repair, durability, and cleaning runes.

+45% resistance to fire damage.

It wasn’t as fancy as others but Xane loved the look. He wanted to make his own amazing gear but just didn’t have the time. Anyway having something like this too look over for his own studies would be good for his learning.

Next item he bought had something unique to it.

Moonstone Rapier of Speed. (Enchanted)(Runned)

This rapier is made from moonstone. A highly coveted material for its conductivity with enchanting. This blade has been enchanted with passive bonuses to Dex and Agility. This blade has been runned with repair, durability, and cleaning runes.

+10 to both dexterity and Agility when held.

Those boosts would be crucial if he wanted to tango with people with better skill than his own. With it being made of moonstone he was surprised he could even buy it. The merchant weirdly just said it was Xane’s destiny to buy it. Xane just shrugged.

The last shop they went to was the magical trinkets shop. It had assorted rings and jewelry. Xane in particular looked for a bracelet. His necklace slot was filled with Gretti’s necklace and he knew he could find something better but liked the utility of it. What he found wasn’t amazing but would help.

Braclet of Strength(Enchanted)

This simple silver and gold bracelet will increase the wearers strength.

+6 strength

Jade Earring of Intelligence(Enchanted)

This simple jade and platinum earrings have been enchanted to increase intelligence

+7 intelligence

Xane wasn’t really an earring guy but stats were stats and he will fill up that slot if possible.

Moonstone Ring of Sure Minded(Enchanted)

This expertly crafted ring made from moonstone and diamond protects the wearers mind.

+46% mental and psychic resistance.

Xane didn’t know why he bought the last one. He hadn’t run into many beings that possessed such abilities. But it just called out to him and he had the cash to burn. Well he was nearly out of cash now. This spending spree left him barely 500 gold to his name. A popper in his opinion. But in the end it would be worth it.

“What did you all buy?” Xane asked as the group found themselves back on Sierra's Song. They didn’t want to stay in the beautiful but creepy city for that long.

“Nothing too much. Just a few baubles to resupply. And this nice ring that increases my sword damage by 19%.” To Xane that didn't seem like a big boost to a guy who probably got triple that from his skill alone. Not even adding in the class bonuses.

Hatchet spoke for Huntress. “Archer here just bought a ton of different arrows. Found one that shoots a straight line of moonlight with the arrow. Suppose to burn something fierce. As well as her 12th bow. Don’t know why she has an obsession with new bows she rarely uses. But who am I to complain?”

With that in order they got ready to sail off. As Xane was about to unhook his ship a voice called out to him. “Greetings traveler. I come bearing a message of utmost importance.” They looked to see a set of 12 guards. Xane blanched from the amount. DId they do something wrong? Did Pyn say or do something getting them in trouble?

He calmed his nerves. “Greetings to you as well. What might this message be?”

The guard didn’t seem to notice Xane’s momentary nervousness and went on. “You four have been summoned to the High Temple. An audience with the High Priest of the Moon is to begin.”

Four? Did they know about Lyenn? Did their god tell the entire city? Why would it do that? Luckily Calrin had walked up to start talking. “Four? There is only the 3 of us.”

“We know the axe has a soul in it. No need to hide that fact.” the guard replied simply. He didn’t look angered at the lie but was just doing his job.

“We indeed try and keep that fact lowkey. May we ask what this is for? The occasion?”

This got a different reaction if minute. Annoyance. As if deigning to ask a question instead of rushing to throw oneself to the high priest was blasphemy and to be punished. However, that was quelched quickly his normal ever smile face returned. “I am not privy to that information.”

The next question Xane knew was asked to make the man mad. “Can we decline?” He looked beat red in moments. And the other guards put their hands on their weapons. “We only ask because we wouldn’t want to waste the High Priest's time. But we would love to go.”

That is how Xane found himself riding a larger version of the flying disks with two guards on either side. Both of his compatriots in a similar situation. Xane had asked around about these contraptions. He was interested in buying or at least riding one. But sadly it was not to be till now. First they only worked in the city fuelled by the moonlight. Second they were of course only for residents of the city.

Ever since seeing magic in this world Xane wanted to fly with it. And it was amazing. The city somehow looked even better from above. The buildings reflect the light from the small moon above the temple. The people all looked like stars themselves moving across the ground sky.

The temple was grand. With many towers and round shaped tops. It sorta looked like old Russian temples. He had seen smaller ones about. District temples. But the high temple was beyond measure amazing. He felt the power radiating from the place. It radiated purity and balance. With a tang of something Xane couldn’t tell.

The main entrance was massive double doors that slowly opened emitting an ominous creaking and scratching noise as it moved across the ground. Xane would have thought they’d magic that away somehow. A magical grease spell. Unless they wanted it for intimidation factor. Which it sorta worked.

Inside was the same ambient light that lit up the rest of the city. There were sculptures and paintings the entire way through the hallway entrance. It took them a minute of walking to make it to another set of smaller doors. They opened soundlessly. Inside was no massive throne. Or an immaculate room Xane had been expecting up to this point. Just a simple largeish room with deep blue wooden furniture. A table with many chairs. In a slightly fancier chair sat an elderly looking man in white robes with a crescent moon hovering over his head.

Others sat at the table. All wearing similar robes but didn’t have the moon lording over them. Xane thought lording since that simple object radiated more power than the entire temple felt like it pushed out.

The elderly man spoke. And he sounded as ancient as he looked. “Welcome Xane, Calrin, Huntresses, and Hatchet. We have much to discuss.”