Once the grains were well cooked I conjured up a spoon and started to dig in with glee, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t as tasty as I thought it was going to be. The grains were rather bland and tasteless, the only way this was better than eating mushrooms was the texture which still left a little to be desired. ‘I guess that is a little unfortunate, but at least I don’t need to cover these with honey to keep them down.’
As I thought to myself I suddenly paused and looked over to the honey that I still had with an idea I wanted to try. I placed a spoonful of honey into my grains and using the spoon I conjured up mixed them together well, when They were mixed up enough to my liking I took a spoonful of the grains and honey and stuffed it into my mouth.
The taste and deliciousness of this new meal I had yet to name was unlike anything I had eaten since I arrived back in Dom Badaher. I didn’t even wait until I had fully swallowed the first spoonful before I had another already going towards my mouth. Before I knew it all the grains with honey were gone and I had a full belly. Not wanting to waste any of the food I made I started to lick the bowl I conjured up until there was nothing left and I dispelled it along with the spoon.
‘That was incredible.’ I thought to myself as I started to clean up the table. ‘That was the best meal I have had in several weeks now. I should start experiment with cooking more when I get back to Antium, I can’t believe I stopped doing that so much.’
With everything clean and back the way it was I exited the office and entered the bedroom where I picked up my sword from the bed and strapped it to my hip. Before leaving I double checked my armor and sword to make sure that everything was working correctly, when I was done I didn’t find any issues and exited through the front door before locking it behind myself.
Following my footsteps from the day before I continued down to the nineteenth floor with the intention of killing as many goblins as I could find there and taking their equipment to trade with Lyra for her spare dimensional bag.
**********
One week later after clearing the entirety of the nineteenth floor with help from Lyra and her mercenaries I was standing on the twenty fifth floor looking out into the large hole that led to the cavern layer. Looking out into it was bringing back a lot of memories that I really didn’t want to remember, most notably Hambel dying saving Cassia.
Unlike how I recalled everything seemed to be a lot darker this time, almost like these deep caverns were shaped by my experiences in this world. Pushing those thoughts away I turned from the scary and awe inspiring view of the glowing mushroom forest and walked back towards the goblin corpses to take their weapons and armor.
I found a group of five goblins wearing far better armor and carrying far better weapons than anything else within the city, even the ones that ambushed me just over a week ago. The iron weapons were still nothing compared to just about any skilled dwarven or human smith, but compared to everything else they had these weapons were dangerous.
I started by collecting the weapons they had, which were all one handed swords made from cheap iron that were designed with slashing in mind. The blades were also wider towards the tip compared to the hilt which I found to be an interesting design choice.
Picking the closest one up I gave it a few test swings and I found that it was a half decent weapon, only I found its reach to be lacking compared to anything I would carry. But that is to be expected with a one handed sword, and I stashed it within my rucksack on my back.
Next up was the armor, and like the weapons they were of a significantly better quality compared to everything else in the city. This metal armor too was made from iron, and it actually had leather underneath that would keep it from making direct contact with the skin of the goblins to prevent pinching and anything else metal armor might do directly to flesh. The helmets were also quite nice relatively speaking, they actually looked to be comfortable for the goblins to wear with the leather lining keeping the metal from rubbing against their hairless heads.
‘This is definitely going to be worth a whole lot more than anything else I have picked up, someone might even be able to refit this armor to be worn by a dwarf given the quality of it.’
Unfortunately there was so much of this armor I was forced to leave it behind while I transported what I could carry upstairs with me to my room. I did make sure to collect it all and pile it up in a way that would let everyone know that it was claimed by someone else, only someone who was intending to return for it would do something like that.
‘It honestly might not have been necessary to do that since no one else has come down here yet. But just to be certain that nobody will take anything I should do this any time I can’t bring everything with me.’
Passing by the nineteenth floor I looked into the city portion and saw two groups of five resting close to the stairs. Most of those there were melee combatance, but there were also a few bows and the occasional mage mixed in as well. When they noticed me they either gave a small wave or a nod, which I returned with a wave of my own.
Since I conducted that trading with Lyra’s mercenary company things became a bit more friendly between us, of course I filled them in on the situation on the nineteenth floor and how large it was compared to everything else. I honestly doubted that I would have had the time to clear the whole thing out myself by the time they would have reached it. This way I was able to garner a little favor from them while keeping the next six floors and anything found within for myself. I even managed to snag an albeit old, yet very functional dwarven alchemy set from one of the buildings within the nineteenth floor.
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I had to transport the thing piece by piece to prevent the glass portions from breaking, yet I knew it would be very much worth it once I had some ingredients I could work with. Once I had an opportunity to join the mages guild within Antium I would have access to all the ingredients I would need for the time being as well as a place I could sell potions and other alchemical creations such as spark powder for a decent amount of money.
It took me three whole trips to bring all the weapons and armor that I ‘found’ on the twenty fifth floor. And around the time I was done was when Lyra and several of her mercenaries arrived to conduct our trade deal of my assortment of armor and weapons for her dimensional bag. Thankfully I had some time to clean up and wipe the sweat off beforehand which left me just in my regular clothing when they arrived.
I opened the door only around halfway due to the armor and weapons I had strewn across the floor. When I turned to look at Lyra I could see for just a moment she was surprised about something, but I wasn’t sure about what.
********
The door before me slowly opened around halfway revealing a young human man I recognized as Arthur, though unlike last time I saw him he was wearing only casual clothing instead of his armor. I also noticed his wet hair indicating that he had recently cleaned himself, but from what I could see there weren't any water sources within the room.
Quickly pushing such thoughts out of my mind I casted the comprehend language spell and touched Arthur with my right hand casting it on him. “Good afternoon Mr. Arthur, I am here along with several of my subordinates to take a look at the weapons and armor you have in preparation for our trade deal. Would it be alright if we come inside?”
I half expected him to be hesitant to allow us inside his home, but even though he was unarmed and unarmored he just waved us inside. “I don’t see why not.”
We stepped inside and immediately knew he was telling the truth about the weapons and armor he was collecting, most of the floor within the room was just covered with metal weapons and armor that all looked goblin in origin. Most of what we saw was made from cheap iron, but there were a few copper and better quality iron pieces as well scattered throughout. Citro, who decided he was coming with me, picked up one of the higher quality iron chest plates and inspected the front before checking the inside.
I saw his eyes widen slightly in surprise when he did and he turned to show it to me. The inside of this piece of armor was lined with a pale pink leather that resembled the rat dogs that goblins like to keep. The leather didn’t look all that high quality, but its presence was enough to worry both Citro and myself as well as start questioning Arthur’s abilities.
“I see that goblin chest plate has caught your interest. How much do you think it is worth? I would bet that it would cover a good portion of that dimensional bag I am interested in, wouldn’t you agree?” Arthur gave a smile as he noticed our reaction, though he did not understand the reason for it he knew that it was definitely beneficial to himself.
“Yes I would agree, but we are going to need to shift through the rest of the weapons and armor you have in here before we decide if it is worth the dimensional bag. I am sure you understand we just need some time and a few more people to look through this all.”
“Of course, I have no issue with waiting. I have already waited a full week for this exchange, I can wait another few hours.” Arthur said as he extended his hand for the chest plate Citro was holding. Citro quickly handed it over and stepped out of the room with myself in tow.
“You two stay here for now, we will be back with some help to look through this stockpile.” The other two mercenaries nodded and took a standing position next to the door to protect both Arthur and his collection from any hostels, though admittedly that might not have been necessary as both Arthur and my own forces had already cleared the nearby floors of anything dangerous. The only real dangers that I knew of were those on the nineteenth floor.
Citro and I didn’t waste a moment climbing up the stairs back to the camp, but we did not make that journey in silence. “You know what that armor design means don’t you.” Citro said shortly after we started our climb to the camp.
“Yes, the armor is far more advanced than everything else that was uncovered within the rest of the city. That can only mean that there is a well organized and relatively advanced group of goblins where our friend Arthur took that armor from. Not only is he skilled but he is also powerful to take such goblins down on his own.”
“That then raises the question of if his power is strictly in physical prowess, or if he is also skilled in the art of magic.” Citro looked to me expectantly as he finished speaking.
“No, I did not cast any spells on him other than the comprehend languages spell. I honestly didn’t think I would have needed to, but given the changes in the situation I might need to at least check his mana reserves and see if they are above average.”
**********
Around an hour and a half later the two returned along with four others each dressed similarly to the two that they left here for the time being. I recognized one of them as the older guard that was keeping watch over the wagons that traded some weapons for some food and water. Almost immediately the seven including Citro and the six other guards got to work looking through and inspecting the armor and weapons I had on the floor.
While this was happening Lyra walked up to me and recast the comprehend language spell even though it hadn't ended yet. “What was the reason for that? You were only gone an hour and a half and the spell was still working as intended.” I asked Lyra who looked a little surprised by my question.
“Well, it's best to cast these things whenever you get an opportunity because you might not get one later. And besides I can at most have the spell last up to about three hours, you were almost halfway through the duration and I would have needed to do so eventually.”
I could tell that Lyra wasn’t telling me the full reason for her actions but I also didn’t have any reason as to why she would be lying or trying to do me harm so I let it slide. After around a half hour period the seven were eventually done with their examination and calculated the total value of the entire lot.
“To keep things simple, you have just enough to buy a dimensional bag of your own with the total value of this.” Citro said as he pointed to the weapons and armor now lining the hallway and sorted into groups. “Though I doubt that anyone would actually buy these for their full value, and I am betting that you would like the dimensional bag now rather than later.”
“That is correct. I assume in that case that we have a deal, unless anyone has any objections?” I looked around the room for any sign of disagreement and found none.