The duo entered the magic item hall and began to look around for anything of interest. The room they were currently in was easily twenty meters in length with a large assortment of magic items lining the walls. Thankfully they were sorted into groups, with all the armor, weapons, amulets, and other items all being grouped together and protected by glass casings that appeared to have a sort of magic lock.
Arthur walked past the employee behind a counter and behind a plane of enchanted glass to take a look at the armors that were on display. At first Arthur was a bit confused as to how he was meant to learn what enchantments the armor had, but then the enchanted glass began to display words regarding each of the armors as well as their price. To conform his theory Arthur walked to his left where the weapons were and the same thing happened.
Since for the time being Arthur was happy with his sword he wanted a set of heavy armor that would protect him against magic attacks, as physical attacks were currently not much of an issue for his armor at the moment. But as he looked at the price of the cheapest armor with a magic protection enchantment his jaw dropped.
‘Fifteen gold coins!? That is more than my house is worth along with the furniture! And I only have two and a half with me.’ Arthur felt a bit dejected by the absurd price, how was anyone just joining the guild meant to pay for these?
Deciding to take the advice of Calavai Arthur took a look at the talismans and found them to be far more reasonably priced than the weapons and armors.
‘Ten silver for a shield talisman that conjures a shield around the user made from mana that can block both physical and magical attacks, sounds useful.’ Arthur then turned his attention to a second talisman that caught his eye. ‘And a talisman of fireball for another ten, it conjures a fireball in the direction the tip is pointing.’
The shield talisman was a small disk made of wood that could fit in the palm of Arthur's hand while the talisman of fireball resembled a wand chiseled from stone into a smooth cylinder with rounded edges.
To buy the two talismans Arthur had to walk up to the employee behind the counter and point out the two he wanted to buy. The employee then entered the main room through a sliding door made from bricks that must have utilized some sort of magic, he then used a ring on his middle finger tapped against the glass and it popped open like a drawer. After retrieving the talismans the employee returned through the sliding door and behind the counter where Arther paid and received the talismans.
Calavia ended up buying a nice necklace that consisted of a silver chain and a silver pendant that had a small deep blue gemstone. The necklace would be able to conjure a stronger magic shield than the talisman that Arthur bought and allow the user to control the size and shape. It ended up costing her three gold coins.
Shortly after the spending spree Arthur and Calavia left the hall and took a seat on a bench just outside the guild. “Dam, I always forget just how expensive everything is there. I suppose I am lucky I was even able to buy this without going broke.” Calavia said as she clutched her new necklace.
“You got that right. That one suit of armor cost more than my entire house, including furniture. Makes you wonder how much anything custom made would cost.”
Arthur took the shield talisman out from his bag where he had placed it temporarily and held it in the palm of his hand as he attempted to use it. “How do these things work?” Arthur looked to Calavia as he tried and failed to activate the shield.
“Oh, you need to bond your mana to it first before you can control it. Just push a bit of your mana into it and keep it there for a bit.” Calava then gave a small demonstration with the use of her necklace that she explained worked off singular principals. Arthur following her instructions did the same with his talismans and managed to have the shield talisman conjure its shield.
“I have a question about talismans and enchanted items, why is there such a price disparity? Is it because you need to hold a talisman in your hand or is there another reason?” Arthur asked while looking at his talismans and Calvias necklace.
“No that isn’t the reason, its because talismans slowly use up all the energy they contain until they crumble apart.”
“Wait. So you're telling me that eventually these talismans I just bought will run out of energy and stop working. How long will that take?” Arthur gave Calavia an almost accusatory look, almost as if he was blaming her. But thankfully she wasn’t looking at him.
“Yes, that will eventually happen. But you will still get a good amount of use out of them before that happens. The guild inspects everything they buy beforehand, that way they can stop anyone trying to scam the system by selling fake or defective products.”
Arthur calmed down upon hearing her explanation. ‘She right, they do the exact same thing when I sell my potions and other alchemy related products with the alchemy club.’ Arthur retracted his gaze and returned his talismans to his bag. “If enchanting is such a lucrative business I should probably get into it, get some of that money for myself.”
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Calavia laughed at Arthur’s comment, before nodding. “With how things are currently going relating to the mages guilds involvement in the government and its politics now would almost be the best time ever to start learning, because at this rate the demand can only go up.”
“What exactly is going on with all that? I have heard a few rumors that are going around, but nothing specific, and I haven't had any work from Captain Tasius for an excuse to ask him.”
“I don’t know a lot, but I will tell you what I do know.” Calavia said as she took out a handful of notes from her bag. “Since the investigation into that bandit gang that organized that attack on the city like a month ago the guild and the sects have been asking why no one asked them for their help. And then the crown got involved and forced investigators to allow mages and priests to take part, large portions of the nobility don’t like this claiming that it is undermining their power and authority.” “And while the crown, mages, priests, and guards are trying to solve the case the nobility are throwing a tantrum.” Arthur said as he understood what was actually happening. “I know what is happening now, do you know why?”
“Only a little, some of the noble houses that have a less pristine reputation make up a majority of those who oppose the changes. I suspect that if more mages are apart of law enforcement it will be harder or even impossible for them to maintain their positions due to the illegal activity they may or may not partake in.”
***********
Soon after Arthur and Clavia said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Arthur ended up spending the rest of his day brewing potions and other products to sell to the club. Thankfully he found a good combination of things to make that would allow him to make a decent income even with the cost from buying the glass bottles and corks. On average he would make about ten silver a week.
But as things were going far more steadily for Arthur and those close to him the same could not be said for either the Rusted Daggers or Captain Tasius.
“Are you certain!? You have found their hideout!?” Captain Tasius nearly shouted at the mage standing before him as he received their report.
“Yes captain, they have been hiding in a small cave that has a hidden series of rooms behind a false wall. The cave isn’t even that far from the edge of the forest, and we suspect that they have been operating there for at least a year by now. And one last thing, you should yell sir. There may be spies watching.”
“Yes yes, that is the best news I could have possibly heard from you. I need to assemble a task force to deal with this threat, if you have anyone you would like to recommend to it please leave me their file and I will get back to you.” The mage gave a small bow and left the captain to himself and his lieutenant.
“We finally have them sir. Should we deploy the elite units to the area?”
“No, not yet. Have all of our mercenary friends come here over the course of a few days under the guise of another job for them. Have them all arrive at different intervals to keep anyone from suspecting anything. Then we will give them a location and time to meet up with our elite troops. Then, and only then will we strike and cut each of them down.”
“But what if they surrender? Shouldn’t we take them prisoner in that case?” Lieutenant Goldenshield asked with a weary look on his face.
“In that case they will be arrested and tried for their crimes. But odds are they will still be executed anyway for what they have done, this will be the top brass of their organization afterall.” Captain Tasuis said in a sorrowful tone, but his face and eyes told a far different story. He was enjoying all the scheming and planning to bring those bandits to their knees, he wanted them to suffer, whether it be as revenge for himself or the people that have harmed it made little difference to him now.
***********
Two days after the captain received word of the Rusted Daggers hideout several of the mercenary groups were called up one by one and given the relevant information regarding the time and place they were needed, but not why they were to go there. But they all understood why they were being asked and kept silent even if they declined the job.
On the third day Arthur along with a few other mercenaries including Kavok. They stood in a soundproofed room from a spell and waited for the captain who began to point at a map held up to the wall. “Welcome everyone, I have another job for all of you. But before I divulge any more information I must know beforehand if you are willing to take it. You will all be well compensated for your time and the expense covered for any injuries you may suffer as a result. Anyone not willing to sign an oath of silence I ask to leave the room.”
Just as the captain mentioned the oath of silence two guards entered the room and started to hand out an oath to each person. Almost everyone including Arthur began to read the terms and conditions of the oath.
‘These aren’t so bad. Don’t speak of this to anyone for the duration, don’t show anyone anything regarding the job for the duration, don’t tell anyone about the oath for the duration, ect. I see no problem with this.’ Arthur reached into his bag and pulled out his extra bottle of ink and used his hydromancy to write down his name as he didn’t currently have a flat surface to write on.
The only other person to quickly sign the oath was Kavok who did so a few seconds after Arthur in a similar method. Slowly more than half of the mercenary in the room signed the oath while the rest returned them to the guards.
“I am happy to see that more than half of you chose to stick around, but I must ask those of you who did not sign to leave and speak with my second in command.” Captain Tasuis pointed to his lieutenant who stood by the door with his left hand raised above his head for everyone to see.
At his request everyone who did not sign followed the lieutenant out of the room leaving the captain to explain what they had been hired to do. “As I am sure you all know there was an attack several months ago that was orchestrated by a group of bandits that calls themselves the Rusted Daggers. They have been a nuisance in my side from the moment I have been captain and we now know where they've been hiding. That is why you are all going to assist in the raid and put them to an end, once and for all.”