An argument broke out in the cable carriage back down.
“Marius, I am not negotiating with him again. You know I hate it. I hate him. He hates me.” Svenja sat there sullenly with her arms crossed.
“He doesn’t hate you Svenja, he’s scared of you. There’s a big difference. Besides, he knows he can get higher prices out of me than you. He’ll up-sell Ulman on Scrolls, and Grunt is still banned after the Axe-icdent.”
“If all it takes to not have to do this again is getting banned, I will shoot the dirty Dwarf if he looks at me funny again.”
Marius just looked at her sternly, and Svenja let out an exasperated sigh and kicked the inside of the door.
“Fine. This is the last time, and I’m going to buy all the new arrows he has in stock.”
Patrick couldn’t help but smile at the tantrum Svenja was throwing. She saw Patrick smile and scowled at him, as he tried to hide it by looking out the window of the cable carriage. He had been distracted on the ride up, so he had missed the complete view of the city. Just like on the balcony in the room, he could see out over the entire city, and more. Looking down, he could see the different levels of the city right beneath the cable carriage.
It was easy to separate out the different types of districts underneath, with some evidentially trade districts with great courtyards that housed markets, while others were clearly residential districts with plainer buildings. The lower districts they had first travelled through in the carriage seemed livelier, with the upper districts quieter, yet holding a more obvious wealth. Patrick was nudged in the side by Ulman.
“Quick chap, look over there.” he said pointing out one side of the carriage.
From the side of the mountain, a gigantic plume of smoke emerged, followed a second later by a great burst of flame that went high into the air. The gout of flame lasted for a few seconds before tapering off.
“The Dwarven forges underneath the city need to vent the heat numerous times a day.” Ulman said while he laughed at Patrick’s reaction.
“This city is amazing!”
“You haven’t even seen half of it yet my fine fellow, we’ll get you in the original parts of the city soon once we get you all equipped at Menizo's.”
Patrick looked back to the group in the cable carriage. “By the way, who is Menizo?”
Svenja scowled at the mention of the name and turned her head to look out the window.
“Edmir Menizo is probably the world’s greatest [Craftsman]. He has created literal wonders before and was the individual that crafted the sword of the [King]. Edmir is the respected authority on magical items.” provided Marius.
“So, what’s the problem with him?” Patrick asked as he glanced at Svenja.
“It’s not with Edmir. Edmir sequestered himself away a few years ago to work on his masterpiece. He reached a point he wasn’t levelling, no matter how fine the item was. What he is working on is top secret, and no one bar the [King] is aware of what it is. The individual we’ll be dealing with is Abdan, Edmir’s grandson. He was the one who created the prototype Whistle you used in the Dungeon.”
“The dirty Dwarf Svenja mentioned?”
“He is not a dirty Dwarf. Svenja just has problems with him. Abdan took over the Emporium after Edmir left. An excellent [Craftsman] in his own right, but is focused more on the sale of an item rather than the item itself. Edmir would refuse to sell items no matter how much you offered if he felt it wasn’t the item for you, while Abdan would sell his own leg if he could.”
“Believe it or not, I know the type.”
“Svenja is the only person I’ve seen actually haggle him down on price, thus, she is our negotiator whenever we go there.”
“It’s the last time Marius. All the arrows.” came a mutter from the sulking Half-Elf.
Marius pointed out the window ignoring the remark. “There, just down the street from the Academy. The Emporium is the big red domed building.”
Patrick tilted his head looking at it. “Is it meant to look like a circus tent?”
“It’s doesn’t look like a ci-“ Marius started before tilting his head.
“Huh.” Everyone said simultaneously.
----------------------------------------
The group disembarked from the cable carriage outside the Academy before continuing up the street. Individuals passing by would wave at them in recognition, as Marius explained in the Adventurers quarter, there is an unwritten rule to give Adventurers their space. It was the first time Patrick was able to have a look in the shops as they passed them by, and he was able to stop to have a look at their wares.
The first shop he saw on several cauldrons out the front that had magical spoons stirring themselves. Each cauldron was huge in size, containing vibrant liquids that would often belch coloured smoke into the air. Patrick stopped by the first cauldron that contained a rich pink liquid and was pulled back by Ulman just before he leant over to smell it.
“Not a wise choice, the owner will curse you if you ruin her products. Best potion maker in Tyril however.”
“C..Curse me?”
“Dezzie is a [Witch], and can react unpredictably. Look, but don’t touch. On second thought, don’t look too long in case she spots us loitering.”
Patrick pointed to the liquid. “What is it?”
“Unrefined Health Tonic. Looks of remarkable quality, definitely don’t risk ruining it.”
Marius called over from the next store. “Patrick, come have a look at this. You’ll love it.”
As he wandered over, he saw Marius and Svenja at the back of a small crowd outside a large working yard containing statues of all shapes and sizes. Marius pointed to the side of the yard where there was a statue at least twelve feet tall. Three individuals surrounded the statue as one of them placed a small black box on the ground, before opening it and removing a bright glowing stone.
Preempting Patrick’s question, Ulman looked at him and said “Golem Core. They are about to activate it.”
One of the individuals lifted the Core up to the Golem, and it levitated out of his grasp and hung in the air in front of the Golem. Light streamed from the Core towards the Golem, before with a flash it embedded itself into the centre of its torso. The crowd held their breathe, before the sound of stone cracking filled the air and the Golem took an unsteady step forward. The crowd applauded as the three individuals began circling the Golem inspecting it before they directed it back into the workshop. The Golem paused just before the workshop and looked towards the crowd. There was an unsettling sentience in its gaze as it took in the crowd before it continued inside.
“One of the many Golem Workshops around the city. This one specifically creates them for the Academy for training purposes. You’ll practice against them at higher levels.”
The fear of having to fight a twelve-foot Golem filled Patrick, but Marius just laughed. “It’s okay, only at higher levels and you’ll be taught how to beat them. Nothing to worry about!”
Patrick didn’t believe him, but he just gritted his teeth, and nodded still feeling the determination from earlier.
He was pulled onward until they reached the giant red tent. Marius had to keep dropping back to pull Svenja forward as she kept trying to drop behind and disappear. They reached the entrance of the tent, and they gestured Patrick to enter first. He went to enter, but as he reached the threshold, he rebounded off a barrier and fell back holding his nose as his eyes watered.
He was steadied immediately by Marius who was chuckling alongside Ulman. Svenja even let a small smile slip before resorting back to her scowl.
“Sorry Patrick, Adventurers rite of passage. Menizo’s has a few security measures, and you need to be admitted before entering for the first time. Prevents unsavoury individuals, or banned customers from getting in.” Marius pointed towards a bell that had a rope hanging from it. “Pull that rope.”
Trying his best Svenja impression, Patrick scowled back at Marius. “Let me guess, it dumps water on me, or opens a trapdoor underneath me?”
“Uh… no…”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He held the scowl for a moment longer.
“Ugh, fine. You’re no fun. No, don’t pull the rope. Just place your hand on the barrier and hold it there for a few seconds.”
Patrick tentatively placed his hand on the barrier preparing to pull it back in case anything happened, but the barrier dissolved after a few seconds allowing him entry. Looking back, he saw the group had taken a step back before giving him a thumbs up.
“Only precautionary fine fellow. Should you not have been given entry, you would have been thrown back.”
Patrick gave a genuine scowl. “Don’t you think you should have told me that?”
“Well, you ruined the fun with the bell.”
“What does the bell do?”
“De-robes the person who pulls it.”
Patrick spluttered in outrage, but the group swiftly moved past him into the tent, pulling him inside.
----------------------------------------
The outrage turned to shock as Marius had to manually close Patrick’s mouth. The inside of the tent was impressive to say the least. Looking up, instead of seeing the roof the tent, Patrick only saw a starry sky that seemed to stretch on infinitely. Every so often, the constellations would glow and animate into shapes of beasts and bound across the sky before dissipating and reforming into stars.
The ground of the Emporium was filled with row after row of items and equipment. One side was filled exclusively with every make and style of armour that could be imagined, while the other side contained rack after rack of weapons. A number of glass cases lined the walls containing items, and Patrick swore he saw one of the swords growl at him as they walked by. The back wall contained shelves of Scrolls and Stones.
A Dwarf in vibrant purple clothing emerged from behind one of the racks. He was decked out in elegant purple robes, with multiple rings on his fingers, and a number of necklaces around his neck. His long beard was finely braided, each braid ending in glowing jewels. He raised his hands when he saw the group and smiled.
“My favourite customers! Welcome, welcome. A monumental return for the heroes of our age. Anything the Menizo family can do for you is a gift upon itself.”
He walked up to Marius and kissed him on each cheek, before bowing to the rest of the group, pausing ever so slightly at Svenja. He turned to Patrick. “Welcome my wonderful Wanderer, any friend of a Kent is a friend of mine. Welcome to the Menizo Emporium, wonders await and any problem you have, we have a solution to.”
Marius clasped his hand on his shoulder. “You’re as welcoming as always Abdan. We have a lot to discuss, but we have some shopping to do for Patrick here, as well as restock on supplies before we take off in the next couple of days. He is starting in the Academy tomorrow, he will need Adventurers basics, and we’ll pick out a few bespoke items for him.”
“Ah, of course. A Menizo guarantee that we will always make a good deal for a member of the Kent family to ensure their success. Please. let me show you some wonderous items I'm sure you'll be delighted with!”
“Oh, don’t worry Abdan. I’ll browse the items with Patrick. Svenja can discuss the prices with you.”
Abdan paled and gulped. “Ah, but we have some fine items I am sure you would be inter-“
“They have items to browse, and I do not want to be here too long. Bring the standard supplies, a list of new inventory, and then show me your arrows.” interrupted Svenja stepping forward with her arms crossed.
Marius pulled Patrick away towards the armour section as Svenja began complaining about the quality of the items they had received previously.
They moved to one side of the Emporium, with Ulman going towards the back where the Scrolls were. Marius let out a chuckle once they were out of earshot. “Abdan is a good fellow, but it’s always great to see him sweat a little bit.”
Marius pointed him towards a rack of leather armour. “These are probably the best for you now. Leather armour is more mobile but will give better protection than cloth. You should try something like this out before going to something heavier”
He began browsing the rack, looking at the tags on each one before tutting and moving on. Patrick followed him unsure of what he was meant to be looking at. A set of bright yellow leather armour caught his eye. As soon as he touched the tag, a pop-up appeared in his vision.
[Acid Leaper Armour. Rare. No Aspects. Unascended]
Leave danger, and then leave danger! The Acid Leaper Armour is a sure way to leave an impression. By using one of the charges of this armour, your leap is greatly enhanced, and you leave behind a pool of highly corrosive, Menizo branded acid ©. Your foes will be so distracted by the flamboyant flair and eye-catching leap, the acid will be the last thing they notice. Menizo is not responsible for any self-harm due to acid pool, or incidents relating to leaping in front of an airship, that’s a Menizo guarantee!
“Acid pools, what the…” muttered Patrick, before he put the tag down and followed Marius.
He shook his head before following Marius who had reached the end of the rack of leather armour. Marius had a frown on his face as he turned to Patrick. “I don’t see any options that are standing out to me. There was one option for an armour set called Feline Ferociousness that gives enhanced evasion, but a side effect that you’ll meow every time you dodge.”
“That’s not the worst side effect, right?”
“It is when you become known as the 'mewling [Brawler]'.”
“Point taken. Hey Marius, I actually had a question…”
“Sure buddy.”
“Why do people keep calling you Lord Kent?”
Marius paused, before his shoulders slumped a little bit. “Ah, yes. It’s not something I like to talk about unless required. My family is one of the founding families of Tyril. I come from money, but once people know, that it’s all they see me for. People look at me, and just presume any success I have is due to my family. Jax, who you have met is the worst example of it. He leans on the Kent family name all the time.”
Patrick laughed. “I get it about Jax, he seemed like a bit of a jerk, but the family thing is not worst thing to admit, but I get it.”
He got a smile in return, before Marius continued browsing the armour sets. They continued in browsing in silence which was broken every now and then with the sound of Abdan’s protests.
After a moment, Marius called out. “Hey Patrick, what about this?”
“What is it, Lord Kent?”
Marius’ head shot up over the rack. “Do not start that. It took me months to get Grunt to stop doing it.”
Patrick could only laugh as he moved around the rack to where Marius was pointing at a cloth tunic.
“I thought you said cloth wouldn’t be useful?”
“I may have been wrong, check it out.”
Seeing Marius’ excitement, he touched the tag as a pop-up appeared.
[Tunic of Liquid Stone. Epic. No Aspects. Unascended]
Move like liquid and feel like stone. The faster you move in this tunic, the harder the material comes. A rolling stone gathers no moss, or arrows for that matter. This enchanted material will grow tougher the more kinetic energy you put into it and will dissipate quickly once you stop. An Epic level item that provides benefits as you level, as the quicker you move, the stronger the enchantment. Menizo is not responsible for the slow movement of its wearer, or particularly strong blows that overpower the enchantment. That’s a Menizo guarantee!
“This… does sound pretty good actually. I put more of a focus into Strength than Dexterity though, will that be a problem?”
“I don’t think so, you’ll just have to adapt your fighting to move a little more which is never a bad thing. You will have less protection than leather than if you’re just standing still or moving slowly.”
Patrick nodded. “Let’s go for it. How much is it?”
Marius grimaced. “It’s an Epic level item, so won’t be cheap. It’ll probably use most of what Svenja gave for the Boots, and a little more. We’ll cover it with the line of credit and royalties. It’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? I don’t wan-“
“It’ll be fine, we’ll recoup the costs quickly.”
Marius held his finger down on the tag, which glowed red as he looked at Patrick. “This marks it for purchase, saves us from lugging around heavy items. Abdan will organise it to be delivered to the palace. Come, lets have a look at the weapons.”
They moved over to the weapons, catching sound of Svenja still negotiating with Abdan.
“Lady Svenja, please. The goods were of perfect-“
“Do not call me Lady. I did not come from money, so don’t pretend like I am of money.”
“I did not mean to be offensive I prom-“
“Offensive like the fletching on the last batch of arrows you gave me? I could have sworn they were ‘Arrows of being able to curve around the fucking corner’ they drifted so much.”
Even Marius grimaced at the exchange as he whispered to Patrick. “She’s not usually this rude, but she is a great negotiator. Usually, Abdan would ban someone for this type behaviour, but I’m guessing he knows he can flaunt our name for a much bigger profit.”
They reached the weapon racks, and spotted Ulman with an arm full of Scrolls, who panicked as he was spotted. “Merely perusing, and anything excess shall come out of my own pocket, Marius.” before he backed off out of sight as Marius put his face in his hands and groaned before continuing.
“Here, ignore the martial weapons. They won’t really compliment your Class, but you’ll still be trained in them as part of the Improvisational Weapons course in the Academy, no point spending money on them though.” Marius said as he led Patrick to a rack of clubs and maces. “You’ll probably want to hit harder and more often than looking for an opening. These are probably the most suitable weapons, but you don’t need to make a call on them now.”
Patrick tore his eyes away from a gem encrusted sword that seemed to be made from water, before he moved over looking at the weapons. Bludgeoning weapons of all types were on the racks, but after hefting a few in his hands and checking the tags he disregarded them. He went over the rack a few times in case he missed anything, but eventually shook his head at Marius in disappointment.
“Nothing here that stands out to me.”
“It’s understandable. Weapons are a little more intimate than armour. You need to find one that speaks to you either metaphorically, or literally.”
“Literally?”
“Yeah, you can get intelligent weapons, or literally bond with a weapon that it becomes sentient. It’s what Grunt is working towards with his axe.”
Patrick could only raise his eyebrows in response but chose not to question it further. He went further down the aisle to another rack before he called out to Marius. “Hey, what do you think about this one?
Marius came over and touched the tag before he laughed. “Now that could definitely be a viable option.”
Finished browsing the wares, they returned to the middle of the store.
----------------------------------------
Abdan and Svenja had finished negotiating, with Abdan sweating profusely.
“Blessed Domain be praised, Lord Kent, I hope you have found everything to your satisfaction?” Abdan said relieved as Marius and Patrick rejoined them.
“We’ve marked a few items for purchase, and we would appreciate the standard additional enchantments for cleaning and repair to be placed on them. I trust everything else is to satisfaction?” Marius said with a smile as he looked at Svenja who nodded.
“I fear Menizo’s Emporium will not be able to stay in business long should I continue to provide such excellent deals as I just said to La… Svenja.”
“Your generosity is always appreciated Abdan. I trust the items we have chosen will also be given at a favourable rate?”
Abdan’s smile strained even further, but before he could respond, Marius continued. “We also found some unique items in the Dungeon that we’ll be looking to sell. We’d be honoured for you to have first refusal on them.
Colour returned to Abdan’s face at the offer. “Of course. We would be honoured to appraise and purchase the items. Is there anything additional I can do for my favourite member of the Kent family?”
“I think that will be all for today, Abdan. The only additional thing to make you aware of is that Patrick here is to be provided a line of credit from the Kent household. He will need to stock up on other basics as required over the coming weeks. I will have someone send over the paperwork tomorrow morning.”
Abdan bowed, with a drop of sweat hitting the floor. “As always, a pleasure. I will have everything delivered to your rooms this evening.”
The group collected their receipt, and with a wave back to a defeated Abdan, headed back to the palace for the first night of festivities.