Chapter 86 Quickly
“As much as I would like to stand on ceremony when bestowing legendary items, even if only temporarily, let’s get this over with quickly so we can all get back to our preparations.” Edward said while unlocking the old oaken chest with the enchanted silver key. He heaved the heavy lid open and grabbed the first piece of gear before gesturing Isaac over.
Isaac approached and saw a gambeson made of an indigo thread that looked almost like cotton but he was sure that it wasn’t made of such a mundane material. The stitching and buttons were platinum. Not the color of platinum but real platinum thread and buttons. There were dozens of enchantment runes stitched across it made of those same platinum threads and the item seemed to devour mana as it powered its multilayered enchantments.
“The Gambeson of the Guarded Soul.” Edward explained. “It operates much like your Ring of Protection from Divination. It will shroud your soul against magic but not raw mana. Unlike your ring that merely causes magical effects to be unable to target you properly this will block them entirely. Most magic that affects or targets your soul should be stopped cold.”
“Like Ancestral Guardians?” Lenna questioned.
“Yes. That is why I requested it.” Edward replied.
“What is Ancestral Guardians?” Isaac asked.
“A high level necromancy spell that calls upon the souls of the dead that have a strong attachment to the caster.” Michael explained. “It is most often used by clerics to call upon the deceased holy warriors of their god to protect them.”
“In this case it will actually be our ancestors.” Lenna continued. “They are vindictive and relentless. Their power will be extremely limited but if pressed I do not doubt that my uncle would call upon them.”
Isaac nodded to Edward. “Good thinking.” He said and took the gambeson. “Anything I need to know about the armor? How’s its protection? My armor isn’t going to fit over it nicely, if at all.”
“Your armor will be useless.” Lenna replied.
“It will stop slashing attacks and should stop stabbing ones from punching through but I wouldn’t trust it.” Edward explained. “You will have to put it on last as its effect will make attuning to anything else impossible.”
“Attuning?” Isaac questioned.
“Most magic items that have specific effects that rely on the wearer will attune to the person in question.” Alexander explained.
“We will get to the process in a moment.” Edward said and pulled out another item. “Let’s get through the rest of these first.” He held out a set of jewelry. It was a pair of bracelets, a pair of anklets, and a circlet. All were made of gold and had platinum runes carved into them. “The Lets of Quickness.” Edward explained and handed them to Isaac.
Isaac put the gambeson in his Inventory. “I take it they do something related to going fast or the Quicken spell that Fable and Esk use?” He asked.
Edward nodded. “Yes. These are much stronger than any other type of item that allows you to use the spell. Once attuned to them all you have to do is speak the spell’s name and they will activate and power it for you for a full five minutes.” He explained.
“You will move through time at twice your normal speed.” Fable explained. “Gravity will be enhanced on you as well so you can maintain traction.”
“Does that mean I’ll age twice as fast while the spell is active?” Isaac asked.
“Yes.” Fable explained. “For all a few minutes here and there matters.”
Isaac nodded. “Is there any way to stop the spell once it’s active?”
Edward shook his head while Alexander nodded. “Not really.” Edward said.
“Sort of.” Alexander said at the same time.
“So, which is it?” Isaac asked and Edward nodded to Alexander so the wizard could explain.
“The spell can be dispelled like any other spell. The thing is that the item has an internal clock and if the five minutes duration has not gone by then the item will immediately recast the spell until the five minutes is up.” Alexander explained. “The item itself can also be used every hour or so. The Lets require an hour of off time to recharge.”
“The duration and number of potential uses per day along with their near indestructibility are why they are classified as legendary items.” Izen explained. “Please, do not find a way to break them.”
Isaac nodded and put the Lets in his Inventory. “Alright, now what?” He asked.
Edward pulled out an amulet and offered it to Isaac. The amulet was on a cord of braided gold that served as its chain. The amulet itself was a simple shield that had a horizontal and a vertical line drawn across it. The shield was gold and the lines were platinum. Isaac didn’t see the enchantments until he turned it over. Behind the shield was a diamond a quarter of an inch thick that fit perfectly inside the rear of the shield. Inside the diamond there was a complex lattice of platinum threads that drew out the enchantments.
“That is the Amulet of the Hero.” Izen explained before Edward could. “It has been in my family for generations and is a national treasure. Please take care of it and return it in one piece.”
“What does it do?” Isaac asked with a hint of awe in his voice at the ridiculousness of diamond being used like a fluid medium for the enchantments.
“It will keep you from dying.” Edward explained simply.
“More specifically,” Alexander began. “If it detects an attack that will kill you it will nullify the attack on contact with your skin. The number of times that it can do that is directly related to the strength of the attack it absorbed.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“If Jallen hits you with everything he’s got it will only hold up against an attack or two.” Edward warned and Izen paled.
“That amulet can stop an ancient dragon’s breath, twice.” Izen protested. “Jallen V’Nova is still a mortal, is he not?”
“He’s right.” Lenna replied. “I have seen my uncle fight an ancient dragon. The dragon left after one exchange of blows.”
Isaac couldn’t keep himself from cracking a slight grin at the thought of fighting someone that strong. Especially if the items he was receiving were going to almost even the playing field. “What happens when the amulet is used up?” Isaac asked.
“It will start emitting light based on the amount of damage it has absorbed. The light will look gold in color at the beginning but will steadily turn white. Once it is completely white it will not be able to absorb any more and will go inert until the absorbed power is bled off.” Edward explained.
“By it emitting light.” Isaac surmised.
“Precisely.” Alexander replied. With the final item in Isaac’s hand the box was empty.
“I was going to requisition the Vampiric Blade but, upon further thought, I realized that the blade won’t be able to draw Jallen’s blood through his armor so the effect would be useless to you.” Edward said and reached into the satchel at his hip before pulling out a vial. “Be careful with this.” He warned Isaac.
Isaac put the amulet on and received the vial. “What is it?”
“A Ten Men potion.” Fable explained. “He’s right. It’ll kill you if you aren’t careful.”
Isaac’s eyes darted back and forth between the two high leveled warriors. “Why?” He asked.
“The Ten Men potion is known to be too powerful for most people’s bodies to handle. It will increase your strength by a flat twenty five and your constitution by just as much.” Alexander explained. “It was made by a legendary alchemist as a proof of concept but unfortunately almost everyone who has ever drank it has died as the potion burned through their mana pathways and body alike.”
“It won’t kill you.” Fable told Isaac with certainty. “If I survived it then you will as well. That doesn’t mean it’ll be pleasant.”
“You drank one!” Edward whirled on the old adventurer. “How did you survive?”
“I had Eclastia with me.” Fable explained. “It took everything she had to keep me alive for the full minute long duration.”
“The Pope of the Church of War?” Edward questioned.
Fable nodded. “Yes.” He replied. “I fought off a wounded Ancient and two Adult dragons with it. I have never felt as powerful nor been in as much pain before.” Fabel
“Well…” Edward said and then looked back to Isaac. “As I was about to explain, expect it to hurt. Even with everything you can do to heal and strengthen yourself it won’t be pleasant. But,” He raised a finger for emphasis. “under no circumstances are you to use both the potion and Lets of Quickness at the same time. The potion is nearly lethal already.”
“While you are moving through time at double the rate your perceived mana regeneration will be halved.” Alexander explained. “For most people it has little effect on their combat but for you it will. The potion will also be moving at twice the rate through time which means that you will burn away into dust in a matter of moments. The worst part is that the Amulet of the Hero will not even attempt to save you as it will be from an interior source. It will kill you.”
Isaac nodded gravely and stored the potion. “Understood. I will only use the potion if Jallen is still alive after the Lets wear off.” He replied.
Marie stepped forwards and handed Isaac a box. “I am charging you for these.” She explained and opened the box as he took it from her. Inside were a dozen thin metal rods that were hollow and filled with a light green liquid. Their ends were tapered to allow for easy stabbing and the lot of them were arranged on velvet padding that kept them all in place. “Fifty thousand gold, up front. That’s what I paid for the poison alone.” She explained and Isaac paled at the price.
“What kind of poison is this to cost so damn much?” Isaac wondered.
“Marie, is that what I think it is?” Edward asked.
“Maybe.” She replied non-committedly.
“So? What is it?” Isaac questioned.
“Assassin’s Bane poison.” Marie explained. “It’ll kill almost anything in one dose.”
“The poison belongs to a type of flower that grows in a remote region.” Alexander began. “The magical plant uses the corpses of all creatures that get too close to it as fertilizer to help its root network spread. It is sometimes referred to as the Graveyard Spawning Lilly from the number of corpses that are found around it. Eating one of its Ivy-like leaves will kill an elephant. The poison is basically its watery sap.”
Edward raised an eyebrow at the court wizard. “You seem to know quite a lot about it.”
“There is a wizard in the capital currently trying to recreate the poison using magic. He has caused quite the uproar as of late.” Alexander explained. “On one hand it would be the creation of the most powerful form of poison magic in the world, on the other it would allow for easy access to the most dangerous poison on the planet.”
Edward nodded. “I see.” He said before turning back to Isaac. “Be very careful with those as well. One drop is lethal.”
“Each rod has fifteen times the lethal dose in them.” Marie explained. “I would use at least five rods on Jallen V’Nova.”
Isaac nodded slowly. “It sounds like it won’t even be a fight at this point.” Isaac replied. “The poison alone should do the job, right?”
Lenna shook her head. “No.” She replied. “Jallen has been microdosing himself with poisons of every kind since he was a child. His aura also specializes in removing and blocking foreign and hostile effects. That isn’t even considering magic items and his magical healing. It’ll give you an edge for sure but do not rely on it to kill him.” She warned.
Isaac nodded to Lenna and then looked at Fable. “Be honest with me, with all of this, could I kill Judgment or Catastrophe?”
“Maybe.” Fable said after a moment of thought. “Even if you do, they would just come back. Demigods are really hard to put down for good. Catastrophe wouldn’t stand a chance but Judgement might kill you before the poison kills him.” He thought harder for another long moment. “If poison even works on him.”
Isaac nodded. “Alright. Thanks.” He said to Fable before turning to Alexander. “Now, explain attuning to me.”
Alexander nodded and took a deep breath before beginning his explanation. “The magic items will identify your magical signature and set themselves to only respond to it in some way or another. The Amulet of the Hero will use your mana signature to gauge how durable you are and learn your outline so it knows where to stop the attacks that would kill you. Otherwise it would waste all of its power absorbing your attacks or any attack that was directed in its general direction. The Lets of Quickness will need it so they only listen when you say the command word instead of anyone being able to trigger it and so the spell even works on you. The Gambeson of the Guarded Soul will also need it so it knows where to stop its protection field without interfering with its wearer. Even your Ring of Protection from Divination attunes to you. Because the effect isn’t very strong it doesn’t have to be very precise. The lack of precision means that you probably don’t even notice the miniscule amount of mana that it uses to feel your magical outline and reinforce it.”
Isaac nodded in understanding. “Okay, so what that means for me, right now, is that I need to put everything but the gambeson on now and let them attune. Once they are all ready I can put the gambeson on and then once it is ready I will be ready to go.” Isaac summarized.
“Yes.” Edward replied. “They shouldn’t take very long. A few minutes of you meditating should do it. The only problem is that you should hide the fact that you have them.”
Isaac nodded. “I was going to anyway but why?” He asked.
“If there is a thief of Marie’s level in town I don’t want to lose them because they got the drop on you.” Izen explained.
“Not only that,” Edward continued. “but if we do have a spy in the city and they see you just suddenly got a bunch of legendary gear out of nowhere it will rouse some suspicion. Honestly though, I am more concerned if someone from the Crown’s Inquisitors finds you walking around with a national treasure and two known legendary items that are supposed to be in the duke’s vault.”
Isaac nodded. “Fair enough.” He told Edward before giving Izen a scowl he only half meant. “You think a thief could take something from me without getting disintegrated?” He pressed the duke.
“It is always a possibility.” Izen replied calmly. “Need I remind you of the time you were stabbed in the throat by a seventh level assassin in the middle of the street?”
Isaac’s scowl vanished. “Point taken.” He replied and looked back over everyone gathered. “Now we just have troop placement to go over right?” A few of those gathered nodded. “Am I really necessary for that? I know that Lenna is going to be in the center with the rest of the most powerful of us, along with my drider skeleton, to draw their focus towards the middle but do I really need to know anything else?”
Izen and Edward shared a look. “Not really. Alexander will be in charge of keeping the leadership, Marie, Shy, and Lady V’Nova in contact with each other. When everything starts happening, you, Marie, and Shy will meet by the east gate. Lady V’Nova and your skeletons will join us at the north gate at the same time and then we will go from there.” Izen explained. “If you do not wish to hear about the finer details or offer input then I won’t hold you hostage.”
Isaac smiled at Izen. “Thanks. Aside from how boring that sounds I think it’d be a good idea for Lenna and I to not stick around too long. The goal is to look as normal as possible right? Those messengers and this meeting are anything but.” He replied with a nod. “So with that, enjoy the rest of your meeting.”
“Yes, they will be here in fifty to sixty hours. Rest up and be ready.” Izen said as a dismissal.
Isaac turned to leave and offered Lenna his arm. “Frozen chocolate cake?” He asked as they walked out which caused Sera to giggle behind her hand and the absurdity of the duo going straight from a meeting about the future of the entire dukedom and potentially their mortal lives to talking about frozen desserts.