After a few hours, my search concluded with finding the three items. The search took as long as it did because I wanted to stop and identify each individual piece. And though I didn’t possess the ability to identify magical items, Theon was more than happy to assist me with that task. I had also asked Theon to identify the ring and the robe I had obtained earlier from the thugs in the alley.

Despite going through the items, I could not find anything overly special. It seemed that most items were weapons geared towards various combat classes instead of casters. I finally looked at the items once again.

Robe of Tarlus the Great

Item Type: Magical garment – Uncommon

Description: This robe, often given to the new recruits of a Mage Guild provides 15% slashing and stabbing damage reduction. The robe typically has a symbol on it that identifies the guild.

Ring of minor healing

Item type: Magical jewelry – uncommon

Description: This ring provides 20% increased healing to the wearer. If worn by a caster, it also provides the caster with the ability to remember 1 extra level of Spells.

Then there were the three items. I decided to get a different robe to avoid getting into a conflict with the guild that the original owner of the robe belonged to.

Red Robe of Spellcrafters

Item type: Magical garment – Uncommon

Description: This robe is part of a set. This is a base robe that can be upgraded. This robe allows for a few effects.

Wearer gets protection from all physical attacks and damage is reduced by 20%

Wearer get +2 Intelligence +2 Wisdom

Spell cooldown is reduced by 10%

Boots of the lost wanderer

Item type: Magical accessory – Uncommon

Description: This item reduces stamina usage by 10% for any movement. It also allows the wearer to trace back wherever he may have walked wearing the shoes.

Wand of minor Telekinesis

Item Type: Magical wand – Uncommon

Alignment: Magic users only

Charges: 9

Description: This wand made of glass allows the user to lift and move items no heavier than 1 lb or bigger than the length of the wand. The charges fill back up at one per day.

I put on my new items, collected the gold and walked out of the store with Daniella briefly glancing back to see the store owner with a smile going from ear to ear.

“You know I kinda agree with ranger girl. I think you totally got taken back there. I mean exchanging the seriously bad mojo uber curse item for those items. I mean the items aren’t even anything special. Like I could understand had you got like a magic lamp or a ring that made all women want you but that..bruh!” Jimmy spoke in my mind.

As if Daniella was on cue, she also started to tell me what a huge mistake I had made with that ring. I held the ring now tightly in his fist after he had taken off the string it was attached to and was just focused on it.

“Dude, bro, wake up! Are you even listening to me and the ranger?”

“Have you ever held the ring before in your palm?” I asked Daniella.

“Yes. Many of us have. It was a running joke a long while back where we would offer to take on the item just to see what the description was and wonder who would be so dumb to take on a cursed item intentionally. We were young and stupid but still, I just don’t understand. A couple of guys came close to getting it just for the Stats. They smartened up in the end. That curse is a mean one and it doesn’t come off. Imagine not ever being able to own anything again. Nor being able to hold more than a handful of coins as your entire wealth. It pretty much keeps you from rising to any level of success or waelth,” Daniella said.

“Here hold it again in your palm and see the description.”

Daniella took a deep breath and held the coin in her hand resulting in a system message.

Item: The Soul of Amalya

Type: Magic coin – Artifact

This coin carries upon it a powerful enchantment. The coin may only be given to someone who accepts it willingly and knowingly and without any coercion or compulsion.

Benefits

1 May Cast Soul Seeker once every 3rd day.

2 All Stats gain +5 while the Coin is in your possession.

The possessor of this coin will be linked to Amalya, the goddess of Mana and Magic. She had given up all her earthly possessions before ascending and thus the possessor of this coin will exist in the same way until the curse of the coin is removed.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

You, the possessor of this coin, may not hold any wealth, land, or property. You may not have in possession more than a handful of coins. You may not hoard anything. You may only have the clothing and items that you can carry on you without any magical assistance. At the dawn of each day, all your wealth except what you carry in earnest will disappear and be deposited at the foot of the bottomless sea.

Amalya was born of the Sand and the sea. Each day would wash away a part of her with the sea. Each night her heart would come alive as the waves splashed against the world. She felt alone still for a long time until she was blessed with a child. Amalya poured all her love onto that child. When that child was five, however, he was cursed by a demon king. The demon king had been jealous of Amalya and her luck and fortune. The demon king out of jealousy bound the child’s soul into a rock to hurt Amalya. When Amalya found her son, she was distraught. She sought out a cure for his curse but there was no finding it. Lost of all other options, she took the child now in the form of the rock, to the god of the forge and pleaded with him for help. He worked on the rock and turned it into a coin. The coin now held the soul of the child. Amalya asked the god of the forge to also turn her into a coin surrounding him so he did and now she would protect him from the entire world. The demon king though as evil as he was, took the coin that was her son and hid him somewhere in the world so she would not be with him. She is now the ring that aches to be reunited with her son.

New Quest: A goddess and her son

You have been offered a quest.

You must reunite the goddess Amalya who is in the form of a ring coin with her son who is also similarly in the form of a coin.

Reward

1. Experience

2. Release of the curse

3. A new skill

4. Boon of a goddess

Failure will lead to continuation of the curse.

“So, it is a secret quest item. I don’t understand how that has shown up now. Did you activate the quest somehow?” asked Daniella.

“Yea there is an incantation associated with it. It’s partially etched into the coin. I remembered what it was when I saw the coin and the inscription. I still wasn’t sure what I remembered was accurate, but I took the chance and it seemed to have worked.”

“I suppose you know where the other part of this coin is to complete the quest?” asked Daniella.

“No, I do not. Not a single clue. But now at least I know where to go from here. And if I can complete this quest, it will help quite a bit. Plus, there is something else that I will have to tell you later about this coin that I do know.”

“Now you have piqued my curiosity!”

“All in due time Daniella.” I just smiled back.

The two of us had finished their tour of the city or at least the district to my moderate satisfaction so we started on our way back. I was curious about a few more places and wanted to see more but that could wait for now. We turned on a street and found several men standing around. As we walked past, the men spread out to block our way.

“Is there a problem?” Danielle asked while I stayed quiet with my head down slightly.

“Oh look, the girl is asking if there is a problem,” Snickered one of the men while hitting another in his shoulder to get attention.

“Maybe she’s the one we should be talking to. Maybe she’s the man in the relationship,” said another.

“Well, she IS carrying that big bow. So, tell me guy, do you like her using that bow on you in the late hours?” Another one asked.

There were about nine of them. All dressed very similar to each other making me suspect they likely belonged to some type of local gang or something. None of them seemed like professional adventurers or of a particularly high level from the way they carried themselves. They were standing in a triangle formation with the probable leader in the front and the rest lined up behind him.

“It’s best if you let us pass. We do not want to cause anyone any harm,” Danielle spoke up again while I continued to be quiet.

“Did you hear her Marley; she doesn’t want to cause us any harm,” One said resulting in the other laughing out loud.

“You do know there are eleven of us here and only 2 of you. Any I’m not sure your husband has a tongue. Or perhaps, he would prefer that we take his money and you along with us. With a body like yours, I’m sure we could show you a good time,” said the leader with a smirk and a wink.

“Eleven of you…I only count you and your two friends” I said.

The leader grimaced and then he looked back as did his two friends right behind him to the rest who were on the ground. The leader quickly pulled out a sword that he had been holding behind his back but before he could make a move, Danielle already had her bow out and an arrow knocked. As he tried to take a step forward towards us, he found an arrow in his eye.

The other two were still confused about what happened and soon found arrows in each of their chests. The leader had not died and despite the arrow sticking out of his eye, he yelled a scream and leapt towards Danielle. Before he could reach her, he had two more arrows in him with one of them in his head.

The other two were still alive and tried to make an escape but Danielle’s arrows found them a quicker path out of this terror and into the afterlife. She moved with an incredible speed and precision making me wonder if she could have just easily taken them all out on her own. I also wondered how well she would have done in the alley if she had her bow against those other goons.

“I had no idea you were able to cast a sleeping spell,” said Daniella while still looking at the sleeping bodies, “what should we do with all of them?”

“I didn’t cast one, I cast 2 of them. I’m not sure what to do with them. Perhaps we can donate their bodies to science.”

“I don’t understand what that means,” Danielle looked at me puzzled.

“It’s nothing. I was just joking around.”

I didn’t tell her that he had only learned the Sleep spell earlier this morning from the book that I got out of the box belonging to mage from the alley. I also didn’t tell her that as we had walked, I had been practicing the spell on strangers. I was of course limiting my subjects to the ones that wouldn’t come to harm if they were to fall asleep suddenly. Strangers made for great practice on non-harmful spells. I didn’t get any experience towards my class out of it but the skill itself did advance this way to some degree.

I was surprised she didn’t notice many people around us that were sleeping in awkward positions and odd situations. The sleep spell wasn’t’ obvious when it was cast. The person who was affected by it wouldn’t just collapse suddenly to the ground but rather would slump down slowly as if they absolutely couldn’t stay awake any longer and when on the ground, they would fall to sleep in a millisecond without making much of a noise. The Leader of this group was too confidant and loud that he did not even bother to look behind him and neither did the men he was with.

I had cast the initial spell on the furthest one in the back and it had taken out 3 of them as they were the weakest of the bunch. With a short cooldown, I was able to cast another instance of the spell in just a moment later effecting three more.

“Two?” She moved her gaze off the men on the ground and at me instead, “If Mother was here, she would want to spare them. She would say how the current state has reduced them to this type of behavior and we should help them become better instead of giving up on them.”

I saw a cold look come over her as she pulled out the dagger sheathed on her left waist.

“I, however, am not my mother. I saw the harm they would have caused me, and you had we not been in a superior position to them. I saw the evil in their eyes. And I will not let them awaken to hurt another who would not be able to defend herself.”

I was a little surprised at her reaction. I knew she could kill but I would not have expected her to kill in cold blood. I would not have expected her to kill men who were no longer a threat to us. But she was right. These men were evil. Even if circumstances forced them to act in such a way, ultimately it was their decision. She was also right that they would have harmed others if they were allowed to live. Was killing the right thing though? This world was certainly made for killers. It even rewarded people who fought and killed by giving them experience and making them even stronger. Even I only got as strong as I did by killing, I don’t know how many monsters. I did my best to avoid hurting innocents in any way but was I always successful? I had never given it much thought but it’s possible there may have been innocent people that died from my actions if not directly then indirectly.

But there is no other way that I can see. If I don’t fight to protect then I’m only going to leave the weak at the mercy of the strong and this world is just too cruel.

Daniella walked forth and systematically went through each of the sleeping men and stabbed them in their neck for a quick death. They would each awaken for a moment when they were being pierced but none lasted long enough to be able to even scream let alone save themselves.

“Something about her is just so amazing and scary all at the same time. I think I may be in love,” Said Jimmy in my mind after having been quiet for a long period of time.

Daniella wiped the blood of her dagger and then collected all the weapons she could find on the men.

“Do you think me cruel for killing these men while they slept?”

I looked at her for a moment, “No. I think you did the right thing. What you said is true and they would have hurt others. Even the spell I cast was meant to incapacitate enemies in and out of a fight.”

We both walked back to Demira’s Manor in quiet. The streets continued to have a lot of activity from people and shops. Daniella kept alert to her surroundings given the progression of the evening. I continued to use my sleep spell whenever I could safely on individuals nearby. Daniella was able to catch me doing it more often now since I had told her how I was practicing it earlier.