Zalia stood in front of a small door. The seamstress had directed her to this shop, a small place a few streets away. She was currently stuck holding her new clothes since her bag was too small to hold it. Using one hand to open and push through the door, she had to duck inside. As she entered, the space expanded into a giant room the size of which wouldn't fit in the building she'd seen from the outside.
The room being an extra dimensional space was impressive in itself. More impressive, however, was the fact that the shelves filling the space were lined with an expansive array of enchanted and magical items. All of them seemed to have a common theme in that they were containers of some sort, presumably enchanted with some kind of magic. Behind a counter stood a portly man with an incredible beard,
"Greetings young lady, how can I be of service today," the man said, his voice deep and vibrant.
"Good day, I heard you sell some sort of magical bags. I'm looking to be able to carry more than I can right now," Zalia replied, raising her arms filled with clothes to accentuate her point.
"I see, a simple bag I assume? From the looks of you nothing flashy but something that will blend in. I must warn you if you've never used one before, you'll still have to carry the weight of everything in there," the man replied.
"Yes and yes, what do you mean by that last part?" Zalia asked, intrigued.
"I mean, you'll have extra space but the weight of everything will still be there," he answered.
"Makes sense, what do you recommend?" She asked.
The man seemed happy that she wasn't going to argue with him about the whole weight thing, showing her a few items.
? - Silver rank
Congratulations! Aura identification has reached Tin 3.
"Silver rank at bag making? This guy must be old to have reached that. Though my herbalist class doesn't seem to be advancing too much slower then my hunter one," she thought.
Zalia decided on a bag similar to her own. It was a thin thing, fitting sleekly around her back and holding close to her body. It wouldn't get in the way if she didn't have time to drop it before she fought someone,
"How much?" Zalia asked, preparing herself.
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"One gold fifty," the man replied.
It was a little more than she was hoping for but not exorbitantly expensive,
"Alright, I can do that," she said.
She handed over the coins and transferred everything to her new bag, putting her snow jacket in there too. She would no longer stand out by being way overdressed for the weather,
"My name is Zalia, it was nice to meet you Mr..?" Zalia said.
"Taron and likewise Lady Zalia," Taron said.
"I'm no lady," Zalia laughed, "just Zalia will do fine."
"Zalia then, good day to you," he replied.
"And a good day to you too sir," she said, leaving the shop.
Zalia bought a nice pastry roll from a street vendor on her way out of town. It had some kind of meat she thought was probably from one of those cow-like creatures she had seen. She felt a little bad for eating it, the animals had been cute.
Zalia left the town on the north west side, making her way in the general direction the notice had said the farm was. She mentally noted that she should probably get her own map as soon as she could, since it would make life easier. Along her way, Zalia found a new type of herb,
? (Helpful) - Tin rank
Picking as much as she could from the plant she felt something from it, her Herbal magic skill telling her she could perform a ritual with it. She decided to test it out, pulling some out and using preparation on it the plant was dried and turned into a fine dust after which it gently floated into a small ring around her with some runes forming. The whole thing glowed a light green before it vanished,
Congratulations! Herbal magic gained two levels reaching Tin 6.
The whole thing had been almost instinctual, Zalia understanding not necessarily what was happening but what it was providing. The ritual would very slightly redirect attacks that came towards her for the next half hour, providing some measure of protection or rather enhancement of dodging. She decided to name the plant Dodge-vine, for its ability and the way it grew up the side of a tree like a vine, she looked back down at some more in her hand,
Dodge-vine (Potent) - Tin rank.
She decided to keep her stash of it in her bag, it didn't activate fast enough to be used in a fight but previous to one would be needed. She thought it probably levelled her Herbal magic skill quite a bit because it was an entirely new ritual and the first one she had actually performed. Everything else she had done with herbs so far had just been directly applied as a poison or eaten.
Quite happy with her find, Zalia eventually found her way to the farmers house. She had to ask a few people she saw on her way there for directions, eventually ending up in front of the right door. She had to knock a few times before it opened up before her,
"Hello, I saw your notice on the board in Alston and I've come to help, may I come in?" Zalia asked.
Before her was a very old lady, bent over and wrinkled from age,
"Oh yes dear, please do. I just baked some fresh bread, would you like some?" The woman asked, turning away and shuffling into the house immediately.
Zalia smiled, "don't mind if I do," she said.