Before Deacon left the alchemy lab, he wrote up notes for Anry for two new potions to learn: Wood Strengthening and Regen Healing. Of course he omitted the Infernal aspects of the potion he discovered in the Wode. With these new options he hoped the guild alchemist could add more value. With the letters written, Deacon then pulled out some of the ingredients he just put in his bag and laid them out on the worktables. They were only what was necessary to craft the two new potions he wanted Anry to learn.
Once all that was done, Deacon made his way up the stairs to the fourth floor. The sun had gone down at this point but there was still a long queue lined up before the shrine to Chimera. He wondered how recruitment for the guild all over the world must have exploded due to all the new dungeons. A controlled environment with seasoned adventurers a stones throw away. It was a far cry from stumbling upon a dungeon in the wild and hoping you get out alive. Those were Deacon’s last thoughts before he made it to his room. The door opened on its own upon his approach.
Inside he could see his sitting room with the three couches and the staircase up to his floor. On his left was the door to Tantus’s chambers as well as the door to conference room. On his right was the hall that lead to Amanda’s quarters with the door Ralph’s room just off main room. Toward the back of the sixty foot space stood the double doors leading out to the practice field. In the distance through the large glass windows, Deacon could see the boardwalk and pier that lead to the Ferris wheel. Then he noticed the opulent temple that was being constructed on a high peak for Sun Wu.
No sooner than Deacon thought that Sun Wu made his presence known by peeling away from Deacon’s body with a sound like Velcro. Sun Wu was about to say something obnoxious when a screech could be heard followed by the sound of shattering glass.
“Never mind,” said Sun Wu before scrambling toward the double doors leading to the outside.
“Master Deacon, I believe your intervention is needed in Amanda’s room,” came the voice of Alfred without him appearing.
“Well I did want to check up on you but since the manor is up and running, I’ll assume you are feeling better and just go with current situation. Where are Hani and Tantus?” asked Deacon as he jogged down the hall toward Amanda’s room.
“Hani is riding the Ferris wheel, so I doubt he heard this and I’ve just informed Tantus of the situation,” replied Alfred.
“I never get to ride the Ferris wheel,” grumbled Deacon under his breath before arriving at Amanda’s door, “Amanda! Stop breaking shit… I mean are you ok?”
The door was flung open, and a furious looking Amanda stood there, her red hair on full display and looking wild.
“You aren’t funny. You’ve never been funny. What are we doing here? Huh? We need to get back to the Shattered Sky and find the Deep Well. It’s the only lead we have on Ruby. I’m running out of time!” she screamed.
“I am sorry. I thought since they were hunting us laying low weeks away from our known position would confuse and annoy our pursuers. We can go back early tomorrow morning after I pick something up at Mentalba’s. I also figured a good nights sleep would do everyone some good. Traveling with me gets a little rough. Now, I grabbed some food from the cantina downstairs—” Deacon said handing some bread from his bag to Amanda before she slapped it away.
They both just stood there looking at the bread on the ground. Neither of them saying anything or moving. Each breath in and out on her part sounding more frantic before she got a grip on what she was doing. Slowly she got her breathing under control. She swept her locks of red hair out of her face and behind her ears. Then their eyes met as Tantus step up beside them.
“Everything alright?” asked Tantus.
“It’s all good buddy. Just blowing off some steam,” replied Deacon as he floated the bread up and into his bag and not breaking eye contact with Amanda.
“Sorry,” uttered Amanda before spinning on her heel and slamming the door shut behind her.
“What was that about?” asked Tantus.
“You hungry? I’m starving. Hey Alfred, can you set up a table in the sitting room? I’m going to lay out some eats,” said Deacon extra loud in front of Amanada’s room before putting his arm around Tantus and leading him back down the hall.
“But what about Amanda? Isn’t she coming?” asked Tantus looking back over his left shoulder.
“She’s going to need a minute bud. Women am I right?” joked Deacon.
Alfred set up a long table in the middle of the sitting room just tall enough that you could eat by sitting on the nearby couches. Hani and Sun Wu came in from outside while Deacon and Alfred set the table. The conversation was light, with everyone sampling some of what Deacon had brought up from downstairs. Fifteen minutes into the meal Amanda showed up, nodding to everyone as she made herself a plate and returned to her room.
The rest of the evening was uneventful as everyone retired to their respective rooms. All except for Hani. He wanted to sleep on the Ferris wheel for some reason. Alfred converted one of the hanging buckets to accommodate a full sized bed. This baffled Deacon but he was fine with it as long as Alfred could keep an eye on him. Hani has proven himself in Deacon’s eyes, but he was a member of the Shadow guild. As far as Deacon was concerned the contract that brought them together was already fulfilled. Anything else Hani did for them was pro bono.
As Deacon prepared for bed he decided to check in with Alfred. The manor was in good shape, and he wasn’t worried about Alfred’s physical condition, but he was worried about his mental condition since he was recently smashed through.
“Alfred. How are you doing? I know order ninety six didn’t go exactly the way I wanted it too,” Deacon spoke into the air around him.
“My dimensional membrane’s integrity is at ninety eight percent. It was… difficult being untethered from the location I was set up in. I would rather not do that again if it can be avoided,” responded Alfred as he grew up from the ground in front of Deacon. He was wearing a button down white shirt and tight black slacks. Alfred had on very shiny patten leather shoes. His face was drawn and weary.
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Deacon looked over his bonded dungeon spirit with a critical gaze. The clothes were fine. Even the shoes were on point. His brown hair swept up in a man-bun was surprising to Deacon.
“Why the man-bun?” Deacon asked simply.
“As I scoured your memories for a pleasing appearance based on a servant from your world, there was this one person you met with frequently that had this hair style. So I picked it,” Alfred answered.
“My barista? Alfred you can look whatever way you want to look. Dress like Typhus for all I care. You do you,” chuckled Deacon as he pulled the covers over himself and lay back in the bed.
The next morning Deacon awoke to gentle shoving from Alfred. He had a worried look on his face, yet he did not speak. Once it was clear Deacon was awake, Alfred pointed down the stairs. Deacon quietly got up from his bed and dressed in the new clothes he got from Mentalba’s package. He pulled his new hoody over his head and put on a new pair of pants. Deacon was still stuck rocking his sandals though. Once he was decked out, he looked down the stairs to find Amanda pacing back in forth in front of the door like a caged animal waiting for feeding time.
“Just go. We’ll meet you in the cemetery before noon. I’m only making one stop,” Deacon spoke as Amanda went through the door.
Deacon gathered everyone else in the sitting room. He handed out some bread and butter before pouring out glasses of water. Once Tantus, Hani, and Sun Wu had some food in their bellies he began to speak.
“Look, Amanda’s Vendetta is running out of time. We need to beat feet and meet up with Typhus and the others once we head through the portal today. I need to hit Mentalba’s one more time before leaving. Is there anything else you all need to do here? Speak now or forever hold your peace,” said Deacon through a mouth full of bread.
“I was hoping to stop over at the Tower to get some components. I used up what I had left to make this for you,” Tantus said as he handed over belt to Deacon.
“What’s this?” Deacon asked as he reached out for it.
“Remember that scroll you gave me. Well I was able to capture that spell in the belt buckle. It’s a simple iron loop but if you tap it twice, it will project a ten by ten foot tar field in front of you. I figured an item you could use repeatedly would be better than that one use scroll. What do you think?” Tantus asked eagerly waiting for a response.
“I think its great!” he said as he stood up and wrapped the belt around him under his sweater.
New Item Acquired: Belt of the Tar Pit- tap the buckle twice to project a ten by ten foot field of tar in front of you. Caution, the tar fumes are highly flammable.
“It didn’t break. Alfred you were right, it’s probably the fifth circle I use when binding to the object. I went slowly while casting it this time. Could that have been the issue this whole time?” Tantus pondered aloud.
“Well done master Tantus. You may exceed expectations yet,” replied Alfred.
“What level is your enchanting skill at now?” asked Hani with genuine curiosity in his eyes.
“Funny you should mention that. I just hit level four after I crafted that belt,” answered Tantus.
They discussed the belt for a few minutes before they gathered up and left the guild, Alfred collapsing and floating into Deacon’s bag. They were well on their way to Mentalba’s before a young woman ran up to the group. She seemed vaguely familiar to Deacon and eyes were bright upon his recognition.
“Thank you, champion! Thanks to you my life has turned completely around. Do you remember that gold piece you gave me for rent?” she asked.
“Oh yea, you’re the woman I helped on the street that time. I had some guild members watching that landlord of yours. I didn’t get any reports that there was anything wrong. Glad to hear that your life got better,” Deacon said patting her on the shoulder.
“You don’t understand. I bought his building thanks to you. I now rent out to multiple families since the invasion. It’s all thanks to you and Chimera of course,” she said while clasping her hands together and bowing at the waist.
“No need for that. I’m just glad everything worked out,” Deacon said as he picked up the pace. A crowd was starting to gather as they walked through a market square. It became denser with multiple people yelling out phrases such as praise Chimera and the champions here.
“Let’s hurry. I have a feeling this will turn into a chaos level escalation if we don’t get out of here,” Tantus said as he cast his swift feet spell.
All three of them ran through the streets until they arrived at Mentalba’s block. The door was locked, and it didn’t appear he was open yet. Deacon didn’t have time to be polite and as he was part owner in this venture, he didn’t think a little peek inside would untoward. He went intangible and slipped through the wall to find the factory floor a mess. It looked like someone ransacked the place. This wasn’t at all a good sign. He quickly unlocked the door from the inside letting Tantus and Hani inside.
“Check and see if anyone is hurt,” ordered Deacon.
After ten minutes of carefully looking around, they were relieved to find no injured people. Deacon ran to the stairs that lead up to Mentalba’s office. The door was locked, and he could hear someone breathing heavily on the inside. Remembering yesterdays events, he decided to knock this time. There was no answer, so he ghosted his way into the room.
Mentalba lay on the floor in a slowly growing pool of his own blood. Deacon immediately sent a party invite out to him as he dug around in his bag for a healing potion. Mentalba accepted the invite and Deacon could see his health bar had only a sliver left. The health potion went down his throat as Deacon yelled for Tantus. While Mentalba’s breathing started to normalize, Deacon looked around the room. There were signs of a struggle everywhere. Several large sewing needles were imbedded in the walls in strange patterns. Mentalba was only bleeding from one large gash in his side.
“What happened here? Who did this to you?” Deacon asked the now stable Mentalba.
“Winged monster. Asking about you and your full name. He wrecked my shop and stabbed me with what must have been an enchanted sword. It cut right through my water barrier. I nicked him good a couple of time—” Mentalba said before breaking out in a coughing fit.
“Oh my god what happened?” Tantus asked as he slid down to his knees and began casting his healing spell. Mentalba’s wound started to knit back together between Deacon’s Triage perk and Tantus’s casting.
“He went out of the window when he heard the knocking,” Mentalba said still focused on Deacon.
“Efimeo was here. That means he’s in the city,” Deacon blurted out as he lifted the Sea-elf up and laid him on a nearby sofa.
“The wrapped package over there. I finished your request in the early hours of the morning. Some of my best work if I do say so myself,” Mentalba said wincing from the quick changes in his position.
Deacon floated it over to himself and in the bag it went.
“Are you going to be ok here? We were on our way out of town. We need to meet up with the others to stop an attack on the Shattered Sky from the ocean,” Deacon asked as the color started to return to Mentalba’s face.
“My employees should be arriving any minute. Thanks to you all I won’t be bleeding out on the floor when they arrive. From the ocean you say? That’s the port I arrived at when I first came to these lands. There were plenty of ships made by the Deep Dwellers. Seems like a foolish plan. Are you sure your information is accurate?” Mentalba asked, finally writing himself in a more comfortable position.
“Well we found an escaped slave that was running messages between the ships. Strange looking Sea-Elf with six gills and extra long ears. Seemed legit to me. Although I didn’t get to speak with him for very long,” Deacon explained before Mentalba’s right hand shot out and grabbed Deacon by the arm.
“Did he have green hair?” asked Mentalba as his eyes bore holes into Deacon.
“Yes, why?” Deacon asked.
New Holy Quest: Jerimiah was a Sea-Elf- Return the son of Vatten God of sailing and water, to the Sea-Elves of the northern ocean. Reward: Vatten’s blessing.
“Fuck me,” Deacon sighed.