With nothing better to do, I began wandering the city in the hope of levelling up Walking or even Breathing. It would also probably be helpful to be at least a little familiar with it, in case I ever needed to get somewhere in a hurry.
The first place I went to ended up being Pill’s Alchemy Supplies, so I decided to go in and see if I could get the reward for clearing the infestation. I didn’t get all of them, but I can’t imagine that they’d keep coming in if there wasn’t anything making them work together which must be close enough.
As I opened the door, the familiar bell rang and I walked up to the counter to wait for Pill to arrive. I couldn’t find anything interesting to look at around the store, so I just ended up leaning on the counter and staring at nothing.
Faster than last time, Pill walked through the door at the back into the front of the store and froze when he saw me. He looked more tired than yesterday, and also a little pale, but I decided not to comment on it.
“Hey, Pill. I didn’t manage to get the reward for the extermination yesterday, is there any chance I could get it now?”
“Ha, I was worried that you’d come to demand recompense for the ordeal you went through because of me. I can hand that over now, it’s no problem at all,” He reached beneath the counter somewhere and withdrew 10 copper coins, as well as a stoppered glass vial with a curious red liquid inside. My first thought was that it might have been blood, but it was far too bright for that, and less viscous than I would have expected.
Probably some kind of potion.
I took the coins and, after an awkward moment where I didn’t realise I was supposed to take it, the potion as well.
“What’s this?”
“Consider it an apology for not properly checking for the source of the rats. It’s a High-Grade Healing Potion, so should you ever find yourself near death it will be able to help you recover enough to escape or overcome your foe. Be wary of using it without thinking, however. The healing process is painful so it will dull your pain receptors, which has the unfortunate side effect of making it difficult to measure your limits. If you’re not careful you may end up more injured after using it than before.” I’m not sure I even want to know how much something like this would usually cost. I guess for an Alchemist giving one away must not be that big of a deal.
“Thanks, I don’t plan on getting into too many more fights but knowing my luck this will still end up being useful.” I chuckled but Pill didn’t join me, just giving an awkward sort of grin. Oh well, I knew I was funny and that’s what mattered, “Anyway, I should get going. I’ll probably come back here if I ever need alchemy supplies for some reason. See ya.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with the potion, but I should probably keep it on me as often as possible. It would suck to be bleeding out somewhere after deciding not to bring it with me for whatever reason.
Maybe I could get a bandolier or something.
Since I would just be wandering aimlessly anyway, I thought that I may as well actually do that. I had the money for it, at least. The inn wasn’t too far away, so I just popped in and out, putting the copper in my money pouch and taking a couple silver pieces as I left.
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After around an hour of Walking I managed to find a leather-worker’s store on 3rd street. Going inside, I noticed that the space was significantly less cramped than Pill’s Alchemy Supplies, but everything was a lot less organised. I guess they just expected people to look at everything until something caught their interest or something.
The person manning the counter glanced at me as I walked in, then went back to reading a book that they had laying on the counter in front of them and just ignored me. I don’t think I need help finding a bandolier anyway.
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There was a lot of stuff here, most of it leather armour but the stock was still quite varied. A more thorough examination revealed that it wasn’t as disorganised as it looked at first glance. By which I mean, all of the armour was stacked neatly either in boxes or on mannequins, and one side of the store was dedicated to piles of random crap.
I shrugged and started searching, moving things from one pile to another, then from that pile to another when I had to look in the one. A lot of this stuff was just junk, but there were still a few things that caught my eye.
First was a treated leather cloak that looked to have been dyed black but was mostly grey after seeing a lot of use. It was simple, basically just a hood that could be tied around the neck with a strap, with the actual cloak part being left to hang loosely around the wearer. I wasn’t sure that I could actually try it on, but it would be nice to have something that could actually protect me from the weather. Plus, it was kind of the same colour as storm clouds, which I thought fit too well with my lightning magic to let this opportunity go.
The second thing I found was an old gambeson, which I didn’t think quite fit here but maybe it was second hand or something so I didn’t question it. Having some kind of armour would be nice, but something this thick might not let Lightning Cloak through, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk it. The cloak could at least be dropped at a moment’s notice, this couldn’t.
Finally, I was able to find a bandolier. It looked like it had been designed specifically for potion bottles, because there were a row of pouches that were almost the exact same size as the healing potion I had.
I took my purchases to the shop-keep and put them on the counter. They glanced up from their book and, barely even looking at the items, said “80 copper”
“Seems fair,” I took out one of my silvers and put it on the counter, “Do you have change?”
They looked shocked for a moment before grinning and saying, “Yeah, just a second,” And rummaging behind the counter. Eventually, they pulled out 20 copper pieces and handed them to me.
“Thanks, have a nice day,” As I left, I put on the bandolier and the cloak, putting the potion in the topmost spot and wrapping the cloak tightly around me, leaving the hood down since it wasn’t raining.
I don’t know if this is what Mages typically wear, but it sure feels like it.
I couldn’t exactly figure out why, but wearing a cloak made me feel like a real mage. Maybe it was the mystery of it, I don’t know, but whatever the reason, I was glad that I got lucky enough to find such a perfect cloak. And for such a good price too!
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The rest of the day was spent focussing on improving my Walking skill, although with disappointingly low success. After how quickly I’d improved it in the sewers I thought that making some progress would be easy, but no matter how much I changed my walking style nothing changed.
I had to stop being so obvious about it when I noticed people were starting to give me weird looks and I began to feel self conscious about it, but I never completely stopped. Still, it was frustrating to suddenly be unable to progress. If it was stuck at level 9 then I’d think that it must be some kind of milestone, but it’s currently at 8, which means that I just couldn’t keep up with the difficulty.
Over the hours I tried everything I could to level up, walking faster, slower, trying to carefully maintain specific speeds, but none of it worked. Thinking back on the times I’d levelled previously didn’t help either, the only times I could actually remember were when I’d made some kind of change to how I walked, which was clearly not working any more.
Thinking more on the matter yielded no answers or further insight, so I was lost. Metaphorically speaking anyway, I was fairly certain I knew how to get back to the inn from where I was.
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting an orange glow throughout the city, and reminding me that it was beginning to get late. After looking around me, I found the way back to the Center and began to Walk.
Unfortunately, the city was large enough that by the time I’d gotten to the right street it was already dark enough that seeing was becoming difficult, so I began to quicken my pace so that I could get to sleep at a reasonable time.
Suddenly, I froze. With most of the light coming from the moon it was hard to tell, but for a fraction of a second I thought I saw a shadow flit across the street, like something was jumping between the rooftops.
Lightning flashed across my body unwittingly, before I reigned it in.
Whatever was there has nothing to do with me, and it’s probably harmless anyway. Everything’s fine.
Despite my attempt at calming down, fear gripped my heart. The feeling was only exacerbated when a creeping sensation went down my spine and something gazed across my entire being, not even trying to be subtle. In fact, it almost felt like it wanted me to notice it.
As suddenly as it appeared, the feeling vanished, and muscles that I didn’t realise had tensed up relaxed.
Proficiency Gained Would You Like To Take The General Skill [Sense Danger]?
I didn’t make any conscious decision, but the Skill was almost immediately accepted anyway and I felt a new awareness creep into my mind. It was hard to properly describe, but it felt like everything was mostly fine, apart from something that felt like it was holding itself just barely at the edge of my awareness. Like it was trying and failing to reign in its desire to kill me.
I sped up my pace dramatically, getting back to the inn and heading to bed without even asking for a meal. I think Finch tried to say something to me, but I barely heard it as I walked past him. Making sure the window was firmly closed and gently placing my new purchases on top of my trunk, I got under the covers and tried not to think about what had happened.
I guess that potion might be more useful than I thought.