I walked through the door and was immediately greeted by shelves lined with dozens of simple contraptions, each one setting off some kind of sense in my mind that I couldn’t quite place.
Actually, this is kinda similar to-
I was jerked out of my thoughts by the feeling of someone tapping on my shoulder, prompting me to turn around to find someone standing behind me looking annoyed for some reason. After an awkward stardown, in which their mood didn’t seem to improve, I looked into the store then back at them.
What do they want here?
“Oh, you want to go inside?” I spoke suddenly as they opened their mouth to say something, apparently hitting the nail right on the head, since as soon as I began to step to the side they barged past me and headed to some shelf at the back of the store with a scoff.
After spending another moment just staring after them, it finally hits me that this is really not an Inn anymore. In fact, it seemed to actually be a moderately successful shop, if I were to guess.
The main room was able to hold quite a few shelves, definitely more than most of those little shops that I looked in before, so it was spacious enough that Finch could apparently afford to put some items in large display cases in the centre of the room. Despite my desire to go and see Finch, these display cases were too interesting to pass up so I decided that it couldn’t hurt to spend a few extra minutes checking them out a little. It’s not like that’s much compared to the nearly 4 weeks it’d been since I left.
There were three display cases in total, and each held a deceptively simple weapon on a fancy silk cushion. The first looked to be a simple iron broadsword, or at least it did most of the time. Every few seconds, starting at an odd looking stone in the hilt, a series of incredibly faint blue lines light up in sequence. Though, upon closer inspection, the lines looked incredibly similar to the Runes that I helped Finch power ages ago.
Huh, so this is made in the same way? That colour must be some kind of Mana then, but I’ve never seen that one before so I don’t really know what.
The second one was an equally simple wooden bow, with some parts of it also being made of iron. Gods know why those parts in particular, they must need to be more durable for some reason.
This one had some similar stones embedded in a couple of places along the metal sections, which also had those Runes occasionally glowing the same colour as the ones on the sword. There was probably some reason that they were only in the iron part but, again, I wouldn’t be able to tell you if my life depended on it. Unless I got a lucky guess or something.
Now, this last one was of particular interest to me. It was made of the same materials as the other weapons, mostly wood but with what seemed to be an excessive amount of reinforcement, and had dense Runes glowing across the shaft. Of course, it was the only weapon that I would ever consider using.
A Wizard’s Staff.
I don’t know why it’s named after Wizards rather than Mages, but even I know that it’s the premier weapon of choice for high level Mages. Though most people don’t bother, since they tend to take an ungodly amount of time to make, which makes them ridiculously expensive.
Usually they had some fancy gems in the top as well, which only made them cost more. This one, strangely enough, seemed to have a regular, if white, stone sealed within a sturdy cage of iron. It was only as the Runes glowed again, the stone glowing in a similar way, that I recognised it.
Oh, so he reused the, uh- oh yeah- the Rat King’s Crown. He used so much of it for the Staff, which I guess makes sense doesn’t it? It’s really more useful for a Mage than anyone else.
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As lost in thought as I was, I hardly even noticed as someone unsubtly stepped up next to me to look at the items as well.
“She’s a beaut, aint she? I spen’ a week working on this un, thinkin’ a friend o’ mine would be back by the time it was finished to take a look a’ it.”
I spun around to face the speaker, a wide smile on my face, completely oblivious to the anger in Finch’s voice that was- in hindsight- painfully obvious, “Finch! It’s so good to see you! Who did you make this for? Another Mage?”
His face suddenly contorted in rage as he yelled, “You, ye bloody numbskull! Why the bloody ‘ell were you gone fer four bloody weeks? Render came by, bu’ he din’t explain jack shit, so you better tell me wha’ the ‘ell you did this time!”
I flinched back, not expecting such an outburst, but suddenly felt a wave of guilt as I realised that I didn’t even think about how my absence might affect Finch.
“Oh, uh, right. That,” I glanced around the shop, seeing that the person I saw enter earlier was off in the corner trying his hardest not to get involved, instead opting to awkwardly examine a set of arrows, “Well, uh, I probably shouldn’t say anything where someone else might here…” I muttered sheepishly, to which Finch just sighed in response.
“Gods help me, you fuckin’ killed tha’ Gods damned serial killer, din’t ya?” Oddly, Finch didn’t look particularly surprised. In fact, he looked more exasperated than anything.
Well, at least I could pick up his slack in that regard. I looked at Finch with wide eyes and my mouth agape, shocked that- once again- Finch managed to figure out something that I’m not supposed to tell anyone almost immediately.
“Don’ look so shocked, it ain’t tha’ ‘ard to figure out. I know ye were planin’ to kill the bastard already, an’ basically everyone in tha city knows tha’ he died a few weeks ago. Plus, that knight friend o’ yours came by to tell me tha’ yer okay, bu’ he refused to tell me wha’ actually happened.”
Well, when you put it all out like that…
“R-right, I guess that makes sense,” I turned my gaze back towards the Staff, feeling a bit defeated at how difficult it is to keep secrets from this guy, “So, uh, you said you made this Staff for me, then?” I masterfully and tactfully changed the subject, mainly because I really wanted to know more about this weapon.
Finch’s mood visibly improved as I asked about his work, his expression changing from his usually gruff self to something more like an apprentice showing off their first piece of work to their master. Needless to say, it didn’t quite fit on such a naturally angry face.
“Yeah, I did. It’s a right beaut, this one. I call it the Staff o’ Elements, cause I used the Rat King’s Crown as the gem here, an’ I’m sure ye know how tha’ works. I ‘ad to make it almost entirely ou’ of iron, since I knew that yer Lightning would scorch any o’ the wood I had on hand. Well, it worked out well, since iron’s so good at transferrin’ Mana. It made the Rune work a lo’ easier than it could’ve been.” As he spoke, Finch pressed at a particular point on the wood frame of the Staff’s case, making a Rune light up. With a soft clicking sound, one side of the case swung open, allowing Finch to carefully take the staff out.
Looking at it out of its case, it was actually much bigger than I expected. I thought that Staffs like this were supposed to be small and light, but this one was nearly two thirds my height, and also almost entirely made out of iron.
“It’s, uh, pretty big, isn’t it?”
“Well, i’ kinda has to be. Lightnin’ is a pretty tricky Affinity to use for enchanted items, ‘cause it’s so destructive. Tha’, with yer focus on power, makes it difficult to make a durable Staff for,” He held it out towards me, keeping it horizontal with both hands, “Yer probably gonna want to start trainin’ yer strength some, or it’ll be a liability in battle.”
In response to such an unfounded assertion, I just grinned and reached out a hand to grab the Staff, “Heh, well as it turns out my Strength increased quite a lot whilst I was gone, so I’ll probably be-” Finch let go of it, leaving me to hold it on my own with just one hand, and immediately forcing me to the ground. Instinctively, I let go of the Staff just before it crushed my fingers beneath it, leaving it to clatter on the wooden floor noisily.
“That, uh, didn’t go to plan.” I said sheepishly, just a little bit embarrassed about my overconfidence.
“Oh, really?” Finch responded sarcastically, an amused grin threatening to split his face in half.
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After talking for a little longer Finch headed off to get back to work, complaining that I’d wasted enough of his time already, whilst I lugged the staff back to my room.
When I had the chance to carry it with both hands it was actually pretty manageable, but I’d still need some more Strength to be able to use it effectively. Apparently, Craftsmen have some kind of system to figure out exactly how much Strength a weapon needs to be used effectively, so he was able to tell me that I’d need 9 Strength if I got a bit of practice holding it, or 10 if I wanted to be able to use it like a regular wooden Staff.
Man, two points of Strength make that much of a difference?
I tried to heft the Staff above my head, managing to hold it there for a solid few seconds before I felt my arms begin to give out and had to lower it.
I’m gonna have to try to increase my Strength on purpose now but, well, it’s definitely gonna be worth it.
Placing the Staff reverently in my trunk, I couldn’t contain the giddy grin that overtook my face at the thought of taking this thing into battle. Admittedly, Finch said that it wouldn’t exactly double my power or anything, but it would apparently be like a 15 to 20% increase, which is still incredible in my book.
Having put away all of my stuff, of which I had an embarrassingly small amount, I dropped into my bed heavily wrapped myself tightly in the covers. I’d always liked being in bed as much as anyone else but, right now, after all that time spent away this was like heaven. It only took a few minutes for my weary mind to drift off into a mostly peaceful sleep, only slightly troubled by the thought of going to train alone.