The city of Argos looked much the same as it always did, though Elijah still felt warmed by the general aura of acceptance he felt while walking its streets. Everywhere else he went, it seemed as if everyone was waiting for him to snap and start killing people. They either walked on eggshells around him – as they did in Ironshore – or responded with outright hostility, like in Seattle. He had passed through other places where the population was neutral, but those never really sprang to mind when he thought about his reception in the various locales he’d visited. Either way, every smile he saw, every wave directed in his direction, and each time he saw a group of elderly women excitedly gossiping about him filled Elijah with much-needed joy.

It was telling that he’d had to travel hundreds of miles from his home just to be accepted.

Of course, the reactions of Ironshore’s residents weren’t unjustified. They’d seen just what he could do if pushed in the wrong direction – not only with the invaders he’d killed, but also in the battle against the orcs. So, their fear was as understandable as it was disappointing. Would the people of Argos react similarly if they saw what he could do?

Perhaps.

Elijah hoped he’d never find out, though.

A gentle but cold rain began to fall as he made his way through the streets. Many of the city’s residents dashed inside at the first few drops, but Elijah enjoyed it. With his Cloak of the Iron Bear, he didn’t have to worry about the temperature. So, he had few reasons not to bask in the impromptu shower. Whatever the case, by the time he reached the Artificer’s shop, his clothes were soaked through – which suggested he should have probably been a bit more cognizant of the weather. He pushed through the door, which resulted in a deafening whistle that echoed through the shop.

Elijah clapped his hands over his ears, letting out a gasp. The sound was so loud and shrill that it was physically painful, and with the ringing in his ears that followed in its wake, it took him a moment to recognize that the sound had stopped. He pulled his hand away, half expecting it to be bloody.

“Sorry,” came a voice from nearby. “I’m still working on the bell.”

Elijah looked toward the voice, seeing a slight, pale-skinned young man. His face was dusted with freckles, and he wore his hair with the sides shaved clean but a mop of curls on top. Otherwise, the most curious thing about him was that he wore what looked like a pair of welder’s goggles atop his head.

“Lars?” Elijah asked, glancing around the room. To him, it looked like a pawn shop, with all sorts of items – some of which were recognizable, but others that weren’t – piled onto shelves. Apparently, organization wasn’t Lars’ strongest suit, because there didn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason to how everything had been arranged. Next to an old microwave was a Swiss Army knife, and next to that was a leather apron. There were gloves, various other articles of clothing, and plenty of appliances as well.

“I am,” said the young man. He certainly didn’t look or sound Greek. “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve heard you’re an Artificer. What exactly is that?” Elijah asked, picking up an old Gameboy. He flipped the switch, and surprisingly, a surge of ethera passed through it. However, instead of a video game, the screen showed a top-down map that it only took Elijah a second to recognize as the surrounding area. “This is a map…”

“It is!” Lars exclaimed. “One of a kind, too. I think the Gameboy screen gives it a kind of retro look that you won’t find anywhere else! Barely requires any charging, either. Super efficient. I’m calling it a Map Boy.”

Elijah didn’t find the device nearly as exciting as Lars clearly did – largely because, with the size of the screen, it was difficult to make anything out. “How does it work?” he asked, turning it over. There was a silver plate covering the backside.

“It’s how my class works,” Lars answered. “I copy skills – that one is based on an Explorer skill, and it not only maps the area, but also shows points of interest. Then, I add them to devices. The trick is finding the right skills for the job. And getting people to let me copy them. And I guess it’s not so easy making them interface with the item, either. The whole thing is difficult is what I’m getting at. But my prices are very reasonable considering how much work goes into each item!”

“Interesting,” Elijah said, setting the item down. He liked the notion of the skill, but he didn’t think the Gameboy screen was best suited for it. In any case, he had a couple of other ideas for equipment. The first was obvious. He reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, retrieving his French press. Upon pulling it out, he asked, “Can you put a cooking skill on this? Nothing fancy. Just make it maintain ethera or something when I’m brewing.”

“Hmm. Give me a second,” Lars said, tapping his sharp chin. Then, he held up his finger and said, “Be right back.” He turned to rush to the other end of the shop, but before he dipped into the back room, he said, “If you’re going to shoplift, let me know.”

Before Elijah could respond – he felt like he’d heard that line before – Lars was gone. That left Elijah to peruse the goods, but the problem was that he had no idea where to begin. The items were all clearly enchanted – judging by the ethera wafting off of them, at least – but there was no indication as to what any of them actually did. Did that chainsaw have a logcutting skill? Or was it meant for dismemberment? Or something else entirely? What about that television? Or the vacuum cleaner? To say the selection was eclectic was an understatement, though from Lars’ description of the Gameboy, the possibilities of getting something useful were nearly endless.

By the time those thoughts had flitted through Eliijah’s head, Lars returned carrying a giant, three-ring binder. It was decorated with a bunch of semi-anthropomorphic cartoon horses.

“Uh…My Little Pony?” asked Elijah.

Lars blushed. “It was the only notebook I could find when I got the Skill Catalogue skill,” he said. “Belonged to my little sister. I tried covering it up with something else, but…it won’t work. It’s a magical item, so it resists damage. And apparently covering those ponies up with duct tape or marker counts as damage.”

“Ah,” Elijah breathed, not willing to extend that topic of conversation. The characteristics of the skill were interesting, but he didn’t want to broach the subject of the young man’s sister. With everything that had happened, talking about people’s loved ones was a touchy subject, largely because so many of them were no longer among the living. It was much safer not to ask questions about that kind of thing.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Lars flipped open the book, turning to a page somewhere in the middle before he said, “Aha! Here it is. Percolate. Tradesman archetype. Cook class. Allows for the infusion of ethera while filtering a liquid through a porous substance or surface. Should work for your little coffee thingy.”

“French press.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. So, let’s talk about cost. One skill or spell ought to do it,” Lars said, stepping forward. “Just put your hand on this and – urk –”

Elijah had reacted on instinct, his hand snapping out to wrap around the Artificer’s neck. In his defense, he’d felt a swirl of foreign ethera like Lars was activating an ability. Usually – at least in his experience – that meant someone was about to attack him. And given how dangerous people could be, Eliijah wasn’t going to take any chances.

It was only after he saw the horrified look on Lars’ face that he realized that he’d made an error. He released the young man, but he also took a step back. Just in case. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ve been…attacked a lot recently.”

Lars bent over and coughed a couple of times, and then, with one hand resting on his knee, held up one finger. “Can’t imagine why people would attack you. You seem so nice…”

His binder had completely disappeared.

Finally, Lars caught his breath and straightened to his full height. “It’s my fault. I should have warned you,” he said. “My price for doing commissions is that I need you to donate one skill.”

“I’d rather pay ethereum.”

“No thanks. Only skills.”

“But –”

“My class doesn’t advance unless I make stuff. Now, I could keep making the same things over and over again, which is super boring. Or I could make new stuff. But to do that, I need new skills to add to my Skill Catalogue. I’d rather have that than a few extra coins.”

“Damn,” Elijah said with a shake of his head. “How does it work?”

“You put your hand in the book, I activate a skill, then you consent to having an ability of your choice copied,” he said. “It’s not really a big deal.”

Elijah scratched his chin. “Three items,” he said. “I’ll give you two skills.”

“Deal!”

Elijah almost groaned at how quickly Lars had agreed. It was just further evidence that negotiation was not one of his strengths. But he’d known that since he’d bought his first car, when the saleswoman had beguiled him with a pretty face, a little flirting, and a whole lot of lying. He’d ended up overpaying by thousands of dollars. His second time buying a car hadn’t gone any better, even if instead of being hoodwinked by a good-looking woman, he’d been ripped off by a fast-talking grifter of a used car salesman.

And he hadn’t gotten any better at it in the years since. The transformation of the world hadn’t changed that, either.

Whatever the case, he felt certain that he could have gotten all three items for one skill, but it was a little late to change the terms. So, he followed Lars’ instructions and laid his hand on the suddenly-reappeared binder. Even though he knew it was coming, when Lars used his skill, Elijah flinched, but he maintained contact with the binder. Then, a notification flashed before his inner eye:

Lars Aaland would like to copy one of your abilities. Do you consent?

Elijah selected the affirmative option, which resulted in another notification.

Please choose an ability to be copied.

After that, his spellbook opened. It was much longer than the last time he’d looked at the entire thing, but that was to be expected. He hadn’t opened it in years, preferring instead to look at his individual spell descriptions. In any case, he didn’t need to look at it long before he found the one he wished to offer.

Nature’s Bounty

Encourage the growth of plants.

“This one makes plants grow more quickly,” Elijah said. “I figure you could make something that they can put in farms and the like.”

“Ah, yes. Interesting,” Lars said as his ethera surged. Elijah felt nothing, but a moment later, he received confirmation that his spell had been copied.

After that, he offered Eyes of the Eagle, which Lars seemed very excited about. “How about I give you one more ability, and you use it for an item specifically for me?” he asked. It wasn’t really part of his original plan, but the possibilities of Lars’ abilities were so broad that he kept getting ideas.

“That is acceptable,” Lars said.

Then, Elijah let him copy Healing Rain. The idea was that he could heal himself and others with it if, for whatever reason, he ran out of ethera. It would be like having a free but low-powered heal.

“I think I can put that on a sprinkler,” Lars stated after studying the spell in his binder. When Elijah got a peek at it, he just saw unintelligible scribbles that looked like they were the product of an unmedicated schizophrenic. If he hadn’t already seen some of the products of Lars’ skills, that might’ve scared him off. “Should work at around half-power compared to the spell. Now, what else do you want? You have three more items.”

Elijah told him. The first was the enchanted French press that he hoped would make his coffee better, but he also wanted an enchanted pan – he’d left the wok back home because he couldn’t really make use of its special properties – that would make his cooking more edible. Then, he wanted a version of the mapping enchantment he’d seen on the Gameboy, but with a larger screen. Finally, he bought a checkered flag, complete with a pole that was meant to be stuck into the ground, that would increase his Regeneration attribute for a few hours. The buff wasn’t huge – only fifteen points – but it didn’t conflict with his own buffs, so it would be a net benefit.

In addition, Elijah’s perusal of the shop gave him a couple more useful items. The first was a skinning knife that borrowed a Hunter’s skill to dress animals more efficiently. The next was a firestarter that would work even underwater. And finally, he bought a small A-frame tent that would discourage detection.

“It’s based on a skill I got from an elf that was passing through town a few months ago,” Lars stated. “He called the skill Tracker’s Protection.” Then, he read the description from his book, “Discourages detection from hostile entities. I thought it fit the tent idea, and it uses so little ethera that it’ll last all night on one charge.”

“Perfect. How much do I owe you?” he asked.

That’s when the dickering started. This time, Elijah felt that he got the better of Lars, but he had no real idea of what the enchanted items were worth. If they’d been normal items, he’d have had more of an idea, but Lars’ products differed from those of other Tradesmen in a couple of key ways. First, the copied skills were far less powerful than the originals, and as such, the items Lars could create weren’t on the same tier as something someone like the weapons and armor Carmen could make. The tradeoff was that Lars didn’t have to build anything from scratch. He didn’t need special materials or weeks of work. He just had to have the right copied skill, which he could slap onto an appropriate item.

The second issue was that they would need to be recharged. Some lasted longer than others, but they would all run out of ethera after a while.

And finally, they were temporary. After a while, they would start to lose efficacy until they stopped working altogether. That wasn’t ideal, but Lars assured Elijah that they would last at least a couple of months’ worth of heavy use.

So, once Lars had the details of Elijah’s order, he said, “I can have this done by tomorrow mid-day.”

That worked for Elijah, so he left the young man behind and headed toward Agatha’s inn where he hoped to get a good meal.