Nayir watched as the customer stepped through the doorway and approached him.
The customer was a man who looked to be in his mid-20s. He walked up to the counter Nayir stood behind.
“Hello, I was looking for the Ice Element spell ‘Frost’. Do you happen to have it?”
Nayir looked at the man blankly.
“I don’t know.”
“Ah… is there any chance of you checking for me? I would really like that spell, you see.”
Nayir sighed.
He searched around underneath the counter and found a leather-bound book that had ‘Stocklist’ written on the cover.
He opened the book and found that all of the entries were sorted categorically by element and tier. Next to each entry was a brief description of the spell, its rank, the location of it in the store and the price that it costs. Here and there, entries were stricken out, presumably because those spells were no longer supplied.
Flipping over to the Ice Element section, Nayir scanned across the pages until he came across the entry for Frost, when he found it he read the related information.
Frost
Tier 3 spell
Emit a freezing aura that causes the surroundings to frost over, decreasing the movement speed and attack of hostile enemies.
Rank: E
Location: Bookcase 4, Shelf 5.
Price: 7 gold.
Nayir looked back up at the man to see him staring back with a face full of hope and eagerness. Nayir scanned the room and pointed.
“It’s over there.”
The customer’s head swivelled in the direction of Nayir’s finger to see several bookcases, stacked full of books. The customer turned back to him.
“If it’s not too much to ask, could you help me look for it? It will take me a while.”
Nayir sighed again, biting back a retort so that he did not lose this customer. His wages might suffer as a result and that would mean less food for him to eat.
He walked over to the bookcase that had a sign attached that read ‘4’, counted down to the fifth shelf and his finger across the spines of the books until he found the one that had ‘Frost’ written on it.
Nayir pulled the book out of the bookcase and returned to his place behind the counter. He slammed the book down, causing the man to jump slightly and told him the price.
“Could I get the discount for the amount of my fame?”
Nayir stared coldly at him and, upon noting the value of his fame, calculated the discount according to Gourd’s instructions.
“6 gold and 68 silver.”
The customer counted out the money and put it down on the counter. After confirming the amount, Nayir handed him the book and stored the money.
“I’ve finally got it! Thank you! Thank you so much! This will help a lot in my quest! Learn spell!”
The spell book shone a bright light and disappeared as the man gained the knowledge of his new spell.
He exited the store excitedly, probably going to test out the new spell.
Nayir sighed a third time.
“This work business is more exhausting than I thought it would be.”
Nayir looked around him.
“Well… now that no one is here….”
Nayir walked over to the shelf that had the Frost spell and looked it.
“Just one look wouldn’t hurt, right? The bracelet may not work…”
He confirmed that there was no one else in the store and reached out to touch the book.
As soon as his fingers touched the spine of the book, his body instantly stiffened up.
You have gone against the rules that were made upon the attaching of the Bracelet of Compulsion.
You are now paralysed.
Nayir tried to move but none of his muscles would respond.
That was when he heard footsteps approaching.
“I knew it. Once a thief… Well, hopefully you’ll learn your lesson eventually.”
A few whispered words later and Nayir’s muscles relaxed, he spun around to see an annoyed Gourd.
“Try to behave yourself, I’ve got important things to do and I don’t want to keep coming back here to sort you out.”
Gourd left Nayir standing in the middle of the shop, considering what he should do.
He sat in a chair that was to the side of the counter and began to doze, reasoning that it would be unlikely that he saw any more customers today.
Nayir stood on the crest of a hill under the midday sun, below him swarmed the hordes of the Summoner Del’Farre.
He could only smile as they charged up the hill, towards the place where he was standing.
He raised his arms up to the sky and called out his most powerful spell,
“Supernova!”
High above his figure, a dazzling light started to burn.
The light grew larger and began to emit heat.
As its size increased, so did the force of the heat.
The sphere completed its growth, with its size equating one league in diameter.
Nayir smiled maliciously.
“Burn!”
Nayir thrust his arms forward, towards the stampede of monsters, and the supernova shot forwards, mimicking his actions.
The ground began to shake.
“Excuse me?”
The ground shook even more ferociously.
“Excuse me, I said.”
Nayir slowly opened his eyes to discover a small, young girl shaking his shoulders.
“What do you want?”
“I need a spell…”
Nayir got out of his chair and went to stand behind the counter, pulling out the ‘Stocklist’.
“What spell?”
“Surtr’s Blade.”
Nayir clicked his tongue.
“I need more information than that. What element?”
The little girl giggled.
“Fire.”
Nayir skimmed through the fire element section. Page after page went by without any mention of the spell. On the final page, three spells before the end, he found it.
Surtr’s Blade
Tier 10 spell
Summons Með Sviga Lævi, the sword of Surtr, which blazes with the fires of Muspelheim to tear through your foes. The sword possess unique abilities.
WARNING: This spell will inflict damage to the caster due to having to wield the raw energy of Muspelheim.
Rank: A
Location: ………….
Price: 350,000 gold.
Nayir read the entry and stared at the girl.
She can’t be serious! Tier 10 means that she is an extremely high level! If I don’t do what she wants…
“Could you go and get it for me?”
The little girl smiled sweetly at him.
“I’m just… going to…”
Nayir backed away from the grinning girl and dashed out of the back of the room. He set about trying to find Gourd.
He found him sitting at his dinner table eating soup. Gourd stopped eating, his spoon halfway to his mouth.
“What’s the matter? We’re not closed yet.”
“A girl wants to buy Surtr’s Blade…”
Gourd dropped his spoon into his bowl causing his soup to splash over the table, his shirt and face, his eyes wide with shock.
“I’ll go get it. Get back in there and make sure she doesn’t get away!”
Nayir returned to the storefront to find the little girl sitting on the counter, humming to herself and swinging her legs.
“It won’t be long.”
The little girl hopped off of the counter and faced Nayir, who had positioned himself with his back hugging the wall next to the exit.
The girl cocked her head.
“Ok.”
She resumed her humming and strolled around the store, perusing the books on display.
After a few moments, Gourd burst into the room, red in the face and panting, clutching a golden book.
“Are you… the customer who wanted the spell ‘Surtr’s Blade’?”
The little girl skipped over, beaming, when she noticed what Gourd was carrying.
“That’s me!”
“Oh my! You’re the famous…! To think I’d see you in my humble shop! Thank you for visiting a common man such as me!”
Gourd seemed like he was about to prostrate himself in front of her before he snapped back to what he was supposed to be doing.
Nayir watched the scene with bemusement. Who was this girl?
“The spell is 350,000 gold before discount. With your fame I can give you a discount of 73,580 gold so that will be 276,420 gold.”
The girl listened and, after thinking briefly, leaned forwards, tilting her head to the side and made her equivalent to ‘puppy-dog eyes’.
“Say… couldn’t you give me a little more discount?”
“…For a girl, who is as cute as you, I guess I could take another 20,000 off.”
“Wow. Thanks mister! You’re the best!”
The little girl paid the money and left the store with the spell book in hand.
“What… just… happened…”
Nayir was in shock.
This small girl had just gotten a discount of almost 100,000 gold on an extremely powerful spell.
Gourd turned to face Nayir.
“After such a big sale, I think we can afford to close up a little earlier than usual. Thank you for your work, even if there was a little incident. Here’s your wage for today.”
Nayir received 50 copper.
“Copper! Is that all! I deserve at least 5 gold for the effort I made today!”
“You get what you’re given, elf! If you don’t like it then give it back and find yourself somewhere else to work.”
Nayir pocketed the money. Even if it was a meagre amount, it was his now.
“When you want to work again, make sure you come here early in the morning. You will wear the bracelet every time. Hold your hand out and I shall remove it from you.”
After the bracelet had been removed, Nayir’s arm felt slightly lighter but there was also an indescribable feeling of released pressure from his entire body.
After Gourd bid Nayir farewell, Nayir left the store and decided he would head back towards the library, hopefully passing by a store that would sell him some food.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Walking down the street, a cold feeling prickled his neck.
He stopped.
His eyes darted around, searching for the source of his unease.
It was then that he spotted it.
On the other side of the road, a brown form lay.
Fear and fury rose up within Nayir.
It was that cat! The cat that killed him!
He took a step towards the cat.
“You’re going to pay for that, stupid cat!”
The cat opened its eyes and raised its head.
Nayir hesitated for a moment. He slowly took another step.
The cat hissed.
In the next instant, Nayir was sprinting down the road, hoping that the cat did not decide to chase him.
A minute of hard running passed before Nayir felt he was safe from potential harm.
During his flee he had received a system message that informed him that his stamina was depleted and his Agility had been raised by a point.
As he recovered from the exertion, he noted his current location. He appeared to be fairly close to the library, for which he was glad.
Firstly, however, he wanted food. Approaching the nearest person, he said,
“I want food.”
The person continued walking, glaring disdainfully at him.
“Hey! Don’t walk away from me! I want food!”
They disappeared around a corner.
“Hey!”
As he was about to give chase, Nayir felt a tug on his trousers.
“Excuse me, mister.”
He looked down and saw that there was a young boy pulling on his trousers.
“If its food you want, my granddad runs a shop that’s not too far away…”
“Take me there.”
The little boy led Nayir down the street, holding firmly onto the leg of his trousers.
Weaving through a few streets, the boy halted in front of a dilapidated building.
The roof and walls were barely standing, the brickwork riddled with holes. Through the remaining exterior, small weeds sprouted; the door hung on only one of its hinges and the glass in the window pane was smashed. Above the precariously fixed door, hung a similarly attached sign that was unable to be read due to the extent of the fading of the characters.
“This is where the food is?”
“Yeah! This is my granddad’s store! He’ll be happy to see you!”
“Ok.”
Nayir strode towards the door and pulled. The door came off and fell onto the floor.
He glanced at the door, shrugged his shoulders and continued inside.
Inside the house was dark, not as dark as the prison had been, yet the light of the setting sun did nothing to help illuminate the inside of the building. The interior was set out in a similar way to the spell store; the only difference was that the shelves and displays were covered in dust, cobwebs and a few broken articles instead of spell books.
Nayir walked up to the counter and looked around for the shopkeeper. When he could not find who he wanted, he clicked his tongue and turned to the young lad.
The boy dashed through the back of the room calling out,
“Granddad! I’ve got a customer! Granddad! Granddad! Customer!”
Nayir began pacing in front of the counter whilst he waited for this ‘granddad’ to appear, growing more and more impatient as the seconds passed.
Eventually, a frail old man, that looked to be at Death’s door, emerged from the same door that the boy had disappeared through, shortly before Nayir decided to storm into the back and drag the man out.
“Who are you?”
“I want food.”
The boy came back to stand next to the old man.
“Food? You… wait… come closer… you’re… an elf! I won’t have your sort in this store! Get out! Go on! Out!”
The elderly man shone with rage that it appeared that he had returned to the world of the living.
“But I want food.”
“I have none to sell you! If I’m seen with an elf, it’ll damage the reputation of my store! Out, I say!”
“Granddad…”
“Get out!”
“Granddad! Those days are over! Elves are treated the same as us now!”
“Not in my store they’re not!”
“Couldn’t you sell him some food? Just this once? We haven’t had a customer in a long time, have we?”
“That’s… true… well… just for you, my boy. What was it you said you wanted, elf?”
The old man still spat out that last word.
“Food. I want food.”
“The only food I have is barley bread. For you, I’ll sell them for 10 copper a piece.”
“Five.”
Nayir withdrew all of the coppers that he had earned that day and placed them on the counter.
The ancient shopkeeper counted the coins and, when he was satisfied that the amount was correct, he nodded to the young boy, who dashed out the back and returned carrying five pieces of barley bread.
After storing the barley bread in his inventory, Nayir turned and left the store. As he stepped back into the orange-tinted dusk, a voice rang out behind him,
“Thanks, mister! My granddad hasn’t had a customer in years so I think you made him very happy, despite what he said. Come back and buy something again sometime, ok?”
Relationship with Piln Arasia increased.
Nayir continued to head back towards the library, not acknowledging that he had heard the boy.
***
Two weeks of in-game time passed.
Nayir had spent the days working in Gourd’s spell shop and the nights copying out the scrolls required for his new skill.
Through the time he spent working he managed to increase his wage but only after several more failed attempts at learning the spells in the store.
He discovered that the price of a piece of barley bread was only 3 copper when he visited another shop and cursed the old man and his extortion.
Needless to say, Nayir did not return to that store once he had found that out and had managed to save up a small sum of money. He was considering saving up some more to buy a new spell, seeing as he could not seem to learn one from the store's books without buying them.
As he progressed through the transcribing of the scrolls, Nayir managed to raise several more of his stats, a total of an extra 21 stats combined in both Intellect and Wisdom.
Though the four weeks restriction to the city had passed, against all of his impulses, Nayir had committed himself to acquiring the new skill before heading out of the gate, he had only a few more scrolls to go when he had received the notification.
As he wrote the last word and read the resulting system message, Nayir felt a surge of pride and repressed annoyance.
Quest Update
Scrolls Copied: 17/17
Quest Reward: Speak to librarian
“I’ve done it! Finally! A new skill! And I can finally get out of this hellhole!”
Nayir exploded out of the side room and into the main library causing a nearby scholar to fall over in fright.
He dashed over to the librarian’s desk and reported his progress.
“I’ve finished!”
“So you have. Allow me to grant you the knowledge of my skill.”
Quest Complete
Rewards:
Gained +10 Fame.
Gained the librarian’s skill.
New Skill: Focus
Direct your concentration to increase the damage of spells. Mana consumption is increased. Casting time is doubled. Unable to move whilst active.
Damage increases with level whilst mana consumption of spells is reduced.
Current Damage Increase: 120%
Current Mana Consumption of Spells: 300%
Mana Consumption: 5% of Maximum Mana upon activation.
Scanning over the new skill, Nayir could only look at it in disbelief.
“What the hell is this?! I wanted something I could attack with!”
“This skill will increase the damage of your spells, surely for a mage, like yourself, this can become a greater asset than another attack skill.”
Nayir glared at the librarian, knowing that he was probably right but refusing to accept it, he could only shout wordlessly at him before stalking out of the library.
He wanted to quickly find an outlet for this frustration that he felt and thought hard.
Remembering that he was now able to go outside, he found the perfect outlet for his current emotions and started to walk in the direction of where he thought the city gates were, asking the occasional passer-by for clarification.
***
Passing the gates of the city, Nayir stepped out onto a grassy, moonlit plain. His vision was filled with scenes single players chasing down rabbits and raccoons and groups facing off with foxes and wolves.
Nayir decided that, with his new skill and increased stats, rabbits were beneath him, not worth killing and he would not be able to effectively vent his frustrations should he do so. Instead, he opted to tackle the nearest wolf and began the walk over to his first target.
-END CHAPTER-
<< Previous Chapter|Next Chapter >>
Chapter 5 and he finally leaves the city. It took him long enough.
I've almost finished my plans for the original "Chapter 1" and, in a few chapters, he will be heading off on his first adventure.
I hadn't planned that scene in the shop before I came to that part in the story but, since writing it, I'm quite glad I did. Maybe he'll return to that store again...
I am unsure whether I'll be able to get a release out next week but I shall do what I can.
~Emeki