Finished with the map marker for Helmsword, I shoved my final charcoal stub into my pocket. It was incredibly challenging to concentrate on drawing a map and walking without running into things, go figure. Later I should check if there was a skill for that. I ambled to the side of the road and took off my backpack so I could put the final bark-o-map piece away. I would find out when I next reseeded something, but I was pretty sure I had indeed made it to gaining the cartography skill at level 1.
Once Night joined back up with me I would also ask her since she loved telling me all about status stuff and what I should focus on. Which, all sarcasm aside, I appreciated since more often than not I would be happy to identify flowers and try to figure out fishing or something.
I grabbed my water bottle for a drink and looked to the northeast gate of Helmsword. It hadn’t changed from the other times I had looked at it on other return trips - still the same black and gold emblemed flags curling in the slow breeze, the same arrow slits ready to end any ambitious attackers and an open gate welcoming the trade that flowed through for a pit stop in the city’s market.
I did like that there were no status checks or restrictions in this city, and it’s one of the main reasons Night suggested we use it as our hub until we out-leveled the area. That unexplainable squirmy feeling in my gut told me that we didn’t really want to draw attention to ourselves and that we needed to balance that with Questing - which I only had access to in cities.
How the hell we avoided notice was a mystery to me outside of ‘don’t set shit on fire,’ ‘don’t kill people in the street,’ ‘don’t kick the guard captain in the crotch and laugh while running away,’ and my personal favorite ‘don’t dine and dash.’ One would think that the above were obvious, yet in the over three months I had the pleasure of observing Helmsword and her regulars, I had watched adventurer after adventurer blatantly violate these clear-cut guidelines. The results of which often played out with said adventure dangling from guard captain Shaneera’s oversized gauntlet with their feet hopelessly scrabbling for purchase as she carted them off for a reduction.
I did quite enjoy watching those interactions for a lot of reasons, not least of which was the pure fancy unleashed when I imagined her roughhousing me. But alas, it was all pretend as I wouldn’t actually act on any such intentions outside of my brainscape since, like most, I was very heroic in my mind and mostly impotent in reality.
As I felt Night getting closer, I stashed my water bottle and my wandering thoughts away. Hopefully, this trip to Valen’s wouldn’t include any curiously bored Catkin or, frankly, any others so that we could dig out more knowledge from Valen.
Night and I needed to forecast out some next steps - our foundation for mediocrity was solid, and it was time to start leveling our weapon skills so we could roam a little farther out safely as just a pair. While my facade of flippant ineptitude wasn’t exactly exhausting, which on its own was a somewhat disconcerting reality, I still wanted to keep it to a minimum so I had less story deviation to track over time.
“I’ll be there in a minute, get in line once you are done dreaming of orcish arms flinging you about,” Night instructed me playfully once she got in range.
“Yeah, yeah, you just can’t wait to see if the pack is in town so you can frolick,” I shot back after my gear was secured and sword adjusted with its peace tie visible for inspection. “Were you successful in filling your belly at least?”
“Of course, your copper is safe for your consumption on foolish baubles and sticky buns - though you will share the second,” was the snarky response as she slid in line next to me, strategically placing her head under my hand for some ear scritches.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The guards let us through on our turn, and all teasing aside, we headed for Valen’s instead of wandering off for our stated preferred activities. Weaving around folks in the plaza was the most excitement of the entire jaunt, and half a glass later we were pulling up to Valen’s counter for me to complete my quest for real this time.
My intent announced boldly, “Three of three this time Valen!” I waited while the gnome adjusted her spectacles, eyed me wearily and climbed up to the second tier of her wooden counter. She seemed off today, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Once the Log was opened to my Quest and her quill ready she bothered to look me in the eye. “Let’s review. Madison Clarden was found, the hobgoblins were ‘terminally disrupted’ and you just had reseeding left to do. Is that now complete?”
“Yep, reseeding complete Guide Ma’am!” I reported cheekily to see if I could get a twitch out of her. An abysmal failure if her next words were the measurement.
“You are awarded 1 skill point, 20 copper and 1 novice equipment. Bring up your interface and select the skill point. You may have any novice item in the store, or you can attempt to utilize your 20 copper to upgrade it to Epic item,” her look between this and her next sentence let me know the likelihood of that happening, “or you can bank the item, skill and copper or any combination of them. What is your preference at this time?”
“I know what item you need next, so you should plan to take that, and you’re broke so grab the copper, but bank the skill point,” Night advised unsolicited from the patch of sunlight in front of the doorway.
“Bank the point, gimme the copper please and thank you, and hold tight on the item!” was my overly energetic response to Valen. “What item and where is it in this maze of a store?”
Rolling onto her side, Night’s tail beat a gentle staccato on the floor as she huffed back, “Third aisle from the right side of the counter, middle shelf, you can’t miss it.”
Noticing Valen’s flat gaze as Night and I exchanged information, I pranced purposefully away from the counter and followed Night’s directions. The shelf in question showcased skill books, and my brow raised in appreciation as my finger traced over the subject matter arrayed before me. “You know how to treat a person right my friend, but I don’t think these are novice in the least. You realize my bartering is level 1 right?”
“Other side silly,” Night let me know after checking what I was looking at through our synergy.
With a flourished half-pirouette - one should always work on their agility - I found myself eyeballing an assortment of pouches, bags and containers. So boringly practical was my first thought, and correctly imperative was the fast follow-up. Sorting through the sale offerings I confirmed, “Any in particular or just be ready for more of anything?”
“You had to leave that several gold's worth of an axe behind because of the bulky shape. You need something that will roll up to fit in your other pack but can expand out to accommodate a range of shapes and also be able to attach to your main pack without getting snagged on things.” Night sent along with accompanying images of us flitting through the woods with the axe I had left behind attached to my back.
Appreciating how graceful I appeared in her imagining of us, I sorted through until I found something matching the criteria. Leveraging Analyze - Item the information pulled up that I could unveil at level 4 of the skill.
Collapsible Sack
Item Level: Novice
Item Quality: Uncommon
The Collapsible Sack was made hastily by Apprentice Wenlix to complete a Quest. Since Wenlix is no slouch, it turned out as Uncommon. It won’t bring home the dragon’s hoard, but it could haul the dragon’s head. Enchants: Self-Repair, ??, ?? and ??. Upgrade the Sack to unlock additional enchants.
“Nice find - the self-repair enchant alone is worth it,” was the excited response I felt from Night after she read through the description. Since that was good enough for me, I closed out my interface and strolled back to Valen’s counter. Steeling myself internally while attaching my imprudent grin to my elvish mug, I placed the sack on the counter and leaned in for the next bit.