Level 9.
That was Dyani’s new goal, given to her by her father’s former teammate. Kemo would reveal what she knew when Dyani was stronger than he was when he died at level 8, and the next level was the obvious benchmark. Of course, she would need to achieve her original goal of reaching level 2 before getting there, but simply getting a new talent was a shallow motivation next to the goal of avenging her father.
Dyani’s mother had spoken to her at length about forgiveness and moving on after his death, but that had been impossible for her without knowing what had really happened, who had killed him, and why.
How could she forgive someone if she didn’t know who she was forgiving.
Of course, Dyani had no intentions of forgiving anyone, but the point stood. All her unanswered questions were like open wounds that allowed the toxic spores of hatred to swim right into her bloodstream and up to her heart.
Her friends, Daggan, Nodin, and Veraine, and their collective goal of becoming Slayers had kept her from dwelling on her hatred, but after her talk with Kemo Frostblade, it had come bubbling back up.
But Dyani knew better than to let her hatred make her reckless. The infecting spores from the Plover Moss could easily have killed her if she hadn’t managed to escape before another monster had found her.
If she wanted to survive to level 2, let alone level 9, she needed better gear.
“Morning Hoss.” The owner of Hoss’s Pawn only grunted in response. The man had the appearance and conversational skills of dehydrated fruit.
Dyani had made it a personal mission to befriend him.
“Read anything interesting lately?”
Hoss didn’t respond or look up from the same paperback book he’d been reading since Dyani had first met him a week ago. She didn’t know the exact page he was on, but it didn’t seem any further along, and she hadn’t seen him turn a page yet.
“Have you read The Last Stand at Iron Gate? It’s one of my favorites.”
That book really was exceptional, with everything needed to make a good story, impossible odds, heroic ideals, and an impractically large, talking sword.
Hoss shook his head the barest amount, which was actually progress. Any response was better than what she usually got.
After that small success, Dyani pulled her backpack off her shoulder and started placing various items she’s recovered on the counter.
Today that included a jar filled with the blue mushrooms from various Fungal Rats, which were apparently moderately useful to alchemists, the two halves of a snapped wand, and a torn glove embroidered with copper wire.
Hoss finally put down his book and displayed actual emotion. His deep set eyes sparkled with life as he touched each item in turn.
She assumed he had a talent or skill for identifying items, or a truly insane memory and magical perception.
He muttered under his breath and pulled out enchanted, metal placards that engraved themselves with descriptions of the items, which he passed to Dyani as he finished.
Hoss didn’t bother with a placard for the mushrooms, instead taking the jar into the back of the shop. While he would buy them, and had before, they weren’t exactly something you could leave on a shelf indefinitely. Dyani assumed he had some kind of cold storage or other preservation magic, but had yet to get an answer.
Dyani read over the two placards.
Training Wand (Very Common)
* Level: 2
* Condition: Broken
* Description: A generic wand used to train in basic spellcraft. When undamaged, it increases the stability and longevity of manifested mana by a moderate amount, and prevents the spell structure from activating. While currently unusable, this wand contains useful enchanting components and could be repaired by a competent enchanter.
* Price: 2 Notes
So it was a training wand. Mages used those when learning new spells, a form of magic that could produce effects independent of skills or talents by weaving mana outside the body. It was a delicate and complex art only those with the money and resources to hire personal tutors or attend mages colleges would be able to master.
It was also so difficult and time consuming that it was borderline useless in combat, so Dyani had never dreamed of learning it.
The price was abysmal, but considering the wand was broken into two parts, she was surprised Hoss was willing to buy it. After finding the first half, she’d wasted most of an hour searching for the second, so she was just happy her time wasn’t completely wasted.
Glove of Spark Touch (Common)
* Level: 2
* Condition: Poor
* Description: A single glove enchanted to mimic the effects of the skill, Spark Touch. When activated for low mana cost, this glove deals a moderate amount of lightning damage and may inflict temporary paralysis through touch. Due to its poor condition, any activation will deal half of the lightning damage to the user.
* Price: 10 Notes
Dyani sighed. If the glove wasn’t so damaged that it would injure her as well as the monsters, she would love to keep it. It was level 2, so she should be able to use it with some effort. Unfortunately, she wasn’t confident in her ability to fight effectively while enduring repeated electrical shocks.
When Hoss returned, he gave Dyani an expectant look. She knew what he was waiting for, but wanted to hear him say it.
If they were going to be friends, they needed to have actual conversations.
“60% now or 75% when it’s bought.”
Dyani took a moment to consider, but it wasn’t really a question. She needed a bit more coin to buy the equipment she needed, equipment she no longer felt comfortable delving the sewers without.
She would love the extra money, but was willing to sacrifice for immediate payment.
“Notes now, please.”
Hoss grunted in response, opened a lockbox under his counter, and counted out her notes and change.
Dyani waved for him to wait before handing over her payment and zipped over to several items she’d been eyeing in the shop, fast enough to make Nodin proud.
She mournfully passed the racks of enchanted weapons with prices well beyond her means, instead picking up a fabric mask that fit over the mouth and a vial of pale blue potion.
She took the items and their placards back up to Hoss, giving them a quick glance to ensure their prices hadn’t changed.
Hollow Silk Mask (Common)
* Level: 2
* Condition: Poor. 43% capacity remaining.
* Description: A mask woven of the silk of a Hollow Spinner Grub. This silk naturally absorbs any foreign gaseous or particulate substances it comes in contact with. Due to extensive use, this mask can no longer absorb gaseous substances, but will still absorb any airborne particulates until the hollow silk’s capacity is reached.
* Price: 3 Notes
General Cleansing Tonic (Common)
* Level: 1
* Condition: Pristine
* Description: An alchemical tonic that increases the body’s ability to break down toxic substances. Has a moderate cleansing effect on all level 1 toxins, a high cleansing effect on non-magical toxins, and significantly decreased effect on higher level substances.
* Price: 15 Notes
The price for even such a low level potion was painful, but she really hated the idea of her corpse becoming some kind of moss incubator. She’d considered finding an actual alchemist to make a cleansing tonic that specifically worked on Plover Moss Spores, which would be significantly more effective than this general tonic, but the cost was prohibitive.
Besides, if she encountered another monster that used toxins, poisons, or spores, it would be good to have something that would at least keep her alive until she could find a healer, since a specific cleansing tonic would only work against the substance it was made for.
“I’ll take these. What do I owe you?”
Hoss took the placards for the mask and tonic, looked over the items and the prices, then gave her some rare eye contact. After several moments of consideration, he returned the money she’d just earned to the lockbox.
“Call it even.”
Dyani’s brows pinched in confusion.
“I didn’t make enough today to even cover the tonic.”
Hoss shook his head, closed the lockbox and tucked it back under the counter.
“Even.”
Dyani’s brain caught up to her mouth before she could protest any further.
“Thank you very much, Hoss. You’re a good guy.”
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Hoss only nodded and waved for her to leave. Dyani put her purchases into her backpack and turned away, a smile breaking over her face.
“You be careful.”
That shocked her more than his generosity. That was the first time Hoss had said anything not strictly necessary for their transactions. He’d never even told Dyani his name. She’d learned that from the name of his shop.
“You as well.”
Operating a pawn shop was hardly as dangerous as fighting monsters, but that seemed like the right thing to say.
Dyani left Hoss’s Pawn in an excellent mood, which was immediately put to the test.
“Move aside,” someone shouted from behind her. Before she could do more than look around for the source, someone shoved her aside and to the ground.
“Clear the way for the city guard,” the same man shouted, strolling past with two other guards, and three hunting hounds. One of the hounds sniffed at Dyani and growled. She held perfectly still as it inspected her.
The hounds and guardsmen radiated dense enough mana that they were at least level 4 and she didn’t want her throat ripped out.
The hound finally left as its companions pulled further ahead. Dyani could finally breathe. She hurriedly got up and opened her backpack to check on her potion vial. It was unbroken, which prompted a sigh of relief. As for the other breakable container in her bag, she would’ve instantly noticed if it broke, by the smell if nothing else.
“Idiots,” Dyani muttered. She put her backpack back on and brushed the dust from her pants. The city guard were clearly searching for something or someone, but it couldn’t be important enough to justify knocking her down. Hoss had already been kind enough to give her that vial of cleansing tonic for a reduced price, but she doubted his generosity would extend to giving her a second for free, even if he had one in stock.
Dyani resolved to keep the vial within reach, but padded to protect it. After all, plenty of monsters could knock her over just as easily as that guardsman had.
As Dyani navigated to the sewer entrance nearer the park’s river runoff, she saw several more guardsmen, both alone and in groups, most accompanied by hounds, lithe cats, or in one instance, a woodpecker with black, white, and red feathers. All were in a rush, but she spitefully noted that they didn’t knock anyone over in the more prosperous streets of this district.
Uncharacteristic anxiety plagued her as she performed the now familiar routine of checking her surroundings for observers, opening the grate, and slipped down into the sewers. This was her first excursion since the Plover Moss infection, and she repeatedly checked the nearby walls for patches of unfamiliar moss, but found none she didn’t remember being there before, so she was probably safe.
But Dyani wasn’t satisfied with probably being safe. After looking around, this time for monsters instead of curious passersby, she took the large, clay jug from her bag.
She removed the stopper and managed to avoid wincing from the fumes, considering her surroundings smelled far worse.
This was the first of her important purchases, this one sourced from a local potter. It had also come with a description of its effects.
Sourbirth Jug (Very Common)
* Level: 1
* Condition: Exceptional
* Description: A clay jug enchanted to gradually convert any water inside into white vinegar. At its normal rate, this jug can convert its entire contents in 12 hours.
Exposure to high ambient mana will increase its rate of conversion, up to a maximum increase of 100%. The enchantments on this item are not compatible with personal mana. Attempts to charge with personal mana may destabilize the enchantments.
Something so simple and without any combat applications if you weren’t fighting animated moss, had been affordable. Enough professionals or just moderately well off home cooks could use it that the enchantment was commonplace.
Dyani wished she could charge the jug with her own mana, rather than depending on ambient mana, which she had no control over, but overall she was still quite satisfied with the purchase.
Her only other recent acquisition, the only item she found during her exploration and decided to keep, had replaced the knife her father had given her as the tip of her spear.
Stiletto of Bloodletting (Uncommon)
* Level: 1
* Condition: Acceptable
* Description: A stiletto fashioned from a Marrow Drinker leg. It contains the same insatiable hunger as the ravenous spider it was sourced from, but has been altered to absorb blood, rather than bone marrow. A lack of proper maintenance has caused the sharpness and durability of the blade to decrease. Repeated exposure to fresh blood will gradually repair the damage.
The metal was dull gray and pitted with bloody looking rust, but was more durable than it looked. She’d already used it to heroically slay a dozen Fungal Rats with the only issue being the unpleasantness of watching their bodies’ shrivel and desiccate as they were drained of blood. The blood drinking effect was useless on the acidic jellyfish and the Plover Moss, as neither contained ordinary blood, but it was still sharp enough to do its job with a bit more effort.
Besides, at least for the moss, she had a better weapon.
Dyani exchanged the Sourbirth Jug for her spear and methodically poked each patch of moss within ten paces, ensuring none were monsters lying in wait.
Once she was satisfied, she used a flat, sharp stone to scrape every bit of moss from the wall and deposited them in a pile, which she doused with half the contents of her enchanted jug. She would keep the other half in case of a Hate Blanket encounter. The moss didn’t sizzle or turn yellow and die right in front of her, which was disappointing.
“You better be right about the vinegar, Kemo,” She muttered, shoving the moss to the side of the tunnel. Maybe it had been foolish to expect an immediate, obvious sign of death. She would just have to wait and see how the poisoned moss reacted.
Even if the moss survived, her clean up of the walls would at least make it obvious if any Plover Mosses were hiding nearby. She would continue to test-stab and scrape away moss as she traveled, even if she didn’t have enough vinegar to properly kill it. Throwing it into the slow trickle of murky water that made its way through most of these tunnels would be enough.
Dyani finished her preparations for today’s monster hunting, filling a waterskin on her belt with vinegar, wrapping the vial of cleansing tonic with thick layers of cloth to prevent breakage, and fastening both to her belt within easy reach. The filtering mask went over her mouth, the spear in her hands.
The day passed slowly, as most of what she attacked was ordinary moss, interspersed with two actual Plover Mosses. When the first stirred under her spear pokes, she panicked and fought to pull the waterskin from her belt.
Unable to uncork it with a single hand, she rested the butt of her spear against her hip and leaned on it to keep the hateful monster against the wall. The Plover Moss rippled and fought, but by the time it ripped itself free, Dyani had the waterskin free and was splashing it with the pungent vinegar.
Unlike the mundane moss, the reaction was immediate and dramatic. The moss hissed and sputtered with yellow sparks, each bit of moss whipping around quickly enough to rip itself apart. The nearly dead monster fell from her spear, occasional sparks interspersed with thin clouds of spores that Dyani was careful to avoid.
She dumped the remainder of her waterskin’s vinegar on the monster, finally killing it and releasing a burst of experience. In her disheveled state, Dyani only managed to get about half of the experience before the root above her creaked and absorbed the rest.
Despite the loss, her smile was wide enough to be painful.
“Serves you right, you dirty Hate Blanket.” She pulled off her backpack and crouched down to refill her waterskin from the Sourbirth jug, but swore and backed away as she felt mana coil and flare around the pile of dead, yellow moss.
As mana pulsed and grew around the corpse, Dyani mustered the courage to run forward and grab the jug of vinegar before scrambling back to a safe distance.
Nothing attacked her as she approached or fled, but she didn’t dare approach until the mana around the corpse settled into a low, steady level.
Something about the mana was familiar, but she couldn’t place the feeling.
With the open jug in one hand, and her spear in the other, Dyani crept forward. As she grew closer, the light from the stone around her neck glittered off something crystalline within the mass.
Touching the corpse should be safe, as whatever mana was in the spores it released had no mana to sustain them, either from the monster or a host, but Dyani wasn’t taking any chances. She poured a good portion of vinegar onto it, which had the dual results of easing her anxiety over another spore infection, and revealing the crystalline object hidden within.
Dyani gasped as she used a pair of thick gloves from her bag to retrieve the yellow-green crystal sphere, as wide as her knuckle, that had manifested upon the monster’s death. It was a skill core. Dyani knew those came from slain monsters, but didn’t know how often they manifested, which made it all the luckier that she’d gotten one from a species of monster she’d only encountered twice and killed once.
Her pleased expression soured as she remembered that her level 1 talent prevented her from using it, but she consoled herself with the fact that she wouldn’t want anything that came from her arch enemy inside her spirit, even if she could.
Hoss would tell her what skill it contained, and how much money she would make from selling it, which should hopefully be enough to outfit Dyani with significantly better gear, maybe even a proper enchanted spear, instead of a knife strapped to a stick
With the bittersweet prospect of selling the core, Dyani went back to hunting. Her second encounter with a Plover Moss left her even more suspicious of the walls, an attitude that was proven prescient when she found a baby plover moss at ankle level.
She killed that baby without remorse, drowning its silent cries with vinegar.
She left the dead monster irrationally disappointed that it didn’t form a skill core, or even a shard, though she was able to nearly completely absorb the experience it released. It was much weaker than a fully grown monster, and the smaller amount of experience was much easier to handle.
Dyani smirked at the root above her at her success.
“You won’t be getting anything else from me.” It wasn’t true, but it felt good to think of how much faster she could advance without the Mountain Oak’s experience tax, or even the significantly smaller amount that dissipated into the environment.
Besides dealing with the two Plover Mosses and a group of three Fungal Rats that attacked her together and were swiftly exsanguinated, all of Dyani’s time was spent cleaning up the tunnels she patrolled most frequently.
She cleared the moss and uprooted all other plants, besides the small patches of luminous blue mushroom that grew high on the walls. The sight of those made her smile. Hoss’s first identification of the blue mushrooms from the rats she’d heroically slain had revealed two common uses. The first was alchemical, though she didn’t remember the details, but the more relevant use was that they could be planted underground as a source of light, so Dyani sold half and planted the rest.
When Dyani had first planted a couple nearer the ground, they had swiftly been eaten, but most of those she planted higher up were growing nicely. If they grew as well as she hoped, she would no longer need her glowstone to navigate down here.
She also occasionally pushed rocks that monsters might use as hiding places or weapons to the sides of tunnels or into the putrid waterway. It was during this activity that she discovered something troubling.
Dyani came across the same three way intersection where she’d killed her first acid-blood jellyfish. After a few sweeps with her glowstone, she found the stone she’d used to kill it.
She crouched to get a closer view at the corpse and stiffened. The deflated body had lost most of its orange coloration, but the alarming thing was the set of bite marks from a mouth wider than hers. The edges of the bite were shredded, as if each tooth was thin and sharp as a needle.
“I’m sure that’s fine.”
Whatever creature had fed on the crawling jellyfish corpse had only managed to bite the exposed flesh, not anything pinned under the rock she’d used to crush the monster, so it likely lacked the strength to move it. In addition, most hunting monsters preferred fresh kills, so it was most likely a scavenger that would flee a predator like her.
Dyani repeated that line of reasoning several times before blood stopped rushing in her ears.
Of course, she would love to slay a terrible beast with needle teeth, but this wasn’t the place to do it. Tales like that happened on battlefields or on mountain tops, not sewers. It would be best to avoid that monster, at least until she advanced.
On the subject of advancement, her core was thrumming with the experience she’d gained from killing those rats, like the lid on a pot of boiling water. Dyani had lost most of the experience from the last rat as her core reached its current capacity.
She wouldn’t advance from level 1.0 to 1.1 down here, since the process required concentration and time that she didn’t have, but the anticipation, inability to absorb any more experience, and evidence of a strange new monster was enough to convince her to head home earlier than she usually did.
Dyani navigated to the only source of clean water down her, the Green District’s waterfall, and scrubbed herself clean. She gritted her teeth against the bite of the frigid water, but managed to endure it as she did every day. She took a moment to refill the Sourbirth Jug with water, which should be converted to deadly vinegar by tomorrow, and changed into the set of clean clothes that she kept stashed away with her weapons, tools, and looted items in a hole in the stone wall that was difficult for anything smaller than a human to reach.
She piled assorted rocks over everything to make it easier to overlook, and moved swiftly to her exit before her clean clothes were too dirtied.