~~~~~~~~~~~
Minor healing potion - 23 ct.
Greater healing potion - 5 ct.
Stamina potion - 18 ct.
Hair growth tonic - 3 ct.
Hair removal tonic - 1 ct.
Lesser paralysis poison - 84 ct. (possible criminal activity?)
Deadly neurotoxin ampoule- 2 ct. (MAKE SURE TO GET SIGNATURES IN CASE WE GET AUDITED!)
Flash bombs - 4 ct.
Incendiary flasks - 3 ct.
Trap construction kits - 8 ct.
Cephlyx 5 ml vials - 6 ct. (stock running low, reorder for delivery Tuesday)
Brockner’s Reagent 50 ml ampoule - 2 ct.
Order from Mr. Billsby for three vials of marital aid #7
Order by Mr. Juib for three scrolls of Icarian Flight (need to research, not familiar with this term)
- Thursday sales record, Southside Alchemy, Calgoth.
~~~~~~~~~~~
As the dawn sun rose over the scattered graves, the handiwork of our night before was made plain to see. A gruesome business, but at least the dead were back at rest again. Samara’s excitement over the promised orb left me feeling amused. I could see them being useful to block off passageways or create a choke point, but the mechanism took far too long to set up to be of any use in an active combat situation.
With the rest of the town slowly waking, Ben and I made our way back to the entry gate of the Citadel. A young cat-kin was there and greeted us.
“Hello there adventurers. Give me a few seconds to get this unlocked. I’m Barry by the way.”
“Pleased to meet you Barry, Benjamin. My coworker with the sword arm is Fabius,” Ben called out in good spirits.
“How many was it this time?” He asked.
“Just shy of twenty by my count. You’ll find them near the fresh graves, fought them all in one spot.”
“Appreciate that, makes my work of burying them again a lot easier,” the kin finished unlocking the gate as it swung open on rusty hinges.
“Anything else you need from us?” I asked.
“All good here, thanks again for your service,” he said as he returned to his duties.
Ben and I began our walk back to the guild as the sights and sounds of Oxdale began to rise in the morning light.
“Wild how quickly things return to normal around here, isn’t it?” Ben asked.
“I don’t have any reference point, but this really doesn’t feel like a village that just had a deadly riot not more than a couple days ago.”
“The Ecclesiarchy may be many things but they do know how to handle a disaster response,” Ben acknowledged. “So, any second thoughts about that trade we discussed last night?”
“Yes, but I still want that [Area Denial Orb] despite them.”
“That’s fair, I hope it’s worth it to you. My style is best if I’m mobile. We worked together quite well I think.”
My mind flashed back to the Ursan Ben had put down while I’d been distracted by the sensations of my [Conversion Matrix] activation, “Thanks again for the save back there. I wouldn’t mind hunting with you again after this is all over.”
“Well if you keep turning over the reward to me, I’ll gladly have you as a meat shield!” Ben chuckled as we neared the Guild.
Even at this early hour there still was a flurry of activity. I almost missed the sight of Zirval leaving the guild in a rush of movement. His movements were even faster than my own the night before. It made sense that I wasn’t the only one with a movement enhancing skill, but I was fairly sure he didn’t have to sacrifice his own health to activate it for a temporary boost.
Once inside, the flow of people had diminished significantly from the day before. The quest board was likewise reaching a more manageable level of fullness compared to the bloated monstrosity it had been.
“Hey there sunshine!” Crelk’s voice boomed across the hall as his eyes fell to Ben and I.
“Hey there yourself old man,” I returned. After a long night of fighting, I was still tired even if the last few hours had been relatively restful. Couldn’t get complacent while on watch.
“So you kids cleared the Citadel graveyard then seeing that you made it back in one piece.”
“That we did. Might have done a little property damage, but it wasn’t excessive,” Ben supplied.
“Well they should have paid more if that’s what they wanted,” Crelk joked, “Either way, your part is done. Here’s the spoils.”
Two small pouches came flying from his hands without warning, one aimed directly at my forehead and the other at Ben’s. I was able to catch it in time, Ben dodged before it could bean him then picked it off the floor.
Quest: “Undead Suppression” COMPLETED: 120 XP awarded
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LEVEL UP
I was leveling a lot faster these last couple days, near death experiences seemed to be good for that so long as I could survive. With that in mind, I lobbed my share of the earnings to Ben. While I may have been 210 gilder the poorer, what I was really looking forward to was what I saw him pull out of his knapsack.
“Let’s do this again, but maybe somewhere less in the middle of a graveyard, deal?” Ben handed me an unactivated orb.
“Deal,” I accepted the trade with barely contained glee.
“So, you two looking for another job to take on right away? Think I saw a few new combat quests pop up this morning,” Crelk said.
“Thanks but I’ve got some other things to take care of first.”
“Alright but the bounty is bound to run its course sooner than later. Get the money while the going’s good. Or trade it away for nicknacks. Your call,” the guild master did not seem impressed with my trade.
I’d wait to hear the news from Samara once we found a safe place to talk with each other. Clearly she was excited about this as my body trembled in anticipation.
No sooner had we left the guild the orb was back in my hands, every detail being poured over. Not that it made much sense to me. The Skills let me know what I was looking at, but it still didn’t make any more sense than before.
“So care to explain why this is so valuable? We’ve been on edge all night.”
“Yes I know! Sorry not sorry. If this really is an application of barrier technology, we could create some real armor! Not keep getting smacked around or stabbed in the back. A shield that pops up from your wrist! The possibilities are endless...once I figure out how you work you little piece of tech.”
“How about we put it away till we get somewhere we can work on it? Colette’s place maybe? She seemed to really enjoy helping us before. It might be nice to say hello while we’re not incapacitated either.”
I put the orb back into my pack as I walked through the town. A few street vendors were out serving some kind of breakfast food, a wrap with eggs, sausage, and something that looked like a green pepper but definitely wasn’t. After a quick thought, I purchased a second one to take to Colette.
Approaching her shop, I finished off my wrap and readied the other to give to her. I saw that the door was already open. Walking in, I saw a feathered customer take a brown bag and discreetly tuck it under his wing. Colette’s face lit up when she saw me then returned to her customer. I wandered around the small shop while the transaction was completed. After he left, Colette sauntered over to me.
“So, who do I owe this honor to today?” She said with a knowing grin.
“Probably going to be mostly Samara, she’s got a new toy to play with. Oh and we got this for you, wasn’t sure if you’d had breakfast yet.”
An exaggerated gasp made it from her pursed lips, “You mean she’s replaced me already?!”
“Nothing of the sort. Besides, you’re the only one who has a decent lab to work in around here! No one else knows our true nature anyway and it’d take too much time to bring them up to speed. What I’ve got here though is something new, something exciting!”
I pull out the orb from my pack and begin looking it over. Soon, all its secrets would be mine!
“Samara, before we go back there there’s something we need to discuss first,” Colette interrupted.
“Yes?” I was a bit unsure as to what she could be leading up to. It sounded like a breakup speech, but we weren’t even anything official. The hesitancy on my face must have been apparent when she continued.
“No, I’m not going to spread the word about what you are. I gave you my word on that. It’s gilder. Specifically, the gilder the smith came by asking about. I told him you’d be back from a quest in the next couple days with the two fifty I have left to pay him for. You did bring it, right?”
I looked down at the orb in my hands.
“Really?”
“Yes, but I haven’t...” I stopped myself from making further excuses, recomposed myself, then continued. “I forgot. But I am going to make it up to you.”
Colette rolled her eyes then opened up the wrap to start eating before it got cold.
“Once I figure out the inner workings of this orb, I should be able to replicate it on my armor to make it nearly invulnerable to damage. You want me to stay undamaged right?”
“I want the smith to leave me be and replace my calcinator. Unless you have another one and a half grand laying around to buy a new one?”
“Wouldn’t the Ecclesiarchy pay for the replacement since it was damaged in the riot?”
“They would cover the difference if I had enough to post a quest for two thirds of it. In case you missed it, the shop isn’t working so great. The Cephlyx we made is the only thing keeping me afloat right now and it’s going to run out in a couple weeks. So I need to find a replacement before then.”
“We’ll help you with that. And not forget about it...again. But to do that I really need to use your lab!”
“If your story wasn’t so unbelievable I’d have said you were crazy long ago. Well, I’m curious to see what you’ve got there.”
“Thanks,” I answered somewhat abashedly as I made my way back to the back of the store.
“Hey Fabius, I get that you two are linked and all that. Just want you to know I’m not actually that upset with you. Though I would appreciate it if I occupied a little more of your thoughts next time she wants to spend some gilder,” Colette winked then blew a kiss at me.
“Oh come on, that’s cruel and unusual punishment! I’m right here you know,” I groaned as my body reacted to Colette’s flirtation.
“It’s all fair as long as you keep forgetting the debts you owe, Samara,” Colette smiled, “but if you want me to stop just say so.”
“I deserve it,“ I sighed, “this is the most advanced thing I’ve found since arriving here and I had to have it. Don’t stop flirting with Fabius on my account though.”
“Who said I wasn’t flirting with you too?”
A flush of arousal hit me, “Okay, can we all get back to the issues at hand before this body implodes from the tension. Colette, I think you were upset?”
“I was but not really any more. Teasing the both of you made my morning, plus that wrap was pretty tasty. So what’s this thing you wanted to take apart? If it helps pay my bills better than gilder I’m a fan.”
“An [Area Denial Orb] is what it’s called. I’m more interested in what it does though.”
“Which is?” Colette hadn’t seen it in action, and looked reasonably wary of something that looked and sounded like an explosive device.
“It creates a barrier of hard light that’s impervious to physical objects. If I could adapt it to my armor or shield, I could create a bubble around myself to prevent myself from getting hit!”
Hearing that it was not in fact an improvised weapon seemed to assuage her fears for the moment. “So what do you need from me?”
“I’m not sure yet, I’ll let you know as I dig into it.”
Carefully, I pried off the outer casing from the top of the device. The rune work here was simple, just a directional limiter. No point in having it make a bubble with you stuck in it.
“Basic directional limiter on outer shell. Likely used to orient the projection,” Even if I was the only one present who knew what was going on, it never hurt to call out what I was doing. Help keep me on track and there was the odd chance that someone else might see something I missed.
“Inner core appears to be an iron base covered in an intricate framework of cross linked Cephlyx pathways. Runes for force and raw energy observed. No stabilization or heat dissipation routine observed. Theorize thermal overload as failure mechanism.”
“So it burns up when you use it. I could tell you that from last night,” I said.”
“Yes, but not why it burned out. Identifying why something failed is how you figure out how to improve it.”
“So you just add in those pieces and it’ll work?” Colette asked.
“It’s... not so simple as that. Each pathway affects the ones that follow it. Part of what makes it an effective barrier is the way it burned the ghouls. If they’d been able to claw and press at it with impunity they would have broken through much sooner.”
“Flaming armor sounds awesome! Let’s make it, just put a way to turn it off in there, and we’ll be alright,” I was getting more excited about this discovery by the second.
“Absolutely not. At least not like it is now. Assuming you like breathing. This is such a crude implementation of barrier tech I’m amazed it works at all. It’s simplicity is the only saving grace. It seeks out something that can hold up to its force, burns into it to create a base, then projects between those points. It’s as likely to chop off our head as protect it. Good luck trying to move too! Once it locks down its as hard as steel.”
“No flaming armor?” I asked.
“No. This piece is useless aside from setting up the temporary barrier we saw. Colette, I’ll take another couple quests to make up what I owe you. My hopes for up for nothing. At least I might be able to sell this for a few gilder. Can’t return it to Ben now that all the pathways are damaged.”
“What if you’re looking at it the wrong way?” Colette pondered, her ears flicking back and forth nervously.
“How? It can’t be adapted to armor and on a shield it would only provide a minor boost to durability. It can’t be projected beyond the limits of the shield and would eat through it activated enough times.”
“Put it on a sword then.”
“Ah! I get it,” thinking I was following Colette’s idea.
“But why? It won’t help block anything. And there’s still the issue of it cutting into the substrate to stabilize.”
“What if you don’t try to stabilize it...” Colette offered.
“...and instead let it burn into whatever it’s hitting! You’re a genius Colette!” I gave the cat girl a full hug, relieved that my gamble wasn’t a waste.
“Thanks, but you’re crushing my spine,” Colette rasped out.
“I need to get started now! Gladius, check. Colette...?” I gave her my best grin after setting her back on her feet. This body was handy for its upper body strength if nothing else.
“Fine, I’ll pull some more from the stock of what we made. But I need two things from you first.”
“Name it,” I was pumped and ready to go.
“First, promise me that you’ll go get the gilder to pay off the smith as soon as we’re done.”
“Done, what else do you want?”
“I want a kiss and some appreciation for putting up the shenanigans of both of you.”
“Deal!” I reached over and planted a kiss square on her cheek, my own flushing in response.
“Did I read the room poorly? Or is your aim just that bad?” An impish grin spread across Colette’s face and her eyes twinkled.
I put my hand on the side of her face, turning it to look at my own. Samara wanted it, I wanted it. I might not be a mind reader, but Colette sure looked in the moment like she wanted it too.
I brought my lips to hers, and felt them tenderly brush my own as they connected. My arm slid behind her back of its own accord as the kiss deepened. I could feel Colette begin to purr against my chest. Finally, I broke the moment and came up for air.
Her dazzling eyes must have matched my own as we separated and stood there for a moment.
“Not quite how I imagined my first threesome, but it’ll do,” Colette winked then went for another kiss.