“I can get you all this,” Sedgwick said once he was done perusing my list.

“You can?” I asked, a little surprised by his easy confidence.

The merchant nodded. “Provided you can pay, of course.”

“Of course,” I murmured. Money was tight at the moment—a state of affairs I didn’t expect to change until Nicola fulfilled his debt—nonetheless, I foresaw no problems paying Sedgwick.

My shopping list was hardly what you would call extravagant—at least not in comparison to the gear I’d requested from Kesh. Seeing the expectant look on the dwarf’s face, I set down two items on the table.

You have lost a bag containing 73 x miscellaneous items reserved for use by Mammon’s Sworn.

You have lost an alchemy stone containing: 4 x orbs of petrification, 10 x Shadow ectoplasm, 250 x lumps of necrotic plasma, and 236 x vials of nether residue.

Sedgwick’s brows rose as he sifted through the bag’s contents. “Sworn-locked gear…” he murmured.

“Is that going to be a problem?” I prompted.

Kesh, I knew, was quite fastidious in how she dealt with equipment looted from players, which is why I’d not sold the Riders’ gear to her during my previous visit to the emporium. The only other option was to use something like the thieves’ market.

And I’d planned on doing just that, but after the way things had panned out with Den Chief Dinara, I’d lost the opportunity to do so. And as cash-strapped as I was, I had no choice except to sell the gear for whatever pittance Sedgwick was able to get from more mainstream buyers.

The dwarf surprised me, though.

“Not at all,” he replied smoothly. “I will be able to match these items to the… uhm, right buyers—anonymously, of course.”

I eyed Sedgwick speculatively. “You have access to the thieves’ market?”

“Ah, you know about that. Good, it will make things easier.”

I pursed my lips. So, Sedgwick wasn’t only an emporium merchant—Kesh wouldn’t touch the thieves’ market herself. “Does Kesh know about your…”

“Side hustle?” he finished for me, his eyes twinkling.

I nodded.

“She does, and while it does not please her, she tolerates it as long as I don’t try recycling anything through the emporium.” He held a hand to his heart. “And that I would never do. It would be a betrayal of all the good lady has done for me and Saf.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, not sure how much I trusted his protestations of innocence.

Leaning forward, Sedgwick whispered conspiratorially. “But tell me, how did you acquire the equipment?” He held up a hand, forestalling any objection I might raise. “I ask, not out of any sense of misplaced morality, I assure you, but so that I know what precautions to employ during the sale.”

I was unamused. “I did not steal the gear, if that’s what you’re getting at.” I paused. “But I did kill—murder some would say—the owners. So, extreme caution would be advisable.”

“Ah, I see.” Tapping the end of his nose with one finger, the dwarf pondered the equipment strewn negligently on the table. “In that case, I can offer you… one hundred thousand gold for the lot.”

“Deal,” I said, not hesitating in the least, even though I knew what Sedgwick offered was likely only a fraction of the gear’s true value. I’d looted the items off Malikor, Leafbright, and Zultan, after all—all three Sworn and elite players in their own right.

Despite my instant acceptance, though, Sedgwick felt the need to explain further. “The items are worth more, of course—a lot more. But considering the precautions I must take, the risks inherent with transacting on the thieves’ market, and the need to soothe your… uhm, victims’ egos, that’s the best I can offer.”

I waved off his words. “I understand.” Nicola, too, had complained about his overheads when dealing with the thieves’ market. “What about the alchemy stone?”

Sedgwick picked up the object in question. “This is a more straightforward transaction. I’ll give you fifteen thousand for all five hundred reagents.” He looked at me questioningly.

“Acceptable.” I nudged my list. “Let’s double the quantities of all the consumables listed here, then.” It seemed like I could afford it.

The merchant inclined his head. “As you wish.” Closing his eyes, he began materializing the items on the table.

You have acquired 20 greater portal scrolls, 14 upgrade gems, and 58 bombs.

You have acquired the ability tomes: load controller V, whirlwind V, trap disarm IV & V, lockpicking tier IV & V, set trap V, mass puppet V, windborne V, enhanced reflexes V, trap detect V, ventro V, lesser imitate III, IV, & V, charge I, II, III, IV & V, overpowering blow I, II, III, IV & V, and stomp I, II, III, IV & V.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Your trap crystals have been fully replenished.

“Thank you,” I murmured, sweeping my purchases into a bag of holding.

“You’re welcome,” the dwarf replied. His eyes fell on the disappearing books. “That’s a lot of tier one strength ability tomes. Excuse my curiosity, but why would a player of your level need so many new abilities?”

“I’m experimenting,” I said—which was true enough.

“Ah,” Sedgwick said and left it at that. “What about the rest of your money? Do you want me to deposit it in a bank?”

“How much remains?”

“Sixty-one thousand and three hundred gold exactly.”

“Hmm...” I drummed my fingers on the table, thinking. “What’s the price of a moderate healing potion these days?”

Sedgwick raised one eyebrow. “A moderate potion? Not a full one?”

I nodded, not explaining.

“Thirty gold.”

“Thirty gold,” I mused. “And what if I buy them in bulk?”

The dwarf cocked his head to the side. “What sort of quantities did you have in mind?”

“Sixty-one thousand, three hundred gold’s worth—to be exact.”

For a moment, Sedgwick looked nonplussed, then realization dawned in his eyes. “Ah, I see now. They’re not for you.” He closed his eyes, calculating. “If you’re willing to buy in such numbers, I can reduce the price to twenty-five gold per bottle. That’ll work out to approximately two thousand, four hundred potions.”

My lips turned down. It was fewer potions than I would’ve liked, but the quantity was still a sizable one and should make a material difference in the forthcoming battle. “I’ll take them.”

“I can’t promise immediate delivery,” Sedgwick cautioned.

I shrugged. “As long as you can have everything here in five days.”

“Five days I can do.”

“Good. Then, see that the potions are delivered to Safyre. She will know what to do with them.” Rising to my feet, I headed for the Roost’s upper floors.

It was time to put my new ability tomes to use.

✵ ✵ ✵

Sitting down cross-legged on my bed, I considered the items arrayed in front of me. I’d bought far more ability tomes than I could hope to use, but the books were relatively cheap, and I’d seen no reason not to buy them.

Where to begin? I wondered.

I picked up the whirlwind tome. I’d been chasing after whirlwind’s tier five variant for a long time now, and beginning with it made sense.

Yet, I hesitated in opening the tome.

I had no doubt that the ability contained in the book would be an improvement over the tier four variant I currently used. But was there a better variant to be had?

Setting down the tome, I picked up an upgrade gem.

Upgrade gems, I’d come to realize, were not just expensive replacements for hard-to-find tomes. Sometimes—not often—they offered something else.

Like unanticipated variants.

It was a truism of the Game that there existed more abilities—and variants—than any one player could ever hope to discover in a single lifetime.

Which is what made upgrade gems handy.

I turned over the small crystal in my hand. Using an upgrade gem meant I didn’t need to know all the possible variants of an ability beforehand, nor did I need to find the right tome to match the option I wanted.

The upgrade gem would find it for me.

Of course, there was no guarantee that any tier five variants of the whirlwind ability existed. Or if they did, that they were more suitable than the one in the ability tome I’d just bought.

Still, it was worth finding out.

Closing my fist around the upgrade gem, I willed my intent to the Adjudicator.

Ability gem activated.

Creating ability tome…

…

Tome creation halted.

There are 3 elite variants available for the whirlwind ability.

A small smile stole across my face. I’d guessed right! More text scrolled through my sight.

Variant 1: whirlwind. This variant increases the speed boost provided by the buff, allowing you to attack 6x faster than normal for 3 seconds.

Variant 2: bladedancer. This variant increases the buff’s duration to 5 minutes, but only works while you are dual-wielding bladed weapons.

Variant 3: wind daemon. This variant modifies the buff so that it not only increases your attack speed but your movement speed as well, doubling both.

“Interesting,” I murmured as I considered the three options on offer. Variant one was clearly the stock-standard one and doubled the boost the buff provided to attack speed.

Variant two didn’t boost attack speed at all. Instead, it increased the buff time significantly. Unfortunately, it also restricted how I could use the ability.

The last option was the most intriguing. Assuming you discounted enhanced reflexes, I had no pure speed buffs—at all. Enhanced reflexes increased my Dexterity, and while that did provide a small boost to my overall speed, it did not increase it anywhere near by a factor of two.

Which wind daemon promised to do.

However, wind daemon also provided a smaller attack speed boost than either of the other two variants on offer. Nor had the Game made any mention of its duration. Would it remain at three seconds or would it last longer?

I didn’t know. Nor did there appear to be any way to find out before I made my choice.

I sighed. Ultimately, though, the question boiled down to whether I was willing to sacrifice attack speed for movement speed. And the answer to that was…

Yes. Unequivocally, yes.

There were too many benefits to be had from moving faster. My decision made, I willed my intent to the Adjudicator.

You have upgraded your whirlwind ability to lesser wind daemon. Wind daemons are famously hard to hit, and just as famously, hard to block. They are preeminent fighters who rely on speed to carry through their attacks and dodge incoming blows. The tier 5 variant of this ability doubles the speed of all your movements for 1 minute. Its activation time is fast, consumes stamina, and can be upgraded. You have 11 of 142 Dexterity ability slots remaining.

I smiled. The ability’s description assuaged my doubts. I’d made the right choice. Lowering my head, I considered the rest of the objects on the bed.

So, what to continue with next?