Nick Smith

Adventurer Level: 5

Human - American

"Should we ask Imlor if he can take us?" I asked my brothers.

Nash rubbed his neck and Yulk tapped his chin as if he was thinking. We walked along the busy streets of Kirkena in silence for a few moments.

"I don't know, he did say he wanted to spend more time with his family," Nash said. "We might be better off finding a caravan that's already going to Bolisir and just tagging along."

"Before we see to transportation, we should see if we can get your weapons and armor repaired," Yulk added. "If I recall correctly there are a couple of enchanters that might be able to do it quickly."

"Enchanters? Not a smith?" I asked.

"Enchanters use magic to mend weapons and armor," he explained. "It's a fairly quick process compared to doing it... manually."

"Costs more, though," Nash grumbled.

"It's not THAT much more expensive," Yulk argued. "Plus it's the fastest way to get your weapons fixed. Come on."

Yulk led us through the city in search of an enchanter. We passed by several stalls selling various foods and trinkets, buildings advertising various goods and services, and alleyways that were definitely shady gathering spots. Finally, we came to a part of the city that smelled like hot metal. The normal sound of people talking was replaced by the ringing of hammers striking steel and the occasional hiss of rapidly cooling heat.

"Let's see..." Yulk looked around. "Ah, there. An enchanter."

He pointed to a brick building with a sign hanging off the side of it that had some writing, and a drawing of a star above an anvil. As we approached the building, I wondered if Ten knew about enchantments.

'Hey, Ten...'

'No,' it interrupted me.

'What do you mean no?' I thought angrily.

'You don't get to ask me questions until you answer mine. How did you stop me from taking control?' Ten matched my anger.

'First of all, I don't know. Second of all, even if I did know I still wouldn't tell you because then you'd find a way around what I did and take control of my body away from me again.'

This conversation had been happening intermittently ever since I woke up after that battle. I don't really remember what I did, all I remember is suddenly feeling dizzy and thinking to myself that I can't let Ten take control. Can't really remember much after that, probably a consequence of being thrown like a rag doll. The monster had lashed out with just one of its claws, as if on instinct. If it hadn't been for my cuirass...

'We could have died. We WOULD have died if it weren't for your companions,' Ten said. 'Even if the monster had left you alone after it struck you, I wouldn't have been able to repair that damage without Joni's healing spells. I don't want to die, Nick.'

'Well neither do I, but I'm not going to get any stronger if you keep taking control of my body at the first sign of trouble. It's MY job to keep us alive,' I retorted. 'Not yours.'

'That is simply not true. My mandate is to keep you alive and aid your growth. Obviously, that means letting you fight things you can beat, and even things that are challenging for you to beat. So I won't be taking over your body as often as you're implying. But you cannot grow if you're dead, so when we run into an enemy that you cannot beat on your own it only makes sense for me to take over and help you beat it. That's the whole reason I have the ability to take control in the first place!'

'Yeah, well, you don't have the ability to take control anymore, so that throws that theory out of the window. And by refusing to answer my questions, you're not fulfilling your mandate of aiding my growth, either.'

As I followed Yulk into the building I felt a sharp sting behind my eyes that told me I won the argument. Worth it. Behind the counter was a tall blonde man with shining green eyes. I almost thought he was human, but his ears were unnaturally pointed, just like everyone else I'd seen so far. An elf, probably.

"Hello, potential customers! I am Erias. How can I help you today?" he asked.

"We've got some weaponry that needs rapid repair," Yulk answered. "A sword and an axe."

"I'd rather have the other swords repaired than the axe," Nash said. "Or maybe all three if the price is right."

"Well, let's have a look at the weapons then," the elf chuckled.

Nash pulled his weapons out and set them on the counter, and I followed suit, adding my cuirass that had a fairly large hole in it. Erias glanced at the items, and then at us. Now that I was closer, he looked a lot less human. His skin had a slight green tint, and he didn't have a single pointed tooth in his mouth. It kind of reminded me of videos about the uncanny valley phenomena. He raised an eyebrow as he looked me over. His eyes lingered over my ears and then met mine.

"That's a pretty traumatic injury, brother," Erias said.

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"I'm not an elf," I replied. "I'm a human."

"Ah... a what?" he asked.

"A paying customer," Yulk interrupted with a smile.

"Oh... Right. Good point," the elf laughed nervously. "Alright, let's have a look here."

Erias picked up the remains of each weapon and examined them thoroughly, one after the other. Finally, he looked over my armor and nodded solemnly to himself.

"Well, the good news is that I can repair them," Erias said, setting the armor back onto the counter. "The bad news is that it's going to cost ninety-eight silver and take a few hours."

"Each?" Nash asked suspiciously.

The elf laughed, "No, total. The elven blades are the biggest chunk of that, coming in at thirty silver each. The cutlass, I can do for nineteen. The flesh-render I can do for ten, though you'd save a lot of money on that by just letting me shave it down a bit and redo the serration. The armor's the cheapest because it's going to be the easiest. Hell, it'll do most of the work itself."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The enchantment on it is self-repair. Given enough time, it fixes itself. All I've got to do is rush it a bit and you're good."

"How long would it take to... shave the axe?" Nash asked.

"I've got a backlog on the smithing, it would be at least two days."

"Damn. Gotta have it done today."

"Well, ninety-eight silver will see them all done in about two hours."

"Why are the elven blades so expensive?" I asked.

All three of them looked at me with raised eyebrows, as if I had asked why jerky was chewy. I couldn't help but deflate a bit under their gaze.

"Because the crystalline structure of elvish forge-craft is... intricate. Well, proper elvish forge-craft, at least. A knock-off has the same kind of steel you'd find from a dwarven journeyman," Erias laughed. "These, though, were smithed by a proper grandmaster with good ol' fashioned magicite."

"Magicite?" I asked.

"I... yes. Magicite. It's a somewhat rare metal that's notoriously fickle to work with. Adamantium and Mythrallite have similar properties, but Adamantium requires a much higher temperature and Mythrallite requires actual spell-craft to work with. Magicite, though, is very durable, flexible, and holds a good magic charge, but you have to have the heat on it just right or it becomes more fragile than glass. When alloyed with steel, it becomes even more durable," he explained. "I wouldn't want to meet a monster who could break these blades."

"Yeah, neither did we," Yulk chuckled. "You got change for a gold?"

"Sure do."

"I'll cover it," Nash said. "You hold onto yours. Buy a book to read for the trip, or something."

He put his gold coin on the counter, and the elf swapped it with two silver coins.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Feel free to have a look around, my apprentice will be coming out front if you want to buy something," Erias smiled wide, demonstrating oddly flat teeth. "Or you can just check back in a couple of hours."

"We'll check back. We have to arrange transport to Bolisir."

"Bolisir? You may want to check with the gnome next door. He's going to be shipping some items to Bolisir for me," the elf said.

"Let me guess, the gnome's name is Imlor?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Well, yes, but that's not a particularly clever guess. A lot of gnomes are named Imlor."

"Huh?"

"It's the most common gnomish name, and it came from Imlor Crav," Yulk interjected. "A legendary gnomish sorcerer. He invented several spells and defeated several powerful enemies."

"Yep," Erias said. "Anyways, this gnome's name is Imlor Tula."

I laughed, "I guessed right! He's the one who brought us here. We were thinking he was going to be spending time with his family."

"Oh?" Erias asked. "His travels must have been unusually hectic. Regardless, this delivery was agreed upon before he left for the dungeon-settlement. It should net him enough to hire someone else to drive the cart, though. Then he'll be able to stay home more often. Telena will be thrilled... at first."

The other three chuckled but I didn't get the joke. Instead, something had caught my eye. A glass display that contained a singular item that shouldn't be there. It was a helmet, made of what looked to be bronze or brass. The reason it shouldn't be here is because I've seen it before. Dozens of times in dozens of different places. Movies, shows, video games, comic books, even online videos of cosplayers.

It was a spartan helmet. There was no mistaking the iconic design. Red bristles that stuck straight up adorned the crown of the helm, travelling down the back and culminating in a ponytail. The eyeholes were rounder than I remember them being, but the nose-guard without a mouth covering left little doubt as to where the design had come from.

As I looked into the face of the helm, I felt a pull. I want nothing more than to put it on and fight my way to my goals. It will protect me as I cleave through my enemies on my way back to Cass. The eyes on the helmet seemed to burn into my own, and for a moment I imagined her playfully taking the helmet off of me and kissing me. I was happy, she was happy, and the helmet was happy for us. A tear ran from one of my eyes.

"Careful," Erias said, snapping me out of it.

I realized that I had been clenching my fist so hard my nails had dug into my skin. I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. I wiped my face and looked at the elf.

"How much?" I asked.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Wait," Nash said. "What's going on?"

"It would appear that Ares has chosen a new champion," Erias answered.

"Ares?" the question hung in my throat.

"Yes, that's the helmet's name. Named after a god of war from another world, according to the anyels that brought it to this one. It chooses a champion and protects them until they pick a fight they cannot win. Then it escorts their soul to the afterlife and waits for another champion," he explained. "At least, that's how the legends go. In practice, it's a heavily enchanted helmet that won't activate its enchantments for just anyone. I keep it around because I like how it looks, and it's an interesting story to tell potential customers."

Ares, the ancient Greek god of war and courage. How did the anyels know about that? Have they been to my world? Or maybe the whole thing is made up... but who here would know of Ares? Another human, maybe?

"What kind of enchantments does it have?" Yulk asked, oblivious to my concerns.

"It has basic protection against the elements, piercing resistance, and a kinetic intensifier in its metal. The brush has a cleanliness enhancer, and another... more unique enchantment."

If the anyels really did bring the helmet here, were they also the ones that enchanted it? Or did it come from another version of my world, one with magic and stuff?

"A kinetic intensifier in a helmet? You don't usually see those on anything other than hammers," Nash commented.

"What's the unique enchantment do?" Yulk asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure. It's conditional and the script is... confusing. I assume that it will only take effect if worn by someone that it chooses, but I can't tell you exactly what will happen. Just that it has something to do with its existence," Erias shrugged.

"Do you know where we can find anyels?" I asked.

The three looked at me curiously. It occurred to me that my question had come out of nowhere to them.

"I-I don't know," Erias stammered. "They haven't left Haven since the cataclysm wars, I think. And nobody knows how to get to Haven."

"Why do you ask?" Yulk asked.

"The anyels might know of my... home. And how I can get back."

"Really?" Nash raised an eyebrow. "Fine then. How much for the helmet?"

"I... Well, normally it wouldn't be for sale. But... well..." Erias pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I'll let it go for fifty silver if the human puts it on here. I'd love to see what the unique enchantment does."

"Deal," I said.