I was sitting at a corner table in the ocean-themed restaurant that had been located across the street. After a short wait, I had been placed directly under a stuffed swordfish with four eyes.
A mana beast then.
Popping another piece of bread in my mouth, I organized my thoughts and created two lists. The first was what I really needed from my shopping trip today, and the second; was what I needed to accomplish before the entrance exam to Primrose Academy.
SHOPPING
Something similar to Identify.
An actual sword.
An item similar to the pants I currently have, but Something more effective.
Something for binding or to increase my strength for Thief of Time to be effective.
Books on Alchemy and Herbology.
Books on Enchanting and Runes.
More practice materials and recipe books.
Goals
Find a library to absorb some free books.
Test the rest of my Abilities in a safe space.
Work on more internal mana techniques, including the Unguis and Nieve.
Give those techniques awesome names.
Kill lots of things to reach Novice.
Learn the basics of Alchemy.
Learn the basics of Enchanting.
Buy new gear again at Novice and new crafting materials to stock up on once I upgraded the Library.
Join a group to do a dungeon.
With my plans set and confident I would figure out the rest when it was in front of me, I left the restaurant and headed to meet up with Osiph.
After an hour of waiting in lines and a small stack of paperwork in front of a nervous-looking clerk, we were finally in the main part of the city. Massive buildings and large protruding towers stretched into the distance. We had walked toward the city center for about thirty minutes before ducking into a tavern that was only one storefront out of a dozen attached to one giant structure.
We ordered a drink each and waited for Osiph's contact to join them. They hadn't waited long before a boy only a few years older than myself, approached us and bowed deeply to Osiph l, who waved for him to take a seat.
"Day, my lord." The boy spoke in a small voice. "This one is Trennel, of house Navir."
"Day, young Mr. Navir." Osiph greeted happily. "You understand the parameters of your task."
"This one does, my lord."
"Then there is no need for further delay." Osiph turned to me. " You still have the token I gave you on the ship?"
After double-checking my ring, I nodded.
"Fantastic, just call me when you finish and we will get started toward the estate." Osiph got up, and bid them farewell, but turned before he left. "Don't get a sword just yet. I have something in mind for that, so just stick with what you have been using for now."
"Day, young Master, shall we begin?" Trennel asked me, getting up as soon as Osiph had exited the front door.
"That would be fine, thank you. And please call me Typhen."
Walking out to the busy city street, I followed Trennel around several turns, mapping the route in my head.
"First on the Lord's list is an artificer by the name of Master Skaalner. He makes fantastic quality works, and is in high demand by most of the minor nobles in the city for their young lords and ladies."
Stepping into the cozy shop, I was surprised to see a gruff-looking dwarf, in front of an Enchanting table with what looked like a silver pen and was scratching runes into the chain of a necklace. Looking up, he lifted a plain brown Crafter's Mask, which acted as magical safety equipment.
"Trennel, dear boy. Day, to ya. I've been expecting you. Had the shop closed for the last hour in preparation, what's this all about then?" He asked, pulling his heavy work gloves off and placing them beside the table to join us near the front counter.
"The young Master has come in need of gear, and this is the first stop of many," Trennel replied.
"Young Ma-? My apologies young Master." Skraalner bowed nearly toppling over due to his top-heavy build. "How may this one be of assistance."
I waved him off. "Typhen is fine, and the only things I really need are two items."
Waiting for the man to stand, I continued. "First, something to augment my level to at least ten higher than actually is, and I need something with the Identify spell Enchantment. After those are complete, then I don't have a preference, I'll probably just look through what you have and pick out a few that catch my eye."
"Beginner tier?" He asked.
I confirmed."As well as the Novice ones."
"Very well," Skaalner said as he pulled out two metal tablets with blue lines in twisting patterns in a star pattern, the logo of his shop I assumed. I recognized the pattern from the sign hanging out front. Both were identical."Just place your hand on the surface and put some mana into it. My system is separated by Affinity or Effect. Fire items with fire items and such. I will go and retrieve the Amulet of Augmentation but I will have to craft the other item, as there is no demand for Identification items, with the spell being easier and cheaper to learn, but I do know the Rune for it. I will put them in a pair of glasses if that suits you?"
"I will need both Beginner and Novice versions if you can.".
"Perhaps half an hour at most. While you wait you can move items from the lists to a separate folder if you wish to buy them or ask for more details."
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"Thank you," I said taking the tablet, as Trennel and I moved to a bench by the front window. I sat as Trennel bowed.
"This one will make preparations for the Armorer Lady Ceneste next. This one will meet young Ma-Master Typhen back here in one hour. If you plan to disembark before the arranged time, please inform Master Skraalner of your intended destination so I may rendezvous with you there."
The boy left the shop as I began scrolling through the items. I could feel Mel looking greedily through my eyes, just as excited as I was. It was time to get some new gear.
"This is kind of disappointing," Mel remarked after we passed the first few items of each category. There was a bracelet with a weak Fireball spell form enough to light a torch or a small campfire. A ring that let you see in the dark, another ring that had some type of Earth spellform, that let you level an area of hard-packed soil to set up camp.
I can't say I'm not disappointed at most of these. But they are only Beginner items. the good stuff will come later. I only need to find things that will help me survive. I can equip three more rings, a pin, glasses, and a necklace, though it sounds like the necklace is taken care of and the jeweler's working on the glasses. And I'm still partial to the enchantment on my pin currently, I'll be picking up some potions later, so I will also be looking for something similar in the Novice menu.
"I would suggest two Utility and one Offensive item."
I agree, while I am more confident that my offensive ability will grow with time, especially once I get a proper sword. For now, it remains the weakest aspect of my combat.
I ended up putting four items aside because I couldn't decide between the last two Offensive type rings. They were both the same and exactly what I needed.
Ring of Shadowless Peril
(Rare)
Type> Item> Ring
+(1% Vitality) Armor
(Beginner)
Enchantment: Use a foe's shadow to bind them in place. Duration: ten percent of (Willpower)- (Target's Willpower) seconds. Cooldown: one hour.
[2 Silver, 3 Iron]
Ring of Nature's Lament
(Rare)
Type> Item> Ring
+(1% Vitality) Armor
(Beginner)
Enchantment: Conjure vines from beneath an opponent, trapping them in place. Duration: ten percent of (Willpower)- (Target's Willpower) seconds. Cooldown: one hour.
[2 Silver, 3 Iron]
"So the question really is; do you want to stick with the brooding and shadowy vibe or do you want to break from the norms and be a plant guy?" Mel asked helpfully.
It doesn't matter, does it? I'll be replacing all this stuff in a matter of weeks, and we haven't even looked at the Novice tablet yet.
"No, but it will set a precedent for what you are used to using, and how you upgrade gear in the future as you just go for what you are comfortable using already."
Fair point. The main thing that will be the limiting variable to each item. I mainly need to know if the plants can grow out of any surface like stone. It says Conjure but it also says from beneath so does that mean they conjure in the ground and then come up? And does the shadow ring work in complete darkness, or too much light? Cause that would be an awful match-up against anything with a Dark or Light Affinity.
Mel didn't have anything to add so I looked at the two items that I knew I wanted while I was still in the Beginner tier.
Ring of Warping Safety
(Epic)
Type> Item> Ring
+(1% Vitality) Armor
(Beginner)
Enchantment: Set a Warping Anchor in a specific location.
Enchantment: Activate the ring within 1000 ft. of Warping Anchor and teleport back once per day.
[7 Silver, 4 Iron]
A teleport to safety once a day was a no-brainer and would definitely look for its upgrade in the Novice menu. Last was the best in the shop's entire inventory, and not even a thought went into it before I had decided to buy it, even with its ridiculous cost.
Ring of Perilous Hunger
(Legendary)
(Type>Growth)
Type> Item> Ring
+(1% Vitality) Armor
(Beginner)
Enchantment: Once per target, you can place (on touch) a Mana siphon. Ticks target's Health for (1% of target's Vitality)/sec for 15 seconds. Restores Mana at (3% of target's Vitality)/sec for 15 seconds. (Beginner)
[This item is Upgradable by a sufficiently talented Crafter or Upgrade Stone.]
[2 Gold. 4 Silver, 6 Iron]
That was certainly worth the money, Growth items were made out of rarer materials that had more Mana conductivity, thus more Runes could be placed inside. A Legendary Growth item would be able to be upgraded to Expert before needing to be replaced with better gear with something of a higher rarity at that level, as growth items downgraded in rarity with each upgrade. It would have to be Mythical or Divine to reach Master tier, and still be equal to gear you could just acquire at that tier, but that wasn't a worry for now. Though he set aside a few Upgrade Stones from the list to keep on hand, he didn't want to have to come back to have it upgraded when he hit Novice. Which, if he was able to go back out to an environment like the Ara Sea, would happen in weeks.
Switching over to the Novice tablet my eyes went wide as as the very first item in the Alchemy category was already amazing.
Broach of the Duplicant Alchemist
(Rare)
Type> Item> Pin
+(20% vitality) Armor
(Novice)
Enchantment: Each plant harvested has a 30 percent chance to double its yield.
Enchantment: Every potion, poison, or elixir created has a 12 percent chance to double its yield.
[1 Gold, 1 Silver, 8 Iron]
I scrolled through dozens of great items and by the time I had decided I had an entire upgrade set for Novice minus the Ring of Perilous Hunger and the two items that Skaalner had just finished.
After everything, it ended up being just under nine gold, more money than some families made in a year.
But I got almost everything I could need for the moment. I ended up getting the Ring of Nature's Lament since the vines were spectral and could be conjured on any surface.
The Spectacles of Identification was a Common rarity item and gave ten to Armor and the Identify effect. They were red-tinted glass in silver-rimmed frames and were quite stylish.
The Amulet of Augmentation was an Uncommon rarity item and also gave ten to Armor, and showed my level at whatever I wanted as long as it was still in the Beginner tier.
As for the Novice gear, I got some direct upgrades for the necklace, the glasses, and my school signet pin, which I planned to replace with the Broach.
The Ring of Nature's Lament had a twin in Novice where it would leave seeds inside the target that would then sprout thorns that injected a potent paralysis toxin. I also got something very similar to the Warping ring but instead of needing an Anchor, I could use it limited times up close for combat instead of for retreating.
The last thing I had to replace was the dimensional ring for when I got my own spatial storage. I had found an Epic rarity ring that added my Intelligence to my Strength for one minute.
That rock I had cracked back on the island, even now I could probably chip a portion off, but once I was Novice and equipped with this ring, it would have been reduced to pebbles. It would put my strength near low Journeyman, when active.
Done fantasizing about crushing rocks, I equipped my necklace and glasses, then stored everything else in my dimensional ring and asked the shopkeeper to pass along to Trennel that I would be seeking out the closest food stand, which he helpfully informed me lay only two blocks south.
Exiting the shop, I entered the busy flow of traffic, moving south on the main street. Ready to get some food and get to the rest of these shops? My curiosity about what Osiph had in store barely beat out my need to just go out into the Beast Plains of this continent that I had read about, and grind out as many levels as possible.
But I could be patient, after all, what was a few months when I had already lived through an eternity?