Gideon entered a building. It was more similar to home than anything he had encountered within the walled city. So far, everything had seemed so alien to him, including the two thugs. This place and this man reminded him of Captain Daniels in some way. He’d have to talk to the captain when he went home to visit. He would tell him how much he truly appreciated him. Now that he had just a small glimpse of the outside world, he understood the difference that just one man had made for him, the difference he had made for all the scamps like him. He not only helped them survive, but he made the world safer for them to survive in. He looked to the older man that reminded him of Captain Daniels. “Thank you sir. I appreciate you helping me out there. You didn’t have to put yourself on the line for me, but you did. I won’t forget it.” He said and gave the man a smile. “I didn’t know what to do, they attacked me out of nowhere. I had to defend myself.”

The old man laughed long and hard. “, Boy, it didn’t look that way to me. You showed them what for, yes sir, you sure did. They won’t be coming around these parts and robbing my potential customers again anytime soon. That’s if the one can get around anywhere after today. I suspect he’ll be needing a healer. ” The old man said excitedly. He mimicked fighting as he flailed his arms about. He stopped his silliness and looked to Gideon. “If you want to thank me, you can always buy something.” He waved to all the shelves around the store. Gideon had entered a shop.

Before he browsed the man’s wares, he needed to sort this mess out though. He decided to asked the man about the thief, “I didn’t mean to hurt him, I was just trying to not get hurt myself. Do you think he was hurt bad?”

The old man shook his head, “Well you have a funny way of going about it. He was hurt, but he’ll live boy. So you were trying to make friends were you? Or maybe you wanted to give him a kiss? Is that what you were all about?” the old man asked and chuckled too himself, “Well, you’re pretty bad at whatever you were trying to do. You kicked the bloody hell out of him instead.”

Gideon blushed at the man’s jest, “Well no, I wasn’t trying to make friends, or you know, but I also wasn’t trying to be a killer today either. What am I supposed to do?” Gideon asked. “How do I fix this. Maybe you can be a witness for me. I was just defending myself.”

“Bah, you don’t need to do much of anything. Hang out here for a bit, look around at my wares if you like. You’re just a customer looking to buy some of my stuff, right?” the man asked him. “The guards won’t bother you. You’re an upstanding academy student, they are low life thieves. If the guard steps in to ask questions, you were in here shopping the whole time. We heard a ruckus, but didn’t interfere. I’ll walk you back to town after things have settled down. The name’s Earl Filcine, tradesman, crook, and old fashioned fence. I have things from all over the world. I can’t vouch for any of it being legally acquired by those that sold it to me, but I can say ain’t nobody looking for any of it now.” He fanned his hand out and extended the invite to have a look.

“Thank you sir, I will. My name is Gideon, it is nice to meet you Earl.” Gideon slowly walked around the store. The shelves were littered with all kinds of trinkets and various other gadgets that Gideon could only guess were Magitek of some sort. Having so little exposure to TEK in his life, he wasn’t sure what to even look for. It was all so overwhelming. He wandered his way toward a back shelf that had various weapons sitting on it. There was a fairly substantial amount of dust on many of the shelves around the store. He now understood what the old man meant, some of this stuff had been sitting for a long time. If someone were looking for an item in this shop, they likely had given up the search long ago. He found a set of daggers that looked promising. After the issue in the alley, he thought a smaller weapon that he could use to fight in tight spaces might be a good idea.

“You have a good eye, those are some nice daggers with an even nicer deal for them. Set them here on the counter until you’re done shopping and we’ll see what kind of deal I can make you. The more you buy, the better the deal.” Earl offered.

“Thank you sir,” Gideon said. He continued to explore random shelves, looking for something to catch his eye. He thought some armor might be a good idea. Maybe if he found additional armor types, he would be able to absorb it with his Armor of the Protector ability. He viewed the ability again to verify how it worked. “Lets see if I remember this right.” Gideon brought it up his view.

Armor of the Protector(Paladin): Grants the ability to absorb physical equipment to later summon as as a void based versions. The equipment absorbed can alter the capabilities of the summoned base. The item rating of summoned equipment will be that of the original(Armor and shield combined), plus the AMP, plus the total skill level of all related skills. Summoned items last 1 hour or until dispelled. Armor of the Protector grants access to a wide array of general skills as well as access to advanced skill techniques.

*All abilities will receive the same bonuses due the the synergistic nature of this ability.

His assumption proved true. “That sounds about right. I wonder what kind of bonuses I can get?” he said to himself. He found a pair of soft leather boots. They looked much nicer than the beat up shoes he always wore. He grabbed them from the shelf and tried one on, the fit was almost perfect. He took them to the counter and sat them next to the daggers. The old man just nodded when he sat the boots down, not interrupting his shopping again. There were a few items inside the case near the counter, he felt drawn to it. He looked inside and his eyes were pulled to the corner near the back, a small plain and unassuming gem sat in a box. It looked similar to the storage gem that Captain Daniels had given him. Would having a second one help? is there a limited capacity for the gem? How much void essence could one store, he wondered? He didn’t know and didn’t want to ask and sound naive or stupid. Gideon pointed to the little dull gem, “Can I see that please?”

“Sure boy, no problem,” The old man said as he walked over to unlock the case. “What did you want now?” Gideon pointed at the crystal near the back of the case again. “Ah, I’m afraid you’ll be wasting your time there son. That thing has been in this store for as long as I can remember, I don’t recall where we even got it from anymore. Nobody has been able to figure out what it is, or what it does. Suit yourself though, one more person looking at it won’t hurt nothing.” He pulled the gem out of the case and carefully handed it to Gideon.

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Gideon took the small gem in his hand. The moment it touched his skin a voice spoke to him in his head. “Archon Interface Module Xion-5 scanning. Suitable match found. Checking compatibility. Complete. 97% compatibility. Initialize Installation?” Gideon quickly selected NO in his user interface. He did his best to keep a straight face. He set the gem down with the other items. He didn’t have a hope that he could afford it, but he also didn’t think the man knew what he had. He had to try, maybe his void essence would be enough.

Earl picked up the small gem, “No shame in it, nobody seems to have any luck figuring it out. I’ll put this back and then we can negotiate the price.” The old man made to open the case again and return the gem to it’s box.

“No, I’d like to buy that as well. Maybe play with it a bit. You never know, I’m new to all this and maybe I can learn more about it at the academy..” Gideon told the old man.

Earl gave him a suspicious look, then shrugged his shoulders. “Well lets hope you can figure it out for the both of us. Sometimes I think that thing is bad luck for me. I might pass that luck on to you, but if you’re sure?” Gideon nodded his head in agreement. “So lets see what we got here.” He picked up the the daggers and looked them over. “Sharp Daggers of Balance, one seems to be called Yin and the other Yang. I’m not too sure what that means, I don’t have a good appraisal ability for smithed items, but these are nice weapons boy. I think we’re talking Void Essence or a lot of coin. He picked up the boots next, then looked them over. Not bad craftsmanship. Nice and comfortable. My Mercantile Ability doesn’t see anything special about these, there just nice boots. Wouldn’t be the first time I missed something with the blasted skill. So lets say ten coins and a void essence for the boots and daggers. We’ll toss in the cursed gem if you agree to a no barter trade. What say you?”

Gideon checked his pouched and he had 7 coins. He was short the 3 coins. He checked the essence gem. He had 4 void essence stored in the gem. Gideon didn’t know what the value of a single void essence was in relation to coins, but he knew it was much more valuable based on the conversation with Captain Daniels. He thought on it for a minute. He really wanted the gem; no, he needed that gem, it was meant for him. He didn’t want to show how badly he wanted to make this trade, because he was sure the merchant would try to fleece him for every bit he could. He like the old man, but he didn’t trust that the man’s good intentions, would overrule his greed. Trade was his profession after all. “I find myself in a bind Master Merchant,” Gideon said, hoping to flatter the old man. “I have so few coin and can’t match that, but I do have 2 void essence I’d be willing to part with.”

The old man looked like he had almost swallowed his tongue. “Well now, that isn’t quite the offer made, but I will definitely accept it. I’ll toss in an unbound storage ring in for the difference. Don’t ever say Master Filcine didn’t treat you well.” Earl said, seemingly testing the “Master” moniker with his name. Judging by the smile, Gideon thought he either liked how it sounded or he was very happy with the sale. Earl slid the items over to Gideon. “Nice doing business with you young man. Stepping out to assist you seems to have been beneficial for the both of us. You know where I am. Now that you chased off those thugs, I may see more business. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Thank you again sir. I’ll certainly come see you when I have more shopping to do. I’ll tell my friends about you as well.” Gideon placed the new ring on his finger, but he didn’t bind it. He had a good idea where this ring was going. The daggers and the boots went right into his spacial ring, stored for inspection later. He then took the gem into his hand again. The same high pitch mechanical voice came into his head again. “Archon Interface Module Xion-5 scanning. Suitable match found. Checking compatibility. Complete. 97% compatibility. Initialize Installation?” Gideon took a moment to think about whether he should wait. He knew this could be a bad idea, but he gave into the excitement, he selected YES on the user interface. His body absorbed the gem and a message displayed before him.

((Initializing…

Installing…

Please Wait…

Installation Complete…

Archon Interface Awakening…}}

“Hello, I’m Xion-5. I will be your direct communication with the System. As a sub system of the master System, I can provide you with a deeper understanding of the world around you. Would you like to initialize “Active Mode” for full autonomy? Or would you prefer “On Demand” for limited interactions when requested?”

On Demand for now he thought. The AIM system began to process. When he saw that his thought was enough to count, he took note of this. The response time to his thoughts were almost instantaneous, where selecting a choice in his user interface was much slower. He needed to make his way back to the train, his time in the city was coming to an end. Once he was safely in the Academy, he would look into full autonomy.

“On Demand selected. Automatic responses shutting down. Setup will now begin. Full body diagnostic scan in progress. Time until completion, 47 hours and 59 minutes” Xion-5 said. Gideon looked around the store again lost in thought. What does any of that even mean? I hope I did the right thing, he thought. The AIM system spoke of things differently than how he had been taught. The learning curve was going to be high and he didn’t have anyone to tutor him on the subject.

Earl came out from behind the counter. “Looks like you’re packed up and ready. I bet the streets are cleared up and should be safe to travel. You ready to take that walk? We can get you safely back where you belong and I can pick up some dinner while I’m out.” Gideon nodded and followed the old man out the door of the shop. Earl locked the door behind them and they set out for the train. They walked through the city, Earl pointed out different people and landmarks in the city as they traveled. Gideon didn’t register any of it, his thoughts turned inside. With Earl as an escort, he found his way back to the courtyard he had arrived in. Across Market Square, Gideon saw a girl with a large pair of glasses, the large round spectacles stood out, even at this distance. The dress she wore looked more like a robe. The thought of Prim brought a smile to his face. Seeing her across the square loosened the tension he hadn’t known had built up until that moment. He had potentially made real friends, not kids that were just fellow survivors on the streets. These were people he liked and wanted to spend more time with.

He turned to thank Earl for all his help, but wasn’t too surprised to discover the man was already gone. A bell struck, heard through the town. The fifth bell was a worship time in the lower districts. The guards saluted the altars until the final bell struck. Yvaxaz, dominated the lower districts. The god of anger celebrated war, death, and conflict. The guardsman call him the Keeper of R’lyeh and revered him as their personal deity. Gideon didn’t believe the captain walked this path, but he’d never asked. Regardless, what he saw around him weren't followers of Yvaxaz. He decided to hurry. He yelled to get his friends attention, “Prim! Primrose!” he called to her, his hands waved above his head. A second bell toned and the mood in the square changed as more of the Priests came into view.