The room Giancarlo came out of was...weird. Which was to be expected, he was a powerful Enchanter and Inventor. But still, even expecting it, the massive variety of random objects in jars and bottles lining the walls was surprising. Boxes full of materials were stacked at the base of the shelves, with metals and wood stuffing them and carelessly written names scrawled on stickers slapped across their sides.

"Oh! You've cleaned recently!" Said Anna-Marie in delight. We all turned to gape at her as we looked back around. The place was nominally organized I guessed, but it was packed so full of random nonsense that it wasn't possible to apply any adjective to the place except 'cluttered'. "We brought you quite a few interesting herbs and flowers, we'd love to hear what you have to offer. Solomon, if you could set them on the counter?"

She gestured to a flat countertop, probably the only non floor space clear enough to see more than a foot of. Shrugging, I waved a hand over the counter, swiping my spatial ring with a thumb to access it and dump all the herbs out onto the surface. I blinked as I did, not having quite realized how absurd the number of herbs we collected was. There was a huge variety of color, shape, texture, attribute, and any other measurable quality you could name.

Giancarlo had somehow appeared behind the counter, which was a neat trick since I hadn't seen him move. He nodded sagely, reaching behind the counter and pulling out a huge complicated set of goggles. They were made of pure gold and had about a dozen lenses made of what looked like ruby, sapphire, emerald, and other precious gems set along its side, each on levers that allowed him to swap them in and out, whether individually or stacking them in groups.

He flipped through the settings, looking at the herbs through various lenses and combinations thereof, making humming noises and interested sounds as he picked up, fondled, licked, sniffed, and in one notable case, bit the herbs. Eventually he slipped the goggles off and looked up at us impassively. "A hundred coins for the lot. I have a marker on hand. Can't do any higher."

I saw Celine open her mouth, but Anna-Marie cut her off. "Of course Gio. I know you don't haggle, and that's a more than perfectly fair price. Thank you for your generosity." She didn't emphasize the words or say it with deep and meaningful tones. She didn't have to. It was clear she'd just saved us from possibly alienating the old man.

Nodding my head, I gestured that I accepted, and he swept them off the counter into a box, passing over one of the black stone markers with the red energy cracks. I smiled at him, not that he could see. "I'm looking for defensive enchantments. Something portable probably, and maybe some sort of portable shelter if you have anything like that. Lets start with defenses though, we can pick the shelter based on what those will cover."

He grinned at me. "Smart boy. Too many try to do it the other way. Picking your defenses to suit your home means you only get what works best with that home. If you do it the other way you can pay for the best. You might end up a bit less comfortable, but you'll also end up much less dead."

"Well that's the idea anyway." I laughed. "So what do you have in the way of mobile defensive spells. Do you even make anything like that? I'm not exactly an expert."

He just scoffed. "Of course I do." He reached under the counter again, withdrawing a crystal orb made of what looked like a thousand chips of slightly different diamond, each with a unique rune on it. "This one is popular. Sovereign's Sanction. Creates a powerful defensive bubble. Useful but not mobile, and once deployed nothing enters or leaves until it runs out. Good for bunkering down to wait for backup."

I took it from him, weighing it in my hands. I was fascinated, but it wasn't what we were looking for exactly. "The mobility is a big thing for us. Unbreakable defense is great, but we don't really HAVE backup, at least not reliably. You got anything that moves with you?"

Nodding, he pulled out a bracelet. "Abjuring Ring. When activated it creates a circle of protection around you that keeps out enemies. Moves with the wearer, and works well for setting up temporary camps. Sadly it only works on actual beings, not attacks, and it's not foolproof. Ranged assaults aren't covered and the strong willed can force their way past it, though it takes active effort to maintain position, so they're weakened inside."

That one was more interesting. "I like it. Put that one aside for possible purchase? What's your most powerful defense. Not popular, you showed me that, what's the most unbreakable spell you have on hand."

He sucked his teeth. "You don't mess around, do you boy?" Reaching down, he pulled out a box made of old worn wood. Reaching into his shirt he pulled out a key and put it into one of the locks on the box, pulling another from under the counter where it appeared to be literally chained down. He turned both and opened the box, revealing a large, glimmering ruby pendant the size of a baby's fist. It practically radiated malice and death.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Blood War Pendant." He said solemnly. "Half step E-rank. It creates a field of blood shades, manifestations of those killed by the attackers, the defenders, anyone inside the circle. The shades reform endlessly, and are always at the rank they occupied when killed. Only way to stop it is to wait it out or break the pendant, and anyone who dies inside the circle becomes part of the spell. It's a bit situational, but it's damned powerful in the right hands. It costs four marks. Because I'd be a fool to sell it for less than four hundred infused heart coins."

I weighed the possibilities with the item. It wasn't perfect, if only because most of us were going to be spawning G-ranked blood shades. Still, there would be a decent amount of F-rankers from Abel I was pretty sure, not to mention any incoming attackers most likely. Even if not, an army of G-rankers that couldn't die would be useful.

Four marks was a decent chunk of our money, but I could see how that would help immensely. "How mobile is the pendant? I assume the circle of effect moves with us? Otherwise why make it a pendant."

He nodded solemnly. "It works for an hour a day, and it can move. It's shockingly effective, even for those who aren't too steeped in blood." He nodded to Abel. "I don't think that will be a problem for your group."

Setting a mark down on the counter, I flipped open the box and laid three next to it. "Apollyon, you'll wear this one." I gestured for him to take the pendant.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Ok, I can guarantee I have nothing that goes with that."

Mel rolled her eyes. "I'll wear it." She pushed her hair back. "Between the link and our proximity, not to mention our long partnership meaning I'm almost as blood drenched as him, it should be fine, right?"

I shrugged. She wasn't wrong, plus now that I looked the Ruby pendant actually DID go with her mask. "Fine whatever." I turned back to Giancarlo. "Any other impressive bits of enchanting?"

Staring at me for a minute, he sighed and pulled out another box, this one made of bone. Flipping it open, he handed me a finger bone suspended in amber. "Bone wall. Single use and not mobile, but a huge interlinked wall of F-rank bones is a hell of a defense to pop instantly."

Another ruby, this one brighter and mounted in a ring, came out of the space beneath the counter. "This one is a flame ward. Basically a mobile wall of fire. Not perfect since you can go over or under it, or even push through if you resist fire."

I mulled over the options. "Ok. If we did the Bone Wall, Flame Ward and an Abjuring Ring, what would our best bet be for lodging, and can we get a deal for the lot?"

His eyes narrowed, but he didn't reject the request exactly, weighing his options. "Landrock Bunker would be the easiest to defend. Bit of setup time when you move it, since it reinforces itself with natural stone. Still, I could do....ten marks for the lot. Including the Blood War Pendant. Take it or leave it."

Three defensive items, the bunker and the Blood War Pendant, which was four on its own, seemed like a solid buy. Based on what Anna-Marie had said before I resolutely nodded, and he grinned. "Smart boy. And since I like you and you're bringing my Anna along, I'll even throw in one of these."

He tossed us the Sovereign's Sanction, his most popular defense. "Wow." I said in surprise. "Thank you. We appreciate that. What exactly are the specs on that, if it's alright to ask?"

He just chuckled. "Don't be daft boy. Never be afraid to ask what you're getting. Every one of those chips came from a different type of F-ranked diamond. The Sanction erects a spherical barrier with the durability of all one thousand combined."

I whistled at that. No wonder it was popular even though it didn't move. That was some serious defense, and if we had actual backup it would be amazing. Even without it though, I wasn't going to complain about free defense. If nothing else we could use it to recover energy during a huge fight.

Stowing it all in the spatial ring (except the Blood War Pendant and Flame Ward which we gave to Mel) I looked to the last item on the pile. The Landrock Bunker. "Any chance you could give us more info on how it works? Just so we can make sure to pick the best possible location when we use it."

Giancarlo chuckled. "Of course. It's not complex. Stab the rock focus of the bunker." He pointed at the sharp spike of stone on the counter. "Into the earth, and it begins to grow. It leaches the durability from the surrounding rock and when you pull out the spike it slowly drains out over time. My only advice is to find a place with lots of exposed stone. It will spread furthest that way."

That did seem easy. "How big is it. On the outside I mean. Most buildings this level are expanded inside."

"True." He said with a smile. "The bunker is a twenty five foot square. The defensive enchantments built in are uniform, but if you want to take best advantage of all of those defensive spells, I'd personally suggest somewhere with a backdrop. Against a cliff wall or some such location. It will enable you to make the most of the bone wall."

Slipping the last mark into my ring, I thanked him packing up everything we bought. "One more thing." I said intently. "We were hoping to buy a map, something auto updating, and if you can give me some advice, what's the one thing you suggest any adventurer take on a long journey." He reached under the counter and pulled out two things. Once of them was a rolled piece of paper, and the other was a cantine.

"Water." He said firmly. "Clean drinking water. You would think with the snow around it would be plentiful, but it isn't always. The cantine refills passively and will last centuries. I'll take ten coins for both. Consider it a discount for asking a wise question." I passed him the last mark, and he returned me a bag with ninety infused heart coins. With that done, we turned to head out to look around more, and then we'd be staying at Anna-Marie's manor for the night. Tomorrow we set off again.