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JULES
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Dozens of hardy old men turned to face Jules, Cyrus, and Katarina. Whiskers snuck off, out of sight. The Innkeep was at least forty-five years old, but that didn’t stop her from hopping up on the bar to address the inn. She towered high over Jules and Cyrus now, with a mini keg cradled in her arms and bosom like a newborn.
“I’d like to introduce you all to our newest, our most honorable guests—The Future Capturers of the Siren’s Cove Shrine!”
Oh. Nevermind.
Every drunken man—for they were all men, and there were a lot of them, and they were drunk, all of them, in the middle of the morning—pounded their mugs and steins on hardy wooden tables and cheered for the three nervous fools. Beer suds and foam sloshed around the large room.
Katarina shied away to a corner, slightly hidden from the rest of the room, and Jules followed her to get out of the limelight they so desperately tried to avoid everywhere they went. Cyrus took a bow to his uncontested crowd, then joined them. The Innkeep came by to take their food orders.
“I’ll take the finest batch of your—er, finest—kiwis, please,” Cyrus said before she’d finished her own sentence.
“Whatever sushi you have and six rice balls,” Katarina demanded with a slap on the table.
“Uh, we don’t serve that here,” the Innkeep said.
“Wantons? Fine. Then thirty of them.”
“Uh… Sure. Thirty. OK.”
“And a bowl of milk.”
“Riiiight…" The Innkeep's eyes narrowed. "And for you, hun?”
“You got oysters?” Jules asked
"Does the Priest on High shit in Solstice Keep?"
Uh, maybe?
“Oh please, Salvos, no. Not oysters.” Cyrus and Katarina both pleaded.
“Fine," Jules conceded. "What meat do you have?” The Innkeep listed off several options. “Yeah, one of each of those. Oh, and do you have squirrel?” The Innkeep paused with a blank stare. She blinked once, very slowly. “On second thought, forget the squirrel.” Jules shifted around in his seat to muffle Rukia’s angry mumblings. After a while, she returned with the food, which they scarfed down as she chatted them up. Why is she still speaking to us?
“So, you adventurers looking to prepare yourself for the Shrine?” Ah, there’s the rub. A sales pitch. Jules and Cyrus glanced at each other.
“Why yes, now that you mention it.” Katarina's entire tone changed. You can speak properly, but the way you’re eating isn’t fooling anyone. “We are headed to a Blacksmith next. Among some other stores we need to visit.”
The Innkeep’s eyes lit up, but not from a Script. “Oh, well you’re in luck! We have good relations with quite a few stores. Just tell them we sent ya," she winked, "and you’ll get a special discount. If you’re interested, that is.”
“I think—” Jules and Cyrus both began.
“Yes, we absolutely are.”
Both boys sighed. This is not gonna go well.
“There’s the Apothecary, Poseidon’s Pharmacy; the Blacksmith, The Master’s Anvil; and the Armorer, The Armorer’s Anvil—they’re owned by the same family—and, of course, The Farrier’s Forger and Enchanter’s Cove. Let’s see, we've also got The Rune Master, and of course The Siren's One-Stop Shoppe, for everything else you might need.”
“Is there an art shop nearby?” Cyrus asked.
“Why on earth would you want to go there? Well, I mean, I suppose a souvenir shop that sells postcards and the like could have what you’re looking for.”
“Thanks?” Cyrus said.
“Oh, I forgot to mention! Another group of youngsters like yourselves came in just last night. They went out today, too, to prepare for the Shrine. Seemed like a tough lot! Of course, they had that older man with them, and a loud bird, but anyway, you better act quickly before they capture the Shrine before you!”
“Holy shit—you guys!" Katarina shoveled food even faster. You are so oblivious. "Thank you, kind lady, Ma’am. We’ll hit all of them up today.” The Innkeep walked away with a wide smile. Jules and Cyrus exchanged another look.
“Sound like tourist traps to me,” Jules said.
“And a shakedown,” Cyrus added.
“You guhs weady?” Katarina asked, her mouth packed so much Jules wondered how she could possibly chew. Must not have heard us over the food.
As they left, Jules asked the Innkeep for two rooms for the night.
"Payment upfront," she requested.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"What about a tab?" Jules asked. "I'm sure we'll drink a lot tonight."
"Do you have proof of funds?" Jules flashed a Ryoku Crystal for her. The Innkeep's eyes gleamed brighter than the jewel. "Why of course—I'll see you back tonight, good hunting!"
It was still early, and people bustled by the gang as they strolled through the street.
“Don’t even know why we’re bothering to shop,” Cyrus said. “We don’t even have enough money. Figured we’d have dined and dashed that inn. We’re not going back, right? Right?”
Jules laughed. “Well, the four of us are really grateful for your sacrifice, Cy. We actually have a surprise for you.”
“Yeah,” Rukia piped up. “We used all our Ryoku reserves before tapping into your crystals, then we refilled them throughout the night."
“We? You were asleep—And why aren’t you in my backpack!? Get back in!” Rukia kicked and bit Jules' hand as he crammed her in. Cyrus stopped walking.
“You guys…” No way he’s about to cry.
“Don’t get us wrong, you idiot,” Katarina said. “You’re still down 80%.” It didn’t seem to matter to Cyrus.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you back. Some day." Jules pointed to a storefront. "Look. Here’s our first scam, I mean shop, Poseidon’s Pharmacy. Couldn’t pick a cornier name if you tried.”
“Wow, it’s so convenient. All those shops she mentioned are in a line down this street!”
“And only four doors down from the inn,” Cyrus muttered.
Jules looked at Whiskers, who knowingly shook his head. They walked into the cramped shop and rubbed shoulders with other patrons. They'd all try to do the awkward dance, shuffling left and right, but still bumped into each other.
“Lot of people coming out today to try Alchemy, it seems,” Katarina said. “Definitely don’t look like the Shrine types, either.”
Jules and Cyrus looked at some tools like mortars and pestles, alembics, calcinators, and retorts.
“We should get the Master set and—”
“No, Jules, look at the prices. And,” Cyrus looked left and right. “These are shite quality. Get the cheapest ones so we actually have something, and then we can rely on our own Skills and replace them later.”
Cyrus gathered some ingredients for Ryoku Restoration potions: white cap, taproot, creep clusters, red cliff flowers, and grass pods. “Mix these babies together any way and you can get some good decoctions.”
Jules bought some pre-made potions for his teammates: Cure Disease—mostly for Cyrus—two Resist Fire potions—mostly for Cyrus—and a potion ingredient list for Resist Fire—mostly for Cyrus.
> [Resist Fire Potion Recipe: Any combination of: Fly Amanita, Snowberries, Dragon’s Tongue, optional booster: Fire Salts]
Katarina bought a few poisons for her bow, and a recipe list for making future poisons.
> [Novice Poison Recipe: Any combination of: Imp Stool, Mora Tapinella, Orange Dartwing, Slaughterfish Loot (any)]
They brought all of their loot to the clerk’s table and paid for the goods. As they left to go next door, Cyrus groaned.
“What a rip off…”
“Alright boys, time for the highlight of the day already.” Kat’s acting as excited as a kid on Yuletide. “I can’t wait to see what they have in here!” She ran inside The Master’s Anvil blacksmith shop.
Jules was a bit impressed, if only by the organized setup. Katarina, on the other hand, was clearly blown away and dazzled by the sights. Jules missed Smitty back in Coralhaven, but they certainly had everything on display here. Katanas, great swords, great axes, straight swords, curved swords, whips, chains, cat-of-nine-tails—
Wait, that’s a bit odd… Anyway.
—Daggers, throwing knives, Windja stars, bows and arrows, crossbows and bolts. They even had claw hooks here. Before looking at the prices, Katarina had already started pawning off her bow. Cyrus ribbed Jules, who caught on.
"You, uh, you sure this is…yours?" the clerk asked.
Jules hid a smile. “Don’t know why you’re laughing. It’s your money she’s blowing.”
Cyrus paused, outraged, stopped the deal, and educated Katarina.
“Look, you’re seeing the most expensive stuff on display. Ask for the prices first, then see what we can afford.” He walked away and whispered, “Idiot…”
Whiskers hissed at him.
“Yeah, I think that’s her line,” Jules said. He inspected the barrels of katanas, well out of the line of display, and tried out a few in his hands. He finally rested on one that felt decent—enough—and was a decent—enough—price. He looped the sheath through his belt. It felt decent—enough.
He and Cyrus traded their swords in for newer ones, but Katarina didn’t trade her (stolen) bow in for another one, and she didn’t buy any arrows. She did restock some throwing knives, and she deliberated way too long over buying a Windja star.
“I mean, it’s even certified with their Faction’s crest and everything.” She ultimately decided against it because of the outrageous price. She did buy some claw hooks, though.
"You won't mention that…bow…to anyone, right?" Katarina asked the clerk. The counter's Ryoku Crystal flushed with an influx of purple.
"What bow?" he asked.
Cyrus griped again when they exited the store. “What a rip off…”
Jules laughed to himself. “You’ve had a hard time negotiating here, what’s up? Losing your touch?"
"They know I need it and just smile back, without a word."
“Gotta admit,” Katarina said, “it's fun seeing you get pulverized in Mercantile.”
“I almost enjoy it,” Jules added.
“You’re one to talk, Kat. That Windja star was obviously forged, and not the good kind of Forged.”
“Go kick rocks. Ah, next door again, I’m starting to like this town.”
Is Kat…skipping? She ran into The Armorer’s Anvil without them. Cyrus shook his head and moped inside.
“Whoah.” Jules and Cyrus checked out the men’s section, and both liked what they saw, while Katarina ran off to the other side. Jules found a tough, but light, chain mail cuirass. He absolutely hated the way it made him look—like a total scrub—but it had the best price-to-armor ratio out there. Jules ran his selection past Cyrus, who praised his decision-making.
“You’re getting the hang of this, Jules.” Cyrus leaned in to whisper. “Plus, not like you need a full set of armor, anyway.” He pulled back with a wink.
> [Pang! Mercantile increased to Level 11.]
“What about this?” Cyrus asked. Cyrus showed him an Enchanted necklace that amplifies magic armor.
> [Item: Family Heirloom. Enchantment (1/1): Magical Armor Buff, +X% (equal to user's mastery of equipped Magical Armor Scripts).]
“Wow, that seems like an extremely convenient find, as if the System knew you were coming, or what you’re Leveling Up.”
“Yeah, it’s like it’s tracking my every move. It’s like the more I think about something, then BAM it suddenly appears to me, and on sale.”
“Huh. Alright, let’s go check on Kat.”
A stranger approached them. “Hey, I’ll take those two if you’re not gonna buy them. I’ve been needing to beef up my armor.” Both boys yanked back their selections and eyed the intruder with murderous intent.
“No, these are ours!”
The Armorer himself came over to them. “What’s the problem?”
“I’d like to purchase these items, but these, these miscreants, won’t let me,” the intruder said.
“Well too bad. They’re in our hands now until we buy them,” Cyrus said.
“Well, are you willing to buy them now?” the Armorer asked.
“Uh, we still have more to buy, got another Party Member here—”
“Oh, I’m afraid if you don’t buy them now, I have to let him purchase them. Sorry, those are the rules.” The Armorer pointed to a sign.
> [The first customer to buy an item shall receive possession of it.]
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