Chapter 208. On the Town.
“As you can see, my selection of things that might be useful for a summoned being is limited. I have some of the usual armor, weapons, and gear, but most are normal equipment without even minor enchantments. What is your class? Maybe I can point you in the right direction?” Clayton said.
“I have a summoner type of class, and I open to anything that might help my summons or that would help protect me directly,” I replied.
“Most of the regular gear is probably worse than what you’re currently wearing, I see you have some items that are set pieces, and I don’t have anything that matches. Here, this might interest you,” Clayton said, handing me a necklace that was a simple iron chain. It was a bit surprising that he could identify my gear, but after thinking for a moment, I figured that identifying items was probably a key piece of being a shopkeeper in this type of place.
Chains of Bal’sharuk. This necklace can be hurled at a target, immediately wrapping them up in a long iron chain. While the chains do not harm the target, they do restrict them temporarily. The chains will last for a maximum of 10 seconds, though stronger foes may break them sooner.
As long as you are within 10 feet of the target, the chains will automatically hit. Once used, the item will be returned to your inventory in 24 hours. The Chains of Bal’sharuk require 5 mana to activate.
“How much would you want for this?” I asked, very interested in anything that might save my life. The fact it was reuseable was also a big plus, though I feared it not being a consumable would greatly increase its price.
“I’d normally ask 50 gold for such an item. It’s something that will remain useful to you forever. Even when you run into more powerful foes, it will still stop them for a few moments. Those few moments may be the difference between life and death.
“Since you’ve dealt with me fairly on the summoning contract, I’ll drop the price to 42 gold. After all, you may end up using it one day to save my life when I summon you,” Clayton offered. It was a lot of money for the item, but like he had said, it could very well save my life, and would remain useful throughout my time as a summoned being.
“Can we do 40 gold? I have a lot of other shopping to do today,” I countered, trying to save a bit where I could, but even at 42, I was going to buy it.
“We have a deal, Rico, and to be honest, it’s one of the more expensive items in the shop and the money can be used to restock a bunch of other, less costly things that I need for my usual customers,” Clayton said, gladly handing me the necklace as I passed him the gold.
I immediately wore the necklace and made a note to add it to my loadout once I got back to my personal space. My next stop was going to be the information broker, and Clayton was able to point me in the right direction. It sure helped to have a local that you were friendly with when navigating a new tier of the city.
The broker’s office was located past two of the other shops that I was interested in. Each place had a much better selection of things for summoned beings and adventurers, but only a few items were useful enough for me to spend coins on. It was mostly consumables, including some scrolls that carried a one-time cast of a single spell. They were much more budget friendly than wands, and I even found a magic case to store them.
I took stock of my new finds and was happy to see the scroll case would attach itself automatically to my linked belt. The case was a short, leather tube with a cap over the top. When I opened the cap, the case would reveal whatever scroll I wanted to grab. All I had to do was push some mana into the scroll, read the command word, and the spell would activate. Mana costs varied based on the spell. The system organized all my new items for me, so I could easily remember what I had in my pack.
Consumable Figurines:
Tier 1, Rank 5.
1. Scarecrow.
2. Flying venomous serpent.
Tier 2, Rank 0.
1. Rat swarm.
2. Mephit, fire (2).
3. Animated armor.
4. Bear traps.
Scroll Case of Sorting.
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Scrolls:
Acid splash, mana cost 2.
Shield (2), mana cost 4.
Freezing ray, mana cost 10.
Fireball (2), mana cost 10.
Dagger storm, mana cost 15.
Blight, mana cost 15.
My figurines were a good mix, but I didn’t luck out and find any veteran or elite ones. The bear traps were the oddest of the bunch. When activated, I could place a set of four bear traps on the ground. It would be good for crowd control, and a nasty surprise if I could set them before a fight and hide them under some leaves or something.
The scrolls were also a good mix, mostly ranged damage, including a couple of fireballs because, who doesn’t like a fireball? The blight spell and dagger storm were both the most powerful scrolls, and the costliest in both coins and mana. Big, dangerous, aoe spells were lacking in my spell book, so these should fill the void nicely.
Sadly, the clerks at the stores confirmed that scrolls didn’t typically survive the journey to a mana starved world like Earth. While they required me to push mana into them to activate, the method of inscribing them used a mana infused ink what would turn inert back home. They would give me some serious firepower on a summoning, or in the arena, which was also on the agenda for today.
My next stop was the information broker. I had several things I wanted answers to, if it wasn’t too expensive. There were also a few things from Refuge they wanted answered, which I would try to help with. Mainly, we were trying to figure out what the deal was with the dungeons that had appeared, and if that meant we were heading toward system integration faster than had been expected.
With the directions from Clayton, Rhett’s shop was easy enough to find. It was in a row of several smaller offices, much like one of those business park complexes back home. The area was upscale, and the buildings were well cared for. Their wood and plaster construction gave them the feel of mini medieval manor houses.
Like many of the shops I’d come across, this one had a bell on the door to signal that a customer was entering. I was greeted by a small waiting room, and a young, gnomish woman sitting behind a desk writing furiously on a scroll. A door on the far wall led deeper into the building.
“Hi, I wanted to see if…” I started to say before the gnome interrupted me.
“No! Wait until I’m done, can’t you see I’m working,” she said, waving me away as I approached her desk. It wasn’t exactly the type of greeting I was expecting, and I quickly began to lose my patience as she finished the scroll she was working on and just grabbed another, never even glancing up at me.
“Look, I just wanted to see if Rhett was in, I don’t mean to interrupt your work, but I can’t wait here all day while you write your life story either,” I replied sharply. I was never one to be patient in a waiting room, and I felt bad for snapping at the gnome.
“Fine, got some gumption, do you? Well, since you’ve already interrupted me, head through that door, and take the first door on the right,” the gnome said before returning to her work.
I followed her directions, and past the door in the waiting room, I could see a short hallway with three other doors. The one she had mentioned as Rhett’s office, the first door on the right, was open. I knocked on the door and stepped inside. The office was well appointed with a large wooden desk and bookshelves that lined the walls.
The office was large enough for several reading chairs and side tables. Whoever this Rhett guy was, he sure seemed to like books. It reminded me that I needed to read more back home and spend less time on my phone. Bright light from the window behind the desk supplemented several lanterns. Curious, I looked at the books, finding a strange symbol that looked like wings or something on each book’s spine.
The place was unoccupied, and when I turned to leave when I suddenly felt a presence behind me. Not only did I sense a presence, but I also felt a blade against my neck. The blade pricked my skin, and I could feel it slowly draining at my lifeforce.
“Let me guess, you’re not here to burgle the place,” the man behind me asked as the knife was removed from my neck, and I turned to face him. With a flash of dark energy, the man suddenly appeared in the chair behind the desk. Confused, I looked around to confirm that there wasn’t anyone else in the room.
“What gave you the idea I was a burglar? I was looking for an information broker named Rhett. Is that you, or did the rude gnome in the front office send me here as a joke?” I asked.
“I’m Rhett, and yes, Felicity was trying to get back at both of us. She’s supposed to tell people that today is my day off. When I returned from lunch to find someone lurking around my office and pawing at my books, I figured the worst. I’m sorry for the scare, you can’t be too careful, even in Somhagen. In my line of work, we tend to have more than a few looking to pilfer our information,” Rhett said.
My adrenaline was burning off, and I could see where he was coming from. With how valuable information was, I wasn’t surprised there were people looking to steal it. What did surprise me was the way that Rhett could move around instantly, I was guessing he had some kind of shadow assassin class.
“So, you’re closed today? I can come back tomorrow, or maybe you can recommend another information broker that doesn’t have a receptionist that wants to send me to my doom,” I said.
“Don’t mind Felicity, she’s just upset that I found out she wasn’t keeping up with the correspondence she’s supposed to send out. As compensation for her antics, I can take a few minutes and answer some questions for you. I might even give you a discount if you have anything interesting to share in return,” Rhett said, offering me a seat.
I gathered my thoughts, trying to decide where to begin.