As we sat waiting in the office, I half expected to be called in for a switch, so I was surprised when Jackson entered again, this ti followed by a lady who stood at about chest height to . But there was no mistaking her for anything other than a warrior. Her arms were scarred, and her face looked hard.
When she entered, everyone began to stand. Following suit, I started to rise as well.
“Enough of that. Stay seated,” she said, waving us back down.
She approached the desk, and I saw her raise an eyebrow at what I could only assu was the blood still covering it.
“Sothing happen in here besides a discussion?” she asked, looking over to Jackson, who had now taken a seat in a very soft, large chair near the bookcase.
He chuckled. “No, that was where the head of the Galvonson was before I left.”
“I see. Well, let’s get to it. My na is Kara, and as I’m sure you’ve gathered, I’m the Guild Master of this particular branch. Jackson gave a very basic rundown, but I’ll have you recap it for just so we’re all on the sa page,” she said, looking at all of us.
Hari nodded, then, almost word for word, repeated what he had told Jackson. When he finished, Kara seed to be deep in thought.
“Well, this is completely unprecedented. If the poor boy were simply being stalked by the Cat for sport, I’d unfortunately be considering expelling him from the city to save the many,” she began. Jen and Liane were both about to say sothing in response to that, but I just sat there, shocked.
Raising her voice slightly, she continued, “But, as it is not the case that the boy is being stalked for sport, but rather out of curiosity, or dare I say, so other reason such as familiarity or protection, this course of action would likely backfire on the city as a whole.” She turned her gaze to .
“Trevor, isn’t it?”
I just nodded, unable to find any words at the mont.
“What is happening here has never occurred in our recorded history, and although sacrificing one to save many sounds cold, it is the unfortunate duty of leadership to make difficult decisions,” she said. Then, to my surprise, she broke into a smile, though it looked frightening on such a stern woman.
“But luckily, today, I do not have to make such a decision!” she added, almost happily, leaning back in her chair.
“I don’t have any light mages in the city who could effectively damage a Shadow Cat of the strength you’ve described. So, in the event it appears again, the order will be for others not to engage under any circumstances. This goes both ways, you must understand,” she explained, her gaze hard as it shifted to both and Hari, who just nodded in understanding.
I’ll admit, I was still stuck on the part where I could have been sacrificed, but when both Hari and Kara looked at , I just nodded as well.
“This brings us to our request,” Hari began.
“In all the run-ins we’ve had with the Cat, it has taken food, specifically Trevor’s infused als. We were hoping to get access to a private kitchen where he could prepare so als in advance, just so there’s sothing ready,” Hari explained.
Kara looked thoughtful for a mont before turning her attention to Jackson.
Jackson, seemingly reading the unspoken question, joined in. “They can use mine. We all know I don’t cook anything, and my wife is away on a job at the mont,” he said, seemingly satisfying Kara’s silent inquiry.
“That works,” Kara said. “I’ll leave you to discuss the details with Jackson regarding his kitchen space. I’ll also pass the word on about the Cat and the ‘do not engage’ order. If anything changes in this situation, please bring the information either to Jackson or myself directly.” She said, rising from her chair.
“Pleasure eting you all. I must get back to my work,” she said, then left the room. Jackson finally stood from his chair and returned to his desk, seemingly only now noticing the blood covering his paperwork.
“Ugh, this is going to be a pain to clean up,” he muttered. “Alright, the kitchen. I live in the residential district. Do you have a map handy?” He glanced at Hari, who promptly pulled out a massive map, at least three or four tis larger than the one I had been given.
Jackson marked a building on Hari’s map.
“Co by anyti. The kitchen is on the lower floor, on the left-hand side. I’ll inform the house staff and Gael of your arrival and the plan. But I’ll make sure they keep their distance while you're cooking.” Jackson sighed, clearly already regretting the ss.
“Okay, back to proper business. Let’s discuss the Galvonson and their attack on the village.” Jackson said, prompting Hari to recount our story—how we arrived at the village under siege, the eventual battle, and how it almost certainly had a nest in the mountains above.
“Right, I see. Would your group be comfortable heading back out to clear the nest?” Jackson asked. “With a Shadow Rogue, Earth Sorcerer, and Piercing Archer, I suspect you’ll have an easier ti than most. I’ll send another group to the village to assist with any repairs, or if anyone tries to prey on them in their weakened state.”
“We’re happy to take the job,” Hari replied, “but we do have several things to take care of in the city first, which will take at least a week.”
“That’s fine,” Jackson said. “I can’t imagine a nest being much of a threat yet. We have so ti. And lastly, the Galvonson corpses—are they still on the road? Does that need to be cleared?”
“No, Trevor has both birds in his storage, and Milo did so basic repairs to the road to make it serviceable on our travels here,” Hari answered.
“He has both? Whole? What storage device has that kind of space?” Jackson fired off his questions rapid-fire, both in disbelief and curiosity. Before I could answer, Liane spoke up.
“He’s going to cook them!”
“I shouldn’t be surprised by that answer, I suppose,” Jackson mused. “Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to get a taste if you’re using my kitchen.” He shot a wink.
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“I noticed, of course, that you ignored the other question, but I get it—people have their secrets. The Guild, of course, will be more than happy to buy any of the non-cooked ingredients—feathers, claws, beak—that you might get,” he added, before standing up, clearly ready to move on.
“And with that, we’re all done! I’ll assign you the job for the nest search, but finish up what you’re doing in the city first. It’s been a pleasure eting you all, and I’m sure our paths will cross again soon if you’re using my kitchen,” Jackson said, shaking Hari’s hand before leading us out of his office and back downstairs to the main entry room.
As we made our way through the main hall, being escorted by Jackson, we drew a lot of attention. That was only made worse by his next action.
“Sorry, excuse , Eric,” he called to the clerk nearest the door, interrupting a conversation he was having with a party at the ti.
“Once you’re done, could you please organise a cleanup in my office? There’s a large amount of blood on my desk up there at the mont,” Jackson said with a smirk.
“I can’t work in a puddle of blood now, can I?” he added, turning to us. “So, it’s ti to get a drink. Have a great day!” With that, Jackson left the Guild, heading outside.
I noticed a lot of murmuring about what just happened. I also saw a lot of eyes on us, specifically.
“Right,” Hari said, “we still have a couple of things to do here.” He lined up at one of the counters. “We need to collect our paynt for the job completion. It should be ready by now. I’m happy to do this if you want to head upstairs and see if they have the fire resistance gear, or the Runescribe book,” he offered, looking at us.
It took a mont, but Jen was the first to speak.
“Shopping?!”
Milo let out a sigh. “Let’s go see if they have the book. If not, we’ll definitely find it in the scholars section of the city. It’ll just be much cheaper at the guild, that’s all,” he explained, while Jen and Liane looked excited at the prospect of going shopping.
We parted ways with Hari, leaving him in the line at a desk that had been thrown into chaos by Jackson’s announcent, plus the absence of Eric, who had gone to sort out the blood. We headed towards the central staircase. As I approached, I noticed a pedestal with the sa screen I’d seen back in Forest’s Edge, with a guard standing nearby.
As I approached the stairs, the screen flashed up with the following:
Na: Trevor
Type: Support
Party: Polite Company
Entry Granted.
After reading that, I carried on up the stairs with the others. When we reached the top, I was once again blown away by what I saw. The entire floor was full of all kinds of shops. There was also another staircase leading further up with a sign saying "dical Services," and part of couldn’t understand why that would be on the highest floor. What if people couldn’t walk?
“Uh, what happens if you need dical attention and you can’t walk?” I asked out loud, voicing my confusion.
Milo chuckled. “If you couldn’t walk, you wouldn’t have made it to the centre of Boltron, up the entry stairs, and into the guild to begin with. So, it’s assud that soone is either already carrying you, or you’re in a state where you can crawl in yourself. That said, if you’re that bad, soone will help you regardless. We’re adventurers, not heartless.”
“Right,” I muttered, taking it in.
“So, there isn’t a bookshop, so to speak, in the guild, but this guild does have one focused on magic and magic artefacts. If anyone is going to have a to on the art of Runescribe, it’d be them.” Milo gestured to a small-looking shop with a very understated front compared to the others.
We made our way in that direction. I was quite surprised when I entered the store—it was much larger than I had expected. What struck first was that everything was behind glass cases. There was a wall of books, with a sheet of see-through glass stopping you from actually reaching them. In the middle of the room were several large displays—one full of all sorts of jewellery, and another with small weapons and armour pieces. Behind the counter, I saw much larger armour sets hanging in full display.
We were greeted by an Elvish man standing at attention behind the counter.
“Greetings, custors. Are you here to sell or buy today?” he said, with a large smile on his face. He really did look like a nice person, but I suspected he just had a very high Charisma level.
Both Jen, Crisplet, and Liane broke off, leaving Milo and with the attendant as they looked around the store.
“We’re looking to buy today,” Milo said. “We’re after a couple of specific items I was hoping you might have. The first is a book on Rune creation, preferably at an introductory level. The second is items that provide Fire Resistance, preferably with a passive effect. It doesn’t need to be for extre temperatures.”
“Hmm,” the attendant humd thoughtfully. “We certainly have so items with Fire Resistance. I believe there are several rings and an amulet. We also have a set of armour made from Fire Drake scales. As for the book on Runes, please give a mont while I refer to the index. In the anti, feel free to take a look at the jewellery in the case over there in the middle. It contains non-armour items that provide Fire Resistance.” He stepped away from the counter, disappearing through a door behind him before returning with a large, bound book, flipping through it.
We approached the case with the jewellery. Jen was already looking through it, but now I got a closer look at all the items. A large portion of them were storage items, with rough storage sizes and prices that shocked . The smallest storage ring was priced at 20 gold, and the largest amulet, which had a black gemstone, went up to 150 gold.
I spotted one of the Fire Resistance items, and its price made lose hope of affording anything. It was an amulet with an orange-red gem set into a carved scale, hanging on a tal chain. It looked amazing, but it was also 25 gold.
There were several other items too. Poison Resistance was the cheapest, and an Amulet of Magic Resistance and a Ring of Spell Potency were both inside their own separate cases within the already secured jewellery case. The prices were steep—200 gold for the amulet and 240 gold for the ring.
Jen found another Fire Resistance item: a pair of gloves. They were a dark, almost black-red colour, and they looked like leather, though not quite. It was hard to describe.
“They look so small,” I comnted.
“Most magic items resize sowhat to fit their user, but there are limits,” Jen explained. “A horse won’t be wearing an amulet, for example.”
“Though, I’m sure soone has tried,” Liane added with a chuckle.
The gloves were priced at 17 gold, still far out of my budget.
I spotted another Fire Resistance item—well, rather, it offered Minor Fire Resistance and Water Purification. It was a small silver ring, incredibly thin, with two gems that almost seed intertwined. If it weren’t so small, it would have looked stunning.
This item, however, was 22 gold—again, well beyond my reach.
The man returned to our side.
“I’ve checked our index,” he said, “and unfortunately, we do not have any introductory books on runes or Runescribing. However, we do have one text on the subject.” He trailed off, walking over to the wall of books. After a mont, he spotted what he was after. It was an ancient-looking to, one of the largest there.
Scribing the Eternal
The Chronicles of Master Scribe G. Woodridge
Written by Anthony Sravon
I was intrigued by the book, but I doubted it would be useful for .
“Yes, here it is,” the attendant said. “It’s a catalogue and biography of the works by one of the greatest scribes of our age. Currently, this book is on sale for only 1,800 gold.”
I nearly fell to the ground when I heard the price. Milo sohow kept his composure, though I swear I saw Liane’s eye twitch a little.
“Ah, yes, I imagine that will be enlightening for any up-and-coming Master Scribes,” Milo said, his tone still professional. “Unfortunately, it would be far too advanced for our party mber. But thank you for showing it to us. I was hoping we could discuss the price of one of the rings I spotted in the case while we were browsing.”
“Absolutely, sir. Which one caught your eye?” the attendant asked, placing his index book on the counter before approaching the jewellery case. Milo pointed to sothing.
“Would you take 20 gold for it?” Milo began negotiating with ease.
I was distracted by Liane, who excitedly waved over. She was looking at a dagger. No, wait—it was a knife. I walked over to her side of the case and took a closer look. It wasn’t a dagger at all. It was very similar in shape to the kitchen knives I’d used.
“It’s a skinning and butchery knife,” she explained. “But look at the enchants.”
I looked over the plaque on the knife:
[Uncommon] Butchery Knife
Enchants:
Self Repair
Major Sharpness
Minor Grip
43 gold.
“Wow,” I said, impressed. “That would be amazing, especially with self-repair. But why the grip?” I asked, still curious about how that would be necessary for a knife.
Liane chuckled. “Wait until you cut those Galvonsons up. There’ll be blood everywhere, and the knife you’re holding will beco slippery. You’ll be wishing for a knife like this.”
Looking back, I saw that Milo had apparently settled on a price with the attendant and was now paying at the counter.
As we left the store, Milo clapped on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find a book in the scholars’ section of town. But I got you this,” he said, handing the slim silver ring with intertwined gems.
I just stared at him, stunned. I didn’t have that kind of money!
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