He sorts through it all before taking a second to think and do some calculations. "Total comes to 365 Gold."
I pretend to pull the money out of my bag again and hand it to him. We stuff all the books into the new magic bags that we purchased and walk out the door. The street is rather busy now and a woman is walking by with a little girl who looks about five or six years old following behind. The little girl turns as we come out and sees us. She freezes in place when her eyes lock on me, then she runs up to me and calling out to her mother. "Mommy, mommy. Look" she says and points at me. "It's the human." I might have been offended but the way she said human, with the curiosity and a little awe that children always seem to have at finding something new, curbed any offense I might have had. The child's mother walks over and, though wary, she doesn't seem openly hostile to me.
"Don't be rude Zia." The woman then turns to me and says "My name is Nira and thi..."
"My name is Zia" she interrupts her mother to tell me.
Looking at them I can see that they both have black and white furry ears on top of their heads. I can also see a striped raccoon tail sticking out of the bottom of Zia's yellow sundress. Resisting the urge to pick her up and cuddle her I address them both. "It's good to meet you both. My name is Vol Adare, but you can just call me Vol." At my words I can see that Nira relaxes her shoulders a little and looks more comfortable. That is, until her daughter speaks again.
"Are you gonna eat us?" She looks at me with wide innocent eyes, but without any fear.
That caught me off guard and I can't help but let out a bark of laughter. "Ha, I don't know" I say and take on a contemplative look. After a second, I look at her again and ask "Do you taste good?"
To this she just shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know."
Not giving her any warning I lunge forward and scoop her up into my arms. "I guess I will have to find out then" I say with an exaggeratedly villainous voice before I lean in and blow a raspberry on the side of her neck. She bursts into peals of laughter. After a couple seconds of this I pull back and hold her at arms length. "You know, you are very tasty but I don't think you are ripe yet." I set her down and she runs back to her mom.
I look to see Nira has a small smirk as her daughter asks "What does not ripe mean?"
Nira patiently tells her child "It means that you aren't ready to be eaten yet. That you need to wait longer. Like when you pick a fruit too early."
The little raccoon girl nods solemnly. With a serious look on her face she says "I see."
Nira speaks to me then. "We were just heading to the general store for a few things."
"Well don't let me keep you then" I tell her. "It was great to meet you." Then I bend down to look Zia in the eyes. "And especially good to see you my delicious little treat." She giggles again and then both continue in the direction they were heading.
"We have some time now so we should sort through and learn what we can from these" I say to Azzaria and pat the magic bag at my side to indicate the books inside. She has a wistful smile on her face that makes me a little nervous, but she doesn't say anything and follows me toward home. Back at the house, Timbre and Thia take places on the floor and in a chair respectively. I sit on the couch, but Azzaria heads off to the kitchen for a minute. When she returns she has a bucket and I realize what that is for. "Good thinking" I tell her. Don't want to spread a ton of dirt through the house. Next we take out all the books, except my enchanting ones, and set them on the little coffee table in her living room. She picks up the Skill books she got and starts to learn them while I sort through the ones I can and can't use at the moment.
For the Spell books I could not use yet there are the Life magic ones I mentioned to Azzaria as well as 17 more I can't learn due to not meeting their requirements. They are in all four elements as well as Light, Dark, and Death. There is even one time spell in the mix. I put all of these into my inventory again and turn to the pile that I can learn. There are seven of them. The first one I must have missed the first time because I was focusing on the Elemental Realm and it is a Neutral type. It's called Mana Sight and does exactly what you think it would. For one minute you can visibly see mana and differentiate the types. I can already feel it but I can see a number of ways this new spell could be useful. Buffet is a wind spell that uses a gust of wind to blow an opponent back but causes no damage. Wind Slash is another Wind spell that flings a condensed line of sharpened air at an enemy. Wisp is a fire spell that creates a ball of fire to cast light around the one targeted, and follows them around. Fireball is a classic fire spell that flings a ball of flame to detonate on impact. Earth wall is one I was hoping to get for active defense. It raises a wall of earth that lasts for 15 seconds. It's utility was proven to me back in the cave mansion. The last one that I could learn was Water Whip. Obviously it creates a whip of water that attacks your target.
As we learn what we can we hold the books over the bucket and drop the leftover dust in. Azzaria finishes before me and she is pretty pale. She also looks like she has a headache when she closes her eyes and lays her head in my lap. I'm also feeling the strain on my mind from the excess of information. "Hey Azzaria," I say in a quiet voice in an attempt to not worsen our headaches. "The first spell book I learned caused a severe headache. I just learned 6 and it isn't as bad as then. Why is that?"
Very quietly she responds to my question "It's your intelligence, or INT. The higher your INT the better your mind works. Because of this it's speculated that your mind processes the information faster putting less strain on you. Even I am getting a nice bonus from the dagger you gave me allowing me to learn the five I just did." I lean back after hearing that and just relax. We must have been there for a couple hours just recovering from the cramming we recently did. I pull up my Grimoire after a time just to look at all that I have now for spells. I have spells in all the magic types that I have unlocked except Space. That should change the next time I level up though. I then look through my inventory again to see what I can get rid of. I don't need the back pack now or the Dark Shaman Totem. I will sell them the next time I go into the stores that will buy them. After I get my staff from Dolan I shouldn't need the old staff I have been using up until now. I can sell that along with the totem. Not seeing anything else at the moment I close out the window and rub Azzaria's back. She stirs a little and looks up at me. "Is it time to get up now?"
"Only if you are ready dear" I whisper to her.
She appears to think about it for a moment but then starts to get up. "I am fine now. Lets go see Dolan. I can hear that the blows from his hammer have softened, so he is probably on the detail work."
"You can still hear his hammer even in here?" I'm surprised. I stopped hearing the hammer not long after we came in the house. I think it has some sort of sound dampening or insulation because the sound from the hammer was reduced even when Dolan was pounding away.
She taps her pointed ears when she says "I have good hearing. It is an ability of mine."
Shrugging my shoulders I head out behind her with my two companions following me. As we approach the forge I can already tell that Azzaria was right. There is a soft pinging sound and Dolan is hunched over something on a work bench to the side. When we get close we can see him using a chisel and switching between a file frequently. It's the head of the staff that he is working the detail on. He sticks the head of the staff back into the coals, and turns to us. "I am just about done with the details now. I just have to sharpen it and I can mount the gem."
I am a little confused with what he says, "Why does it need sharpening?"
"The wings at the top of it. I designed them so you can swing or stab with it if you need to. It will still be considered a staff, just with a little more utility. Plus, the wings it is based after were sharp. That is what gave me the idea." He says all this with a supreme look of pride, so I let it drop. As long as I still get the Staff Mastery bonus from it then why not? A half hour more and we see him sharpen the wings on the head, turning it into a
serrated spearhead. Next he mounts the Blessed Diamond in the space created between the wings. When he finishes the mounting I can see a shimmer pass over the whole thing. Dolan sets it on the Anvil again to let it cool and I get a closer look.
"This is amazing Dolan. I will never need a new staff again." I am already trying to decide what enchantments I should add. Before we went to Bolden's shop I was thinking of asking Azzaria to help add a healing effect, but the time spell that I am only one level from being able to use is actually for healing. It will reverse time on the wounds sustained. So I'll have some means of healing other than potions and Azzaria. After some deliberation I decide to use Haste as the passive enchantment again, but Mana Barrier as the active one. Placing Mana Crystals next to the staff I use all the concentration I have to do both enchantments with only a small break in between. I can't say that I am unsatisfied with the results though, as I look down on my new personal weapon. The end result looks amazing when I identify it.
Vol Adare's Blessed Starlite Mage Staff: A Staff made by a master smith using Starlite metal and enchanted to take advantage of the magical qualities of the metal as a focus for casting. The blessed metal used to create this is attuned only to Vol Adare and can only be used to its full potential by him. Item class: Unique. Durability 500/500. 30% increase to the power of all spells. +INT and WIS equal to lvl. +10% attack speed. Base Dmg 85-100. Active ability: Mana Shield: Creates a barrier disc of mana that blocks attacks. The disc barrier can be manipulated when active but will draw more mana with the amount of damage received. Duration: Channeled. Cost: 20 MP initially then 1/sec.
Looking at my status I can see that the bonus stats from my dagger, sheathed on my right hip, stacks with the staff in my hand. That is a nice boost to my casting all together. My mana pool is nearly 1000 now! I pick up the remaining mana crystals and put them in storage while Dolan looks it over after the enchantment. "Ya might be right about that. Say, either of ya seen Serin or Sarel today? Had a couple people asking bout it. Seems they didna open the bank and no one has seen um."
"I haven't seen them all day. In fact, the last time I saw him was when he left the meeting yesterday." I turn to Azzaria but she only shakes her head.
"Well, I be checkin on them in the morning then. The sun is almost down na, an you two ought to head home. I'll see ya two later."
"See you later Dolan" I tell him and Azzaria snags my arm. She says bye over her shoulder and starts to drag me off to the house. She is excited all of the sudden and I am not sure why. When we get back to the house, Timbre and Thia find their places and get comfortable in the living room. We bring them some meat that she needs to use before it goes bad and we start to make dinner. This time I help her and show her how to make a hamburger. The meat is a little different and gamey but close enough. The whole time we exchange small talk and Azzaria changes between slightly nervous and excited. When we are done eating I take the dishes in the kitchen and Azzaria tells me she will be right back. I clean up the dishes real quick and take a seat at the table.
A moment later Azzaria comes back in wearing a long robe that folds over the front like a bathrobe. I open my mouth to say something though I don't know what, but Azzaria takes a seat in my lap. She leans forward and kisses me deeply before I can think of anything to say. I forget everything else for awhile. Our tongues dance in a game of dominance and submission as our breathing becomes more ragged. When we stop we don't pull away. Leaning our foreheads against one another, her golden hair is spread in a fan around us like our own privacy screen. Both of us are breathing heavily and I can see Azzaria's face is a little flushed. Looking into her eyes I can see desire with a little apprehension. Reaching up I caress her cheek before kissing her again. Just a small chaste kiss to the lips that I hope conveys the depths of my affection. I think it worked because when I look into her eyes again the apprehension is gone.
Abruptly she stands up and pulls me with her to the room we are now sharing. I follow along and when we get there she shuts the door behind us. When I look to her she has untied the robe and lets it drop to the ground. Underneath she is wearing only a sheer babydoll like article of lingerie. It is a translucent forest green color. When I see this I freeze in my tracks at the sudden onrush of desire. My inactivity seems to have worried her a little because she starts to raise her arms to cover herself. I quickly step forward and put my arms around her waist while pulling her to me. "You look amazing." I then trail gentle kisses across the sensitive skin along her neck and jaw, leading little kisses up to behind her ear. I give her earlobe a little nip and move back to capture her lips again. As our kiss continues and our desires rise she starts pulling my clothes off. My hands explore her body and it all seems so amazing and surreal. Like some fantastical version of my reality. When she has removed my clothing I walk her back to the bed and we both fall on it together. What follows is the most amazing experience of my two lives. Not that I never had sex in the previous life, but with Azzaria everything just felt right, and amazing. It was then that I knew I could never be without her.
Chapter 17
I awoke to the clang of metal on metal. Cracking my eyes a little I can see that there is barely any light coming in through the window. The sun hasn't even risen yet, just the predawn light. "Why is Dolan working so early" I mumble and roll over to put my arms around a naked elf sharing the bed with me. Just then I can hear a faint scream. One filled with fear and panic. This jerks me fully awake and both Azzaria and I sit bolt upright in bed. I look over to Azzaria and see that she is just as worried about what that can be as I. We both jump out of bed and start putting our cloths on as fast as possible. While we do this I ask Thia through our bond if she has any idea what is going on. I get a burst of information back that says she can hear fighting but that is it. Her and Timbre have also stationed themselves in front of the door to the bedroom. Dressed, Azzaria says "It sounded like it came from near the main street."
Now that I hear her say that I can tell she is right, but I think it is moving deeper into the village. We run out the door and as soon as we are all out of the house I tell Thia to fly above and scout, but high enough that she won't be easily spotted or attacked. "Alright everyone. We have worked together before. Thia is running overwatch, Timbre will run defense and keep anything off us while Azzaria and I focus on taking out whatever is attacking as quickly as possible. I will call targets when I can. Priority is protecting the villagers." We then head to the main road just on the other side of Dolan's shop, but we hear the ring of weapons before we even get around Azzaria's house. A second later we get out there and can see what is happening. There are two humans wearing similar armor and the same tabard trading blows with Dolan. Looks like he came out of his house and got halfway to the forge before being attacked. I am using Identify now almost reflexively and can see that his attackers are human swordsman and level 14. I also see that Dolan is level 16.
"Ya bloody scum. Come 'ere to take our people have ya? Like hell I be lettin ya" he yells as he counters a strike from one swordsman. He has a war hammer in hand with an old yellowed wooden handle. He parries a sword with a swipe of the hammer and dodges the overhead swing from the other opponent by shoulder checking the first while he is off balance. The blow knocks swordsman number one, that is what I am calling him at this point, to the ground and Dolan squares off with the other. I react instantly and summon an Earth Spike from the ground through the chest of the downed enemy. He is wearing leather and chain armor that provides some protection to the attack because the spell doesn't kill him outright. The tip penetrated the back and lifted him in the air at an odd angle so he is having trouble getting off. Not that I am going to let him. At this point swordsman number two had positioned himself between Dolan and the first one to give him time to recover. The next spell caught both enemies while Dolan was out of range. I followed up the first attack with the old classic Fireball. My spell hit the first human and exploded, catching the back of the second human on fire.
Bad
guy number one was a pyre of thrashing flame skewered on my Earth Spike with a rapidly dropping health bar. Two was only sustaining minor burn damage, and going toe to toe with the dwarf. Dolan is obviously winning but it could take a long time to conclude. This all happened in under half a minute but there is plenty happening elsewhere, and we need to help. Hoping to finish this quickly without hurting Dolan I use the new Wind Slash spell on the human's leg to knock him off balance at a critical time. The dwarf puts the head of his hammer into the temple of his opponent with a sickening crunch that caves in the skull. "Are you injured? We have potions if you need them" I tell him. He just waves me off.
"I got me a few minor cuts but ya may need the potions for others, go save 'em. I be fine. If this lot be any indication, it appears the human kingdom has found us and is here to take us as slaves. Lucky we be, for they seem to have sent greenhorns to subjugate us 'stead of the veterans."
Thinking of what Azzaria told me about most soldiers being around level 20 I can't help but agree. Still, this is bad. "Get Hildre and hold up in your shop. We will help by trying to lead anyone we find there. You have weapons and a sturdy building to hold up in so it's the best place around that I can see. Azzaria and I will clear it for you to make sure it is OK while you get her." After that he gives me a nod and throws the key to Azzaria before running off to his house again. Going to the back door she unlocks it and we enter. Inside it's darker because the predawn light can't penetrate the heavy walls. I cast my new wisp spell to light the way. We check the building quickly and find nothing, but a rattle of the front door lets us know there is someone there. Azzaria and I set up in front and to the side of the door while Timbre stands to the side and nudges the lock open. Before she gets it unlocked I tell her "Take the second enemy if any enter." Then the door is unlocked and three people burst in. They aren't humans though, catkin, with black fur on their ears and tails all of them. There is an older woman and man along with a thin girl in her late teens. All of them have black hair and green eyes that are wide with terror.
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