by R. A. Mejia
My mind races at the thought of what anyone would think if they saw the four of us right now. A naked fox woman in the bed and a fairy nursing a hangover at her feet.
I answer the door, opening it just enough to see who’s knocking. It’s Jessie, and he’s holding our armor and clothes in his arms. The stack of material is so tall that he can barely see over the top.
I try to act casual as I awkwardly say, “Uh. Hey, Jessie. What are you doing here?”
“Good morning sir. I’m here with you and your lady friends’ laundered armor and clothing. I knocked on their door, but no one answered. Are they with you?”
In an unusually high voice, I answer, “Now why would you think that?”
“Uh, maybe because I can see your fairy friend flying behind you?”
I turn around and see Mary flying near my head. Looking behind her, I see that Kitsune is again covered up by the covers and only her fluffy nine tails peek out from under the edge of the cover. I breathe a sigh of relief and give Mary a dirty look as I ask her, “Why didn’t you tell me she was covered up?”
Mary sticks her tongue out at me, “Cause it was more fun not to tell you. You should have seen your face. She the first woman you’ve seen like that?”
I scoff and tell her, “Uh, no. I’ve used the internet before.”
Mary crosses her arms and smirks, “She the first live woman you’ve seen like that?”
I shake my head, look down and mutter, “Uh..uh..”
Mary laughs then holds her head in her hands, “You have to stop making me laugh. It hurts my head.” Then in a lower voice, she adds, “Don’t worry, Vrax covered her up when he came over. The spoilsport. I was going to tell you eventually.”
I hear a cough behind me and remember that Jessie is still standing in the doorway. “Pardon my interruption, but this stuff is rather heavy. Can I put it down somewhere please?”
I let Jessie into the room, and he puts the now cleaned armor and mended clothing on the nightstand near the bed. He glances at the fluffy tail sticking out from under the covers but politely doesn’t comment.
Mary flies back to the bed and crawls back under the covers while mumbling, “My head still hurts. I’m going back to bed.”
Vrax grabs one of the plates of food, sits on the floor and begins to eat something that looks suspiciously like green eggs and ham. I can’t help but think, ‘I do not like green eggs and ham. I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere.’
Jessie coughs politely into his hand to get my attention. When I look back at him he pulls out a pad of paper and pencil and begins listing off items, “I was able to get most of the items we talked about last night. There’s a set of basic clothing for each member of your group, one large pot, one frying pan, four wooden mugs, one hundred feet of rope, a first aid kit that includes bandages, and four bedrolls.” Then looking a little sheepish, he adds, “I was unable to locate a tent that could sleep, four people. Well, there was one, but it had so many holes that you’d be better off sleeping under a bush. Everything else is waiting downstairs for you to pick up.”
Looking back at his list he continues, “The charge for all the items and my ‘finders fee,' plus the charge for laundering and mending your friend’s clothes and armor, the grand total comes to six silver, fourteen copper.”
That’s a good chunk of our funds but having Jessie do all the shopping has saved us a lot of time. I hand over the owed amount leaving our group four silver and seventy-six copper to buy anything else we want. Unless we can raise some more money, we’ll have to be pretty choosy about what else we buy.
“Jessie, the stuff from our ‘need list’ has eaten up most of our funds. What from our ‘want list’ can I get for four silver and seventy-six copper?”
“Hmm. There are a couple of things you could get like some paper, ink, some pens, and used carpentry tools. However, if I could offer some advice?”
“Sure.”
“From what my Pa tells me, adventurers get caught up in getting new equipment too much. He always tells me to invest in new skills or abilities. He always told me, ‘people can steal or break your equipment, but your skills can never be taken from you.’”
I thank Jessie for his advice and for getting our supplies as he leaves. Once I close the door, I turn and see Vrax finishing off the second plate of food. I raise an eyebrow at him, but he shrugs and says, “What? You take too long talking. The food was getting cold.”
I smile at the rapscallion, “It’s fine man. I don’t really like green eggs and ham. Not in a house, not with a mouse.”
Vrax looks around the room then looks up at me, “There is no mouse here.”
I shake my head at the lost reference. Mary would have laughed.
Instead of explaining the joke, I tell Vrax, “I’m going to go downstairs. You want to come?”
Vrax scrapes the last bit of green egg into his mouth then shakes his head, “Yes. I all done eating.”
We both exit the room as quietly as possible so that we don’t wake our female team members.
When both of us are downstairs, I tell Vrax, “Well, since it seems like our primary haggler is incapacitated right now. That means that our backup haggler will have to step up to purchase the remaining stuff we’ll need.”
Vrax looks at me quizzically then asks, “Who you talking about? I no know how to haggle. I am a hunter.”
I groan. I always forget that Xican is not Vrax’s primary language. Since it’s just the two of us, I switch to reptilian and explain that I meant myself and that hopefully, I’ll learn the [Haggle] skill today. It always sounds weird to me when I speak reptilian. My brain thinks everything in my normal language but then automatically translates it all into the language of the kobolds. A bunch of sounds come out of my mouth that reminds me of the time I saw a kid throw a rock into a snake pit at a zoo. Then it hits me! I wield magic, and the language I speak sounds like snake talk; which means I’m a parseltongue. Damn, that means I’d be in Slytherin House. I always thought I was a Ravenclaw or at least a Hufflepuff.
Also speaking in reptilian, Vrax answers, “House Slytherin is the best brother. It has the most reptiles.” Oops, I hadn’t realized I was speaking out loud. Then Vrax shifts back to the topic of supplies, “But we don’t have a lot of money, and I think that we should spend it on materials and skills that will make us stronger.”
Vrax’s responses in reptilian are always so much more eloquent than they are in Xican. I guess I should spend more time talking to him in his native language. It must be tough always having to struggle to express yourself when you don’t have the right words. He’s usually too polite to use reptilian in front of people that aren’t members of the kobold tribe.
Regardless of language preferences, the fact that Vrax remembered the stories Mary and I told him of the magical adventures of the Potter boy makes me giddy inside. That’s right. I’m spreading the good word J.K., even to another world. I’ll have to remember to tell him more stories on the road. I put that to the side for now and converse with Vrax about the things we still need and the stuff we want.
“You think we should get some stuff for Mary or Kitsune?” he asks.
“Hey, we can’t help it that they prefer to sleep in, over shopping for supplies. You snooze, you lose.” At least that’s what I want to say in reptilian. I don’t think the idiom translates well because it comes out as, “If you oversleep you don’t win the game.”
Vrax gives me a funny look but seems to get the general meaning of the phrase, and we decide to use the services of our young friend Jessie to locate all the items we want.
Switching back to Xican I talk to Jessie, and he agrees to take us around town to get everything we want. He doesn’t understand why we wouldn’t let him procure everything and I explain that I want to learn the [Haggle] skill while I have the opportunity. He shrugs but doesn’t seem to care very much as long as he still gets his finder’s fee. I agree to his terms, and we set off.
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br /> I get the [Haggle] skill after negotiating a reasonable price for all the tools I want from the man in town who serves the community as a leather worker and carpenter. Because Jessie is there to tell me what he’d pay for the tools, it helped immensely. We are unable to procure a magical engraving kit though. It seems like it’s an expensive thing to get and the skill isn’t one low level mages usually have since it cost XP to engrave. Vrax has to remind me to get stuff so he can create traps and raise his [Trapping] skill.
Turns out, over the last couple of weeks Vrax has been creating traps to get the meat for our food and he’d gained the skill [Trapping]. I hadn’t realized Vrax had learned something so useful. He says it’s a skill that lets him build and use traps. Maybe he can show me the skill, or maybe I can help him build a better mouse trap? Or horned rabbit trap as the case may be.
While there aren’t any spell or skill books in town that we can afford, I can learn the skill [Repair] from the town’s blacksmith. Since we’d worked together, he only charged me one silver. I know it's a big expense, but I justify it by thinking of all the money we can save on repair bills. At least that’s how I justify it to myself when I wonder why I spent a week's worth of food money and caused myself a massive headache from the skill transfer.
All told we spend two silver and seventeen copper; leaving two silver and fifty-nine copper in our coffers.
I feel a bit guilty about spending so much money on stuff that I want, but I heard once that if you keep telling yourself something that it creates new neural pathways in your brain and makes it more likely to come true. So I create a mantra and repeat it to myself. It’ll be worth it. I am a crafty crafter. I am a crafty crafter.
It’s past noon by the time we get back to the Inn, and I check to see that my [Haggle] skill has risen to novice level 2. I look over my newest skills and abilities while Vrax and I enjoy some soup and sandwiches for lunch at the Inn.
Haggle
You can bargain with the best of them. This skill confers the ability to negotiate with merchants for a lower price on goods. With this skill, information is power. Understanding local markets, price of goods, item abilities, and having other information may increase the amount of haggling possible. Not all merchants will haggle, and others may only haggle under specific circumstances.
Novice level 2
Bonus: Increase chance to persuade merchants to pay you more for goods you sell or charge you less for items you buy. Current bonus: (Charisma + Skill rank)% = 15%.
Repair
A unique skill that allows the user to restore durability of an item, weapon, armor, or another object. The success of repair is dependent on user’s familiarity with the object’s properties, composition, creation process, and tools. At higher levels, this skill may increase the base durability of an item.
Novice level 1
Bonus: Increase chance of restoring extra durability by 1%.
Blacksmithing
You’ve learned how to cast, forge, and manipulate metal. At higher levels, this skill almost becomes an art form, and the user has a greater chance to imbue items with special bonuses, abilities, or attributes. When working with enchanters, spell engravers, or spell casters can create magical items during the forging process. Special blacksmithing abilities and skills will also contribute to the chance of successful item creation.
Novice level 5
Bonus: Increase speed of item creation by 5%.
Crystal Programming
You've learned the fundamentals of the crystal programming. Considered one of the Aleph's secrets to creating their magical devices. You know not only what crystals are but how to manipulate their very nature and program them with magical instructions. Other magical skills may complement Crystal programming.
Novice level 2
Bonus: Mapping and programming a new crystal or gem takes 2% less time.
While I like the money we can save from the [Haggle] skill, I’m more excited to try out [Repair]. I forget to take our weapons and armor in for repair when we’re in town and they end up breaking. I can’t count how many spears I’ve had snap because its durability reached zero in the middle of a fight. Looking over my [Crystal Programming] skill I realize I hadn’t practiced it since we crossed the border into Monstrum. It is potentially my most powerful skill, but not if I don’t practice it. I’ll have to remember to make time on the trip to Trinitarian to work on it.
Mary and Kitsune come down as we’re finishing up lunch and we fill them in on what’s happened and that we’ve secured all the supplies we’ll need for our trip.
Chapter 5.9
Mary and Kitsune come down as we’re finishing up lunch and we fill them in on what’s happened and that we’ve secured all the supplies we’ll need for our trip.
“Wait, you got the [Haggle] skill? I thought I was Team Mary’s haggler,” Mary whines after hearing our story. Then she flies up to my face and in an abrupt shift in attitude pokes me in the nose and growls, “You trying to replace me, Armon?”
I’m not sure whether to be frightened or to laugh at Mary threatening me. Then taking note at her serious look, I decide the former is probably the more appropriate choice. I put my hands up and try to reassure her, “No way Mary. No one could replace you. You’re the heart and soul of the team. You were asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you up to negotiate the price of the items we were buying. I can’t help it if I did a good enough job to get the [Haggle] skill.”
Mary considers me for a moment then sniffs and flies over to Kitsune, who still looks a bit rough around the edges. “Fine, it was probably a better choice not to wake me up anyways.” She primps her ruffled hair and pulls up the shoulder of her purple polka dot pjs and says, “A girl has to get her beauty sleep after all.”
“Beauty sleep? More like hungover sleep.” I mutter under my breath as I roll my eyes.
Mary’s eyes snap to me, “What was that?”
Oh shit, she heard me. I try to recover, “I said ‘Beauty sleep? You can’t get any more beautiful.’” Turning to Vrax, I say, “Ain’t that right Vrax? That’s what I said.”
Vrax tilts his head and looks at me, not understanding that I want him to corroborate my story, he answers, “No, you said hung…” I clamp his mouth closed with my hands and laughed nervously, “Don’t be silly Vrax.”
Then trying to change topics before Mary hits me, I turn to our fox friend, “Kitsune! You and Mary haven’t said what you wanted to do with the money left. We already bought the stuff we needed, so the rest of the funds are yours.”
Kitsune shrugs and looks at Mary and says, “Well, we owe the Inn some money for the glasses we broke during the fight…”
Mary gives Kitsune a withering look, and the fox woman doesn’t finish her sentence. Mary turns to me and gives a syrupy smile, “We’d be glad to get our share of the money. We could use a few personal items. How much is left?”
“There’s a bit over two silver left. Wait, what was that about a fight?”
Mary’s smile hardens but remains in place. “We could talk about that. Or we could discuss why out of all the silver we handed you there’s only two left.” Seeing my discomfort she continues, “No? Then how about we just take the money and go see if there’s anything in town that we’d like to purchase for ourselves?”
Understanding the veiled threat, I quickly hand over the last of our money, “Yeah, sure. You do that. Have a nice time girls.”
After Kitsune and Mary leave the inn, Bob the innkeeper strolls up to our table and asks, “Did they tell you about the fight they got into last night?”
My curiosity peeked, I motion for him to continue. The orc pulls up a seat and signals the barkeep to bring us all drinks. Once the drinks arrive, Bob begins his tale.
“After you and the kobold went to bed, your female friends drank even more beer and started singing and laughing at every little joke anyone told. A group of men joined them in their drinking and before you know it everyone is laughing and talking.
That is until one guy started to get a bit handsy with the fox lady.”
“Kitsune,” I interrupt.
Bob, the innkeeper, raises an eyebrow at the interruption but continues, “Yes. Well, Kitsune didn’t realize that he was touching her at first, but when she did, she slapped his hands away. Boy, this guy didn’t like that. He turned red as a beet, called her some names I won’t repeat and tried to slap her.
Only the damnedest thing happened. The guy missed. I mean he took the swing at Kitsune all right, but one moment his hand was on track to wallop her and the next it was passing through thin air. I couldn’t believe it. It looked like she just casually leaned back and he missed her.”
Bob starts to gesture broadly with his hands, getting into the storytelling, “Now this guy was even more embarrassed now. He’s turning purple. His fat friend tries to calm him down, but it’s no good. The guy gets up out of his seat and tries to grab Kitsune. Only again he misses. Your fox friend just leans back in her chair. We all think she’s going to fall over, but she balances perfectly on the chairs back two legs while this lout lunges at her and she moves just out of his reach. The chair comes back down with a bang, and she springs up out of her chair.