by Daniel Ruth
The unsaid part was unless you were an elementalist with a bond. I nodded. I had expected it but I had to ask. Despite our poor introduction and her quirks, I had grown fond of this Álfar.
“Good luck then,” I offered. “So you mentioned you found some decent magic shops?”
“You bet I did,” she said, her natural cheeriness coming to the fore. “There’s an entire Plaza that specializes in magic items, ingredients, spells...”
“Spells?”
“Yes, spells,” she laughed at my obvious eagerness. “Circles too. It’s fairly expensive, though. I think you may need permission from the government too. I only saw government mages buying those items.”
“Money is no object.”
“Well, it is to me since you seem to be paying for everything with my funds.”
“I have a plan for that. I need a few things, though. I’ll pay you back.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you,” she waved her hands helplessly. “I’m running out of gold. I have a lot more at home, but I wasn’t expecting to be cut off from Yggdrasil.”
“It’s all right, I just need one more thing. Hopefully, we can afford it. Then I can pay you back.
“Okay, let’s go then,” she tiredly stood up, visibly gathering her strength.
“Yes! Let’s go shopping.”
The magic of the plaza beat against my senses. I didn’t attempt to see anything’s aura for fear I would be blinded, or at least given a headache. Still, glowing objects danced in front of shops as advertisements. Images that I’m sure Beth would think were holograms, played out in the street. Well-dressed men and woman stood outside the doors hailing passerby’s and telling them what wonders were inside. I snorted, it looked a lot like the advertising hellholes of Jeremy’s world.
“There’s a lot of tiny shops, but I didn’t have the time to look through them,” Stella explained as she led me through the streets. “Most only had trinkets and junk. I would have had to spent all day to find anything worthwhile. And then I got distracted...”
“Of course,” I acknowledged.
We finally reached our goal. It was a grand looking shop but only had a few customers dressed in finery. I had assumed the guise of an older teenager and donned my stolen robe. I didn’t quite fit in but it was better than a child roaming the store. I still got suspicious looks, but the Royal Academy was for well to do families. They let me in.
“Greetings Lord. Lady,” a polite middle-aged storekeeper nodded from the counter. I returned it and continued browsing.
As large as the shop was, it was also sparsely decorated. I noted the wards at the entrance and nodded as I saw they could be triggered remotely. Death, fire, and paralysis wards littered the shop. I smiled to myself, one for every occasion.
On one counter lay weapons, each enchanted to hit easier or harder or defend its wielder. Sometimes both. Others were more durable or simply glowed an odd color. I smiled at this one. Some creatures could only be wounded by magic, so the glowing weapons were a poor man’s defense.
Another wall had manikins dressed in chainmail or plate. Various shields hung like decorations. These too were enchanted. Mostly for defense but a few had spells bound in them that could be used several times a day. The most expensive offered defense and repaired themselves. Expensive, but well worth it unless you wished to buy a new suit of armor after each battle.
One counter was covered in spelled glass. It had tomes on spells, wardings and circles. I called them tomes to be generous, however, due to each merely holding a single spell or recipe, perhaps I should have called them pamphlets.
“I wish I could sell you those but, the Accords you know...” the shopkeeper sighed. “Once you graduate and get a job in the kingdom I can sell you these, based on your classification.”
“Of course,” I said as I looked longingly at the display. Sighing, I turned to another wall which was monopolized by a monstrous set of shelves. Browsing through them I saw a horn that summoned spirits, to bridles that tame any mortal creature. Passing the various potions, I saw several sets of bags and backpacks and a smile lit up my face.
“How much for these?”
“Sixty thousand for the backpacks, ten for the pouches and five hundred thousand for the pouch on the corner.”
“Based on capacity I assume?”
“That and the last pouch includes a small enchantment to bring to your hand the item you want. Almost had to include it, considering the size. You’d be spending all your time emptying it to get what you wanted.”
“How sturdy is it?”
“Unless someone targets it specifically it should brush off any incidental attacks.”
“Even explosions?”
“Part of the spell,” the man said with a nod. “It's good work, but it’s been around for a while because of the price.
“What about the robe over by the armor?”
“Oh, my goodness! Did Matilda put that over by the armor again? That’s not armor, just a robe of many shapes.”
“I know,” I agreed. “How expensive is the robe?”
“A bit better than average. It can be any clothing you wish at a thought. Excellent for the man that can’t decide on what to wear. Or the woman.”
“What are its limitations?”
“Materials are limited to different silks, and the color to various shades of blue and red.”
“Can it do gray?”
“If you squint a bit you might call it gray,” he replied dubiously.
“Does it repair itself?”
“Goodness no! It’s not armor. It’s just displayed in the wrong section. Again.” He looked a bit disgruntled at this fact.
“Could that enchantment be added by the crafter?”
“Certainly, but that would double the price. It has the same enchantment as the bag. Unless someone specifically is trying to destroy it then it won’t notice a thing.”
“How much with the repair function?”
“Six hundred thousand,” the shop keep said with a frown. He clearly wasn’t happy about having to price it that high.
“I found one,” screeched Stella from the corner of the room. I looked over and she was kneeling in front of a large glass display. It appeared to be alchemy ingredients. My brow arched in interest. I truly loved alchemy. I just didn’t know anything useful at the moment.
“Could you move those to the counter? How long to have the enchantment added?”
“One day,” he paused for a moment. “I’ll need the money in advance. I can’t afford the cost of adding that without it. That thing already has sat there for over a year. Most people would rather just buy twenty ballroom dresses for that price.”
“Understood.”
I walked up behind Stella as she stared into the case. She seemed to be admiring a fruit. I wasn’t familiar with it. More importantly, none of my ancestors were familiar with it. This meant it was either incredibly rare... or so common it wasn’t worth knowing.
“What are you so excited about?”
“We found it!”
“We sure did,” I said excitedly. Then I dropped my fake enthusiasm, “What exactly did we find?”
“A seed.”
I looked at the fruit. It vaguely looked like a cantaloupe. Now I was starting to get excited. “Does this mean we can block the portals?”
Stella expression started to be a little conflicted at this point.
“Kind of...”
I sighed. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. “Explain.”
“One seed can stop up one portal,” she began hesitantly.
“That’s kind of nice,” I started. “It won’t stop an army of demons from going to the next one over, though. There seem to be several portals each world. If we find more seeds I suppose it could be a game changer.”
“Well, not really,” Stella said uncomfortably. “Only one world tree can grow in a section of the multiverse. If we weren’t cut off, this would just be a dead fruit.”
“But it can be so much more,” Stella said earnestly. “When the tree produces seeds, if you plant them at another portal, it will grow as part of the original tree and form a bond between the two trees. The subsequent trees will act as roots for the first tree.”
“That’s nice,” I smiled. “Really nice. How many seeds does it grow at a time?”
“One.”
I stared at her blankly. I hated to ask, but I had to. “How often does it produce a seed?”
“One per year.”
I massaged my forehead with my hand. “Okay, we’ll consider that a long-term goal.” I turned to the shop keep where he stood over by my goods. “We’ll take the fruit. How much?”
“Ten thousand.”
Stella broke out in a radiant smile. “I can easily afford that!”
“All together its one million one hundred and ten thousand,” the shopkeeper paused a moment. “Actually, I’ll throw the fruit in for free.”
I turned to look at Stella. Her mouth was open in shock. After a few seconds, she seemed to recover and shook her head. “I don’t have that much!”
I shook my head in dismay, “Didn’t they pay you at all in Asgard?”
The older man looked disappointed, but not too surprised. “Shall I put it back?”
I thought a bit, pacing in front of the counter. “Do you take collateral?”
“We’re not a pawnshop, my lord,” he started. I reached into my robes and brought out my runed tooth. With a click of glass on bone, I set it down. He stared at it in stunned silence before gently touching it. “Is this a rune artifact?” A hint of awe tinged his voice.
“It is,” I said simply. “Naturally I can’t give it to you or sell it since it is a family heirloom, however, I can lend it to you as surety. You would keep it as long as I don’t give you the gold if I don’t come back you keep the artifact.”
“Are you sure you wish to do this? An artifact is worth far more than what you are trading for.”
“It’s all I need at the moment,” I shrugged. “Besides, I just need to contact home for the funds. I simply don’t have them on me at the moment.”
“If this is what you want to do, then I can’t deny that even being able to study this artifact would be worth the cost of the items.”
“Excellent, let's shake on it,” I agreed. He reached over, his other hand on the tooth. I touched the tooth surreptitiously with one hand and shook his hand with the other. “We are bound in agreement; you keep my heirloom as surety. Once I come back with the agreed amount, you return it to me.”
“Agreed.” As he stated this a subtle wave of magic emanated from the runed tooth. Our agreement was witnessed, signed and sealed. I smiled happily. I had guessed that might happen.
“So mote it be,” Stella muttered under her breath.
We ate at an extravagant restaurant. Stella didn’t seem to even notice the few hundred gold. I thoroughly enjoyed the food and we had seconds and thirds. Well, I did. She was poor conversation, she kept patting her fruit.
“Why don’t you put that away already,” I asked as another plate of dessert came.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be the mother to a World Tree,” she sighed dreamily. “The honor is unbelievable.”
“Does that make the uncle?”
“Of course, every tree needs a wyrm,” she smiled.
I stared at her. I know in some cultures wyrm is simply another name for a dragon, but it seemed really rude. She seemed to realize that I was not impressed.
“Really. That’s not hyperbole. I actually need a drop of your blood to activate the seed. I will plant it at the portal leading to the elemental plane of earth.” Why did everything seem to need dragon’s blood?
“You know it’s not really an elemental plane,” I replied, still disgruntled by her words.
“I know,” she said sadly. “But it has enough of the essence of the plane to comfort and soothe my little ones.” I stared at her flatly as she described creatures that in their natural form stood twenty to forty feet tall. “If they stay long enough, the elemental energies resonating between the planet and the elementals may even allow it to form a quasi-elemental plane.”
“Wouldn’t that be kind of umm... horrible for anything that actually lived there?” I was a bit unclear on what a quasi-elemental plane was. I think it was pretty much an elemental plane except without the infinite plane part. I suppose an elemental planet may be a close analog.
“Anything that is there is already close to its analog element,” she said uncaringly. “If it happens, the energies rushing through the planet will allow most of the creatures adapt.”
I took another bite of my pie but it seemed to have lost its appeal. I sighed and called for the check.
Chapter 26
I stopped off in the restroom and changed back to my smaller clothes and shape. It would be nice when the new robes were ready. There would be a lot fewer clothes to carry around. Then it was time to head back to the campus. I glanced over to Stella, who was still hugging the seed as if it was her favored child. Then I glanced down at my thumb. It had healed almost the instant I had bit it to deliver a dollop of blood. Visions of the modernized holo-drama ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ were dancing in my mind. I am sure I was simply being paranoid. Aside from that little incident with Odin, I couldn’t remember anything too incrimination about the most famous World Tree. It sounded like it was mostly self-inflicted, so I wouldn’t take it too much to heart.
As we walked up to the apartment I noticed the senior students seemed nervous and made a point to give us space. My lips quirked as I wondered what Beth had done recently. We’d only been gone a day at most.
No mud or binding fields met us. Of course no Beth either. I checked the terminal and noted that her biometrics showed her to be healthy with elevated endorphins. Ah, she was also going about fifty miles an hour. I guessed she was taking Cinnamon for a run. Apparently, the conditioning had gone well. If she was running down seniors, I hoped she was at least recording it.
When we got up to the room I settled down to learn the Find Item spell. I snorted in amusement as I studied it. Maybe I could become a private investigator like Jeremy. If I also practiced psychometry we’d be the ultimate PI team. Of course, Jeremy was already the only detective in the city.
Beth came in a few hours later. As she entered, she called over her shoulder, “Thanks for the ride Senth, it was fun. Cinnamon needed a good run. Let Holly know that as soon as we figure out how to get a pair of enchanted horseshoes he can join us. Having to listen to Clarence blather on is a bit much, without him to help keep him distracted.”
“I’ll see if I can find any the next time I go shopping,” I said absently as I reread the last page.
“Oh, hey Derek,” the little girl said as she turned and saw me. “I was out riding with the guys. Cinnamon was starting to follow me to class, so I had to give her some attention. I don’t think she likes some of the older students.”
“Have you seen Cocoa or Ceyanne?”
“Not since we got the city. That’s when Cinnamon started to get clingy.”
“Just as well,” I replied, flipping back a few pages to confirm something. “The city is swarming with flying mages. They would probably get caught by a patrol. And then Maribel would be wondering where her friends went. And then there would probably be fire, undead, and lots of screaming.”
“I don’t think I understand their relationship,” Beth said quietly.
“Um, I’m not sure I do either,” I said, as I flipped the tome to a previous spell to compare the methods of accessing the firmament. “I don’t think she was brought up by humans. Her social skills seem a bit raw.”
“If Derek noticed it then they must be bad,” Stella interjected with a giggle. I magnanimously ignored her.
I was fairly comfortable with the spell, so I put the book in my new dimensional
pouch. Beth’s eyes widened a bit as she saw and I could see her glance over at Stella to make sure she still had hers.
“I wanted to talk to you,” I began as I began to pack my things into the pouch. Mostly books. “Your next war wizard class is about three days, right?” She nodded, not sure what my point was. “I need to go pick up some things from our world. So I’m going to be gone for a few days. I should be back in time to apply the pain suppression.”
“But it’s at least a week to the portal and a half day to Arch. That’s assuming you can get a ride,” she said with rising alarm. Stella looked up from a book she’d gotten somewhere when I wasn’t looking.
“I’m going to be trying something new,” I said thoughtfully. “There’s a tiny bit of risk but I am ninety percent sure it’s okay.”
“There’s a ten percent chance you’re going to be late?” She started to hyperventilate.
I pursed my lips in thought. Actually, it was a ten percent chance of being disintegrated and my essence spread out through the ten dimensions. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”
“Derek!” Stella’s voice rose in warning.
“Seriously, I should be back in time,” I assured her. “I would appreciate it if you looked after Beth while I was away. Beth, how is that rocket project going?”
“Almost have all the pieces. I’ve had them shipped to your house. I think Mei’s been picking up the mail. I need one more piece and then Jeremy can put it all together.”
“Does Jeremy know he’s going to be putting together this highly illegal rocket?” Stella asked.
“I’ll let him know when he needs to,” Beth responded. I winced. Jeremy wasn’t going to like that on top of my accidentally kidnapping his sister.
“Yeah, we’ll let him know when it’s time to put it together,” I said, supporting Beth. We both had faith in postponing the unpleasant things in life.
“Also, I need you to order a million dollars’ worth of high-quality gems. None larger than my thumbnail and it's okay if they are artificial. Have them delivered to my house, preferably by the morning.”