by Edward Brody
I turned my ear to him.
“I don’t suppose you know anyone looking for work, do ya?”
I perked up, assumed he was offering me a quest. “What kind of work?”
“Work round the shop here or running caravans sometimes. Business is booming since the Freelands got hit by the Scourge. Everyone’s buying weapons these days. I hear sales for armor and potions are up too, and a lot of Freelanders are flowing into the city. Spirits are down, but sales are up. I expect it to stay that way a while after the Scourge is gone.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know anyone, and I wouldn’t have time to work in a shop or lead caravans myself.”
“Well, let me know if you run into a good candidate. We’re hiring.”
You’ve received a quest offer: Help Wanted!
Reddun of The Blade and Bludgeon is looking for workers. He wants you to find him an appropriate candidate.
Reward: 5,000 XP
Do you accept this quest? Accept/Decline
“I will,” I said with a grin as I pulled open the door. “Nice to meet you, Reddun.”
You have accepted the quest: Help Wanted!
“Nice to meet you too,” the bulky man said, not bothering to ask my name.
While his work offer seemed like a simple quest, the information he provided got the gears in my head turning. Business in Edgewood had slowed to almost nothing, but according to him, business was up in Highcastle. Our shop in Edgewood was remote and relied on people traveling through the Freelands to get there, which was dangerous while the Scourge was out in force. Yet Highcastle—particularly, Inner Highcastle—was a fully functioning, fortified town which didn’t rely as much on travelers passing through.
What if? I wondered. What if we opened a shop in Highcastle?
At the time, all of our eggs were in one basket—Edgewood—but if we had a shop in Highcastle, we’d be more diversified and wouldn’t face another near total income shutdown if something ever happened in or around our village. Plus, we’d probably get way more customers in a big city rather than Edgewood.
I considered what would happen if I took out our maximum potential loan and used it to pay off Bartholomew’s debt. It would be a huge risk and would take some time to pay the loan back plus interest, but didn’t it make sense? If the men I had previously heard talking about real estate prices were right about them going up, we could always try to sell the shop for profit if for some reason we weren’t able to round up the gold to pay back the loan. And it seemed feasible if all the members of our guild worked together to grind each day, we could come up with enough money to pay back the loan and then some.
The prospect made me excited, but it wasn’t something I would do without first discussing it with the guild, and I couldn’t look into until I got the baby orc out of our hands.
Next step, Windell.
I marched swiftly through Inner Highcastle and stopped at the spot where I had first met the spiky-toothed kroka seller. I looked around the area but didn’t see any sign of him. From there, I walked from Inner Highcastle to Outer Highcastle, stopping at any inconspicuous spots that looked like they might be a good place to hide.
When I reached the bushes where I had last seen him in Outer Highcastle, I started to grow frustrated. He had told me to just look to the shadows if I wanted to find him, but if I were really looking for him that he’d find me. Which shadows? And now I was really looking for him, where was he? It was a ridiculous way to do business. How the hell would he know I was looking for him, and how would he find me if I was?
I crossed my arms and leaned against a building as I considered my next step. I glanced left and right as people passed, hoping I’d just get lucky and see him as he entered his hiding place, but after several minutes of standing around, I conceded that he wasn’t coming to that area and was about to look elsewhere.
I pulled myself off the wall, and turned to walk towards the Highcastle perimeter, but almost tripped when the little beggar girl who had previously stolen my flowers quietly slipped in front me, holding her hands out in a begging motion. She was dirty, but not as dirty as the first time I had seen her, and her hair had been pulled into a tight ponytail.
“Oh, hey you,” I said with a smile. “Haven’t seen your face in a while.”
She lifted her hands higher and nodded.
I groaned, not really wanting to give any gold away given our financial situation, but I figured a couple gold pieces wouldn’t hurt. I reached into my bag, pulled out 2 pieces of the 16,000 I had just collected, and dropped them in her hand. “Run along before your mom… errr… whoever that lady is, yells at you again.”
She pocketed the gold, smiled, and tugged on my robe.
“What?” I asked. “That’s all I have for you.”
She nodded, tugged my robe again, then started pointing to nothing in particular.
“What is it?” I asked. “I don’t have a lot of time.”
The girl started walking away, holding tightly onto my robe.
“Okay, okay,” I said as I followed her. “Let’s see what you want to show me.”
I followed the girl through Outer Highcastle, in the direction of Inner Highcastle before she pulled me down a brightly lit alley. We followed the long, winding alley until we reached a tall dead-end wall that also served as part of the border between the inner and outer regions of the city.
There was a house on either side of the dead end, and she pulled me behind one of them to where a large, black iron furnace was standing. She pointed at the furnace furiously.
“What?” I asked. “It’s a furnace, right?”
The girl nodded several times but kept pointing.
There was a knob below the furnace that was a little higher than she could reach, so I assumed she needed help switching it on. “Okay… You want help turning this on then?” I leaned over and was about to grab the knob. “You know, I’m not even sure I should be messing with this. Is this your house?”
The girl pushed my arm out of the way and started shaking her head. She turned back to the furnace and pointed again, making sure to draw my attention to the door at the front—what looked like a place to deposit wood or coal.
“Do you need fuel?” I asked.
The girl shook her head more and pointed again.
“Okay,” I said… “So then, you want me to open it?”
The girl nodded again, put her arms behind her back, and smiled.
I took a deep breath, unsure what the girl could possibly want me to see, but I gave the door on the furnace a nice tug. When it didn’t open immediately, I pulled the handle to the side, and it finally slid open.
To my surprise, Windell was inside. He was sleeping on a fluffy pillow with his legs crossed and his head cocked back, mouth open wide, showing his pointy teeth. The furnace looked surprisingly spacious and comfortable inside.
The girl giggled and started running away as soon I opened the door. I smiled at the girl as she left but didn’t say anything. She must have seen me interact with the man at the bushes before; there was no other explanation of how she could’ve known I wanted to find him. But I guess giving her flowers and a few coins here and there on my visits to Highcastle had really paid off.
“Hey, you,” I said.
Windell continued sleeping, oblivious to my call.
“Hey,” I said a little louder and poked him in the shoulder.
Windell tilted his head to the side and smacked his lips together a couple times.
“Hey, get up!” I said once again and gave him a slight push.
The shady dealer opened his eyes, sprung up, and slammed his back up against the metal of the furnace. His eyes went narrow, and he had yanked a dagger from his shroud. Given his shorter stature, he was able to climb to his feet in the furnace, but his head would’ve hit the top if he weren’t crouched.
“Wha-what do you want?!” Windell hissed.
“Hey, sorry,” I said. “I was—”
“How did
you find me here?!” he interrupted.
“Oh, a little…” I paused, not wanting to rat out the little girl. “…um. I saw you come this way the other day. I was hoping we could do business.”
Windell started to relax his shoulders and lowered his blade. “It’s not a good idea to wake someone like that unless you want to get yourself killed.”
“I see that now,” I said.
“But I guess I should expect that from you kroka users.” He tucked his dagger away inside his robe and shuffled forward to exit the furnace. “That’s what you’re looking for, right?”
“No, no. No more kroka for me.”
He steadied himself and jumped out of the furnace, turned around and closed its door. “Joojak?”
“We’ll talk drugs later, but I’m actually looking for something else.”
Windell turned to me. “Look, don’t be coming back here. This is a temporary sleeping accommodation. Got it?”
“Well, you said if I was really looking for you, you’d find me, but—”
“I did find you,” he said with a smile. His demeanor completely changed on a dime, and his toothy grin looked as if he had planned for me to find him in the furnace the whole time.
I lifted my finger, about to protest, but ultimately dropped my arm, sighed, and shook my head. “Okay…”
“So, what did you say you were looking to buy? Kroka, joojak, demon’s breath?”
“I’m looking for a disguise kit. Do you have any?”
“Oh,” he said, licking his pasty lips. “A disguise kit... What are you wanted for? I’ve never seen a thief in the Mages Guild. Or maybe you’ve got money to blow and want to spend the night at the brothel without being spotted by the misses. That’s it, right?”
I chuckled. “Nothing like that… Just going somewhere I’m not wanted. Actually, I need an advanced disguise kit.”
Windell’s eyebrows rose. “Advanced?” He glanced to his left and right, licked his lips again, then motioned for me to move into the shadow beside the furnace. “Advanced, huh?”
“Yeah, do you have one?”
“That’s a big ask, but I might be able to get you one… maybe.”
“How much?”
“How much is it to you? 5,000? Yeah, let’s do 5,000.”
“5,000 is steep.”
“Do you know how hard it is to get those? If everybody had ‘em, you wouldn’t know who’s who.”
“4,000,” I said.
Windell took a step back, rattled his hand at me and shook his head. “No negotiation on this one. You can pay 5,500 if you piss me off, but 5,000 is as low as I’ll go.”
I groaned, but inside I was jumping with joy. I didn’t want to part with so much gold given Edgewood’s situation, but it looked like Windell was going to pull through and I wouldn’t have to shamelessly dump the baby somewhere and hope for the best. There was hope I could still finish the quest and feel a bit of redemption for the orc mother’s death. “Okay, fine.”
“Yeah…” Windell said, rubbing his hands together. “Have a seat. I need some time, and I can’t make you any guarantees.” He motioned his hand to the ground beside the furnace. “I’ll need to make a few rounds, but I’ll be back.”
“How long?” I questioned, not wanting to sit around wasting time.
“Not sure, but surely not more than an hour.”
“Alright,” I said. “How about I just meet you back here in an hour?”
Windell raised his chin and smirked. “Okay. I’ll be back in an hour. Don’t be late.”
I nodded.
Windell adjusted his robe, and set off, following the wall behind the house. He disappeared when he rounded the corner.
Since I had an hour to blow while waiting for Windell to return, I thought I’d go for a walk through Highcastle. Things were picking back up a bit in the city—more vendors chancing coming outside and more patrons out buying their wares. Still, it had a long way to go before feeling like the normal, bustling Highcastle it was before.
I considered the decent haul of gold I had made by selling the Bloodthirsty Blade and the items I had looted from the orcs. When combined with the gold I had dropped off from Trynzen’s Quest, that put me at raking in over 36,000 gold gain in the past few days. It was more money than I had ever made in such short order, but with our high guard costs, it wouldn’t cover more than a couple months of pay if that was all it went to. I still needed to pay back 15,000 gold I had loaned out from the Guild Hall as well
But it was still a lot of money and proof that I was leveling up and progressing in the world. Not too long ago, 36,000 would have seemed impossible to round up in just a few days.
I was closing in on level 32, and though I still had debt from my last spell, I wondered if it would make sense for me to take some of the cash and spend it on another. I was due a new spell at the Mages Guild, and at level 33 would be due yet another. I would’ve rather looted a spell somewhere to have gotten it for free, but I hadn’t found any spells that I could actually use for some time.
Even with a discount, spells at the Mages Guild were expensive, so I was torn if it was the right time to shell out gold, but I thought I should have a look of what was available before making my final decision.
I made the walk from Outer Highcastle to Inner Highcastle, and started for the Mages Guild, thinking of the chain of events that had led me to where I was now. If I had never bought kroka, I may have never met Trynzen. Actually, that was more Jeremy’s fault, but maybe I wouldn’t have been in prison long enough to have gotten Trynzen’s Quest offer that ultimately led me to Barbarosia. And if not for the quest to return Trynzen, I would’ve never encountered the orcs under the wagon, and if not for both quests coinciding and causing an unexpected death, I wouldn’t have the quest now to return a baby to its father.
All of that led me to a point where I was now looking to buy a disguise kit from the same kroka seller who had gotten me into trouble before.
Strange how intertwined events were and the domino effect in Eden’s Gate.
I passed by the area where I had first bought the kroka from Windell and recollected how hard the addiction had hit me. I had rushed across Inner Highcastle and sold a bunch of gems to Sephora, the magic dealer, just so I could get some gold to buy it.
Wait a minute, I thought. Sephora owed me gold. Or actually, she still owed me a 1,000 gold discount for the gems I had sold her that day, and I had almost totally forgotten about it!
I wondered if that would be a better idea. I didn’t want the 1,000 gold to go to waste, and I hadn’t been by her magic shop in a long while. It seemed like a good idea to at least check in to see what she had on offer before going to the Mage’s Hall.
I walked the short way across Inner Highcastle, and when I made it to the magic shop’s door, I grabbed the handle and gave it a good shove, and then a good tug. It was locked.
I wrinkled my brow and tried to peek through the window beside the door, but the curtain inside obstructed the view. There was no ‘closed’ sign that I could see, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I knocked, waited several seconds, but when no one answered, I stepped away. Perhaps Sephora wasn’t operating her shop while Scourge was active in the Freelands—I wasn’t sure.
“Hello there, young mage,” an old man said as he lifted his cane out in front of me. He wore plain brown overalls, a tan-colored shirt, and his only remaining hair was two long, thin white strips that dangled from each side of his head. His skin was wrinkled and peppered with moles, and he hunched over ever so slightly. A large basket-like bag hung from a thick strap running diagonally across his body.
I looked down to the cane then over to the old man. “Yeah?”
“Looking to shop for magic items?” he asked.
I turned to the shop. “Well, yeah, I was but it looks like the shop is closed. Do you know why?”
“Ohhhh,” the man said. “The lady who runs the shop is out of town.”
“Sephora?”
&nbs
p; He raised his chin and smiled. “Yes, Sephora.” He coughed and spit on the ground. “Sephora and I are business partners. I’m selling a few things out here on her behalf while she’s away.”
“Where is she?” I asked. “She owes me a discount, so…”
“Oh, a discount?” the man asked, raising his eyebrows. “Well, she’s troubled by the Scourge outside the city, so I don’t think she’ll be back for a while.”
I groaned and slouched my shoulders.
“But don’t worry,” he continued. “What I can offer you is at far more of a discount than what you can get in the shop. You want scrolls right? Spells?”
“Yeah… I mean, I was just going to look. I’m not sure if I’ll actually buy anything.”
He looked from side to side. “Well, why don’t you come over here out of everyone’s view, and I’ll show you a couple things.” He turned and started walking behind the building.
I followed the man behind the magic shop before he flipped open his large bag, revealing several scrolls and rolled parchments inside.
He closed an eye and scanned me up and down. “You can use a few branches, huh? I sense Arcane, Fire, and Mentalism.”
“Yeah, and Divine,” I said.
‘Let’s see what I have,” he said as he rummaged through his scrolls. He grinned widely and glanced to me out of the corner of his eyes when his fingers touched a particular scroll. “You’re going to love this one.” He pulled it slowly out of his bag and held it out to me.
You’ve received: Heavenly Reflection. A circle of divine energy surrounds you, shielding you and reflecting magic and ranged attacks. Requires 35 Intelligence. Divine Magic Level 20. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg
“Damn,” I said with a smile. “This sounds awesome.”
“You can tell what it is without a wand?” he questioned. “I didn’t label the scrolls.”
“It’s a trait I have.”
The man frowned and pursed his lips before smiling again and saying, “Well, yes. It’s an Epic—a very rare spell. It shields and also reflects magic back to enemies.”