The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (26 page)

You have found: Glass dagger. Damage
15-18. Durability 250/250. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.5 kg

The blade was almost ridiculously
light, but the edge seemed wickedly sharp. The blade’s material was the same
clear crystal that the sheath was made of. When he turned the blade he could
see through it with no issue. Turned on the other axis the thin blade seemed to
almost disappear. Setting it to the side, he looked at the rest of chest. There
was a jumble of copper, silver, and gold coins, with some random jewels. He had
a thought and just poured the content into his bag.
Gotta
love that
autosort
! It looked like there had been
roughly two hundred copper coins, thirty silver and ten gold coins. Seven
stones of varying types made their way into his inventory. There were also two
rings that glowed slightly. They just appeared as “Magic Rings,” he would have
to see if Leandra could identify them. At the bottom of the chest was a
necklace and a book. The familiar and frustrating prompt, “Magic necklace and
Magic Book,” greeted him when attempting to examine them. He HAD to find a way
to identify items himself. Sion held up the bottles one by one.

“Frost resistance, Fire resistance,
Healing, Mana replacement.” He paused before lifting the last. Richter examined
it, “Magic Potion,” appeared on the prompt. Nodding understanding at Sion, he
reached out his hand and placed it in his bag. The first four could prove
useful in the coming days.
Terrod
was still pouring
over the ledger, and so Richter walked up front. Leandra was standing behind
the counter, and that gorgeous smile was on her face when she saw him.

Smiling back, still a bit awestruck
by the beautiful creature in front of him, he asked, “There are a few items I
can’t identify. Can you help?”

“I have an identify spell, and I also
have a reasonable amount of Lore, I can look if you like.”

Richter looked slightly confused,
“What is Lore.”

“Oh, well there are two main ways to
identify something. Magic is the most common way, either with ability, spell,
scroll or item. Identification items are rare though. The other way is to have
studied enough about magic that you can recognize some or all of an item’s
properties. I have level 3 in my Lore skill which should work for most basic
items. Now let’s see what you have,” she said with a small laugh.

Richter handed her the rings,
necklace, book and vial. She looked over the necklace, running her hands along
it, closing and opening her eyes slowly seemingly lost in thought. After a
minute she smiled reached out her hand. He took it and she placed it over hers
with the necklace between them.

You have found: Necklace of
Scry
Defense. Will block all but the most powerful
scrying
spells. You will
not be able to be seen by divination,
identification, tracking or detection spells. Passive ability. Durability
200/200. Item class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.4 kg

This might be the most impressive
item he had found besides the magic core! Right now he was a small fish as far
as this world was concerned, but if he kept making waves like say, attacking an
established underworld guild, it was probably a good idea to protect himself
from those who might look for retribution.

Leandra removed her hand, a little
slower than she needed to in Richter’s happy opinion. She repeated the process
with both rings, one at a time.

You have found: Ring of Hidden
Dangers. +25% to trap detection. Passive ability. Durability 15/15. Item class:
Uncommon. Quality: Average. Weight 0.1 kg

You have found: Dungeon Ring. Will
open most basic locks and some magical locks. Can be used four times per day.
Durability 20/20. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.1 kg

Both could come in handy! It was too
bad Jason hadn’t been wearing the first ring when they attacked the thieves.
Leandra picked up the book and went through the same motions as before.
Frowning she set it back down and focused. A familiar white light came from her
hands. After a minute though she shook her head, “I’m sorry Richter, my Lore
level isn’t high enough for this, and it is resisting my identify spell. On the
plus side though, it probably means it’s very valuable!” She handed the book
back to him.

Picking up the small vial, she
immediately gave a small gasp. “I know what this is! It’s a Potion of Clarity.
I have seen one before, and it had the same clear water with little motes of
light inside. This is valuable Richter!”

Somewhat taken aback he asked, “How
valuable?”

“It depends on how much the
experience bonus is and how long it will last for. The potion I saw increased
experience by 15% for twelve hours and it was selling for one gold.”

“So how much do you think a potion
that increased experience by 25% for a day would sell for?”

“Oh at least three gold! That would
be almost impossible to find though! I don’t know the all the ingredients to
make the potion, but I know they are all difficult to obtain and expensive. Why
do you ask?”

A slow and small smile grew on
Richter’s face. Changing the subject he asked, “Can you teach me you Lore
skill?”

“No, but I do have copies of a few of
the books I used to obtain it. I can sell them to you if you like.”

Richter said yes and thanked her. She
left to go get them out of her room, and Richard spent the time perusing her
shop. He had noticed a mortar and pestle when leaving last time. Moving around
he saw that they had extensive amount of magical ingredients, alchemy sets,
mortar and pestles, measuring spoons and any number of other implements
required to pursue the magical arts. Behind a glass cabinet were various types
of potions. There was also a small library dealing with
herbology
,
potions and a list of other subjects. Each item was clearly marked, and it was
somewhat surprising that there were different grades of alchemical equipment
ranging from average to superb. Richter assumed that the equipment
theoretically probably ranged from trash to masterwork, just like his other
equipment. From what he had seen of the determined man though,
Killik
would not allow trash or poor quality inventory into
his shop, and he probably simply didn’t have access to exquisite or masterwork
items. That might be all for the best for while an average alchemy set cost a
few silvers, the superb quality was ten gold.

He picked a few healing herbs, and resolved
to discuss the price of the other items with Leandra or
Killik
.
As bright and sunny as the girl was, she was no less difficult a negotiator
than
Killik
during their first bargaining experience.
He was convinced that her personal desire for the staff was a large reason as
to why he had gotten such a good deal on his spells.

Leandra came back to the front room
carrying two thick books. They said History of Magic I and II respectively,
“I’m warning you now, they can be pretty boring at times, but they got me to
Lore level 2. Unfortunately, I don’t have the third book, but there are others
that can increase you Lore as well.”

“I’d like all of the other books you
have out here as well. I need an alchemy set and a way to transport it. Some healing,
mana and stamina potions. Sion will pick all of the ingredients he needs for
potion making and any herbs he needs. Oh, and all of your empty vials. I think
I’ll have a lot of things to sell,” he said, grinning again.

After talking to Leandra, Richter
decided to get the superb set of alchemy equipment. It was apparently needed to
make higher level potions and also created potions of increased potency no
matter their level. He had always believed in paying a bit more on the front
end, rather than being nickel and dimed to death later on. It also wasn’t a
small thing to get back to the city if he needed an upgrade. Once he was back
in the Mist Village, he was pretty much stuck with whatever he brought back
until he could spend a few weeks and make it back into the Kingdom. Luckily she
had hundreds of empty vials that he was able to bargain down to one vial per
copper piece in light of the large amount he was buying.

The books were almost ridiculously
expensive to Richter’s mind. They ranged from three silvers to two gold pieces
each. He supposed it made sense though. On Earth, before the printing press,
only priests or nobles had access to books or even had the ability to read. He
was insanely thankful that his Gift of Tongues seemed to extend to the written
word. Knowledge was power in any world it seemed, and so he paid with minimal
grumbling.

When the ingredient’s Sion chose were
added to the mix along with a few modest healing and mana potions, he ended up
agreeing to pay about a fifteen gold pieces. That amount brought a smile even
to
Killik’s
face. That smile reverted back to his
customary scowl when Richter told him about the 10% discount Leandra had agreed
to before, to which she just smiled sheepishly. That change in expression
almost made the cost of everything worthwhile to Richter. Leandra and
Killik
packaged his purchases and he went back to check on
Terrod
.

Richter could see that things were
not going great. A look of frustration was on
Terrod’s
face. “
Gah
! They have written this in some code. I
can only make out bits a pieces. I will need help to figure out book. I can’t
stand these delays!” He visibly composed himself, and then looked at Richter.
“I will need time and the help of wiser minds than my own to read this, but I
will find the other captives! I will find Isabel! I don’t have the right to ask
this, but when I find where she is, will you help me? Either way, I will
fulfill my bargain to speak on your behalf to any that would join you. But,”
and his voice broke a bit, “I have to save her.”

You have been offered a Quest: Fight
for those who
Cannot
II. Isabel remains missing, and
Terrod
is besought with grief.  He is placing all of
his hope on that the ledger will provide her location. He is asking for your
help once he finds out where she is. Reward: Increased relationship with
Terrod
. Yes or No?

 “I will help you,” Richter
said. This wasn’t just about getting people for his village anymore.  This
was his new life, and he wouldn’t just stand by when horrible things were being
done.  He would help if he could.

Congratulations! Your relationship
with your
Terrod
has improved from neutral to
friendly.

That was a little strange, getting
his reward before he finished the quest, but okay, Richter thought.

Terrod
heaved a sigh of relief. “I need to
get some sleep. I wasn’t able to rest waiting for them to open that chest. I
will head back to the inn and setup a meeting with you and some prominent
nonhumans that might be interested in coming to your village. I won’t be able
to get them together until nightfall, though.

“You should know that it isn’t only
nonhumans that have trouble fitting into the Kingdom recently. Many men and
women are struggling to provide food and the basic necessities for themselves.
There is a building in the Grand Market where journeyman often went in days
past. They could be found there by those who needed their services. These days
many humans congregate in the Grand Market every day from all different types
of professions and walks of life just looking for a few coins. If you aren’t
too exhausted you could stop by the market first before coming back to the inn.
I have to warn you though, the difficulties of their lives have made some
extremely bitter and hateful towards nonhumans. Be careful who you invite to
join you. You’ll find the Grand Market on the western side of the city halfway
up hill.”

Nodding at the information, Richter
said, “Thank you
Terrod
. I will check out this Grand
Market. I need a moment though,” and walked back upfront. He reached into his
bag, and then placed his hand on the counter in front of Leandra. She looked at
him with a half-smile and curious expression. Her infectious grin brought one
to his face as well. Trying not to blush he said, “I wanted to say thank you
for all of your help. What you taught me saved our lives last night. I hope
that I see you again very soon, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor
until then and hold onto something for me.” He nodded his head toward the hand
he placed on the counter.

She leaned over, and he slowly peeled
his hand away. He looked underneath it before moving quickly to reveal there
had been nothing there. But her focus and distraction let him grab her other
hand and place a beautiful opal in her palm. She gasped and gave a small shriek
when she saw the iridescent colors play over its white surface. Throwing her
hands around his neck she gave him a big hug, and he realized that he couldn’t
have found a better use for the jewel.

Congratulations! Your relationship
with Leandra has improved from friendly to
interested
.

Charisma has increased by 1.

The moment would have been perfect if
not for
Killik’s
glower. The man’s gaze threatened
all manner of tortures if he didn’t let go quickly. Richter gave a small cough
and stepped back, retreating out of the door with
Terrod
and Sion. While he walked though, he was still thinking of the way Leandra
somehow smelled like caramel.