Dimian turned pale. A clan's trade representative! This was a position that opened lots of doors. "Yes, please," he croaked, forgetting all about compensation.
"In that case, let's do it this way. Go to the second defense level and choose a place for your shop. Then give it a good think. How much money do you need? Do you know of a smart shop assistant? Or are you going to serve customers yourself?"
"I don't think I can. It's not a job for a trade representative."
"Do we have an agreement, then?"
"Will I get another piece of parchment like the one you gave me? I can't remember what it's called now but I do know that I need it."
"We'll write one especially for you, sealed and everything. And all the vendors who might come here in the future will be under your control. Just promise not to charge us too much for rusty nails," she added with a deadpan face.
"I won't, the Gods of Light my witness!"
She turned to me with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Alexatis?"
"Well... I suppose we could make Dimian our trade representative. He can open the first shop in Rion Castle. On one condition. You must promise me to buy your goods at prices slightly higher than those in the city, and sell them slightly cheaper. Think you can do that?"
"Absolutely!" he beamed. "Easy!"
"Then go and find a place for your shop."
"How many floors can I have?"
"Two. You'll have the shop and your office downstairs and your family's personal quarters upstairs."
"But how about my town house?"
"You can keep it. You need to hire a shop assistant to help you in there. We'll use it to sell any surplus rare items."
"What kind of items?"
"Hydra skins. Rare herbs and potions. That sort of thing."
"How about cargonite? In Agrion they say you've got loads here."
"Forget cargonite. It's a strategic resource. None of it is for sale — not at the moment, anyway."
* * *
ENEA AND I finished our breakfast and walked out into the inner court. The flood of new applicants had already thinned out. Now we could hear their voices coming from the barbican beyond the outer wall.
Arwan came running toward us. "All done! All the crates are loaded and fastened. I've checked it myself. Here," he handed me a book. "Lethmiel asked me to give you this."
It was a copy of the manuscript we'd found the night before. I packed it away in my inventory.
Then I gave the carts a thorough check. Everything looked fine.
The two Guards of Gloom were guarding our precious cargo. They were coming with us. We were also taking twenty Elves: archers as well as warriors. Togien had declined my invitation saying he had urgent things to take care of. Still, I had a funny feeling he simply didn't like other dwarves that much.
Iskandar and Rodrigo marched past us, taking a column of wannabe wizards, clerics and sorcerers to the barbican. They must have made an arrangement with Archibald about holding some group fights. Rion Castle was coming back to life. If it continued like this, Enea and I might be back from the Azure Mountains just in time for our first tournament.
"Serry ranks!"
The group teleport scroll I'd made in the Hall of the Elements worked like a dream. The next moment we found ourselves back in the Azure Mountains at the already-familiar rock plateau: a safe location whose coordinates I'd double-checked earlier. We'd reinforced the carts and fitted out the horses' eyes with blinkers to make sure they didn't bolt.
Arwan was in charge of his Elf group. Enea and I took a wary look around, remembering the earlier attack. This time the place looked deserted. The wooded mountain slopes were ablaze with autumnal crimson. The air was cold and clear.
The Elven avant-garde disappeared up ahead. The flank guards took up their positions. I signaled to advance.
Unhurriedly we moved off. The Twin Watch Ravine was literally just around the corner. The dwarves weren't going to meet us: Mychior and I had made an agreement to keep the date and time of the new delivery under wraps.
The two Guards of Gloom in the rear looked around them with a reserved awe. Desert dwellers, they'd never been in the mountains before. The cargonite blades of their naginatas glistened weakly in the frail sunlight.
Aha, there were the long fire streaks by the roadside, followed by the circles of scorched grass and several large boulders cleft by the heat.
Enea took my hand. Our fingers interlaced. I couldn't believe that it had only been a few days since we'd been here, forced to fight an unequal battle. So many things had happened in this last week that it felt like a lifetime.
The stocky figure of Mychior hovered by the entrance to the ravine, pretending he was taking a stroll enjoying the views. Still, I knew he'd come here to meet us. He just couldn't help himself, could he?
"Hi," Enea waved her hand.
I was happy to see him too. I needed to talk to him in private before all hell broke loose.
In the meantime, our caravan had crossed the border of the trade post. Now we were safe. Enea and I lingered at the foot of the giant rock statues.
I shook the dwarf's calloused hand. "Everything okay?"
Mychior nodded. "I received your message. What do you want to talk to me about? What can possibly be more important than this?" his gaze followed the cartfuls of Spectral Dust so precious to the dwarves.
"I need some experienced masons and stone carvers familiar with Elemental runic sequences."
Mychior squinted at me, nibbling at a blade of grass and casting glances at the cargonite naginatas of the Guards of Gloom. "How experienced?"
"Very. The best you have."
"Sorry, Alexatis. I don't think you have enough gold to pay for their services. No offence. You need Grand Masters."
"Not everything in life can be measured in gold," I said calmly. "There're other values too."
He gave me a condescending grin. "Like what?"
"Like skill. Such a master will get the opportunity to level up while turning his apprentices into a legendary-level group of experts."
He didn't look too surprised. "Rumor has it you've bought an old castle. So what? You can hire some farmers to rebuild its walls. Anyone with a trowel can do that."
"Possible. I'll tell you more: a group of farmers can even kill a monster with pitchforks. But what do they gain from it? Now if the said monster is slain by a lone warrior, the latter might become a legendary hero. See my point? How long has it been since the Grand Masters of your people created a seminal masterpiece?"
He fingered his beard. "I can't remember. Everything worth making has already been made."
"In which case you can give them a message from me. Tell them I know how to get the title of Ultimate Master."
The shock rendered him catatonic.
Finally, he looked up at me, "I need to know who you're interested in."
His tone had changed radically. He must have grasped the situation fully now. These kinds of promises weren't made lightly.
"Explain yourself," I said.
"An Ultimate Master will bring eternal glory to his kinsmen. We have many celebrated dynasties, and each has its own Grand Master."
"It's up to you," I said. "I'm pretty sure they'll pay a lot of money to the middleman who'll grace their house with such an offer. On one condition."
"Say it."
"I need three of them."
"Are you sure? Three Ultimate Masters?"
"Yes. And their apprentices will become masters in their own right."
"Oh. How is it possible? Please, Alexatis. You're not exaggerating, are you? Because if you are, my position as a middleman will cost me very, very dearly."
"It's all right. Let's do it this way. I can take one of the Grand Masters with me so he can get a look at the castle and decide for himself."
"Very well. But it might take a bit of time. You think you can wait until tonight?"
"Sure. Enea and I have other things to do here."
"Agr
eed. I'll find a Grand Master for you. Just please don't let me down!"
* * *
IT HADN'T TAKEN us long to exchange all the Spectral Dust to gold ingots (which was the agreement I'd made with the dwarves). The dwarves bought it all up in bulk. We didn't even need to unload the carts: there were two cartfuls of painstakingly packed bales of gold waiting for us under the lean-to. All we had to do was unharness the horses and put them in the other carts.
I gave detailed instructions to Arwan, then relieved the Guards of Gloom. Neither Enea nor I needed any bodyguards.
I wrote a quick message to Archibald, apologizing for not being able to make it in time for the tournament. Not today. I also a sent a note to Lethmiel, asking him to prepare quarters for the dwarves.
"That's it," I said, handing Arwan the mass teleport scroll. "Off you go. We should be back by nighttime."
Arwan beamed, proud of his mission. It wasn't every day that he was entrusted with the task of breaking a teleport seal and taking a caravan of gold back to Rion Castle. A mundane job for a human player, this was an honor and big responsibility for an NPC.
Portals started popping, raising swirls of dust.
"That's it," I said when Arwan's marker reappeared on the map. "They're back in the castle. Shall we go and speak to Master Jung?"
Enea smiled. "Why, you want to poach him too?"
I smiled back at her, taking her hand. "I don't think he'll agree. But we can try."
We walked out of the Twin Watch Ravine and followed the winding road lined with boulders for a while, then turned off onto a disused mountain trail.
The day was bright, the skies clear. Fine threads of cobwebs hung in the sun-drenched air. River rapids roared nearby.
The foothill was overgrown with brambles. I could see the lone cliff and the old pine tree on top of which I had landed while laying the tentative route to this part of the world.
Enea set Alpha free for a bit of leveling. The brambles were crawling with petty mobs which could become welcome pray for a level-11 Black Mantis.
"I wonder if Master Jurg could make him some armor," I said.
Alpha disappeared in the brambles which soon filled with the sounds of a fight, followed by a stifled scream of some local critter.
"He's still growing. We won't get the size right," Enea replied, drawing me toward the precipitous drop. Together we stood there admiring the river's swift flow as it took its crystalline waters to places yet unknown. "Jeez, it's beautiful."
She could say that. These woods were well and truly untrodden.
I took her in my arms. She laced her arms around my neck. Her lips clung to mine.
We stood there on the very edge of a chasm, unable to draw ourselves apart.
"Let's step back," she finally whispered. "I'm a bit dizzy."
A pine branch shifted, releasing a swift shadow that darted toward us. A large spotted feline slewed to a halt a few steps away from us.
Mountain Lynx. Level 22
It stared forlornly at us. The word "pet" was gone from its name tag.
"Sarah?" I asked, still unsure.
The lynx walked over to me and rubbed her forehead against my knee. Then she lifted her head. The hopelessness in that gaze was heart-wrenching.
She'd recognized me. But the girl, her owner, where was she? A pet can't get lost, it's against the rules. Had something happened to Kimberly (because that was the name of the young Drow, one of the two I'd met during my first time here), the lynx wouldn't have been able to walk around by herself.
"Have you two met before?" Enea asked, surprised.
"We have. She used to belong to a Drow girl, one of the two that showed me the way to Master Jurg."
The lynx rubbed her body against my leg, then looked up at me, her gaze expectant and anxious.
Enea crouched next to her. "Are you lost, baby?"
Alpha scrambled out of the thorny undergrowth and scurried toward us, ready to defend his owner (he'd made two levels in these last few minutes). Then he reconsidered and stayed hovering in the background, showing a strange affiliation with the lynx.
"Where's your owner?" I asked.
The lynx emitted a short nervous growl and gave us another quizzical look. Then it turned round and trotted away.
"Sarah! Come back!" Enea called.
Reluctantly the lynx stopped and turned her head to us.
"If she's not marked as a pet, does that mean that her owner isn't here anymore?" Enea asked.
"In that case, her pet would have disappeared too."
"She knows her name. She didn't attack us. She recognized you, that's for sure. What can we do?"
"I don't know," I said. "Let's take her with us to see Jurg. He might know the answer."
"That's right! Sarah, come! Come with us!"
Reluctantly the lynx returned, looking expectantly at me as if she knew I was the one without a pet.
"This is weird," I said.
"I agree. Then again, we've seen lots of weird things just lately. Haven't we?"
"We have indeed," I reached down and rubbed the scruff of Sarah's neck. "Let's go, then."
We returned to the trail that led to the blacksmith's hut. Contrary to our expectations, the lynx followed us at a respectful distance. Alpha too lagged behind, apparently curious about this new addition to our team.
Soon the path began to climb, snaking between the cliffs, until it finally took one last turn and started to descend.
The door of the smithy hung open.
Sarah emitted a nervous sniffle. I drew my sword. Enea cupped her flame-enveloped hands, readying an Inferno.
* * *
WE WALKED in. The place was in a state. It looked completely ransacked. All the chests and drawers were open, all the tools and ingots of metal gone. The fire was long dead, the old embers black and powdered with ash.
No sign of Master Jurg anywhere.
You could say I was upset. So was Enea.
"Let's take a look in the house," she suggested.
We checked every room, with zero results.
"No new quests?" I asked her.
"Nope. He's a quest character, isn't he? He can't just disappear."
I shook my head. "One possible explanation is that there's another quest concerning his disappearance, but we're not part of it."
The book was still in my inventory. I took it out and began leafing through it.
Quest alert: The Secret Alloy! Quest failed!
Oh, great. Clear as mud. Failed, just like that.
Bugger!
"Right, let's go," I said.
Alpha and Sarah were waiting for us outside. The former had climbed a nearby cliff and was hunting something. The lynx was basking in the sun, indifferent to everything around her.
"What are we going to do with her?" I asked. "Should we leave her here?"
"I suggest we take her with us," Enea said. "You can see she's not happy without her owner."
"But she's not a pet anymore."
"Does it really matter? You and your rules! Sarah, would you like to come with us?"
With a short nervous growl, the lynx scrambled up. Reluctantly she came over to me and rubbed her forehead against my knees.
"Okay," I stroked her back. "Come along."
* * *
IT WAS ALMOST sunset when we'd finally reached the Twin Watch Ravine.
Four dwarves awaited us by the foot of the giant statues.
"Enea, Alexatis, I'd like you to meet Grand Master Walmord of the Copperbeards, the Architects Clan," Mychior said. "And these are Masters Feligo and Swessbill."
The other three dwarves puffed their chests up. You could tell they belonged to a different ilk: they were slightly shorter and not as burly as Togien but just as dignified, with fiery-red beards braided with copper wire. Their clothes were made of quality leather.
"I'm pleased to meet you," I said. "I'm Alexatis; this is Enea. We're the founders of the Black Mantises Clan."
"We've heard a lot
about you," Walmord boomed. "We'd like to see the castle."
As a sign of goodwill, all three made their stats public.
Holy hell! All three were level 170!
"What, just like that?" I said.
"Take us there," the dwarf interrupted me. I could already tell he was quite a handful.
"Very well. We'll discuss all the details once we're there. Come over here and keep as close as you can."
I turned to check on Enea. She grabbed Sarah by the scruff of her neck. Alpha climbed on the girl's shoulder and held on tight.
The teleport popped, sweeping us away. For a brief moment, I didn't know where I was. Then we were back in the Resurrection Hall of Rion Castle.
The dwarves began looking around. Their eyes glinted with genuine interest.
Enea let go of the lynx who immediately wandered off to investigate the room, with an indignant sniffle for the two Guards of Gloom. She also gave Lethmiel a wide berth.
I turned to the dwarves. "We have rooms ready for you."
"We the mountain folk don't mind the dark," Walmord grumbled. "Torchlight is good enough."
"Very well," I agreed, motioning them toward the portal network.
A brief teleport took us to the outer defense level where Togien and I had recently found a runic stone while experimenting with his Bricklaying skills.
Walmord immediately began inspecting the stone. The other two followed him everywhere. Walmord studied the destroyed part of the parapet, then raised his gaze to take in the surrounding panorama. With a chuckle, he returned his attention to the stonework.
"What cowboy builder did this?" he pointed at the part of the wall restored by Togien. Not waiting for the answer, he touched the rune cut into the stone and uttered a few words. The rune began to glow.
"These walls are still oozing the ancient magic," Walmord said. "Good. Which means it permeates them completely. Let's see if there's enough force around."
He froze. His gaze filled with a fathomless depth. With a screech, several blocks of stone rose into the air, raising small clouds of dust.
The two Copperbeard masters hurried toward them. In a few expert movements, they lay the stones in the wall and nodded, signaling to Walmord to complete his silent spell.
The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 25
