by Ryan DeBruyn
This was the first time he had any of the lower denominations of currency for the new Etherverse, and he studied them in the sanctuary of the pie-shaped room before exiting the shop building again.
An emerald gem was about the size of a fingernail and was cut into an octal pattern, leaving each face sparkling in the interior lighting of the room. The ruby mark was a long rectangle, half the size of the emerald and cut with grooved indents on each facet to make it seem to almost draw in your eyesight. Lastly, the diamond chip was a tiny piece of diamond that was of varied shaping and looked to not have been cut at all. Instead, it was rough and seemed to literally be chips of diamond that had been used in other works. All the gems look like they should have been sharp, but the numerous hands on the currency seemed to have smoothed all the roughness away over time.
The beauty of the currency was striking, and when you compared it to a piece of Crystallized Ether, it seemed like the value should lay with the cut emeralds and rubies. The only thing that made the crystal stand out was that it glowed from within and that each one was utterly unique; they were almost snowflake-like in the variance of lattice patterns each unit displayed.
Placing all of the gems back into his bag of holding, Rocky used Stealth and smiled sardonically at the notifications that were waiting for him.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill, Trade.
Current rank Apprentice Trader Level 1
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill, Barter.
Current rank Apprentice Barterer Level 1
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill, Actor.
Current rank Apprentice Actor Level 1
Chapter Twenty-Nine
On the way back to the camp, Rocky had felt his skin tingle and began breathing a bit faster when Sela’s Ether pool had run out. She had chosen that a piggyback ride would be better than waiting on her Ether pool to refill. Before the piggyback ride began again, they had traveled in a pair while both using Stealth, and it had caused a small problem as he had no idea where Sela was at first. He had been forced to drop Stealth and whisper her name until she appeared beside him. After seeing the problem, they had chosen to hold hands until her Ether failed her.
As Rocky ran, relishing in the feel of Sela on his back, he reminisced about their visit to the shop as he darted around patrols.
Most importantly, whatever Sela had done during her brief moment had stopped Corsair from being notified of the two entering and leaving the shop. According to Sela, it had been a ten-foot sensor field in the dirt around the seed shop. All she had done was bury it by moving the spelled-ground down and replacing it with plain soil. The skill was something new to her and only at apprentice rank, but perhaps, in the future, it would be much more powerful.
Once Sela and Rocky had reached the shop, they had discussed a plan to best handle the merchants, and it had worked exceptionally well. During any interaction, Sela acted as the servant, and he would serve as a young, noble lord who was dissatisfied with the prices or his servant. This act gave them the ability to have enormously influential byplay between them and data mine shop owners for what prices were reasonable.
It was quite easy to tell who would have been good at poker and who was an absolutely lousy trader. It became a game of sorts to see if they could force the opponent to crack under pressure. Sela played her part as a demure servant perfectly. She was the picture of the beautiful damsel in distress who needed the merchant to help her not upset her erratic and fiery lord.
They had done most of their shopping at the stand of Garnell who seemed to specialize in blueprints, tools, and building materials. The trader was a very straightforward karacy who was honest in his listed prices. He reminded Rocky of a dependable contractor and many upstanding friends he had before the apocalypse.
Garnell had been a short and stocky man with a long beard and thick limbs. Rocky would have called him a dwarf if he was going off of Earthen mythology, but his race was called karacy, which Sela had never even heard of. The man looked like he would be right at home swinging a hammer on a work site or a war-hammer on a battlefield.
The scope of items he had available was mind-boggling, and some of the utility items were so interesting, Rocky honestly wanted to buy them until Sela had suggested meekly, while in character, that they weren’t practical—things like laser axes, laser planers for planking, portable, high tech, automated sawmills, a goblin shredder straight out of a video game, and the list went on.
While these items were absolutely fantastic, Sela had pointed out, in an aside, to Rocky that no one in their Territory had the expertise to repair this equipment. They had an abundance of manpower available, and they needed to be put to work to begin increasing levels and skills instead of sitting idly. Lastly, she pointed out the price difference between a laser axe at one gem and a regular axe at one chip, which was counter to his long term view. These gadgets would perhaps speed his Territory’s growth in the short term but stunt it in the long run. This followed his earlier thoughts to a letter, and he easily agreed.
The real issue was that they had a grotto full of level one to five individuals, and by buying the equipment that did the work for them, you would increase production at the expense of their development. Once pointed out to Rocky, he saw the dilemma and decided to steer away from the portable prefab buildings. This, of course, didn’t include the portable forge which was a basic level building but still cost them nine crystals, one gem, and five marks.
The forge item was a box that could have fit a refrigerator and would have been impossible for Rocky to sustainably lift if he hadn’t been able to just place the thing into his bag of holding through his will and the bag’s extradimensional abilities. For the second time, he felt an increase in weight to the bag but nowhere near as severe. The bag now felt like it was the equivalent of a fully packed suitcase at the end of a vacation. In the past, he had been mostly oblivious to the weight reduction properties of the bag, and thinking back, he assumed part of it was because of his increasing stats.
They had purchased all the remaining items on the list and then gone to talk to Lingren for equipment for the unarmored members of the group. Lingren, for his part, had been slightly sheepish and embarrassed that he had taken advantage of Rocky, but that didn’t stop him from being a very tough negotiator when it came time to trade currency for the gear.
Sela chose the gear and had dropped the act with Lingren as he already had encountered Rocky and wouldn’t believe the lordling bluff. In her brutal negotiations, he had learned that the equipment was costly in truth and that the prices offered by Lingren were based on the type of material and its capabilities. The Ether pool of Ether infused armor or weapons was the deciding factor in that regard.
For a high-level Ether pool like Rocky had on his gear, it seemed that the minimum price for a set would be a thousand crystals. However, low-level Ether gear could sell for as little as one gem, and the same range was seen for technological equipment based off of components used. The Ether Tech gear was by far the priciest and hardest to understand.
It seemed that adding an Ether pool to a piece of technology often caused the bit of technology to fail due to incompatibility. This meant that a piece of Ether Tech gear with a high Ether pool was so rare it would be worth an entire planet, according to Lingren. The easy acceptance of these comments by Sela left Rocky in profound silence.
In the end, Sela had been forced to buy gear that was Ether infused because it needed to be able to transform with her and still provide protection. This knowledge was according to a brief chat they had in the pie-shaped room of the shop after leaving the projected shop grounds. Technological armor didn’t always transfer its defense over during magical transformations, according to her.
For the boys, they had bought Ether infused gear also as it was something that was easier to understand with increasing enchantments that fed off of an Ether pool. Without access to a shop, technological gear would be tough to repair a
nd to upgrade. Not that enchantments could be improved without a shop, but patch jobs were possible as required.
They also purchased each one of them a weapon in the shop. Alex got a bandolier of throwing daggers that Rocky purchased two of, keeping one for himself, and the two Ether infused daggers. Jason got a Staff of Focus, which should help reduce Ether cost and spell casting time, according to its stats. Lastly, Oliver got two short swords and an Elven Recurve Longbow with an accompanying quiver of fifty composite arrows that were very tough to break.
Kolinar Hardened Leather Chest Piece x 4
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 30/30
Ether effects: Protection 5, +stat
Protection 5
Ether Pool will be used to directly reduce melee damage to any area covered by this armor. Magical damage requires three times the amount of Ether from Ether Pool to reduce damage. Damage reduced up to 35%, depending on the strength of the blow. This effect can be increased by having an enchanter increase the rank of the enchantment.
+ 4 to Highest stat Category
Once worn, this armor will increase the wearer’s highest stat column by an additional four stat points.
Kolinar Hardened Leather Leggings x 4
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 30/30
Ether effects: Protection 5 (30%), +stat 4 (lowest)
Kolinar Hardened Leather Boots x 4
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 30/30
Ether effects: Protection 5 (15%), Movement Speed 1 (15%)
Kolinar Hardened Leather Gloves x 5
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 30/30
Ether effects: Protection 5 (30%), Grip Strength 4
Grip Strength 4
This enchantment will help the wearer maintain a grip of his weapon by converting Ether into an adhesive when someone attempts to disarm the individual. Decreases chance of disarm by 40%, depends on the strength of the blow.
Elven Recurve Longbow
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 40/40
Effects: Piercing 3, Steady 2
Piercing 3 (30%)
This enchantment will help any projectile launched from this bow ignore armor’s imbued protections. In addition, it will add tensile strength to any projectile, further increasing penetration of Technological Armour.
Steady 2
This enchantment reduces any minor fluctuations due to the user’s small, accidental variations. It removes up to a 2 mm shift.
Elementalier Mage Staff of Focus
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 40/40
Effects: Conservation 1, Focus 4
Conservation 1 (10%)
Decreases Ether consumption of offensive spells by 10%.
Focus 4 (10%)
Increases offensive power of spells by 10%.
Karacean Mithril Long Dagger x 2
Ether Pool level: Weak
Current Ether Pool Level: 40/40
Effects: Piercing 5 (50%)
Bandolier of Kartuse Throwing Knives x 2
Ether Pool level: Moderate
Current Ether Pool Level: 40/40
Effects: Wind Resist 3, Retrieve 2
Wind Resist 3
Able to resist course alteration due to the wind and can even use the wind to make minor adjustments to track a target. Up to 3mm of alteration resisted or corrected.
Retrieve 2
If the target is hit with this blade but doesn’t die, the blade will attempt to dislodge itself from the recipient so it can be collected by the owner.
Sela had chosen not to buy a helmet yet. Her reasons were the same as Rocky’s initial considerations. A good helmet which didn’t impede on field of vision seemed to be the most expensive piece of equipment, and to reduce your field of vision in a fight could kill you. She explained that they needed to make a helmet for each of them a priority in the future but that saving up for a good one first would save them money in the long run.
It wasn’t a long time before they were back at the camp, and Rocky realized that Sela had never asked to be put back down. What that meant was a complete mystery to him, but he did feel a heat suffuse his face when he first realized this, followed by a buoyant bubbliness.
Regardless of his feelings, Rocky relieved Jason from the watch and reminded him that the other boys wouldn’t be needed for their shift now that he was back and had taken the Elixir of Shortened Sleep. They had purchased ten more of the vials, and he was somewhat happy to find out that he wasn’t ripped off nearly as harshly by the alchemist.
Surprisingly, the alchemist, Trixie, also had a potion that was prohivitely expensive at three crystal each, but it purportedly could increase charges of skills and spells that had a limit per day. Sela had purchased five of these for emergencies and planned to try them today when she flew back to the Territory. This vial could be extremely powerful but had a pretty interesting limitation that seemed to make it a bit of a wildcard.
Vial of Gambler’s Charge
This concoction has a ninety percent chance to increase the number of charges a skill has for a particular day by one. The skill it recharges is entirely random. The final five percent of the time it will remove a charge from a skill if it is available. This alchemical creation is rumored to have a drop of planetary Essence contained within.
“So tonight before the sun sets, you will fly out with my bag of holding and drop this all off, then spend tomorrow helping them get the new system set up?” Rocky queried Sela, who was wearing her new black armor set, which was the same set they had purchased for the boys.
Rocky had the gloves on from the Kolinar set himself and found them to be remarkably comfortable with a hardback, jointed knuckles, and an extremely thin, soft palm for aided proprioception. She had put the armor on after they returned to the camp and was doing some different stretches in it to test its flexibility. Sela simply nodded to him in answer to his question before looking at him and the sword he held.
“It is probably time you learned an actual kata for the sword, don’t you think?” she questioned as she pulled a piece of golem metal out of her makeshift holster. Rocky pulled his sword, and his breathing grew heavy. Trying not to show his excitement, he joined the beautiful woman but was unable to stop a wide grin. “Stop grinning. This isn’t a game,” Sela scolded having not looked at Rocky, which made his brow furrow as he tried and failed to wipe the smile off his face.
“This is called the Seraph Sword, and it has five tiers before you move on to the Seraphim Sword. Try to follow my movements the first time through, and on the second, I will begin correcting you before we continue together,” Sela said all of this while facing forward, and as she finished, she entered into a staggered stance with her knees slightly bent, sword-shaped metal held high overhead.
The next hour was the hardest Rocky had ever endured, even including his time as a professional athlete, where he trained for eight hours a day. What he thought would be a quick fifteen minutes of following had still not finished. At a glacial pace, Sela moved through sword strikes and guards. Rocky thought it had been eight blows and nine defenses but his mind had given up coherent calculations half an hour ago.
It turned out the kata was composed of ten strikes and ten guards, which were to be performed as slowly as possible. Sela had sweat glistening on her forehead, and her breasts heaved from the effort as she gasped, “This new body also needs to be built up to handle this type of training. It will be good for both of us in this case. May I see your sword?”
The sword was inspected in every aspect before she looked him in the eyes and asked, “Can you make it heavier?” Having not ever considered that line of thought, Rocky tilted his head and shrugged after the question before holding out his hand.
Once he dismissed the sword, she surprised him again, though, “You shouldn’t have to resummon i
t to change its shape or appearance. If it is like the swords I have seen, it should change based on your intentions. Additionally a katana while powerful has some serious drawbacks you should be made aware of. While the sword is excellent against enemies who are lightly armored it is extremely weak against any armored foe. The Seraph Sword was designed with stabbing motions and to be used against all foes. It is your choice what you use but a longsword or bastard sword might be best with this form as you improve.”
Eyes focused, Rocky summoned back his sword exactly as it was before, as a katana, and began experimenting with her hypothesis. It turned out he could, with great concentration, change the sword into anything he wanted. Even other bladed weapons were possible if he could picture what he wanted.
He could also make it heavier, after he managed to increase the sword’s weight as well as summon it into a form more similar to its initial composition of a bastard sword, Sela nodded before continuing the instruction, “This training may seem superfluous, but it was discovered early that while stats increase, they are unable to improve muscle memory. Your body will almost always revert to unthinking actions when in combat, and thus why these katas are designed to put your body under stress while also performing evolving movements that will resemble battle.
The heavier the blade, the more the stress, and in time, you will be able to perform all ten tiers in the time it took us to complete the first. However, you must move slowly at first to master each and every sequence correctly before you can speed up. Now, start again!”
