The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith

by Justin Miller

  Inside the city, there were stalls and shops lined in every direction, with signs indicating the names of the stores. Every now and then, we’d hear a merchant declare the best potions for the best prices, or swords straight from the dwarven forges. Is… is the entire city a giant flea market?

  I was stunned at first from the sight, and then quickly found someone to talk to. “Hello, could you give me some directions?”

  The man turned to me and raised an eyebrow, appraising me and Denise. “You’re looking for the cheap weapons and armors, right?”

  “Uh, no.. We just came from Rosenheim. We’re actually looking to update our equipment with more advanced gear.” I considered asking about magic items, but decided to keep that a low profile for now.

  “Alright. If you’re looking for advanced equipment, try the shops about five blocks south, on the right. Prices suck, but the quality is good.” He obviously considered that the end of our conversation, because he abruptly turned to leave at that.

  “O..kay… well, you heard the man, woman.” We turned to the south and went to the indicated street. There were several stores along this area as well, and I still had to wonder if there was anything in this town except merchants. In one, we found a nice selection of bows, but none better than Denise’s modified Elven bow. We did manage to find her some new leather armor though, which was much better designed than her old thrown-together set.

  At one of the stores, I just got tired of all the back and forth and decided to ask. “Pardon, but is there somewhere that we can buy enchanted items? Or spellbooks, things of that nature?”

  “Ah, you’re looking for the expensive stuff. Sure, I know where that’s at. Dead center of town is where you can find magical goods. Also got a library, though don’t know how many books there are on magic in it.”

  “Thank you…” We abruptly turned to leave and headed for the center of town. “An inn, my kingdom for an inn. Or a restaurant, or something other than wall to wall salesmen.”

  “Oh, it’s not that bad… there’s plenty of nice things here to buy.”

  “You’re just saying that because I bought you that necklace you wanted.”

  She grinned, looking down and touching a golden necklace around her neck. “True.”

  When we arrived at the center of town, the atmosphere changed from the normal stores. The traffic was so much less here it seemed like we had secretly entered a different city altogether. Okay, there aren’t many high level adventurers, and out of those only a few would have traveled this way.

  I had to remind myself of that a few times as we browsed the shops. It wasn’t unheard of for items to cost tens of thousand of gild, which seemed like an obscene price. Though, we found a few interesting things. At one stall, I noticed an intricately etched staff, and instinctively went over to it. “This looks quite good…”

  The shopkeeper, a scrawny man with a black eyepatch, glanced up to me and grinned. “Aye, you got a good eye there. That’s an enchanted staff passed down from one of the last great mages.”

  “Really?” I narrowed my eyes at the staff, bringing up its information window.

  Staff of Aben-dure

  Magical Attack: 60-90

  Durability: 100/100

  Rarity: Unique

  Said to be wielded by Aben-dure, one of the few adventurers in the last century that was also a master Mage.

  All magical school talents +1

  All elemental resistances +5%

  Mana +500

  Wisdom +10

  Magic experience gain +50%

  Requirements: Mage title, level 50+

  Price: 15,000 gild

  I grinned, nodding to Denise. “Give me just a moment, and I’ll be back for that. I trust you can hold it for five minutes?”

  The man’s eye went wide. “If you can afford it, and nobody grabs it before you get back, it’s yours.”

  I nodded, moving back to an alley with Denise, making sure nobody was looking before I cast Customize again on my coinpurse to fill in the amount needed. When I came back, I apologized and explained that we had to make sure that we had the funds between us. I handed him two platinum coins, and purchased both the staff and a ring set that doubles mana recovery.

  The man laughed with an exaggerated expression. “About time. I thought I’d never get rid of that staff. Nobody’s given it more than a single glance since I put it on for sale.”

  “Maybe they just couldn’t appreciate it?” It seemed that staff was his most expensive item, so he was happy to sell it. “By the way, do you know where I can get books on magic? I’m looking for teleportation and enchantment.”

  “Ah, so you are the real thing, not just some collector.”

  “That’s right. I’d also like to find a suitable sword for my companion, but for that I can shop in the mundane section.” Denise glared at me, and I smiled. She can’t use a magic sword yet until she practices with a normal one, after all!

  “Okay. There’s a shop a couple streets over. Calls itself the Arcane Emporium. They usually carry some spellbooks and other magical gear. Tell them Brim sent you.”

  “I’ll do that, thanks.” I smiled, and went over to Denise, carrying my new staff.

  “So… what exactly did you just pay a small fortune for?” She eyed my new acquisition accusingly, like it had grown a mouth and consumed the money itself.

  “A relic of a past mage. Gives me a serious bonus to my magic. Also got some information on where we can get spellbooks.”

  “Finally! Then we can get me a sword and leave this city.”

  “Right.” We moved down the street until we found a rundown store with a crooked wooden sign up above the door. ‘Arcane Emporium’. Next to the name was a small symbol, but at a closer look, it seemed to be the rune for ‘Enter’. “Huh.. Well, if you insist.”

  Denise, being unable to read runes, had no idea what I was talking about as I walked into the store. “Excuse me? Someone named Brim told me this was a good place to find what I was looking for?”

  “Oh, he did, did he?” I heard a deep voice call out, and could feel the ground shake in time with heavy footsteps. “About time that good-for-nothing sent some business my way!” As the steps approached a door in the back, I cringed inwardly. Am I going to get in a boss fight before I even enter the dungeon?

  When the door opened… my eyes were where I expected to see a giant’s face. Instead, I saw what looked like a teenager carrying a massive stack of boxes by himself. “Name’s Finley. Just what is it that Brim said I could help you with.” He asked, peeking his head around his burden to look at us, and then blinked as he saw the staff I was carrying, suddenly grinning.

  “I’m looking for books on magic. Specifically, enchanting and teleporting.”

  “Okay, well, I can help you with the first one, sure. But teleporting is just a spell in the summoning school, you know? It could take a ritual, depending on your mastery and the distance, but at most you’ll need a scroll, not a book.” Finley moved to the counter, setting down the pile of boxes, and suddenly his steps were much lighter. Then, he turned to look at me. “Mind if I see your proof?” He asked cautiously, making sure nobody else was in the store.

  “My..? Ah.” I got out the grimoire, and held it up to him.

  Nodding quickly, he let out a sigh. “Sorry, policy not to sell to dropouts. Blame my dad. We won’t sell spells to anyone if they can’t prove that they graduated the academy.”

  I nodded my understanding. “Did you yourself graduate as well?”

  He must have thought that was funny, because he laughed loudly. “Oh lord no. I’m still training. Got a few years yet before I’m ready. Besides, the more you know about magic, the harder it is to pass the final test, you know?”

  “Yeah… knowing so many examples would probably make it harder to come up with your own thing.”

  “Exactly. And don’t worry, I won’t t
ry to buy whatever it is you used. Since you passed with it, it would be useless for me to cheat off of it.”

  I smirked, having not been planning to show him anyways. “Alright. But, about the teleport spell?”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s one that a lot of people have been asking about lately. Though, nobody has been able to present their proof, so the best I could give them was a one-use item to teleport them. For you, though, I think I can sell you the scroll. And the book on enchanting, as well. Now, I just want to make myself clear because there are two common definitions. You mean enchanting as in powering up items and people, or as the mind control magic?”

  “The former. The mind of another should remain their own.”

  “Right, well said. Go ahead and take a look around while I find what you’re wanting. We keep spells in the back, thanks to our restriction on selling.” He smiled and went off towards the back again, closing the door behind him.

  “Well, he seems nice.” Denise smirked to me, having noticed how tense I got earlier from the sounds of those footsteps. “Real scary, though.”

  “Oh hush you, he sounded bigger at the time.” I smirked and walked around the store, casually looking at various items and their descriptive tags. “See if you can find anything that would help spot traps.”

  “Soul gem, endless canteen, crystal ball, huh… is this really bottled wind?”

  “I… don’t want to know.” I shook my head as I searched.

  “Hey, they sell paper charms, too~!”

  “What? You mean like, talismans you throw at enemies?”

  “Apparently. There are a few different types.” I went over to see what she was looking at. And she was right, there was a teleport charm, various elemental charms, and a paralysis charm.

  At that point, we heard Finley talking near the door as he came back. “Alright, got your basic teleport instructions, and a book on beginner’s enchanting.” He opened the door, and indeed was just carrying a single scroll and a book.

  “Thanks. For enchanting, are any special materials needed, or just the magical energy?”

  “Well, for some things you’ll need a special material. Like, if you want to enchant a sword to replace its blade with a pillar of fire, you’d need to get a flame essence from an elemental. But for the beginner stuff, as long as you can use the effect yourself, you can put it in an item.”

  “Good to know. So.. do you know about any dungeons around here?”

  Finley raised an eyebrow curiously. “A dungeon? Why would there be something like that near here. The worst we’ve got is the Lizardmen fort to the east. And I’ll discourage you from going there.”

  “Understood. I was just curious.” I tried to think if there were any other items we needed, aside from a sword for Denise. “I don’t suppose you carry anything like a torch whose flame won’t be extinguished?”

  “You mean an illusion torch? Yeah, we’ve got a few of them. Won’t set anything on fire, since their own flame isn’t real, but if its just an easy light source you want, that’ll do it.”

  “And, anything that would help locate traps?”

  “You guys are serious about this adventure stuff, huh? Okay, we’ve got something here for that too.” He went behind the counter and dug around in one of his boxes, pulling out a torch that instantly seemed to catch fire, and then set it on the counter casually. The next thing he pulled out of the box looked like a pair of glasses.

  “Why, Denise, they look just your size.” I grinned towards her, having no intention to wear the glasses myself.

  “Shouldn’t… fine… I get it. Payback, I warn you. Payback.” She glared to me as she nodded to Finley. “We’ll take it.”

  “Alright.. the total for all of this is… 4500 gild.”

  “Huh, cheaper than I expected.” I reached into my pouch and pulled out several gold coins, counting them till I had enough.

  “We give a discount to graduates, to encourage repeat business.”

  “I understand, and I’ll definitely be back if I return to Coatin.” I placed the coins on the counter, and he handed me the purchased items. Of course, I immediately gave the glasses to Denise, and she grudgingly accepted them.

  “Payback, I tell you.”

  “Hey, I won the race earlier.”

  “I already gave you your prize for that!”

  “Well, consider this as a bonus prize.” I smiled to her innocently, and we made our way out of the store. Since it was just one scroll, I decided to use Speed Reading on the teleport spell. “Don’t worry, there’s a good chance I’m going to pass out in… wow, only thirty seconds? So yeah, you can get even with me then.”

  “Thirty seconds.. pass out? Wait, you’re not.. oh no you don’t!” She quickly turned around and lunged at me, trying to grab the book from my hand. Of course, I let her. It wasn’t the book I was working on. “Hah! Now let’s see you do it.”

  I waited a couple seconds, dramatically sighing, and then held up my other hand with the scroll in it. “Wrong one.” I said with a chuckle, and her victorious smile faded just as the timer ended.

  Teleport has been added to your Spell List

  “Huh.. not even a headache that time? Well, that’s a pleasant change!” I grinned widely, tucking the scroll into my bag, and then held out my hand for the book. “Can I have that back now?”

  “Nope! Not until we get the sword. I want to make sure you don’t do anything stupid that makes you pass out on me.” She held the book away from me, just out of my reach.

  “You really want to learn how to use a sword, huh?”

  “We don’t know what we’ll be fighting in there, and you don’t have enough magic yet to deal with groups quickly. So one of us has to be able to fight in close range without going feral.”

  “Fine, fine, I understand. Well, let’s at least get you something well made. I can adjust it if I need to.”

  She nodded happily at my agreement, and we went off towards the advanced gear section from earlier. Of course, we got a few more looks now, because some people -- I assume just NPCs -- recognized the staff I was carrying. When we made it back to the stores, we found an armory and looked around. There were so many weapons that I had no idea what I was even looking for. So, I did what any self-respecting customer with too much money does. I asked the owner.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Yes, is there anything you need help with?” Tall, dark, and muscled glared at me, obviously thinking I was in the wrong store by my attire.

  “My friend does. We’re looking to get her a sword. Something that goes well with her speed.”

  He looked over to Denise, and nodded. Apparently she was much more the type that was welcomed here than I was. “I’d suggest a scimitar, looking at her. It’s a good sword for speed, and doesn’t take the strength of the bigger ones.”

  Denise smiled to him, “Thank you, sir. Do you have any good examples?”

  “I.. uh… yeah, I’ve got a couple. They’re pricey, but the finest swords I have.” He opened a drawer behind the counter, and pulled out a thin curved sword, set next to its sheath. The design was intricate, and I expected that I could probably enhance it with my magic by adjusting its properties.

  “It looks great!” Denise said, her smile growing wider, and she cast a sideways glance to me, not even asking the price before her next words came out. “We’ll take it.”