With three pieces worn: Never, the Bracelet has triple attribute bonus and reset time is 10 minutes. Weapon damage is no longer reduced.
With four pieces worn: Never, the Bracelet has quadruple attribute bonus and reset time is 2 minutes.
With all five pieces worn: Never, the Bracelet gives a +20 to Brawn and a +10 to both Quickness and Luck. Weapon damage is doubled.
These bonuses are in addition to the other bonuses given by Never pieces worn.
If more than two pieces of Never are worn, all pieces are considered Stupendous in rating, and will be colored yellow. If all five pieces are worn, they are considered Relics and colored gold.
“That does explain many things,” I said as I handed the bracelet back to the man. I was more than a little surprised that Cornalic had decided to even let me examine each one.
“I am from the land of Oppetar. Have you heard of it, friend Leo?” he asked as he fastened the bracelet back on his wrist.
“No. I’m not familiar with… uhhh, geography,” I admitted.
“It is on the other side of Ohlavar. Wonderful place, with cities even grander than Arnicoal. There are many powerful adventurers there, and the type of dungeons that make our last exploration seem like a summer day’s picnic. My life quest is to acquire all the pieces of Never, and when I heard that Barron Yinnia was offering a great deal of money for the other pieces, I decided to make the long journey here. It took me a good ten months of travel, most of it by boat, and I am not one for the sea.”
“You are going to try and buy it from him?” I asked, then I saw a human woman approach our table, and I nodded to the half-orc.
“Late lunch today good sirs? What can I bring you?” she asked.
“I will have the steak, rare if you please, with the potatoes,” Cornalic said as he smiled at the woman.
“Same with me,” I said as I handed her my menu. She left with a nod, and I waited for the man to reply.
“I thought to trade him for some things, just as you did. When you told me of your plan after we defeated the skeleton queen, I wondered if you were looking for the ring also. This made my heart heavy, since we are the dearest of friends, and only one of us can possess it.” The muscular man patted his chest with his fingers over his heart and then glanced at the ceiling of the restaurant.
“How do you know I’m not looking for the ring? You said you followed me to the baron’s mansion. Did you overhear our conversation?” I asked. I hadn’t seen the half-orc inside of the mansion, but I imagined that the man knew how to conceal himself.
“Ha! You are smart, dearest friend Leo. I did hear your conversation, but I am wary of entering the baron’s property. Truth be told, the Lady Feeyaz Tyth scares my half-orc soul to its very core. Drow are not the type I want to cross.”
“Then how did you hear my—”
“Reach into the front pocket of your shirt, dear friend,” he interrupted.
I followed his instructions, and found a pearl hidden at the bottom of the pocket. I pulled it out with my fingers and held it in my hand so that my UI would tell me what it did.
Pearl of Far Hearing- Allows the paired Pearl of Far Listening to hear what the carrier of this pearl hears as long as they are no more than a mile apart.
“You put this in my pocket at breakfast, didn’t you?” I shook my head at the man, and then glared at his hand when he motioned for me to give it back.
“Dearest friend Leo, I was only concerned for your well being. Drow are dangerous creatures, and I thought I might have to perform a valiant rescue. You didn’t really understand what situation you were walking into. The baron is not a nice person, and the drow is a drow. They are drow. Scary.” The large man shivered.
“You wanted to know if I was going to get the ring you wanted, and then you would have taken it from me.” I set the pearl in the man’s hand, and then let out a sigh.
“In complete honesty, I did believe that you would be going after the ring, and the thought did cross my mind that it would be easier to take it from you than from a well-guarded mansion that was home to a dangerous drow wizard, but then I reconsidered. Our friendship is worth far more to me than some simple ring, and since you aren’t even looking for the ring, everything has worked out in our favor!”
“You would have taken the ring from me.” I set my eyes on his, and waited for the lie.
“No. I don’t steal from my friends.” His voice was a low growl, and I remembered the group of men he had just butchered. “I would have offered to trade you for it, but as I said before, you are my friend, and I won’t steal from you.”
“I understand why you gave me the staff then. You knew I wanted it to trade for something from Baron Yinnia, he had made it public that he had the ring. It was a good setup for me to make your job a lot easier.” I crossed my arms when I spoke and tried to judge the man’s face when he replied. He’d lied to me too many times, and I still thought that he was lying to me now.
“Dear Leo, you gave me these fine weapons.” The man gestured to the blades on his hips. “Even after I accidently stole from you. It meant a lot to me. I don’t have many friends, people tend to pre-judge half-orcs as brainless barbarians, and people also don’t like those with a skillset such as mine—”
“You mean the burglary and swindling?”
“Ha!” He slapped the table. “You have such an unfiltered view of the world, dearest Leo. It is quite refreshing.”
The waitress arrived with our food, and we didn’t speak again until she left. I never felt much hunger in the game, but the meal did look delicious, and the scent of the meat combined with the buttery potatoes to create a culinary symphony. I took a small bite of the steak and found it to be quite delicious.
“Good friends are hard to come by. They are even rarer than magical pieces of a long-lost equipment set. Why do you seek the glove? What does it do? It sounded as if the drow woman knew, but she was rather coy.” The green-skinned man took a bite of his steak after he spoke, and his brows wiggled over his yellow eyes.
“It is a relic, but I don’t know what it does,” I said.
“It is a Piece of Heliotrope,” he said around his bite of food.
“Huh? How did you know?”
The man stared at me a few moments while he chewed. He finally swallowed, and then gave me the wide half-orc smile that I had seen so many times before.
“You just told me, but even if you hadn’t, I understood what Lady Feeyaz was hinting at. She suspects what the item is, but perhaps she can’t tell for sure. When you expressed interest in it, she began to think it might be more valuable than she even thought.” He nodded as he spoke, as if he agreed with himself, and then he took another bite of food. “Why are you trying to collect them?” he asked while he chewed.
“It is my life’s quest,” I said through my frustration. Maybe it didn’t matter that the man knew about the glove, but I was still mad that he’d been able to figure it out so easily.
“Hmmm.” His eyes glittered, and he took another bite of his food. “You don’t seem to be hungry.”
“I’m okay.”
“You are a strange one, dearest friend Leo. Are you really an Old One?”
“What do you think?” I smirked at him.
“I think…” The man sat back in his chair smiled slowly. “That you are destined to get them all, and I would like to be a part of your quest.”
“I didn’t realize I had extended an invitation.”
“No need to do such a thing, dear friend!” the man gasped, and put his large hand on his chest. “I am happy to help. Let us start with this glove that you want. I shall help you get it, and you shall help me get my ring. Then our friendship will be sealed, and we shall plan on acquiring the second one for you. I actually know where one is.”
“You do?” I asked with more than a little surprise.
“Well, I have a good idea. The closest port city to Arnicoal is a city named Tylue. It is in the kingdom of Sanduport on the con
tinent of Rinniji. The king of Sanduport is a bit of a tyrant, and got his kingdom by some well executed assassinations of his older brothers. He’s boasted about his treasure collection for sometime; and when I passed through there six months ago I wondered if he had a piece of Never. I don’t believe that he does, but I am confident that he has one of the relics that you seek.”
“How far away is this city?” I asked. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Arnicoal when I guessed there was another relic under Cutno, but I also knew that I was going to have to gain more power, and probably assemble a group of hardy adventurers before I returned to fight the nightmare creature that spoke in my mind.
An ally that had all the set of Never would be a tremendous asset.
“Few weeks by ship.” The big man shrugged. “There is one leaving every other day, since Arnicoal is kind of a waypoint between Rinniji and Iria. We should be able to get out of here tomorrow morning, or the day after.”
“Tomorrow morning? I uhhh, I don’t know if I can leave that soon.” I thought about Artus, Gratia, and Allurie. I realized that I would eventually have to leave Arnicoal, but Gratia hadn’t even set up her gallery yet, and Allurie hadn’t gotten used to the new city. I had kind of wanted to explore another path in the Iron Crypt with either Wicum’s group, or maybe another party. I still felt new to the whole dungeon exploration system of Ohlavar Quest, and I didn’t think I was ready to move to another city yet.
Let alone one that was a two-week journey away.
New Quest: Journey with Cornalic of the Mind to the kingdom of Sanduport on the continent of Rinniji. The words flashed on my UI, and I inhaled sharply. It looked as if the next piece was in Sanduport. The quest update made me feel a bit better about leaving my friends, and it also eased some of my misgivings about the half-orc scoundrel.
“I suppose we don’t have to leave in such a hurry. It all depends on what plan we implement tonight.” The man tapped a large finger on his chin.
“Tonight?”
“Aye, dearest friend Leo. Baron Yinnia sent his muscle to kill you. In a few hours he’ll realize that you are stronger than he thought, and he’ll plan his next move. He’ll think that you want revenge, so he’ll hire more guards, and trained assassins to take care of you before you can strike at him. If it were just him, I’d say we kill the man, take his stuff, and then leave for Tylue at our leisure. However, Lady Feeyaz is a problem. I don’t quite know how to deal with her. I would think killing her would be the safest bet, but if what she told you was the truth, she escaped her own people to live on the surface. Drow are extremely powerful, and I would guess that she is even more powerful than an average one. I doubt either of us could kill her, and leaving her alive will mean that we need to be out of Arnicoal before she can have her revenge.”
“She isn’t like that. I doubt she had anything to do with this. It was all Baron Yinnia,” I said.
“Ahh, dearest friend Leo. This is why I love you so much. You are so pure of heart, and always look for the best in others. It is a noble quality, but I feel as if you might have misjudged the situation.”
“Okay, I know you heard our conversation. I’ll admit that she was hitting on me, and I was flirting back, and yes, she is breathtaking, and charming. I still don’t think she manipulated me. The woman seemed sincere when she spoke to me. She was willing to trade me for the glove; it was the baron that didn’t want the deal. If he is out of the way I think she would take the staff and crown for the glove and ring.”
“You would trade for the ring and give it to me?” Cornalic asked, and his yellow eyes opened a bit.
“Sure. You already have two other pieces, and you gave me the staff anyways.” I laughed and then let out a long sigh. “Cornalic, I still feel as if you are going to betray me down the line, but maybe it is my nature to look for the best in others. If you want my friendship, and you want to join me in my quest to find the other relics, I will go all in on that deal. I’ll work my ass off to make sure you get the rest of these Never pieces.”
“Hmmm,” the half-orc said as he looked at me. “I’m delighted to hear you say that, and I will have your back through times of Shadow and Light, dear Leo.”
“So what if we don’t kill Lady Feeyaz? I think she is innocent of trying to murder me.”
“My dear friend Leo, no offense meant, but I think you might not quite understand how powerful drow are.”
“I’m not offended, but I still don’t think she intends me harm.”
“Your friend Allure,” he said as he wiggled his fingers like he was casting magical energy, “is sweet, and kind, and probably amazingly skilled at cleaning or other chores.”
“Yes, she’s so fast that sometimes I can’t see when she does stuff, she can loot bodies in a few seconds, and she stacks their clothes up in neat little piles somehow. It is ridiculous.” I smiled as I recalled the time I had asked her to show me how she unpacked the dwarven armor in the forgotten city. I had tried to watch her, but the pretty elf girl had been too quick, even with my eyes on her.
“So, dear friend Leo, imagine Allurie, only instead of cleaning, she was as skilled with poisoned blade work. Instead of organizing her chores, she was studying the darkest forms of Body, Mind, and Shadow abilities. Imagine that instead of a cheerful and loving disposition, she was only concerned with furthering her own goals and agenda. Does that frighten you? It really should.”
“It is frightening, I will agree, but Lady Feeyaz isn’t like that. I felt her power, and her sexuality, but she was also lonely, and wanted my friendship.” I shook my head as I spoke, and recalled the time I had spent with the woman.
“Are you sure? Or is that what she wanted you to think?” the half-orc asked with a sour expression on his face.
“Okay, maybe I’m not the best judge of character, since I trusted you and you stole—”
“Borrowed on accident and then returned,” he corrected.
“Whatever, I’m saying that I trusted you then, I trust you now, and I don’t think she was the one that ordered the guards to kill me. It was Baron Yinnia, and I don’t think there will be a problem with her if we kill the gnome. He’s the one that didn’t want to trade, and then sent his men.”
“What if he didn’t? What if he is just her pawn and you are playing right into her game?”
“I was in the same room as them for almost two hours. It didn’t seem like he was her slave. They seemed like business partners, but he was the one ultimately in charge. Maybe drow are evil, but she left that world for the surface.”
“Dear Leo, let me ask you some serious questions, and please answer me honestly.”
“I will,” I said as I frowned.
“You said it was your life’s quest to find these relics?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“I won’t ask you why, but I will ask you if you are willing to kill to get each piece. Are you?”
“Uhhh… yes,” I said after a moment of consideration.
“Murder?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Would you murder someone to get one of these relics? I’m not judging, dear Leo, I would just like to know how committed you are to your quest.”
“I am committed. I would murder if I had to,” I said, and I reminded myself that this was only a game.
“What about Artus, his lovely wife, Gratia, and Allurie?”
“What about them? I don’t see how murdering them will get me a relic.”
“See, dear Leo, that is the thing. Your quest will become complicated because you have honor. I have very little of the quality, so you and I are a good fit.” The half-orc laughed and then took another bite of his steak.
“I don’t see how admitting to me you have no honor will help me trust you,” I said with a sigh.
“Cause I see in the dark spots that you miss. Let’s return to the conversation about the very scary, and apparently very sexy, drow woman. If you are right, then we kill Baron Yinnia, take the ring and the glove
for ourselves, and Lady Feeyaz doesn’t care in the slightest. That is one possibility. Do you agree?” he asked.
“I imagine she will be mad that her patron is dead,” I sighed.
“Where will she live? What will she do with herself? I don’t know such things, but let us assume she doesn’t care, and she seeks no revenge. Fine, you were right not to worry. This is one scenario.” The green-skinned man dabbed his mouth with his white cloth napkin, and then took a sip of his beer.
“I’m already guessing the other scenario,” I said heavily.
“Aye, friend Leo, the other scenario is that she has been playing you. The baron is a pawn that she controls. She might even have every single servant and guard under her magic. She could be ridiculously powerful, yet hides behind the visage of a partnership with the baron, even as she owns his soul and his thoughts. She could know what that glove is, and she ordered those men to come after you. When we take the ring and glove, she’ll chase us to the ends of Ohlavar to get them back. She will start with Artus, Urllia, Gratia, and Allurie. She’ll torture their minds and bodies to find a trace of us. If she gets nothing, or even if she gets something, she’ll probably go after Wicum, Mirea, and Bylem for more information. She’ll send agents to follow, and there will be a path of bodies a few steps behind us. Until they finally do catch us.”
“Ugh,” I said as I put my hand on my face. Cornalic’s words chilled my bones, and the thought of my friends dying because I was going after the relics did not sit well with me. I knew that this was just a game, and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a game, but they’d become a part of my life in the last few weeks.
I hadn’t even wanted to leave Arnicoal because I knew I would miss them. I was way too attached to the NPCs in Ohlavar Quest.
“The unfortunate part is that we do not know for sure, dearest Leo. The drow woman could be peaceful, and her interest in you could have just been purely romantic. She could have been sincere, and she might not mind the missing items, and would gladly trade you two pieces for the glove and ring, but the worse could also be true, and we are dealing with something entirely vindictive. The truth? It could lay somewhere in the middle, but since Lady Feeyaz is a drow, I am going to err on the side of caution, and advise that we end her when we end the baron. Or else we might regret it for the rest of our short lives.”
Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga Page 36
