Eight 5.7b: Gearing Up

Fala pulled the knife from our Hoarder’s Pocket and let it fall to the ground, hiding it among the stalks of grass.

And also: Let’s try a blinked spear through the skull to see if that works.

Yuki acknowledged the thought and energized the Blink emulator. At the same time, I withdrew the worst of the new spears—the one from Bashruuta.

‘Side, back, top?’ Yuki asked.

Top, I replied, and the world shifted. I was above the charging bishkawi, my spear shattering as if burst from the inside.

Splinters exploded in every direction, including at me; I felt them sting my face. It took a moment for the bishkawi to realize what had happened, so I used the time to land and regain my footing. Touching my face showed me that I wasn’t bleeding. Neither of us had taken any damage from the attack.

The alpha’s defenses were better than any other creature I’d ever fought. He turned once more, and Fala seized the opening to slash the back of his knee with a Cat’s Claw spell and her obsidian knife. That worked, sending the bishkawi stumbling to the ground.

I pulled her magic steel dagger from the pocket and jumped at our quarry. Stabbing the bishkawi felt like stabbing a heavy bag full of clay, though.

So, I pulled water from the Hoarder’s Pocket and sent it into the beast’s mouth. When he shut it quicky, I directed it into his nostrils instead and from there down to his lungs. I only got about a cup into him before a force resisted the water’s entry.

Somehow, he managed to stand again, and he came roaring, his arms swinging like logs. The air whistled with their passage. I was faster, though, and danced around him, which gave Fala the opportunity to slash his other knee. He didn’t go down, but she’d crippled his mobility.

Our quarry knew the obsidian knife was the true danger, but he couldn’t ignore the threat I posed. I pumped him full of Sparks and harassed him with the magic dagger. Cuts accumulated along his body until the anger on his face transformed into fear.

The bishkawi attempted to withdraw then, but with Fala and me both harrying him, he didn’t stand a chance. All we needed was time, and that we had in plenty—the ridiculous capacities for qi and mana powering our spells long past what the bishkawi could handle.

Our quarry eventually bled out about a hundred yards from where the fight had begun. He stumbled to the ground in a heap, his breathing ragged until Fala slit his throat.

“That wasn’t a very efficient fight,” I muttered, standing over the body. “Weapons under Level 5 won’t work on the silvered and dark, even when magic is involved.”

‘You need better gear,’ Fala said primly. Her pride in the obsidian knife coming through clearly. The magic dagger also belonged to her, as did Bearbane, though the spear needed a new haft.

As for me, I’d gotten my bow and stilettos to Level 4 over the years, but couldn’t justify the four thousand silverlight it’d take to push them up to dawn. For silvered, they’d each need an additional sixty thousand silverlight.

We can’t afford it, I thought. The best we can do for now is aim for dawn.

‘After I reach Level 14,’ Fala sent. ‘We’ll need to slow our own growth then anyway. Our rise to silvered was unnaturally fast, and we risk damaging our souls if we reach the next milestone too quickly.’

I grabbed the obsidian knife out of the air and crouched next to the ape’s body, so that I could cut out his core. It was only the size of a baby’s fist, but heavy. Fala was going to reach her goal in no time if we kept feeding her kills like this one.

I suppose I could work toward a silvered weapon over time, I thought.

‘Or should it be armor instead?’ Yuki asked. ‘Your current set is torn apart.’

I shook my head. No, a weapon to get through the World Spirit’s insistence that the silvered and dark are inviolate. Plus, I have the Blink emulator to keep me safe. A set of mundane or dawn-level armor should be fine.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to think about your choices more?’ Yuki asked. ‘Maybe have a long internal discussion in which you weigh the merits of each option—waffling between them and agonizing over the decision. Hmm?’

I’m not that bad, am I?

Yuki snickered. ‘You used to be. Oh, how our Little Pot has grown.’

Fala laughed alongside them. ‘You really were like that, wriggling like a worm from indecision.’

While the two of them joked it up, I was busy dressing the alpha. The horn, teeth, heart, and liver were worth good money. Go ahead and laugh, I thought. Some of us have work to do.

After a moment of quiet, Fala sent, ‘All this talk of armor has me thinking I should get a set for myself.’

But you have your stone, I replied. Aren’t you working to energize it so that’s difficult to break through?

‘I am,’ she sent, ‘but a human hunter wears armor. And I’m human again.’

All right then, I thought. Whatever you want.

###

Later, we walked toward the stand of trees where the alpha had hidden. It made for a good picnic spot. Sure, field rules were in effect, but it didn’t mean we couldn’t also enjoy ourselves.

Once Fala absorbed the bishkawi alpha’s light, she climbed the tallest of the nearby pine trees and sat among its limbs. It was an obviously strange thing to do, and when I asked her about it, she replied, “He hated high-up places.”

In the meantime, I fed the Deer God, who chowed down on the meal I’d purchased back in Huwata. And about half an hour later, Fala rejoined us on the ground, so that she could finally eat too.

I had to hold her back from pouring nutritious sap into the soup, though. The flavors just wouldn’t mix, so she settled on a second course of jerky and sap, which the Deer God also seemed to enjoy.

“See,” I told him. “Having a body isn’t so bad.”

He just rolled his eyes at me and kept eating.

###

Entering Albei presented no problem. With my spirit map disguised, I didn’t trigger the gate’s alarms, and the land soldiers waved us through after an uneventful customs inspection and entry-fee payment. No one recognized me either, since I was immersed in the land.

I’m inside the city, I thought to Mumu, but it was Tegen who picked up.

‘We have watchers on us. I propose we don’t meet until it’s time to leave for Voorhei,’ he sent. ‘Ready noon?’

I’ll say yes for now, but that may change.

‘Don’t forget to replace your armor,’ he reminded me.

I’ll do that, I replied.

‘Good,’ Tegen sent. ‘Just let us know when you’re ready, and the team will match your timing.’

I sent my thanks and signed off.

Silasenei had said that she’d find me once I was in Albei, so I didn’t need to worry about where or when we’d meet. I instead went straight to the Albeitatsoot, the main thoroughfare that circled the city, and followed it toward the Geista district where Goost and Pleik’s shop was located. Along the way, I detoured through an alley to let Fala emerge unseen from her figurine.

My Fala constantly searched for ways to refine her craft. It was there in the alley that she first used dyed water to disguise her most striking feature, her blue eyes.

I simply had to kiss her, which was followed by more kissing until the Deer God nudged us toward moving on. Anyway, I headed out first, with Fala lagging after as if we were strangers. She did a great job pretending to be a wide-eyed visitor to the city.

Not much later, we walked separately through the doors of Goost and Pleik’s.

The shop clustered their wares based on interests: swords here, polearms there, chain hauberks and brigandine adjacent to each other, and so on. And it had become more and more “modern” in its approach over the years, going so far as to include small, cheap products near the sales desk as impulse buys. I’d bought more than one whetstone that way.

A clerk approached Fala to ask if she needed assistance. My beloved was still dressed in the finery we’d plundered from the Pyramid of Despair, so she was clearly a woman of means. I had no doubt she’d be well cared for. The two of them walked over to the wooden mannequins displaying the shop’s various armors.

As for me, I was left alone until I approached the counter for custom orders and enchantments at the back of the store. That got a raised eyebrow from the older man stationed there, which might’ve been fair given the rough state of my clothing but was also misguided since I had a pouch full of antaak in my pack.

“How can I help the honored gentleman?” he asked.

‘At least he’s polite,’ Yuki commented.

A truth, but it’ll only take him so far, I thought. True politeness requires respect.

Then I said aloud, “I need to see your enchanted spear staves, ones less than a saqilm long.”

The clerk’s other brow climbed to join the first. “Yes, of course, we have several ready to be raised in rank. Do you have a preference for the material?”

“Ash,” I said.

There must’ve been someone listening in the backroom, because it only took a moment for a young girl to bring out two ash staves: one six-feet long and the other seven, with the shorter one a good bit thicker than the longer.

The clerk gestured toward them. “If neither of these will fit the spearhead, we can prepare another to the exact width required.”

“Excuse me,” I said to the young girl and took the seven-foot-long stave from her.

The weight felt good in my hands, including when I tested the stave with a few thrusts and swings. The length should be fine too, for both Fala and me. Then, I double-checked to make sure it wasn’t warped anywhere, which it wasn’t.

“How much?” I asked the clerk.

“For the wood? Only an eltaak. The rest depends on the level you’d like the stave to reach.”

“I’ll give you fifteen antaak for an all-silverlight stave at Level 4, and I’ll do the fitting and assembly myself.”

The clerk frowned. “Honored customer, that’s almost two antaak less than the proper price. Surely, you don’t mean to insult the craftsmanship of our artisans. Perhaps we can adjust the ratio of silverlight to darklight…”

At that point, the young girl withdrew. The time to barter had come, and she recognized the dance beginning to unfold between merchant and customer. I made sure to thank her for her service before she left.

###

I ended up paying more than fifteen antaak for the stave but won a key concession that the light would come from bear kills. That way, it would hopefully enhance the spearhead’s anti-bear properties. We’d only know for sure, though, once the stave was brought to Level 5.

Fingers crossed and all that, I thought.

‘It means we’ll have to hunt bears for a while,’ Yuki observed.

I shrugged. We’ll keep an eye out. It’s worth it to help solidify the enchantment. That’s a win-win.

‘Except for the bears,’ Yuki said.

Well, yeah.

‘We could’ve paid for an entirely new spear,’ Yuki pointed out. ‘Raising the individual components is a lot more expensive than raising a whole weapon.’

Playing devil’s advocate, are we? You know as well as I do… I’d never dishonor Inleio’s memory by tossing aside the spear his family worked so hard to create. Besides, I thought, a smile slipping out. Assuming it’s a good fit, the spear might be even stronger than before. How cool would that be?

Yuki chuckled. ‘Very cool.’

I only had to wait an hour for the stave to be ready, the time necessary for the clerk to send for and apply the light. So, I wandered between the displays and chatted with Yuki, the two of us watching with amusement the chaos Fala was causing.

It seemed she was trying on every set of armor in the store’s possession. A second clerk had come out to assist the first, and it was looking like a third might be required soon. The show was more than worth the price of admission.

###

In the end, I got my stave and Fala purchased a set of Level 4 brigandine. The exterior cloth was a deep, forest green; the rivets attaching the steel plates underneath were painted an earthy brown. A steel cap covered in green cloth was included in the price, as were the adjustments to fit the armor.

The shop employed a Metal-Touched, so the work didn’t take as long you’d expect. By the time, Fala and I finished eating lunch at a nearby café, separately unfortunately, the shop sent a messenger to let her know the armor was ready to be picked up.

It was so cute—she practically ran to the store and came back out wearing the armor proudly.

Happy? I asked.

She gave me a nod in passing. ‘It’ll do.’

I don’t think she realized how widely she was smiling.

###

Afterward, Fala and I went wandered among the trees of the Geista district’s park—once again separately unfortunately. Not that long ago, a water sculpture of Ikiira had appeared here; it’d been the first time Ikfael expressed her true feelings to me. The difference between now and then was surreal.

At one point, a stranger slipped into position beside me. A quick check with my Status camera showed it was Silasenei.

Without preamble, she passed me a backpack and said, “Here’s your delivery. I apologize for the delay in getting it you, Honored Merchant, but the recent storm has made the retrieval of your goods more challenging than it should’ve been. Everything is here, though, and I would be grateful if you check the manifest and confirm the contents.”

Fala came to a stop ahead of us to admire the green tips of the pine boughs around her. Meanwhile, I played along with Silasenei’s act and knelt to open the pack’s buckles.

The first thing I saw was an invoice for some incredibly expensive spices, the kind only available via ocean transport: white pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, dried citrus peel, and so on. Gods, it was a treasure trove, apparently locked up tight in a waterproof chest at the bottom of the pack.

Also inside in the pack was a record book detailing the transactions of a merchant trading in exotic spices, as well as the relevant travel and identity documents. Were they forged? Or were they “appropriated” from a real person? I couldn’t tell even with all my talents, which was the point, I supposed.

“Thank you,” I said. “Everything appears to be here.”

Silasenei then handed over a scroll case and money pouch. “And here is the map requested and the left-over funds.” She waited while I examined the contents of both.

I saw a mixture of gold and silver in the pouch. The enclosed receipt said it was about eight antaak’s worth of coins. And inside the scroll case was a map, with the route to the Paramount Empire of Conjuncted Maltra highlighted.

Prominent was the empire’s capitol, Oostha Hakei, a grand city located along a stretch of land between two large lakes. And to the south, colored in an ink subtly different than the rest was the town of Gorwenta and a spot called the Mount of Eagles.

Silasenei quirked her head, the movement asking a question.

I nodded and said, “I have received what is needed.”

“So, my part is done, and I wish you good fortune, Honored Merchant.” Silasenei then left, the satisfaction of a job well done apparent in her walk.

‘She’s very good at this,’ Fala sent. ‘The only reason I can tell it’s her is because of your awareness of her presence.’

I nodded, distracted by the pack’s contents. Payment was made in advance, I thought.

‘Oh?’

Not acknowledged earlier were three silver spheres along with a set of slim booklets, each describing the runes and patterns associated their respective spells. A note had read, “Destroy these when you’re done learning from them.”

‘Then let’s get going,’ Fala sent.

I nodded and sent a message to Mumu, We’re all done here.

‘A moment,’ she replied. ‘Actually, start heading toward the Scathta district; we’ve found an apartment to rent.’

‘A place for the loot from Old Baxteiyel,’ Yuki clarified.

A wave of relief went through both Fala and me at the same time. Our Hoarder’s Pocket was full of expensive furniture, and given Silasenei instructions, we’d thought we’d be stuck with it for the duration of the mission.

‘Okay, the deal is sealed,’ Mumu sent, coming back online. I got the impression she was walking through an empty, dusty space. ‘The last occupant died during the Long Dark, and the landlord is anxious to fill the apartment again.’

‘A neglectful landlord,’ Tegen added, joining the conversation. ‘That’s not something one usually admires, but in this case, it’s useful.’

Is the place private? I asked.

‘Private enough for our needs,’ Mumu sent, then she realized my intention for asking and requested a private line from Yuki before saying, ‘You can learn your spells here if you wish. No one will disturb you.’