Chương 74: Limitless Path Chapter Seventy-Four

The two trekked back to Jaq's regular haunt, Beth eager to get the contents of the box identified. If it was something of particular value, she wouldn't mind a little shopping spree, though it would be a little tedious to buy a bunch of supplies. Maybe Jaq had some kind of package deal or something that included all the necessities. She approached the counter as usual, finding the shop empty, also as per usual.

She quickly took the box out of her pouch as she got up to the front, setting it down with a slight frown. Maybe she should ask if Jaq had some kind of magic pouch-cleaning supplies as well. As she pondered what a magic pouch-cleaner would cost, the left-hand door slid open, whisper-quiet as always, and Jaq emerged.

"You always wear that beret?" she asked before he could say anything.

"Not that it should matter any, but yes," he replied coolly.

"Even to sleep?" He narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on the counter, not responding as he waited for her to continue. She gestured at the box she had set down, and he glanced down at it before slightly raising an eyebrow.

"While I'm impressed you managed to make a box that actually closes, I thought you were trying to be a smith," he said laconically.

"I didn't make the damn box, I found it," she huffed back, reaching over to flick the clasp and tap the lid open. Jaq's other eyebrow climbed up on having a glance at the contents, muttering something under his breath that she didn't quite catch before saying, "Always remember to put coins in your screen when you find them."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be more attentive," she replied with a slight eyeroll, snatching the dozen copper and two silver out and into her status screen with a wave of her hand.

"Well, let's see what this is first," Jaq continued, ignoring her snippy attitude as he grabbed the dagger and lifted it out of the box, holding it up between them by the hilt and point.

"It appears to be made of truesilver."

"And that's different than mana silver?" she asked in response.

"Very much so," he replied as he continued to inspect the dagger.

"Mana silver is similar to regular silver infused with extra mana. It is a somewhat soft metal that is particularly valuable as an inlay used to engrave runes into other materials, as mana silver has an extremely high mana throughput and compatibility with a huge number of elements.

"Truesilver, on the other hand," he continued, "is a material that is much denser and more resilient than regular or mana silver. It is much harder to work with as well, proving nearly as tough as tungsten to shape. For its added difficulty, it is remarkably strong, to the point that it would take me, an Ascended, a bit of effort to snap this low rank dagger. It also is particularly potent against monsters of all types, the undead especially so, as truesilver naturally disrupts the mana flow of corrupt beings."

"So, I hit a jackpot," Beth exclaimed in response, practically drooling at the potential profit.

"Yes and no," Jaq responded.

"While the material is valuable, the weapon itself is low-rank, and of a style that not many would use. I don't specialize in knives and hidden weapons like John does, but this seems too small for a knife-fighting weapon, while too large and heavy to be properly used by most as a thrown weapon."

"Come on Jaq," Beth snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest, "quit yanking me around and just give me the bad news."

"I'll give you two golds for the dagger," he replied stoically, unperturbed by her rough attitude.

"Deal!" she immediately exclaimed, holding her right hand out, palm up. Jaq slid the dagger under the counter in front of him before slapping two gold coins into her hand which instantly disappeared into her status screen.

"Now this, on the other hand, is far more interesting," he continued, picking up the gemstone from the box. Holding it up to the light, he turned it slowly back and forth as he explained, "This is a Star Sapphire, and a fairly large one for a new world on the Path. These gems are extremely valuable to any kind of crafter, particularly enchanters and alchemists. I won't bore you with the details of it all, but it is a potent reagent that can elevate a crafted item to the next level if used properly."

"Keep going, I'm seeing bigger and bigger dollar signs," Beth replied as she stared at the glimmering blue jewel with an ever-widening grin.

"I will not, in fact, 'keep going'," he replied shortly.

"This is a very valuable jewel of a good size, seeming to have already been expertly cut by a skilled jeweler. If you were willing to sell it, I would buy it for fifteen golds."

"What do you mean, 'if you were willing to sell'?" Beth asked in reply, snapping out of her avaricious daze as her eyes narrowed.

"What I mean is that this is a valuable crafting material for any profession, as I have already stated," he replied tersely, frowning slightly.

"If I am not grossly mistaken, you are attempting to learn how to smith from the dwarf, meaning you have a profession."

"Well, what the hell would I do with it?" Beth asked, once again crossing her arms as she gave him a narrowed-eyed glare.

"Use it, I would think," he replied tartly.

"As I said, it is rather valuable for crafting." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I think I'd rather have the gold. I can always get more materials," she replied, still squinting at him.

"You can always get more gold," he shot back, frowning slightly as he put the gem on the counter.

"Yeah, yeah. Fifteen coins, please," she answered, once again holding her hand out. With a deep sigh, Jaq made the gem disappear and three little stacks of five gold coins appear in her hand simultaneously.

"Anything else?" he asked, adjusting his beret slightly.

"Yeah, I need camping supplies, or whatever you'd call them. Stuff to cook with, water cleaning stuff, lighters, rope, and so on. Got that kind of thing?"

"Of course," he replied calmly.

"I have anything you might need, but I would recommend one of two different pre-built kits that I have. There are various supplies in the cabinets and on the shelves, and you could build your own kit from scratch, but better you buy one of the pre-made ones and supplement it."

"Alright then, show me what you've got," Beth answered with a nod.

"Let me get one of each kit from the back, unless the wolf wants her own?" he queried in response.

"I think Blood's fine using my stuff, might just have to get a couple extra things for her," Beth answered with a slight handwave. Jaq grunted in response as he turned and walked through the center door, Beth narrowing her eyes at his choice. She was almost positive the doors were basically meaningless to him, and he was just doing it to mess with her. She stretched a little, feeling and hearing her back pop, before leaning her left hip against the counter and looking around the shop.

Blood was sauntering about, sniffing and eyeing various items seemingly at random, and otherwise the place was as dead as ever. Thankfully, it was only a minute later that Jaq was back, carrying two backpacks with him. He set them down on the counter in front of her, and she noticed that they appeared to be made of two different materials. The pack on the left was much bulkier, made of a thick, tough hide that was expertly stitched together with a heavy thread.

The pack on the right was thinner, but the material still appeared to be rather resilient, and the stitching, though fine, was clearly of a very high quality.

"The pack on your left is the worst one," Jaq explained.

"Just to start out with that. It's bulkier than the other because there's almost no space expansion or item compression involved in that set. The pack on your right, while looking more delicate, is both tougher and better. It has space expansion in a similar manner to your belt pouch, plus several of the items included in the set compress when put in the pack, allowing for extra room."

"Mind showing me what's inside?" she asked, eyeing the pack a little skeptically. They were nice, but they just looked like quality hiking backpacks, nothing too fancy or magical.

"Of course, seeing is believing," he replied stoically.

"I will open the bulkier pack, but let me do the unpacking and packing, since I actually know how to make it all fit." Saying so, he opened the bulky bag and pulled several items out. There was what appeared to be a pair of canteens, though Beth was just guessing; they looked like they could hold water.

There were several coils of rope, two small rectangular glass prisms that she thought were lanterns, several pots and pans, a small bundle of cloth that contained utensils, and a few other small bits that she hadn't the faintest clue as to their purpose.

"Canteens, rope, light boxes, cooking pots, utensils, two lighters, water tester, water purifying stone, box of salt and spices, and a little container with an expanded interior that contains cooking oil," he explained as he pointed out the items.

"There is also a thin mattress that compresses that I do not want to have to stuff back inside, two blankets, a small tent, and several pitons and anchors useful for climbing or securing materials around a campsite."

"This seems pretty complete, other than maybe an axe and a first aid kit," Beth replied as she eyed everything laid out on the counter.

"A basic pack like this wouldn't include a first aid kit, the creator assuming that that would be a separate purchase of a would-be adventurer," he explained.

"As to an axe or hatchet, again, something that you would secure yourself. There are several such that I have for sale, as well as shovels and other simple tools, if you think them necessary for whatever it is you are getting up to."

"And how much does something like this run?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked over all the goods he had pulled out of the pack.

"This camping set is three golds," he replied calmly, beginning to repack everything quickly and carefully as Beth choked slightly.

"Not cheap, is it?" she asked.

"Buy yourself your own portable house bound to a spatial item," he replied calmly.

"They start no lower than ten mithril coins for the absolute most basic, tiniest ones. I think Baelvyr has one worth about thirty orichalcum coins." This time she really did choke, pounding her own chest with the back of her gauntlet to clear her throat.

"The hell even is a mithril coin?"

"One hundred coppers to a silver, one hundred silvers to a gold, one hundred golds to a platinum, one hundred platina to a diamond, one hundred diamonds to one mithril, one mithril to an orichalcum, one hundred orichalcum to an adamantine" he replied calmly, finishing packing the camping set with and adroit tug of the outer straps.

"Baelvyr has a portable house worth more than three hundred thousand diamond coins?!" Beth shouted incredulously.

"He's one of the oldest and most powerful people in this galaxy," Jaq replied simply.

"You shouldn't necessarily use very senior CRA members as your benchmark for anything, wealth included."

"Right, I think maybe I need to lie down for a while," she responded faintly.

"Not in my shop," Jaq snapped with a small frown.

"Right, anyway," she continued, slapping her cheeks lightly before turning to the second pack, "what's this?"

"A much better version of what I just showed you," he answered simply.

"As you can see, the pack is both thinner and smaller. However, the space inside is over twice as large as the other pack, and the tools included in this variant, while much the same, are of higher quality." Jaq pulled several of the items out to show, including the several cords of rope, which were thinner than the rope in the other pack, but Jaq insisted were much stronger. After putting the items back in the bag, he tied it off with his usual deftness before laying it back flat and looking at Beth.

"How much?" she asked with a sigh.

"Ten golds," he replied calmly.

"Holy shit," Beth replied, looking at the pack like it was a live snake about to bite her.

"Might I also add," Jaq continued, "that even the tent is of much higher quality, with a larger internal space when setup."

"You're starting to sway me a little," Beth replied, looking less put out.

"And that it assembles itself," he finished with a smirk.

"Sold!" Beth cried, slapping ten gold coins down on the counter. Jaq made them, as well as the inferior camping set, disappear.

"As to its durability," he said as she tried the pack on, "as long as you are not fighting anything over level fifty yet, it shouldn't even scratch. Beyond level fifty, I would recommend asking Rissa about a durability enchant if you intend to wear it while fighting."

"And are there any tools or first aid supplies in this one?" Beth asked as she flexed her shoulders and twisted her torso, testing how much the pack encumbered her movements.

"What you bought contains a small medical supply kit, though it doesn't come with any potions, just simple salves and supplies for tending wounds such as needle and thread," he answered.

"Beyond that, you can buy potions or other supplies from me. If you want tools, there are axes, shovels, hatchets, and a host of small hand tools on the fourth shelf." Beth walked over to the indicated shelf, looking at the tools before grabbing a hand axe with a decent sized blade and a thick, heavy, flat head on the reverse, likely useful for hammering in stakes or some such.

She looked at the shovels and picks before deciding on a shovel with a fairly standard shaped head and a clever handle that telescoped down to nothing but was both strong and easy to use.

"Thirty silvers," Jaq said once she brought them over to the counter. She took the coins out and placed them on the counter before he made them disappear in a blink.

"Hey, last thing," she said.

"Can I get those better boots now?"

"Certainly," he replied amicably, walking down the counter a short way and lifting the armored pair of boots she had liked the best from the last time they had discussed from the shelving under the countertop.

"They are still one gold for the pair."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you," she grumbled, slapping a gold coin down on the counter and grabbing the boots.

"At least I'm still up for the day."

"I'm so immensely happy for you," he replied entirely deadpan.

"Yeah, thanks," she huffed, turning and signaling to Blood before heading out of the commissary.

"See ya later, Jaq."