Chương 133: B2 Chapter 25: Fear

The thunderstorm lasted until noon the following day. Our expedition was abandoned for the entirety of the day. Even practising lightning shaping outdoors was off the chart because of it. I spent the whole morning sketching out designs for a new sword. Of course, nothing was wrong with the one I was using, but in all honesty, the noble-class sabre worked more like a magic wand than a blade. If I really needed to channel essence into it to form a sword ray, why would I not just shoot a wind blade instead?

I knew the comparison was not astute, as there were situations where a blade worked better than a spell, but even so, it did not make it a lie that my blade was a sharp wand. If I required something capable of exerting a more robust force, I would fancy myself a staff. Although it was notoriously hard to get hold of good material for one, I did not believe it would be too difficult to substitute the noble-class blade. Either way, I did not need a blade that ran on essence, but something empowered by my aura.

That sounded easy enough for any good swordsmith to make, and it was. Considering my unjaded hands at smithing, this would be better served crafted by Mum, but Father denied me any help I might need. I would have expected something like this from Mum, not him. The only explanation I received was something along the lines of: only I know what my ideal sword would be like. The task would have been much easier if I actually knew what my ideal sword was. So I spent the whole morning on a few designs.

All of them looked good to me. I would be fine with any of them. But if you asked me which among them was my ideal, I certainly could not give an answer. Well, the very first blade I made for myself was quite a small replica of Ouroboros, so that said something. Thus, the rumination and reiteration carried on. I could only hope that there was an underlying reason for this task. Once the storm ceased and the sun peeked through the disappearing clouds, all my teammates, minus Lauren, came knocking at our door.

No, they were not here to call me for today's dive into the chasms, but for something much more mundane. Sightseeing. Feasting in a restaurant. And, of course, shopping for expedition supplies and some equipment. They wanted to know if I would like to join. On any other day, I might have shown some interest, but I was still wrestling with the idea of a perfect sword. The tournament was barely a week away, and despite all the flattering words I received, I wanted to keep myself sharp with training.

Unfortunately, my mum had other plans. She practically threw me out of the house, as though my making friends had more importance than anything.

"Well, so what do you need to buy?" I asked the moment we strolled into the street.

"Arrows," Valeria said. She wore a yellow evening dress today, sharply contrasting with her hunter attire. Even her expression was more laid-back, too.

"A lot of arrows. As for Marcus..." We all eyed the noble youth, draped in something simpler today as well, though he still exuded the air of wealth.

"I'm looking to see if I could get something like those boots of yours," he said with much reservation.

"Seeing how effective they are," I said, "you would be a fool not to get a pair."

"Right? I told them the same thing," Marcus bobbed his head at Tellus and Valeria.

"You do whatever you want, Richman," the brown-haired girl snickered.

"I'm not rich, not any more than you two are." Marcus was annoyed.

"You sure? My father won't even toss me a few gold chips to buy those fancy shoes noble ladies wear at a ball, much less whatever a pair of levitation boots costs."

"That's called tough love, sweetheart," Marcus chortled, trying to pat her shoulder, but Valeria's glare faltered his palm in mid-air.

"Call me sweetheart one more time, and I'll set your golden hair on fire." Marcus could only laugh drily, while I decided to distance myself a little from Valeria to stand on the other side of Tellus. A sleeveless vest draped over his burly form, displaying his toned arms. Their circumference was almost twice my arms. Valeria noted that and smiled sweetly at me.

"So how much did they cost you?" Tellus asked, pointing at my boots.

"I don't know," I said.

"I didn't pay Mum for the materials. The essence cells, however, cost me about fifty gold Leafs."

"Materials?" Marcus cocked his head.

"Did you hire an artisan to make them for you? Well, they do look custom-made. That's got to cost a ton."

"No, I did something much better than hiring someone," I grinned.

"I made them myself." All three of my new friends faltered in their walk and shot me a look.

"You made them?" Valeria raised an eyebrow.

"Like, made them from scratch, engraving the runes into place, or handing your scribbled drawing to someone capable?" I clicked my tongue.

"The first kind." Although I did hand them to Mum for the leatherwork.

"You're an artisan too?" Tellus asked, flabbergasted.

"Yeah."

"Someone who could make fancy stuff like levitation boots?" Valeria asked for confirmation. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Would you need to see my guild crest to believe it?" I waited for them to deny, but she actually held out her palm towards me. Suppressing a sigh, I accessed my blessed stone to bring it out into the light. The archer took it off my palm for a more thorough inspection.

"Seriously? I thought all my equipment would give it away."

"No, they make you look like a young master who lives in a huge mansion on a mountain." My nose scrunched up.

"I believe Marcus and even Tellus wear more equipment than I do, and theirs are even shinier."

"But I bet mine is only worth a fraction of what you have there," Tellus said.

"Some of my pieces are even from my elder brother."

"So you're a Journeyman Artisan," Valeria accepted, and returned my token.

"Does that mean you could craft more of those boots, right?" Marcus asked, sounding excited.

"I sure can. And I already have, for a friend of mine."

"Then can you make me a pair?" the noble boy asked, his eyes gleaming with childlike fervour. There was so much shine in his eyes that I felt bad about what I had to say here, especially when my pocket had been tight for a while.

"I can," I acquiesced, "if you wait for a month." I'd be busy for a couple of weeks until the competition ended. There was no room to work on extra commissions. Well, one might think that working on another pair of levitation boots would even be helpful for my preparation for the crafting competition. That would have been true for anyone else, but for me, there was nothing challenging in crafting them anymore.

"A month," Marcus mumbled.

"I'd be taking the admission test then." He shook his head.

"Let's see if I can get something as good as your boots at a reasonable price first. At least, you can help me pick a good pair." We carried on down the path, Valeria leading the way. She did not, to my surprise, go to a branch of Anvil, Dragonforge, or even the local Artisan Guild at all, but to a much smaller workshop-cum-store in a more vacant alleyway.

"If you want something at a reasonable price, you don't go to leading business owners," she explained.

"I have been getting my arrows from here since we got here, and let me tell you, they are at least a fifth lower in price than anyone else." The shop was messy, to say the least. From well-crafted swords, spears, lances, and other tools to all kinds of junk scattered everywhere. Added to that, a large hearth and a working station made the shop too cramped to hold all four of us. It was clearly not a store where you go to view many pieces of equipment and choose one to your liking.

You go there either for something tailor-made or mass-produced items, like arrows. Valeria got her arrows without much hassle and handled the payment, but the shop did not have anything similar to levitation boots, so Marcus had to move on to a more renowned emporium. First, we went to Anvil, which was probably the most affluent in things like levitation boots and all kinds of military-grade fabricators. They had a whole variety of levitation equipment.

However, when it came to boots, the pricing was a little too exorbitant. Their lowest competitive pair was priced at a mere eighty gold Leafs. And they were built as fine as they could be for the price. Unfortunately, the essence cells inside them were so little that it was impractical to use them in a battle. As for its speed, at its fullest, it could barely keep up to the second acceleration of my levitation boots. They clearly did not market them for anyone looking to use them against demons.

However, none of the other models even came close to the price-to-performance ratio I'd prefer. A pair akin to mine was priced at a whole five hundred gold Leafs. Well, they did come with two years of free repairs, if that meant anything. In moments like this, I felt grateful to be gifted with enchantment-type essence. Thankfully, Marcus was no fool to pay such an exorbitant fee.

He did have the budget for one of the lower-priced models, but I dissuaded him, despite any sweet talk the pretty attendant swung his way. This branch of Anvil did not even seem to take commissions, so we moved on to Dragonforge, which was more renowned for their nobility and craftsmanship.

"Solas help me, I might have to loot a treasury to afford a pair of shoes," Marcus said with a sigh. I believed there had not been many times he had needed to take wealth into consideration. But wealthy as his family might have been, five hundred gold Leafs was still a large sum for him.

"You can probably get something at a little lower rate in Dragonforge," Valeria said.

"You won't find them on their shelves, but usually commissioning gets it done in a week or two."

"Or you can look for someone reliable in the Artisan Guild," I added, remembering the whole fiasco with Paximus' spear.

"Honestly, if you can wait a little longer, I can make you something better at half the price."

"Really?"

"I can give you the two years of free repairing, too," I chuckled, "but you have to find where I live."

"That sounded a better deal than I ever heard any."

"Can I commission something too?" Valeria asked, coming forward to bat her eyelashes weirdly. A no almost escaped my lips, as her eyes met mine. I looked away, wondering what to say, when my eyes darted to something... Something pulled at my senses. Fractal Sight flickered in my eyes as I tracked a man standing near a fruit stall.

"Arilyn? Gosh, just tell me if you don't want to craft anything for me." My gaze returned to her.

"What? Sorry," I licked my lips, still eyeing the man. There was something off about his aura. Should I probe more?

"What is it?" Valeria asked, her eyes following mine to the stranger. A knit appeared on her brows. She sniffed.

"There's something off about him." He was not the tallest of men, and it did not help that he was not standing straight. His face was pale, a little pinkish, eyes dark, albeit unfocused. But when I opened Fractal Sight to probe more, the man immediately turned and stared right at me, a strange darkness glowing within them.

"What you looking at, brat?" his voice was coarse. Shell-shocked, it took me a moment to regain calmness. I swiftly averted my gaze.

"Nothing," stammering that, I moved away, pulling whichever arms I could find.

"What just happened?" Marcus asked.

"Arilyn?" Tellus clasped my shoulder. It was only after that I pushed aside the anxiety and pulled myself together. There was no need to be nervous. After all, the last time it happened, I was merely a child, completely powerless, but now that was not the case.

"Sorry," I said, inhaling deeply.

"I think that man was a Half-living."

"Half-living? You mean—" Valeria faltered, turning her head to look in the direction.

"I did notice something off, but how can you tell?"

"I couldn't confirm," I wetted my lips and gathered my wits.

"My eyes, they can sense essence… what I sense from him is almost the same as I sensed from a demon." Midnight essence. But it was not nearly as perverse, and closer to the Half-living I encountered a few winters ago. The most worrying part was how I was completely unable to pierce the shroud covering his essence seed. Granted, I did not push it, but that still said something. The man was not like that freshly turned Half-living that had tried to devour my essence back then.

He was much more powerful, and audacious enough to wander under direct sun.

"Should we go confront him?" Marcus asked. I would be lying if I said a part of me did not want to do exactly that. Considering the ill-conceived fear that crawled up my heart—the fear I had not felt since the night Mum rescued me from the nameless inn in the town of Hal'evar—a foolish part of me wanted to confront the fear.

"No, it's better to go to the enforcers," Tellus said, cutting through my thoughts.

"And even the guild."

"Right," Valeria agreed.

"Even if we can deal with a Half-living, we'll only get berated for being reckless." =============== A/N: So, I added a chapter early in book one, since there was little drive for Arilyn to work harder, and it was a Half-living almost killing him, trying to devour his essence. A half-living is a state between living and undead. Most time, thier inner essence system had been changed into something similar to a vampiric demon, and they need a constant source of essence to keep living. Sorry for your inconvenience.