Chương 72: Chapter 73: Shopping trip

We finally make it to the magic shop. There's a statue of an elephant outside, covered in gems and filigree. It's only about three feet tall, but the workmanship is impressive. You can make out the little wrinkles in the elephant's legs, and can see the maker's mark on the jewelry wrapped around its neck and over its head like a gem encrusted helmet.

"Elephants are lucky," Vincent tells me.

"It's kind of like those cats with the waving paws you used to see in Chinese restaurants." Then he leads me inside. The shop has three whole walls of book shelves. Some of the books are repeated, multiple copies of the same spell. They're arranged from common to rare. I'm guessing anything very rare or rarer is either held in the back or is just too pricey to be able to keep in stock. Or too pricey to risk having them stolen.

Though my spellcraft skill tells me that there are spells laid over the store, layered on top of one another, so I dismiss the idea of stealing a book before it even fully forms. I know I took levels in rogue, but I don't want to get caught stealing. I don't know what the penalty will be, but I'm guessing it won't be a penalty I'll enjoy paying. I step up to the common shelf and start looking through the spells there. I think I want an ice spike spell.

Something to cast when Fire Bolt doesn't work, like against the lava lords. I doubt anything is going to be immune to both fire and ice, so I figure if I have one of each, I'll be covered. There's the common spell Ice Spike, but there's also the uncommon spell Ice Spear.

"What's the difference, really?" I ask Vincent. I know he's had both spells.

"Mostly the damage," Vincent says.

"Ice Spear does a lot more. It costs a bit more mana, but not so much as it really makes a difference. Not for me, anyway. But I regenerate two mana per second during combat, so keep that in mind." His blood must give him mana regeneration, the same as mine gives me stamina regeneration. By rights, I should be looking to buy a new ability, not a new spell. I only want a new spell so that I qualify for spellsword. Though I'm not sure why that matters; I don't think I'm going to be changing my class any time soon.

Not unless there is a version of ranger that's even better. I like my class. But I also like unlocking new classes. Hence the need for the spell.

"You can always buy the lower level one, level it up, and then improve it with magic crystals," he says.

"That's what I did." I do still have a lot of magic crystals. But if I buy the higher level version of the spell, I get to do more damage faster. And I like that. But will I? Or will I just have the higher cost and do the same amount of damage, since both spells will start at level one? If I improve with magic crystals, the spell has to already be maxed out. So I have to get it to level five before I can do it. I think I'm going to go that way.

I don't want the more expensive version if it isn't going to do more damage. There's also the price to think about. According to the shop keeper, the common spell is only 10 gold, while the uncommon version is 50. I can afford either one, but now I want to see what abilities I can get a hold of, so I want to save my money. I buy the Ice Spike spell.

I then have plenty of time to read the book and learn the spell while Vincent goes through the rare spells, picking out books and asking the shop keeper about the spells and their effects. And something about synergy that I don't really pay attention to. Ice Spike. Common spell 1/5. MP cost: 5. Casting time: 1 second. Cooldown: 5 seconds. Shoot a spike of ice at an enemy that deals 100% of your presence in damage. I can see why it doesn't matter for Vincent to keep casting Ice Spear.

If it costs twice as much, he'll recharge that much mana in the cooldown time, allowing him to effectively cast the spell for free, forever. It doesn't do much damage now, but I'm sure it will increase as it levels up. When I finish reading about the spell and learning it for myself, Vincent is haggling with the shop keeper. He seems ready to spend an exorbitant amount of money, and is asking for a discount.

The shop keeper doesn't seem to want to give him any discount at all, but also seems to be bending on the idea. After all, Vincent is offering to spend a lot of money. The rare spells are each two platinum pieces, and he's buying four of them. I don't think he's going to get them for seven platinum, but maybe for seven and fifty gold. I leave him to haggle and head down the road to a store that sells ability books.

There's another elephant outside the door, and the statue is smooth right on top of the head, as if people have pet it as they walked by. Inside, a gorgeous green skinned woman is shelving books. She's got broad shoulders, enough of a chest to be able to do things boobily if she so desires, and a severely angled face. I won't say that her resting expression is cruel, but it does kind of look like she's judging me and finding me wanting.

That said, as soon as she sees me, that expression disappears, replaced by a smile that is warm and welcoming.

"Welcome adventurer," she says. She stares at me for a second, and I realize that she's identifying me. I kind of wish there was a way to turn that off, to make it so that people couldn't see what my class and level were.

"Are you looking for ranger abilities?"

"I wouldn't mind abilities that help my bow do more damage," I say.

"But really, I want something that helps me in melee." She nods.

"Your kind does tend to switch between the two," she says, walking over to one of the shelves of books.

"Do you have Sniper Shot?" I nod.

"How about Power Shot?"

"What does Power Shot do?"

"It empowers your bow, making the arrow you fire far larger and more powerful. It's like shooting a javelin rather than an arrow. It then returns to normal size after it hits, guaranteeing bleed." All my shots guarantee bleed. I don't know if that's because of the arrows or because of my ranger abilities. That reminds me, I should have some kind of perk for reaching level thirty. I wonder what it is. I should check. But not right now.

"That sounds good," I say.

"But what do you have for the sword?"

"Disarming Strike, Killing Blow, Chop, and Mighty Blow."

"How much are those?"

"Killing Blow and Mighty Blow are both rare abilities," she says.

"So two platinum each. Chop is common, and Disarming Strike is uncommon. Power Shot is rare, as well." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Prices seem to be the same here as they were in the magic shop. So I can't afford everything. I have effectively four platinum and forty five gold. What's most important to me?

"Does Killing Blow deliver what it promises?"

"It has a small chance of instantly killing whatever it damages, yes," she says.

"But it won't kill with every strike. It's a hefty cost in stamina, though, so be warned." Even a small chance of insta-killing something is impressive and worth it. A lot of the creatures that I fight are big bags of hit points. Having a chance, even just one percent, of wiping them out with a single hit is too good to pass up.

"I'll take Power Shot, Killing Blow, Disarming Strike, and Chop," I say.

"How much will that set me back?"

"Four platinum and sixty," she says. I don't have that much. I have four platinum and forty five gold, but I doubt she'll go that low.

"Can you go any lower than that?" She shakes her head.

"I'm not one for haggling," she says.

"These books are expensive to make, and my profit margin is not large."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Maybe just a symbolic discount?"

"Like what?" she asks.

"How about four platinum and forty five?" I ask.

"You are spending a lot of money," she says.

"But I'm afraid I can't do that. I can't afford to give you even a common book for free."

"Make me a counter offer, then," I say.

"Four platinum and sixty," she says, giving me another warm smile.

"Four and fifty five?" I offer. I don't know where I'm going to get the extra fifteen gold. I may have to forgo Chop. Which is too bad; that one felt like a real utility ability. I bet I can use it often. She shakes her head.

"Sixty."

"Fifty eight?" She sighs. My haggling goes up.

"Fine," she says.

"But don't tell anyone that I agreed to that. Those two gold will end up costing me a lot more if people think they can haggle with me." Now we run into the problem. I have two platinum, two hundred and forty two gold, and three hundred and twenty nine silver. Four platinum and forty five gold. Plus a bunch of copper. Thankfully, Vincent wanders in to see what I'm up to.

"Can you spot me thirteen gold?" I ask him. The elf girl gives me a dirty look. We made a deal, and I can't even honor it. This is not good. But Vincent nods and reaches into his bag, pulling out the gold.

"No problem," he says.

"I'll pay you back," I promise. He shrugs.

"Whatever," he says. I pay the shop keeper and take the books. Then Vincent and I go looking for a weapons shop. I need to sell my fifty swords so I can pay him back. And so I can have a little bit of money should I need it. I manage to get another level of haggling as I sell the swords for two gold a piece to the local weapon shop, giving them a nice stock of orc swords that they can sell for five gold a piece and make a tidy profit on.

He wanted to give me one gold and fifty silver for them, but I talked him up to two. Now I have eighty seven gold, and don't have the debt hanging between me and my friend. We decide to go to a tavern for a meal and to sit and read our new books, learning our new spells and abilities. The girls meet us there, having also purchased some new books to read.

"Ooh, Chop," El says, looking over my shoulder.

"That's a good one. I use that one a lot. I just got one called Paralyzing Strike. I'm hoping to chain it together with a couple of other abilities to really do some massive damage."

"Does Chop do a lot of damage?" I ask. She shrugs. I guess I'll see when I read the book. The book has some notes on how to hold a weapon, a bit of a treatise on the importance of attacks, and diagrams for how to do the attack. I go through them, and I can feel myself absorbing the information. My food arrives about the same time the ability settles into place. Chop. Common ability 1/5. Stamina cost: 15. Casting time: instant. Cooldown: 2 seconds. Attack with a melee weapon and deal 110% damage.

I can see why she uses it often. Every two seconds is pretty fast, and it doesn't cost all that much stamina. I check the others to see how much they cost. Power Shot. Rare ability 1/20. Stamina cost: 50. Casting time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Fire a single arrow that deals 400% maximum damage to a single target. Causes bleed. Killing Blow. Rare ability 1/20. Stamina cost: 200. Casting time: instant. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Strike an opponent for 100% maximum damage.

2% chance that target will instantly be reduced to 0 hit points. Does not work on all enemies. Disarming Strike. Uncommon ability 1/10. Stamina cost: 50. Casting time: 2 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Strike an opponent for 50% damage, with a high chance of making them drop whatever they are holding. Those definitely give me more options in combat, and more things to spend my stamina on.

None of them are area of effect abilities, but they will still make me much more of a terror in combat, both at range and up close. I just need to practice them and get their levels up.

"That's why we should've kept the fortress," I say. Everyone looks at me.

"We would've had somewhere to practice all our new spells and abilities. To level them up."

"Why not just practice them in combat?" El asks.

"You know, practical experience. That comes with actual experience, too."

"I suppose," I say.

"I just like the option of practicing without having to worry about something killing me. I like to get used to my abilities before I use them in combat."

"Well, stop it," El says.

"You'll be using Chop all the time. It'll level up fast."

"There's nothing wrong with training," Ash says.

"But El's right; practical experience is better. You can get levels that way, too."

"Do you guys ever think that we're a bit too obsessed with levels?" I ask.

"I mean, we're on the high end of average. Do we really need to keep grinding?"

"Something you'd rather be doing?" Gigi asks, giving me a sly look that makes my lower regions tingle a little bit.

"Yeah, I like grinding," El says, giggling at her own innuendo.

"Well, I mean, shouldn't we be just exploring the world? Trying to see what we can see? Finding things and exploring them?"

"We are finding things," Ash says.

"We're just killing them when we find them."

"But is that all there is to life?" I ask.

"I'm about to get another talent," Gigi says.

"Next time I level. I want that."

"What are you going to get?" El asks her.

"I was thinking about getting something that made my skin harder to pierce."

"I was looking at that one," Gigi agrees.

"But there's also Stalwart. It doubles your stamina. I'm thinking about getting that." I wouldn't know what to do with three thousand stamina. They're getting off topic.

"I'm just saying we should maybe plan on exploring rather than killing everything," I say.

"You want to delve another dungeon?" Ash asks me.

"Or find your dragon friend?" That seems to be constantly on her mind. I think she wants to get killed and releveled a few times. I understand the appeal, but at the same time, I think it's a bad idea. Especially now. It was one thing when Wrax could kill me with a single blow. There's a little bit of amnesia from dying, so it isn't quite as traumatic. But if he takes several hits to kill me now, I'm going to end up remembering that, the feeling of being torn apart. And probably eaten. I don't want that memory.

And Ash has more or less the same number of hit points that I do, so the memory would be there for her too. The only one who probably wouldn't remember being killed at this point is Vincent, and I'm not sure how he feels about the whole situation.

"We could find Wrax," I say.

"Or we could explore Elmspire and see the sights for a while."

"Ew, why?" El asks.

"It's a tree. It looks like trees. It's really big. But it's just like any other city. If we don't need to be here, why would we want to be?"

"Staying in town is going to guarantee us interaction with the guilds," Vincent points out.

"Already they're sniffing around us. I bet if we weren't all together, they'd come to our table and start pitching their various guilds right now." I look around the room, and I spot three of the people who clearly want to talk to us. They're in different parts of the room, but they're clearly adventurers and they're staring at us hungrily. Not like they want to kill us or eat us, but like they want us for something. Makes sense that they want us for their guilds. Five of us is a pretty formidable force.

And apparently intimidating enough that they aren't going to come join us. We are kind of crowded around this table. Anyone who wanted to join us would need someone to move. Or someone to leave. Maybe that's what they're waiting for.