Chương 17: A Matter of a Bright Soul

-Utterly untrustworthy, more likely to betray and try to kill us than pay us, and really disturbed by everything you were saying, - Deuce /said to her as she walked out, a contract sealed by a handshake, not on paper.

"If we can kill all the ghouls and that ghoul lord, she'd better have second thoughts about challenging your magic!" Tiya said cheerfully, fully confident in her son's powers. That dumb witch couldn't even look at them properly! Also, she got the name of a better place to stay from the woman, although doubtless they'd be spies. That was fine, what were they going to do, find out Deuce wasn't a newborn?

"Well, is there anything you think we should buy before heading out there?" she asked him seriously. -Normally I'd go for holy water, but I wouldn't trust the local priestess of Eryl farther than I could throw her, so we'd have to make it all ourselves. - Tiya frowned as she rode Clopper towards the indicated section of town a couple blocks away.

"It's that effective?" she asked the air, pretending to mumble to herself while people were watching. -As a material component in spells that use acid damage or are clouds, it's extremely effective against the undead, while being harmless to the living around, - he /told her calmly.

"Ohhh, nice!" she nodded understanding.

"Don't need to worry about Fireballs blowing off in my face then!" -And can still use them for area wipes. If you want to go browsing, we could use some very fine leather, some large folds of plain cloth, some very high quality wood, and there are some oils and weird alchemical ingredients that I could use and won't be able to make myself. There's a lot of things we have to make and need materials for, no reason not to pick up some of them if you like. -"So, buy whatever I want?" she grinned.

-I wouldn't be spending the reward money early, but long-term, money is not an issue. Do what you like, Mother. - Tiya just grinned. More money than she'd ever earned before, hidden in her Deeppocketed purse, and given free rein to spend it how she wished. Plus potentially another big fight tonight!

Shopping was a much different experience with Deuce able to Assay on her behalf. She could pick the absolute best apple, get the finest carrots for Clopper, ignore the street vendors slinging slop, and buy dumplings from someone not trying to pass off rat meat. Walking into a store revealed a bunch of numbers that indicated Quality Level, a nebulous assessment of value and quality of make and style indicating how suitable something was for its own job and for making into magical items.

Even food had ratings, as food could be made magical, or used as components in magic. The differences amounted to a quick crash course in how to assess things, as even unseen flaws were reflected in the QL, and so she would pass them up, even if they looked gaudy or flashy. The fact that some simpler and plainer stuff was often of higher QL than gaudy stuff next to it made of inferior materials or with the artistic value of a tree stump also started to become more apparent to her.

The shops here were in business to service a small town or the occasional desperate traveler needing something while passing through. Industry in the area was basically farms and farm supplies, some mining and hunting. There weren't a lot of luxury items, of course, and an Assay didn't care about rarity or collectability driving up the price. Magic didn't care if it was scarce, only that it could do the job it was made for.

By the time she arrived at the hostel she'd been directed to, she at least had several large bolts of cloth, which Deuce told her would be stashed away and used for Tapestry spells in the future. Some cuts of leather had been okay, but the leatherworker was greedy and overcharging her for them, so she just walked away from him and his stinking barrels of tanning acid, perfectly happy to not pay him for things.

The hostel was more like a set of five cottages with an attached stable, the fifth one being where meals were served and the renters could gather to eat, or they could take the meal back to their own small huts. The cottages weren't large, but better than rooms, private, and would have been harder to enter if there weren't floorboards that could be opened from a hidden crawlspace below, and the locks opened from the outside with mere Cantrips.

Yes, the woman in charge of them was a Witch name Messila, had been alerted to expect her, and was proper and courteous, her bent hulk of a manservant ready to handle Clopper respectfully. Tiya wasn't going to leave anything valuable in the room, and horses tended to be smarter and more aware than people thought, once you spoke with them… which Deuce could and did. If they tried anything with him, Clopper was going to tell Deuce, and that would be that. Besides, she trusted her own instincts taking care of horses.

That had been one of her jobs when not in command on the field, taking care of the company's horses. She got along with horses well and had been riding them since she was a child, so that wasn't a bad job at all for her, and making sure they were trained up for combat was an artform all of its own. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Deuce was nursing away while they chatted next.

It was very funny, his mental voice so different from his physical one, but that was what working for the gods was all about!

"How are we going to approach this?" she asked seriously.

"Assuming we don't want to reveal your magic openly if they come in a rush…" -We can assume word has already gotten around that you are here and why you are. So, they are expecting us to go raging into the graveyard, where they can either surround us at their leisure or simply ignore us if we don't want to go crawling around some ghoul tunnels. Hence the need for some holy water. - Tiya glanced at the hunks of almost-clear glass she'd picked up for him.

"Which you are going to make yourself?" she asked him. -Of course, it's a very basic process, alchemically speaking. We only need two right now, but once we have some dimensional storage so you can carry a supply of them, we'll make extras you can toss around to your heart's content. -"Why only two?" she wondered aloud. -One for the spell I'm going to use, and one for backup. The containers are somewhat fragile, so carrying them is awkward if you have to fight. -"Will this be a new spell?" she asked excitedly.

-Do you know what a Cloudkill spell is? - he /asked her patiently.

"Big cloud of yellow-green poisonous vapors that'll kill soldiers with one breath?" she asked with a twist of her lips. -That's the one. Except we're going to be using it as Empowered Holy Water instead. More a Ravage than a poison, - he /explained soothingly. A cloud of Holy Water wasn't going to do anything to her, she figured.

"A Ravage?" she repeated blankly. -Poison is not something most Good folk will tolerate or use, but it is a common weapon among Neutrals and Evil people in one form or another. When it comes time to fight, normal rules are often thrown out the window in pursuit of survival or victory. -A Ravage is not a poison, in the same way Holy Water is not acid.

It reacts to the Sin of a person's Aura, and so will have almost no effect on Good folk exposed to it, on Neutrals only if Zealotry is applied to it, and will hit Evil folk right through any poison resistance or immunities as it strikes against the Sin in their souls. -Thus, Heaven does have its own type of poisons, but they only work against the Sinful. Making supplies of those is something else that I have to do.

- None of the alchemists, tinkers, or apothecaries had supplies Deuce had cared to use, which said something about this town and its wealth. Of course, the Legions had not been all that much better, but because cheating the Legion was a good way to lose your liver, the quality of equipment they received was at least consistent, if not high.

"You're going to make a full alchemical lab? That should be interesting to watch!" she nodded at him.

"How are you doing?" -Almost full! - he /said happily. -You'll be helping out as I do it, Mother. Alchemy is a very broad set of knowledge and skills, which finds uses in almost every other discipline. It complements skills of battle and skills of peace, whatever you tend to focus on. -It's like cooking, only it can kill people or help them, as you want it to do!

- She wasn't a great or fancy cook, able to prepare some of the meals that the priestesses and higher officers liked to enjoy, but she could prepare excellent farm food, wild game, and foraged things, it was all a part of being able to survive Northern winters… and summers too, come to think of it. But if all that Alchemy was was cooking with different ingredients, she could definitely do that! Deuce was just kind of picky about his components and tools…

They didn't go that night, of course. That would be dumb. Why give up the advantage of daylight, which ghouls loathed? No, no, work on Investing up Bull so that it opened its first Slot, Soul-bound, and take a Level in Soul Warrior to feed it. Her One A Day was far from being full, but the feeling of Essence unlocking itself inside her like a sunny furnace was difficult to suppress.

She had never been able to feel the burning power of Rage that was legendary among her people, but this, this was like the exact opposite, enthusiasm made manifest, percolating in her soul and wanting to get up and around and get things done! Of course, that meant taking Soul Feats so she could actually USE this power inside her. The first Level, the only thing she did is Bind her Axe so she could fill it with power, and then pour it down her hands and into Bull.

The new Runes that Deuce had traced into the steel lit up, and a bright and happy Orange light ignite over the sharpened edge of the weapon, rippling like a constrained and ready flame. Then, three Feats: a Soul Feat from Class, a Soul Feat from Primos Bonus, and the Deep Feat purchased with Karma. And a Mastery. Don't forget the Mastery, which was Extra Soul/1, giving her two more points of Soul Essence!

The Soul Feats were Soul-Fortified Body, which granted her Health equal to twice the number of Soul Feats she had; Tough Soul, which granted her extra Soak equal to her Soul Essence; and Akashic Soul, a crazy useful Feat which allowed her to take 2 actual Skill Ranks per Essence invested in it in of any Skill that she desired. Ranks, conjuring knowledge out of nowhere, not a bonus! Getting a bonus was another Soul Feat!...

Technically, Akashic Soul was only supposed to be used once a day, keeping the same skill, as Soul Invested into Soul Feats remained static until Natural Renewal. Except there was a Soul Feat that tied them to a Fighter's ability to Inspire for new Feats, and in doing so instantly move all your Soul Essence around. Taking it would mean she could totally pull her Soul Essence out, then invest it in a new Akashic link!

This was highly abusive because she could use it to do something like take Local Lore, and suddenly know the history of wherever she was at, all the important people, all the main families, what they did, and so forth and so on, then discard it as unneeded extras when she left. So cheaty! Or, you know, pick up two Ranks in Alchemy to help Deuce out with his mixing!