I spent the rest of the hour perusing the wares on the market. I still was looking for Skills, or anything really, that might help me in the struggles to come. What I was looking for exactly I couldn't say. A Skill to help me help Cogar defeating the White Beast? I could not even imagine something to help me there.

So I went back to the basics. I had something to protect myself in [Stonehide]. I had something to cause chaos and harm in [a Murder of Crows]. I was lacking a movement and escape tool and I was lacking in offense. I had [Ghost Strike] lying around, and I knew that it was straightforward something that would improve my weapon attacks. I had studied my Skillbook in my Demesne of course, prior to deciding what to sell and what to keep. [Ghost Strike] was on the list of things I wanted to learn. When activated, an ethereal strike would mimic my real strike and impact a few moments later, although with much less force. And it would not be straight physical damage, but a ghostly force emitting a hellish cold. It was a way for me to surprise experienced swordsmen, who might parry my blows, just to get hit by the follow-up and it was a way to hurt foes that had a lot of armor or resistance to cuts and impacts. But it was not strong. It was no attack to finish a fight. It was an annoying ability to disorient an enemy and chip away at them. I needed a true offensive Skill. And those seemed to be awfully popular and thus expensive.

I had found a Skill on the table of a trader, that was in my budget even without my profits to come. [Airwalk]. A single step on air for a fixed cost of Mana. A single step. But the range of movement that little trick would make possible was mind-boggling. Especially if you considered raising your Core Skills to higher levels and added the utility of a 25-foot sentient chain with [Fetter]. I bought it outright for 150 Shards, tucking the book away into my bag before anyone could buy it away under my nose. It was one of the cheapest Skills I had seen all day and it was a steal. The seller was a man with a human torso and a snake body, so maybe he just did not understand the concept and significance of steps, in the air or not.

After an hour, I returned to Belen, who rustled happily under his rags as he saw me coming. His artifacts disappeared under them as well and he waddled away. "Follow me! Follow me! I have a buyer, yes. I can take you there."

Of course, I was cautious. Of course, I had put on the mask before I even left the table of Bones. Of course, I had a bad feeling about all of this. And the playing card of the Jester burned a hole in my pocket, of course. But again, confronted with a tidal wave of the weird and inexplicable, what was there to do but to ride it as best as you could? Make judgment calls as you went along? It is not as if I had a plan coming into this.

Belen led me up the stairs, away from the platforms in the center, and to a door near the roof. It was not decorated nor had a sign. It was just a plain door. Belen stopped a couple of feet away and turned to me.

"I will have to come with you. There are acquaintances behind that door, that do not know how to speak. I will speak for them if you agree."

Why was my heart beating so fast? "Sure, go ahead. I trust you."

I tried to sound casual, but I was tense inside. I did not like that one bit. And I should not. Who did I expect to be interested in buying [Magmabite] and [Whisperer of Worms]? A goddess of song and dance? No, these would be the monstrous or mad. I was kind of glad that Belen would be coming with me, even if he had checked a few boxes on my 'be-careful-of' list. One of those had been the assumed acquaintance to the monstrous and mad, as chance would have it.

The door swung open and I followed the moving mountain of rags to a dark room that was completely empty and standard, except for a curtain that parted the room in two halves. I saw a shadow moving behind that curtain, even in the darkness, and heard squelching and rustling sounds. Then a human hand came through a hole in the curtain, wobbling out. It was bloated and sickly green and purple and things moved under the skin. It looked like many somethings crammed into a sack of skin, made to look human. Or once being human. I shuddered and tried really hard to keep my composure, but I could not control the dry retching. Ice cold shivers ran down my spine while I tried to cover my mouth with my hand. I was busy with that, so I did not see how it happened, but when I looked again, there was a solid, glistening thread of silk or something in the air. One end touching the bloated hand and one end reaching somewhere under the rags of Belen.

And the silk thread vibrated. Heavily. It made a thrumming sound while it did that. Belen hummed.

"It wants to remain anonymous and does not want to know your name either."

"Erm...fine with me. Convey my greetings nonetheless, please. I have come to sell the Skills [Magmabite] and [Whisperer of Worms]."

"It is aware." Belen said while the thread vibrated in the translation of my words. "It is prepared to pay Shards for it, as it believes to be custom for this place."

"That would be great." I said. "Let us talk about the price, then." The sooner, the better.

A few moments of silence followed, only filled by the strange noises of whatever was behind that curtain and the humming of the thread. I got the impression that there was a discussion between the two beings.

"You will get 300 Shards for the [Magmabite] and 400 Shards for the [Whisperer of Worms]. It is the best I could do. And more than you would get anywhere else, I assure you. But it has a difficult time with numbers. It deals in sense of gain and loss. And loss is not pleasurable for it." Belen finally said sighing.

Honestly, I had taken 50 just to get out of that fucking place.

"Deal." I said.

Belen moved closer to the curtain and a series of squelching noises later held out a little box to me. I could once again see the strange, thin, and hairy limbs of Belen, as I grabbed the box before he could hide them under his cloth again. I opened it and saw a lot of small, glowy dice. Shards of Essence. I knew it to be 700, as I absorbed them and Lily informed me of that number.

"Convey my thanks, please." After a few more vibrations, the silk thread snapped and Belen shuffled out of the room, me right on his heels. I felt eyes, so many eyes, following my hurried walk outside. I lost the urge to scratch and clean myself only when the door shut behind us. I tried to look unfazed, but it must have been written on me, plain to see.

"Apologies, Raven. It is difficult. Are you satisfied with the transaction?"

Thinking of the stack of Shards and what I could do with it I nodded, although it took some time for me to find my composure again. "Yeah. I am. Sorry. That was great."

"I am glad to hear that."

We walked back, towards a staircase to the market, when Belen suddenly stopped again, turning in my way to stop me.

"I apologize again, Raven. I fear to have misjudged my ability to flawlessly navigate human communication. Please understand, that I try to be helpful to you."

"Uh, I got that. Thanks. You have been very helpful. No worries." I scratched my head awkwardly.

"You have brought something before me that I very much long to see again. See completed. The story of your sword. I would not wish to have squandered my only chance to see it again."

He was right in a way. I was suspicious of him. The whole situation was weird and strange, dangerous even. What was I to say to that?

"I am a man of my word, Belen. I know that I can find out more about its history. I will bring it to you when I have more of a story to tell."

A deep sigh came from the depths of the rags. "I am a Storysmith, Raven. And a curator of artifacts. I get excited. And I fear that I have been too forward with a human as young as you if I judge you and your voice correctly. Getting to know a story is a personal and intimate thing. How can you tell it without trusting me? How can you trust me, when I have failed in communicating my goodwill? Can I make it up to you? Can I give you a gift of friendship and self-interest as well?"

His words were nice, but everything he said just made me that much more careful. I understood his problem intellectually, but my heart was what it was.

"Take this Skill." He continued pleading. "[Hidden Sheath]. It will allow you to store one weapon in an extradimensional space. It is a Skill that will allow you to bring your Sword here. Not just the image of it, but the real item. All I want in exchange is your forgiveness for every fault in inter-human communication I made today and the promise to show me your real sword one day."

"I can't...that is too much." I sputtered

"Please." He said with emphasis. "Take it. Please show a little kindness to a stupid old Storysmith."

I nodded then and took the small Skillbook off his hands. Whatever motives he might have, his actions had been nothing but cordial to me.

"It will be my pleasure, Belen. And again, you have nothing to apologize for. You went over and beyond everything I expected of you."

"That is a relief." And his voice even sounded like that. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with before I have to man my shop again?"

"Actually yes. I was looking into buying defenses for my Demesne. Are you familiar with such things? Or can you refer me to a trustworthy shop?"

He thought for a moment. "There is something I can sell to you. But I do not have it here, I would have to get it first. It is called a Web of Lies. A rather delicate but powerful way to disorient attackers and lead them astray. It is most effective against enemies who lack a certain amount of mental flexibility. I can also get you a Mastiff of Dread. It is a body a wisp can assume to defend your territory. Again, a tool mostly useful for driving visitors off. Marginally suited for fighting, but far from the best defense. But it would deter random visitors or chance encounters. Combine the two and you have a lot of dangers covered. The not-so-brilliant and the cautious and fearful."

"That sounds really good. What would I need to pay for both?"

"How about 700 Shards?" He snickered.

I laughed. He laughed. We both stopped laughing. Silence stretched between us. I sighed.

"Fine."