Chapter 49

Sierra of Dreams (II)

Cain burned through his third cigarette within the span of ten minutes, his anxiousness continuing to rise. The three had long since fallen from their knees, lying flat on the ground, the only sign that they were alive the occasional twitch. Though he wanted to pull them out dozens of times by now, Te’gha repeatedly told him that they were fine and that he should be patient.

Furthermore, with the Shopkeeper in the distance keenly observing them and them alone, he retreated at the last minute every time. However, by now, he was beginning to get worried as all three had burned through their Mana reserves and their actual health was now falling instead. While Jamal and Emma might be fine for a while, Diya was worse than even him when it came to Vitality, which didn’t bode well for the young girl.

However, he didn’t want to wake up her alone as it might have an unintended effect on her ego. Sighing, he stood up and lit up another cigarette, pacing around the three nervously. When he sensed Diya’s breathing suddenly growing shallower, he decided he had enough but, before he could actually pull them out, a sheen of milky-white light covered them, rapidly recovering their Vitality, Stamina, and even Mana.

Somewhat shocked, Cain glanced to the side where he saw a humanoid figure draped in gray robes from head to toe, only a pair of yellowish eyes peering from the darkness of the hood, standing there, its arm extended, pointing at the trio.

“... t’would be a shame,” a raspy voice spoke out from under the hood, not even looking at Cain. “If ye’ pulled them out now.”

“Thanks,” Cain spoke softly.

“’tis a pleasure, Time Thief,” the hooded figure glanced at him, its yellow eyes curling up as though in a smile, prompting Cain to chuckle awkwardly. “But why is ye’ not ‘lone?”

“It’s lonely to be alone,” Cain replied, smiling faintly.

“Ah--’tis indeed. Would you be interested in this one’s wares, Time Thief?”

“Very much,” Cain nodded excitedly as, outside the floor boss and some very dangerous locations, the easiest way to get top-notch items on the floor was through the ‘man’ standing in front of him.

The problem, however, was the payment -- the Tower didn’t have any generic ‘currency’, so to say, and instead it was all up to bartering and trading. Though he was unwilling, he knew he’d have to part with some items -- mostly the one-time-use ones -- if he wanted to walk away with anything remotely good.

“How about I pull up what I’m willing to trade,” Cain said, knowing that the Shopkeeper didn’t particularly enjoy ‘bartering’ and that he usually offered relatively fair prices. “And you give me your best offer?”

“... very well,” the Shopkeeper nodded lightly. Cain quickly opened up his inventory and took several items at once, letting them hover in front of the Shopkeeper. These included Kiss of Silence, Scroll of Teleportation, and even the Infernal Key. Though the latter was an enigma he was interested in unlocking, it wasn’t a must-have -- especially this early on. Dungeons that required special keys to unlock were usually some of the most difficult places on the floor, and though the rewards were fantastic, one would have to remain alive to enjoy them.

“...” the Shopkeeper curiously extended his right arm and inspected the three floating items, humming lowly.

“’tis good quality,” he said. “Ye’ must have Fae’s Luck.”

“...” Cain smiled, though remained silent.

“One-for-one exchange,” the Shopkeeper said. “And this one shall toss an extra for there are four of you. A weapon for the Time Thief, and a weapon for the Blademaster. For the Paladin, I have a unique shield befitting of her, and for the Lady Illumity, I shall gift a halo. Please, inspect the items."

Four items appeared in front of Cain with their statuses already visible, prompting him to focus on them one by one.

//Orb of Deception(S-) Weapon

Level: 30

Requirements: Elementalist, Level 30, Intelligence 100

+30 to Main Stats

+10% to Intelligence

+20% to Mana

+10% to Element Charge Speed

+25% to Damage

Passive: Each Skill charged through the Orb gains an extra 10% to its base Concept (Speed, Size, Sturdiness, Explosiveness, Trajectory, Number), but charges 10% slower

Passive: Orb can store up to 1000 Mana that can be used for Skills charged through the Orb

Activation(1) -- automatically charges Wind, Nature, and Aether to create a gray mist surrounding the caster, 400 feet in diameter. The visibility of all enemies drops by 50%, while the caster's remains unchanged.

Activation(2) -- charge the element of your choice through the Orb -- the element’s effect is tripled automatically, and can be maintained in the natural state for 30 seconds before needing to be integrated into a Spell.

Activation(3) -- charge up to 4 elements through the Orb and mask them, making them appear as whatever other elements of your choice. Lasts 10 seconds. //

Cain began salivating barely halfway through the item, noting that it was virtually made precisely for him -- from top to bottom. It was likely in the top 5 items he could get within his level range at the moment, and he didn’t even need to risk his life for it. He was tempted to immediately accept the trade, other items be damned, but took a deep breath to calm himself down before moving onto the ‘unique shield’ for Emma.

//Flying Fortress(B) Shield

Level: 25

Requirements: Vitality 100, Stamina 50, Strength 50

+10% to all Defense

Passive: Shield automatically hovers around the wielder, protecting them. Its stats are dependent upon the wielder, capped when the wielder reaches Level 40. It is possible to take direct control and order the shield, though that lowers its defensive stats by a half and consumes 100 Mana per second. //

Shit, why is he giving us so much good stuff? By now, Cain was worried. Though the Shopkeeper was fair, he was not a fairy -- these two items alone are likely worth more than Cain’s three combined. Perhaps not due to their base stats, but just how well they fit with Emma and him. She had fallen in love with the two-hander, and Cain suspected she wouldn’t be quite willing to go back to wielding a smaller weapon and a shield, yet... now she didn’t have to. Though the shield’s stats would cap out at Level 40, she could use it well into the 60s without too much trouble.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Cain moved onto the next one -- a fairly lanky, slightly curved sword hovering in front of him, buzzing lowly.

//Touch of Starlight(A+) Weapon

Level: 20-50

Requirements: Blademaster, Agility 80

+40% to Starlight conversion rate

+25% to conversion’s efficacy rate

-15% to Starlight consumption

+40% to Raw Starlight damage

+20 to Agility

+10 to Strength

+15 to Stamina

Passive: the Sword actively converts Mana into Starlight, up to 1/5th of Mana capacity, that can then be used for an instantaneous attack (does not charge while the Sword is being actively wielded)

Activation(1) -- split the Sword into two exact replicas; -60% to overall damage, +100% to Attack Speed and +60% to Vitals Accuracy

Activation(2) -- charge 1/2 of total Mana into the Sword, converting it into Starlight over 2 seconds. Execute 33 patternless attacks within the following 5 seconds, each dealing 15% of the totally converted Starlight. //

By now, Cain was certain that the Shopkeeper was outright screwing around with him. He looked up at those yellow eyes that he could not read, which stared back in silence, appearing to wait for his decision. Was it even a decision? Was there a maniac out there who would actually refuse this trade? Even if Diya’s ‘halo’ was just a fancy-looking ornament, this would likely be one of the worst trades ever made in the Tower, past and present included. While the one-time-use items were powerful, their S rank denoting that, they were also painfully situational and, again, one-time-use. Wait... could it be that the Infernal Key leads to some legendary treasure trove? No way... those keys are usually rewarded after years’ long quests, not as random drops...

Taking another deep breath and quickly taking out a cigarette, trying to calm his nerves, he looked at the last item -- a gold-laden halo that exuded faint, silvery sheen, decorated with red gems on four ends.

//Lightborne(S+) Accessory

Level: 0

Requirements: The First Illumity

Passive: all healing Spells cost 20% less Mana, charge 25% faster, and have 40% bonus efficiency

Passive: Store up to 10,000 Mana that can be freely used over the course of a battle

Activation(0) -- annul the Seed for 10 seconds, temporarily exceeding the fleshly limits. Become immune to ALL damage for 6 seconds, in addition to single-target spells becoming party-wide, with 300% bonus to efficiency.

Note: Can only be used before the wielder undergoes the First Awakening//

“Okay, you’re definitely fucking with me.”

“Hm?” the Shopkeeper tilted his head in confusion. “Is it not enough?”

“--what’s the catch?” Cain frowned. “Do you have like a quest requirement for us or something? Do you want to enslave one of us?”

“No.” the Shopkeeper replied simply, shaking his head. “If it confuses thee, consider it an investment of this one -- if thee and friends are stronger, you may seek me for further transactions, for exotic goods. If it soothes you further, I may ask you to retrieve the Sword Spirit from the Tomb once thee has cleansed it. I shall award you greatly. Does thee wish to accept the trade?”

"... I accept," Cain sighed, taking three puffs in a row, but still failing to calm his heavily beating heart. It wasn't an exaggeration to claim that their party's overall prowess had just doubled, and that was without even mentioning Emma's, Diya's, and Jamal's increased resilience to the Mind element. "Of course I accept. Sweet Jesus... you weren't this generous the last bout."

“Thee likely was not worth my generosity...”

"Yup, fair enough," Cain chuckled lightly, storing three items into his inventory temporarily while immediately equipping the Orb. The sensation was really overbearing, as he felt the faintest of resonances inside his Soul. "Sword Spirit, you said? Isn't that thing the condition for clearing the Ruined King quest, though?"

“... I bid thee find a way,” the Shopkeeper said mysteriously, slowly beginning to fade into a gray mist. “Until then--faretheewell, Time Thief.”

Quickly ignoring the Shopkeeper, Cain brought up his status window, feeling the pride and ego swell within him. He let it go on for a few moments but curbed it quickly as it would do him little good to grow complacent. For all intents and purposes, he was still a chick in the world of dragons.

///Name: Cain Gregory Age: 32 Race: Human

Class: Elementalist Level: 35

Strength: 20 Vitality: 83 Agility: 22 Stamina: 51

Intelligence: 180 Wisdom: 136 Health: 830 Mana: 2345

Traits: Labourer(C+), Quick-witted(A), Tenacious(B), Leadership(A-), Analysis(A-), Awareness(B-), Keen(C+)

Skills: Spell Creation(?), Fire(B), Frost(B-), Arcane (B-), Earth (C+), Wind (B-), Blink(C+), Elemental Shield(C+), Water(C), Blood(D), Mana Burning (D-), Mana Surge(D-), Nature(D), Body(D), Aether(E+), Creation(E+)

Created Spells: Falling Fire(C-), Amnesty Shield(B+),

Items: Ember's Quartz(B-), Phoenix's Feather(A-), Crown of Flames(A), 'Velthar's Bracelet(B-), Orb of Deception(S-)

Titles: The First Elementalist, Bandit Slayer, Direwolf Slayer, Monster Slayer, Maverick, Spell Creator, The Herald, The One Who Survived Death, Reborn Elementalist, Void Slayer, Slayer of the Nightmares

Achievements: 12 (+1 to Main Stats for each achievement)///