Post by Buster Kreiger 9:47 AM, April 6th, 20XX

Things are getting stranger and stranger as time goes on. I went to the gun range on the 2nd with a buddy of mine. Even with the passivity precept doing its thing we were able to shoot the target just fine. Then my buddy turns, points the rifle right at me and fires. Nothing happens. He laughed and said it wasn’t loaded. But I grabbed it and checked. There was a round right up in there. I thought it was a misfire but then my buddy does it again with a new round loaded in the chamber. Nothing... I donno for sure but I think this means the whole gun control debate is over now, and I don’t think either side won. Also, I’m no longer friends with my buddy.

The bard bowed formally to the store owner, too formally since he hadn’t recovered yet. “If you’d be so kind, Alchemist Rosefire, I’d like to purchase two Advanced Ghostly Bombs, for my personal defense.”

“Of course. That will be 3,000 PMk.”

And just like that 3k went missing from our shared wallet. Maybe I was getting used to it but I didn’t even blink at the casual expenditure of $400 in a game.

Once the alchemist handed him the bombs, I Observed them.

Advanced Ghostly Bomb - This single-use packet of powder, when thrown, will make the persons affected become insubstantial for 60 seconds. The affected persons have a 5% chance to throw up once they become substantial again. Not recommended for use on self.

That seemed like a lot of money for a pair of single-use items. Then again, I’d seen Skill books, a bunch of crap items I could sell to NPC vendors, normal adventuring gear, and the shittiest of health potions, but I hadn’t really seen many magic items in this world. Just the Aluminum Ring of Magic Damage that nice elven lady gave me. Wait, didn’t I also get that shit covered necklace? What happened to that, anyway?

Just as I was about to open my inventory and look, Lore bowed and left the shop. He was still ignoring me. While I understood why it started to get on my nerves. We were partners. We needed to talk about this before it became a thing and ruined our working relationship before it really began. In fact, we would talk about it!

I waited till we reached an empty alleyway then I tightly hugged him from behind and teleported us to the middle of it, completely draining my mana. I let him go and turned him around to face me. His eyes went wide with shock then he had a brief look of terror on his face. With those odd changes, I worried that I’d done something horrible but then he seemed to realize something and relaxed.

“We need to talk,” I said.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised a brow at me.

Then I realized that I’d done something impossible.

“Holy shit! I just teleported you with me! Is this a bug?”

He shook his head and touched his collar.

“Wait. It happened because you were remanded into my custody?”

He gave me a noncommittal shrug and stopped looking at me.

“First of all, knowing the text of my teleportation spell, that’s fucked up. Second of all, I didn’t ask that bitch to remand you into my custody so stop giving me this stupid silent treatment.”

He still didn’t look at me. The pain in my chest started burning. I clenched my hands into fists and glared at him.

“You know what, now I’m upset! We’re partners. Partners! That means you need to give me some trust here, just like I trusted you earlier. The last thing I want to do is something bad to you, okay? Do you want me to make an oath to never use my authority against you? Will that help you? I’ll do it!”

Just as I was about to open my mouth, his finger pressed against my lips.

“No.” His icy gaze stared off into the distance for a moment then he turned back to me. “If you make one about this, they’ll force you to break it eventually.”

He removed his hands, took out a hand towel, and wiped them clean.

“Can you explain why having you remanded into my custody is a bad thing? Shouldn’t it be a good thing considering our situation?”

His eyes closed. “You don’t understand... just... These are my issues. They don’t have anything to do with you. And logically, I believe that you won’t abuse the system like them, but…”

“I get it. Logic doesn’t help with things like this.”

He nodded.

I wanted to ask him more about what I could and should do about the custody situation but I had a feeling that this wasn’t the best time. There would be enough time later. Yeah, I’d definitely ask him later.

“Come on,” he said sounding a lot better, but not completely over it. “Let’s go buy a magic item that I just might let you use in the future... if you’re good.”

Fucker.

We left the alley and turned down another street towards a fancy looking building that appeared more like an elven bank with its long decorated columns and leaf-shaped doors. Just as our feet hit the polished marble inside a woman in black walked up to us and bowed.

“Welcome to the Arcane Emporium. Merely ask about a magic item and we’ll see if we have it in stock.”

“Mia here would like to purchase the Boots of Air Skating.”

The woman nodded and gestured off to the side where poofy couches were set up for maximum conversation feng shui.

I sat down and immediately sank into the glorious fluffiness. Right there I decided that once I started earning a stable income I would purchase a couch or loveseat just like this if I could find one in reality.

“Are magic items really so rare in this game that they have such a fancy location to sell them?”

It took him a moment to answer, but he did answer. “At least in low-level areas like this, they’re extremely rare.”

That explained why they were so expensive. “What about higher leveled areas?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t been to higher leveled areas but it’s a possibility. Places like this and clans tend to hoard them.”

“Why? I mean, can’t people make them?”

“As in get the job to create magic items?”

“Yeah.”

“At level 7 you can start training in gathering jobs, like mining, farming, or herb gathering. But you have to wait until you reach level 10 before you’re able to take a crafting job.”

“What’s the job that creates magic items?”

He laughed bitterly and I didn’t understand why. “Technically, you can take any mundane item to an Enchanter to create a magic item... if you can find one. But if you want a masterpiece, you have to request an Artificer to make one for you.”

Since the lady seemed to be taking her time, and Lore was in a talkative mood I asked, “What’s so special about Artificers?”

“Heh. To become an Artificer, you have to take all of the armor, clothing, and weapon crafting jobs along with the very rare Enchanter job. And they can only level their Artificer job by leveling all their other jobs first then creating a masterpiece.”

“That sounds like a money sink.”

While grabbing his collar, he shrugged and eyed the four high-level guards standing around the room. “Some magic items can only be created or destroyed by an Artificer.”

Before I could say anything else, the lady returned, carrying a bamboo shoebox. She sat down in front of us and smiled.

“The price is 15,000 PMk.”

Lorevinel Silvercat: Pay it.

I nodded and reached for the box but she maneuvered it just out of reach. She grinned at Lore. “Or, you can decrease the price by selling off—“

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“We’re sure,” I said and I traded 15k from our shared wallet for the shoebox.

Before I shoved them into my inventory I opened the box and peered at ordinary-looking brown leather shoes.

Boots of Air Skating- These shoes allow the user to hover a few inches off the ground and move as if skating on ice, just not as fast. This may take some getting used to and is not recommended for use at all times as users of these boots have an increased death rate.

Once I confirmed their existence I put them in our shared inventory. They then disappeared and I assumed Lore must have taken them.

I glanced questioningly at him with a raised eyebrow. Weren’t these shoes for me?

Lorevinel Silvercat: I’ll give them to you later.

Then, with all courtesy, we left the Emporium.

Night fell and we managed to meet several more people, but it was mostly a blur. I lost track of the exact number but I think, Lore managed to spend about 107,000 PMk on magic items, the last one costing him 45k and it wasn’t even the item he’d been looking for, whatever it was.

“Come on,” he said, looking perfect but sounding haggard. “We should sleep. It’s been a long day and tomorrow we have a party to attend.”

And he was right.

We trudged up the stairs to his place and I settled down on his couch and passed out for 8 hours or more. When I woke I saw Lore staring off into space.