Chapter 52 - Identifying the Merchandise

The aged identifier sat across from him and with a fluid hand motion shared the status information of the relic.

Fox Totem of the Fae Mothers

Item Tier: (13) Relic

Bonuses: None

Requirements: Must be female to use. Cannot be of demonic, angelic, spree, or fallen heritage.

Durability: 3001/3100

Special: This is a one time use only. The person who breaks this totem unlocks the following:

Skill Tree ‘Spirit Fox’ Permanent Dexterity and Speed bonuses Acquire the following physical traits: Fox Ears - Improved Hearing Fox Tail - Improved Reflexes and Balance

The old wiry man took another look over the silver, ruby-eyed fox. The daylight streaming through the open window let in the breeze along with the commotion of the bustling market right outside. Adjusting his glasses and noting the strange writings engraved into the underside of the figurine, he placed it on its side so that Trey could see what he was pointing at.

“Fae lettering.” The old man muttered under his breath with keen interest. Clasping his hands together he leaned forward with an appreciative nod, and the two bodyguards behind him watched in interest. “This is a relic created by clergy who worshipped the Fae Mothers in the past, blessed by their grace. Though I did not know that worshipers lived in Ornthas back then, it still does not completely surprise me. The fox is a symbol of Avastia, one of the sister goddesses herself. Very valuable… if you wish to sell it, it should be upwards of at least 12,000 gold. Possibly more depending on what that skill tree is about, but that is beyond my scope and knowledge. Be careful carrying that around.”

12,000 gold was an insane amount of money and made Trey’s eyes water at the thought of it. That would be equivalent to 1,200 platinum, which when buying from the All Spirit altars was the equivalent of 1,200,000 copper and 1,200,000 dollars back on Earth. However, people often dealt with more expensive items in terms of gold rather than platinum because most people didn’t have platinum to pass around. Trey was tempted to keep it though and give it to Ashe instead of selling it… he couldn’t use it, he wasn’t a girl. Ashe could though, and she was already damn useful in a pinch. If this was to become a ‘death game’ like the All Spirit claimed would be more forthcoming once the Labyrinth Worlds event hit, he wanted his party to be prepared. He didn’t know what the skill tree ‘Spirit Fox’ did, but the other bonuses to sneak, speed and agility were something she could certainly put to use. It wouldn’t make sense to sell it unless she wanted to make that call herself.

Napoleon passed the old man a pouch containing the 65 silver coins for a job well done, then Trey added an additional 10 silver to make sure the man and his cronies kept quiet about this. The identifier took the money from them with a courteous bow of his head, smiling at Trey’s comment about staying hushed about this find. Usually identifiers charged by category, lower tier items cost less to identify than higher tier items. Identifying people’s entire status pages was also a common occurrence with pricing based on level, and guild roster checks were a common occurrence. Then there was also a market for identifiers going into Ornthas where they were used to identify monsters for weaknesses or deciding whether to engage an enemy if they could help it.

The wooden stool the man sat on creaked as he leaned back to hand the money to one of his two stooges, then he braced himself with his elbows on the rickety table again with a raised eyebrow. His bald head emphasized the furrows in his face that outlined genuine curiosity. “So… you said you have something… better? Better than a relic tier item?”

Trey smirked, but slowly nodded in turn. “At least I think so… I’ve taken it to multiple identifiers throughout Teretog and not even one of them is able to glean the information beyond what the sword has already given to me by choice.”

The comment confused the balding old identifier, and he scratched his chin to think upon Trey’s comment. “Ahem. So it’s a sword? And… you say that this sword had ‘given’ you information on itself by choice? You act like it’s alive.”

“It is.” Trey replied simply.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise and a smile crossed his face. “How very interesting. What makes you think that I’ll be able to work it out if so many others before me have failed?”

Trey tapped his fingers along the wood, studying the man across from him. “Because Brae told me you were the best.”

The long pause in the conversation emphasized just how noisy it actually was outside this small mostly empty shack, the building this identifier used as a storefront, but then the older man began to chuckle. “What’s your name, boy?”

“Trey. And yours?”

“Berumba. It is a pleasure to meet any friend of Brae’s, he always brings in good business for me. Do you mind if I see the weapon you speak of?”

Trey nodded, and to Berumba’s surprise wisps of shadow magic bloomed above the table with the intimidating greatsword hovering just above the wood. It let out a low phantasmal hiss and sparks of black and crimson streaked across its blade, the crimson crescent rune outlined at its base and a surge of mana emanated about the shack for just a quick second before it subsided into a calmed state.

“This…” Trey began, tapping on the blade with one pointer finger, “Is Talsh’Noc’Un. Say hi Talshy.”

The two guards both had looks of awe and their eyes went wider as the blade began to speak.

“Hello… human…”

The low hiss turned into a thrum as the blade began to slowly turn, spinning around gently until its rune was facing the identifier. “Have you come… to try your… luck…?”

The blade chuckled devilishly, sending shivers down the two stooges standing behind Berumba, but the old man wore a look of grave seriousness. He clasped his hands together, muttering something to himself and his eyes flicked back and forth between Trey and Talsh’Noc’Un. Over time his features grew even more grim, with the staring contest between sword and man coming to halt.

Berumba turned his attention back to Trey. “Where did you find this?”

“Oblivion.” Trey replied honestly, noting the whispers exchanged between the two musclehead goons in the background.

Berumba cleared his throat and nodded slowly. Nervously. “Well that makes sense. Normally I’d say you’re full of cow shit… but not today. Talsh’Noc’Un, is there a reason you didn’t share your status information with the one you call master? How is it that you’re able to deny his request that you do share your information? Minions are not usually able to decline direct requests.”

Another low chuckle resounded throughout the shack, but the sword did not reply.

The old man sighed, then bobbed his head back and forth slowly to stretch. He began to concentrate, focusing in on the sword as he identified it. A minute later and sweat began to bead down his face. Berumba even seemed a little… scared.

“Perhaps… you should wait until the sword permits you to see.” Berumba remarked, his hands beginning to quiver. “I… am not comfortable divulging that information. I am sorry, but despite how much you are willing to pay me I must decline.”

Trey raised an eyebrow, then looked to the greatsword. “Talsh’Noc’Un, you will not harm this man in any way. Do you understand?”

“If you cannot command it to give you the information you desire, you cannot effectively command it to not harm me!” the older man snapped. He looked back nervously to the sword, acting a little too strangely for his two goons’ comfort. “I was able to identify it… but again I cannot divulge this information to you without the sword’s permission. I am sorry.”

Trey scowled at the weapon and folded his arms, unusually pissed off at finally finding someone who’d finally done it but who was not willing to part ways with that information despite Trey’s willingness to pay him.

“Talshy… can you just cut the shit and let him tell me what your status information is?”

The sword’s thrumming continued, then abruptly stopped. “No.”

Trey immediately threw up his hands in disgust to the immense amusement of the greatsword that began laughing loudly for the first time Trey’d ever heard it do so. Trey then shot it an angry look and snorted with his hands on his hips. “What the actual fuck man.”

The phantasmal laughing became a strange chortle that immensely annoyed Trey to no end, and his imp Napoleon began to laugh too. The little shithead imp threw his hands in the air to mock Trey repeatedly while laughing in a demon-lord-ish style, and the sword’s laughter grew even louder until people passing by began to stop and look inside to see what the ruckus was about.

“And how is it that I can’t command you to do things like all my other minions!?” Trey finally exclaimed amidst their insane laughing fit while Berumba curiously stared them all down. “Are you just trying to make me look stupid!?”

The laughter died down to a chuckle, and then down to nothing at all as Napoleon followed Talshy’s example.

“You cannot control me…. Entirely…. because you do not meet… the requirements to wield me… to my fullest potential.” The sword thrummed again briefly, vibrating the stools and ground they sat on. The crimson rune flashed brightly then subsided. “Until you do… I will have some… measure of autonomy… To answer your earlier question… yes… I find it hilarious when you get flustered… and have found this entire escapade… to find the answers to my riddles… incredibly amusing…”

Trey facepalmed. He’d been doing a lot of that recently and was sure that if he continued to facepalm so hard so often he’d soon end up with brain damage. These minions of his would be labeled as the primary source for that same facepalming too, and he’d be sure to let them know it when he was wheel-chair bound thanks to their endless stupidity.

“Is there any other reason to hide your information BESIDES wanting to torment me?”

The greatsword wiggled a bit. “No.”

“You motherfucker.”

Another phantasmal chuckle, and the greatsword righted itself to stand blade pointed down beside where Trey sat. “How about… we make a deal…?”

Trey cocked his head to one side, suddenly interested. The sword had never asked for anything before, so he wasn’t sure what it would want. He shrugged. “Sure. What is it?”

A long pause ensued while the sword evaluated him.

“I… will allow this mortal… to give you the information you seek… but only what he was able to find out himself… and only under one condition…”

Trey humphed, angrily placing his hands on his hips. “Which is?”

If the sword could have smiled, it would have. “Help me find my counterpart… once you have become… stronger…”

Trey’s brows furrowed. He didn’t even know Talsh’Noc’Un had a counterpart. Pooching his lips and shrugging again, he clasped his hands in front of him and leaned towards the floating weapon. “Do you have more details? What is your counterpart exactly? Where is it?”

“It is… my sister soul… another weapon of great power… but that information will be… set in stone later… just promise me… that when the time comes… you will help me…”

Trey looked the sword up and down, and there was even a hint of longing in the weapon’s voice. Like it missed this… other weapon. Curiously nodding in compliance, Trey gave his sword a smile. “Of course. You’ve helped me so much already, why would I not help you?”

Chaos magic sparked all along the entirety of the huge weapon and went as quickly as it had come, startling all of them with how sudden it had been, but the sword then flipped over to float above the table again. “Then the deal is struck… you may proceed… but be warned master… the creature inside you is trying to break free… and we may not have the opportunity to find her… if you let it out… for it will try to break you… control you… and enslave you…”

Trey cocked his head as Sithis came to the forefront of his mind. The demonic visage replaced Trey’s human features and Sithis turned his head to look at the sword full-on in a deep demonic overlay in his voice.

[Ancient Demon] ‘You do not speak of me I hope.’

The bodyguards in the back were so startled with the sudden change in voice and looks that one of them fell over, and even Berumba got up from the table with the serious expression of concern solidified even further than it had been earlier.

The sword hissed in response. [Ancient Demon] “No… I speak of your father… Eleknar… The essence that spawned you…”

[Ancient Demon] ‘Eleknar?’ Sithis repeated. ‘I have yet to hear of this Eleknar… You say it is the essence itself?’

The sword bobbed. [Ancient Demon] “Yes… It spawned you... Sithis… when it realized that Trey… although a good host for growth… is not a match with Eleknar’s morals and personality… You… Sithis... are a bookmark… something to keep Trey safe… While the essence changes Trey from within… for the day it deems him ready to try and escape its cage… I have met Eleknar before… a dangerous relic of the first great war… between demons and angels… millions of years ago… and Eleknar’s last host… was the one to kill my last master…”

The subsequent chuckle from the weapon was filled with latent anger and echoed through their bodies like a nightmare. “Ironic… is it not…? That I would serve the same host… that Eleknar has chosen… for his own… Even now I can see him watching me… mocking me… smiling at me… as he sits latched onto Trey’s soul…”

Sithis would have frowned at this if the rigid set of long interlocking razor teeth could do so, but it remained the same immoveable grin while crossing Trey’s arms as Trey watched from the back of his mind to let Sithis continue the talking. ‘Tell me more about this Eleknar. Is he a danger to us? To Trey?’

Sithis was genuinely concerned and the tone he used showed it despite the overlaying demonic edge to his voice. The conversation between the two strange entities was completely out of place anywhere in the mortal realms, and the three men across the table were struck with it just as Trey was… but for different reasons.

“An essence cannot truly live… without the host… They exchange power for a chance at life… they are pieces of the first god… the creator… and compatible souls powerful enough to fuel them… are rare indeed… Trey is safe… but a battle of wills will eventually come to a head… be warned Trey... and keep your sanity… lest you fail on your promise to me…”

‘Would we be able to talk to Eleknar?’ Sithis asked bluntly.

“I would… not advise trying…”

‘Why?’

The sword paused to think of how to portray its message. “Trey suppressed the essence subconsciously… for a reason… even if he does not realize it himself… It is part of the contract an essence takes… they cannot fully share bodies with a host that they are unlike… So when they bonded… Eleknar chose to do so hoping he could change Trey… so they may become fully bonded… instead of the partial bonding that has already occurred… Trey has qualities that Eleknar does not appreciate… my young new master may have… what people would call personality flaws… many flaws that I personally find amusing or desirous… but Eleknar is an entirely different kind… of Evil… far beyond anything you could imagine… Of all the essence in existence… Eleknar is one of the most dangerous… it is why my old master… wanted to subdue Eleknar’s last host… in a quest for power to control both the host and the essence… but when hunting Eleknar came to a close... and despite my old master’s prowess… Eleknar annihilated him… That was long before the archangel Gabriel… finally struck Eleknar down... and when Eleknar is either allowed out or forces his way out… of the mental cage Trey has built… Trey must be prepared to deal with him…”

Sithis considered this for a time - then disappeared, and Trey’s more human features returned to his face with exception of his horns and eyes. Trey cleared his throat and worry was evident, brows furrowed and rubbing his chin, but he kept his calm despite being told he had a parasite living in him that wanted to take over his mind.

“Why would the essence bond to me if it didn’t mesh well with me?” Trey asked slowly, considering what this all meant. “That doesn’t make much sense.”

Talsh’Noc’Un remained silent, and four tiny crimson lights of chaos mana began to form. Then they began to grow and line up mid-air over the hovering blade. The mana solidified, and the first ball of floating crimson chaos mana grew to the size of a marble. The next grew to the size of a fist. The one after that the size of a bowling ball. The last one was three times the last one’s size, being the largest of the four.

“As I have said before… souls able to host an essence are very rare… Most creatures cannot use magic… of the mortal races… significant numbers of the population are… unable to wield magic at all… despite all living things being in contact with it… These spheres I have created are a representation… of souls… and their potential ability to create mana… after their souls have grown into maturity… Something you have not even started to do yet…” The huge blade whipped around and pointed to the marble-sized pool of floating mana. “This one represents animals…. beasts… and other lesser creatures… though they often cannot use it…”

The sword floated over to the fist-sized ball of crimson liquid. “This is a representation… of the average mortal… such as elves… dwarves… humans… greenskins… and others… after their souls have come into maturity… All souls have room to grow beyond their original potentials… but it is not often that mortals live long enough… to achieve something greater… or far beyond these averages...”

Trey was starting to get the picture, and he looked at the next two floating balls of mana with a glint in his eyes. Was his soul represented by one of those?

The sword moved over to hover and point at the next in line bowling-ball sized globe of mana. “This is a representation… of the average Earthborn I have met… in the centuries and millennia past… your kind has been coming here… to these worlds… for far longer than you think… it is also representative of the average immortal foot soldiers… such as the fae or fairy folk… and middle-tier angels or demons…”

Trey was getting excited as he looked to the last of the four spheres. It was far larger than any of the others, and if that one was the one that represented his soul’s potential then he had quite big shoes to grow into. “So is my potential represented by the last one?”

The sword outwardly scoffed, or at least made a sound like it had done so despite lacking a mouth. Moving over to the largest sphere that tripled the size of the last bowling-ball sized one, the weapon rotated around while still pointing at the floating crimson ball. “This sphere… represents most human archmages… minor demon lords such as archdemons… minor liches or ascended spirits… and seraphim elite of the heavenly legions… but beyond this point there is no standard… as people or creatures that go beyond this vary drastically in their potential… with their souls often evolving constantly...”

Trey frowned, folding his arms in anticipation. “Alright then, where do I stand now?”

“Currently…?” The sword asked, shifting back to the fist-sized ball of mana. “You reside here… for now… but your current potential… what you could grow to become even without further evolution… would be represented by a sphere... the size of this hut we now stand in…”

Trey’s eyes widened, as did the identifier across from him for the second time today.

“I have never seen anything... quite like it… in a mortal man… though I have heard stories of this happening before… in the ages of the past…” The greatsword continued as the crimson spheres disappeared, absorbing back into the weapon. “I have no doubts… that most essence would have chosen you… but your soul is better aligned to the dark… the infernal powers cling to you like a birthright… so it was not a bad match in that aspect… You asked why Eleknar chose you…? These two reasons… Your immense potential for growth… that I have only seen in the strongest of the immortals before now… and your immense natural aptitude for the infernal powers… But now that you have been chosen by Eleknar… it is a permanent binding… until your permanent death permits otherwise… You must accept your fate… and learn how to live with him… when Eleknar is able to finally present himself…”

Trey was quite surprised, but his surprise soon turned to amusement and a grin overcame him as he gave his weapon a knowing look. “I thought you said you accepted me as your master because I was the only summoner around?”

“You were the only summoner… around… I did not lie…” retorted the hovering blade as it lay perfectly still over the wood. “I just left out some key facts… It is not my fault… you’re also an idiot…”

The sword and Napoleon both began to laugh again as Trey’s resulting scowl, and even Sithis began internally laughing to emphasize Trey’s frustration.

Trey rolled his eyes and motioned for the old man Berumba to rejoin the table from where he’d gotten up to stand along the far wall with his two bodyguards. “Alright, so enough with story time. Are you going to show me what I want to know and take the money or not? The sword gave you permission, you heard it. Come now let’s get it over with, the anxiety is killing me.”

The old man hesitated, but then rejoined the table as requested. With some gestures indicating he was going through the motions of transferring the information over, Trey soon saw what he had been searching for over the past few months.

It definitely held a few… surprises.

Talsh’Noc’Un, Sword of Ruin

Item Tier: (17) World

Damage: 4058

On Hit Effect: +12% additional chaos damage, 3% mana drain on enemy’s total mana

Bonuses: +70 Strength, +182 Vitality, +44 Dexterity, +167 Speed, +69 Intelligence, +48 Wisdom, +93 Willpower

Requirements: Minionize this weapon to wield it at bare minimum potential, dealing 10%

of normal damage without bonuses. Requires 710 Strength and 138 Wisdom to

wield at full potential.

Durability: 12,000/12,000

Specials:

1 - Living Blade: Talsh’Noc’Un evolves and grows with its master, registers as a

demonic class minion. Occasionally for souls the wielder has struggled yet

prevailed to defeat, gain an additional damage rating point and one

randomized stat added to the bonus categories that already exist. Evolutions

also occasionally occur with this blade after enormously challenging victories.

2 - Berserk: Tremendously increases aggression. Vast but temporary increase to

strength, speed, dexterity, intelligence, and faith. +180 to full body physical

and magic resistance. Immune to all debuffs. Lasts until out of combat.

Cooldown: Long

3 - Obliterate: Empower next attack, explodes upon impact. Damage is variable

based upon mana availability from the wielder. Cooldown: Medium.

4 - Thirsting: The longer the wielder owns this weapon, the more the wielder will

thirst for power and violence. Increasing thirsting level increases all damage

output by the wielder, but also adds insanity and aggression.

>Current Thirsting Level: 1 (+5% total damage output, +1% insanity and aggression)

5 - Autoregulation - This weapon repairs itself, increasing lost durability over

time and is able to manipulate its own structure to the preference of its

wielder.

6 - Infernal Transcendance - Talsh’Noc’Un is able to select infernal creatures and

evolve them into something slightly greater. Target’s soul must be ready to

undertake transition, otherwise death may occur. High cooldown.

7 - Flight of Mechiaa - This cursed blade is able to fly about of its own free will for

limited amounts of time.

8 - Creature Compartments - This weapon has 5 grand soulstones built into it

that are altered to better contain infernal creatures, and is able to store these

creatures for later minionization.

Captured Creatures in Storage: 3/5 grand soul stones filled

Empty Empty Dark Djinn, Fallen Taurun, Greater Demon Angelic Dread Berserker, Fallen Archangel

9 - Abyssal Key - Unlock the lost realm of the Abyss with this blade. Traverse

between the Abyss and your realm of origin at will via portal upon a command

to your weapon.

Opinion of you: Content

Trey’s eyebrows raised. Even the name of the sword had changed, and he was a little concerned over the ‘Thirsting’ level. Insanity and aggression? Now that he’d thought about it, he had been feeling a little… odd. Changed even, but it was so negligible that he hadn’t really noted it much until now.

“I did not realize what it was you were speaking of when you spoke the name of the sword… Talsh’Noc’Un? I did not realize the Sword of Ruin had a formal name. Though that is probably due to my lack of proper education.” Berumba crossed his arms uncomfortably and the two men behind him remained absolutely silent with their eyes locked on the weapon.

Their postures in turn made Trey uncomfortable. They had looks of fear mixed with envy, and he’d seen that look many times before he’d had to fight for his life in the last couple months.

Trey cleared his throat and leaned forward across the table. “You’ve heard stories about this sword?”

Berumba gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded reverently, keeping his hands where Trey could see them and beads of sweat forming across his temple. “Yes. It makes sense that you wouldn’t know about it… being Earthborn. I hope you forgive me, but I identified you after the sword spoke of Eleknar. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the two of you speaking so I had to look for myself… I have heard about both your sword and the essence bonded to you. Eleknar… the Sword of Ruin… my lad, you are in way over your head. Tread very carefully, because you will have many enemies out to strike you down if they find out you exist.”

Trey’s brows furrowed. “Yeah… The king of Yosemar seemed really interested in my weapon too.”

“The king of Yosemar?” repeated the identifier with more strength behind his voice. “I know nothing of their king, but if he did find out about your possession of such a weapon then yes… he would be interested. Countries would readily wage war with one another over such a find…”

“Yeah I kinda got that impression… So what’s the history?” Trey prompted, curious now. “Talshy here won’t answer me when I ask.”

The old man gave the legendary blade another look, then chortled a bit and relaxed. He sighed, took a pitcher of water from a stand nearby and poured it into a wooden cup to drink. “My dear boy, this sword has been around much longer than you or I. The histories of it would be marred and skewed from the vague stories and old wive’s tales that I have heard.”

Trey snorted. “Do your best.”

This resulted in an eye roll from the older man and he glanced back at his compatriots behind him. “Well… this was the sword that is said to have brought down the Vasabash Dynasty on the other side of this planet nearly 1,200 years ago. It is the best known story, long after many of the others faded away into obscurity. It is said that the one who wielded it was a prince of that empire… It is said that he made a deal with one of the demons he contracted to go on a quest, and that was a summoner like himself. It is said he lost himself to time and madness in his searches through Oblivion and the Abyss to fulfill the promise he’d made to his demon friend, and came back over two centuries later to find the ones he’d loved had perished. In his anguish and despair after having lost everything, he destroyed the very empire that had borne his family name. Armies fell before him, and those wishing to live fled the country. Then he disappeared, taking the sword with him into the obscurity of the past. Now only desolate wastes cover the land that was once a thriving prosperous kingdom, where chaos storms left as remnants of the sword’s power rip asunder those that try to pass through it.”

They all looked to the hovering blade.

“My old master… got carried away… It is true… and he could not contain my thirsting…” The sword hummed sadly. “I hope that you are able to succeed… where he failed…”

Trey folded his fingers together as his hands clasped. He pooched his lips with eyebrows raised and stared at the enormous weapon. “Uhuh. I see. Aren’t you able to just control your… Thirsting?”

“No…” responded the sword almost immediately and with ample force behind the word. “It is a curse… a failed evolution that is a part of me… just as much as whoever wields me… it was a mistake that I cannot undo…”

“...Uhuh. So… your old master went on a killing rampage due to your thirsting, lost his mind and went berserk right? And you think I’ll be able to reign you in? Is that it?”

The sword thrummed casually. “Maybe not alone… but with Eleknar inside you… If you are able to overcome him… If you take his power for your own… then yes I believe it is possible…”

Trey was not amused, but he also wasn’t ready to give the weapon up. “So that’s why you didn’t want me to know about it. Now it all makes sense.”

Trey judgmentally shook his head. Turning his attention back to Berumba. “What do you know of Eleknar? You know a lot more about this place than I do, so fill me in and I’ll happily pay you for it.”

Berumba’s face paled, and he adamantly shook his head no. “Absolutely not. The sword is one thing… but I will not speak of the greater evils so lightly. You are cursed, child, and I feel sorry for your soul. I need no payment for this… I will not take payment from a damned man.”

The old identifier pushed himself back, stood up, and bowed slightly. “I believe it is time for me to turn in for the day. Perhaps even time to leave Teretog completely when I save up the money… I do not feel well. Do not worry, I would not speak of this to anyone. Your secret is safe with me and my men… we would not want the wrath of the Sword of Ruin, nor the wrath of Eleknar upon our heads. Please, take as much time as you want here, but I must go. Good day, and do not ever come back.”

Berumba gave him an anxious but polite smile and departed, leading his two men out who gave Trey fearful backwards glances as they took pace behind their boss. Trey was left stunned and a little drained after being put through the grinder with so much information, and was deeply disturbed by Berumba’s outright refusal to speak of Eleknar at all.

Napoleon was fidgeting nervously, watching Trey’s expressions change and slowly came over to pat Trey on the arm. “We go go… it ok. Talsh want you happy. We on your side side.”

The little imp smiled up at him and Trey’s cold heart was suddenly warmed. He took his hand to stroke behind Napoleon’s ears and stood up himself. He had a lot to think about… but now was not the time. He’d done what he needed to do, he’d gotten his two items identified and he’d bought new clothes. Now it was time to get back to the ship and then back to the Fost guild’s compound. He’d been away for too long, and it was the closest thing he had to a home.