Gem and Rod sat at the bar inside of Dani’s tavern. Rod nursed a nice ale, while Gem enjoyed a delicious, tangy juice. The four of them, that is Gem; Rod; Dani; and Abigail, chatted about this and that. One of the topics was the coming knights.

“They’re a good sort; for the most part, at least. Like any organization, they have their issues, but the knights manage to be better than most. Better than most town guard, for sure. ‘Course they can’t hold a candle to what Sam has managed here. That draconid has some serious quirks, but their heart is in the right place.” Rod explained.

“You said something about having considered joining up yourself?” Gem asked.

“Ya, I did. A few things turned me away though. Kilnar here needed a new headsman, and I was already quite familiar with the process, and one of the few qualified individuals who was available. Most hunters don’t like to leave the field. We’re almost as bad as adventurers(a word that Rodrick spat in distaste) in that respect. But there were two other reasons as well: Firstly, we as a group decided to settle down together. Help each other to adjust to town life. Dani had the easiest time of it, having only been going on missions for a tiny fraction of his life, but the rest of us didn’t have it so easy. Sam had the town guard, and it took her no time at all to climb to the top, I had the headhunter’s office to run. But poor Sparky had a really rough time of it. With only his studies to occupy himself, he ended up doing a fair bit of pickup work. I didn’t let him take anything too risky, but there were still problems. He kept electrocuting his teammates: he just kept forgetting that they were far weaker than us. Eventually, I ended up banning him from group missions, which was the end of his hunting days, since I never let him take solo work either.”

Rod took a long sip. “But I digress. The final, and arguably most important reason I chose not to join the Knights was that Sam would’ve joined with me. Now, you’ve not really had a chance to see how she trains her guards, but I assure you that it wouldn’t have taken long for her to become a trainer for the Knights, and I for one am terrified at the thought of an entire contingent of Knights who were trained by Samuel.”

“Samuel is indeed very competent and driven, but they have a troublesome wicked streak that brought us nearly as much grief as Spaerekel’s fondness for electricity.” Dani added.

“Yeah, they didn’t cause trouble near as often, but when they did. Wooo, was it bad. Sparky got so many fines and spent a fair few nights in various jails, but thanks to a certain stabby someone there are still a few cities where we aren’t allowed in.”

Abigail sat open on the bar, pretending to be a mundane atlas.

I want to see how Sam does their training now.

An expression of horrified realization fell on Gem’s face. “You’re going to make me train with them, aren’t you?”

“Not for a good long while, I should hope. And certainly not before we make our assault.”

Gem was relieved. She was not ready to deal with the draconid in combat. Not at all.

A few minutes later Rod finished his drink. “Alright, let’s go see a dwarf about some armor!”

“I’ll be staying here. I’m pulling an extra shift for Claudia, since I did force her to cover for me the day before last.” Dani informed them. “Do tell Valerie I said ‘Hello.’, though.”

With that Gem downed the last of her juice and scooped up Abigail.

Valerie perked up at the jingling bell. Walking in was the young demoness from a couple days prior, ‘Gem.’ she reminded herself. The other person was someone she hadn’t seen in ages.

“Well I’ll be… ‘Ere he stands in my shop. Rodrick, in the flesh. ‘Ow long’s it been, a year, year-and-a-half?” Valerie drawled.

“Hey Val. No, It’s been less than that. Remember when I picked up that gaudy bearicorn costume for last year’s festival of love?” Rodrick reminesied.

“‘O. That.” Valerie shivered in disgust. “Thanks so much for reminding me, I’d actually managed to purge that abomination from me memory, so thanks for that. Dani ain’t got enough booze to drown out that one again.”

“Oh, and Dani says ‘Hello.’”

“And he didn’t come with? Let me guess, he’s taking a shift after someone had to cover for him the other day? It’s not that darling boy Jeff, is it?”

“No, he’s covering for Claudia.”

“Good, good. Now, my lovely Gem, what brings you back so soon?”

“I need some armor.” Gem said.

“Ah yes. Yer’ still fixing to be a battlemage, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Gem replied defensively.

“No need to get your panties in a twist. If millenia-old elves can change their minds on a whim, what chance do the youngsters of the realm have?” Val placated before continuing, “Now, battlemage armor don’t come cheap. It’ll be at least 30 crowns, more if you want any special features.”

“Special features?” Gem wondered.

“Yeah, like a retracting cloak, ethereal cape, and the sort. Now normally you have to include these things when you make the armor, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. Unlike most who can weave infusion armor, I can make all sorts of changes later on. For an extra fee of course. It is more work to rework something after all.” Val proclaimed proudly.

Gem looked uncertain on how to continue, so the book in her arms slipped out and hovered over to a countertop and propped itself up.

Hi there. I’m Abigail, Gem’s partner. Yes, I am a book. Yes, I am a sapient Artifact. And no, I do not want clothes.

Val simply looked between Gem and Abigail with her mouth agape for several moments.

“Oh look. Abigail decided to introduce herself.” Rod noted.

Why don’t we start with the basic armor. How quickly can you have it ready?

Valerie finally got over her shock at meeting an Artifact, thought for a moment, then replied:

“I’ve got to get the necessary materials from my suppliers, which will take five or six weeks. Once I’ve got that we can figure out what kind of outfit you want for your armor. After that it’ll take me another six weeks to actually make it; the basic armor at least. So I’d say no sooner than twelve weeks.”

Oooo. We need something a lot quicker. No later than midday on the day after tomorrow. It just needs to provide a decent amount of protection, as we expect to leave for Gem’s first real combat that evening.

Valerie considered for a minute.

“Ok, here’s what I can do: I’ve got some high quality hides hanging around. I’ll get started on a standard set of leather armor right away. It’ll be ready by closing time tomorrow. I always write down my customers’ measurements, so there’s no need to do that again. And if you can get me the advance on your infusion armor, I won’t even charge you for it.”

That works for me. What’s the advance?

“Advance is fifty percent, or 15 crowns.”

Rod. I’m placing you in charge of bringing that to Valerie. As soon as we’re done here, you are going to go back to your office, get 15 crowns of our reward money and bring it to Val. Then, you will go back and scrub until sundown. I’m going to be telling Sam and Dani about this, so don’t even think about shirking your duties and going for a drink early.

Rod gulped. Dani could be annoying and ban him from getting a drink at Dani’s Tavern for a while, but Sam could stop Rod from getting a drink anywhere. The draconid would even confiscate his stash.

“Why would you need him to…” Val muttered before the light of realization dawned upon her face. “Ya don’t like carrying lots of coin, right?”

Gem nodded. “Yeah.”

“You should get yerself a credit card then.”

“A credit card?”

“Yeah. Let’s you deposit and withdraw coinage from an account at the elven mint. Damned useful. Best part is that they’re aura-locked, so no one else can use your card. Also why Dani and Rod don’t use them. Rod’s aura just won’t cooperate at all, and the best Dani ever managed was to break my counter with a few hundred kilos of coinage. Damned funny.”

Valerie then pulled out her credit card, a rectangle of opaque green crystal edged with elegant gold engravings a couple of millimeters thick and just large enough to be comfortably held in one’s palm. She demonstrated its function by retrieving and re-depositing a few Crowns.

Useful. We will definitely need one of those.

Gem nodded in agreement.

I think that’s everything then. Let go Gem. We need to see a man about a spell, and maybe get a few books for me to snack on!

Gem scooped up Abigail and made to leave. Just before they reached the door, Valerie hollered:

“Wait! What color do you want?”

“Make it dark. We expect to make our assault at night.” Rod answered for Gem.

After Gem and Abigail had left, Valerie turned to rod.

“Rodrick. There’s something afoot. What is it, do I need to get Sam involved?” She demanded.

“We’re keeping a lid on things. But Sam knows, as do Sparky and Dani. We’ve sent our information to the Lord Reagent, and we’ve gotten a response. That’s all I’m going to tell you. Don’t go poking around, or Sam’ll be liable to throw you in a cell ‘till this is over.”

Valerie wanted to argue, but knew better.

“Fine. Keep your secrets.” Valerie grumped. “Now bring me my money and leave me to work!”

Rodrick left quickly. While Valerie could be intimidating, Abigail’s threat was by far a better motivation for him to do as he was told. He snorted. Here he was, the Headsman of Kilnar and a vetran bounty hunter, and he was terrified of a book. Life sure threw oddness at you sometimes.

If only it would make someone else’s life interesting for a change.

“Oh hey. I was wondering when you’d be by. Guess that’d be now.” Sparky greeted Gem and Abigail. “Come on in!”

“So what can I do for you today? More aether-ball training?” He continued after he had shut the door behind them.

Not today. I’m here to get a few books to eat. Gem? What are you here for?

“Abigail wants you to teach me a shock ball spell.” Gem explained.

“That I can do. Give me a minute to collect up a few books for you two.”

Sparky proceeded to run his thumb along a shelf of books until he located the one he wanted. He opened it to a few different places and placed a bookmark in each location.

“Here you go. Take a look through and find the one that speaks to you the most.” He instructed Gem, then focused on Abigail. “Don’t worry Abi, I’ll get those books for you in a minute.”

While Sparky was pursuing his collection and selecting a dozen or so books for Abigail, Gem started in on her assigned reading.

“Hey Abigail? What do you think?” She asked while angling the tome so the Grimoire could see.

I can’t actually read. Not unless I consume a book, and I’m not sure if Sparky would appreciate me eating this one. You’ll need to read it out for me.

Sparky finished his selection before Gem and Abigail, and sat and waited while Gem softly read out each entry. So softly that he could only make out every third word or so. But clearly Abigail could hear, as Gem never had to repeat herself.

Finally Gem and Abigail reached a conclusion.

“This one. Morgana's Hair Raiser.” Gem said with a smile.

“Morgana’s Hair Raiser. One of my personal favorites. Not the easiest spell in there, but far from the hardest. I’m biased, but I think it’s a great choice.”

And I’m sure that the fact that it has exceptional scaling has nothing to do with your preference. I mean, why else would you have added a note about its ability to be overcharged to the point of turning an unfortunate target into pink mist, complete with a little doodle.

Gem and Sparky both laughed.

“Yeah, that was, shall we say, an interesting result.” Sparky remarked. “Abigail. I’ve got a few books for you.”

He placed the books down next to her.

Just to remind you, the originals will be destroyed and I have no way of replicating any stored texts as of yet. Existing copying spells can’t use me as a source medium, and I suspect I’ll have to come up with something myself.

“Let me double check.” Sparky nodded.

He quickly checked each book. He ended up pulling one out. “Signed copy,” he had explained before checking his shelves and returning with another copy of the same book.

“Alright, you can have all of them. Not the one Gem’s holding, though. I’ve put a lot of notes in it, and it has some sentimental value. But otherwise, dig in!” Sparky encouraged.

Abigail proceeded to absorb each book one at a time. She mentally shuddered in pleasure as the fresh knowledge flowed into her. She took her time, thoroughly enjoying herself in the process.

After she was done Abigail ‘spoke’:

Oh that was nice. Thank you Sparky.

“Can you only eat one at a time? Does it always take that long? How long does it take for you to be able to use them?” Sparky barraged.

I can eat quite a few at once and much faster. I was taking my time and enjoying myself. Eating books is quite pleasurable for me. As for how long it takes to be able to use them, I believe a demonstration is in order:

The twist element acts as a passive flow moderator and restriction. Two or more can be combined to form various forms of helixes, the details of which are covered later in this chapter.

“I’ll be damned. That’s handy. I’m curious though, you can see color, right? So why can’t you read?” Sparky requested.

My color perception is based on scrying magic. It’s not really capable of resolving very fine detail. I can tell what color the text is and how dense it is, but actually making out the letters is beyond it. My Aether-sense and Aether-radar are good enough that I can make out engraved and embossed letters though.

“Thanks.” Sparky told Abigail, then turned to Gem. “Why don’t we get started? I’m willing to bet that you’ll be throwing little balls of joy before the day is done.”

True to form, Gem picked up the spell in less than a half hour, and the rest of the evening was spent with Sparky giving Gem pointers and advice.

“Remember, if you are just trying to incapacitate, go for the dick. Aiming for the chest or head can be lethal, but a few thousand volts to the junk will take down pretty much anyone.” Was Abigail’s favorite tip.

Eventually the light grew long and the trio retired to Dani’s for some food. They ate in Gem’s room so all three of them could keep talking without risking revealing Abigail’s presence.

Any tips for this force spell?

“Nothing I haven’t already said. It’s not a spell I’m familiar with, so aside from the general combat magic tips I’ve given you…”

Gem nodded. “Thanks so much Sparky. I’d like to get ready for bed now, so…”

“Right, right! I’ll head out now. Goodnight Gem.”

“Goodnight Sparky.”