“How are we suppose to kill a pack of these?” asked Gene. He wasn’t exactly happy about how the last fight went. “My strikes have no effect on them and arrows seem to ricochet off their fur. The only way I could harm the beast was with this dagger and our magic users did most of the heavy lifting.”

“Ah, that is because these creatures are only weak to magic and silver,” replied Mistress Astrin. “The Hunt will be willing to lend you some silver weapons to go take care of this problem.” See slightly glanced in the direction of Ciylia and Meowlynn who both had faces stating they didn’t want to help. “Of course I will be paying you an extra 2,000 good for your troubles out of my own pocket.”

“Well with the proper equipment it shouldn’t be a problem at all,” Ciylia was practically yelling with excitement.

“Excellent,” said Astrin. “When you walk out ze door, ze door immediately to your right is our supply room. There you will find silver weapons. Please make sure to write down what you take in the ledger that is in there. For inventory reasons, of course. You are all welcome to one ‘ealing potion as well. Finally, I suggest you seek out a man named Rolivich. He owns a magic shop that deals with magical wares. Perhaps you could find something there if use.”

“Perhaps we could if we had any coin to our name,” snarled Meowlynn. “We did technically complete the hunt.”

“That you did.” Mistress Astrin went into a back room and brought out a large sack of gold. “Your promised payment. Now between ze silvered and magical items, you should be able to ‘andle a pack of mutts.”

“Thank you,” said the monk. “We’ll return your stuff after we finish our work.” He then turned to the rest of the Jellybeans, “We’ll get our shopping done then go back to the church to sleep and prepare for our fight tonight.”

“You are welcome to use ze ‘Unt’s barracks if you want an actual bed to sleep on. They are located opposite the armoury where you’ll be getting your items.”

“How very kind of you m'lady,” smiled Fern as he bowed. “We are very grateful.”

“Yeah, yeah,” growled Aliya. “Save your sweet talk for someone who actually wants to hear it.” Upon hearing the gnome say that, Gene stole a glance at Astrin. She was staring daggers at the druid with a look of disgust smeared across her face. Clearly, she wasn’t the kind of woman who saw herself as a maiden.

“Thanks again,” said Gene before hurrying his group out of Astrin’s room. “Let’s check out the armoury first so we know what we need to grab at the magic store.”

The monk led his team to the door Astrin said would contain all the weapons and items they could borrow. It was a door void of any indicators of what was beyond it. The young human male grabbed the handle and twisted it. A soft blue light glowed in the keyhole before the sound of a lock releasing echoed in the hallway. Slowly, the door swung open and revealed a room with shelves of weapons, pieces of armour, vials, bottles, and miscellaneous trinkets.

The shelves were oddly well labeled making it easy to find the things the Jellybeans were looking for. “The healing potions are over here,” called Aliya. “But I’m too short to reach them.”

“We are not short!” shouted Kira! “We are just vertically challenged! You know I hate the S-word Aliya!” That was a fact the group knew well. During the wolf hunt for the town of Tormund, Ciylia had called Kira short and the halfling lost her temper. The elf was punched several times by Kira and a few of them left bigger bruises. Despite your child-sized body, she was still incredibly strong, probably the strongest of the Jellybeans.

“I’ll assist you,” said Meowlynn and had her magical hand grab the vials of mint green liquid. She passed them down to the cleric who then distributed one per party member. It was a rare moment of the high elf displaying any sort since of kindness. Gene absorbed the moment of teamwork and felt very proud of the group he was designated leader of.

“The silver items are over here,” motioned Ciylia. The space assigned to these types of weapons was smaller than the monk thought it would be but then again creatures with a weakness to silver were probably very rare. There were a few rings, a dagger, a longsword, an ax, a mace, a quiver of arrows with maybe thirty arrows, and a silver mirror.

“Rangers will split the arrows and I’m going to take the silver rings,” said Gene. “If any of you of you would like to borrow a sliver item you are welcome to.” The rest of the party stood there quietly. “Alright, we’ll finish grabbing these things before heading out. Fern, could you log the equipment in the ledger?”

The druid nodded and turned to do what was asked of him. Ciylia had pulled the quiver down so that Kira could also grab some arrows to use. “I’m going to hurt those fucking bastards twice as hard for making me feel useless,” cursed the elven ranger. Kira was nodding her head in agreement. Both of them had a spark of revenge in their eyes.

Gene grabbed the rings and thought about which hand to put them on. He was trained to be able to fight ambidextrously but now he had a dagger that seemed to hurt these creatures a lot. He wasn’t trained to use weapons often as his father believed unarmed combat was the true way to display one’s skill. If Buddy’s dagger was helping him save the lives then he should use it. He should be able to adapt and evolve his style to suit his needs.

The monk pulled that dagger out. The blade wasn’t a beautiful silver colour so why could it hurt the werewolf? He grabbed the silver dagger to compare. His blade was much darker, probably made of steel or iron whereas the silver dagger’s blade was pleasing to look at and had a very thin blade. Maybe that magic guy Rolavish would be able to help him learn more about it. Gene decided to place the rings on his left hand and would use the dagger in his right.

Finally, before leaving the room, Gene stopped at the pedestal that had held the ledger. He double-checked that all the items were accounted for before walking out of the door to meet his teammates that had left the room while he was pondering.

“Since the manly woman did give us directions, I assume we have to find this magic shop ourselves,” sneered Meowlynn. “Why can’t we just get a map with instructions on how to get to the night location? I need my mediative rest!”

“We’ll be fine. We have both his name and what he sells so I’m sure we’ll find it quickly,” sighed Gene. “The best place to get information is the city centre and we can go from there.”

The Jellybeans went to the heart of the city. Stands weren’t as busy yet because it was still earlier in the morning. Since the stall owners weren’t as busy, the group was able to split up and talk to the people who would know the most about shops in the area.

After asking around for a bit they were given clear instructions on how to get to the shop. When they arrived they saw a small, two-story building that stood by itself in the middle of the alley there were in. While other shops or homes nearby were touching its neighbour is some way, like the roofs touching or sharing a wall, this store had its own personal bubble. It had a single door with a large display window that had deep red curtains obscuring the view into the room beyond. Finally, a small sign hung over the door's frame in elegant writing that read: "Rolivich's Wears."

The inside of the shop looked spacious with items that are well organized and almost all had a polished look to them. The selves held tomes, scrolls, and small or tiny artifacts. There was a long counter running the width of the store nearly bisecting it. A single thick and large tome rested on top of it. “Hello,” Gene called out. “Is there anyone here?”

“Yes,” answered a slightly elderly voice. “Just give me a minute!” Items clattering to the ground could be heard from a room in the back. After about a minute a man appeared. He was a really old looking gnomish man. His hair was short and white and his face was clean-shaven. He wore a flat top hat with elegant looking purple robes. Timid but kind eyes met the group.

“How can I help you?” He got onto a step ladder behind the counter to make himself eye level with most of the group.

“Mistress Astrin sent us,” replied the monk. “She said that Rolivish was the man to find to buy magical wares. She thought we’d need them for an upcoming hunt.”

“Astrin?” he stared off into the distance wondering something. “That’s the woman who runs the Hunt? Very good! I’ll have to thank her for sending customers this way.”

"Excuse me," called out Aliya. "Would you be about to tell us about magical or cursed items?"

"I do possess magic capable of such things," answered Rolivish. "What would you like me to look at?"

The short cleric pulled out the two pendants that were still locked together like snakes during mating. The shopkeeper placed his hand over the pair of them and his eyes clouded over. It was as if silver was injected into his eyes but his gaze remained fixed on the pendents. Suddenly a small amount of black ichor bled into the silver-coated eyes and Rolivish's hand jerked back in a panic. His eyes returned to their natural state and he was breathing heavily. The elderly gnome took a moment to regain his composure.

"This one," he pointed at Aliya's holy symbol, "is a pendant from the church of the Holy Seven, its holy magic is trying its best to fight with this other artifact. Sadly, I can't get any information on it. It would be best for a cleric to do it as they could probably purify it first," shrugged Rolivish, trying his best to look nonchalant after his minor panic attack. "Since I could only do the one pendent and told you how to get the other one looked at, that will be ten gold pieces."

Anger seized the cleric's body. Gene thought Aliya was about to attack the old man. The monk stepped forward and placed the money on the table. "Thanks for your advice."

Similar to Meowlynn, Rolivish conjured a magical hand that placed the gold into a pouch behind him. "A pleasure to do business with some new customers. My advice is to be cautious around that black-winged artifact. I sense something corrupt within it."

Aliya snatched them both is a single stroke of her hand. The monk couldn't help but notice the constant scowl on her face. Then, Gene spotted Fern looking through a few vials that were stacked on the counter only moments before Rolivish noticed. "A good eye for magical liquids. Would you care to purchase any of these fine items?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Sure but what are they?" inquired the young druid.

"Well, we have two healing potions, a greater healing potion, and one very special potion that could be yours for the low price of 500 gold," replied Rolivish.

"That sounds like a great deal, I think," muttered Fern. "What is the special liquid?"

A smile flashed across the gnomish merchant's face, "It's a liquid that I made myself. I had to learn how to make it from a crazy old bat but it turned out well. It is a vial of fireball. When you break this vial by throwing it or dropping it, it will burst into a marvelous ball of flame that will burn everything within its radius."

"I do love flashy things. They make me feel glamourous and cool. I'll buy it!" announced Fern.

"Are you sure you trust that man," exclaimed Aliya. "I was told that gnomes that leave there homes aren't really trustworthy." Her anger towards the shopkeeper clearly hadn't subsided.

"Are you also not a gnome that is far from home," Rolivish scoffed. "What a hypocrite."

"I'm here on a sacred mission from my church!" yelled the cleric before placing her hands over her mouth. Her face became pale and it looked like a cross between someone who wanted to vomit and a child who just told a secret they shouldn't have.

The older gnome laughed, "And what would that be child?"

Aliya's face turned to the ground, shame or embarrassment growing with each passing moment, "I'll be outside the door." Her mossy green hair covered her face as she left with Kira silently trailing behind her.

An awkward silence gripped the room before Fern produced the money for Rolivish. "Thanks, I can't wait to try out this explosion in a bottle," chuckled the half-elf. He also walked out of the shop but at least he had a smile on his face.

Slowly, everyone left the room until only Gene and Rolivish were left. "Why haven't you left with the rest of your friends? Do you wish to buy anything?" inquired the elderly gnome with a faint smile.

"A few things actually," sighed Gene. "First, it seems that everyone forgot we came here to buy gear that would help us fight against werewolves. Do you possess any?"

"Most of my store can do that," chuckled the short man as he waved his hand to point towards his whole shop. "Mostly mundane magical weapons can make quick work of them. Even a basic sharpening or durability enchantment on a weapon can cause werebeasts great harm."

"How much would those cost?"

"Around 1,500 for a basic enchantment," stated Rolivish.

The monk furrowed his brow. It was a lot more expensive than he thought. There was no way the team could afford a weapon unless everyone pooled their gold together to get one weapon but that would be unfair to the rest of the group. The only person who had a weapon that could harm the beast in the last encounter was him. The dagger Buddy gave him tore into the creature's flesh. "Would you be able to look at this dagger that I have? It was able to harm the last werewolf we ran into and I want to know why." Gene had a very serious look on his face as he placed Buddy's dagger on the table.

Again, the shopkeeper allowed the silvery haze wash over his eyes as he placed a hand over the blade. He slowly moved it towards the hilt where the ruby and emerald were embedded. They glistened beautifully in the shop's light, almost giving an aura to them. "The ruby is enchanting the dagger with a sharpening enchantment. The emerald is a teleportation crystal. If you focus your mind on teleporting while holding this, you will teleport to the matching crystal. Likewise, the person who has the other half of this could teleport to you."

The human monk recalled the paper that Buddy had given him and how he said that he'd be able to come anytime Gene asked. Was this because he owned the other half? The young man could always use it to escape from a bad situation but there is no telling where he'd end up. "That will be thirty gold please." Rolivish's voice caused the monk to blink absentmindedly before he went to give the gnome his requested gold.

"Thank you for your help. We will visit again and buy some more things," said Gene as he walked out the door. Rolivish waved as his magical hand deposited the gold into the pouch. The leader of the Jellybeans decided that this teleportation crystal will only be used in the direst circumstance. He had no intention of using it to save himself but to save his party members.

"Is everyone ready to clear out the werewolves," he asked as he looked upon his team. Silent nods gave him the answer he was looking and the team set off to complete Astrin's task.