Dex followed a few steps behind Mord. The door brought Dex into a large square room with no windows. The walls were bright white with dark brown trim. The walls had matching display cabinets and shelves along them.

The center of the room had a large square table with dozens of different boxes arranged within it. A fancy green and gold carpet covered much of the beautifully stained floor below the table.

Turning around, Dex noticed a picture mounted on the wall which stood out. A charcoal drawing of a stick house and stick family that looked to be made by a child was within an ornate frame. To Dex's surprise, the door was now gone, like it had never been there.

Mord sees the young man's growing anxiety at now being trapped inside the room. "You're inside of a pocket dimension. My gem of power allows me to create them."

Letting out a breath, Dexter was scared and amazed at the same time. "Wow," he let out.

Mord, for the first time, smiled. "I don't have any common clothes here, but I got a variety of armor and weapons and a variety of gems. If you tell me where you're staying, I can get them ran to you or get you in touch with my tailor to come and visit you," He said. Mord took on a businesslike approach. "You currently have twenty-one silver worth, but I have a feeling you will be back with more. My services are not cheap, but I assure you, they're the best."

Dexter nodded. "I don't doubt it." Dex walked over to the far wall. It had mannequins wearing full sets of armor. They labeled each with a description. Not being able to read was ruining his mood now. "What do you recommend? I do not know what I'm looking for."

Mord placed a large polished box on the table in the middle of the room. "I recommend something that allows you to move, and won't hinder you or teammates within the wilds or in a cramped dungeon." Mord began pulling out items and setting them on the table. "Personally, I stuck to light with a mix of medium armor. Later on, I got accustomed to an armored robe which is more expensive but has greater protection." He said, showing Dex what looked like a simple gray robe.

"If you want to be in the vanguard. I recommend medium mixed with plate for that, but you don't really look like you could move in that." he said, looking over Dex's scrawny frame, "There is also padded and chain mail as well." Mord walked over while explaining, stopping and reaching down, and picking up a box behind a mannequin. Mord's footsteps were light, and he seemed to glide around the room. Placing the box on the table, "I recommend this, for now. It's a partial set of light armor, protects your chest and shoulders mainly, forearms as well, only two silver and I'll throw in some second-hand clothes in too. What kind of weapon do you use?"

Dex turned towards the corner of the room. Its walls were full of weapons, most hung on horizontal pegs along the wall. The taller weapons leaned against a rack adjacent to it. "I'm not sure. I was using a spear, but it was all I had."

Mord nodded. "Spear is good. Has good reach and penetration, a potent weapon, but I suggest pairing it with something shorter, just in case you get disarmed or your weapon gets broken." Mord said, standing next to Dex. "Spears are great in open spaces and on horseback. Paired with something like a short sword for anything close range would be ideal."

Looking over all the weapons on display. Dex was thinking about his spear's shaft breaking in half and immediately being impaled through the stomach by the spider boss right after it happened.

"Go ahead, go test them. They won't mind. And I won't sell anyone a weapon without having a few good swings. Weight, length, even feel has a direct impact on the wielder."

Looking over the racks, Dexter picked up a tall spear with a wide broad head of dull metal, but it weighed a ton. "How can a spear made of wood be so heavy?" Dex thought. Not even being able to lift the spear off the wooden rack it was leaning against.

Finding a much shorter spear, its length being half of what the previous spear was. The entire thing looked to be made of one singular piece and expertly crafted. The handle made up two-thirds of the overall length. The blade was around two feet long and had a delicate but subtle curve that tapered down and faded into the handle seamlessly. The entire thing was blackened steel.

Lifting it off the stand. It didn't weigh much at all. The handle had a nice feel to the grip. Swinging it around. Not knowing much about weapons, but it felt good. "How much is this one?"

Mord looked it over. "That is a very good weapon. Though it's more of a lance than a spear, some may even call it a glaive due to it only having a single cutting edge. Found that on a trip to the Eastern planes, bought it for 10 silver, so I'll sell it to you for the same. Though wouldn't you like to keep searching?" Mord asked.

Dex picked up half a dozen other weapons and tried them out with a few practice swings. Mord watched as he did. "What an amateur," he thought, watching the kid.

"I still like that first one the most. What about gems? I only need another support one." Dex said.

Mord nodded and grabbed the lance from the rack and placed it on the table next to the armor he placed out earlier. "Come over here. I got a good assortment of gems at the moment." Sliding over a wide shallow tray with a dozen gems inside a felt-lined tray.

Marble size gems filled the whole thing, each in their own little spot within the grid. Some were dull, some were bright, almost all were glowing in a multitude of colors or just a single color. Small labels underneath said the name and a brief description of what they did, and lastly, the price.

Some ranged from a handful of coppers to whatever black gold was. He nor Dextum ever heard the term before. Shaking his head. Dex quickly eliminated any gem that cost more than a silver, which narrowed down his options drastically. Only five out of the dozen were under a gold and he already could get two of them from the dungeon across the way.

Troll blood - "Troll blood gem gives the user a small regeneration to the body. Higher levels change the user's body to more resemble troll physique." - 50C

Spider eye - "Alters the vision of the user to view around them similar to how a spider sees." - 8S

Climber Claw - "Creates retractable claws in users' fingers can be used to attack or climb objects. Painful change in hands until fully adapted." - 25C

Pebble skin - "Creates a small layer of earth over the body. Changes appearance" - 10S

Scan - "Used primarily in professions. The use of scan allows the user to see hidden details in an object, and further increasing visual prowess." 5S

Seeing the prices, Dexter was amazed. The descriptions of some of them left something to be desired. He knew troll blood would begin changing him, but to what extent, he had no idea. Picking it up. Dex felt a connection with it.

The troll blood gem looked exactly like the one he had already. The connection felt like he wanted to devour it. Looking at it. "Why is the troll blood so cheap? Doesn't the regeneration out weight the downsides?"

"Aye, they do, but most people are pretty vain. Gaining a foot or two and gaining a couple of hundred pounds would do that to most, even if it could save their life better than most healers. Cheaper too. Fewer people use a troll blood gem at higher levels. Some people buy them and use them until they're higher level and replace them before major changes happen," Mord explained.

"The market dungeon sometimes spawns a fearsome troll. It only drops that gem you're holding, so a few rolls in here. So I have a stock of them." He said, grabbing another box full of the red gems and slid it across the table.

"Some adventurers and merchants from out-of-town buy them out of curiosity. Since no one seems to know what a troll is outside of Lux, they don't really know what to expect." He continued to explain. The desire to consume it was growing the longer Dex held the gem.

"I used one for a long time, but the effects on the body after removing it are more expensive than buying one. I was almost two feet taller than I am now. Slate had started forming on my legs and arms, which don't get me wrong. The rocks worked like a free version of pebble skin, but they always itched." he scratched his large forearm like a phantom itch. "After removing the gem, I spent a month bedridden at the church as I healed. Returning me to a more human state." Mord was over six feet tall and he would have towered over most people Dex had seen in the market, including his son, who was shorter than Dexter was.

Dexter had never looked away from the gem. The hunger for it was getting overwhelming. He couldn't take it anymore, but he needed to be polite. "Would you mind if I try something? If use or harm or destroy it, I'll repay you."

Mord looked him over and shrugged. "Sure, go for it, kid. I'll be right back. Another customer is in the store." A door instantly appeared out of thin air beside him, and Mord walked out of it and the door vanished behind him.

Normally, being trapped alone would scare whoever it was, but Dex couldn't be bothered. Nothing seemed to matter besides the gem in his hand.

Dex willed the tattoo to appear. It slowly floated up, taking on its sphere-like shape. The numbers on the ribbons had changed.

-Golden Ribbons-

Power: 5

Speed: 3

Grace: 3

Mana: 8

Seeing the changes, he felt like he was slowly progressing, but not exactly knowing what each number meant. Power would probably be similar to a strength stat. While speed was movement or how fast he could move. Grace just sounded like a fancier version of speed. Mana was almost exactly as he imagined it, though mana normally is the resource for magic. Knowing he could cast more shadow spikes now than when he first completed the dungeon. Being able to use it around ten times now before it made him almost blackout from the drain.

Moving the troll blood gem towards the one already within the array, the hunger increased. Touching them together brought an unexpected result. The one in the array pulled the new one against its surface, then it became less of a solid and more of a liquid, which covered the original. Until it solidified and took a deeper red color. Pulling up the description that appeared when he focused on his gems.

Support gem: Trolls blood (Improved purity)

"Regenerates health"

Dexter looked at the new description. Improved purity. "What does that do?" he thought. Just then, the door soundlessly appeared. Seeing Mord, Dex let the sigil vanish.

Mord frowned. "I got a good glimpse of your sigil. Try not others see your sigil. Someone like me could grab your gems and steal them in less than a blink of an eye. Best to do it in private or around your most trusted allies, if you must."

Dexter didn't know what to say. He just nodded. "I owe you a troll blood, but would you by chance have more?" excited to feed the purity of his gem, so he asked.

"Aye, I do. What do you need another for? You cannot use two of the same gem."

Dexter didn't know if it was common or not to improve a gem's purity or not. He went with his gut and to trust Mord. "I had a troll blood gem already, but when I picked the new one up.." he couldn't quite come up with the words. "It was like it hungered for it."

The old man conjured a chair out of thin air and sat down at the table. Reaching over, he pulled over the box. "I'm almost three-hundred years old and an adventurer in my prime. Places like Sundorn would herald me as a hero at being a level five before age caught up with me." Dexter was astonished, three-hundred and a level five. "But in all my years of travel and adventure, I have never heard of such a thing. Show me."

Opening the box, almost twenty troll blood gems sat inside. "If you can show me something I've never seen, I'll let you have everything on the table, excluding my service fee, of course," he said with a smile. "Summon your tattoo. I promise on my life that I wouldn't steal from you, harm you in any way, or tell anyone of what I am about to witness," he said confidently. I could feel a bond connect between us and knew for certain he would do those things as if his life depended on it.

He pushed over the box and watched me. Summoning up the tattoo. Mord could clearly see the gems floating inside. He raised an eyebrow at the centermost one but didn't brochure the topic. Picking up a gem, I did as before and touched them. The now physically smaller one stuck to the larger gem and melted before our eyes, forming around the first one before solidifying around the oldest. Hearing Mord's chair crash to the floor as he stood up abruptly. "How, how, how did... how did you do it? Do you know what this means?" Mord said, standing over me, and realizing he was holding his forearm.

Looking at Mord, Dex wasn't worried, but he didn't quite know what it meant. "No, but I know it is getting stronger."

Mord let go and grabbed the box. "Do them, do them all if you must," he observed Dex place one at a time until on the 10th gem to have completely merged, did Dex feel like the gem was giving off a tingling sensation. Its color, now a deep blood red, pulsed. Reading the description.

Support gem: Trolls blood (Pureblood)

"Greatly Regenerates health"

Advancement required

Dexter read the description out loud. "It says, "Advancement required." What does that mean?" Looking over at Mord, who looked like he was more excited than me, fidgeting with multiple stones in his hands.

"This is too fascinating." Mord summoned up his own sigil. In the center was a gem that was ten-sided, with only two support gems above and below it, with no room for more. Mord plucked the bottom one out and shoved it into his pocket before placing a troll blood gem inside. He picked up another from the box, placing it against the first. It slowly melted and formed around the first.

A smile spread over Mord's face. It took all the remaining troll blood gems to complete his. He read his description and nodded. "Never in my life had I thought gems could do this," Then upon realizing he frowned. "Don't tell anyone else. It could get unwanted attention. I already can't, but don't allow anyone else to know until we know more. You have one open slot support left. Let's try something else."

He handed me the gem "scan" and pulled another box from the table Dex presumed had more "scan" gems inside of. Just one more of the tables many boxes that lined it. Over a dozen more sat inside. "You can remove it whenever you want. It doesn't make any changes to you physically or mentally. I'll warn you now that the more you use some gems, the more backlash you'll get from removing them. Any effects can be temporary or permanent and will mess with your life. Like the troll blood." Mord advised.

Dexter placed the new gem inside and didn't feel any difference until he touched the table with his other hand. He felt connected to it, knowing exactly what was inside, how many nails were used, noticing a small chunk was missing out of the very bottom foot that held the center up from sagging. He knew it all until his head started swimming with pain. "Oh, watch out for that. New scan skills will keep going until you know how to sever the connection. It will keep drawing mana until it's gone."

"Thanks." Picking up another scan gem from the box, Dex felt no connection, no hunger, no need for another. Placing it against the first resulted in nothing happening. Mord was flustered. It didn't work.

We tried more and more using me as a genie pig. Mord closed the shop early, and we did all the support gems he owned that he had multiples of. No other worked like the troll blood. Mord stopped when he heard Dex's stomach growl.

We left his dimension and sat in his house above his shop. He introduced me to his wife, and we sat eating some soup his wife made. Mord gave me the Scan gem, saying it can come in handy if I mastered it. Mord didn't know what the description of the gem meant when it said advancement, but he said it would probably be like when it leveled up and you can advance it further and gain more power with it.

"Thank you for dinner, Patricia. It was very good." Mord's wife Patricia was a wonderful woman who, I guess, was over a hundred but barely looked past her thirties. She had a sigil marking of three on her hand. She had insisted I stay for dinner when she found out that Mord had kept me cooped up in the shop all day.

Dex ended up paying three silvers to Mord for his service, and in turn, got twenty-nine silver worth of gear for free. Leaving me with nineteen silver still to my name. Feeling better in a set of clean clothes, and a complimentary backpack that was an old one of Michels. The clothes were his as well. Patricia wouldn't have it any other way. Mord set me up to meet a leatherworker to get the glaive a sheath in the afternoon.

After saying their farewells, Dex headed to the inn Michel mentioned earlier. It was around a twenty-minute walk from the dungeon square. The building was two stories with a rough stone first floor and an overhanging second floor built of wood with peeling white paint. Above the door was a wooden sign with a gold stein painted on it. "The lucky stein." the tavern/inn was artfully written over it.

The thin owner in his late fifties gave Dex an appraising look as he walked in and before the owner could get rid of him. Dex explained who sent him and the owner only nodded. Explaining the rules and costs. It would cost five copper a night, but Dex paid a full silver and told him to keep a running tab. He just nodded and offered a plate of cold dinner and after seeing Dex, he offered a fresh hot bath on the house. Dex, knowing that he hasn't bathed in, well, he didn't know when this body had last seen a true bath. He immediately took the offer.

The owner called over a server, the only one walking around helping the other patrons in the dimly lit common room of the inn. Taking a seat at the table while the bath was drawn. Watching the other patrons curled around a mug of ale, or picking at a plate of food. Most of them sat near the hearth on the wall opposite the entrance and were chatting quietly.

A few minutes went by before the tub was ready and Dex followed the server to the bathing room. Using something like a smelly and hard soap helped to scrub his skin clean of filth. It made his skin tingle on contact. Finally relaxing and sitting in the wood tub, did Dex finally felt human again. Talking to Michel was a wonderful boon, and he would owe him and his father.

After the water lost its warmth. Dex finally got out to get dressed. Getting back in his new used clothes. Grabbing all he had, Dex finally left the bathing room. The server was sitting on a stool right outside. She looked asleep. She had long brown hair that fell over her features, pooling in her lap. She wore a yellow dress that was simple but didn't look bad on her at all. Dex was confused as to why she was there. Touching her shoulder gently, she finally woke up.

"Sor...Sorry Sir, I must have fallen asleep. I was told to show you to your room, but I got tired while you were bathing. I'm so sorry," she pleaded, looking at the floor.

"It's fine. I was the one who took a long time in the bath. I haven't had a chance to bathe in a while, so it's my fault. Would you please show me to my room....uhm, what was your name again?"

"Emily, my name is Emily." She finally looked up. Seeing her large brown eyes and slightly chubby cheeks made her look younger than me, but she was a little taller than me. Which didn't take much. This body was barely five-six, and malnourished seemed to stunt this body's growth.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dex. No need to be so formal, Emily." Gesturing for her to lead the way, "Would you mind showing me to my room, Em? Can I call you Em, or do you prefer Emily?"

Her cheeks got a shade pinker, taking her a second to reply, "Em is fine Sir, I mean Dex. Follow me. Your room is at the end of the hall here. If you need anything, please come find me. Would you need anything else tonight, Dex?" She seemed nervous asking that question but not digging into it.

Dex just shrugged. "No, I think that I'm good. Thank you, and this is for your trouble." Pulling out a thin copper coin, it had a square through it as well, but it was very plain compared to a silver or gold piece. She smiled and hesitantly took it like she was scared it was a trap or that he would take it back.

Smiling, before walking into the room. "Goodnight Em, sleep well."

"You too, Dex," she said quietly. She looked to be even redder now. Closing the door and shaking his head. The room was very spartan. A small dresser with a mirror and a frame with what Dex assumed was a feather mattress.

He flipped the mattress and threw the blankets back on it. He sat at the end of the bed and looked at the mirror. A face he didn't recognize was looking back at him. Black hair no longer matted and dirty, with sunken cheeks and thin lips. Sharp features and bright eyes stared back at him. His eyes were dark gray in color. Very different from his baby blues back on Earth that seemed to stand out by being so bright. Laying in the bed, which wasn't feather but straw of some kind, wasn't the most comfortable, but remembering he slept on worse or nothing at all in this life and before.

He looked at the only light source in the room. It looked like a copper lamp similar to antique oil ones from earth with an ornate base that held oil and a glass chimney to protect the flame inside it. This one held a glowing yellow stone embedded in the base as the flame, and the chimney was a dull copper color, with matched the base perfectly. They slid together to block the light if pushed on a simple metal slide that was attached between them. He pushed the top, which smoothly closed, extinguishing the light in the room.

The room was in total darkness and the only light was seen was barely filtering through the only window that was in the room. The thick glass had a slight swirl and wave in the glass itself and it wasn't completely clear but with a light blue hue. It was dirty and very cloudy. Not the most refined glass Dex has ever seen, but better than nothing looking out, he could make out the red moon high above, partially hidden by the cloud above the city.