Chapter Seventeen

Deadly white flames dancing along a deadlier blade. Golden light shining bright from a magnificent shield. Immaculate swordsmanship combined with near impossible speed and strength. There is only one word for it.

Grand.

Xorvos just could not get the image of Validus out of his head. And with that image came feelings of awe and helplessness in equal measure.

Just how am I supposed to beat him? I’m not grand like he is. I can give it my all and throw everything I’ve got at him and still not even come close to winning.

He was sitting on a crate in an abandoned house in the small town of Eidon. They hadn’t arrived until late at night and now they were just waiting for Ralisdor. All that amounted to was looking out a window for hours at a time watching people pass by. It left a lot of room for idle thoughts so Xorvos found himself getting distracted.

If I trained every day for the rest of my life, would I ever get to the same level of martial prowess as Validus? He didn’t seem that much older than me, maybe only around a decade, but the thought of me getting that strong in that little time is absurd. Or is it? How hard have I been training compared to him? I’ve just been treating it like a hobby, but that kind of skill and power you don’t get from casual training.

Xorvos’ eyes felt heavy as his stomach grumbled. Shuka cooked him some fish while they were traveling but they were small and not very filling. He had also stayed up all night keeping watch and only got small naps when it was Shuka’s turn to look for Ralisdor. Now he was waiting for her to get back with all of their new supplies and some food. They had quite a few coins now, but they were unable to spend them while it was still the middle of the night. As soon as the sun started to rise Shuka decided to make good use of their funds to make things a bit more comfortable. Xorvos was too tired to complain so he let her.

Where is she? How long does it take to buy two bedrolls and some food? Should I go looking for her?

Right as he thought that Shuka tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Xorvos jumped at the sudden contact and spun around quickly to see his friend carrying a large full of supplies.

“Oh, Shuka. I didn’t see you approach.”

“Of course, you didn’t I was using an illusion. We have to stay hidden remember. We were lucky in Rockmarsh, but we can’t afford to be that careless again. Whenever either of us are in public we have to keep our identities hidden.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry but it’s been a long night, so I just forgot for a moment.”

Shuka gave him a once over and saw the fatigue written all over him.

“Here, why don’t you have a snack then take a nap. I’ll take over watching for Ralisdor for a bit, okay?”

“What about you? After all, you had just as little time as me to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, but unlike you I actually slept when my shift was over. All you did squirm around on the ground for a bit.”

“Well, what did you expect? There isn’t even a bed in here, how am I supposed to get any rest on the floor?”

Shuka just rolled her eyes and took out one of the bedrolls she had just bought.

“You just gotta get used to it. But until then you use this.”

“Thanks. And you said you got food too, right?”

“Yup. Just check in the bag.”

Xorvos did so and found it was filled with all manner of food ready to be eaten. He took some dried jerky and ate it while setting up the bedroll on the floor in another room.

How much longer will I have to eat dried meat and sleep on the floor? I can’t even go out and buy a meal without hiding my identity. I have never felt so small before. When will I be grand like him?

*

Xorvos woke to Shuka lightly shaking him. She didn’t seem hurried in any way, so he figured it probably wasn’t urgent, but he decided to whisper anyway.

“How long was I asleep for?”

“About eight hours or so. I tried waking you earlier, but you were in a pretty deep sleep, so I let you get your rest.”

Eight hours? But it’s going to be so hard getting myself to fall asleep at normal times now. Oh well, at least I actually feel rested now.

“So what did you wake me for? Did Ralisdor arrive?”

“Not yet. I actually wanted to do a little more shopping, but I thought it would be a good idea to bring you along too.”

“Shopping? Didn’t you do that yesterday? Or this morning, I guess. And what do you need me for?”

“Well when I went shopping earlier I passed by a adventurers shop but it was closed since it was so early. I was thinking of buying things like potions there but I don’t really know stuff like that so I’m worried I’ll get scammed. You like fighting though so I thought you might be able to prevent that.”

Seriously? I like fighting so I know how expensive potions are? Well, I do actually know how much a low-grade potion costs, but that’s besides the point.

“Just don’t buy anything over thirty gold and you will be fine. And shouldn’t one of us stay behind and wait for Ralisdor? I though that was why you went shopping alone last time.”

“We will only be gone for an hour or so. And… I would rather not go shopping alone again. Apparently, the curse still works even if I don’t look like myself.”

Ah. Well now I feel like a moron.

“Well then you can just tell me where the shop is, and I can buy the potions myself. If leaving is a risk, then you should stay here where you are safe.”

“No!” Shuka snapped, defiance in her voice. “I won’t just sit around and be useless when there is work to be done.”

Xorvos wanted to rebuke her recklessness, but… then he remembered how useless he had been feeling and relented.

“Alright fine, we can go. When do you want to leave?”

“I was thinking right now. If we wait too long they might close again.”

Close again? Oh right, I guess it’s probably afternoon by now isn’t it.

“Just give me a few minutes to wake up and then we can go.”

“Alright.”

It didn’t take too long for him to get ready. Xorvos had a pretty sparse morning routine even when he was home and it only got shorter after fleeing Rockmarsh. Before they left, Shuka put a illusion on herself to turn her hair blond and skin pale, while Xorvos just took of his gauntlets and wore a cloak. It wasn’t the best disguise ever, but at least it was a cold day so the cloak wasn’t that out of place. The adventurers store wasn’t that far away, so less than half an hour later the two friends were standing in front of it about to enter. It was across the street from the Adventurers Guild and looked distinctly better than most of the other buildings in Eidon. It wasn’t that it was particularly fancy, or even that the everything else was especially bad, you could just tell there was a difference. Only the Adventurers Guild matched it in quality, but guild houses were funded by the government, so they had a minimum standard that was usually met. Officially recognized guilds that is, the Thieves Guild was exempt from that.

I guess they must be doing pretty well, there must be a dungeon around here. Or maybe they are just good at selling stuff.

Xorvos and Shuka entered the shop and found themselves in a room with walls lined in all manner of adventuring equipment. There was everything from weapons, to rope, to potions displayed before them. On the opposite end of the store the shopkeeper was reading a book from behind their desk, although they put the book down when the door opened.

“Hello and welcome to my shop. Sorry, but business has been slow today, so I just thought I would catch up on my reading a bit. Is there anything I can help you with?”

The Shopkeeper was a very tall Quanso with light gray skin wearing a simple pink and yellow dress. Even sitting down their large size was quickly apparent.

Oh, it’s a Quanso! I didn’t expect to meet one out here. With how rare they are you usually only find them in big cities like Rockmarsh. This is my chance to talk with someone from home after so long, since I only saw them in passing in Rockmarsh.

“Well there is nothing specific that we are looking for, but if you could help us find something that can help us we would greatly appreciate it.”

Beside him Shuka shifted in place uncomfortably.

“Err, hold on. Xorvos can I talk to you for a second?”

“Oh, uh… sure.”

Xorvos followed her back onto the street slightly confused.

*

Ahhh, I am so confused! What the hell is going on? I clearly remember Xorvos telling me that there weren’t any female Quanso and yet there is one just inside this building. Did I get it wrong or forget something? Or was Xorvos lying to me when he told me that? No, he wouldn’t do that, it is far more likely that he just got it wrong too. But he didn’t seem too surprised by them, so that can’t be it. I guess I just have to ask him and find out, after all, I don’t want to say the wrong thing and mess things up.

“Xorvos, I thought there weren’t any female Quanso, but that one was wearing a dress. Did I just remember that wrong or is something else going on?”

“Well, it’s true that there aren’t any female Quanso, but there aren’t any male Quanso either. We are genderless so what we wear is usually more up to personal taste than anything else. Dresses and other feminine clothing isn’t exactly common, but it’s not anything surprising.”

Genderless!? What does that even mean? And wait, does that mean Xorvos isn’t actually a guy? How am I even more confused than before?

Shuka started to chew on a fingernail as she processed this new information.

Okay, so if Xorvos is genderless and he is fine with me referring to him as a guy, then does that means the shopkeeper would be fine with being referred to as a girl because that is how they are presenting themselves? Or is Xorvos like that because he has spent most of his life around humans and other Quanso would get mad at that? I don’t have enough information.

“So, if they are not a girl or a guy, then how should I talk to them? Will they get mad if I use certain pronouns?”

Xorvos almost rolled his eyes at the question, but he stopped himself. He knew this was all important information for Shuka to know, but to him it was just common knowledge.

“Most Quanso don’t really care what pronouns you use, and the ones that do will tell you. But if you are really that worried you can just ask them what they prefer.”

I can’t just ask them that can I? It seems like it would be rude, and rude is the last thing I want to be with this curse.

Regardless of Shuka’s worries Xorvos saw the conversation as complete and entered the shop again. Following after him, she found that Xorvos was already approaching the shopkeeper to talk to them.

“Sorry about that, I hope you didn’t mind.”

“Oh, don’t worry I didn’t mind at all.”

The glance they briefly shot at Shuka implied otherwise, but Xorvos decided to ignore that.

“Me and my friend are looking to protect ourselves and we thought your shop would have some stuff to help with that.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. Is this just for general protection or are you planning to take on the dungeon by Eidon.”

“General protection. I didn’t even know there was a dungeon here.”

I guess that explains why this shop is so much nicer than the rest of the town. They must be selling to rich adventurers passing by for the dungeon. Anyway, it looks like Xorvos has talking to them handled, so I might as well browse as I wait for him to finish.

Shuka began to walk away from the two Quanso and look around the shop. There was all sorts of gear on display and even some magical items, although those were locked inside display cases. Some of the items made sense to Shuka, like the lanterns and torch’s, but others confused her. Like the dozens of small metal balls held in a pouch, or the segmented wooden pole that was almost twice as long as she was.

I guess you need all sorts of things in a dungeon.

Eventually Shuka’s browsing brought her to the potions section where various vials filled with colourful liquids were displayed. Like the magic items in the shop they were locked inside of a display case with their prices shown on the outside.

Looks like it’s twenty gold for a low-quality potion of healing. I still have about forty-five gold left after my previous shopping, so I can buy two and still have a little left over. I won’t have enough for anything else though. Why is everything in here so expensive? The cheapest thing here is rations and even that costs silver. Everything else is in gold.

While she was looking at the potions, the shopkeeper had apparently finished talking to Xorvos and came up behind Shuka.

“See anything you like?”

“Ah! Oh, uh… sorry I didn’t see you there. You’re a lot quieter than you look.”

“I get that a lot. You learn how to be quiet when you are an adventurer for over thirty years. But in this case, you just weren’t paying attention.”

Thirty years? They only look a little older than Xorvos. Well, Quanso do live for around two-hundred years but I didn’t think they would age that slowly. Now that I think about it, Xorvos’ dad didn’t look that old either.

“Well? Are you buying anything?”

“Oh, right, sorry. I was thinking of buying two of those potions of healing. The lower quality ones.”

“Excellent. That will be forty gold.”

Shuka took out her coin pouch and took out her remaining four platinum coins. She had already exchanged one of them to get a collection of gold, silver, and copper coins which now filled the small bag. Spending so much of her money at once made her hesitate, but she remembered her previous experiences with healing potions and knew they were necessary.

Even a low-quality potion can be the difference between life and death. One for me and one for Xorvos should be enough for now, but we might need to get more once we have some more coin.

The shopkeeper took the coins and moved to the display case to unlock it. They took out a key from a small bag tied to their belt and opened the container with it, before putting the key back in its place. Shuka couldn’t help but notice that the key was attached to a cord that led back into the bag it came from.

Oh, I see. Since the key is attached to the bag, you can’t steal one without taking the other. But what’s preventing someone from just taking the whole bag? Well, I guess it looks pretty securely tied to their belt, but I’m sure a good enough pickpocket could still get it loose. Although I guess the bigger deterrent is just their size. Dress or not, I don’t think anyone would underestimate them in a fight.

Soon enough the potions were retrieved, and the case was locked again. The shopkeeper held out the two potions to Shuka while telling her how to use them.

“These are pretty weak potions so you will probably have to use the entire potion for anything serious. That being said they are still strong enough to stabilize a near fatal wound and fully heal a lesser injury. It won’t fully heal everything, but it should at least stop the bleeding and give you a chance to recover on your own. Also, make sure you drink the potion, it has to be ingested to work, you can’t just splash the potion on the wound and expect it to do anything.”

Shuka took the potions while listening.

“Thanks. Uh, sorry but I don’t think I got your name.”

“It’s Videon. And if you really want to thank me then you can take up my offer.”

“Offer? What do you mean?”

“I already asked your friend, and he is thinking it over. I don’t want to explain it twice so just ask him. I will need an answer by the end of the day though.”

And with that they left. Well really, they just walked back to their desk not that far away, but the point is they were done talking. Xorvos was nearby and when he saw Videon leave he approached Shuka himself.

“Hey, did you get the potions?”

“Yeah, but what’s this offer they told me about?”

“Right, that. Basically, she wants us to clear a dungeon with her. I think we should do it.”

…What?!