“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.”

- Erma Bombeck

Drifting along with the other visitors to the market they reached the outskirts and the first shops. An apothecary stood beside a purveyor of leather crafts, a tailor near some shop selling pottery.

“Only one of the eight sections is specialized towards a certain product and that would be the Arcaneum. There you can buy enchanted gear and books, ingredients, and components for sorcery. Here you might find a bit of enchanted cloth like the ones you are wearing, but that is the extent of it.” Lieseleta as the only one native to the city began to explain. “We will visit that last I think- If no one has any objections?”

The girls shook their heads.

Mireille asked, “and why would you recommend that- It seems to be the most interesting part of the market.”

“The rest is not lesser in either quality or diversity and it would be a shame if we spend all our time in the Arcaneum without going anywhere else.” The princess answered.

“And you spent the last weekend there already.” Murmured Jera under her breath a faint grin on her face.

Lieseleta boxed her on the shoulder which probably hurt her more than it did her stoic guardian. Jera bowed her head and said, “I must ask my ladies forgiveness.”

“Oh, you!”

The group went past a few shops selling glassworks of surpassing beauty, tinted in a variety of colors and sometimes even lifelike.

“How do they get the cat to be this cute!” Alyssa, having been tempted by Semiramis, admired a small figurine.

“Only six silver pieces!” The shops attendant, a buxom brunette in her late forties smiled as she sorted some new ones onto the display table. “They are selling very well today.”

“You have a great selection.”

“Why thank you, my dear. If it is for you, I could go as low as five silver.”

“Yes, I will buy the cat.” Alyssa struggled with herself but in the end, decided to be a bit spendthrift. ‘Only for today, we don’t have any income I know of.’

Wrapping the cat in some soft papers the attendant made a bow out of colored string and smiled. “Here, all yours.”

Smiling they went on their way. A delicious smell tickled their noses and Mireille gestured for them to follow, which they bemusedly did.

A young man probably in his late teens stood at a distance and observed them closely. He wore a coat of dark green with the symbol of the academy emblazoned on his left breast. He had frazzled blonde hair and watery blue eyes, a beard that seemed as if it had come about by neglect rather than design, and a sapphire earring in a silver fitting. Alyssa, out of the corner of her eye, saw him leave and thought. 'The market seems to be popular with academy students. I think I have not seen him before.' And lost her train of thought as she spied Mireille focusing on a specific direction.

There was a shop selling all manner of spices. “Do you think we could buy some of this here?” Mireille pointed towards a large bin filled with a red fruit approximately the size of a cherry. “I don’t know what they are called, but you can glaze them with sugar and they are the most awesome treat.”

“They are called lo-berries and they are from Sur Kesh,” Lieseleta interjected.

“They are as fresh as they can be with great pains taken to ship them as soon as they are picked.” A gentle voice spoke, there was the slightest hiss in the consonants.

They looked and a young woman arranged a basket with a hard-looking red fruit. She was of middling height, ca. 1,7 meters, and wore loose bright green clothing that showed a lot of skin. Her skin was also a light green color and seemed to have scales at the elbows, neck, and cheeks while her hair was straight, black, and fell to the middle of her back. The eyes were yellow and slit, like a snake. The tongue flickering intermittently from her mouth was split. The lips were mostly soft-looking but with small indentations reminiscent of a reptiles. She was at once exotic, pretty, and disturbing – at least to those who might not like snakes or reptiles.

Alyssa stared openly before she got ahold of herself, Mireille was even worse as she went over and looked at her from up close. Tilting her head and smiling a bemusedly the snake-woman continued. “I welcome you to this fine shop. If anything catches your fancy feel free to ask me anything. My name is Iseret Sekesh.”

A collar formed from iron links enclosed her throat, it was nearly invisible unless looked for or from very close.

Mireille grinned and said, “how much for the lo-berries?”

“They are 8 silvers a pound.”

The red-head was a bit surprised to hear that and old habits let her discard the idea to buy them immediately as Alea spoke. “We will take four pounds, please. Can you have that sent to the academy, Wisteria Dorms?”

“Of course, that will be another silver for the messenger if you please.”

Alea paid and they browsed through the other wares.

Vivienne looked at Iseret and smiled, “How long have you been here in Kronenburg?”

“Since about two years ago.” With the inhuman features and reptilian eyes, Iseret was difficult to read.

“She looks much more human than the snake-people I have seen before,” Alyssa whispered to Alea.

“That is because she is a so-called pure-blood. They are the least important caste in Sur Kesh. The more snake-like they are the higher their standing. And probably a slave by the collar she wears.” Alea answered softly. “It should say something about their views of humanity that the ones looking the most like us are regarded as somehow lesser.”

“Pure sounds as if it should be better?” Alyssa argued.

“Don’t talk to me about that. I did not make those distinctions. But I would think that a mostly human-looking but still exotic salesperson is a rather better choice than a walking snake at least in a human city.” Alea mused.

They explored more of the market and were a bit exhausted as they finally reached the Arcaneum. It was not a single building, rather it was an agglomeration of several buildings joined together by roofed walkways and freestanding skybridges that should have been impossible but for the use of magic. The walls were made of polished stone like granite or even marble. The ubiquitous red or grey bricks used for most other constructions were conspicuously absent here. The impression was one of wealth and class.

“Is there anything you are interested in?” Lieseleta asked.

“Books mostly,” Alyssa answered. “I don’t think they would have void paraphernalia?”

“Those should be in short supply but also in low demand. You could get lucky I suppose.”

Vivienne hummed to herself as she looked through assorted staffs lying on display tables outside a shop with the name ‘Staffs and Wands for your daily needs’

“Excuse me?” Alyssa asked one of the attendants an older man. “Do you carry void aspected wands or staffs?”

“Void? Mh. I would have to ask.” He bade them wait and went into the back of the shop. After a short delay, he came back with a younger blonde woman in her twenties wearing a dark grey dress.

“I am Miss Avery and you are?”

“Alyssa Miner, first-year in the Academy of the Arts.”

“Ah yes. Then it should be fine. Princess?” She looked surprised to see Lieseleta standing nearby talking to Alea.

“We came together and she recommended this shop to me.” Swallowing some of her pride she tried to gain a bit of goodwill. ‘A few people recommended enchanted foci to lessen the burden on my soul. I need to make progress.’

Ms. Avery scrutinized her. “Yes, we do have a few foci for void magicians. I will show you. Follow me.” She turned to go after making sure Alyssa was following.

They went through the main salesroom towards the back. There were a lot of shelves and racks showcasing the merchandise. After reaching a large ironbound door Avery made a few gestures and held a pendant before a round plate of dark metal. Like a flower blooming glyphs swam into being and rotated into different configurations before finally fading, the door opened with a loud clacking sound.

“Just wait a moment. I will be right back.” Ms. Avery went inside, for a short moment great chests decorated with runes were visible behind the open door. The walls were sheathed in lead.

Meanwhile, at the shop's entrance, Mireille studied the assorted wands. “How do you use one of those and is there really a market for that many?”

Vivienne grinned and answered. “These wands allow someone without much training to use some simple spells. That is quite a boon for those not learning to become a wizard or branded. The spells are usually not as potent as they would be for a branded for example and the wands have to recharge after a few uses- at least that is how it usually goes. There are exceptions, wands that draw upon ambient magic to recharge. But that is expensive and difficult and probably not worth it to most people. I would use them as a sort of backup weapon or to compensate for a lack on my part.” She eyed her speculatively. “You could probably use a lower-end healing wand. It would not do much for deep wounds but it could keep you from bleeding out until say Alyssa heals you up.”

“Are we going to fight? I was under the impression this was mostly an academic sort of academy?”

“There are some tests especially later that can focus on your combat capabilities, at least if you took some classes that were in that direction.”

“So ‘Sword One’ for example. Huh?”

“That is an excellent example, yes.” Vivienne did not hide her laughter.

“It's no big deal. I have some experience in fighting!” Mireille proudly pushed out her chest.

In the back of the shop.

“These are the ones available at the moment. Sorry that there are not that many.” Ms. Avery spread four items on a felt-covered table. “This here is a wand of Graves Touch, sorry for the name.” She looked a bit miffed. “This here is an orb of void attunement. Might be what you are looking for. Then we have a dagger of flesh-rot. Again with the names. Sorry. And last we have a locket of remembrance.”

Alyssa looked at the orb which was made of a smoky, dark-grey crystal banded with runed silver about the width of a large human fist. The orb was slightly irregular as if it had been melted and left to solidify. The dagger was made of bone, probably enchanted otherwise it would be a short acquaintance as soon as battle with metal weapons was joined. The locket was small and made of copper that looked to have seen better days, dented and pitted with age it showed some verdigris at the joints. It was engraved with the picture of a woman in side-profile and a deep sadness seemed to emanate from the simple lines of her beautiful face.

“I would like to know more about the amulet and the orb.”

“The amulet is used to gain insight into the identity and possibly the death of a deceased human. It has not been ascertained if it would be usable for nonhuman sentients.” She looked at the orb and continued, “The orb channels void energies and makes them more suitable for use by...ahem…the living. The orb is 42 gold pieces, the locket is 12 gold pieces.”

“I will have to ask my friend. She has something to say about our funds too.” Alyssa was tempted but it was not only her money.

She went and looked for her friend and after explaining the general gist of it she asked, “Mireille what do you think? It’s your money too. The orb would be helpful, probably.”

Mireille seemed a bit hesitant over the price and said, “Let’s talk to Vanessa first?”

“Mh. That seems to be a good idea. Though it is a shame.”

“It is unlikely that the orb will be bought in the next few days and tonight we will be at the townhouse and Vanessa will be there too if everything goes as planned.” Mireille consoled her.

Lieseleta looked on and nodded. “The prices reflect the rarity and value, they do not seem inflated to me. I will ask the shopkeeper to reserve the orb for at least a week if you want.”

“You have shown us around and without Jera we would not have had such a good time. We cannot possibly impose on you more.” Alyssa shook her head. “I will ask if she can hold it for us for a few days but you need not become involved.” Alea looked at her and gave a small nod. Alyssa nodded back. 'Alea directly told me she did not want to use her friends to her advantage. She does not have many of those.'

The young man with the sapphire earring strayed close and seemed deep in thought.

Alyssa wondered, 'Mh, he seems like a fourth-year from the academy, today I have seen him more than once already, coincidence?'

They looked around the bookshops, there were several large establishments, and Alyssa found a book on foundational void magic. It seemed used and probably did not contain as in-depth a look at the subject as Vanessa had taught her already but it was useful for looking up facts and glyphs she had forgotten without having to wait for her mentor to be available again.

Mireille found a degen and a boiled-leather breastplate that fit her style in a shop featuring lower-class magical arms and armor.

“It was quite cheap too at only…” she coughed, “mmmh gold.”

“What was that? I did not get that last part.” Alyssa looked confused.

Mireille mumbled a bit.

“Speak up or we will be at it until we have to leave.” Alyssa was getting a bit irritated.

“It was 23 gold.”

“That sounds good for what you bought but what about asking Vanessa, or me?” She teased.

“Sorry I got carried away. The sword was sooo well balanced and sharp and the metal will take a lightning-based enchantment if we ever get to enchant it further, at the moment it is simply mana-tempered and has an endurance rune inscribed, same as the armor.”

“It is necessary for you to have something to defend yourself with, I have my magic with and without a focus. And I bought the book.” She looked wistful. “Perhaps Vanessa will endorse buying the orb, we still have some jewels from the dead maid-spy. I did not think I would ever say something like 'spy' in a normal sentence and mean it.” Alyssa looked incredulous.

And then it was time to return to the inn for lunch. The princess was especially animated and in a good mood, even Valens thawed a bit and spoke to Mireille and Alyssa. Alea was a bit taciturn as was her wont but her new golden-haired friend forced her into the conversation nonetheless.

As they finally reached the inn they were all famished and fatigued but in a good mood.

A young blonde man with a sapphire earring walked into a quiet corner behind some street stalls and spoke the words of a spell. A sparrow made of runes materialized. It took some time and the result was not comparable to a 'real' bird but it cocked its head and the man spoke, "They went shopping, did not buy anything of import unless you count a bunch of jewelry and some lesser arms and armor. Waste of my time. Will remain on station until they return to the academy or other lodgings. Will report in more detail when I return. Master Calvin, Jeremiah out."