The leaders of the village all looked down in horror at Arthur. He squatted on a large rock over a rough fire pit. “If I knew what you were gonna do with that pot, I probably wouldn’t have gave it to you.” Brielle commented, wrinkling her nose as she looked in at the contents. Arthur used burning hands to melt some butter into a small metal cup. “What? Am I cooking them wrong?” Even Vulwin had taken his attention away from his book to look sourly upon the berserker. “ I can’t imagine someone wanting to eat that.” Euld nodded in agreement. “River bugs.” He muttered under his breath. The head healer for the village was also there, pinching his nose shut. “At least Atreus wouldn’t have eaten something so disgusting.” It didn’t take long after meeting Abbott for Arthur to learn how snide the elderly mage was. Filantriam had hid himself as an alternative to having to speak to his superior. Arthur used a ladle to take out one of the crawfish from the boiling pot; sadly his digits were only slightly more resistant to heat when burning-hands wasn’t active.

Only Mung wasn’t visibly upset when Arthur pinched the river bug in half, dipped it in butter, and carefully devoured the good meat under the shell. The healer actually gagged, which annoyed the hell out of Arthur. After all, he had been the one that was standing over him with a scowl and judging him for what he was eating. Arthur quickly blocked him out however. The crawdad tasted incredible and he congratulated himself for grabbing a couple dozen of them. He could only describe the taste as being much ‘cleaner’ than what he ate on earth. A part of him considered how there was virtually no pollution where he was, and how the crawdads were extremely healthy and abundant in the river.

Since he was the only one who wasn’t verbally expressing how he thought Arthur was weird and dumb for eating them, Arthur offered Mung one. Somewhat to his surprise the goblin took it, smelling it before cracking it in half like he had done. Brielle spoke up immediately “Aw come on Mung! I thought you were above eating bugs!” He just shrugged “I don’t know why you thought that, I’ve eaten much worse.” And then ate it. Arthur flinched when Mung began eating the shell too, finishing the whole thing. “Uh...What’d you think of it?” Euld asked with no small amount of hesitation. Mung swallowed deeply. “Not bad. Tastes like fish, but somewhat different.” Arthur offered him another but insisted he tried it with butter. Mung made an interesting noise when he ate the second, like a short purr from a cat that had gravel caught in its throat. “I see why you were so happy when you found out we had a butter churner in the village.”

Throughout the next few moments each of the leaders of the village ended up trying out the new source of food with mixed reactions. Brielle was actually quite happy with the fact that there was another safe source of food for the village; despite not being a big fan of the flavor. Vulwin seemed to have a taste for seafood that fit his regal attitude and found himself enjoying them to his own shock. Euld didn’t like the texture while Abbot remained firm in refusing to try something new.

His new familiar didn’t seem to be interested in any of the food he had offered which concerned him. He would rather lose a hand than start neglecting a pet. The phantom canine was currently sleeping in his soul, the feeling was oddly comforting. Arthur could somehow feel his familiar resting soundly within him. He almost had a panic attack when the pup had disappeared into his chest and hadn’t come back out, but Vulwin had noted that it was entirely normal for soul familiars to sleep within their summoner. Arthur still couldn’t quite comprehend the fact that he had a soul. He was brought back to the moment when the others all turned their heads in one direction, pointedly looking at the main road leading in and out of the village.

Arthur followed their gaze and noticed a sturdy square carriage that didn’t have any horses in front roll into town and come to a gentle stop. Thick shutters swung open on the side and revealed the mobile shop for what it was. Slant shelves displayed everything from cooking wares to bundles of finely crafted arrows. Standing in the middle of the pop-up shop on wheels, at the perfect height to stand comfortably in the carriage was a Dwarf man with a shiny bald head barely concealed by an overly styled comb-over. His beard in contrast was dense and proud, bound tightly in a braid. It was hard for Arthur to tell at this distance but he could swear there was a red bowtie poking out from either side of his thickly bound facial hair. “Huh, Mop came two days in a row?” Euld commented as Brielle took out what looked like a keyring, but instead of keys, it was a variety of whistles. She picked out a short copper-colored one and gave a few short toots that carried well through the village. Less than two minutes later a few of Brielle’s hunters brought animal skins and cured meats that weren’t easy to identify the source of at first glance. Mop seemed happy to see them and it only took a moment for various trades to be completed.

After they and some of the other villagers finished what business they had with the trader the dwarf looked directly at Arthur with a smile that creeped him out. The cart rolled closer, seemingly on its own and stopped right in front of them. “Good afternoon, my good friends and associates!” From his perch inside the cart, Mop was at eye level with Euld. Arthur noticed that his eyes were on Abbott when he said ‘Associates’.

“What’re you doing here so early? Won’t one of the other cardinals get all pissy with you?” Brielle said. Mop just laughed. “I had a feeling that I’d make more gold here is all!” And that creepy smile flashed for a second. Arthur tensed up when he heard a thought in his head that he didn’t have. “Don’t look towards me.” It was Vulwin speaking, but his mouth wasn’t moving. His eyes still seemed to focus on mop and his usual expression of indifference hadn’t slipped. Arthur had to stop himself from reacting without thinking. “I believe Mop uses a trader's ability to sense your wealth. Be careful what you show him.” Arthur appreciated the psychically delivered warning.

Though he didn’t have a good place to stash the amount of gold he had on his person. Instead, he had to separate the gold into as many separate pieces as possible. Even with burning hands, a hammer, and a chisel it was an extremely difficult task. “Well, you were right about making some money.” Arthur reached down into his box and pulled out a little pouch that carried a small fraction of the enchanted gold. Mop’s face lit up like a child who’d just received their first twenty dollars as a birthday present, who didn’t realize how lazy or cheap of a gift it was. “Oh-ho-ho Atreus you lucky devil!” And Arthur winced at being called the wrong name again. He turned into his shop and dug around, setting a worn-looking leather satchel that somehow stuck out to Arthur. Alongside it, he placed a few knives with flat-bottomed handles, a fresh set of three six-sided dice made out of some clear amber-colored material, and what he could only assume was a carton of cigarettes. The swimming frog brand stamped across the side of the paper box.

Trade Offer

You have been offered:

1 Trader’s satchel of holding (Epic rank)

3 Piercing daggers (Common rank)

3 Balanced dice (Common rank)

1 Wrap carton (Common rank)

In return for:

1.5 pounds of enchanted gold

Arthur’s face scrunched up in annoyance and he pointed his finger at Mop, which made the Dwarf flinch just a little. “You better lower that price! Unless I could fit your entire shop into that sack I know it isn’t worth over a pound of my magic gold!” Mop was a bit flustered while Brielle and Vulwin glanced at each other and nodded in silent agreement with Arthur. “Alright-alright calm down, my angry friend!” The number on the trade window rapidly ticked down until it was roughly half of the original price weighed in grams. Arthur tried to direct a thought at Vulwin without looking over, not surprisingly it didn’t seem to reach him. Arthur was glad that he wasn’t always monitoring his thoughts.

He looked up at Euld since he had been the one bragging about his scabbard of holding. “Think a bit over half a pound is worth it?” Euld scratched at his chin and leaned down a bit to look at the satchel. “Well just how much can it hold? If it reduces weight it’s worth it.” Mop smiled wide and took a deep, deep breath. “Well of course my broad-shouldered buddy! It has a capacity that rivals my beloved shop and it has the ten-to-one weight reduction that is a must for any up-and-coming adventurist!” Arthur opened and closed his mouth. He was pretty sure an adventurist wasn’t what Mop assumed it was. The mention of adventure however deeply intrigued him. He wasn’t going anywhere dragging everything he owned along with him. "Does that sound right? How much is this stuff valued at anyway?"

Vulwin hummed as he thought about it. “It seems about right. I can’t think of any other equipment that is more practical or generally useful than a bag of holding. And it wouldn’t be something that you could mimic with an ability from progressing your class. The closest thing you would get is an ability that stores weapons specifically.” Arthur nodded and accepted the trade offer. Now expecting it he had no problem catching each item that hopped at him. Almost dropping everything when the satchel landed in his arms. As Mop giggled at the palm-full of expensive metal in his hands Arthur tried to place his carton into the bag but got the odd feeling of the item being repelled like trying to link the wrong sides of two magnets.

Trader’s Satchel of Holding

Epic storage bag

(Unclaimed)

A thick leather bag that has

been heavily enchanted with spatial

magic. The nature of this enchantment

also creates a self-repair effect on the satchel.

Durability: 1500/1500

Internal weight limit: 215 pounds

“How do I claim it?” Arthur looked up at Mop who was no longer paying attention to the outside world and instead was still fawning over his new gold. Vulwin answered for him. “You have to add a piece of yourself. Most people add a drop of blood or a strand of-” the elf clamped his mouth shut as he watched Arthur spit directly into the satchel. Then watched him smoothly slide the box of wraps into the bag; meaning that it worked. “Or that.” he muttered while shaking his head sullenly. Arthur marveled as he shoved his massive club into the satchel and had the whole length disappear inside with no outside change on the bag itself. He then dumped the whole box, gold included into the bag.

Arthur thought of each specific item and they rematerialized directly into his hand before he pulled it out. Realizing he could even pull out individual cigarettes despite the carton never being opened. Pulling out his flint lighter and lighting one as he turned back to a small crowd of sullen faces, of course exempting the old priest and his permanent glare. “What?” Arthur said. Euld cleared his throat “Well you are probably going to leave, right?” Glancing up at the magic cart. Arthur nodded “It’s that or walking to the city. And I need to start figuring things out about… everything.” Euld held out his hand and Arthur accepted it. As they shook Arthur’s heart warmed. Then he shook Breille’s, then Vulwin and Mung's.

He ignored the priest entirely and took pride that he could make his face express even more annoyance. Euld spoke up “Find out what happened and come back to tell us. You have no obligations here.” And the big man hesitated. Vulwin took a step forward. “But we cared about Atreus. So please.” Arthur just nodded. He focused on each of their faces to memorize them. To remember what kindness they were willing to give him. “I think I can do that.” And just as he felt a smile forming on his face, Filantriam sprinted out from behind a building and scrambled on top of the magic cart.

Abbot immediately started yelling at him in fury and confusion. “Butchard! What do you think you are doing!?” Arthur couldn’t help but to smile wide as the skinny warlock lifted his tattooed arms, a middle finger extended in each hand. “I’m getting the fuck out of this village you callus old shit!” Abbot was flustered and Mop poked his head out to see what was happening. Abbot screamed “I am your Authority! You answer to me and our lord!” The warlock laughed maniacally. Obviously releasing months or even years of bitter feelings at once. “Not anymore!” Mop shrugged as he closed the shutters. And the cart began rolling. Arthur cursed and jogged after it, clasping onto the roof with a hop and pulling himself on top.

He looked back, he saw smiling faces and waving arms. Along with one very pissed-off priest. Arthur turned his head and saw Filantriam already reclining in the normally unused front seat of the cart. Filantriam smiled wide and stared at the faraway city. Arthur knew all the warlock could think of was his newly made future, but found himself sinking again. All Atreus could think about was his family that was entirely cut off from him. He noticed the sky becoming orange as the sunset started painting the clouds in its own colors. He tossed the half-smoked cigarette onto the road and laid his head down and tried to sleep. And a big part of him was still praying that he would wake up from this confusing, perfectly imagined dream. Instead, he settled into sleep and was soon forced to experience the reality of someone else’s nightmares.