I relaxed in the cave having lost all track of time, I didn't know if it was night or day, I had been trying to boost my magic skills for the past few days and having amazing luck. I had learned more powerful destructive spells and improved my artifact creating abilities. I found that if I wove strings tightly together and envisioned an object, it didn't matter where the strings came from or what object I pictured, the object would materialize out of thin air. The tighter I wove the strings the more powerful the object. I had created some basic shapes like a sphere of obsidian, a triangle of lapis, and a box of copper. More recently I had tried and failed at various attempts to make wearable clothing for myself. I succeeded at making a spool of cloth under great duress. That had been the best I could do but the cloth was too thin for me to do anything with. I wrapped it around myself covering my basic parts and making myself look like a mummy. The cloth it seemed was of the same width and consistency as bandages. I wasn't too happy about it but it was better than going about completely exposed.

  At some point I must have fallen asleep by my pool of lava because when I woke up someone was sitting before me. He looked like a man in his early twenties. He was attractive and all lean muscle and had a piercing gaze, his blue eyes all but glowing with… some hidden want or need. He had his golden hair back in a bun and out of the way, one of his ears were pierced and he looked across the lava at me the way that a cat looks at a mouse.

  “Who are you! How did you get here! “ I shouted and jumped to my feet on guard and defensive in an instant.

  “Oh relax now, My name is Jeebles and I'm just a humble merchant who was passing by. I felt warmth coming from this cave so I came in to get out of the snow. I really must say that this lava pool is almost too convenient. I've managed to warm myself and dry off the damp from the snow. You really have got a nice place here. “

  “This is bullshit, wandering merchant my ass. I want to know exactly who the fuck you are and how you got here! “ I shouted losing my cool a little. There was no way that a mere wandering merchant was able to dispel the glimmer spell I had cast to hide the cave. I had taken other precautions too. Somehow he had gotten past them all and found himself in the cave with me. This was no simple human and I would have to be careful dealing with him.

  “Look, do you see this ring? It magic. Magic amazing. Say it with me. Magic amazing! “

  “You take me for a fool?” I said with undisguised irritation.

  “Come come let's not get offended, here I have just the thing to cheer you up. “ The merchant said and produced some wine and cheese. He ate a little and offered the rest to me.

  “No thank you. Even if you really are a merchant I don't have any cash. I want you to tell me who you really are” I asked him again as I slowly circled around the lava keeping him at a distance.

  “What will it take to get you to trust me? I got in here because this ring dispels magic. When you work as a merchant for as long as I have, you acquire some things! Here if you don't believe me examine it for yourself.” the man said and took off the ring, he then carelessly tossed it across the lava pool to me. I caught it and examined it. I cast a minor detect magic spell on it. At that moment I saw something in the merchants eyes light up but only for a split second, was it my imagination?

  I tossed the ring back to the merchant.” What you say checks out, this ring does indeed dispel magic, but I still can't trust you. “ I said through clenched teeth as I tried to cast a detect magic spell on the merchant himself while hoping that he wouldn't notice.

  The merchant didn't appear to notice but my results seemed flawed. According to the spell, the merchant didn't simply have low magic but he lacked any magic at all. The reason why this was flawed is that everything came back with something, and living things were inherently higher in magic than inanimate objects most of the time, there were exceptions. There wasn't anything in the world that came up with zero.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “The merchant relaxed by the lava lake and watched me playfully. “So what will it take for you to trust me? Shall I strip naked? You wanna do a cavity search? “ He said laughing and started taking off his clothes.

  “No no no no put those back on! “ I shouted starting to panic.

  “Ok then, what can I do? “ the merchant asked as he put his clothes back on. “Look kid, I really need to rest here for a few days. The snow storm out there is really bad and there's no way that I can make it over the mountain in weather like that. I don't want to die as you probably guessed and it's warm in here. I will pay you if that's what it takes here follow me to my donkey at the entrance of the cave. “ The merchant said and walked back toward the entrance. I followed him back there and he had a donkey waiting just like he said. It was loaded with all kinds of bags and things. The merchant unzipped a pack off the donkey and set it down. He unzipped it and several other packs were inside. He unzipped the first one and produced cheese jerky and wine. He then unzipped the next one and produced several pouches of gold coins. The next one had a few trivial magical artifacts.

  “There, that is what I will pay for three nights here. For me it's a steep price but it's nothing compared to what I'll pay if I die out there. Will you accept my offer?” The merchant said sighing and looking like he was out of energy.

  “Why don't you just accept it. You have nothing to lose and some of that crap might be useful. “ Cat chimed in suddenly as she materialized in front of the goods.

  “OH a little faerie? I had herd they existed but I've never seen one with my own two eyes. This is rather exceptional. Jeebles said as he stooped down to say hello the faery.

  “What's your name little creature? “ he asked with a sly smile.

  “My name is Cat. Pleased to meat you Jeebles. “ The faery said and spun on her heel causing the air around her to sparkle.

  I guess you can stay here for exactly two days and not a moment longer. I will accept the goods that you're offering but you will also give me information about the outside world while you remain here, deal? “ I said to the clever merchant feeling slightly defeated.

  “Ah we have a deal thought I have to ask. Why are you only wearing bandages? Are you hurt somewhere? “ The merchant asked as he sized me up.

  “It's just what I have, don't try to sell me any of your low quality clothing because I don't want any. I am fine as I am. “ I told the merchant, but what I didn't tell the merchant was that I had been weaving enchantments into the bandages for sometime now making them far more sturdy than any clothing he could offer me and quite a bit stronger than most kinds of armor. I had the cloth that looked like bandages wrapped around parts of my legs arms, chest and lower parts. There were a lot of gaps making it inefficient as combat armor but the enchantments would keep many spells at bay.

  “You're a strange funky lad but I like it!” Jeebles said and left the donkey making his way into the cave. He sat down by the fire again warming up since the front of the cave was chilly. He sneezed a few times and then made himself quite at home. The merchant laid out some sleeping apparatus and quickly fell asleep on the cave floor without a care in the world. I watched him sleep for a while wondering what kind of person he could be with no magic.

  Seeing that he wasn't an immediate threat I settled down and got back to weaving spells into my bandages. I organized the strings in the bandages strengthening their molecular makeup and giving them increased various types of resistances.

  “You were glowing just now! “ Jeebles said as he watched me wide eyed. I looked back at him irritated because he had disrupted my spell casting. “You were sitting there doing nothing and you started glowing blue. The glow intensified then it vanished! What were you doing boy? “ He asked looking like he was about to panic.

  “How can you see that? “ I asked cautiously as I looked him in the eye.

  “How could I not see it! You lit up like a beacon. This bright blue glow just filled the cave while you were working and it terrified me. We're you casting spells by chance?”

  “Jeebles, what I do is none of your business. Since I did nothing to you I think that you should just go back to sleep and leave me alone. “

  “No can do buckaroo, trying to sleep after seeing that is like trying to ride a bicycle after six pints of whisky. If you won't tell me why you were glowing then I won't push you. I'll just relax with a book instead. “ Jeebles said and pulled out a book. He started reading it instantly.