The town was bustling with activity as I walked through it. It was dinner time, so the various pubs, restaurants, and inns were doing a thriving business. There was also no shortage of traffic in the various shops that catered to the adventurers. I’d already scoped out most of the shops and decided to hit up Somhagen Exports first.
“Hello, is Ingrid working this evening?” I asked the young man in orange robes that greeted me at the door.
“I’m sorry, she has the evening off. I’m Darsen, is there something I can help you with?” the young man asked. I had hoped to deal with Ingrid again, since she already knew my class and what I might be looking for.
“That’d be great. I should have a reward waiting from a contract I completed,” I started with that, thinking back on the contract with the necromancer. I’d never collected my rewards after having been distracted by the ordeal with Zerallia.
“I’m also looking for some consumables, figurines specifically. Also, do you have anything that protects against infernal damage?” I asked.
“Certainly, let me gather your rewards and check what we have in stock. Is there anything else I can look for, or is that all you need?” Darsen asked. I was so focused on something to help me in the short term, I had almost neglected the possibility of other gear that I might want.
“Can you check out my class, like Ingrid did?” I asked.
“Sure, let me send you the request,” Darsen said, pushing the familiar system prompt over that assured me he was restricted in what he could do with my information. After the betrayal by Zerallia, and the item she used to disrupt the system, I was beginning to have some doubts as to how secure these system protections were.
“I’m particularly interested in consumable figurines, and I’m looking for items for my minions, as you may see in my class description,” I said. Darsen confirmed that he knew about the equipment beads, but didn’t have exact details on my minions. I gave him the overview, just enough for him to try and match gear to the minion without giving away all their abilities.
I looked around as Darsen went behind the counter with the glazed-over look in his eyes that told me he was sorting through whatever magical inventory system the shop used. Around the shop were a few adventurers, and from their gear, they didn’t seem to be from very high tier groups. Given how much harder it had been to gain experience outside of my time as a summoned being, I could see that it would take most adventurers quite a bit longer to build up their tier and rank.
There was also the question of what the Induction would do for humanity’s experience gain. I’d have to do some research in the academy library and see if there was any information on accelerated experience for newly inducted worlds. Given what the system had mentioned before, that summoned beings would be more powerful than the others back home when we returned, I had to think that experience gain would be as slow for the inducted world as it was for the rest of the multiverse.
Darsen disappeared into the back of the store, and I continued to peruse the items they had out for general display. Most of it was stuff I wasn’t all that interested in. Mundane equipment, some masterwork pieces of weapons and armor, as well as simple potions were the mainstay. Various adventuring gear, including an 11-foot pole were also offered, but with my class, preparing for what I was going to face was typically easier than lugging around gear for every potential situation.
A normal adventuring party didn’t have the advantage of the advanced information that a contract gave, though if they were going into a dungeon, the guides would give some indication of unusually dangerous opponents or environments. Maybe that was part of why the system was tamping down the experience on the dungeons near the academy, they were all known quantities and therefore, much less of a challenge.
Before I could think about it further, Darsen returned with a small crate filled with his finds. He waved me over to an empty display table where he began to set some items out for me to examine. There were a handful of figurines, a pair of scrolls, and an amulet with a leather cord. In addition, there was a small, ornate wooden box with a hinged top.
He also held a separate small pouch that held the coins from my necromancer summoning, as well as a small, black stone. When I held it, the flesh on my hand seemed to grow cold and a system prompt appeared.
Lich’s Marker. This item will slowly acquire necrotic energy when foes are slain by your minions. Once empowered, the marker can used to add the undying subtype to one minion. This subtype grants your minion the ability to respawn as a slightly less powerful undead version of itself when it is destroyed.
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Once fully charged, the marker will activate only once before returning to your possession where it must regather necrotic energy before being ready for use again.
It was an unusual way to add some durability to one of my minions, but I’d have to wait and see how long, and how many deaths needed to occur near me, before it was ready to go. I sent the marker into my storage bands and looked over what else that Darsen had brought for me.
“This is a selection of items that I can recommend. Of course, if you need some common items like healing or mana potions, rations, and basic gear, I can probably get whatever you’d like. You didn’t tell me a budget, so I apologize if a few of the items are a bit costlier than most of our usual stock,” Darsen said, looking apologetic as he motioned toward the box.
“Don’t worry, that was my mistake. I should have given you a budget up front, but I do have several hundred gold to spend,” I said, looking at Darsen for his reaction.
He looked relieved as I told him my budget, which, in turn, told me that I could afford everything on the table if I wanted it. First off, I went for the figurines, there were only three in total, but I was happy to see that Darsen had found some higher tier options. They were probably more expensive and less likely to be useful to the lower tier adventurers that the dungeons in the area seemed to cater towards.
Summoning Figurines.
- Dark elf assassins, Tier 3, Rank 0.
- Rampaging Dire Boar, Tier 3, Rank 0. (Veteran).
- Knight of the Eternal Vigil, Tier 3, Rank 2, (Elite).
The dark elf figurine was just two cloaked figures on a single base. Given their tier, I was sure they’d be effective, but I was more excited about the veteran and elite figurines. The rampaging boar was oversized, about twice the size of a normal figurine, and the base was larger than the palm of my hand. Instead of a normal looking boar, the one depicted on the figurine had plate armor barding with a liberal sprinkling of spikes over it.
My final figurine, the knight, was simply a man standing there in plate armor and holding a greatsword. There was no system description of the figurine, and Darsen didn’t seem to know more about it other than the basic details I could already see. Still, given that it was the highest tier and rank of any figurine I’d used, and an elite, it was probably going to exceed my expectations. Next up where the pair of scrolls.
Scrolls:
- Detonate. Tier 2, Rank 9. This spell causes a summoned minion to detonate with an explosive force comparable to its Tier and Rank. The force of the blast cannot exceed the Tier and Rank of the scroll.
- Cloak of Blades, minion. Tier 3, Rank 0. This spell must be targeted at a minion. It will create a layer of blades that spin around the minion. These blades will damage any foe that comes near the targeted minion and caution should be used as friendly fire is possible.
Both scrolls were great, even if they were single use items. I pushed them over to the pile with the figurines, all of which I wanted to keep. I moved my attention to the amulet next, and the system responded with its details. It was also intriguing to see a spell that could only be targeted at a minion. Darsen had dug deep in the inventory to find things that matched well with my class.
Minion Amulet of Life. When the bearer of this amulet is injured, the amulet provides instant healing. It has a limited charge that will slowly regenerate over time. This item must be attuned to its bearer and will grow in power as the bearer increases their Tier and Rank.
“Darsen, I want to make sure this amulet can work with the equipment beads? It says it must be attuned to the bearer, and I want to make sure it’s going to be compatible with my minions. Also, how much healing are we talking about here? Will it heal enough damage to repair a scratch, or are we talking fatal damage,” I asked. The item was likely to be pricy, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overpaying for a dud or wasting precious equipment beads.
“Yes, that was part of my delay in returning to you, I wanted to make sure everything would function with your class specifics. As far as the damage it will heal, I can’t say for sure, but based on similar items, I would say, at your tier and rank, it would heal the equivalent of a powerful sword or axe blow,” Darsen assured me.
“Thanks, and what’s this one all about?” I asked, looking over the ornate box. It opened up like a tackle box, and system information on it appeared as I tested it out.
Kraz’Brax’s Minion Dispenser. This dispenser is a unique item that allows you to store and retrieve consumable figurines instantly. When stored inside the dispenser, all figurines will have their power increased by 1 Rank. In addition, the box will create 1 figurine every 24 hours but has a maximum capacity for only two of these item-generated figurines.
Should the item-generated figurines remain unused, they will eventually infuse with additional power, becoming veteran versions. The figurines generated will be random, and the bearer of this item will not know the type of figurine until they activate them.
This was not only powerful, but a simpler way to store my figurines. I had missed my old class ability that granted additional ranks to consumables, and now I could recover a bit of that. It also would generate up to two random figurines for me, though I was a bit more skeptical of those after my experience with Rodney’s Bag of Beasts.
“You did great, Darsen, how much for the lot?” I asked. This was a good haul, and I wanted everything.
“After applying any outstanding store credit, you will need to 191 gold, 22 silver, and 48 copper to obtain the entire collection,” Darsen said.
“Sold,” I replied. It was a healthy sum, and I suspected that the minion dispenser was the bulk of the price. I had more than enough to buy it, and Clancy was out there working hard to earn back what I spent. With my new purchases, I was feeling better about my chances if the meeting with Dalzrin turned sour.