While the rest of the team split off to take care of various errands or, in the case of Andy and Lana, for wall guard duty, I headed for Sam’s tavern. I wanted to track down Ed and organize the hunting party back to the merfolk lair, but first I had to check in on my business partner.

  A streak of brown fur shot out of a nearby alley between 2 shops and I spun just in time to catch Nigel. Thankfully he remained in cute murder kitty size. If he’d been annoyed with me, he might have swelled to full Mammoth Lion size and bowled me right off my feet.

  “Hey, bud, miss me?” I asked as I scratched the loudly purring kitten.

  He climbed to my shoulder and wrapped his soft, shaggy body around the back of my neck. “I do not like missing a hunt, but I don’t like getting soaked either.”

  “Life hits us with tough choices sometimes.”

  “Since you were all hunting, I scouted around outside of town and found a strange monster hovering in the air, watching the walls.”

  “What kind of monster?” If he’d run across one of Queen Marisara’s agents or spies, he could have gotten killed. If he could lead me to them, maybe we could eliminate another source of her intelligence.

  Nigel sighed dramatically. “Talking is so tedious when breakfast was so long ago.”

  “Talk first. Steak second.”

  “It looked like a human, but with clear skin made of water and glowing veins inside. It whispered into the mind, but my Mufasa’s Claws tore through it easily and dissolved it into the rain.”

  I frowned. That sounded even weaker than the Mist Lurkers we faced earlier. So a spy more than an assassin. “Watching the walls, huh?”

  Nigel shifted on my shoulders a bit. “I found 6 more and they all died as easily.”

  “Good work, buddy. I bet they were some of the spies Queen Marisara was using to watch us. Keep an eye out for any more next time we’re hunting.”

  I pulled out a huge fish fillet and Nigel swelled to giant size for just a second to gobble it up. His enormous weight in that size would have crushed my Earth body to paste, but with my huge power boost from that extra Efficiency unlocking, I held him easily.

  Nigel shrank back to kitten size and sighed contentedly. I pulled out a much smaller chunk of steak and handed it over. He munched on it as I entered Sam’s tavern. As usual, and despite the early hour, the place was bustling. Half the tables were full of people in all types of garb, draining tankards or munching on a startling variety of pastries, sandwiches, and desserts.

  “Ah, Lucas!” Sam called, rounding the corner of the bar and rushing over, his ample stomach jiggling with his haste. Nellie poked her flour-coated face out the open door to the back room and waved.

  “How goes business?” I asked as we clasped hands.

  “Life is as good as one can hope in this crazy world,” he said, spreading his hands to take in the huge room. Above us, the illusion covering the ceiling shifted from a bright blue afternoon sky to a view up through interlocking branches of a forest, with a high mountain in the distance.

  “Glad to hear it. Need any more supplies?”

  “Not today. I just picked up another batch of ketchup from Jeeves, our hard liquor stores are still okay since folks are loving my newest beers and ales, and Nellie only uses pinches of mushrooms, so they’ll last a few more days.

  From the back room, Nellie’s enthusiastic voice called, “I hear you, sexy man, talking of pinching. I show you pinches when you come see me next time.”

  Sam’s smile widened into a grin.

  “Glad it’s going so well. Want a bunch of high-quality fish fillets to add to the menu?”

  He considered it, then nodded. “Why not? We got some after the big attack on the town, but I could use a few more.”

  I transferred about 150 giant fish fillets, paused long enough to drink a stein of his Dewdancer Lager, and talked him into giving me a few kegs of some of his other brews.

  Meanwhile, Nellie spotted Nigel and swept the shaggy kitty into her meaty arms, exclaiming loudly how beautiful he was. I could hear his purrs all the way from the back room as Nellie fed him to bursting. Even his famous stomach couldn’t outlast all the goodies the big Slovak woman produced to feed him. By the time I pulled Nigel away, he looked ready to fall into a food-induced coma of pure joy.

  “Bring back that lovely kitten again and I feed him and make him big and strong,” Nellie called after us.

  Nigel snored softly on my shoulder as I crossed the square. I wanted to go find Ed, but it was still pretty early. I didn’t want to head out on another hunting trip before Tony and his teams finished their attack on the warehouse in case they needed help.

  So I took some time to browse along the other stores selling their crafted wares. I’d contributed tons of materials to help the crafters progress, and some of them had produced excellent pieces to repay the debt, but I’d done very little shopping from them otherwise. Partly because I didn’t need a lot more gear, but honestly, using Jeeves to shop from Sythrak made life so much easier, and I just hadn’t wanted to spend the time.

  Now I had a rare bit of downtime, so I browsed. It felt weird, and part of me wanted to leap onto Switchblade with Nigel and tear out the town gates to go hunting. We’d get to that soon enough.

  Most of the vendors recognized me and greeted me warmly, some gushing about how much the materials I’d donated to the town store had helped them progress. A few looked shocked to see me and started making excuses about why they hadn’t completed their promised work.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I wanted to tell them not to worry about it, but a deal was a deal. So I urged them to hurry and told them I was eager to see their contribution.

  As I browsed and shopped, I was honestly surprised to see everything people had produced. One woman named Anna sold potions, and she had ones I’d never seen before. I had a pretty impressive inventory of powerful potions, but some of hers were really interesting.

  The Inkheart Draught allowed one to melt into shadows temporarily, giving perfect stealth, while the Horizon Shrinker could allow someone to zoom their vision on up to 5 distant objects to help with scouting or long-distant shots.

  More interesting was the rare-quality Coinflip Brew that granted a random effect in the next 10 minutes, based on one’s Luck. That could be very useful, but the potion was surprisingly cheap.

  “Not many people have unlocked a Luck stat,” Anna said with a shrug when I asked about it.

  She was middle-aged, only level 35, from team Dragnet, with a basic class of Potion Maiden, and had greeted me very enthusiastically when I entered the shop. She was working on a special potion for me, but it took a few days to brew, and she promised it was almost finished.

  She only had 3 of the Coinflip Brew potions in stock, and I took them all, along with the 5 potions of Inkheart Draught. I also grabbed 3 potions of Slickscale that covered one’s body in a frictionless sheen, making them nearly impossible to grab or grapple with. I took all 5 of the Cloudstep potion that allowed one to walk on mist, fog, or heavy raindrops for up to 15 seconds.

  “Those are very popular with the scout teams,” Anna said as she pulled the bottles off the shelf. “Can’t make them fast enough.”

  “I bet,” I said as I pointed at a small, smoky potion. “What’s that one?”

  Her smile widened. “Excellent taste, Lucas. This little beauty is my highest quality rare potion. The Doppleganger Decoy. It will create a perfect copy of you up to 100 feet away.”

  That didn’t sound great until she added, “The next spell aimed at you will instead target the decoy.”

  I whistled softly. “That’s a powerful potion.”

  “My strongest one yet. I’ve only got 3, but I’m afraid they’re very expensive.”

  “I’ll take all 3.” The potions were very clever, and she was pleasant, so I was happy to support her work.

  Anna grinned as she lined up the potions, and for a moment I thought she was going to cry as emotion flickered across her face. She took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, Lucas. You’re a good man, and you’ve helped many of us more than you know. I can’t charge you. Take any potions you want.”

  “I appreciate the gesture, but that’s not how we all progress. I need the potions and you need the sales. Here. Keep up the good work.” I pressed a tier-7 mana crystal into her hand.

  She gasped. “No! This is far too much.”

  “Not if these potions help save my life. You drive a hard bargain, Anna, but I’m sure I’ll be back.”

  I left the teary-eyed Potion Maiden and moved on. Over the next hour, I browsed through most of the shops ringing the castle. Some offered far better wares than others, but I made a point of buying something at each one, including 50 small wooden blocks from a wood worker.

  “If you want a game to help pass quiet time, I’ve got better options,” he offered.

  “No, these are perfect for training.”

  I left him very confused. I planned to use them to practice making runes. Much of the other gear I purchased, I’d give to my team, but some pieces might prove useful.

  From a weapons crafter, I picked up a pair of Tanglecoil Bolas, short ropes with heavy balls on either end. When thrown, they would wrap around the target, elongating enough to encircle whatever they struck 3 full times. I still had some zombie shackles, but they didn’t work long-distance or on larger targets.

  In one armorer’s shop, I found a unique item called a Lodestone Caltrop. The dense, 4-sided metal spike would always fall with 1 spike pointing up and would lock into place on the ground, then unleash a powerful magnetic pulse that would drag weapons, armor, or hopefully even clockwork insects down onto the spike.

  I bought 4. Maybe I’d get to test them against one of those giant Brass Leviathans. I doubted they’d stop something that big, but it would be fun to try.

  Even more interesting was an item I found in the shop of an older black man with a full head of hair and a bushy black beard. His shop was full of random metal and leather goods, with a definite focus on lighting. The high ceiling glowed with a score of different types of lights, while racks of lanterns and flashlights filled one entire wall.

  “Ricardo Castillo. Baby human level 42. Team Miami Vice. Class: Garage Sale Mechanic. Always a fan of tinkering with things, Ricardo embraced a crafting class early on, and successfully incorporated a Lightbringer spell that melded perfectly, allowing him to create by far the best light-imbued items of any of you clever humans.”

  Ricardo gave me a warm smile and gestured at his brightly shining wares when I entered. I got an idea and pulled out 1 of my zombie lanterns.

  “Interested in a trade?”

  Ricardo inspected the lantern, nodding to himself as he did so. “Zombie lanterns. I’ve seen a couple of these. Pretty good stock. I actually based some of my designs on these. They’re pretty decent, but honestly, I’ve improved on the design.”

  I shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

  “I could adjust this and double the light output, if you like. Would only take a moment.”

  “Sure.” I pulled out all 7 of my remaining lanterns and Ricardo got to work. I browsed the shop, and he really did have some good stuff.

  “How much for these?” I asked when Ricardo delivered my updated lanterns. I pointed at some bright crystals that could change colors. They might prove fun additions to my castle’s entryway chandelier.

  “On top of the repairs, you can take a 10-crystal set for 1 tier-6 mana crystal.”

  “Done.” I sent a message to Jeeves, asking him to see what he could do with the colored crystals.

  After pocketing the mana crystal, his eyes widened. “You’re Lucas! Finally bothered to use Identify.”

  “Pleasure to meet you.”

  “Hold on.” He rushed to the back of the shop and returned a moment later with a box of large glass marbles that sparkled within, as if he’d shoved them full of fireflies. “Since you were so kind as to stop by, I can deliver my payment for the generous supplies directly to you.”

  The box held a full dozen of the large marbles, and Identify triggered.

  “Strobe Seeker Marble. Uncommon. Toss a marble to the floor and it will hit the target with a blinding strobe light that will dazzle, disorient, and confuse.”

  “These are wonderful,” I said and accepted the box. Whatever supplies and materials Ricardo had received, I was happy to exchange them for the clever marbles.

  “I am glad you approve,” the old man said with a happy smile.

  I explored the rest of the shop and just before I turned to leave, I found a curious lantern.

  “Lantern of Unwelcome Flame. Uncommon. This clever creation of a dedicated craftsman includes rare Graveyard Iron to produce an eerie green flame. Harmless to the living, it will repel undead and spectral creatures and interrupt most spells they cast within 50 yards.”

  “Do you have enough material to build more of these?”

  Ricardo shrugged. “Sure, but no one wants them.”

  “Because people aren’t thinking outside of their own tents. I’ve spotted spectral monsters outside of the city. These would be perfect to add to the wall defense to make sure they can’t get in.”

  And, just as importantly, the lanterns might help disrupt the spies’ abilities to monitor everything we did.

  Ricardo brightened. “To cover the entire city wall, you’d need at least 10 lanterns.”

  “Can you make that many?”

  He nodded. “Sure. Maybe even twice that much.”

  “Perfect. Do it.” I dropped a tier-7 mana crystal into his hands. “I’ll inform the city watch of the plan.”

  Ricardo laughed with delight. “It is an absolute pleasure doing business with you, my good man.”

  After completing my shopping trip, I paused in front of the white pylon of the System Store. Jeeves had already sold the items I’d looted that I didn’t want to keep, but what if one of my special items was ready?

  It would only take a moment.