Ch 245 - Ed Embraces the Power of a Whisper

Aaaaaannnnndddd . . . Here we go! We are now starting what will be book FOUR!

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I stopped in front of the tall, white pylon that marked the entrance to the System store, with Ed in tow and Nigel perched on my shoulder. The stone-paved courtyard in front of Port Royale’s central castle was not too busy. A few people hurried past on whatever tasks they needed to finish, while more browsed the shops that lined the outer edge of the square.

Most people wore variations of fantasy clothing or armor, although the cuts and colors and types varied dramatically. A few wore full plate armor, many wore variations on rogue leathers, mixed with different amounts of mail or plate, while even more wore no visible armor at all, their costumes enough to make any renaissance festival groupies drool with envy.

My colorful Colossus Mantle covered me from the waist to the neck, while my light-sucking black Shadow Cuisses protected my thighs and my Heavyweight Greaves protected my lower legs. Ed wore a mixed set of plate over leather, making his already-massive frame look even more impressive.

High above, the protective dome covering all of Port Royale streamed with sheets of water from the constant rain. My timer might claim it was finally dawn, but even at midday, the entire stage was gloomy, huddling under the constant rain.

“I’ve only visited the store a couple times,” Ed commented, shrugging his burly shoulders. “Didn’t really impress me much.”

“That’s because you only had basic tier access. Prepare to have your mind blown,” I told him, then accepted the prompt to enter the store and indicated Nigel and Ed were in my party.

The world flashed and changed, the courtyard and view of the castle disappearing, replaced by a richly-decorated room clad in warm wood and thick carpets, while a few comfortable chair were scattered artfully around. Paintings of fantasy landscapes hung on the walls, and a small standing desk made of something like mahogany was situated in one corner.

Sythrak, my reptilian tuxedoed personal salesman stepped around the desk, his scales shifting to a happy blue as he advanced, his wide smile showcasing his short, rounded teeth.

He clapped his hands together in glee, then he clasped my hand in both of his 3-fingered ones. His cool, scaled hide scraped slightly against my gloves. “Master Lucas, it is always a tremendous pleasure. What can I do for you today? And hello to you, master Nigel.”

Nigel looked up for a second, then flopped back down on my shoulders and started snoring.

I smiled at Sythrak’s unapologetic enthusiasm for his next sale. With my tier-5 VIP access to the store, he gave me far better deals than probably anyone else, and I was pretty sure I’d made him a boatload of money with all the business I’d brought his way.

“It’s great to see you, Sythrak.”

Ed whistled softly as he turned slowly, taking in the opulent room. “I should have started hanging out with you a lot sooner.”

“Master Lucas is a good friend and patron to have,” Sythrak agreed smoothly.

“Actually, I need to get some things for my friend Ed, who should be given the same access and privileges as the rest of my team. Plus, I’ve got a bunch of stuff from a couple new vaults I want to get rid of.”

Impossible as it seemed, Sythrak brightened further, his scales shifting to white and his eyes sparkling with visions of mana crystals. He bowed low to Ed. “All members of Master Lucas’s team are welcome. You will receive the same preferred treatment he does.”

“Ah, thanks,” Ed said, clearly a bit overwhelmed.

“I won a preferred-access token,” I explained. “Sythrak is a wizard at getting me the best deals.”

“And most grateful for the opportunity to serve,” Sythrak piped in. “Which bosses did you vanquish?”

“Three members of Queen Marisara’s court. A Count Tydrion, Count Nextharos, and Count Vhaernos. Do you know anything about their world or situation?”

His bright eyes widened and he didn’t even try concealing his shock. “You defeated members of the court down on stage 3 and won their vaults? How is it possible? They’re not official bosses.”

“Kind of a long story.” I regarded him for a second, wondering how far I should go in my explanation, then shrugged. He wasn’t a part of the game and he already knew too many dangerous secrets for me to worry now. Besides, Sythrak was a Krysanthimus merchant, and it was clear that his loyalty to well paying customers who helped him make a ton of extra money was unbreakable.

“One of them had a relic that allows me to make our fights official duels with their titles, domain, and possessions on the line.”

Sythrak gaped, which was quite a sight from the lizard man. Not as bad as it would be if he had sharp canines. His rounded nubby teeth were clearly made for munching plants instead of flesh. “That’s highly unusual, my lord.”

I barked a laugh. “So pretty much par for the course for me.”

Ed listened, clearing wanting to ask questions, but refraining for now. He hadn’t heard the full story yet either.

Sythrak straightened, putting his professional face back on. “Um, yes, of course. Please forgive my momentary surprise. Thalrassia is the home world of Queen Marisara. It is a tier-4 world with a great deal of extremely deep ocean and 2 major political factions. Queen Marisara and her court represent the Moonlit Cascade.”

“Are there representatives of their enemies from the Infernalith Court on Arasha too?”

“You are very well informed. That helps. No, my lord, the Infernalith Court did not merit an invitation. They might be extremely interested in purchasing artifacts or even titles, if you are willing to divest yourself of them.”

“I bet they would.” Buying up titles within the Moonlit Cascade might cause all kinds of issues for Marisara’s dad. She and her court were my enemies, but I didn’t know enough about their world to know if I wanted to give their enemies a better foothold.

“I don’t understand anything you’re talking about,” Ed said.

“You’ve missed some stuff. It gets a bit confusing, but I’ll fill you in later.” I considered the question and asked, “Sythrak, I need some items for Ed. He suffered a broken class and we’re trying to shore up some problems until he can advance to level 75.”

Sythrak’s coloring faded and he bowed to Ed. “I am so very sorry, sir.”

“My own fault,” Ed said with a stoic shrug.

Sythrak’s eyes glowed golden and he cocked his reptilian head to one side, studying Ed. After a moment, he said, “I see. A puzzle, for sure.”

“Can you help fix my class?” Ed asked, his calm cracking a bit with the possibility of new hope.

“I am afraid I can do nothing so complete, but I see what master Lucas is saying. The problems are severe, but not totally insurmountable.”

“What ideas have you got?” I asked, hoping with all my heart he could come up with something.

“Perhaps . . .” He snapped his stubby fingers and a pair of items appeared in the air nearby. A scroll and a small amulet on a silver chain, with an emblem that looked like wispy flames.

Sythrak gestured at the amulet. “To assist your offensive spells so they do some kind of actual damage.” Identify triggered as I studied the amulet.

“Gravestone Whisper. Amulet. Epic. Add direct spiritual damage to any spell you cast. Bonus for spells with ethereal components.”

“That’s perfect,” I laughed, clapping Ed on the shoulder. He was staring at the amulet with slack-jawed amazement, eyes glistening with the hint of tears.

“I never imagined something like this,” he whispered.

“I should have looked into the possibility sooner. Sythrak, this is a perfect win.”

“It will actually synergize extremely well with your spell Whisper Flight,” Sythrak told Ed. “They are both from the same class of spells. If you continue to build around the Whisper theme, you can unlock some powerful classes that leverage ghostly earth powers.”

“Is that actually a thing?”

“Oh, yes. There are powerful geo-necromancers in the multiverse,” he assured me. With high hopes, I turned to the scroll.

“Temporary Spell. Pyroclastic Maw. Epic. Open a jagged maw beneath and around the caster, lifting them into the air, surrounded by a cone of superheated gas and flying obsidian shards that target enemies but boost regeneration of allies with healing whispers. Deals massive area damage out to 50 feet and up to 1000 feet. 15% chance to stun enemies. Any spells that blend air and earth are boosted by 50%, dealing both ethereal and physical damage. Duration: variable depending on mana applied to maintaining the spell. Uses remaining: 3.”

Ed laughed with delight when he read the description. “This is . . . Unbelievable! I never knew anything like this existed.”

“This spell is most useful in specific circumstances. Your broken class is perhaps the best example I’ve ever seen. It should transform your earth-based spells into partial earth and partial spirit, damaging both.”

“Is there a way to get more uses from it?”

Sythrak shook his head. “I am afraid not. This is the only scroll with this particular spell, and it will not re-stock for several days.”

Ed said, “I don’t care. Even 3 uses gives me so many more options than before. I can hunt and use my class spells again!”

“These are perfect, but save the last use for when you hit level 75.” He could make it permanent then.

“Of course. That’s a great idea.”

“I’m assuming it will synergize well with his class as a permanent spell,” I asked Sythrak.

“Perhaps better than any other spell in our available catalog.”

“We’ll take it. Ed, do you need armor or weapons for when you have to fight melee?”

“This set is decent, but not great,” he admitted, gesturing down at his armor. “I focused so much on my earth powers, I didn’t upgrade my equipment enough.”

I turned to Sythrak. “Can you show him some options. Ed, you can browse while we finish chatting about my vaults.”

Ed’s smile faded. “Lucas, I don’t have a ton of mana crystals. I don’t think I can afford all this.”

“You saw my vaults and those bins full of crystals. This is on me.”

“Thanks,” he said with real emotion. “I will repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re a team, and we take care of each other.”

He looked at a loss for words, and his gratitude was moving. Ed was my oldest friend besides my brother Tomas, and it felt so good to help him find some hope after breaking his class. The appearance of long rows of armor and weapons stretching down the length of the room helped distract him.

He gasped and I said, “Have fun.”

Nigel roused himself and jumped to Ed’s shoulder. “I will help you pick the best hunting gear.”

“Happy for the help,” he said, scratching Nigel, who started purring. It was great to hear Nigel speaking words everyone else could understand too. That cyborg enhancement Tomas added while helping Ruby heal Nigel from Count Nextharos’s sneak attack was just awesome.

As the two started down the long rows, I turned back to Sythrak. “Well done with those items. Hopefully dealing with my new vaults will be just as easy.”

“Indeed.” Sythrak shifted gears without missing a beat. “No doubt King Velmaris would also be interested in reclaiming the titles for his people. Or, at minimum, the remainder of the houses of the vanquished counts would wish the return of their domain and official titles.”

“Figured as much. Can you confirm that no one on Thalrassia can contact Marisara and tell her about my victories?”

“She does not already know?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I’d like to keep her in the dark if she doesn’t know yet.”

“Ah. Of course. No, my lord, there is no direct communication with the home world during the game. I guarantee it.”

“Good. Can you discreetly contact the king or the appropriate people to discuss the titles and such? Oh, I’ve also got their house artifacts and the signature weapons of each of the counts, although I’m not willing to part with all of them.”

“You have . . .” Sythrak repeated in a disbelieving whisper before shaking himself out of it. “Congratulations on the remarkable achievements. Of course, my lord, I will see to the inquiries immediately.”

“I don’t plan to return their entire vaults like I did with Clan Elaris. I’ll have Jeeves send you an itemized list of what I’m happy to sell, but I plan to keep at least some of the items. The king or representatives of the houses I now control are welcome to make offers on the rest. If they decline, I may turn to the Infernalith Court instead.”

“Of course,” Sythrak said, again composed and eager to arrange more high-value sales for me. “Speaking of selling items from your vaults, I have received many inquiries about Velexis’s vault, along with a request from the Shadrael demon faction to meet.”

I grimaced. “They’ve figured out who I am?”

“I do not believe so, my lord. They know someone involved in the game defeated her and learned that I represent that person’s interests.” His glowing scales faded to a muted brown. He looked a bit sick.

“Can they harm you?” I didn’t want him to get hurt just for working for me, and if they could harm him, would he divulge more about me to placate them?

“Not directly, no. Anyone who attempts harm against employees of the System Store could lose access, which would cripple them.”

“That’s good to hear.” I thought about it. Since I had 3 new vaults, Velexis’s extra stuff wasn’t as vital. “I plan to keep the scythe until I meet with the demons, along with the filing cabinet full of claims she stole, at least for now. I’m not sure what I’ll decide to do with all that, but let’s go ahead and list all the other stuff. If we can get good offers, it’s probably worth selling it all.”

“I do have several offers. I’ll prepare them for your review.” Sythrak hesitated, then added, “Might you consider parting with 1 of the claims, though? A tier-4 mining consortium is desperate to get their mining rights back. If they don’t, the loss of production and related revenue could disrupt their entire internal structure.”

“Let me guess, Velexis killed one of the owners and possessed his body to give herself ownership of their most lucrative claim.”

Sythrak nodded. “She was most effective. If you are willing to sell that claim, you will help preserve the current consortium structure and make a powerful ally that includes companies across many worlds.”

I needed more powerful allies, and since the claim wasn’t doing me any good, why not? “I’m willing to consider it. What are they offering?”