[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 149 - Sageworms

“There is the small matter of price,” Virgil said, straightening his glasses.

“Right, well, how much?” Mel asked. She was willing to drop a lot of rune coins on this, but it was important not to make that too obvious. She wanted a good deal.

Increasing her [Armament Scrap Ritual] would go a very, very long way. It was part of why she had been able to fight plateau beasts during the first trial.

Another customer entered the shop.

Mel could feel who it was without even looking. The [Crown of Glory] remained bound to Charlie.

Considering that Mel didn’t hear the footfalls of any skeleton minions, Charlie had the sense not to bring the undead into the store. That wasn’t likely to go over well, since they were orcs like Virgil.

“For [Fringedust] that brings a ritual out of G-Tier…it’s a mere thousand [Iron Rune Coins].”

Both Mel and Charlie started laughing at him. Mel teared up real good. She put a hand out on his large biceps. It felt like he smuggled coconuts under his skin. “Virgil, baby, if this bookstore stuff doesn’t work out for you, you could be a comedian. But seriously, how much?”

The orc shifted nervously. “A…hundred [Bronze Rune Coins].”

Mel stared. “Virgil. That’s the same thing.”

“It sounds smaller though, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Charlie answered firmly.

“I could offer a bundle sale if you were willing to buy other things,” Virgil offered optimistically. “[Fringedust] is extremely rare. You cannot upgrade a spell from one tier to the next with any other item I know of.”

“Oh yeah,” Mel began. “You’re somehow going to include other junk for free and lower the crazy balls price of the [Fringedust]?”

“…No. No, I don’t think I can do that,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, Mel. Truly. I can see you are a kindred soul, but I cannot part with [Fringedust] for any less.”

“How about you tell us where we can get [Fringedust]?” Charlie offered, cornering the big orc on the other side. “And maybe we can set aside a pile for you in exchange for the information.”

That was either an incredible idea, or an awful one. Where [Fringedust] could be found might be common knowledge, or it could be just as rare as Mel’s [Armament Scrap Ritual].

Considering Mel hadn’t even heard of [Fringedust] before, it was likely the latter.

Virgil brightened up at that. He adjusted the half-moon spectacles on his wide nose. “Do you know Ratchet? He’s a junkmonger. A yena. So…you know. They’re always finding random bits and bobs from tombs and temples that heroes have already plundered but before they’re reset. If you know him, you could find out where he got the [Fringedust] that he sold me.”

“You got this from another merchant?” Mel asked. “A…what a dumpster diver?”

“That’s really quite uncalled for,” Virgil said. “Junkmongers are noble professions. Even if nobody wants to do it. The most reputable Houses of the Koblin Kraft Haus had their start as junkmongers.”

“Koblins,” Charlie whispered in awe.

“Oh gods, koblins,” Mel whispered in horror.

A tinkling bell by the entry told Mel another customer had entered the shop.

“Mel,” Thomas called. “How much longer are you going to be? We still need to pick up a contract or three before we head back.”

Virgil’s lambent brown eyes practically glowed. “Did I hear that right? Do you happen to belong to a Mercenary Order?”

Mel gave him a cagy look. “Yeah…?”

He clapped his meaty Hulk hands together. It sounded like a thunderclap. “Then I think I might just have a way to help us both out! Come with me.” He turned around and burrowed deeper into the shop.

“You want a contract fulfilled?” Charlie asked, striding after him. “What exactly is it you need?”

They wandered past arches and columns of books holding up walls. There were nooks and crannies filled with so many yellowed rolls of parchment that it resembled a beehive.

“Where did I put it…where did I put it?” Virgil muttered under his breath. He reached into a pile of loose-leaf parchment, peeled a few layers back, shook his head, and then continued deeper.

Eventually he came across an old credenza piled high with naked books missing their covers. He fumbled in one of the cubbies and pulled out a scroll that was faintly glowing. “Here it is! Oh, I have been dying to get this contract fulfilled. Here, take a look.”

Mel unfurled the scroll. It flew out of her hands and sprayed Shardscript across the air.

New Contract: Tooling Around

A clutch of sageworms have taken residence in the basement of Virgil’s shop where he keeps his most precious restoration tools. Oust the creatures preventing him from continuing his work.

Objective: Remove the sageworms from the basement (0/7).

Reward: Mercenary Order foundation contract fulfillment (0/3).

Charlie eyed the contract. “I see that there’s no payment here. What are you offering in exchange?”

“You can have the [Fringedust] for a tenth of its price,” Virgil offered.

“How much [Fringedust]?”

Mel didn’t need to see more than that. She summoned her twinblade in a swirl of emerald and silver ash. “C’mon Charlie. I want to kill something!”

“Don’t worry, my beautiful savage.” She leaned close to Mel. “We’ll satisfy your bloodlust soon.”

Mel paused. “Aw. That’s so nice. But no, nothing ever satisfies the bloodlust.”

“Really,” she said thoughtfully, as if planning to tackle that.

“I only have two in stock,” Virgil said, not at all picking up on that not-so-subtle-subtext. “But you are welcome to both of them. If you complete the contract, that will be two hundred irons for the pair. I’ll even throw in a few ritual spell scrolls that Mel asked about. Free of charge.”

“You have a deal then, sir.”

“Allow me to show you to the basement!”

They followed him deeper, with Thomas tagging along behind them. “Excuse me,” he said. “What exactly is a sageworm?”

“Nasty little critter,” Virgil said. He came to a crossroads and took a left, doubled back, and took the right path instead. “Over here.” He looked over his shoulder at them. “They like to eat magical books. And well…you know the problem with so much magic in one place, right? Imagine it condensed inside the guts of a worm.”

“Seems harmless enough,” Mel said.

“Magic has a way of warping local space,” Thomas explained. “I’m guessing the worms take on magical aspects?”

“Imagine a worm the size of your forearm that is able to cast F-Tier spells without having to draw them out first. Maybe even D-Tier if you’re really unlucky.”

“Why don’t you just kill them yourself?” Mel asked as they were led to a door blockaded by desks and piles of books.

“Not all Irons are fighters,” Virgil said. “Some of us study and practice to enhance our life and our physique.” He motioned to himself. “This is almost entirely for show. I would get blasted apart down there. And that also happens to be where my best restoration equipment is. With it accessible again, I can finally get back to restoring faded tomes and scrolls.”

As Virgil moved all the items aside to clear the door, he turned to Mel. “I’ll do you one better than the discount. If you can complete this contract before the day is up, I’ll restore any scrolls or tomes you find at cost.”

Mel extended her hand, practically thrusting it between Charlie and Thomas who had gotten ahead of her. “That’s a deal!”

Mel hurried down the stairs to the basement.

“Agility again?” Charlie asked, touching her arm gently.

It took Mel a moment to remember what she was talking about. Back then, it hadn’t been a sure thing the Necromancer would be on their team. “Yeah, why not?”

It was like a shot of adrenaline when Charlie enchanted Mel with [Mythclad]. Fairy fire blazed along Mel’s armor and summoned weapon.

Aspect Skill: [Mythclad]

Support: [Mythclad: Agility (Fairy Aspect)]

[Mythclad: Agility (Fairy Aspect)]: Bolsters an ally with the myth of Fairy aspected Agility, enchanting the ally’s body and armaments with the power, magic, and affinity of Fairy aspect. Additionally adds a portion of the caster’s Agility to the ally.

Thomas looked over at them. “Since you’re both buffing yourselves, maybe I’ll hang back and snipe anything that gets away from you.”

Mel was about to say something when she realized that Thomas’ suggestion was actually a pretty good one. “Yeah, okay.”

Uncorking the vials of orc blood from her previous battle, Mel summoned her [Sanguine Coat].

Charlie pressed her hands to Mel’s spine gently, using [Bone Mend] to grant Mel another full health bar from [Bone Shroud]. It overlaid onto [Sanguine Coat’s]. This time, she didn’t bother to enhance the tier of it.

Hoping to get Hush some more experience in battle, Mel used [Avatar of Askara]. The serpent eagerly slithered down the steps with orders to kill anything that moved.

Please don’t get one shot again, Mel thought, slipping into the darkness of the basement. [Gaze of the Serpent] sparked blossoms of colorful reds and oranges across the ruined bookshelves.

Thomas was right, powerfully magical items in close proximity interacted with one another in a myriad of ways. The heat they were generating in an otherwise cool basement was painfully obvious to her infravision.

While she didn’t have a [Primeval Brew] prepared, she had some petrified branches from the Emporium. She crushed a [Petrified Branch of Agility] in her hand.

[Petrified Branch of Agility]

(Copper Rank, Item)

(Common)

A wooden branch fossilized in ambient elemental Thunder mana, suffusing it with the power of Agility.

Imprint: Use to temporarily accelerate the natural growth of the Agility attribute through training, battle and meditation. Effective for Copper Rankers and below.

Behind Mel, the other two Magi used branches as well. Judging by the flash of colorful elemental mana, neither used an agility branch.

“Shrouds give another health bar?!” Thomas cried in surprise.

“No,” Charlie began miserably. “Not you too! How could you have survived the first trial without a healer?”

“And just where do you think I would have found a healer?” he hissed. “By Miss Never Gives Up Her Potions or Miss Walks Through Walls Bleeding? Did you know for the longest time when I first met Gwen, I didn’t know if she was a blonde or a redhead? She was always bloody! In class or out of class, it didn’t matter.”

“Dude, I might just scream,” Charlie muttered, teetering on the brink. “Though, little wonder you have the hots for Gwen.”

“Ha, ha,” Mel said, over her shoulder. “Maybe you’d just like me to give up all my potions since you clearly are always on the frontline. Oh wait! That’s me.”

Hush rattled his tails and Mel went silent. “Hush found something.”

A sequence of rattles went out as they entered the basement proper. Mel took a moment to remember what that meant and then saw the bright bloom of heat in the corner of the room. “Down!”

She didn’t look to see if Thomas or Charlie followed her command. She dropped to the ground and held her twinblade out to the side as she used [Hidden Mist] to blanket the entire basement.

There was a sharp crack as a bolt of lightning streaked out from deeper in the junk-filled basement. It struck the stone wall right between where Mel and Thomas had been.

Mel was up on her feet in a flash with a swirl of wind from [Tempest Heart] giving her enhanced speed that was, if she was being honest with herself, far too much in such a cramped space. Especially combined with [Mythclad].

Another blossom of heat had Mel tumbling to the side as a coagulation of rock and dirt formed a ball and then sailed through the air right where her head had been.

Okay, magic worms can see through my mist. Good to know.

Unluckily for them, Mel’s reflexes were among the best in her group. She sprang forward, the curved edge of her [Frostbite Stinger Twinblade] leading the way.

Before the sageworm could get another spell off, it was sliced in half lengthwise.

You defeat the [Sageworm (High Copper Rank)].

You gain runes of Divine, Mist, Blood, Serpent, and Omen aspect experience.

You gain Battle Points.

“Ew.” Mel tucked and rolled, popped up to her feet and batted aside another rock attack before impaling a second sageworm.

You defeat the [Sageworm (High Copper Rank)].

You gain runes of Divine, Mist, Blood, Serpent, and Omen aspect experience.

You gain Battle Points.

Like most nerds, they were remarkably easy to kill. Getting up close and personal was the only difficulty.

Upon seeing two of their number slaughtered, the other sageworms made a strange wailing sound and slithered across the tiled floor. Thomas’ [Thunderbolt] and [Sunspear] chased them, but they were too fast and the room too cluttered.

With their home field advantage, the sageworms slithered into the safety of the walls. That was, until Hush went in after them.

You defeat the [Sageworm (High Copper Rank)].

You gain runes of Divine, Mist, Blood, Serpent, and Omen aspect experience.

You gain Battle Points.

Mel cheered her familiar on. “Yeah! Get ‘em Hush!”

Contract Update: Tooling Around

A clutch of sageworms have taken residence in the basement of Virgil’s shop where he keeps his most precious restoration tools. Oust the creatures preventing him from continuing his work.

Objective: Remove the sageworms from the basement (3/7).

Reward: Mercenary Order foundation contract fulfillment (0/3).

Seeing that their refuge was filled with more enemies, the sageworms bolted from various holes in the wall. Charlie lunged out and smote one with a shotgun-like blast of bone spikes from [Ferry the Dead] as soon as it slithered into view.

Thomas took out another one, while Mel carved a sixth. She nearly skewered poor Hush as he wriggled out of a hole, but held herself back just as she realized who it was.

“Where’s the last one?” Charlie asked.

Mel turned, her eyes going wide. A gathering bloom of heat appeared directly behind Charlie. There was no time to warn her. Mel hefted her twinblade like a javelin and threw it at Charlie for all she was worth while shouting, “Trust me!”