Due to Erit's speed, Aerwyn arrived at Setrhyn Village earlier than usual which allowed them to cut the nearly nine hour travel time down to six. Erit's size caused quite the stir with the village sentries on the wall once he was in sight. One of the sentries ran and notified Master Ferlin of the threat and he was found waiting for Aerwyn by the time he reached to the gates.
"Trying to show off again boy? Look, no need to overcompensate. Some men are just less gifted in certain regards. It-"
"I'm-" Aerwyn interrupted Master Ferlin only for him to be interrupted in turn by Erit.
"Master is very well endowed i'll have you know, elf."
"KWEE!" Rin agreed making the situation all the more embarrassing for Aerwyn.
"Oh? The giant abyssal spider can talk can she?" Master Ferlin sent an inquisitive look to Erit as if to size her up. Under his gaze she immediately shrunk back and kept quiet.
"...So i'm here to pick up an order from Marik. I'll be staying the night too. Is Erit going to be a problem if i bring her inside the gates?"
"Nope, ya just scared the sentries a bit, that's all. It's not everyday a giant abyssal spider comes up from the underground. Sera should be returning later, i'll let her know you're in town." Master Ferlin explained.
"Thanks Master Ferlin."
Aerwyn entered the gates to many more curious stares than usual and headed to Marik's smithy. Marik was out front smoking a pipe, staring at nothing in particular as if he was lost in his own little world. The stench of the burning herb filled the area, stinging Aerwyn's nostrils. Marik jolted up at the sight of Erit's giant body, nearly making him fall off his chair. It took him a moment of slack jawed horror to realize Aerwyn was atop the massive spider.
"Damn lad, ya trying to scare this poor old blacksmith to death? You're a week early anyway, what are ya doing here?"
"I have another order to put in, plus i need whatever you've made already. I ran into some goblin problems that require your excellent craftsmanship."
"Ai, if ya think flattery will get you a discount you're sorely mistaken lad. I got 'round sixty made so far plus your wood saws. Boy! Get the spears packed up!" Marik hollered at his son from outside.
"What do ya got for me this time?" Marik asked, seamlessly changing his expression to a merchants smile as usual. Aerwyn jumped off Erit's back with the sack of mana cores before emptying it's contents on the counter. All the mana cores from the past few weeks were inside except for the zin beetles which he planned to feed to his undead.
"I'm not sure what creatures the mana cores are from though. Is there a grading system or something to know their value?"
"Ai, count how many sides are on these two." Marik tossed two cylindrical crystals to Aerwyn.
Aerwyn counted the first which had three sides and then the second which had four. He had never really paid any mind to them before but now that it was pointed out he felt rather stupid for not noticing it earlier.
"How many sides is the most expensive?" Aerwyn curiously asked.
"Seven sides are about one gold coin..." Marik explained the pricing for each type of mana core and Aerwyn made a mental note of it for the future.
Soul Grade A) 7 Sides = 1 Gold
Soul Grade B) 6 Sides = 25 Silver
Soul Grade C) 5 Sides = 5 Silver
Soul Grade D) 4 Sides = 1 Silver
Soul Grade E) 3 Sides = 10 Copper
Marik used an old abacus to count the pile of mana cores before speaking again.
"Most folks don't bother collecting mana cores with three sides seeing as they're so cheap. You on the other have about four hundred which isn't too bad i suppose. All together this pile is worth about eighteen hundred silver or eighteen gold, that'll get you twenty five spears. Got anything else to trade lad?"
"I have some raw gemstones and a chunk of ore too, gimme a second." Aerwyn reached into a pocket inside the pack and put them on the table. Marik pulled out a steel file and scratched the ore a few times before inspecting the gems.
"Ai, ya got some more revarium here lad. This plus the gems'll pump ya up to about sixty spears, unless you're looking for something else that is."
"No, the spears'll do for now... Ah that's right, i need a blade for Teek. Can you make it like that one over there?" Aerwyn pointed to a saber hanging in the back of the smithy.
"Ai, i can do fifty spears and a saber. Pleasure doing business with ya lad. You can pick up the thirty i owe ya next week or just pick them all up in three weeks."
Aerwyn had Erit carry the spears and they left to Tylin's house. He knocked on the door before letting himself in and found Tylin scribbling notes in his lab.
"Aerwyn dear boy, perfect timing!" Tylin jumped up from his chair the moment he entered.
"NO!" Aerwyn flat out refused whatever experiment Tylin had prepared this time.
"Ah... Oh! No, no, no, i'm not planning to drug you this time dear boy. Sera has to take a trip to Lyr Village tomorrow so i was going to send it with her but if you're here you can just take it now."
"Oh... Take what?" Aerwyn exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Come, come. It's out back." Aerwyn followed him out to the backyard. A troll laid flat in a steel cage and appeared to be sleeping.
"It strayed too close to the village and lucky for us, Sera was the one who was nearby so she captured it instead of killing it. Fear not it won't wake up, i drugged it. You can resurrect it without incident this time." Tylin explained as Aerwyn approached the behemoth and fired a flame lance into its head, effortlessly killing it.
Tylin asked about his recent events and Aerwyn explained his current situation. An hour drifted past as they talked about Aerwyn's misadventures until they were eventually interrupted by Sera. Ren's ears immediately perked up as soon as she heard Sera enter the home, running out of the lab to greet her. They chatted over some tasty dinner before calling it a night and heading to bed.
That night he found himself running through a dark forest but the odd thing was that Aerwyn wasn't in control, it was like he was only an observer as the scene played out. His vision turned and looking back he could see dozens of brexil cats, some tenri, and even a few direwolves all running together like a pack. The purple flames they had for eyes made it click in his mind, he was seeing through Rorik's eyes.
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Rorik entered an open valley by the river and the sight of the goblin settlement entered his gaze. The goblins we're working on the walls, even at this late hour. They were using the light from torches to sure up their defenses. Dozens of them were using ropes to drag logs up from the forest to the south. The logs already in place where covered in dirt and clay.
It seemed like Frakki had learned from the other goblin village and was attempting to fireproof the walls. Aerwyn decided to attempt to reach out to Rorik through his mind.
"Rorik, can you loop around the mountain and attack those goblins chopping down trees to the south?"
"..." Rorik twitched but pretended to not have heard Aerwyn.
"I saw that! Do what i said, that's an order!" Aerwyn yelled in his mind.
"...Fine...master."
"HA! Can't mumble in your mind can ya!"
"..Get out... OF MY HEAD HUMAN!" Rorik's howl cut off whatever connection Aerwyn had to him. He woke up in the dark guest room and looked around for a moment, questioning if the dream had really happened or not.
Unable to fall back asleep, Aerwyn went downstairs and saw Sera snacking on some berries in the dining room.
"You're up early. What's the matter couldn't sleep?" Sera asked.
"Nope, I had a weird dream... What time is it?"
"Almost dawn, since you're up anyway go get ready. We'll be meeting Jeren at the gates soon to head off."
An hour later the trio left Setrhyn and began their journey southwest. Jeren complained under his breath the whole way about the spiders. Apparently he had a phobia and Erit was appalled that anyone could hate spiders so she kept ordering the smaller spiders to jump around near him until he nearly broke down crying.
They arrived in Ardin and Aerwyn handed the spears to Teek before checking in with Bon. There weren't any buildings cleaned up yet so Jeren and Sera would have to stay in the broken spire with him for now, not that he was complaining. Perhaps in his free time he could clear out one of the intact buildings nearby for guests to stay.