Book 4 Ch 3: Biggest City In The West

Book 4 Ch 3: Biggest City In The West

With only some lingering apprehension for Brixaby, Arthur headed into the city.

Just past the wall, he stepped into a busy, crowded, twisting street filled with a multitude of shops all in different, often clashing colors. Most were strung with banners in eye-popping colors, as if every single one was trying to outshout the other for attention. In addition, some had buskers who would regularly yell at passersby. They in turn had to compete with street performers who used both native skills and card powers to interest the crowd.

It was all overwhelming, like the thickest part of a festival at the busiest, most hectic part of the day. But, as Arthur strode along, his ears ringing with the sounds of all of it and his eyes dazzled by the lights of a performer who had just set off some sort of silent fireworks charm, he had the feeling that this was a normal occurrence.

It was so different from the forest that lay just outside the walls.

And Arthur realized, with a feeling he couldn't quite put a finger on apprehension? Amusement? Pity? He wasn't sure that these people were celebrating and yelling and buying and eating less than fifty feet away from where a mega-scourge had killed several oxen and threatened the lives of guards.

They had been separated only by a wall with, by the looks of it, some sort of sound enchantment. Arthur glanced up to see if he could spot any of the guards patrolling the wall from the other side, and found he couldnt.

Sound and sight enchantments, then.

The people here hadn't known there was any danger at all.

And if that mega-scourgeling had broken through, they wouldn't have been prepared.

It reminded him uncomfortably of Mesa Free Hive. Only theyd been protected by living in desolate wastelands. These people were protected by... what? Ignorance?

He shook his head, and then had to forcefully wave off a vendor who, for some reason, aggressively wanted to sell him wooden beaded jewelry. The woman followed him for a few steps, coming as close as to try to drop a necklace over his head. Arthur ducked and walked away. She yelled at him in another language he couldn't understand.

Increasing his pace, he felt the road slope upward, which likely aided in creating the height of the buildings. He started to wonder if this place had actually been built on a minor eruption cone.

Dragon hives were built from the cones of ancient eruptions back when the world was more dangerous, and the cones grew so high that some of them touched the lowest clouds.

But, if this was on top of an eruption cone, shouldn't the scourgelings be coming out of the top, and not from the forest?

Stranger and stranger.

The frantic atmosphere lessened a bit as he went up the hill. The crowd grew thinner, and it gave Arthur room to breathe. There were still plenty of vendors, but they weren't nearly as aggressive.

Now he took a few moments to actually take in what the shops were selling... And he found a little bit of everything. Some had clothing, some bits and bobs, others household goods... He even saw one or two cards for sale, securely locked behind enchanted glass, and runes that probably fed into security card anchors.

He paused anyway to get a look at them. Both were Commons.

Perfect Apple Honey Butter Every Time

Skill

Common

The wielder of this card will be granted the supernatural ability to create apple honey butter. Using mana, the wielder will be able to create apple honey butter with unusual ingredients.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

The Strength of One and a Half Men

Common

Body Enhancement

The wielder of this card will be granted a temporary, once in a 24-hour period, boon of strength. The wielders strength attribute will be increased by 1.5x for the duration of 20 minutes without any bodily damage or exhaustion afterwards.

They were both minor cards, but a little unusual in that they didnt have major drawbacks. That often was a problem with Common cards. They either had some double-edged sword drawback, giant mana consumption, or an extraordinarily long cooldown.

Arthur briefly wondered how much these cards were, but then glanced at the amount written beside the cards, and remembered, of course, he couldnt read this language.

So How could he read the cards?

That stumped him. He remembered when he had first looked at his Master of Skills card as a boy. Hed been so illiterate that he could barely read the description and didnt know its function until he had placed it in his heart deck. From there, it had been stamped on his heart his soul. He hadnt needed to read to know what the card could do.

Later, of course, hed learned to read and figuring out other cards hadnt been a problem.

Hed ask Brixaby for his thoughts later, but he suspected the answer was some version of: cards are magic. Placing his first card in his heart had activated his heart deck, and so he had magical sympathy with all other cards.

And since the first card in his heart had been Legendary, he might have more magical sympathy with other cards than he average person.

It was strange, but he couldnt linger. Arthur moved on.

The shops in this upper district had enough room from one another to put up signs. Not that Arthur could tell what they were. It was all in that script that looked so overly pretty and loopy, he was surprised anybody could read it.

There were still a few vendors here and there. He stepped over to a couple who didnt seem busy and showed them the note that Domingo had stamped for him.

Most ignored him, but one or two glanced down at the paper, up at Arthur, then pointed him in a different direction down the street or off around the next corner.

Wherever Domingo had sent him, it was deep within the city. It seemed he had taken about fifteen turns and had completely lost his sense of direction. Then, to make things worse, he felt the ground rumble under his feet.

Scourgeling earthquake! Arthur thought, and then felt a little bit of relief because if that were the case, at least this place would make some sense.

The man made a show of sucking his teeth and thought. "It depends on the good. And of course, I'll have to get it appraised, friend."

"Well, between you and me, you may want to keep what I have between us. Arthur made a show of looking around. I hate to part with it, but I have no means of selling it anywhere else without an understanding of the language."

The man's eyebrows raised. "You've piqued my interest. Come with me, but don't try anything funny, my saferoom is enchanted with more security than you believe. If you try anything funny, you will be dead twenty ways before you even realize it."

"No tricks," Arthur said. "I deal in good faith." This was a complete lie, but he wasn't looking to scam anyone today.

Well, at least not this guy.

Though he did wonder what those security runes looked like.

The man, who Arthur noticed still had not introduced himself, led him to the back, then locked the door behind them before turning around to look at Arthur, one eyebrow raised. "I suppose you've got a card for me to look at? Something you stole?"

"Better than a card," Arthur said.

And, from his Personal Space, he pulled out one of the enchanting books he and Brixaby had stolen from the Free Mesa Hive's council.

One of the primers.

He handed it over, and the man stared at the title for so long that Arthur would have wondered if he had trouble reading it, except for the fact his expression was of pure disbelief. Then he started paging through quickly.

The book, enchanting secrets, were kept strictly that: secret. Anybody could tell this was an old book, but it was a primer, a way to get a student started. Perfect for beginners.

Arthur wasn't a complete fool. He and Brixaby had already read through this book. And, using Arthur's eidetic memory and mental bookshelf, the information was there forever.

The man looked up. Hed schooled his expression rather quickly, but Arthur had still caught the gleam in his eyes. He knew it was worth a lot. And, more importantly, so did Arthur. "What do you want for this?"

"That is the equivalent of a Rare enchanting card," Arthur said, "or even better.

"It's old as dirt, kid. The techniques are outdated who even knows if anyone practices like this before?" he said, proving he knew something about enchanting.

"Doesn't matter," Arthur replied. "It's enough to get started with, and it's not under lock and key with the Enchanter's Guild."

The man looked at him closely.

"It's in Faberge Kingdom script. Not many people read that."

"You do, which makes you only one who can translate it for others to buy," Arthur said. But if you don't want it " He reached out as if to take the book back.

The man drew away, book still in hand. "Don't be hasty now!" And Arthur knew that he had him.

They went back and forth, Arthur knew these goods were good and he pressed for every advantage. And even though he knew he could use the subtle mind card that Valentina had given him he held himself back. So far his Haggling skill was up to the challenge.

The only real hiccup came when the man looked at him, with an expression that Arthur wasnt sure liked.

"Are you running from the Faberge Kingdom because you stole this beauty?"

"My reasons for being here are my own."

"The Reshuffling, aye. I'm not judging, I'm only saying that there's work for people with sly hands."

"I'm not a thief," Arthur said, a bit harshly.

The man grinned. "I suppose you bought this fair and square, with receipts and all."

Arthur ignored that, and thankfully, the man moved on. He did agree, reluctantly, that it was worth the equivalent of a Rare card.

"It's better than a Rare card," Arthur said.

The man sucked his teeth again. "You want shards on top of this?"

"No," Arthur said. I dont even want an anchor.

The stopped the man cold. Why not? My work is solid I have testimonials.

It was a reverse of their previous positions. Now he was trying to sell Arthur, and the way he kept one hand flat on the top of the book said he did know the true value.

Id need two tattoos and one wouldnt work.

I assure you they would

All I need is lessons, Arthur said quickly. And a ten second use of your card.

My card? he recoiled, one hand flicking up as if to cover his heart before he caught himself. Why?

Have you ever tried to tattoo a dragon? Arthur asked with a grin.