Chapter 16: Master Darbon

Lavender, even pissed off at me, was gorgeous. I mean, Tilly looked really good, but Lavender's dress could hardly contain her breast. She must have noticed me staring and the anger left her, but still was staring back at me now. I guess I must look different now too, but I had better stop gawking and look at this sheet before I get hit!

I looked down at Lavender's sheet and scanned it over. She had some new interesting Skills that I was excited to see in action.

LEVEL: 10

HP: 95/95

MANA: 250/250

NAME: Lavender Huntington

AGE: 16

CLASS: Chaos Mage

STATUS: Satisfied and Happy

WEALTH: Incredibly Rich

HOME: Huntington Manor

STRENGTH: 5

CONSTITUTION: 9 (+45)

COMBAT: 20

SPEED: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 22

MANA: 40 (+200)

CHARISMA: 5

LUCK: 14

ABILITIES

PASSIVE SKILLS

FLAMESHIELD++: A burning aura surrounds you, giving offense and defense. HOSTILE CREATURES within 20 feet take 1 FIRE DAMAGE per/2 seconds. Reduce all incoming physical damage by 2.

TIDES OF CHAOS: Whenever an event outside your party happens, there is a 1 in 20 chance to turn things in your party's favor. If TIDES OF CHAOS does not activate its activated first time, the next activation trigger will be 1/10, then 1/5, and the chance does not go higher after three.

PEIRCE EVIL: People with evil intentions have black auras.

MAGICAL SPELLS

FIREBOLT++: Release a large fiery projectile at a target within 50 feet of you. This Spell consumes 25 MANA per/use.

CHAOS RAIN: Causes a storm to have random effects on anything the rain touches.

FRIENDSHIP LEVEL 50/100 YOU ARE GOOD FRIENDS.

Gain CHAIN REACTION STRIKE: When 2 or more good friends fill their CHAIN REACTION bar, activate to make a synchronized strike.

"I wish we got the same boost as you," Lavender grumbled.

"I think we both got pretty big boosts, and we all got access to our mystery stats!" Tilly exclaimed excitedly.

"I bet you would be excited."

Lavender crossed her arms and turned her head. I could see why she might be upset, and I wanted to cheer her up. Turning to her, I began to speak, but the icy look makes me swallow the saliva in my mouth, gulping. Tilly's voice cuts in to break the awkward silence.

"Miss Grace thinks we should all go down to the market and look for a quest. Then we can go to the dungeon below the city."

A dungeon? Like in a video game? I wonder what kind of monsters we will find? Goblins? Spiders? Trolls? The questions would have kept on coming, but Lavender shook me from my revelry.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Ya, I think. Sorry, I was just thinking about the dungeon, and I'm excited. Tilly, if I get you the materials, can you make me a sword? I feel like my light blade should be really only used on evil things. I'm not sure if you can count mobs as evil."

"Of course!"

"Well, if you heard me, then let's go!" Lavender spoke loudly and began to turn, but I grabbed her arm gently.

"Tilly, can you meet us out front? I want to talk to Lavender before we leave."

"I'll pack us food for the dungeon and meet you guys out front."

Tilly left the room, closing the door, and it was just us. I let go of Lavender's arm and walked over to my bed. Once I sat down, she followed, and I opened my inventory and took out the Gauntlet Of The Heart. It fell out of my grid, and I caught it as Lavender sat down beside me.

"I want you to have this. I think it is perfect for you as a mage, and I think you will find some creative uses for it. Just don't try it on me unless it's to save my life," I smiled as I finished the last sentence.

"Are you sure? Why not Tilly? Her charisma is so much higher than mine," Tilly quietly spoke as she looked down, pressing her fingers together.

Traces of blush were creeping into her cheeks. I handed her the gauntlet and stood up, facing away from her. When I turned around, I gave her my best smile and a wink.

"Because I think it will look better on you."

We all met outside of the manor and then walked down to the market. The mish-mash of houses continually drawing my attention. It was cute to the girls initially, but soon Tilly was even telling me to "stop gawking and get moving."

When we finally made it to the market, it was lines of booths selling. I think a bit of everything was here. One sold knight's armor, while the other sold pulse guns. Suddenly something extremely crucial hit me. I was broke. Wait, no, that wasn't right.

I quickly opened my character sheet, asking the girls to wait for another minute. I quickly scanned my AVATAR and seen that my wealth was still average. After I put my sheet away, I called out to Trina and told the girls we could keep going.

"What's up, boss?" Trina asks between yawns as she stretches out in the air.

"How much money do I have?

"100 gold pieces, you received this for a bonus at level 10. Is that all the Master wants?"

She didn't even wait for me to answer before she disappeared. I didn't care. I was over the moon about having what seems like a lot of money. I turn to see both girls staring at me with smiling but puzzled looks.

"Why are you dancing? It's just 100 gold, it is a lot, but we will get more when we go deep in the higher-level dungeons or special castle raids," Lavender explained.

I waved her off and started looking around. Neither of them could understand what it meant to me, but that wasn't necessary anymore. What was important was making sure it didn't happen again.

"Dave, come over and look here. They're selling especially refined ores for crafting," Tilly shout to me from up ahead.

She moved fast, but I wait for Lavender to catch up, and we walked over to where Tilly was standing. The only discerning qualities were the traditional single lamp helmet hanging around and downturned pickaxe, handle up. The Dwarf behind the counter had long brown wiery hair in silver engraved loops on his chin and head.

"You are the good friend our good Miss Tilly has been telling me about, eh? I hear you helped get her tail and break into level 10 as well! Quite the young man, you better treat my Miss Tilly good," The gruff-looking Dwarf said, standing up.

"This is my Master Darbon. Master, this is Dave, our party leader, and good friends. We need some good ore so I can try my new skill to make him a sword for all the help dave has given use," Tilly explains to her Master.

"Oh, I will give you the ore for free come back here and show me this new skill."

Tilly went behind the counter, while Darbon turned and rummaged till he found what he was looking for. Finally, he pulled out a melon-sized chunk of black ore that had a green tinge. Tilly's eyes lit up, but I wasn't sure what kind of metal it was.

"Are you sure, Master? Adamantine is a very rare alloy!"

Darbon just smiled and motioned for her to go ahead. Tilly summoned her skill before taking the black oily looking ore. Two metallic massive cat paws formed, and she too the metal. Darbon laughed as she took the metal to the anvil and began to kneed the metal like bread dough.

Suddenly, from down the street, I heard a commotion. Lavender and I turned to see a small crowd gathering around a shop. A young man is arguing with the shop owner about something.

As I strain my ear, I can tell this kid must be a pretentious brat. Slowly we both edge close, and I get a better look at the kid. I was some snot-nosed noble youth, complaining about the ridiculous prices of their worthless wares. The boy turns towards me for some reason, and I freeze in place.

As our eyes connected, I know it's him, even though we have never met. That was Fate standing there.