Chapter One Hundred and Forty-eight. Outfitting the group.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-eight. Outfitting the group.

Bob walked into Nikki's with the gaming group, along with Kelli following him. Gary looked up from the counter and smiled. "Good morning!" He greeted them enthusiastically, "have you brought me a new batch of freshers?"

"Pretty much," Bob replied, "although they don't speak a word of Thayland, so I'm offering to pay Kelli to stuff the language into your head."

"Well, I know Kelli wouldn't hurt me," Gary said, "so wh-." Kelli cut him off with a raised hand, "Actually, this will kind of hurt," Kelli said sheepishly, "it'll give you a bit of a headache, but it fades after a few minutes."

"Well, no permanent harm then, I suppose," Gary nodded at the group behind Bob, "I take it I'll then be making sales to these fine folks?"

"Indeed," Bob replied with a nod.

"Well then, let's proceed in the name of commerce," Gary joked.

His smile was replaced with a wince as Kelli completed his ritual. "Stars and stones, that's unpleasant," he grumbled before switching to English. "Welcome to Nikki's," he greeted the group, with his hand held to his temple, "I'm Gary, and here you'll find all the supplies an Adventurer could need to keep themselves safe and comfortable."

Gary grimaced and gave up, leaning on the counter with both hands massaging his temples. "I'll be with you in just a few minutes; feel free to look around," he managed.

Bob motioned for the group to follow him and led them over to the rack containing simple suits of leather armor.

"This is what I started in," Bob said, "and it served me quite well until I could both afford and make use of enchanted armor."

"I meant to ask why you're not wearing Wizard's Robes," Amanda said as she fingered the sleeve of a suit of crimson armor.

"There aren't any armor restrictions," Bob replied, "you can wear anything, but they don't have a lot of metal armor around here, and I don't know if I'd want that much weight, it would make it harder to dodge." Bob gestured towards his chest, "This has impact plates sandwiched between the layers of leather, which keeps the armor flexible, and provides some pretty significant protection."

"I do like your outfit," Jack said, "stylish and practical."

"Well," Gary said as he approached the group, looking mostly recovered, "you'll no doubt be coming to me for enchanted armor once you're ready," he told Jack, "but in the meantime, Bob is absolutely right, simple leather armor is the best thing to start with." Gary gestured towards the rack, "I have other sets in the back, but these represent the color choices I have available."

"Can I mix and match?" Vera asked, "I'd like the dark blue chest, but with black sleeves and leggings, and blue boots, with a dark blue cloak, and a black satchel."

"I'd like the same, but crimson rather than dark blue," Amanda added, then nodded towards Dave, "and he'll take the same."

Dave shrugged his assent.

"I can certainly do that," Gary smiled, "how about the rest of you?"

Tony indicated his preference for Green, Jack for Blue, and Lakisha for the classic fresher Black.Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Gary rubbed his hands together gleefully and pulled out his measuring tape. "Let's get you measured up and into some armor," he said as he started with Amanda.

Bob leaned back against the counter and waited, letting his thoughts run loose.

He'd need to see if Gary, Nikki, and Jakob would be willing to apprentice someone, or more likely many someones, to learn their craft. He didn't know how much stock they had on hand, but it wasn't likely to meet the demands that would be placed on it.

The walk to Joseph's was filled with whispers and muttering as the group started tweaking the adjustments to their armor. Bob ignored it, not having anything to add that Gary wouldn't have told them already.

Entering the shop, Bob was greeted by the familiar blast of heat, immediately followed by Joseph bellowing out a greeting.

Bob repeated his explanation, and Joseph agreed to allow Kelli to work his magic. Oddly, Joseph handled having the language implanted in his mind with barely a flinch.

"So, you'll be needing staves then?" he rumbled in English as he walked around his counter and started piling up staves, separating them by the type of wood.

"I've been building up a stockpile of level ten staves," Joseph winked at Bob, "knowing what was coming and all. Sadly, even at only twenty-five percent over cost, I'm not selling many. It seems that the group out there has become quite the little community, dedicated to reincarnating people as soon as an Affinity Crystal becomes available."

"Your young man, Eddi," he continued as he started passing out staves for the group to try, "he's made sure that anyone who wants a Summoning Affinity Crystal can have one, and he's singing the praises of the Path of the Endless Swarm to any who will listen, which is quite a few, especially after he gave a demonstration or two."

"Despite that, I'm still holding onto better than a hundred level ten staves," Joseph said sorrowfully before stepping back, having handed each person a staff.

"Step apart and give them a swing," Joseph instructed the group, "get a feel for the balance and for the wood itself. The right staff will feel perfectly balanced in your hands, easy to grip, and pleasant to the touch."

"The wand chooses the wizard?" Jack joked as he swung a staff down in an overhead strike.

"Bah," Joseph snorted, "you wouldn't want a wand, not as a real spell caster. You'll get a lot more power out of a staff. No, wands are for people who occasionally dabble in magic, using it for utility spells and the like."

Amanda and Dave ended up with matching Hickory staves, while Vera and Jack choose Walnut, Tony ended up with Maple, while Lakisha found an Oak staff that felt perfect.

"Two hundred and fifty each," Joseph said as Bob approached the counter to settle the bill.

Bob pulled out another fifteen hundred mana crystals stoically. "You have better than a hundred staves ready?" he asked quietly.

Joseph nodded. "The wife and I have been busy," he replied, "and I expect business will pick up once the people who've reincarnated get down past the sixth level and start making room for the others."

"I'm looking at having a lot of people in need of staves," Bob said, "and by a lot, I mean tens, even hundreds of thousands."

Joseph squinted up at Bob, and he rubbed his nose for a moment. "I'll not ask where they're coming from; I'll only caution you that the powers that be aren't likely to be fond of refugees," Joseph began, "that said, I can tell you that it'll take a long time to make that many staves with just the two of us."

"I might be able to send you some freshly pathed level five people to help," Bob offered.

Joseph shook his head, "Better that they reach level ten and have their skills up to par," he replied, then sighed. "I'll get started," he said, "you send me a few people with plant growth, control plant, and ritual magic at level ten, and I can speed things up a little. Find me some people with control earth, control fire, and metalworking, and I can maybe give you an estimate as to how long it'll take."

Bob nodded and clasped shoulders with Joseph before ushering his gaming group out of the shop and through a portal that led back to Glacier Valley.

Detective Hanson read the email again. It was full of flowery and dense legalese, all of which boiled down to asking him if he was really, really, sure that Robert Whitman was, in fact, alive.

He leaned back in his chair and contemplated another cup of coffee. It was before noon, on a Monday. He decided instead to pop another antiacid. First, his weekend had been interrupted, and now this.

Maybe Bob would consent to a DNA test. Or better yet, two or three of them, as the first one or two would no doubt be viewed with suspicion.

"Fuck it," he muttered and heaved himself out of his chair, leaning over his computer and forwarding the email. He slung on his jacket and headed out. He had four active homicide cases, all of which were more important to him than dealing with the fallout of a case that was materially no longer a homicide. His captain could deal with it.