Touch of Fate

Chapter 176: To the Cave!

As soon as he walked in, Mike was subjected a coarse round of cursing from the store's proprietor. "Can't ya read the sign? I'm closed! Do I need to nail the door shut..ah, it's the miser. Well, don't just stand there. Come in and tell me what ya want. I'm sure ya didn't stop by just to visit."

Chuckling slightly, Mike closed the door and walked up to the sales counter where Gail was practicing her craft. In front of her was a small cauldron, bubbling with a thick green fluid, which she was stirring with a large wooden spoon. Occasionally, unidentifiable chunks of something swirled to the surface before submerging once more. While this was going on, the alchemist would periodically grab a handful of dull, grey metal shavings and dump them into the pot, causing the concoction to hiss and spit for a few moments.

Mike spent a few moments simple observing a scene that could have been torn from popular culture representations of a witch, before using Appraise on the mysterious product.

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{Fortifying Brew}

Alchemical Item (Tier 2, Rank 3)

An alchemical product used to enhance the body and improve the overall health of the consumer over a long period of time. Provides a minor enhancement to Endurance for 3-5 months per dose consumed, depending on the state of the user at the time of consumption. Can be used to treat the negative side-effects of aging. Usage over a long period of time can lead to the users developing a resistance to the brew's effects.

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[Interesting. I wonder if she's making it for herself or for a customer. Now that I think about it, it would make sense if a large portion of her income came from custom or special orders. She lacks the personality to make money through walk-in sales alone.]

"Did ya just come to stare at an old woman?" She grumbled distractedly, obviously too focused on her task to really harass him.

"No, I'm actually here to buy a few things, and ask your advice regarding a couple of issues." Mike replied quickly, while redirecting his gaze to the ill-kept shelves.

"Tch." She clicked her tongue. "Well, look around then. If ya find something that sparks your fancy, I might even sell it to ya."

"For a discount, right?" He couldn't help prodding her a little.

Gail scowled, and gave him a baleful glare, "I remember, ya jumped-up amateur."

Chuckling again, Mike took a few minutes to gather up a small pile of materials he thought would be useful for all of his various crafting skills and deposited them on the counter. By this point Gail had finished her project, and was watching him. She eyed the pile with a suspicious look.

"These aren't for Alchemy, are they?" She asked in a serious tone.

Slightly surprised, Mike nodded. "That's correct, how did you know?"

Grimacing, she leveled another hard glare in his direction. "These are materials that can be used with multiple kinds of crafting. Are ya trying to master multiple skills at once? Ya think Alchemy is a game? It demands focus and discipline. If ya can't be bothered to devote yourself wholeheartedly to it, then I can't be bothered to teach ya."

"You're going back on our agreement?" He asked, frowning.

"Screw the agreement. No disciple of mine will get away with underestimating Alchemy like this. So, get ya gone!" She growled at him. Unlike her usual unpleasantness, this tirade had the air of finality to it, as if she was really determined to push him away.

[Looks like I'm going to have to persuade her.]

He raised his hand and summoned a sphere of light and a sphere of pure shadow and set them spinning in a slow orbit. "You question my dedication to your chosen craft. Well, let me tell you. I am not so limited that I need to focus on one thing to succeed. I am capable of more than you can imagine."

He snuffed his display replacing it with a similar one, this time using magma and ice. "I don't need your approval, I merely need you to continue to live up to your end of the bargain."

Gail stared at him with an open mouth for a good dozen heartbeats, before a look of calculation displaced her shock. "Ya have a rare or unique class. One that gives ya several slots Primary Skill and reduces the difficulties of improving them. Am I right?"

Releasing his spells, Mike didn't reply.

Apparently taking his silence as affirmation, Gail cackled. "This changes everything, my boy. If ya can use six elemental magic skills and still have time to worry about multiple forms of crafting, then I underestimated ya. Knowing that, there are no problems continuing as we are. Now, what were yar questions?"

[Suspicious.]

It was clear that the old woman's change of heart was inspired by the possibility of profiting off of him somehow. From here on out, he would need to be careful what he showed her. Mike had no doubts that the alchemist was loyal to herself, first and foremost, and little could be done to sway her in that regard.

Deciding that he would keep his inquiries straightforward, Mike started asking questions, "I'm looking to improve as an Artificer. What sort of guidance would you have for someone just starting out..."

What followed was a lengthy period of instruction. Despite her earlier protestations about needing to focus on one particular craft, Gail turned out to be rather knowledgeable about Artifice, Scrivening, and even Blacksmithing. According to her, there was a fair amount of overlap amongst the various crafting skills, and it paid to be informed about what other specialists could do.

With her guidance, Mike finally felt he had a good idea of what he needed to do to master his various creation skills. Despite the earlier difficulties, this had proven a productive trip. Thanking the woman for the information, Mike headed back out into the market to finish the rest of his shopping, which took until lunchtime. Stopping briefly to secure some sustenance for himself and his familiar, he moved on to his next destination, only to be stymied.

For some reason, the underground bookseller seemed to be closed. Even the cadre of beggars had disappeared.

[Did they move?]

Short of forcing his way in, Mike didn't see a good method of investigating further, so he went back to the Guild and left a message asking for a meetup. He assumed it would take time for the contact to reach out to him, so he figured he would stop by on the way back to the University.

It seemed that it was finally time to head out to the dungeon. After some lengthy internal debate, he decided to visit The Cave of The Beast, figuring that it would give him the biggest benefit in the shortest period of time. Now he only had to get there, clear the dungeon, and get back in time to meet up with Tal and Sera.

Looking around, Mike realized that he was still in the heart of the city's commercial district, and even if he caught a coach, it would likely take an hour or two to make it to one of the city's gates.

[Guess I have to take the magic shortcut.]

Sending a quick mental message to Red, Mike activated his Stealth skill and ducked into a nearby alley. Although nothing seemed to really change, the people walking along the street started ignoring him more thoroughly than they had before. Judging that this was about the best he could hope for, he took a moment to summon his Salamander's Cloak and create a mask of Dark Magic. He'd probably reached the point where disguising himself was kind of a lost cause, but it couldn't hurt.

With a blast of Air Magic, he threw himself onto a nearby rooftop, and began using magic assisted jumps to head directly towards the southern wall. As he was travelling, he heard several exclamations from the pedestrians who saw him in action. Occasionally, he even caught the word Dragonknight being thrown around.

[Looks like rumors about the Tennundian attack have already spread. In that case, there is little reason to keep hiding.]

Following Mike's mental command, Red flew in low over the city rooftops, shocking the watching crowd even more. Timing his jump, Mike launched himself into the air one more time, and neatly landed on his draconic steed. With the sound of energetic cheering following them, the pair rose into the sky.

[Time is of the essence today, buddy. Once we're a safe distance away, let's pull out all the stops.] Mike spoke to Red through his link.

The dragon asked him if he was sure, sending along a mental image of Mike being thrown off and splattering on the ground below.

[Don't worry, I'll be fine.] Mike replied haughtily, although he made sure to get a good grip on Red's neck.

With the mental equivalent of a shrug, the dragon flapped his wings once in a powerful motion that propelled them forward at tremendous speeds.

Despite his protestations, Mike was almost thrown off immediately, as the sudden acceleration nearly caused him to black out. If it wasn't for his Physiological Resistance Skill and his enhanced Endurance, this would have been a short trip. Audra on the other hand, seemed to be doing just fine, and kept trying to get out of his pocket, requiring him to stuff her back in every few minutes.

The real challenge, however, proved to be the air pressure that threatened to tear him off the dragon's back. He was able to compensate with Air Magic to a limited extent, but the amount of mana required to sustain any kind of lasting protection was beginning to get ridiculous.

[I really need to find a solution to this. As it stands now, none of the others could even survive max speed travel, let alone make use of it for any length of time. On the other hand, I suppose there isn't any reason we couldn't just fly slower. It's not like travel is the time consuming part of this little detour.]

About when he had that thought, Red started slowing down and signaling they had arrived at their destination. He was circling the area at a high altitude in order to avoid scaring the locals. From the looks of it, there was a small village of sorts set up around the dungeon's entrance, so with a message of thanks, Mike dropped off the side of the dragon, using Air Magic to direct himself towards a safe landing zone.

This proved a little difficult, since there were a number of large trees in the surrounding area, but by relying on his enhanced reflexes and increased control of his Air Magic, he managed to touch down in a wooded patch a little ways from the village.

After taking a moment to readjust his clothes and hair, which had been thrown into disorder by the violence of his travels, he made his way inside.