Chapter 16.

CHAPTER 16.

I really did it…

Liz winced. Thankfully, there weren’t many people walking by so it wasn’t that awkward, but as soon as she saw Amber she couldn’t stop herself. She had been looking for the right person for months, and finally she had found someone. She had taken so many escort requests that she lost count, she had wandered the entire kingdom, and at last she met Amber.

Who was now incredibly confused at what she had just said.

“What are you saying⁠— no, stand up first.”

Liz did as told and felt a pit forming in her stomach. She had kind of blown away her chance, but she hoped Amber would at least hear her out⁠— given the ridiculousness of the request and all.

“Alright, so let’s go sit and I’ll give you your torch, and we can go from there.”

Hearing that, she felt relief as she nodded and walked along with Amber who still looked fresh out of the dungeon. Finally, after a couple of minutes, they sat on a bench and Amber decided to treat her to some food, which Liz was thankful for.

Demonkiller. She looked at Amber buying two skewers. Amber, I knew your class was rare, but just… what kind of class is it to allow for such a feat? No⁠, there is more to it than that⁠—

“Here,” Amber said, offering the skewer.

Liz grabbed it and began eating along with her in silence. A minute passed, before the brown-haired woman spoke up.

“So, what’s this about kidnapping? If I didn’t mishear anyway.”

Liz closed her eyes, swallowing. “It’s a very long story, but sure I’ll start. My name is Lissandra Starkell, as you can tell I’m a noble.”

“Is that so?” Amber asked, confused.

Right, she didn’t know about Identify… Liz thought. She probably doesn’t know about a lot of things, it seems.

“People with surnames are generally nobles unless they came up with it themselves,” she explained. “Anyway I go by Liz now, I was exiled about four years ago.”

Amber blinked. “I’m sorry that happened⁠—”

“No it’s fine,” Liz interrupted. “The reason I was exiled was because I broke off my arranged marriage. You know, political gain for the family and all of that.” She waved dismissively.

“Huh right, what’s the point in arranged marriages when you can go and get that political power just leveling up and threatening people?” Amber asked.

Hearing that, Liz couldn’t help but laugh. “That is a fair point…” she said, wiping a tear off her eye. “And that certainly has happened, but unfortunately arranged marriages still occur. It’s just not the only way.”

“Right, so you wronged your family and for that you were exiled?”

Liz nodded. “And that is the rough context, my sister is due to follow the same fate in the following months. Years ago, I promised her I’d help her escape her fate. I wish to fulfill that promise.”

“By kidnapping her?” Amber asked.

“Yes, by kidnapping her from the house,” Liz agreed. “That way she won’t lose her status as a noble after years have passed and the marriage has been broken off due to her disappearance.”

Amber raised her brow. “Are you sure there won’t be another marriage in place?”

“By the time she shows up she should now be the heir to the house, given the lack of men in our family,” she clarified. “So, there won’t be anything of the sort; that’s my plan for my sister anyway. She can choose whatever she wants to after I save her.”

“You know, if you framed the request as saving your sister it would’ve been a lot less weird,” Amber sighed.

“Yes, but that would be slightly misleading, at least that’s what I think.” Liz lightly shrugged before looking at Amber. “So… does this sound too… insane for you?”

“Will it get me hunted down by your family?” Amber looked at the sky.

Liz shook her head. “With proper preparations no.”

“Very well, then I think I’ll consider it,” Amber said, turning towards her. “You seem a lot more knowledgeable than a lot of people in regards to things. At least from what I could glean.”

Liz nodded.

“So in return, I want information about Primordial Spirits, everything you know. And I don’t mean basic legends or how they are gods, or anything. If I find your information useful, I’ll agree to your request.”

For a moment, Liz thought she was being deceived, but after Amber returned her torch a second later she realized that underhanded things, or deceit, or exploitation wasn’t something that Amber did. In the end, she was just a rather kind woman with eccentric quirks. Someone who Liz wanted to befriend even if she refused to help with her family situation.

And so, she nodded.

“Very well.”

* * *

Amber waited for Liz to start speaking as she seemed to be deep in thought, all while she herself ate what remained of her skewer. Finally, after a few more seconds of thinking she began talking.

“Not all that much is known about Primordial Spirits, it is said that they were a lot more involved with the affairs of the world before the System came to be,” she said simply. “However, it is not completely unheard of for someone to meet a Primordial Spirit, which might be your goal.”

Amber nodded.

“You know, if you meet a Primordial Spirit, it has a high likelihood of killing you. From what I’ve heard, they don’t like to be bothered. My family used to tell me; ‘if you meet a Primordial Spirit, kneel and beg for forgiveness, beg for daring to show your presence before it’.”

And she blinked at what Liz was saying. What? For a moment she reeled, but when she first met Ax’thra... That kind of felt like the right thing to do…

“So, I guess what I’m saying is, it’s not a search you can start lightly,” she warned. “However, I know that won’t dissuade you so I’ll continue. It is said some Primordial Spirits live in their towers being recluses, away from civilization, while others lay dormant at the bottom of Grand Dungeons. There is a tower in the Arthra forest too.”

“I know about that one.” A sigh left Amber. “I suppose that’s a start… Okay, better question: why would someone try to kill a Primordial Spirit.”

“Aside from claiming the title of Godslayer to their name, I think it’s because they hold great knowledge, knowledge that is long lost. Whether it is in regards to skills, techniques, or even secrets to rare classes,” Liz explained. “That or I guess to study their anatomy? Some people… are like that.”

“I suppose that’s not new…”

Amber felt a bit frustrated, considering the Primordial Spirits were gods she should’ve been able to get a lot more information than what she had, but… would that even make a difference? She supposed that, maybe it didn’t. She didn’t know if Ax’thra was still present in the tower or not, or if he was still fighting, but she wanted to help him with whatever he needed.

Though, she wasn’t anywhere near as strong as to be able to help the Primordial Spirit with anything. It was… frustrating. Amber needed to get stronger⁠ still.

“Is it possible to track a Primordial Spirit?”

Liz blinked. “Assuming you had its mana signature, in theory you should be able to.”

Amber nodded before deciding to ask what she hadn’t dared to before.

“Have you heard of the Arcane Council?”

Liz shook her head. “I have not heard of such an organization, I’m sorry. There is the Arcane Research Institution in Cytel, the capital of this kingdom. If that helps.”

“It doesn’t,” Amber sighed.

“I see…” Liz’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry I wasn’t of use⁠—”

“It’s fine.” She shook her head. “I’ll help you with your sister, you know, provided it doesn’t get assassins sent after me, even if it could potentially be… a way to push my limits.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Thank you…”

After that, there was silence, but one that wasn’t particularly awkward. Amber took the time to just look at the city, admire the sun and the rather orange look the place portrayed. Plants weren’t all that common, but somehow she didn’t find the ambience dull. It was pleasant.

“You know, I’ve been looking for help for… years actually. But it’s been months since I decided to become an adventurer and try to find help, through the Guild.”

“I suppose making a formal request goes against Guild rules?” she asked.

“Indeed, it does. Do you mind if we set off tomorrow?” Liz asked, her voice gentle.

Amber shook her head. “I do not, but we’ll have to find Thieney later.”

Liz nodded at that and decided to ask something Amber didn’t expect. “Is there anything I can help you with? You know, now that you’re helping me with all of this?”

Amber blinked. “Well, there is something.”

She thought for a moment but ultimately decided to trust Liz based on her interactions with her so far.

She reached into her back pocket. “What is this thing exactly?”

“A red mana stone?” Liz blinked looking at the object.

“A Demonic Mana Stone,” Amber elaborated. “What does it do, what can it be used for? Vanil, the supposed best smith in this city, seemed eager to work with it.”

The blonde mage’s eyes widened slightly. “I can see why, though… even if he made you something amazing with it, you’d need to find an equally capable enchanter.”

“Right, I still don’t know what this is, so please explain.”

Liz paused. “Sorry, to explain in a concise manner. A mana stone can generally store enchantments, this can be one or two, or even three depending on the grade. So it would allow for a weapon or armor to hold multiple of them.”

Amber raised her brow. “That’s quite nice.”

“However, since it’s demonic, I do not know how this affects it. Whether it makes enchantments in it stronger at the cost of turning them into curses. Or whether it just enhances things or accepts only a certain kind of enchantment,” Liz explained.

Amber nodded and after a brief silence spoke.

“I need potions, so if you could guide me to get some it’d be great.”

Liz blinked. “Of course, we kind of need some for our departure anyway. I can’t believe you ran out of them so fast.”

“I splashed them into the innards of the demon, that’s how I killed it,” Amber explained simply.

“Huh…?”

* * *

Amber found herself standing before a rather fancy looking shop. It had metal lining the windows, and the place seemed to exude an aura of class. The colors were dark and refined, mostly reds. And she could see shelves on the insides lined with potions.

“Are you sure this is the best place to get potions…?”

“Well, I always get a discount,” Liz shrugged. “Apparently, my old noble identity matters to the owner somehow. Something that has to do with future investment? I don’t know.”

“Right…”

That sounded a bit weird but Amber still entered the shop along with Liz. As soon as the bell hanging above the door rang, a man appeared from behind a curtain. He looked to be in his third age, and had no hair whatsoever. No eyebrows, beard or head hair. He wore some glasses and a rather fancy attire.

“Welcome Liz and⁠—” the man paused, blanching in his spot. “Whatever you… oh… you’re that Demonkiller.”

“Yeah,” Amber nodded and then looked down at herself.

She still looked as if she had fallen off a cliff, and if she was honest she had forgotten about it. Everyone had treated her normally so far. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed ⁠— she was most definitely ill-dressed for a lot of the day.

“Sorry,” she immediately apologized.

“She’s a friend, and she’s been busy all day, cut her some slack,” Liz said, with a rather hostile tone.

The man paused and immediately nodded. “So you’re here for Common Health potions?”

“Well, actually I have a question.” Amber stepped forward. “How much worse is the backlash from Rare and High Quality potions?” she asked.

The man blinked. “Well at Rare you may suffer permanent damage and at High Quality death becomes a very real possibility. Why do you… ask?”

“And how much do Rare and High Quality cost? What about common?”

The man hesitated before looking at Liz who nodded.

“Common Potions are about five silver, Rare will be twenty, and High Quality one gold,” the man said slowly. “What are you interested in?”

“I’d like to take five Rare potions, but if it’s possible to store them in hard to break containers then I’ll want ten. I’ll also want one High Quality potion. Two if the container is hard to break.”

The man seemed to pause before hurriedly nodding and waltzing back into the room behind the curtain.

“Are you planning on force feeding potions to any monster you encounter or what? Level up that way?” Liz asked, evidently curious. “You do know that the time between safe potion consumption increases depending on the quality? Rare is two hours and High is a whole ten hours.”

“Huh, okay.” Amber blinked. “Maybe I will use them against monsters. Now that I think about it, why are my level ups so impressive?”

Liz blinked. “What do you mean? What’s not impressive about them?”

“Well, everyone keeps talking about them, but if you kill like two monsters above your level you get a level sometimes. It’s… I guess I'm confused as to why not more people are at a higher level?”

The blonde woman seemed to pause, before she began to laugh. “You are…” Liz kept on chuckling before finally speaking. “Normally, people will fight monsters in groups, it’s safe you cannot afford to get injured. From our job at the dungeon, I gained three levels since I contributed a decent amount.” She gestured at herself.

[Mage. Lvl. 34]

“Right.” Amber nodded.

“However, as you can tell by a lot of prices around the city, a single job lands you enough to live at an inn, buy food and anything else for a week. And if you do caravans instead, you may not even get to fight a lot of the time ⁠— in the peaceful routes anyway. And a lot of jobs do not require fighting in the first place, so I guess what I’m getting at is: People fight enough to survive, and this leads to a couple of levels a year. Until they reach a comfortable level like level 30 where you can just stay there and live comfortably,” she said simply.

She paused before adding something.

“Jaylon, the warrior that challenged you is a good example. He reached level 25 in his first year and ever since then he’s been focusing on improving as an adventurer and teaching others the ropes. He’s leveled ten times in two years, Amber.”

Amber blinked, processing what Liz had said. To some extent it was common sense, but at the same time it was hard for her to comprehend.

“So what you’re saying is that a fair amount of people don’t care about leveling in the first place?” she asked.

That’s… weird.

Liz nodded. “Not only that, but there is also the fact that those that want to level, will do so in a party. They’ll grow tired, and need constant rest. Let’s assume I cleared the dungeon with you and some others, and did it as normal people,” she emphasized. “I would have probably reached level 38, and it would’ve taken multiple weeks given the volume of enemies reported.”

The woman thought for a moment.

“Of course, we are in a small city, one of the smallest. In bigger cities, a higher level is the standard. These areas are rather peaceful so the levels match that.”

“So people just do what they need to survive and not more,” Amber said, finally kind of getting it.

“For the most part, yes.” Liz smiled. “Of course there are those that wish for power or have a particular goal, or even want a higher lifespan. After your first advancement you get a good thirty years, after all.”

Her eyes crossed. “What…?”

“Yep, I’m not too privy on the exact numbers but that doesn’t matter.” Liz looked at her up and down. “I don’t know what kind of weird class you have, but the fact that it allows you to level up that fast is something I’ve never seen before. You’re bound to get tired and injured, you’re bound to be slowed by the potions, but based on how fast the dungeon was cleared…”

She shook her head.

Amber suddenly felt like a freak, but she supposed the blonde mage was telling the truth. What she had done was abnormal. And if it hadn’t been for Recovery of Curses, she was sure she couldn’t have fought for a day straight.

No wonder my class is so rare, Amber sighed.

And at that moment the man came back displaying what seemed to be metal tubes.

“They can be dented but their contents shouldn’t spill, is this to your liking?” he asked.

Amber immediately nodded and forked over four gold coins, which the man happily took. He even gave her another pouch to carry some of them for free. Liz seemed surprised at that but just bought her own potions. Finally, they headed back and Amber felt like everything that she was curious about had been satiated.

“Oh, do you think I could borrow that red staff of yours during our travels?” Liz randomly asked. “It feels… powerful…”

Amber shook her head. “It has a curse that will turn you into a demon the more you use it. So, you cannot.”

“Yet you keep it around,” Liz observed. “Could it be related to your class?” she asked in a grin.

Suddenly, Amber imagined how the Primordial Spirit, Ax’thra felt during their interactions and decided to reply like he did sometimes.

“Perhaps, perhaps not, who am I to relay such information to you? I’m but a humble warrior, those secrets are not for me to divulge,” she replied.

The mage looked at her for a second before asking. “Are you okay, Amber?”

“Perfectly fine, do not worry my companion,” she replied.

It was a bit hard not to laugh at the woman’s reactions, and Amber enjoyed it. No wonder Ax’thra had such replies sometimes. It was funny. Or at least she found it funny now that she was the one replying like that.

“Alright, tomorrow we are leaving with a caravan, I took the request before finding you.”

“Were you so confident in convincing me?” Amber raised her brow.

“Well, if I succeeded we’d set off, and if I didn’t I’d set off to another town to find someone. Call it good time management,” Liz shrugged.

Amber nodded at that.

On the way to the inn, they found Thieney, and Amber used the chance to explain the circumstances of her departure to him. At first he seemed a bit sad but ultimately, gave her a silver coin saying to treat Liz and herself with it. Mentioning that he’d see them off in the morning.

Finally, they reached an inn recommended by Thieney⁠ and Amber paid for it with her friend’s silver coin including baths, which barely covered everything. Shortly after, Amber took a bath and went to sleep. Making sure to thank Thieney for his kindness so far.

* * *

That morning, Amber, accompanied by Liz, went to pick up her adjusted and fitted armor from Vanil. It was a bit annoying to wear, having odd clasps, but after getting it right, she found it to be very comfortable to move in. The smith had left to let her change, so she strode out of the room only to hear a whistle coming from Liz.

“That is one fancy armor.”

“Indeed, it does look great,” Vanil agreed. “Almost too great, a shame it’s going to get destroyed against the next demon she fights.” He shook his head, his tone rather fake. “I shall grieve for my creation now, Amber the Demonkiller.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give it enough use to make you proud.” She smiled. “The last one lasted through a couple hundred of undead.”

The man laughed. “Having a Demonkiller like yourself wear my work is enough, but if you’d like to make me truly happy, do allow me to work with that mana stone of yours.” He grinned.

“I suppose seeing how your creation handles will let me be the judge of that, I may test other armors too, can’t be too sure.” She grinned back.

He clicked his tongue. “No loyalty, huh? Tough one.”

“Well, it at least looks good on you,” Liz said.

Amber nodded and handed Vanil three gold coins and after securing her staff they stepped outside. Where Amber finally reveled in her new armor.

It was… sleek and felt so good to wear, not only that but she felt like it protected her vitals well enough while allowing her to take insignificant damage in other parts. The metal shimmered with an ashen tone under the sunlight.

“Can’t wait to test it out.”

“You might.” Liz smiled. “We are leaving today after all.”

After that, they found the caravan and as promised, Thieney was there to see them.

“Make sure to return, I’ll be sad here alone,” the man said, smiling.

Amber chuckled. “Don’t worry, if I die my ghost returns, and if I’m alive and don’t return then I’ll send some letters. But I’ll try to return.”

He nodded before turning to Liz. “Our adventures may have been short, but I hope you ensure Amber doesn’t get herself killed.”

The woman nodded at that. “I’ll take her impulsiveness into account during our travels.”

Amber denied the accusation but was met with small laughs from both. Shortly after that, they departed from the City of Laria.