Chapter 87 – Hidden Identity
The place where the Moredall family lived was a city called Logridge, quite the weird name, but they all have those all around the empire. Regardless, it looked like a peaceful place, even though the dungeon was inside a forest five hundred meters away from the walls of the city. They looked brand new as well, so it looked like the place never suffered, thanks to wars.
The interior wasn't much different from my hometown… everything was neatly made of bricks and there were a lot of people coming and going. That usually would be a good opportunity. The only downside was that I was drawing a lot of attention again.
"What are you going to do, Fletcher?"
Giving simple answers was easy, but having a conversation with someone like that sure was annoying. Fortunately, no one could tell what I was thinking thanks to it.
I showed Cassius a paper with the words after writing in it for a while: I will look around the city and then look for an inn.
"I guess it is a waste of time to offer a place for you to sleep. Find me in front of the dungeon tomorrow morning. Everything should be ready by then."
It was a lot sooner than I had expected, but it worked for me. I didn't need that much time to look for new enchanted items in the city. Over the last year, I increased the ones I could use a bit based on the things that I needed in the past.
Hearing Enhancement Enchantment: This effect amplifies the wearer's hearing, allowing them to detect even the faintest sounds. It's beneficial for anyone needing to be aware of their surroundings.
Farsight Enchantment: This enchantment grants the wearer enhanced vision, allowing them to see distant objects clearly, even in low light. It helps the user to spot potential threats or opportunities from afar.
Adapted Breathing Enchantment: Allows the wearer to breathe in any environment and grants resistance to harmful gases or mists.
Lock Enchantment: A magical lock that can only be opened with a specific key, password, or by solving a riddle.
They weren't that useful for combat, but they could be used in different ways. Finding items like that was hard, though. Since most people used magical items to fight.
'Perhaps I should start selling some magic bags… making them once is no longer that difficult for me. Perhaps I can trade them for rare items and their enchantments.'
I learned a few new enchantments as my skills improved, but they weren't as advanced. Enchanting Touch probably reached a limit, and I needed an advanced class for enchanting. I knew the only place where I could find such a class was in the labyrinth that emerged three years ago as soon as I left home.
Speaking of which, they were calling that other labyrinth that I explored a year ago, the Hellblazer Labyrinth… even now, people only reached the fortieth floor. It looked like two parties had already been wiped out trying to defeat the fourth boss. I wondered if the Elves weren't really trying, or if that dungeon was really that difficult.
Ring of Spell Storing: Can hold a limited number of spells, allowing the wearer to cast them later without expending their own resources.
Blade of Gust: A sword that unleashes a burst of wind from a distance to strike an enemy, causing the wind to disrupt foes and possibly knock them prone.
Flask of Endless Water: Produces freshwater indefinitely.
I got lucky and found these types of enchanted items. I was a bit surprised by the first and third items… the ring was basically the same as my skill Spellbinding Ink.
Spellbinding Ink: Create tattoos that store spells, allowing the wearer to unleash magical effects on command. The power of the stored spell is based on your magic and the tattoo's complexity. Cost: 15 Mana per stored spell.
The flask was something useful, but it wasn't useful for combat at least at first glance. It could create water, it was basically an elemental spell, and it was pretty advanced since the caster could create water and use it as they saw fit, be it in a vast blast or a single compressed attack.
The sword only cost one Aqua coin, but flank three Aqua coins, but the ring cost ten. Since the enchantment was of the apprentice level and the ring was of uncommon rank, it could only store four spells. Regardless, I just wanted to learn the effects instead of using the items themselves.
I had some ideas on how to use Gust and the Spell Storing, but I didn't know how to use the Endless Water in combat… maybe I could make other flasks and sell them for a more decent price. They wouldn't last for as long, of course.
In any case, it was time to look for a place to spend the night… However, soon, I found a problem.
"I am sorry… but all of our rooms are being used."
I heard that in all the five inns that I found and they all looked at me while they looked more than a little bothered by my appearance. People in Grenezi got used to me already, but things here will take some time… when I wasn't planning to stay for long.
'Well, I guess I will camp in front of the dungeon and wait for Cassius.'
It was a bit troubling, but it was a cost I had to pay to keep my charade. Perhaps looking a bit angrier could have helped me look more dangerous, but I guessed that the surprise would be better if all of a sudden I showed my anger when something happened. I was becoming too calculating since I was only hearing my own thoughts lately.
I walked toward the dungeon while wondering what I would do about food… the monsters were made mainly of wood there, so it would be hard to eat them. I had some supplies, but I imagined that people would refuse me to the restaurants too.
My only option was to hunt for food or ask Cassius to send some, but then I could tell that he would use that as a chance to land a sales pitch on me to join his business. Regardless, soon enough, I reached the forest, and then the dungeon was pretty close to it. For some reason, I could smell something nice in the air… it was dinner time, but I didn't expect to find people cooking in front of the dungeon when the city was so close.
I found a group of adventurers cooking food around a campfire and then talking a bit with each other. I found them also putting some of the food in some sealed boxes and then storing them inside magic bags. They were probably a support party of a clan. The dungeon had been completely mapped out, so this kind of action was unusual, but it wasn't completely abnormal.
Still, this was a dungeon that belonged to the Moredall family… usually, clans wouldn't have access to this kind of place, so maybe the guards were just copying things the way clans do in order to make things more efficient for them. Even that was odd, since they wouldn't gain that much experience, though.
I didn't try to hide myself, so when they heard my footsteps, most of the people looked at me and kept looking at me for a while thanks to my appearance. Still, I ignored them and then just approached a random tree to rest until morning. I made sure to not look in their direction while I remained like that, but they still kept looking at me.
'I know that I am beautiful, but don't stare too much.'
It was a bit sad to say things to make myself laugh, but I had gotten used to it. I want to know if there was a jokester or comedian class out there. If it were, I could gain a lot of experience by selling books with jokes in this world.
Putting that aside, it looked like those guys thought that they would eventually scare me if they kept staring, but after I had a snack, I just began to relax and fall asleep. I was about to do that when I heard the sound of metallic boots approaching me.
I opened my eyes and then saw a guard only wearing the lower half of his full plate armor and a simple white shirt. He had a long sword on his right side and then looked at me, wondering if I was insane or something.
"Are you lost, perhaps?"
I wrote down a note pretty fast since I left my notebook nearby, since I expected that this would eventually happen: I was waiting to receive permission to enter the dungeon. Someone called Cassius will come with my permission by then.
I had to think of a way to deal with the talking… writing down everything wasn't going to be easy when dealing with people like that and even adventurers. I could tell since, despite the fact that he read my note, he looked quite annoyed.
I just had this one great idea… using my original voice was out of the question, but I probably could make a tool that would make my voice really grave, and then when people tried to get in my way I would point my hand crossbow at them and say: you have failed this city! Yeah, I had to stop this, my jokes were just terrible… they couldn't even be considered a real joke.
While the half-armored knight glared at me, another guard approached and soon whispered something in his ears. I couldn't make the face of this one since he was wearing full plate armor with a helmet and everything. Still, I had an accessory in the ear that had the Hearing Enhanced Enchantment.
"Mister Cassius returned today, and he is indeed walking around negotiating with some people. I heard that he was in a good mood, so perhaps he managed to recruit the person that he wanted this time."
I wasn't into earrings, so I bought something a bit different. It was an iron accessory that covered a good part of the upper and external side of the ear. In any case, it was the voice of a woman. I should have known since she was shorter than the man and her build was a lot slimmer, too.
"... You'd better not do anything stupid here."
I wrote down in a paper: I won't.
The guard clicked his tongue and then left with the unknown female soldier. As far as I was informed. Few women joined the army… if they were brave enough to fight for their country, the lords preferred to send them to the mages' academy.
Magic users have a greater impact on the battlefield or serve in crucial support roles, making them more valuable in combat than ordinary soldiers. The lords believed that women who were brave and determined could contribute more to the war effort as mages than as soldiers, especially if they showed promise in magical abilities. They tend to prefer to study more even after receiving physical training as well.
'Curious… even more so if she feels the need to keep her appearance hidden.'
Author's Notes:
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