^^ Parthia Arcata ^^

— Arcata, Dungeon Merchant's Guild Hall —

As Dusked kissed the horizon, I nodded to the Bartender that Aric had returned with when he'd brought back the materials I'd requested, and in much greater quantities than I'd expected; apparently I hadn't realized how cheap the things I was asking for, other than the Crystals, which he had a direct supplier for and could get a great deal for. As the new bartender took control of the freshly repaired bar, (one very subdued wizard had sheepishly repaired the entire building yet again, leaving behind another fifty gold as an apology before leaving in a far more reasonable manner,) I called Aric from his table in the corner to follow me into the office on the second story, the room that was actually his office, as of today, and made my way up the stairs, sending a cursory glance over the room to be sure of everything being clean and copacetic, then stepped into the office and awaited my Thief subordinate which checking my notifications.

——————————————————————————
Gained: 400 G from Dungeon Merchant!
Gained: 17 Tier 5 Crystals from Dungeon Merchant!
Total Money: 556 G, 199 S, 320 C, 1287 B!
Total Mana: 17 Tier 5 Crystals, 6 Tier Four Crystals, 3 Tier Two Crystals.
——————————————————————————

"Damn, that old man really did spend a shit-ton of money and crystals..."

"That 'old man' was Grand Sage Hothien, the Emperor's Uncle and the only Tier Seven Mage on the planet that isn't beholden to a Deity. He's your Great-Uncle, as well, I suppose, what with the Emperor being your grandfather. How much did he spend?" Aric was somehow seated behind me, despite my not noticing the door opening, his feet kicked up onto the desk.

"400 Gold and 17 Tier Five Mana Crystals. He cleaned out my library, I think... I hope he read the contract, and doesn't try to teach them to anyone without paying for them... well, whatever. Anywho: you have a weapon and armor set of choice, right? Give them to me, I'll have the dungeon merchant upgrade them."

His eyes widened behind his mask, taken aback by the command. "Pardon?"

"You're my chief subordinate, I can't have you dying like a child in an alley; I'm enchanting your armor and weapon, and having the Dungeon Merchant upgrade them. So give them to me, and I'll get them back to you before Dawn."

"Can I... get a new set first? These are pretty old, if you're offering a free enchantment, I'll get you the best ones I can possibly afford!"

"That's fair, sure, just get back to me before sunrise, and leave behind your old ones; even if they're old, I can use them as a material for the enchantment, considering they fit you already. Any material you bring me will be used to strengthen the current material, repairing and enhancing it. Don't bother with a full set, just get a better material; that'll stretch your budget a bit further." I shrugged and pushed his boots off the desk, wiping the dirty spot they'd left behind stubbornly. "And no dirty boots on the desk, this thing is a pain in the ass to clean, and you're not the only one who uses it!"

He pounced up from the chair gracefully, removing his soft black leather armor with ease and placing it on the desk, -even his boots,- with a saucy grin. "Sure thing boss, I'll be back before Dawn! Oh, and can I borrow 50 Gold?"

"Sure, if you pay me back 60 before the week is out." I swallowed the grumble about his dirty boots on the desk and tossed him a sack with exactly fifty gold pieces within it, pulled from the warehouse with a simple flick of the wrist. I was getting good at hiding the spells, after a full day of practice with it, I thought.

"Deal!" He dove out of the window suddenly, bootless and wearing nothing but a grey tunic and pants, disappearing before he hit the ground like a ghost, and was gone.

"Huh... rogues are scary." I shook my head and closed the window, sitting at the desk and examining the armor. 'What'll it take to enchant these, I wonder...'

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Shadow Cat Hide Armor (full set)!
Possible Enchantments: Greater Invisibility, +21 others.
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card, Fusion with Skill Book, or Fusion with Magic Crystals + Runic Engraving.
——————————————————————————

'Ahhh... okay, fair enough; runic engraving would be the enchantment I know of, carving runes into something and enchanting a spell into it, but it seems to require a material that's empowered with mana crystals first... fusion with a Skill Book would be interesting, if I had one, but a Spell Card is likely the best option here... and I think Greater Invisibility isn't really necessary, with his skills, so instead let's look at defensive options...'

——————————————————————————
Greater Invisibility
Pass Without a Trace
Mirror Image
Minor Illusion
Major Illusion
Alter Self
Mask of Many Faces
Polymorph (Shadow Cat)
Arcanists Magic Aura (Falsify Status)
Armor of Agathys
Blink
Blur
Darkness
Disguise Self
Expeditious Retreat
Freedom of Movement
Haste
Longstrider
Mage Armor
Nondetection
Seeming
Shapechange (Shadow Cat; Permanent)
——————————————————————————

'Well, that's an interesting list, but it's all about Stealth and dexterity, which he's already good at... Mage Armor seems like a good Option... Polymorph could be interesting... Alter Self or Disguise Self is a good option if he wants to be a Spymaster... I wonder what he'll bring back? If the enchantment depends on the material, then whatever he brings will directly alter the enchantment options...' the grimoire on my hip shivered, and the spell I was reaching for appeared; Sending, the message spell. "Aric, this is Anitra; what Material are you retrieving? It affects the enchantments and the necessary secondary materials. You have 25 Words to respond with."

"AAH?!? FUCK-! SHIT-! GOD-! DAMN-!" A crashing noise ended his verbal response, but his groans told me he had in fact survived, so I cast the spell again.

"Did you just fall off a Roof, Aric?"

"NO!!! SHUT UP!!! I mean... sorry boss, what did you need?"

I sighed at the waste of a spell, casting it again. "What materials are you fetching, I need to know for the enchantment. Use 25 words or less in your response for this spell to work right."

"Oh... 25 words... got it; I'm fetching Dragon Hide. It's a Tier Seven Material, but I know a place that has some scraps; you said-"

I nodded, altering the ingredients in the Merging simulation, and viewing the new options.

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Shadow Cat Hide Armor (full set), Dragon Hide
Resultant: Dark Dragon Hide Armor
Possible Enchantments: Greater Invisibility, +29 others
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card, Fusion with Skill Book, or Fusion with Magic Crystals + Runic Engraving
— New Options —
Dragonskin
Stoneskin
Barkskin
Polymorph (Lizardman)
Polymorph (Shadow Salamander)
Shapechange (Black Dragon; Permanent)
Shapechange (Green Dragon; Permanent)
Dragon's Breath (Black Dragon; Acid)
Dragon's Breath (Green Dragon; Poison)
——————————————————————————

'Ooh, alright, so that does give me some options... Dragonskin and Mage Armor are still my top options... I'll leave it up to him, I guess. If he wants something to enhance his sneakiness, then I suppose I could just give him Nondetection; it's more powerful than even Greater Invisibility, as it effects peoples ability to even try to notice you. That, plus his stealth Skills, will likely be deadly, when aimed at sentient beings. Magical creatures like Golems and elementals aren't affected by it, so he wouldn't be unstoppable, just very very sneaky. I like Alter self, as well, for the Spymaster benefits... ah, whatever, I'll just let him choose. No point in agonizing over it. As for his weapon, that should be easier; a spell to Bleed the opponent is best, because I'm sure there's dozens of skills that get rid of poison and necrotic damage, I have several of them myself and I'm a Tier One Paladin. Let's see...'

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Mithril Dagger
Possible Enchantments: Acid Splash, +26 others
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card, Fusion with Skill Book, or Fusion with Magic Crystals + Runic Engraving
— Options —
Acid Splash
Banishing Smite
Bestow Curse
Blade Barrier
Blinding Smite
Blindness/Deafness
Branding Smite
Chill Touch
Cloud of Daggers
Contagion
Cure Wounds
Elemental Weapon
Eyebite
Fear
Flame Blade
Harm
Heat Metal
Inflict Wounds
Magic Weapon
Mordenkainen's Sword
Poison Spray
Produce Flame
Searing Smite
Shatter
Shillelagh
Shocking Grasp
Spiritual Weapon
Staggering Smite
Thunderous Smite
Vampiric Touch
Wrathful Smite
——————————————————————————

'Hmm... welp, the fact that 'Cure Wounds' is in there is... gross. Elemental Weapon, the various Smites, Shatter, Vampiric Touch, and Chill Touch, those are all good options. And Fear, that's in there too, good... blindness/deafness, that could be a good debuff to hit an enemy with; even if it gets cured, there's a few seconds there where the enemy can't see or hear you or anything else, even if your stealth is broken. That would be good for me, but not so much for him, I suppose. Shillelagh just makes me giggle every time I say it, but the idea of someone getting whacked with a club when they're defending against a dagger makes it even better... Mordenkainen's Sword, however... summoning an invisible sword with a dagger as the base would be very interesting, and useful for getting range... and making your enemy think they've managed to stop your attack, only for it to extend another two meters, that would be dangerous. I like that one. I wonder if I can make two Enchantments?'

——————————————————————————
(((Divine Message: If you Fuse two Enchanted Items, either both enchantments are kept, or there's a new, fused enchantment, both with only 2/3's their combined original potency.)))
——————————————————————————

'Ahh, there we go; if I enchant this dagger with Mordenkainen's Sword, then enchant whatever he brings back with Vampiric Touch, then merge the two, I'll have the enchantment I need... good to know.' I placed the dagger down, summoning the materials that Aric had fetched me for my Spell Cards, intent on trying at least one Enchantment on my first day on this planet.

In my hands appeared a trio of large white crystals, a small sheet of vellum, a silver quill, and a vial of red ink. The first step was to infuse one crystal into the Quill, alongside Muradin's Divine Mana, which I exuded at all times. This was achieved by simply holding one in either hand, and activating the Gestalt Magic Skill.

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Mithril Quill, Tier Five Mana Crystal.
Possible Enchantments: Magic Circle
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card, Fusion with Skill Book, or Fusion with Magic Crystal + Runic Engraving
——————————————————————————
Activating Fusion...
Resultant Achieved!
Appraisal: Enchanting Quill (Mithril)
Description: Capable of assisting in Enchantments and binding their effects to the Item more securely, as well as binding any created effects to the Item's current User; the User is immune to the effects of this spell, and any summoned effects or beings are obedient to the User.
——————————————————————————

"Oh, that's nice, there's a good insurance that no one gets burnt by their own flaming sword or bitten by their own summoned wolf... next is the Ink..."

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Beast Blood Ink, Tier Five Mana Crystal.
Possible Enchantments: Enhance Ability
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Magic Crystal
——————————————————————————
Activating Fusion...
Resultant Achieved!
Appraisal: Enchanted Ink
Description: Capable of assisting any artist in achieving their vision upon the canvas or page, this Ink corrects misspellings, crooked lines, and more, to ensure that the Artist's vision is recreated perfectly! (Note: this will not correct misspellings that are caused by the Artist/Author's own lack of knowledge.) (Note: this Ink is Extremely Enchanted, and is not suggested to be used outside of an Enchantment.)
——————————————————————————

The ink, now mixed with the white crystal, turned from blood red to a bright, fru-fru, neon pink, and I grinned at the sparkly ink, happily dipping the quill and beginning to draw the circle from my grimoire onto the vellum card. I took my time, treating it like one of my actual spell cards at home; I wrote the spell Circle first, then the name of the spell, and a short description, then I worked on the borders and gilding, before reaching for the last Crystal on my desk, tapping it to the page and hoping it created a crystal sheath or lamination around the card.

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Magic Card, Tier Five Mana Crystal.
Possible Enchantments: Mordenkainen's Sword (Consumable Spell Card)
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Magic Crystal
——————————————————————————
Activating Fusion...
Resultant Achieved!
Appraisal: Spell Card (Mordenkainen's Sword)
Description: a consumable Spell Card that will act as a Focus to Cast the spell 'Mordenkainen's Sword'. It will cast the spell only once, but the effect lasts until the Card loses all of its Mana, which may be longer or shorter than the listed duration of the spell. Crystals can be spent to increase the duration of spells cast in this way.
——————————————————————————

Unfortunately, it didn't laminate the card, so much as turn it into a crystal slab with the artwork on it, but at least it was still clearly legible. "Hmph... no respect for a collector's sensibilities... whatever, let's enchant the Dagger..." the Dagger and the Spell Card both found their way into my hands, alongside a final Crystal summoned from the warehouse, and I activated my skill for the fourth time.

——————————————————————————
Enchantment Material detected: Mithril Dagger, Spell Card (Mordenkainen's Sword), Tier Five Mana Crystal
Possible Enchantments: Mordenkainen's Sword
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card
——————————————————————————
Activating Fusion...
Resultant Achieved!
Appraisal: Mordenkainen's Dagger (Mithril)
Description: this Dagger can emanate from itself an invisible plane of energy in the shape of a very sharp, indestructible sword's blade with a length of three meters and a width of only one centimeter. This blade can be detached from the weapon, turned into a projectile and sent forward with a speed equal to the Intelligence of the User, equaling one meter per second per 10 Int, and traveling in a straight line for one meter per 10 Int before dispelling.
Charge: 100/100
Regen: 10/hour
——————————————————————————

The dagger thinned and flexed visibly, crinkling itself into more of a rhombus than a flat blade, the color of the silvered blade taking on a white gleam in the light of my lanterns, but not an overpowering one; with its flat guard and handle, it could be easily hidden inside of a sleeve or jacket without revealing its presence at all. 'The perfect weapon for an assassin, I suppose... once I add the Vampiric Touch enchantment, it'll be even more vicious. Do I really want to be making weapons of such violent potential?... well, yes, I suppose in a world of monsters and medieval wars, yes, I need subordinates with the proper weaponry, and I need to steel myself for the reality that I'll be having to get my hands bloody in this world. I need to reach Tier Seven, after all, in order to achieve Demigodhood. I've already sort of killed some adventurers with the Dungeon, I suppose, though they did ignore my warnings.' The Dagger balanced on my finger perfectly, glowing softly as I spun it in a circle on my fingertip, only to topple and stab my other hand when there was a sudden commotion downstairs.

"Ach!!! Fuckin-, ow!!!" I hissed a few more curses, casting a cure wounds on my own bleeding hand, then tucked the dagger into its flat leather sleeve for now, opening my office door and looking down into the bull-pen for a view of the situation.

Several guards were trying to prevent a young blonde woman from entering the dungeon, shouting loudly to convince the little moron that she would die if she stepped inside without paying the Toll, but she seemed to be more powerful than them, slowly but surely forcing her way through them.

I sighed softly, casting Sending so she could hear me in her mind over all the others yelling. "You really will die if you go in there without paying Muradin's Toll. Even Grand Sage Hothien elected to pay the Toll. Rethink your Actions."

The woman's head perked up like a hunting dog smelling blood, and she whipped around, looking for the source of the 'sound', searching fruitlessly for almost a minute before she looked up, and our eyes met. She glared at me instantly, making me raise an eyebrow in response, and her response, while out loud, also sounded in my mind. "You... you'd think a pathetic brat like yourself with no talent for anything but hiding behind her mother would know not to threaten her betters,-" the message cut off there, but I could see her lips still moving for a bit; seeing me show no reaction at all to her pratty bluster, her cheeks colored with rage and embarrassment, and she drew a longsword from her hip, brandishing it at me while the crowd around her got out of the way.

Now that she wasn't trying to go into the dungeon, their job was finished, or so they likely thought. 'There are more ways for an idiot noble child to get herself killed, after all... Pointing a sword at a Dungeon Master within ten meters of her dungeon might be one of them; we'll have to see, won't we?' "Brandishing a sword at a Mage you cannot physically reach with said sword... are you so sure I'm the Talentless one, cousin? Also, do remind me which of us was chosen as the Champion of a Deity and the subject of a World Message at only twelve years of age, less than twenty minutes after she gained her first level in the Champion Class?"

The girl was shaking with rage at my casually lofty tone, but managed to settle herself into a swordplay stance of some kind. "You... are nothing, but a brat who was given every chance in the world to succeed, only to-"

A casual spell silenced her, allowing me to monologue dramatically; with so many nobles and noble servants present, this was the perfect time to send forth some gossip. "-only to go on to Succeed beyond your wildest dreams? Does that sting, little cousin? That the cousin you wrote off as useless was just biding her time? That she's smarter than you all? All of you, my cousins, none of you ever managed to kill me, and you never managed to kill anyone I truly cared about; I surrounded myself with servants with ulterior motives and unclear backstories, letting you and my cousins do all my dirty work for me, and now, here you are, delivering yourself to me wrapped up in a bow... I would just have to claim you died in a Duel with me, which seems likely at this point, due to your stance. You seem intent on dying today, first from my dungeon and now from me... tell me, cousin, why are you so suicidal today? Did my mother's death give you a kick in the ass and a set of balls to boot that you never possessed, or were you just too stupid to realize I was always the biggest threat?"

Her glare softened with a bit of confusion and trepidation, but then she shook her head and dug her boots into the ground further, solidifying her stance and focusing her Mana for something. Too bad she would never get the chance to cast it, as I raised a hand and a spell, snapping my fingers casually.