Back on the streets of Navarone, I nervously glanced around before setting off at a brisk pace. I had no idea how to tell if I was being followed but all that talk about the Black Cranes had my paranoia dialed up to eleven. Every time I turned a corner I would change something about my appearance. Removing or replacing my cloak and hat in the hopes that it might make me harder to track.

It didn’t take too long for me to realize that I was being silly. My amateurish attempts at spycraft were more likely to gather attention instead of losing it. I’ve already carried that crest around for months without incident after all. So long as I kept it hidden in my inventory there shouldn’t be a problem.

By the time I got to the multicolored haze of Earnest’s Enchantments, I was feeling much better. What little paranoia I had left was forgotten when a high-pitched whistling started from the shop.

“No, nonononono. Hold together!” Earnest shouted at something inside his shop. A moment later, the air was split by a sharp crack. The street cleared as purple smoke and a coughing Earnest spilled out of the shop. His skin was stained orange and the first thing I thought was “oompa-loompa”. Then I thought to help him. The other pedestrians cleared out quickly but the smoke wasn’t lingering either. It rose rapidly and by the time I had Earnest back on his feet, there were only thin streamers leaking up from the windows, doors, and eaves of the shop.

“Are you okay?” I asked the sputtering enchanter. He glared at me.

“No! Of course I’m not okay! I just ruined two weeks of work!

“But you are okay, right? You’re bright orange now… I don’t remember you being that color before.”

Earnest rubbed a forearm under his nose and sniffed.

“This is nothing, an occupational hazard, no worse than sunburn. I’m sorry, but have we met?”

“Only once, you enchanted this ring for me.” I held up the hand with my mana-regeneration ring on it.

“Funny, you don’t look like a mage”

“I’m not one yet and robes aren’t that practical in my line of work. I’m not really a fan of the lady's nightgown look anyways.”

That earned a chuckle from Earnest.

“So, my schedule just cleared up for a bit. Is there something I can help you with or were you just passing by?”

“I was hoping you could enchant these four rings to boost Charisma.”

“Easy, just, hold on a second.”

Earnest took a deep breath and dove back into his shop. I stayed outside. Something started knocking around and a hatch in the roof swung open, pushed by a stick and followed by a fresh plume of smoke. Earnest came out a minute later with a metal plate under one arm. When he got his breath back he sat cross-legged in the street with the plate in his lap.

“Ring” he demanded, extending an open hand towards me without looking up. I put one in his palm. He put it in the center of the plate. The ring sat on a smooth section in the middle but the rest of the plate was covered in etchings. Circles, pentagrams, runes, and stranger shapes covered the plate.

When Earnest gripped the plate, aura began to seep out of the etchings in ghostly tendrils until a golden duplicate of the etchings glowed in the air over the plate. The circular pattern shrank, glowing brighter as it did so. Eventually it was no larger than the ring itself and it sank into the silver braids, disappearing without a trace.

Looking closely at the ring while he enchanted the others didn’t reveal any obvious changes. Only the notification let me know it was enchanted.

---

Silver Ring

+1 CHA

---

I didn’t particularly need the extra stat points but they wouldn’t hurt and I wanted to make sure I had more magic jewelry to sell the next time I wound up around the plantations.

I tried to ask Earnest about the mechanics of enchanting but I wasn’t able to follow much of what he said without a basic understanding of the art. He was fidgety and I got the feeling that he wanted to start setting his shop to rights so I left him alone before long.

All I had left to do was visit Finnegan before stocking up on rum with whatever coin I had left. A scan of my inventory revealed close to eleven silvers remaining. I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Ten of those were due to my trades with the plantation slaves. I’d only given them a handful of cheap straw hats in return. I resolved to get something a little nicer for them this time.

Finnegan’s shop was surprisingly closed when I arrived but when I knocked he was quick to let me in.

“Patrick! Welcome back. Those slippers held up better than I could have hoped! I’m already starting a new line of extra-durable clothing! Here, I wanted you to have the first set!”

—-

Quest Complete: Walk a mile in Finnegan’s Slippers

Your reputation with Finnegan has increased to Respected!

+10 EXP

—-

Finnegan has gifted you with:

Prototype Cotton Pants

Prototype Silk shirt

Prototype Cotton Doublet

—-

“Wow, you didn’t have to do all this!” The prototype clothing was several cuts above my roughspun daily-wear. The cotton was warm, soft, and flexible while the silk was just divine. I couldn’t stop rubbing it. I wondered for a minute if I should ask him to make me a set of silk underclothes but that felt a little decadent. Instead, I decided It was time to make good on the other half of the Robin Hood lifestyle.

First, I tried to pay Finnegan for his gifts. The silk shirt alone must have been super expensive. I’m pretty sure that silk used to be a component of high-end armor back on earth. Something about the way it wouldn’t stop an arrow, but it would go into the wound with it keeping dirt and bacteria outside.

He wouldn’t accept any money, saying they were practice-pieces anyways. He had no objection when I decided to buy every farmer’s sets he had in stock though. Apparently my new reputation came with discounts. Ten sets of Farmer’s Trousers and Tunics made from linen only cost me seven silver. The sets each gave a decent boost to Endurance and a small one for Strength.

I spent another silver on a couple dozen sets of sandals made from woven plant matter just down the road. They made me think of something an ancient Egyptian might wear but I’m sure the slaves would appreciate the upgrade from bare-feet.

There was more than an hour left until our scheduled departure but I headed into the undercity all the same. I took my time, buying no more than a few bottles of rum from any one place and making sure to haggle like someone on their last copper. The back of my neck kept itching but I resisted the urge to glance over my shoulder as much as I could. Spreading out my purchases and hiding the colorful Courtiers set under my cloak kept me from attracting the wrong sort of attention.

I got back to the Sea Cow a little early but that was fine. I didn’t need to give Duncan a reason to chew me out again. I took the time to organize everything in my inventory and go over my plans one more time.

Inventory

--- Clothes (fancy)

Courtier's Full Set (+18 CHA)

[Silver Ring] (+1 mana / minute)

[Silver Ring] (+1 CHA) x4

--- Clothes (work)

[Sailors Full Set] (+1 STR, END, and LUK)

Farmers Full Set (+3 END, +1 STR) x10

--- Clothes (general)

Roughsupun Trousers x2

Cotton Trousers

Cotton Doublet

Roughspun Tunic x2

Silk Shirt

Leather belt

Woolen Cloak

Leather boots

Sandals x24

--- Provisions

Mutton Pie - (some)

Rum (bottle)x20

--- Books

Navarosi Primer

Basic Adventurers Guide

Magical Theory for Beginners

Horton Fairbrook’s Guide to Meditation

Introduction to runes

The Sage’s Cloak

The Third Eye Opens

Blank Parchment x2

Ink (bottle)

Quill

--- Music

Refurbished Fiddle (+2 DEX)

Sheet Music x3

--- Currency

Copper coin x 31

Silver coin x1

--- Weaponry

Shoddy Speargun

Speargun bolt

Pickaxe

Sea-Lion Quill x3

Force wand

--- Misc.

Flint + Steel

Lantern

Whet Stone x3

Silver Crest

I couldn’t believe how much crap I’d accumulated. It didn’t feel all that long ago when I set out with nothing but a busted up violin, a few coins, and the clothes on my back. Even with the Light Mood ability, I was pushing my limits. With only 13 of 30 voyages complete, this might become a problem. I really needed a home-base where I could leave my extra clothes and books. Not that there’s enough time to do anything about that now…

If we kept to the same trade-route, we’d complete another seven voyages between each visit to Navarone. That meant two more round trips and then a couple more voyages. What used to feel like an unending prison sentence now felt like limited and valuable opportunities. How much more money could I squeeze out of the plantations in just two or three more visits?

Even if I bothered with the calculations to get a rough estimate, there were too many unknowns. Hell, I could get eaten by a Sea-Lion before the contract is up! I took out my Force Wand and turned it over in my hands.

—-

Force Wand

Capacity: 10 MP

Damage: 5 (Force)

Cohesion Range: 5 meters

Durability: 10/10

—-

As I turned it, I noticed lines glinting on the wand like strands of a spider web. On closer inspection I could make out thin silver inlays. There wasn’t a lot of the metal, just a tiny wire twisting from one end to the other. A couple of looping sections of the wire caught my eye. They were too regular to be an error and I opened up my “Introduction to Runes” on a whim. The looping patterns matched three of the basic runes.

Near the back end was an “Oleth” rune that acted like an intake for mana. Silver wires led to the “Nin” rune which stores the mana up to its limit of ten MP. When that limit is passed, the mana should flood towards the “Krell” rune which… I didn’t really understand what it did yet but it was involved in directing the outflow of mana. It might also have something to do with changing the mana into kinetic force, maybe. The book referred to transmutation and I pulled out my secondhand Magic Theory textbook and started searching for the word but had to pause my research when Duncan called all hands to the deck.