The hallway seemed longer than it had hours earlier as I trudged along wearily. On my way I received looks of shock and concern from my other Guild members and one even attempted to heal me, thinking I was in critical condition. My leather armor was barely still attached to my body and it was so full of holes it was more empty space than covering. The surface was coated in blood, mine of course, and it looked like I had been on the bad end of an encounter in a horror movie. Messages in the bottom right of my vision were only now starting to fade.

You take 1 damage from Aaron!

You take 2 damage from Aaron!

You take 1 damage from Aaron!

Elwyn casts Minor Heal on you!

Elwyn heals you for 20 health!

You take 1 damage from Aaron!

You take 1 damage from Aaron!

It was a very long list but most of it had faded hours ago. Despite the malicious gleam in his eye, Aaron had known exactly what he was doing and went to work with clinical precision. He asked another Guild member, a high elf named Elwyn who knew Life Magic, to heal me and then he started poking me with his dagger while I tried to dodge. Elwyn’s spell could only be cast every twenty seconds at most and it was barely enough to keep up with the poking and prodding Aaron subjected me to. He did at least explain that raising armor skills was about taking damage while wearing the armor but while you received a little more for extra damage taken it wasn’t nearly as efficient for raising the skill levels.

Though I suppose I should have been grateful for essentially being power-leveled to my current maximum level for both Dodge and Medium Armor, the aches and pains of being constantly stabbed was dampening the mood. It didn’t physically hurt so much, not after the healing I received from Elwyn, but the constant psychological onslaught took its toll. Now that I knew what a death by a thousand cuts felt like, I was absolutely sure I never wanted to feel it again.

With a sigh I looked down at my ruined armor. While I wanted to fall face first into my bed and pass out or maybe knock back a few glasses in the lounge right away, I looked and felt like I had taken a dive into a wood chipper. I really needed new armor so I gathered my resolve and headed over to Bert before I did anything else.

When I got to his counter he had his back turned and was working on sorting a bunch of vials of some sort. After clearing my throat he turned and stopped with a shocked expression when he caught sight of the bloody tableau that was me. Then he chuckled and waved his hand for me to follow him while saying, “Armor’s this way.”

He guided me to a table filled with complete sets of leather armor. With a hand outstretched towards them he said, “Take your pick, you’ve got more than enough credit. Cheapest to most expensive goes from left to right.”

Then with a smirk he asked, “So, what do you think of his nickname now?”

I just glared at him but he laughed it off and I went to look at the set of armor on the right. It seemed to be made of leather of some sort but there was a green tinge to it. Figuring all the individual pieces of the set would be similar I started by Inspecting the chest piece.

Name

Chest of the Poisonmaster

Grade

Epic

Effect

-25% incoming damage

-25% spell casting effectiveness

+20% poison effectiveness

+2 Agility

Description

Made of leather magically infused with the blood and venom from the deadly Swamp Serpents of Forven Marsh. These ingredients are hard to obtain and require a master of poisons to handle in their own right as they are lethal even after the beast has been killed.

Value

460g - 525g

Now that was cool and I was tempted just for the Agility bonus alone but since I didn’t have any knowledge of poisons whatsoever, I hesitated. The spell casting penalty concerned me as well and I asked Bert about it, “What’s with the spell casting effectiveness penalty?”

“Heavy and Medium Armor makes spells cost more mana, do less damage, take longer to cast, and generally just become less powerful. Typically Heavy Armor comes with a fifty percent penalty and Medium comes with a twenty-five percent penalty. The next set over is one of the exceptions if you’re interested. Oh, and the incoming damage reduction doesn’t stack, it only applies to whatever is protected. Only the worst spell casting effectiveness penalty is applied, and just the once, they don’t stack either.”

I nodded and thanked the dwarf and moved over to the next set, Inspecting the dark leather armor.

Name

Chest of the Shadowcaster

Grade

Rare

Effect

-20% incoming damage

-10% spell casting effectiveness

+10 to effective Stealth skill level

Description

The shadows themselves seem to cling to this armor as if begging to be worn or used by the wearer. A favorite of Dark Magic users, this armor is specifically crafted to facilitate the flow of mana and drastically reduces the penalty normally associated with wearing armor and casting magic.

Value

285g - 312g

Now that was something I could get behind. It had a little less protection but much better magic use ability. The Stealth skill bonus reminded me that I sorely needed to pick that one up.

Turning back to Bert, I asked, “Do you have an Orb for the Stealth skill? Oh, and Deception and Perception as well.”

“Aye, I’ve got ‘em. Go ahead and take off those scraps and put them on the counter, I’ll throw them away for you,” Bert instructed, “Then you can equip the new set and I’ll give you the Orbs.”

After I did as he said, and I had Used the three Orbs he gave me, I looked down at my newly armored self in appreciation. I thought I looked like a badass with my dark armor and black cloak. Until my eyes caught on the dagger at my waist. For the first time I actually Inspected it.

Name

Basic Iron Dagger

Grade

Common

Effect

1-4 (+ Agility * 0.1) base damage

Description

This dagger is a staple of Apprentice Weaponsmiths who are learning their trade. This blade appears to have been made by one of middling skill.

Value

5c - 1s

Wincing, I looked at Bert and asked, “Got an upgrade for this?”

With a snort he replied, “I should think so. Just toss that on the pile with the rest of the trash. No way am I selling that to any of ours.”

He led me to another large table, this one absolutely covered in daggers of all types. Some were glowing, some had menacing appearances, some looked like they were leaking snowflakes or fire or electricity. I was blown away by the sheer assortment so I turned to Bert and asked, “Any recommendations?”

The dwarf looked surprised for only a moment then reached out and picked up an unassuming looking dagger near the middle of the table. It didn’t have any special effects or other visible noteworthy features but it was obviously of much higher quality than my old dagger. He handed it to me and said, “This one has been through the hands of quite a few of our top blades.” With a laugh he added, “It also has one of my favorite names.”

Intrigued, I took the dagger and Inspected it.

Name

Studious Stabber

Grade

Rare

Effect

4-8 (+ Agility * 0.5) base damage

+50% skill gain for Daggers

Description

Commissioned by a Master Assassin who was obsessed with perfecting her art. Nobody knows what happened to the Assassin herself but rumor has it that she passed on this blade to her apprentice when she had no more to learn from it.

Value

568g - 600g

That was certainly an improvement and I laughed aloud at the name. The only thing that made me hesitate was that I had no idea what the Daggers skill actually did. I asked Bert about it and he responded, “You trained with Daggers earlier, right? Remember the delay you felt between strikes?”

I thought back and realized that I did. It had felt like I was moving through molasses when I tried to slash at a target some of the time. Now that I looked back on it I remembered that it was only when I tried to attack immediately after another strike. It was like a mental block kept me from chaining the slashes together, like any child could do otherwise. The thought was more than mildly disturbing and I nodded at Bert to distract myself from it.

“The Daggers skill will decrease the time you have to wait between them. Also, the higher the level the more likely you are to spot weak points on enemies, even if you’ve never seen them before,” Bert explained.

“Excellent,” I said and sheathed the dagger where my old one used to be. “I have to pay a visit to the Brokers sometime soon, got anything I can take notes with?”

He nodded and rummaged around at another table for a few items. Aaron had explained that I should start thinking about what class I wanted to pick. He revealed that there was a Rogue class and that he was an Assassin, a variant of the Rogue with an emphasis on weapons. When I questioned him some more I managed to, for the very first and only time, successfully dodge one of his attacks. After that he refused to tell me more and just told me to go see the Brokers. He was nice enough to at least tell me they were a Guild who specialized in the buying and selling of one thing: information.

When he returned from his search he handed me a small notebook measuring no more than three inches by four. It was bound in soft leather and the pages were numbered with a small silver numeral at the bottom outside corner. I paged through them to the end, or I tried to, only it never ended. With a laugh Bert explained how it worked. Just opening the book let me start at the first page but thinking of a specific page number while opening it went straight to that page. He said it was popular with Spies and the like because you could keep information hidden and access it only if you knew the right page number. He handed me a magical pen that never ran out of ink and I guess the look in my eyes was enough to let him know that I’d be taking it.

I was about to head out when Bert put out a couple of Orbs and a small bracelet.

“These last will take up the rest of your credit. But I think you’ll be interested,” he said with a grin, “The Orb of Learning is on the house, the Guildmaster said you’ll need it for your next job. He told me to ask you if you would meet him at the lounge tomorrow morning.”

Quest Offer: Meet the Guildmaster

Bert has relayed a message requesting your presence at a meeting with the Guildmaster of the Shadow Fangs. The meeting is to take place in the lounge located on the first floor of the southern building in the Guild’s compound.

Reward: 100xp

Accept This Quest? Yes/No

Yes. Seemed like an easy one and I reached out to see what the Orb was that I would need for the job. Inspect.

Name

Orb of Learning (Hand to Hand)

Grade

Uncommon

Effect

Learn the Hand to Hand skill.

Description

Created by a Master of a particular skill with the assistance of a Master Enchanter, these orbs contain the kernel of knowledge required to obtain the first level of a skill. Certain skills can only be obtained through these orbs, or by the gods themselves.

Value

365g - 400g

Definitely not a skill I would have expected but it could be useful so I shrugged and checked out the other Orb Bert had offered.

Name

Orb of Advancement

Grade

Epic

Effect

Gain one unspent Skill Point.

Description

Created by someone with an unspent Skill Point and with the assistance of a Master Enchanter, these orbs contain the magic necessary to advance a skill to the next tier.

Value

1920g - 2200g

I let out a low whistle. Bert was definitely right about me being interested, I used both of the Orbs without a second thought. That left only the bracelet and I checked it out as well.

Name

Bracelet of the Shadow Fangs

Grade

Rare

Effect

+10 to effective Deception skill level

Description

This silver bracelet has a small clasp in the shape of two snake’s fangs and is the symbol of the Shadow Fangs Guild.

Nodding to Bert in appreciation, I tried to slip on the bracelet underneath one of my gloves. It was more difficult than it looked but then I almost hit my head in exasperation when I realized what I was doing. Equipping it instead left it resting comfortably just underneath the armor.

Ignoring Bert’s amused look at my struggle, I thanked him sincerely for his help. Then I waved and headed out of the shop and the Guild to begin exploring. And by exploring, I meant looking for a place to drink.