Part Fourteen

Okay, I may have not made as much of a clean get-away as I wanted to.

“Baaaaaagh!”

Even though I’d killed one of its heads, the Chimera was still chasing me, though now the goat head was seemingly the one in charge. Its vengeful bleats, contrasted to the limply-hanging lion head, made for a rather surreal sight. The only good thing about this situation was that we’d left the Dullahans far behind us.

*…*

“What do you mean “this is my fault”!? I’m not the one who conjured up a great, big, angry beast to chase me around!”

Ordinarily, this situation would be ideal. I’d already proven that Ash and I could take the Chimera on by ourselves, so we should be able to kill it, though reality was cruel. It turned out that when one head got killed, the others got very, very angry, causing their Magic to get even stronger. Now, I couldn’t even pierce through its wind armor, even with [Energy Drain] active. My only hope was to wait for its mana to run low, or for me to escape. Either way worked for me.

Tch, stupid goat head. I knew I didn’t like goats, what with their…huh, do I actually have a reason to not like goats? It’s not like this is their fault, it’s either a Demon's or the System’s. Hm...okay! All goats are acquitted of all charges! Court dismissed!

Back to reality, how the fuck do I kill the damn thing? If it’s armor is too thick to pierce through…then I just need to bake it alive. Aw man, I wanted to save this for later.

“Hm, alright then. Time for some extremely dangerous things to happen.”

Grinning to myself, I opened my bag and grabbed one of my newest toys, an upgrade to one of my favorites. I’d never actually used one of these before, so hopefully I wasn’t about to set myself on fire, as that would be a horrible way to end today. I waited until we came around the next corner, then threw the bomb in my hand over my shoulder at the far wall, before ducking down.

*Ka-FWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!*

As I’d anticipated, the explosion was magnitudes greater than what I’d get from a Combustion Bomb. White-hot flames erupted from the impact point, spreading across the corridor. It was even more intense than Alicia’s [Fireball]-infused arrows. Honestly, if I hadn’t been around a corner and creeping away by the second, the heat and light from the explosion would’ve been awful to experience, something the Chimera was finding out first-hand.

Its wind armor protected it from the flames, but not the heat. I wasn’t able to see it, on account of the blinding flames, but I could hear it sizzle as the heat cooked it alive. Both the goat and snake heads gave off agonized cries of pain, even as their bodies burned. Honestly, the smell was both extremely appetizing, and somehow disgusting at the same time, like steak mixed with burning tire. It was very puzzling.

*…*

Ash told me the Chimera was on fire after a few moments, the heat and fire having been too much for its armor to handle. The white-hot flames of the Napalm Bomb I’d used were extremely destructive, and reduced the beast to charred bones in just a few minutes. That also meant that the ground would probably be too hot to walk on, so I’d need another way around.

Jeez, did I really need to do that? Seeing how quickly it died kinda makes the Napalm Bomb feel overkill. Haaaah, guess I’ll need to buy another. Damnit. Just, damnit.

***

After another lengthy detour, as well as an additional field Boss fight, I finally found myself outside one of the weirdest building in the Dungeon. It was a small, ramshackle shack, looking to be barely held together by layer after layer of boards and nails. I’d actually wanted to avoid it at first, but I’d been called inside by the shack’s resident, and curiosity had gotten the best of me. There was still a small part of me that was hesitant to go back in, but I needed what was in there. It was too useful.

Steadying my breathing, I pushed open the door, though unlike the first time, the cheery ding-a-ling of the bell didn’t make me nearly jump out of my skin. Though the laughter of the shack’s owner didn’t help my nerves.

“Ahaha, so you’re back. Welcome, child of the Dark. What can ole' Hagrick do for ya?”

The inside of the shack was a complete contrast to the outside. It was neat-and-tidy and surprisingly well-lit, with a number of stands and displays along the walls and scattered about the room. The displays and stands held everything from weapons and armor, to useful or interesting items like the Napalm Bomb I’d used before. It was a bona-fide paradise compared to out there. The only blemish on the otherwise perfect storefront was the grinning Skeleton standing behind the counter, though I think all Skeletons are technically always grinning.

According to Analyze, this was the Merchant of Death, Hagrick. He was somewhere between a monster and an NPC, though he wasn’t hostile towards me at all. In fact, he seemed to like me quite a bit, though that might just be his mercantile spirit coming out. Either way, I knew his shop would be a goldmine given all the items on display.

Each weapon was exquisite, even to my untrained eye, and the armors seemed too sturdy beyond belief, made of metals and materials I’d never heard of. Getting any of them would make me a lot stronger.

That said, actually getting them would be hard. Hagrick didn’t take any human currency, nor would he accept random Dungeon drops as payment. He’d only accept items with more than a certain level of energy in them, like Gems of Hatred. And while he would accept the crystals dropped by field bosses, they were worth the lowest denomination at his shop, meaning I needed quite a few of them to get anything good.

Though that could come later. I was here for three, no, four specific things. First things first, I needed to get a few things appraised. According to him, certain items either resisted Analyze, or just straight-up had effects the Skill couldn’t parse. He’d offered to appraise any of these items I found, for a price of course. Though, I should mention that the fact that he knew what Analyze was had astounded me at first. Fort Aries’s NPCs hadn’t even reacted to mentions of the Skill, nor would they react to any talk of Dungeons or the System. Something about Hagrick was definitely weird, but he still seemed to be an NPC, so I’d deal with him, for now.

Anyway, I walked over to the counter with the “Appraisals” sign hanging over it, pulling two rings and a crystal from my pocket as I went. I’d spent what extra crystals I’d had earlier, which obviously led me to need to get more. But now that I had them, I was going to take full advantage of everything this creepy guy had to offer.

“Ohoh, what’s this? So, ya want these two appraised? I can do that, for a price.”

I rolled my eyes at that line. “I can do that, for a price" seemed to be this guy's catchphrase, as he’d said it three times when I’d been in here before. It got annoying after the first time.

I tossed the crystal over to him, which he deftly caught, then set both rings on the counter. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but since Analyze didn’t tell me much about the Aires Signet Ring, and just didn’t work on the cursed ring anymore, I figured I had nothing to lose. Aside from a crystal. Also, I’d decided to only get the rings appraised. While I could have that weird knife done as well, I just wanted to ignore it for now. I had enough on my plate.

Hagrick picked both rings up, one in each hand, and seemingly began to weigh them against each other. After a few moments of deliberation, he set them down and pointed to the cursed one.

“…I’m sorry to say it, but I can’t make heads-or-tails of this thing. It ain’t something that should exist, and it’s filled with vile Magics. Honestly, I recommend ya destroy it if ya can, or seal it away somehow. Never put it on, or it’ll twist your Essence faster than ya can say “glory to the System".”

Somehow, hearing it in such a frank way made me even more sure that I should throw the damn thing into a volcano.

“Don’t make that face at me, boy. It ain’t my fault. Now, while I can’t tell ya what it actually does, I can tell ya what it was supposed to do.”

That got my attention. At my inquisitive look, the Skeleton pointed to the other ring.

“Ya see, these two rings actually had identical purposes. They’re primarily meant to be the base ingredients in magical equipment. This one here is still in its pure state. If ya can find someone capable of enchanting, ya can get them to make ya one heck of an accessory. As for the other one, it was supposed to be a similar, if inferior, product, but it’s been corrupted somewhere along the line.”

Unfortunately, a memory immediately came to mind when he said that. The howls of a dead beast rang out in my mind, twisting the very air they passed through. Considering the timing of it, Finnél’s transformation likely had something to do with it.

Wait, if that’s true, then would wearing that ring cause me to…? Fuck, I’m glad I followed my instincts and never put it on. I used to do that all the time in a certain kind of RPG. I’d just equip any old item I’d find, and then whine when it turned out to be cursed. The thought if that happening in real life is scary.

Still, if this ring is imbued with the same kind of power that transformed Finnél, then I definitely need to be careful with it. Anyone putting it on could transform, and one of those things was enough. Also, I just realized that he cost me an accessory. Damn you Finnél! Even though you’ve been dead for over a month now!

“I see. Well, at least now I know how to use the other one."

“Heh, and ain’t that half the battle? Now, what else can I do ya for?”

From there, my transactions went pretty fact. I’d already priced a bunch of different armors the last time I was here, so I knew exactly what I wanted. It took all the crystals I had left, as well as a Gem of Hatred, but I walked out of there with new, more effective equipment.

Kovis Scalemail

Rank: C

Effect: Slight increase to Dexterity and Agility, Slight increase to Acid Resistance

Description: Armor made from the toughest scales of multiple Kovis, and reinforced with thin Cordicite plates. Compared to other Scalemail armors, Kovis Scalemail is relatively lightweight, and provides a good deal of protection from harmful substances, such as poison or acid.

***

Kovis Claw-Gauntlets

Rank: C

Effect: Slight increase to Dexterity and Agility, Slight increase to Acid Resistance

Description: Gauntlets made from Kovis scales. As the arm scales are the toughest parts on most Kovis, these Gauntlets provide more protection that most of an equivalent Rank. Interestingly, whoever made this pair made the odd decision to attach a set of Kovis claws to the knuckles, each one still containing some of the Kovis's paralytic venom.

***

Black Raptor Leggings

Rank: C

Effect: Increases to Speed and Agility, Slight increase to Petrification Resistance

Description: Pants made from the hide of a Black Raptor. Black Raptors are extremely common reptile-type monsters, so armor made from their hides are relatively inexpensive. But someone has applied a rather powerful enchantment to this pair of leggings, making it a great deal more useful, and also more expensive.

I smiled to myself as I looked over my new gear. I’d been using D-Rank armor for quite some time, so upgrading it was a somewhat late step towards improving my abilities. Even if it was expensive, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for good gear. For the record, the armor was twenty crystals, the Gauntlets ten, and the Leggings would’ve been five if I hadn’t used the Gem to get them. A little pricey than I wanted, but the effects were worth it. Now, even if something pierced through my coat, I had an extra layer of protection. ….did that sound wrong to anyone else? No? Just me? Okay. Guess I’ll just shut up and get back to fighting.