Chapter 44: 44: Ordinary Stones

"Finally," snapped the shopkeeper. He peered around his own shop suspiciously before turning and pulling out a tray of delicious smelling cheese topped pastries from one of the ovens behind him.

The shopkeeper kept a wary eye on the pastries for several long minutes as they steamed gently. Danika sent Aishen a questioning look. Aishin shrugged helplessly.

The fairy mice in the wicker cage were straining at the bars and trying to escape. They seemed very excited by the cheese pastry. Danika watched them worriedly.

After another couple of minutes Aishin asked, "Can I collect the reward now so that we can take these little pests off to dispose of them?"

The shopkeeper sniffed and then nodded. "If no more mice have shown up for these pastries in another five minutes," he agreed.

"Can't you put them in your inventory?" Danika asked Aishin.

He shook his head and replied, "I don't have the right type to hold living creatures, that's why I got this cage."

Danika moved her old salt sack into the pouch where her cheese had been, and then tried to place the cage into her inventory ring. A system message popped up that read: "This item cannot store living creatures safely, do you wish to continue?"

Danika quickly cancelled the action and said with disappointment, "Apparently neither do I." She thought back to how the slime skins she'd stored hadn't decayed while in her inventory and decided that the space probably lacked air.

After a moment she landed on Aishin's shoulder and pulled out the pouch holding her foods and seeds. Technically her apples and seeds should be alive, so she tried placing the cage into that pouch, this time a different notification popped up: "This item is too large to fit into this space."

"Do you have room for about 50 radishes?" Danika asked.

Aishin blinked and replied, "Um, sure? Probably?"

The shopkeeper interrupted by finally announcing, "It seems like you really have gotten them all."

He handed Aishin a bag that Aishin peeked into and then accepted. "Thanks for hiring us," Aishin said politely.

"It took you long enough though," the shopkeeper complained.

Aishin shrugged and carried the cage out onto the balcony they'd entered the shop from without comment. This entire level of shops was given over to various types of food, and moderately crowded compared to the first floor.

"I gained 3 Karma" Aishin announced to Danika as he started down the stairs. "This quest was pretty generous. I think you should also have gained three points, but definitely at least one?"

Danika called up her menus and checked. She nodded and confirmed, "I also got three points."

The floor below the patisserie seemed to be given over to weapons. Several shops had dwarves behind their counters, and one shop seemed to be staffed exclusively by gnomes. There were also humans, elves, and even a centaur in other shops.

The second floor held the most variety of shops. There were enchantment ingredient suppliers, beauticians, potions, and more. Aishin didn't pause, until they reached the ground floor. There he asked, "Do you mind spending a point of Karma on a portal? Since they lowered the cost, we'll probably get more from these guys if we take them to the elven capital. Elves seem to really love magical pets."

Danika hesitated for a moment. With the Karma from this quest she had only one point less than her accumulated level, and could almost afford to revive if she needed to. But she was also curious about what the elven capital would be like so she decided to go ahead. "We can do that," she agreed.

Aishin stepped out of the building into the market square, and Danika activated her wings and rose into the air so that she could see farther. The market was still busy and full, but it wasn't as packed as it had been. If anything, this made it a more distracting place to cross though, because she could see more of what the various vendors were selling.

Aishin crossed the market swiftly, and Danika followed, though her head rotated swiftly back and forth like the proverbial country bumpkin just come to town.

Just before they reached the division between the market square and the portals, Danika spotted a very small sad looking display. A little gnome was seated glumly on a mat, with a variety of ordinary looking stones arrayed in front of him.

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She zipped over and dropped to the ground in front of the mat. The gnome glanced up hopefully, but then his face fell. "I'm sorry," he said politely, "but these are too expensive for a novice character." He added a little more conversationally, "Your character is super cute though, you must have played a lot of games for a long time to afford it!"

Aishin noticed that he'd lost her and used the party compass to find her where she sat on the ground in front of the gnome. Danika watched curiously as the gnome perked up at the sight of him and actually stood up and waved. "A master assassin! One of my stones would be perfect for you!" the gnome exclaimed.

"What do your stones do?" Danika asked curiously.

The gnome answered her, but directed his explanation toward Aishin. "They are large pocket spaces with permanent enchantments for air and light, anyone who knows the activation word can enter!"

"Wow!" Danika exclaimed. "When you say light, do they have sunlight?"

The gnome shot her a puzzled frown and then returned his gaze to Aishin, who said sharply, "Don't ignore her because she's a novice and a girl, she's my important party member."

The gnome protested loudly, "I've got nothing against girls!" He returned his gaze to Danika. "No, they have a lamp light that you can turn on and off so you can use the space like a room in a house," he explained, then looked up at Aishin again and added a bit sharply, "but they cost over 20,000 in materials to enchant, that's way out of the price range of a Novice."

Danika nodded and agreed, "I've only gotten a couple of items that might be worth enough so far."

The gnome stared at her with shock and Aishin grinned at him, held up the cage and said dryly, "She owns half of these, and possesses a summon scroll for the traveling merchant."

Danika sighed and both of them looked at her. "They seem great, but they'd be so much more useful if they had sunlight inside," she complained.

"Why?" Aishin asked, at the same time as the gnome asked, "Why does it make a difference what sort of light it is?"

"Then I could plant things inside of one, and carry it around with me until they were ready to harvest," she explained.

"Okay," Aishin said doubtfully.

"Portable garden spaces?" the gnome asked thoughtfully. "I guess that could work. I wonder if they'd sell better?" Before Danika could venture an answer he added glumly, "Probably not though, they'd be almost twice as expensive as they are now, because they'd need an illusion linking gemstone."

Aishin asked curiously, "Illusion linking?"

"The Far View enchantment uses a gemstone that is cut in half, and then one half displays what the other half sees. It gradually consumes the gem, so since better quality gems last longer, I'd probably have to use diamond," the gnome explained.

"If I give you the summon scroll now, could you make me one like that?" Danika asked quickly. "I promise I'd come back and pay the other half, but it might take me a little while." She assumed the pose and pulled up her menu. Her lens told her that the gnome was called "Logical Heart" and he was a Genius Enchanter. She sent him a friend request.

Aishin opened his mouth and then shut it again without saying anything.

Logical Heart gave Danika a startled look and asked, "You'd trust me to make it for you after taking such an expensive item?"

"If you accept my request, I'll be able to find you again," Danika pointed out.

Aishin added quietly, "Plus, if you agree to it and don't carry through, I can find you later."

Danika and Logical Heart both looked at him for a long moment. Aishin shrugged. Logical Heart accepted her friend request and gave a little cough. "We can just write up an enchanted contract, and then the system will enforce it," he said stoutly.

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