Chapter 49: Forty seven

Despite my protests, the Kijo didn’t let me go until we’d reached the far corner of the encampment where two tents were pitched. 

“Fox, this is our camp. Freya shared a tent with me, so once we move her shit out, you can stay there.” 

“I have a tent.” I mumbled, straightening out my clothing now that I’d been placed back on my feet. 

The Kijo made a noise that sounded like a cross between a grunt and huff, as she looked down at me. 

“It’s better to sleep in pairs, less danger when traveling.” 

“But we’re in the guilds encampment right now, so isn’t it safe here? Plus, my tent is set up as a lab, so it’s better to stay there for my work.” I explained, glancing over to Arion who’d followed as the captain carried me away.

 

“You can use it for now, but we stay in pairs when not camped with the guild.” Victoria agreed, following my gaze to the horse. 

“Yours?” 

“Yes, his name is Arion.” 

“Expensive breed.” The Kijo commented, eyeing Arion. 

I nodded in agreement, but said nothing in response to the woman’s mention of Arion’s monetary value. After a moment's silence, Victoria gestured towards the tents and suggested I pitch mine on the opposite side of the corner, which would create an L shape with the other two tents.  

As the team captain helped me set up my tent, she explained that the other members of the team were currently purchasing supplies and selling off items looted in the dungeon in the market area of the settlement. Victoria’s team was comprised of three other team members, a Faun named Pia, a Dwarf whose name was Kip, and Rainy the Dryad. 

Once my tent was set up, and I’d given the captain a quick tour, she showed me to a fenced off area where the guild’s mounts were being kept. The paddock was covered in ankle high grass where dozens of horses, donkeys and my brothers Rhino were all grazing happily. 

“Rainy, and Carmen use magic to sprout oat fodder daily for the mounts.” Victoria explained when I asked where the grass had come from, informing me that Carmen was an Elven druid, while Rainy’s racial abilities gave her some control over plant life along with her practicing druidic magic. 

Leaving Arion in the paddock, where he dashed over to graze alongside Basher, I followed Victoria back through the encampment. As we walked, Victoria asked about the different items I could make and I answered her questions as best I could, mentioning none of the things Darius had deemed confidential. 

When we reached the tents, I noticed a group of people huddled near the entrance of my tent and based on their appearance, guessed these were the other members of my new team. At the front of the group, with his head poked inside my tent was a short man with brunette hair. Pressed up against the Dwarf, and doing her best to peer past him into the tent, was a girl with the lower half of a deer. If not for Victoria’s earlier explanation about Satyr’s who were half goat, and the Faun’s who were half deer, I’d be hard pressed to identify any difference between this girl and the Satyr who often guarded the guild hall in Caruan. Though, the one who stood out the most among the three, and the first to notice our arrival, was a beautiful woman with pink hair and pale green skin. 

 Kip, Pia and Rainy. I thought, recalling their names just as Victoria’s voice boomed out from beside me. 

“Get your noses out of Foxy’s shit.” The Kijo scolded, and I grimaced as the woman’s voice caused my ears to ring. 

Hearing their captain, Pia and Kip spun around, looking a little embarrassed as they shuffled away from my tent. 

“We were just curious about who’d pitched their tent so close to ours,” the dwarf claimed, and Victoria let out a grunt in response. 

Before the red-skinned woman could say anything further, the Faun pranced forwards, holding out her hand towards me. 

“Hi, I’m Pia, I like your tent.” 

“Thanks,” I said, taking her hand. “I’m Kadia.” 

“Is she joining us?” A soft voice asked, and I looked up to see the pretty pink haired girl walking towards us. 

As she drew closer, I noticed that her hair had tiny blooming flowers in it, and a sweet scent filled the air. The strapless dress she wore appeared to be made of leaves, as did her thigh-high boots. Even without being told she was a Dryad, I would have guessed her to be some kind of Fae like creature, just based on her beauty and outfit. 

Seeing Victoria’s nod, Pia let out a little cheer, and I blinked in surprise at the girls' apparent excitement. 

“You got Commander Corvus to let you trade out Freya then?” Kip asked, coming to stand beside Rainy.

“Didn’t need to,” was the captain's reply. 

“Did Freya ask to swap out herself then?” Pia asked, widening her doe-like eyes, which, when paired with freckled cheeks, gave her an almost childlike appearance. 

“The Guild Leader said we could have the Fox if we got rid of Freya,” Victoria said, and I cringed at both her continual reference to me as ‘fox’ and her explanation of how I joined her team.

“That’s not quite what happened,” I interjected. 

“I was going to potentially join another team who’d lost a member, but Corvus suggested this team would be a better fit for me. It was supposed to be a mutual agreement that I join this team, if Freya agreed, but she wasn’t here and.” I hesitated, unsure how to explain the whole Victoria carrying me off like a war trophy thing. 

“She would have agreed anyway, everyone knows she’s screwing Devon.” Pia said before I spoke again. 

This got a grunt from Victoria, a sigh from Rainy, while Kip just shook his head with a disgusted look on his face. 

“I’m Rainy, Kadia was it?” The pink hair girl said, holding out a slender hand for me to shake. 

“Yes, it is. Do you mind me asking what kind of flowers those are?” I asked, eyes drawn to the pink flowers in her hair. 

“Peach blossoms, my mother tree was a peach tree.” Rainy explained with a soft smile, reaching up to pluck a blossom from her hair. 

I stiffened as the Dryad moved closer to me, and for a moment thought she was going to hand me the flower in her hand, but instead she pressed it to my forehead, right between my brows. A tingling sensation swept through me, and I felt like I’d just been wrapped in a comforting hug. 

“What did you just do?” I asked, eyeing the blossoms in her hair with new interest. 

“A Druidic blessing of protection, it will prevent you from being affected by the wasting disease. It is caused by being around the undead creatures in the dungeon. It will last three days,” Rainy told me.

“Oh, thank you?” I responded, my mind drifting to the man I’d overheard as we rode through the settlement on the way to encampment. 

He’d been shouting about selling blessings, with a hundred gold being the fee for a blessing lasting a day. Based on that, Rainy had essentially given me a blessing worth three hundred gold. After a moment's hesitation opened the bag strapped to my thigh. 

Sticking my hand into the bag, I mentally flicked through the inventory screen until I found a fist sized glowing orb. The orbs were something I’d created by extracting the essence from the luminous pink mushrooms I’d found in the tunnels, then I’d used transmutation magic to form a glass ball around the liquid. The orbs produced little light of their own, but they were pretty to look at. The orb didn’t cost anything for me to make, using only a few drops of luminous liquid mixed with water, and a handful of sand to form the glass. This orb, unlike the one I’d made for Leo which was made using Arcanium crystal fragments, was only made with sand to form normal glass. 

“Here,” I said, holding out the orb to the Dryad. 

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“I do not need any payment for the blessing, it is something I do for all our team.” Rainy said, though her eyes never left the glowing ball. 

“It’s so pretty, what is it?” Pia asked, bounding forwards and pressing her face so close to my hand that I could feel her breath against my fingers. 

“I call it a luminous orb, it does nothing aside from produce a pretty and entrancing light, so is purely ornamental.” I told the Faun who gently pried the orb from my hand. 

I let her take it, and she rolled it around in her hands, staring at it in fascination as the liquid swirled around inside the orb. As she and Rainy continued to admire the orb, the dwarf strode forwards hand outstretched.

“Kip Kirkland,” the dwarf introduced, shaking my hand then jerking a thumb over his shoulder to my tent. “What’s your craft?” 

“Alchemist,” I responded, and the dwarf narrowed his eyes in response. 

“That’s a bold claim,” he replied, twirling one side of his braided mustache around a finger. “Lot’s claim to be alchemists, but ain’t nothing more than potioneers who think calling themselves an alchemist will bring in more profit.” 

“It’s true that anyone can ‘claim’ to be an alchemist.” I agreed, inclining my head. 

“Did you make the orb yourself, then?” Kip asked, looking at the two females who were still entranced by the pink ball. 

“I did.” 

“They’re rather taken with it,” the dwarf commented, raising a brow. 

“There is a small entrancing effect when someone looks into the light, similar to the way a moth is attracted to a light source at night. It is easily broken though,” I told him reassuringly, and to prove it I snapped my fingers a few times, which caused both girls to look up in our direction. 

“Interesting.” Kip murmured, stroking his beard, and walking over to inspect the orb. 

“Kadia, do you have anymore orbs?” An excited Pia asked, rushing over to clasp my hands and peer at me with pleading eyes. 

Glancing past the Faun, I saw that despite her initial refusal, Rainy was cradling the pink orb to her chest in a possessive manner as Kip tried to coax her into letting him hold it.

“I don’t, but I can make you one.” I offered, unable to refuse when faced with the glimmering wide-eyed gaze of the Faun.

“Yes, yes,” Pia cheered, her excitement waning slightly as Victoria reached out and flicked one of the Faun’s floppy brown ears. 

“Oh, er, I can’t do blessing’s like Rainy, but I’m good at leather working. So I can make you something in exchange.” Pia said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. 

“I don’t need anything made,” I told the Faun, whose face fell into a sad pout. “But I’ll trade you the orb for the alchemic components you’ve got in your bag.” 

“The what?” 

“Alchemic components. Any plants, animal or creature parts you may have collected.” I said, eyeing the satchel slung over her shoulder which glowed gold. 

Furrowing her brows, Pia reached for her satchel and I watched as her eyes focused on something I couldn’t see. After several seconds, her attention returned to me and she sadly shook her head.

“I don’t have any plants or animal body parts. I have some scarab carapaces though,” she said, and I nodded, concluding that those may be causing the glow. 

“May I see them?” 

When Pia pulled out a leather pouch from her satchel, I was able to confirm it was the main source of the glowing light. Taking the pouch from her, I opened the draw string and plucked out one of the scarab carapaces, holding it at eye level to examine it. The scarab carapace was an iridescent black, the colors shifting as I tilted the scarab back and forth. Placing it back in the pouch, I used a finger to shuffle the beetles around, counting them before retying the drawstring. 

“Do we have a trade? An orb for the Scarabs?” Pia prompted anxiously. 

“Sure, I need a few minutes to make it. Did you want to wait out here or come inside?” I asked, pointing to my tent. 

“It’s hot out here.” Victoria said gruffly in reply to my question, and I glanced at the Kijo who’d been standing silently watching my interactions with the others. 

Moments later, I was standing in front of my work bench, with Victoria, Pia and Kip gathered around watching as I worked on Pia’s orb. Rainy, upon seeing Leo, who’d come out of the living quarters to investigate why there were so many people in the tent, had become instantly enamored with the reptilian lion cub. The Dryad was now seated on the floor, using magic to make several peach blossoms dance through the air for Leo to chase. 

“Can you make smaller orbs? Shape the glass into other forms than a sphere?” Kip asked as I poured a luminous pink liquid into a glass jar, mixing it with water to dilute it. 

“I can make the glass anything I can create a clear mental image of, but the smaller it is, the less light it produces.” 

“Will they still entrance?” 

“Even a drop can draw someone's attention,” I told the dwarf, not really paying attention to his questions as I began reshaping the glass jar into a sphere.

“Kadia my dear fox, how would you like to make your weight in gold.” The dwarf crooned, rubbing his hands together with a greedy gleam in his eyes. 

“I’m under orders not to sell anything outside the guild unless I speak to Darius first. You’ll need to talk to the Guild Leader if you want to sell the orbs.” I informed him. 

I’d already guessed from his mercantile attitude that he wanted to make a deal to sell the orbs, as it would be easy to sell them with their entrancing nature. If it wasn’t for the fact that actually going out to sell the orbs would be time consuming, and mean I’d need to interact with dozens of strangers, I would have sold them at the market in Hathus. 

I’d been informed, that I was not allowed to sell any alchemic creations, recipes, or any items other than loot without speaking to Darius first, thanks to my stunt with the books. The guild leader had been throughly unimpressed when he’d come across one of my books in Hathus, and made the mistake of buying it with the thought I’d find it useful, only for me to later inform him the books were my creation. 

Though it wasn’t the fact that I’d released the books he was angry with, it was that he’d spent so much gold on something I’d basically given away. Not that he wouldn’t recoup that loss when he re-sold that book, and the thirty other copies I’d created of each book. The guild leader had shipped the books back to Noctus, so the vampire could put them up for auction and distribute some through the Whispers guild. The guild leader had even paid extra to ensure the parcel reached Caruan within two days, as opposed to the week the post master originally said it would take. 

By now, my books and word of their contents should spread through the potioneer and alchemic community. Then, once we returned, I’d release the next book I was working on, along with several more copies of the two I’d already created. That would give enough time for the contents of my books to be verified by those making the recipes, and for the value of the books to rise significantly. 

“I can’t just go talking to the Guild Leader,” Kip spluttered. 

“Why not?” I asked, handing Pia her newly created orb. 

“He’s the Guild Leader.” The dwarf said, emphasizing Darius’s title. 

“So?” 

What’s wrong with talking to Darius? I thought as the Dwarf gave me look that clearly said I was missing something.