25 The Handmaids Tale (2/2)
”Mana can do anything, huh?” I asked as an idea was forming in my brain.
”Sure... that's why people would risk getting beat up just for a drop of the stuff.” Ashley pointed a hand at the basin. ”And this isn't even pure enough. Grade three purity at best.”
”What about the mana from a mana well?” I asked, curious.
”Depending on the age and location of the well, it's mana would certainly be much purer,” the dryad admitted. ”At least grade two I'd say... a few drops would fetch quite the price on the market.”
It just so happened that I actually had a jar's worth of mana from the well we took from the Magesong clan. It was given to me by Great General Darah to use in trade in case we needed more funds to recruit soldiers, and I'd forgotten to sell it at the auction house, which in hindsight was a stroke of luck. Now I knew of another use for it.
Noticing I was deep in contemplation, Ashley cleared her throat and said, ”Alright. Bye, Dean. See you never.”
”Not quite,” A grin formed on my lips. ”I haven't received anything for beating you yet.”
My greed got me a promise from Ashley that she would aid me and my friends once and only once whenever we called on her no matter where we were. As this was a sworn pledge of a shieldmaiden, despite the cussing and threats she sent my way, I was confident she would honor this agreement when she was called to do so.
”Get the hell out of here already!” she yelled at me despite the scandalous look her fellow shieldmaiden sent her.
This first side quest completed, I led my friends quickly out of the Shieldmaiden's Tower and away from the Slave Quarter with zero harassment from the slave traders. It seemed walking out of the shieldmaidens territory looking relatively unscathed earned us a slight reputation of being untouchables.
When we were back at the main Cobbled Street, I told everyone to stop so we could discuss the next stage of our plan. I even included Zarz in the discussion because I needed to know a few things only he could provide me.
”Okay, I've purified the iron arcane focus... I assume there's something else we need to make this work?” I asked him plainly.
Zarz scratched his head. ”well... you'll need a special kind of rock to pair with my master's invention.”
”How special? And how difficult is this going to be this time?” Luca asked, looking exasperatedly at the pair of us.
”Extremely difficult, I believe... there's only a few places in the Fayne that will have a formless shadow crystal,” Zarz admitted.
My brows furrowed. ”I've never heard of a formless shadow crystal before...”
”That's because nearly all shadow crystals are attuned to one of the five metal grades the moment they're born,” Varda explained. ”You'll almost never get one unless you cut it out of a dusk shard and those... well... we won't get our hands on any of those anytime soon.”
”Why not?” I asked her.
”Because only one of the three moon clans know the secret to farming dusk shards... and they're not exactly friends with the Trickster Pavilion seeing as we're at war with them,” Varda cast a sidelong glance at Aura. ”After all, they're—”
”Drow,” I sighed.
Seconds passed while I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.
”Fine,” I finally said. ”Let's drop this side quest for now. It's probably like one of those long-haul quests you get in Dungeons and Dragons...”
”You're such a nerd, Dean,” Luca laughed.
”So, are we finally going to continue with our original purpose, Commander?” Aura asked in a slightly mocking tone.
I smiled sheepishly at her while being thankful at how much she indulged my eccentricity.
”Yeah...” I answered her before looking over at Edo who'd just finished a massive yawn. ”You still have the mana jar?”
He patted the bag of holding we'd received from Kallista. ”Put it in here along with the rest of our stuff.”
”I can't believe I forgot to sell it at the auction,” Aura shook her head. ”What an oversight...”
”It's lucky you and I forgot actually...” I patted her on the shoulder. ”I've figured another use for it.”
Aura's eyes narrowed in concern. ”Such as?”
”Something foolhardy, no doubt,” Luca guessed.
”You're close to the mark this time, little brother,” As I said this, my eyes glanced around until they found Zarz. ”I don't suppose you'd want to stick around with us a bit longer. At least until we get your master's contraption working?”
Zarz took a moment to ponder my question. ”Depends... you guys recruiting for an army, I'm guessing?”
Aura nodded. ”We're soldiers of the Fort Darah Army.”
”Trickster folks, huh?” Zarz's bow creased. ”I don't hate anyone from around there... so I guess I wouldn't mind...”
He glanced up at me. ”Mind you, I don't fight. I'm an artificer not a soldier... and if the wages are good...”
”They're fantastic,” I answered. ”Includes a signing bonus too.”
”Now you're talking my language, Dean,” Zarz's grinned mirrored mine. ”What kind of signing bonus?”
”You think you can get me a few dozen small empty vials?” I asked.
”Got some in my shop. Spares I keep in case I need to get some liquid ingredients for my artificing,” he answered.
”Good...” I'm certain the weird looks Luca and Varda were giving me was because of the maniacal grin plastered on my face. Could you blame me, I had a new surefire plan to get some strong recruits. ”We'll need them to make potions.”