The Pinnacle Warrior

Astrid grinned widely as she felt the Great One settle over her. Level 8 felt glorious. There were still two more gnolls in front of her and she cackled like a madwoman as she rushed toward them. Her steps were faster, her swings lighter, and when the ranger lowered its bow at her, she could almost see the moment when it would loose its arrow before it did. She raised her shield and rammed the remaining brawler, the movement making the arrow hit the massive block instead of her. Though she tried to lodge the arrow in the brawler, she didn’t have any such luck. Instead, she merely heard the bones in its face and chest snap like a bundle of dry twigs. 

The brawler wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t a threat either. Another arrow thudded into her shield as the gnoll turned, yipping and crying as it fled. Astrid’s hammer crushed any hopes it might have had for survival, and once it was prostrated on the ground, she dealt the killing blows. She looked at Muti, whose attention was on their surroundings. She didn’t seem to think that anything was threatening, as she shook her head at Astrid. Mollified, Astrid bent down and set about cutting the trophies free from the gnolls at her feet. Before long, she had the fistfuls of fangs and furred ears in hand and stuffed them into her pouch. 

As before, she was the last of the three to reach the newest level, but bit by bit, she was getting closer to Skandr, as he’d gotten his level only two days before. As he wasn’t dealing the killing blow, he almost never received the excess experience that Muti and Astrid usually did whenever they killed a level 7 or 8. 

Eight days had passed since they decided to make as much money as possible and see what they could buy when the chance provided itself. When they asked Anders if they could push their allowance to up to 150 gnolls every day, he’d given his permission.

“Every one of the delvers will be doing this before long. The few who have been here for a year might tell some, but eventually, every delver in town will know what’s coming. They’ll all delve like mad, and the gnolls’ population will explode after next week. It’s only a matter of time before the Dungeon goes entirely feral with gnolls and so on. The population on the first floor will rival that of the second before long.”

Astrid nodded her thanks to the man as she took her leave, and then she apprised Markus and his party of the turn of events. She felt the flush creeping up her neck as they locked eyes, but she maintained rationality and, instead of indulging in the idiocy of the feelings of youth, she instead explained what was coming. 

“We’d just gotten here after this little festival ended last year.” Markus nodded slowly.

“The fogeys among us did, at least.” Bogdan retorted with a little grin. 

“You were just already here! So why didn’t you tell me that this was going to happen?”

Bogdan blushed at that and didn’t say anything more. Instead, he just shrugged and sat back as the parties spoke about what they would do. Markus and the rest of their party hadn’t saved much, but what they had they hoped to spend on a new bow for Kaya. Hers wasn’t keeping up with her attributes as she gained levels, so maybe something a bit better would serve her better. For the first time, Astrid really considered how little she spent on equipment and maintenance. Sure, repairing her armor was costly, but she only needed to do so infrequently. Kaya, though, was buying arrows every day and with how frequently they broke and needed to have the heads replaced, she was considering beginning to use gnoll fang arrowheads. 

“It’s just a pain!” the Archer complained. “I have to get a better bow to make sure that if I don’t hit the perfect spots the arrow’s still deadly, and then I need better arrows to make sure they can stay together with the new bow, but it’s so expensive! I hear there are even some pieces of equipment that grant attributes! If the maker was that good, then you know that it’ll be a great piece of equipment for a long time! But that means it’ll be so expensive!”

“You pay for quality.” Astrid shrugged. “I know I didn’t pay for anything I’m using, but it’s good armor, even if it isn’t enchanted or anything. It’ll last me for a while yet, so long as I take care of it.”

“And where did it come from?” 

The conversation had faded to a discussion of Astrid’s family, then everyone else’s, most of whom were cagey about what their lives were like before they began delving. Then, with the conversation quickly dying, Astrid and her party had gone to Aarta to ask for that week of interest-free time. His response had been almost obsequious with how he’d flattered them. 

“Yes, strong delvers must gain the power necessary to protect themselves and those around them! Yes, money will help with that. I will offer you even two weeks without interest! That will allow you to save for your new equipment, yes? It will be so helpful to you. I know it! You will find so many monsters to kill with your new equipment, no?”

It was that simple, and all they’d had to do was tell one of his men that they “wanted to take him up on his offer.” He’d offered another loan right there as well, the terms only slightly worse than those Skandr’d had in the beginning—1 gold for 2 silver and 5 copper a day. It made Astrid’s stomach turn, but she merely nodded and let Skandr say that they’d think about it. Then, finally, they could move on to what she was really there for.

As descended once again into the Dungeon, a certain mania seemed to consume them all. In the red fields of the Dungeon, they engaged in killing as many gnolls as they could possibly manage, and now, they’d gathered another 60 silver, after their expenses. 2 gold and 15 silver, and, according to rumor, the crafters would arrive in the next day or so. In the end, Astrid caved and went ahead and borrowed the extra gold from Aarta. 3 gold and 15 silver, though the 15 really needed to be held onto just in case something went wrong or just to buy any other thing that was necessary.

The party had decided not to spend any time in the Dungeon for the several days that preceded the arrival. Funnily enough, they were required to hunt 50 gnolls every other day to keep the Dungeon’s current overproduction from threatening the town. Their assignment was to delve on the tenth day, and all three agreed to wake early to kill their quota and give themselves enough of an opportunity to hopefully not miss the arrival.

“This is all insanity. A mark of Humanity’s descent into pure foolishness. There are rules established, but they are flouted for money. There are standards to live by, and they are forgotten. There are dangers to be feared, and they are faced. Is there nothing you would not do for mere things?”

“It’s not about owning things.” Astrid tried to explain as they returned from that obligated delve. They hurried back, pouches seeming almost to hang empty after they’d become accustomed to killing more and more monsters every time they entered the Dungeon. “This is an opportunity to secure our paths forward. It isn’t some materialistic frenzy of people just wanting to own things. You said yourself that you came here partially to deal in stronger, better metals. If the people coming are selling full sets of metal armor that would fit you, but you needed to buy it today, won’t you put the effort in to ensure that you can purchase what you need?”

“It is not what I would do in my home.” Muti shook her head. “There isa  price to pay, and if there are many who desire the same thing, they will fight for it. Let he whose blood runs hotter and whose blade cuts deeper gain the prize.”

Astrid started to open her mouth, but instead of arguing back, she realized that, while she didn’t agree with the general sentiment of what Muti was saying, she couldn’t find fault with the Barbarian’s disgust with the way everything changed for everyone around as soon as they heard about good deals and possible new toys. It was a hallmark of humanity, Astrid supposed, and it wasn’t the best look. 

They strode into the city, and by the bustle, Astrid knew that they were at least a little late.

“Duchess bless us.” She whispered as she made eye contact with her party members and they all began running. Through the gates, down the streets, using whatever alley and shortcut they could to get to the Guild’s building. There, outside of the inn’s doors, were a dozen small stalls set up. Each one was manned by two people, at least one of the people at each stall were crafters of some sort. One to two dozen crafters, and there were nearly as many delvers standing there, looking at their wares.

While they looked, two sets of simple leather armor were bought. Only two remained, one an absolute eyesore and the other in active negotiations. Muti and Astrid darted forward, their eyes both on the particularly ugly set of light armor. It was… eyecatching, in possibly the worst possible way. Bright red and green patterned the robelike garment, each seemingly a different leather. Maybe. Astrid couldn’t tell for sure if it was actually different types of leather or if it was, instead, merely a strange attempt at dyeing the material. Someone else was looking at it but hadn’t begun making any active attempts at purchasing the equipment as Astrid and Muti stepped forward.

“What is it?” Muti asked, and the woman who seemed to be selling the piece pulled back, her eyes wide.

“Forgive us. Please explain this piece of armor. What does it do? What kind of leather is it?” Astrid corrected, stepping in front of Muti. Once she’d done so, Astrid heard Muti growl under her breath as she looked at the browsing shopper. They took a step back, looking at something else while the merchant or crafter drew in a breath.

“This is striated leather. It was tanned from a level 9 defensive monster called the Armadion, a thick-skinned quadrupedal creature in certain parts of the Dungeon. Their leather is treasured for use in armor, as it remains pliable but still resistant to cuts and puncturing. As an example, look here. Would you test this blade?”

The woman, as she pitched the value of the item, pulled a knife from her belt. She offered it to Astrid hilt-first, and the Warrior felt the edge and tip, seeing that it was sharp. As soon as she’d handed it back, the merchant, she was more and more sure that the woman was, put her hand under the cloak. Then, with all her strength, she smashed the blade into the leather where her hand was. Astrid saw the leather dent a little, but it remained whole.

“Now, I would offer to let you test it, but I suspect that you would be capable of piercing the armor, given your strength as a delver. Even so, it will provide good protection, with a guarantee from the Crafters’ Association. If you’d like, you can feel the leather, test it without a blade. It has a padded undergarment that comes with it as well.”

Astrid felt at the leather, and though she could tell that it wasn’t equipment that would provide any attribute bonuses, there was the faint tingle that all magical equipment had. Whichever crafter made this was skilled and the materials were good, so the faint pangs she’d felt losing the opportunity to get the other pieces of armor died as she asked, “And why is it striped?”

“The striations function as a preliminary for enchantment. Each line is treated with different materials, and as such, the whole becomes stronger.”

Something in Astrid smelled deceit on that last answer.

“And how much are you asking?”

“For this, with its firm foundation for further improvement? 2 gold. So long as—”

“Muti, let’s go. She wants to pass off a failed experiment as something more than it’s worth. If you’re willing to give us a fair price, then we’ll work with you. If not, I can guarantee you’re not going to find another party willing to spend over a single gold piece for what is obviously a failed experiment. I can see that the materials are good and the craftsmanship fine, but the dyeing is either a deliberate attempt at muddling the waters or is something that you’ve been deceived about.” Astrid forced a smile that she felt wasn’t as aggressive as she felt. Even so, she spoke loud enough that the people nearby obviously perked their ears up and looked at the table where the merchant was about to receive a fair amount of negative attention. The browsing delver looked more critically at the armor and then wandered away. A small circle opened up around the stall while people decided that other stalls would be better worth their time.

“Is that so? Then your eyes are sharper than mine.” The merchant said without batting an eye. Her crafter partner, a man with broad shoulders and ruddy cheeks, stood behind her and seemed even a little embarrassed. He tapped the merchant’s shoulder and their eyes met. It seemed Astrid had guessed correctly. 

After they had looked at each other for a moment, a shrug here, an eyebrow bouncing there, the merchant turned to meet Astrid’s eyes once again.

“With that being the case, please accept my apologies. Please, take the piece for 1 gold and 25 silver.”

“Very well. Thank you for your generosity.” Astrid bowed her head briefly, hiding her grin as she did so, then pulled her material bag from her side and her key from her neck. With the two things in hand, she gestured for Skandr, who’d weaved his way much more politely through the crowd, to come close. He took the bag as she whispered into his ear, “In my room. On the right side of the bed, under the bed’s supporting bar is the purse. Bring it here. Then, turn in these trophies and see how much we can get out of this.”

He nodded in assent as he took the items and then stalked through the crowd.

“You’ll forgive me for sending my friend to collect the funds. We only recently returned from delving. For now, I wanted to know if we could see what else you have to offer.”

“But of course. I will ask that you step back as we pull your item from the display for now. Of course, we also wish to ensure that others have the opportunity to see and make offers on what we have to offer. My companion here comes with some of his companions’ trinket accessories as well as some weapons that may be of interest to all of you delvers. Of course, if there’s anything that catches your eye, we will be happy to negotiate a price. Do know that, because the creators of many of these items are not present, there are prices that will not be negotiable after a certain point.”

Astrid nodded as the woman pulled a small box the size of a jewelry box free from a stack of similar boxes behind herself. It was filled with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Each one was obviously far from a masterwork, and as delvers pushed forward to check out the items, the merchant shouted, “Nobody approach!”

They all stopped in their tracks as she repeated, “Nobody come close! If you’re curious, wait one more moment while I get everything set up. Nobody can touch any of the accessories until they have purchased it. I will pass it over at that point, and if it doesn’t do as I’ve advertised at that time, then we will return the item for the amount paid. I would hate to have to call for one of the Guild’s employees to come to investigate the current location of misplaced items.”

All the delvers obeyed the command, though there was not an insignificant number of voices complaining about it. While they looked, the merchant laid out three general groups of items, one with about 30 in the organized display, the next with maybe 15, and the last with a mere 5.

“These on my right are accessories that grant one attribute point. The prices are unnegotiable and vary from 25 to 50 silver each. The central ones offer two to four attribute points, and their prices are entirely negotiable depending on how many attribute points they offer as well as which points they offer. Finally, these five offer five to ten attribute points, and they will be going to the best offer, so long as they surpass the base price their creators have set as the bottom line.”

Astrid met Muti’s eyes and the Barbarian nodded. They weren’t interested in the accessories. Too expensive when they could get equipment instead. They had 2 gold remaining, and would spend that on something else. First though… 

Skandr popped out, Astrid’s purse in hand. “I hope the damned armor won’t be so noticeable that I wake up the gnolls. I don’t know why you jumped on it so fast if it’s so… mediocre.”

Astrid shrugged. “Maybe it’ll be eyecatching. But we’re going to check out some other options as well as we go through the other stalls. And, most importantly, I could feel that it’s magical armor. Not enough to give attributes or anything, but I know it’ll be effective armor for a while. I get the impression the merchant just wanted to get me out of the way and the crafter felt guilty.”

“It’s really that good?” Skandr asked.

“I didn’t want to let anyone touch it, because if I did, they would have paid way more than we wanted to. It’s probably as good as Muti’s armor. It’s a good thing the merchant and the crafter are a little inexperienced.”

“Then thank you for your quick decision making.” Skandr chuckled as he darted back towards the Guild’s building while Astrid paid for the armor. 

“We ready to check out what else we can buy?” She asked as they took the armor in their hands.

“Yes.” Muti’s eyes glimmered as she responded. There were eleven more stalls to check out.