Black hair tied back with a long brown coat, the merchant was leaning against his wagon with a languid smile. He wasn't overly tall, just a bit taller than me, but when I looked closely at his coat, I could see that it was made from very fine material. I wonder what kind of merchant would be sitting on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere?
"The kind looking to meet the right people!"
I was startled and glared at the man, but he put his hands up.
"Calm down, you had the look, so I assumed that was what you were thinking! I don't mean to get off on the wrong foot! I'm Dyse, nice to meet you!" Dyse said, giving us a bow.
"What are you peddling?" Tim asked, walking up.
Lesha and I had come over to talk to the man when he called, and so far he seemed harmless. The part about him guessing my thoughts was a bit disconcerting, but that could be explained by my transparent expression I was probably giving off while I thought.
"Well, you look like the type of man that knows his way around a sharp point, so I think that I have just the thing for you! Check out these bad boys!" Dyse pulled out a heavy-looking roll of black cloth about six centimeters wide.
"Ooo, what's that supposed to be?" Tim asked in an overly enthusiastic voice that I hadn't heard from him before now.
"Oh ho ho ho! This my friend is the Belt Knifer! Try one! See that tree over there!" Dyse handed Tim one of the black rolls and pointed at a large tree about ten meters away. "Put the loop on your hand and whip it out at that tree!"
Tim didn't ask any questions but instead looked at the rolled cloth, examining it. After he slid it onto his wrist, Tim whipped the roll forward with an underhanded motion at the tree. I watched as it extended out, and with my good sight, I could see small pocket-like bumps running down the cloth.
When it was fully extended, it made a quick snapping noise, and then eight small blades flew out of the pockets. Every one of them thunked into the tree, and I thought poor Tim's only good eye was going to fall out of his head. The whip snapped again and rolled back to its original shape of being curled up.
"Pretty cool, huh? You can wear them as belts, and they will stay on, then you can just whip them out! Not ideal for close combat, but from the jingles coming from your coat there, I would say your close range is pretty good!"
"What do I owe you for this?" Tim asked while staring at the strap rolled up in his hand with awe.
"Let's just wait about prices, I got more stuff! We can talk about deals and favors after you see what I got!"
Dyse turned and dove into the back of his covered wagon and started to bang around looking for something. I looked over at Lesha, but she just shrugged at me.
"I don't know, he seems harmless, but something about him seems familiar. Not like I know him, but someone like him. It's hard to explain."
"No, I feel the same."
Hm, that feeling was of a certain pervert, and now things were making sense about the name, but not why he was giving us stuff. This had to be the God Dyster, but what would he be doing all the way out here? Whatever it was, nothing good could come from dealing with other gods, but I wanted to wait and see what he wanted for whatever else he was going to bring out.
"Ha! Found it! Or It's! And you figured me out! Good, no more charades!" The God of Disaster said, jumping out of his wagon with an armload full of small ten by ten-centimeter boxes. "Now, before you go turning me away just because big tittied Healia is your God! I'm not asking you to come and support me, but I would like you to help me get rid of a certain thorn in my backside lately!"
Corbit, Gloria, and Mei had come over now, and I looked over to Gloria to see what she thought. That was a waste of time, she looked like she was ready to go back and get her big sword. Mei was not even paying attention, and Corbit just looked lost.
"What do you have in the boxes and who do you want us to get rid of?"
"These? Leveling rings! Once you put these bad boys on you will be able to see how much experience you have and it will show you your skills! Isn't that exciting?!" Dyster was jumping up and down now, nearly bursting with excitement.
"Hey K! I heard of those rings! They go for five hundred gold each, and he isn't kidding about the other stuff. The ring not only shows you your skill but makes it easier to use them. There are ten boxes there K!" Tim chirped at me, in almost the same excited tune as Dyster.
Stupid men, that is why Dyster gave Tim the Belt Knifer's first! Now he had one of our own cheating for him, but Tim wasn't wrong. If the rings were that good, then I would be acting dumber than the men getting excited over sharp pointy things.
"Okay, so we take the rings and such, then what? What is it that we have to do? Are you going to get us to kill someone?" I asked with suspicion.
"You don't have to kill them, but you might have to, it's a bit of a pickle! Giyadel has sent followers to my city and they are causing trouble. So, I need them to Vamos, git, gone!" Dyster said, making a shooing motion with his hands.
Oh, this was just asking for trouble.
[Author here! Please vote if you like the book! helps me out more and I will release more chapters if we can get up there! Thank you in advance!]
"I won't kill them, but I will get them out if I have to hogtie them and send them off in the wagon, but do you know why they are bothering you? Are they even bothering you or is this just you not wanting them in your city?"
"Ah, you see, they are trying to subvert my pretty patrons! Giayadel is a pig and a Lecherous beast. The men he sends are the most handsome that he can find and they are offered wonderful lives, but they are all lies. You know just as well as I do what a god can do to a moral, I can tell, mind-reading, annoying, I know right? Anyway, the moral of the story is, well I don't have to say what he is doing to my people, but If I attack his followers, then he will go crying to the other gods, and they love to start shit," Dyster explained.
"So, then If we do it is just an act of war for Healia against Giayadel?" I asked rhetorically.
"Only if you kill them, and you said you wouldn't. So, it doesn't matter, look I gave you ten rings and knife boy the other Belt Knifer, so just try okay? I will talk to Granvel at the Ground Pounders Guild, you will like him and the boys! They are a good bunch, and I'll let them know about your situation and they will know not to jest! Dyster said while tossing Tim the other roll and then handing us all the boxes.
"What do you mean by our situation?" I asked, glaring at him, forcing my eyes to glow red, but then I stepped back.
"That you don't like dick. Now, remember K, I am not Healia. Watch your mouth with me and don't try to use your cheap party trick on me!" Dyster said in a deep and loud voice that did not match the body that it came from.
I stepped back because both his eyes were completely filled and spilling with a liquid green fire that rolled down his face.
Suddenly tree's started to fall, and the ground started to shake; what was going on? Gloria grabbed both Lesha and me and pulled us back from the angry God.
Then it all stopped, and Dyster's face was normal again.
"Sorry, but I like to get the pecking order in line when it comes to your type! I control disaster, remember that, but I have taken up enough of your time, you still have a couple days to travel! See you back in the city!"
With that, Dyster pulled a flat white stone with a blue circle on it. Dyster touched his wagon and then whispered something, and disappeared. It was almost like he had never even been here, except for the fallen trees.
"That was stupid, K. Why did you accept those things! Now we have to stir up Trouble with Giayadel!" Gloria complained as we got back in the wagon.
"It will be fine, we aren't killing them, but Giayadel is killing girls. Are you okay with that? We aren't nearly strong enough to challenge any one of them right now, but if what he says is true, then I would have done it for free."
That seemed to cool Gloria, but it got me fired up. What a pig of a god, he would be the first one I killed. Lesha put a hand on my arm, and I cooled a bit, but I was still bothered by what I had just heard from Dyster.
It was just past midday and we ate some rations while talking about the new rings we had just got. I went and handed one out to each of the girls and I had given one to each of the boys. I had offered Mark and Kevin one each, but they had both declined and bowed their heads in respect to me.
"No, that wouldn't be right, we should be the ones giving you the rings, hehe. You all have been the ones protecting us, we are only the cooks and night watch! Thank you for the offer, but you should keep them, your Guild will grow large soon. Plus you have those rings so you can get experience for your class outside of the dungeon," Kevin explained.
I wanted to ask him another question, but I was too embarrassed, so I went to Tim instead. He already knew that I was pretty new to most things, so I didn't mind asking him.
"What is experience, like what it means for our classes. I mean I know that I am a tank and I'm supposed to draw the attacks of who we are fighting, right? But, then you said there were skills, and…" I was going to keep asking, but Tim put his hand up to stop me laughing.
"Hold on there! One at a time! Okay, experience is what you gain from fighting monsters. At low levels, it has no effect on you, but after you get into emerald, your Guild Leader should help you get one. Since you skipped a couple steps, I will explain."
"Can you come inside and explain it to everyone?" I asked, and he nodded.
Soon even Corbit was in the back with us as we all piled in. The wagon was moving and the two men sat in the back and the four of us sat in the front, almost. Mei was laying across the three of us, sleeping again, with Gloria playing with her hair.
"Okay, so most of this is pretty straightforward, and K, since you have already used the Guild System, this won't come as much of a surprise to you. For the rest of you, when you put the ring on there will be a blue border that surrounds your vision, don't worry this is normal. Let's just start by putting the rings on," Tim explained to us.
I opened my box and poked Mei in the side to wake her up. Once I had the top of the box off, I pulled the small silver ring band. There was nothing descriptive or notable about them, they were just plain silver bands.
I slid mine on my finger.
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT