Four to instinct, and damage resistance. Damage resistance was the easiest of all of my stats to raise, but that came at a cost. The tougher I became the more power it took to damage me. It was getting to the point that only blows that were capable of killing me would penetrate my skin. I followed Sekka as he left.
Not giving the owner of the shop the time of day as we passed him on the way out. My muscles looked relaxed as we walked along the street. Letty had taught me how to appear relaxed when I was ready to strike at the slightest threat. Although I doubt it was his intention to teach me that particular trick. It took me time to study, and mimic Letty's posture.
Letty truthfully was a terrifying creature. The vibe of death he gave me wasn't the only reason I feared him. The fact that I couldn't so much as scratch him unless he wanted me to was another level of terror. He could have smacked me down like an insect at any time. Every single instinct told me that.
Every fiber of my being. Every single cell in my body. I frowned to myself as I walked down the road. We made a slight detour to try, and get that dwarf from that blacksmith. My poison may not be lethal, but it did imitate a lethal condition.
I was hoping that he would desperately try to salvage a few coins, and sell him to the people that had already offered to buy him. Sekka lingered outside of the blacksmith shop. Not directly outside. Sekka was in the restaurant across the street. I was on the street.
I watched the blacksmith's shop for a while as the sun sank low over the walls that surrounded this great city. Tonight would be our last night here so I needed to finish placing the spatial crystals tonight. It would be dark soon. Sekka came out to give me a plate of food sometime later. We sat down at one of the outside tables, and ate in peace.
We got a lot of strange looks from the people walking past us on the street. Thankfully it was late enough that the street was mostly empty. I downed the meal with gusto. This food wasn't half bad. I hadn't had a cooked meal that tasted this good since I was human.
The meat was so undercooked that it was almost bloody. Yet the outside was clearly well browned. There were a lot of seasonings on the outside of the meat, and it was clear that the meat was well marinated.
"We should get some of these spices," I smiled at Sekka, "I haven't had a meal this tasty in a very long time."
The only reason we didn't get any trouble for me eating at a restaurant was probably the late hour. Sekka looked at the blacksmith shop across the road. I returned the plates quietly before rejoining Sekka to cross the street, and see how things were going with my plan to poison the dwarf. The shop door wasn't locked despite the fact that it was long past closing time. A tinkling bell gave away our arrival, but that didn't matter much to either one of us.
The owner of the shop left the back room to see who was coming in at this time of night. His face scrunched up in rage. He crossed the room clearly aiming to strike Sekka. I blocked the strike with ease.
"What did you do to my slave?" he shouted into Sekka's face.
"Nothing," Sekka didn't appear even slightly moved by his aggression, "I didn't do a single thing to your slave."
"If you don't believe my master I'm sure you have a way of telling if he is lying or not," My voice was a bit horse due to my new habit of not speaking in public.
I was actually kind of surprised. I hadn't said more then a few words to anyone besides Sekka in months. Somehow I had become a bit awkward when talking to strangers. I already knew that he had exactly such a truth detecting charm. I'd seen it the last time I was in the shop.
He kept it hidden on the top shelf behind the counter. He turned his attention to me, and the calm air of death I was exuding seemed to make him rethink his decisions. I blinked slowly as he backed away. His emotional hue told me he was confused. He took down a small interesting bell, and set it on the counter that was now in front of him.
The bell was hung from a wooden cross section that went down into the base. It was strangely rounded, and the wood gave off a feeling of liveliness that felt odd coming from dead wood. The bell itself was laced with dozens of runic inscriptions. They were so shallowly carved into the metal that someone without vision as powerful as mine wasn't likely to see them. This particular piece was more complex then any of the weapons in the shop.
It was also quite old. It was probably the oldest enchanted anything I'd ever seen. The craftmanship was beyond anything I'd ever seen.
"Touch the bell," the owner gave Sekka a death stare.
Sekka reached out, and placed his hand on top of the bell gently.
"Did you do anything to harm my slave?" the owner asked.
"No," he answered evenly.
"Why do you want to buy my slave?" the owner asked.
"My biggest client wants to add a dwarf to his collection of oddities," Sekka answered evenly.
"Did you do something that would make my slave ill?" the owner leaned in as if he had caught Sekka.
"No," Sekka answered evenly.
Again the room was completely silent.
"Now the slave," The owner turned his attention to me next.
Sekka removed his hand slowly. Stepping aside so I could place my hand on the bell.
"Did you do anything to harm my slave?" he asked.
"Harm?" I smiled as I cocked my head, "If I wanted to hurt him he'd be dead."