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.
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