THE RING OF GROWTH
"No matter, even apprentices are welcomed to our humble shop", Amelia said to me reassuring me that she would not send her guards to escort me away.
"What do you think I will want from your shop?" I asked the shopkeeper suddenly, returning the question to her.
"Well, I have the perfect thing for a young apprentice like you which will grow with you as you become a Conjurer", Amelia said to me before bringing out a ring from a magical drawer.
"What is this ring?" I asked her.
"This is the Ring of Growth", Amelia said to me introducing me to her ware.
"What does it do?" I asked her.
"It does everything that the Ring of Vines on your finger can, and much more", she replied to me.
The shrewd shopkeeper was indeed probing me when I came into the shop, and she noticed the ring that I wore and knew what it was. The ring was lent to me by Greenduff, my Conjurer master, which was quite useful to me.
"Really how special?" I asked the woman.
"Your ring of vines could cast a spell of vines that is at the intensity of your Conjuring magic, but the Ring of Growth's magic would take the caster's other Templar skies into consideration in addition to your conjuring magic. Its magic would also not be limited once your magic advances because the magic conjured grows with the magic of the conjurer", she explained to me.
"How is that so?" I asked her to elaborate.
"If the templar has for example, a 1-star Constitution, the vines conjured would have a level of toughness equivalent to one star's worth of Constitution magic. If the templar also has a 1-star Power, then the vines' attacking strength would be correspondingly increased by a star's worth, while a 1-star Momentum would increase the vines' movement speed and length by one star worth of magic", the woman explained to me in detail.
"Damn, that would be one heck of a powerful vines conjured from the ring if I had a star in all my Templar skies", I said to the woman excitedly.
"Of course, this ring is especially befitting a templar with rare Affinities, especially those carrying Angel affinities", Amelia said to me with a sinister looking smile.
"Damnit, does she know about my Angel Affinity just by talking to me?" I asked myself.
Amelia's words scared me a little because I was suddenly afraid that my Angel Affinity, which was supposed to be a secret, was exposed and my fear was written all over my face and Amelia knew about it.
"Don't worry young apprentice, whatever secrets you may have will not leave this shop", Amelia said to me, before adding with emphasis, "if you are our customer".
"Damnit, I must buy the bloody ring, which was bloody good in the first place, and now I had another reason to buy – to become the shop's customer otherwise Amelia may tell others about my Angel Affinity", I told myself.
"How much is the ring?" I asked Amelia.
"It is only on sale for three hundred thousand silvers, a real bargain if you ask me", Amelia told me.
"Alright, I'll have the ring", I replied to the woman.
"Thank you very much, esteemed customer. Please come back often", the Shopkeeper said to me after the sale.
Although the share of my bounty wasn't enough to purchase the ring, there was plenty of cash inside the Bandit Boss' magical space cabinets which I took and used to top up on the purchase but that took almost all my cash loot from the bandit.
After buying the ring, I quickly left the magic shop and Grammer was already at the door, waiting for me.
"Have you bought what you came for?" Grammer asked me.
"I believe so", I replied to him.
"Gaesov town is indeed a good place to shop", Grammer said to me.
"Remember to remind me never to return to this magic shop ever again", I told him to his puzzlement.
"Are you leaving with our caravans? We will be going soon", Grammer asked me to leave town with his caravan group.
"About that, I think I'll take the journey back myself. I have more to see in this town", I replied to him and bade him farewell.
The truth was, I didn't want to follow Grammer home together with his caravan. His caravan moves slowly and there wasn't any added security traveling with the large group after the incident with the bandits has revealed.
I was better off, going my own way.
"Are you sure you are not following us? It could be dangerous on the road back", Grammer asked me.
"It already was quite dangerous when we came but I'm ok", I replied to him with a smile.
"Yes, you are the one who saved us", Grammer said to me without arguing further.
Grammer was convinced now that the village's Young Templar was capable of taking care of himself, so he let me return by myself. In fact, his caravan couldn't protect me at all if we were faced with bandits again like the last time.
"Actually, I really wanted you to stay with our caravan to protect us", Grammer must have told himself.
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The Ring of Growth was perfect for someone with Templar Angel Affinity because I have more templar stars than most others and all those stars would be combined to the ring's magic in some way.
Somehow, the shopkeeper of the White Horse knew about my angel affinity which was the reason she pitched to me the ring which she knew I wouldn't resist and at an extremely unaffordable price. She even added an indirect pressure on my buying by revealing her knowledge about my Angel Affinity, which could get me into trouble if I was exposed.
"Damn that Amelia is good", I complained to myself and at the same time praised Amelia, the shopkeeper of White Horse Oddities and Treasures.
Although I have spent my entire fortune on the magic ring, it was probably a worthy investment because the artifact improved with the improvements of the user, so it would not go to waste as my magic improves further.
"Perhaps Amelia wasn't trying to milk as much money from me as she could, which she did and she actually gave me what I really need", I told myself.
Although I swore never to return to White Horse Oddities and Treasures ever again, I had a gut feeling that I would meet the shrewd woman again.
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