D.L.Evans Prologue 3 - Earl Grey Tea
Grey woke up unexpectedly, sitting up right in his bed contemplating the past events so far. He reached out for his glass of water monologuing to himself. "Gah what's so impressive about magic anyway... It might be strong on its own but combining it together is so much more powerful- Ah where's my glass?"
Scanning the room he noticed his glass sitting on the desk at the opposite side of them room. "Dammit I guess I didn't bring it over last night... Well this is perfect!"
He shot out of bed putting a robe on over his underwear and headed straight to his study. He pulled out a fresh roll of paper and began sketching out ideas.
"I'll prove right now! I can create a powerful item far better than mere magic. So desirable they can't help but except it!" He began laughing in a somewhat concerning way. "So my drink was too far away. Hmm.. Then I'll bring it to me! A sort of magic cannon for drinks. Wait! I could heat it and make it fire tea at the perfect temperature. Hah, I'm a genius. Bow down to me fools!"
Grey's maniacal laughter scared off the early morning birds in the surrounding area.
After a few quick sketches and a quick sneaky visit to the storage room in the basement, Grey assembled his invention. "Magic tea blaster version 1! Okay now I just pour the tea in this end and close the lid. Now I sit in my bed and wait for it to boil."
As soon as the contraption boiled the water it was pushed into the barrel and soaked into the tea leaves. Which were gathered in a mesh holder beneath the water. Grey stared the barrel down and waited until it comically dinged firing the fresh boiled tea straight at his face. The blast was strong, easily clearing the length of the room. The trajectory was perfect, heading straight for his face. The force however, was so powerful the tea quickly overflowed from Grey's mouth as he began coughing. A continued explosion of tea sprayed across his face burning him lighting. Grey lobbed a shoe at the cannon knocking it over stopping the onslaught.
"Ah!!! Cough cough. Ouch ouch. Stop!" Panting, Grey slipped out of bed and loomed over the device. With one swift and over theatrical movement he scooped it off the table and into the bin.
"Maybe... The world isn't ready for this invention..." He got dressed with no hope of sleeping any further and ate breakfast. Mumbling to himself about his failed experiment. "Version two will be better I'm sure. However, no more inventions today... I'm tapped."
D.L.Evans Chapter 3 - The Grey Star Service
Today started like any other day for the shop. Celia was happily singing as she stocked shelves. The birds had finally returned, eating the seeds Celia had scattered outside the shop. A bright ray of light was piercing through the magical item decorated shop windows.
"Ah what a wonderful day. Good morning Celia." Grey walked onto the shop floor rubbing his face, still red from the burns.
Celia jumped with an audible exhale, launching the bottles she was holding into the air. "Ah! Grey... How long have you been here? Did you here me singing..?" Without taking her embarrassed face off Grey she expertly caught all three bottles out of the air.
"Oh erm not that long I just came down."
"Whew... I see. Erm Grey what's wrong with your face, its all red."
Grey turned away from her rubbing his face more so. "It's just light burning don't worry about it..."
"O-oh. Well anyway. Good morning Grey, are you starting to get used to waking up early now.
"Sure I guess you could say that.." Grey sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "It's still strange living and working in the same place. I'm not sure I like that part."
Grey sat down behind the counter with a hand on his head resting on the counter. Celia slammed the crate of bottles down with an loud clink.
"I'd swap with you in a heartbeat it's way better than where I live..."
Grey knew very little knowledge about Celia or Hina, nor did he really care to know more. He looked at Celia with an inquisitive glance studying her outfit and the way she held herself. "Well your clothes sure look fancy. I would of thought you lived in a fancy place to match.
After saying that, Celia seemed melancholy looking down and off to the side with a somewhat sad expression. "Erm well yes but no."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"My family house is the sort of fancy you're thinking of. But it's not the same story here in the city. My family lives on the opposite side of the nation."
Grey laughed a little joking to himself. "Oh so you were also carted off to the big city with no clue on what you're doing. Then put in a place you can't escape from."
Grey expected his statement to make Celia laugh and snap back to her usual self. However, Celia's response was one of agreement.
"Well yeah, you're right in a way." Celia looked up at Grey giving him an empty smile.
Grey recognised immediately after seeing it so many times on the faces of those who tutored him in magic. "Oh er...I don't want to pry. But that smile isn't genuine, is it not? If you would let me. I would like to hear more of your story."
Celia's smile seemed to change hearing his words brightening slightly.
At that point Hina came marching on to the shop floor with an oblivious and cheerful smile.
"Oh! Grey you're here and before me no less. Although I was working on my super secret project." Hina slapped Grey on the back and giggled softly through a yawn. "Hmm.. Why is your face red grey?"
As if she had already forgotten what she was discussing with Grey, Celia switched back to her usual bubbly self. "Ooohhh what is it! I want to know! Please let me see it!"
Celia dropped what she was doing and ran behind Grey and Hina in an attempt to go to the basement. Hina grabbed her clothes pulling her back, her momentum from being grabbed arced her run clattering straight into Grey.
"Stop I don't want you anywhere near it! You would only destroy it. It's not something that can be toyed with easily. Besides you wouldn't find it even if you tried."
Celia let out a sad sigh and picked herself up off Grey. She then went to the front door flipping the closed sign to open.
"Fine but you have to show me later. Okay!"
Grey however was still pondering what Celia had told him. He got back to his feet, slow to catch up to the current conversation.
Hina turned her exasperated glare upon Grey. "That goes for you too Grey... Grey are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh yeah okay."
"Good. On another topic. I think you should stop delaying the inevitable. No more exceptions, start doing your job. Celia take Grey through the inventory so he's familiar with what we sell. I'll go make us some tea."
Hina turned her back and headed upstairs refusing to take any questions.
"Fine I guess it can't be helped..."
Celia slid up behind Grey putting a hand on his shoulder with a tight grip. She spoke with a low voice leering at him. "You've been here for a while now and you still don't do anything."
"What that's not true. I've done things..."
Celia's voice dropped to a gentle tone and her grip softened as she giggled. She smiled sincerely with a warm expression. "Thank you. Really."
"Hm, what for?"
"Offering to listen to my problems. I'll take you up on that offer.. Someday."
Grey chuckled and smiled back with a slight tilt to his head. "Oh s-sure..."
At that moment the door bell rang out.
Ding Ding
The quiet moment Grey and Celia shared was suddenly interrupted by the sound of four voices, for adventure's voices to be exact. Without even speaking yet, Grey was annoyed by the people now walking into their shop. Four adventurers bundled into the shop one after the other.
"Is this the place Atticus? Are you sure?"
"Of course Hiro, there's no doubt. Read the sign next time before barging in."
Hiro and Atticus where the first to loudly enter followed by a swooning Elisia and a less than impressed Raiko.
"This is where Grey works? Where is Grey?"
"I can't see this shop being very exciting. I'm already bored."
The four adventures Grey met at the guild now stood in their shop. Both Grey and Celia stood puzzled by the matter. Celia from the sudden exponential growth of customers and Grey from the surprise that they actually showed up.
"Grey!" Spotting him, Elisia rushed over and grabbed Grey's hand with both of her own throwing all her weight into her greeting.
"So you do work here! I'm so pleased to see you again."
The warm doting gaze and tone Elisia was exuding, was overwhelming. However, Grey was not impressed and neither was Celia, who had a bigger problem with it. She gasped with a flustered recoil and quickly broke up the touchy no boundaries greeting. Elisia and Celia hands locked in a power struggle as Celia fought to pull her away from Grey.
"O-okay well yes Grey does work here now. Along with myself Celia and our craftswoman Hina. Three of us... Not just Grey miss."
Raiko ran her hand across one of the display cases. "That's it? This shop is too big for just three people to manage. Ah not that I'm interested or anything.
Atticus pulled her away from the case she was breathing on and spoke profoundly. "Stop being rude Raiko. These people, like myself are clearly on a higher plain of existence."
Hiro Chuckled waving his arms a around in the air with small circular motions. "Calm down everyone we're here to shop. Not disturb their jobs."
Celia eyebrow twitched. She clapped her hands together as if she was trying to silence the classroom. "Right well. Grey, care to introduce me to this colourful bunch?"
Hina had quietly returned and placed a tray of tea on the counter. To which Celia quickly picked up a cup to cover her mouth before saying something she'd regret.
Grey pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Yeah okay. So the one with no boundaries is Elisia.
She fidgeted on the spot pouting in Grey's direction. "No boundaries... Grey..." With a swoosh and a weighted bounce, she stepped into a formal greeting.
"Anyway my name is Elisia. I'm a wind attribute archer. Pleased to meet you. If you have anything to help me with my archery I would really appreciate it, thanks."
Grey pointed down at Raiko. "The tiny one drooling over our display cases is Raiko."
"Dro-drooling? It's just allergies... I'm Raiko I'm an assassin but I don't really use magic so I'm interested in whatever I guess."
Atticus fixed his glasses with a self justified inhale. "Ah ha! So you finally admit it. You finally see the true potential of this shop."
"That's Atticus, judging by his cliché look I'd imagine he's the reason they're here today."
Atticus in the classic character trope pushed his glasses back again as they glare pure white. "The name is Atticus. I am quite proficient in earth magic. As the great sage of this party I am always pursuing knowledge and the unknown."
Hina sat down hugging her tea cup and raised an eye. "Oh earth magic. That's intriguing, we should talk some time."
Atticus' excitment was barely being help back by those glasses. Hiro, who was standing patiently for his turn stared to get impatient as more time passed after Atticus' introduction. "Surely you plan to introduce me next?"
"Oh... Oh yeah and this forgetful face is Hiro probably the most generic warrior you've ever seen."
"Jeez Grey tell me how you really feel. I'm actually quite adverse in fire and water magic as well as my sword and shield. Nice to meet you all. You have a fascinating shop here."
"So why are you all here? Aren't you concerned about the whole damaging the image of magic thing. We are the villains of this city."
"Nonsense. We would like to purchase gear for our adventures."
Ceasing the opportunity, Elisia latched onto Grey's hand again. "No! Not at all. I think you're wonderful and inspiring."
Celia scowled and quickly broke up the interaction. "Well I'm sure we can help you all with what you need. If you'd just step back... Step back thank you... Let us do our jobs." Even her best sale assistant smile wasn't masking her annoyance.
Grey looked relieved and nodded to Celia. Hina caught his eye and looked at him with a sly expression. "You too Grey. This is the perfect chance for you to get caught up on all the items we sell."
With that, the four adventurers lined up eager to see the wonders of the shop... Grey stood beside them less than enthused.
Celia stepped in front of them like a drill sergeant rubbing her chin debating what to start with.
"Let's start with something simple. Oh I know, magic crystals. These little guys are my babies, little crystals charged with all the different elements. Acting as a replacement for people who can't use a specific type of magic." She picked up a handful tossing them in the air and catching them.
Grey chuckled lightly to himself before sighing. "These crystals could of been useful for my invention this morning..."
Celia stopped throwing the crystals around. "Hmm? What invention Grey?"
"Oh... Nothing really."
Atticus took the opportunity to take one from Celia's palm and started studying it. "Who charges these crystal? Are you as adverse in any magic elements as I am with earth magic."
"Well, I charge them. Matter of fact, I'm pretty good with all the elements. So charging earth, fire, water, and wind crystals is nothing for me."
All the adventurers gasped with a sense of disbelief at Celia's bold claims.
Raiko sniggered and poked Hiro, mocking him. "That's more than you, oh great warrior of fire and water."
Unbroken by the insult and comparison, Hiro exhaled with admiration. "I say, that's quite impressive we'll have to trade skills some time."
Celia nodded and took the crystal back off Atticus placing it in Raiko's hands. "Well actually these little guys are great for your dagger Raiko. As well as your arrows Elisia. You can use these to enchant your weapons or increase their stats temporarily."
Raiko's eyes lit up holding the crystal to the light like a rare artefact. "Oooh! I like it already... How do I use it?"
"Just run that wind crystal over your blade and it will absorb the power taking on the properties of the magic used. This is a wind crystal which makes the blade lighter and faster."
Raiko followed Celia's instructions in awe as her blade began to shimmer with a green light. She began recklessly swiping her blade through the air testing the new feeling. "Woah this is so cool and so light too."
Elisia backed up waving her hands around in self defence. "Ah! Be careful with that thing. You're going to stab someone!"
As soon as she said that, like clock work Raiko's blade thrust into Grey's arm. There was a moment of silence as Grey looked down at his arm in confusion.
"Oops... My bad."
"Ooouch! For the love of the heavenly saint. Give me that dagger Raiko."
Grey confiscated the blade off Raiko who was lost in apology but soon started pouting like a child who just had their favourite toy taken away. Hina jumped off her seat and rushed over with a bandage quickly wrapping up his arm.
Celia held back a laugh and composed herself. "Okay! With Grey patched up lets move on to something less dangerous."
The group still lined up and were eager to see more. Well except for Grey who was fighting the urge to scream in pain.
"Ah here we go. Thermal stones, these pocket sized rocks are special mineral compounds found deep in the mountains. If you channel water or fire magic into them they will radiate hot or cold energy. Perfect for those hard conditions. Here, catch."
Celia charged one stone with fire magic and threw it at Elisia who was caught off guard. Flailing around she eventually caught the stone. Celia then charged a stone with water magic and threw it at Grey who caught his with one hand.
Elisia rubbed the heated stone against her cheek. "Oh it's so warm mmmm cozy"
Grey pressed the cold stone against his wounded arm. "Ah it's so cold. My arm feels better already. Thanks Celia."
Celia threw up a thumbs up as Hiro walked between Grey and Elisia.
He placed a finger on both stones feeling the temperature difference. "Wonderful! I'll be able to keep all of you guys warm or cool on our long and arduous journeys. This truly is a fantastic shop.
"Well don't get ahead of yourself just yet. We haven't even got to the fun stuff yet." Celia collected the stones and walked back in front of the group.
"Hmm what should we look at next... Ah I know staying on the topic of long journeys these next two items are essential. This is a navigation crystal which always points to the users last rest point. This one here is a mana torch able to light the darkest of rooms. Together they make traversing even the most difficult environments a piece of cake.
Atticus took the items off Celia like and excited school boy. "The ability to map our surroundings and know our exact location at all times. Simply marvellous. I must obtain these items at once."
"Oh a renewable torch that doesn't need a fire. That's quite something right there. I need to investigate this technology in more detail later." Still fighting the pain, Grey took the torch from Atticus exploring its craftsmanship.
Hina stepped in taking both items back off the boys and chuckled softly waving the torch around. "Sure I'd be happy to go over it with you. Your father was the one who came up with that technology Grey. I just refined it.
"My father actually invented something? That's news to me."
Not letting that conversation continue Celia rolled straight into the next product. "This here is one of my favourites. It's a Magic storage container. You can put all your belongings or things you don't want to carry in this box. With a little channelled magic you can compress the box down to this adorable little cube."
With a soft glow and a splash of magic, the box began to shrink down into a tiny little cube. She then handed it to Grey who looked back at her surprised and confused.
"Oh here Grey. We were planning to give you one as a welcome gift. So this one is for you to keep."
"Wow. Thank you Celia. Thank you Hina."
Elisia's eyes lit up, sparkling in anticipation and excitement. "Oh wow that's so adorable I need this in my life. It'll make carrying all my things so much easier!" Elisia's enthusiasm for compact storage was at the very least, something she had in common with Celia.
"I know right it's so versatile"
"I'm going to put all my sweet treats in here!"
"Oh yeah and throw in some thermal stones to keep everything nice and cool!"
Atticus cleared his throat in a discrete attempt to break up the compact storage talk. It was not discrete... "A shrinking seal which causes all the items in it to also shrink? This is straight spatial magic. Which is band in the capital. No?"
Placing the tiny cube in his pocket Grey scoffed at his remark feeling annoyed by the capitals laws. "Oh really, why is it bad? I don't see any threat with a box that shrinks?"
Stepping forward with a light shake of his head, Hiro sighed leading his thoughts with a raised hand. "It doesn't really matter if it's a threat or not. Malicious intent. There has been reports of dark and dangerous groups using spatial magic. Which is a combination of fire and wind magic creating devastatingly dangerous spells. Aimed to bring down the powers that be. Although I too agree that if they saw this they'd have nothing bad to say about it."
Reluctantly Atticus nodded in agreement. "Sadly this is the truth. However, nothing will stop my pursuit of knowledge. So I simply must explore these forbidden topics in more detail."
"Trust me you don't" Hina piped up from the other side of the room, waving away his ambitions.
After a moment of silence where everyone seemed to be pondering the weight of the cities laws. Celia picked up four small flask shaped bottles with a variety of tiny model objects inside.
"Well... Moving on, this next item is really fun. These are instant bottles. When smashed on the ground the tiny item inside will instantly grow to it's original size. Have a look guys."
"More spacial magic Celia?" Grey seemed hesitant given the conversation they just had.
"Oh you worry too much Grey..." Celia handed each adventurer a bottle leaving Grey without one.
Hiro was handed a bottle with a tiny cooker inside. "Oh an instant cooker. I can see that being very useful."
"Yes a cooker in you pocket. Charge it with a little fire magic and poof! You now have a functional cooker. Fire not included." Celia waved her arms around theatrically. It's hard to tell but it looks like she was miming a cooker...
Elisia was handed a bottle with a tiny clay man inside. "Oh how cute there's a tiny little person in mine."
"Ha-yeah. That's an instant decoy. Charge that with a little wind magic and you can throw this little guy out. In a puff of smoke you can then make your getaway. Smoke not included."
Atticus quickly cut Celia off holding his bottle with a tiny shelter inside, close to his eyes. "I see a functional shelter resides in this bottle."
"Yep, although only a simple structure. This little bottle can really be a life saver when stuck deep into the night. Door not included."
Raiko had been bouncing up and down for a while now trying to get Celia's attention. She was handed a bottle with a tiny boat inside.
"Ooo oh! What's in mine... It looks like a bucket? Oh no a bath tub... Mmh."
"Hehehe. That's actually a raft. Great for those moments when the only option is to take to the water. Sails not included."
"Oh I got to see this. Sorry Hiro you'll have to cover this."
By this point, Grey had gotten quite good at sensing danger. "Huh what are doing!?" Before he could even reach out to stop her Raiko smashed the bottle on the ground. Grey jumped high into the air, eyes closed braced for impact... However, Celia started laughing and even Hina gave out a light giggle.
Celia quickly swept up the mess all while crying with laughter. "Grey you look ridiculous right now. How long to you plan to stand on one leg?"
"H-Hey I was ready to fight that raft..."
"As long as the bottles haven't been charged they won't do anything. That bottle needs water magic. Do you honestly think we'd keep something so dangerous ready to explode on display?"
Hina waved her finger at Grey as she spoke cutting though his thin attempt to act casual.
"Well you could of told me that before hand...
"This is the first time you've shown interest in our shop. So when would we have had time to." Hina took the brush off Celia putting it away releasing Grey from her piercing gaze.
"Fair enough I guess. Anyway all this size changing magic is really impressive. The mage behind the creation is incredible.
His words had struck a chord with Celia, who started blushing and fidgeting on the spot. "Oh you think so..."
Hina was quick to capitalise on Celia's embarrassment. "Well despite all her failures, that's actually Celia's spell. Something she wasn't using to her full potential until I spotted it."
Audible thinking could be heard through the shop as Atticus mulled over his thoughts out loud. "Latent spatial magic skills... But she shouldn't even know how to use them. Nobody knows how to use spatial magic, it's not taught anywhere."
His eyes could be seen from behind his glasses shifting gaze from Celia to Hina and then back to Celia on repeat. "Is that true? You both seem to be hiding a lot of skill and power. Hina, how do you know so much? Celia, when did you get so powerful that you could rival me?"
Celia was quick to wave away his advances. "Oh no no. We aren't anything special."
Refusing to step down Atticus continued his barrage of compliments. "With that blonde hair and blue eyes paired with your magic talents. We should start calling you the Heavenly Mage. No I shall call you Master, the Heavenly Mage.
"No!"
Celia's mood went dark and a cold chill could be felt across the shop. She reacted as if she had heard that name before and quickly made sure everyone knew how she felt about the name.
Grey couldn't help but think this had something to do with their conversation this morning. Spotting his inquisitive stare, Celia realised she was being distant and promptly composed herself with a light giggle. "O-oh no you don't need to do that. Heavenly Mage never suited me anyway."
Watching her flail her arms around trying to act normal, Grey thought about asking her about the name. However before he had a chance to question her, Celia made sure to quickly move on.
"Okay moving on, here's a couple of hunting items to stream line your pursuit for food and resources. These here are magic snares design to trigger like normal traps. But without the nasty risk which comes with physical traps, rather straight forward. This however, is a fun one. It's a climbing reel and grapple.
The tiny body of Raiko exploded with excitement. "Oooh gimme. Can I climb high places with that?"
"Now hold on it's not just a climbing rope. The grapple end of the reel can be charged with mana to stop anywhere in the air fixing in place. Creating a tether point to climb up. How about a demonstration?"
With that, Celia pointed the grapple at Grey who was now looking at her with a concerned expression. The eyes of a beast looking down the barrel of the hunters gun.
"H-hey why are you pointing that at me? Celia you better not be about to do what I think you're going to do..."
Celia charged the reel by spinning it around with a wide circular motion. Fired it straight at Grey who braced for yet another injury. "With a little practice you can stop the grapple anywhere you want. Like this..."
Celia explained the climbing reel, expecting it to stop right in front of Grey with her spatial magic. She was trying to show off and sent the reel just a little too far causing Grey to take the brunt of the force to the chest sending him flying. The loud bang and clattering of Grey's body against the wall caught the attention of most passer-bys outside the shop. One in particular was a wealthy obnoxious nobleman who took most interest.
"Hmm so this is the place? That was an odd sound. I should investigate post haste!"
Grey staggered out a sigh, struggling to move as the force had taken the wind out of his sails.
Elisia rushed over to Grey who was now propped up against the wall. She immediately grabbed his hand offering her presence to him. "Oh no! Are you okay?"
"I've been better..."
Celia swiftly dislodged Elisia's hands which were locked around Grey's and replace them with her own. She promptly helped him to his feet trying to act cute to stop him from getting mad at her.
"I'm sorry Grey this one is still untested. Really..."
"Gah why do I have to be the test dummy... Ah it's fine I guess. It wasn't that painful, it just winded me a bit. I'll start breathing again soon... I hope."
Hina joined the two of them with even more bandages and quickly began wrapping Grey up like a gift box stuffing cold thermal stones around his midriff. "Nobody really buys this stuff so it's rare we ever test them. Try not to blame Celia too much, okay."
"Like I said I'm fine. My belt buckle took most of the blow. But maybe we need to start introducing a monthly quality assurance check."
Hina slapped him on the back with a wide smile forgetting his injuries for a second. Much to his disgruntlement. "Not a bad idea. Hey, you're already thinking like the manager."
Celia rubbed his back but then seemed to forget his injuries too as she then slapped it again. She walked back in front of the group with Hina following close behind.
"Okay guys lets end on a high, one more invention." Celia took position and all the adventurers lined up with glee and excitement.
However, Grey could only muster a wheeze regretting his decision to come to the city even more than ever. Although there was now a sixth viewer peering through the glass. The nobleman curious to see the commotion had his face and hands pressed again the window.
Without noticing the onlooker, Celia continued. "This one is for you, oh great warrior." Picking up what seems to be an arm bracer and turned to face Hiro. "This here is a telescopic shield."
The humble Hiro responded with a gentle chuckle watching the item Celia was holding closely. "Oh. Well I've liked them all up to now. So this must be special indeed."
Raiko slid along side Celia chuckling, she flicked the bracer with one finger listening to the hollow ring. "Are you sure? It looks more like a fashion piece than a shield."
"Well then it's doing it's job. It will be better to show you what it does. Hiro, take that shield of yours off for a minute."
Hiro drops the heavy shield on the ground with a clunk as Celia put the shield bracer on his arm. He begins swinging his arm around with a happy playful smile. "Oh so light and mobile."
"Exactly! With this shield you can move freely and maximize movement in combat. Then with a little mana charge... Hiro if you would?"
"Oh right. Okay here goes." Hiro channelled mana into the bracer and as soon as he did the pendant in the middle started glowing as the edges started expanding. Fan like panels appeared to grow from the pendant in a radial pattern, shunk shunk shunk. In a flash, the bracer went from a simple arm brace to a full sized shield. "Hah! Incredible now I have a mobile shield ready to defend my party."
Once again, Raiko slid along side Hiro and tapped the shield litening to it chime. Her eyes lit up like stars in the sky, turning to face Celia. "Woah that's so cool! Do you have any other telescope thingies?"
"No sorry. Just the shield right now. But if you're interested put your commissions in with Hina."
Hina sighed and threw up a thumbs up as everyone looked at her with hungry eyes. "Five hundred gold a commission. Special price for Grey's friends."
Everyone looked at her with a sudden dismissive attitude, including Grey. "We take the hint Hina. No new commissions today..."
With a hearty clap and a warm smile, Hiro got his party in shape, gathering them like children on a field trip. "Well these are all wonderful. So guys, split up and grab anything you want to buy. Let's pool the cost of everything."
They all nodded and agreed spreading out across the shop. They spent their time perusing the items, chatting, and laughing with Grey, Hina, and Celia. The day slipped away from everyone as the company in the shop was a welcome change to the usual slow days. One by one, each of the adventurers piled their chosen items on the table. Hina walked around the counter and gathered all their items together.
"Oh. If I'm not mistaken. This is every item we've shown you." To her surpirse the group of adventurers where all standing with wide smiles. Hiro looked across at his party and chuckled knowing exactly what they were thinking. "Oh I see. Well we couldn't decide on what to get. I guess we ended up picking everything you showed us. We'll definetly be back for more. Isn't that right guys?"
Celia was close to tear with there kindness and used the storage container they bought to put everything else inside. Her eyes were sparkling as she handed the tiny cube to Hiro with a soft smile. "Bye! Thank you for your purchase! Please come back again!"
"No, thank you. Goodbye and goodbye to you Grey." Hiro gathered his party and patted Grey on the shoulder as they left.
Raiko was reluctant to leave, still wanting more. She grumbled her way out of the door. "See ya!"
"Stop grumbling Raiko. We certainly will be back. Well at least I will." Atticus felt enlightened, brimming with excitement and awe of there purchases.
Elisia grabbed Grey's hand one last time before he could react. "Good bye Grey. Let's get together sometime okay."
Celia stabbed a glare at Elisia and pouted with a disapproving glance. She quickly shooed Elisia out of the door. "Okay bye now."
"Eek! Celia stop I just want to say goodbye to Grey..."
The group soon left the shop chatting to one another laughing down the street. The nobleman up to this point, still had his face pressed against the window. He jumped and pinned himself to the wall in a poor attempt to camouflage himself. Not that the high spirited adventurers noticed.
"Hmmm they seen awfully happy. Considering they were trading with heretics. I will leave and compose myself and come back to investigate another day." The nobleman dissapeared down a back alley laughing to himself.
With a heavy sigh, Hina looked at the wall seeing the sunlight climb up it. "Wow what a day. I think we've made enough money for a few months."
"I feel like we robbed them..." Grey was still rubbing his arm and stomach.
"Well that's just because I'm a great sales person, it's getting late let's eat." Humming to herself, Celia flipped the open sign to closed. With a skip in her step, she headed for the stairs.
"Sure sounds good. But I have a few ideas I want to sketch out before hand. Today has been very insightful indeed."
Hina waved at Grey as she left the shop floor too, yawning from all the social interaction. "That sounds good. Show me you're ideas sometime. Okay?"
The busy day soon turned into a quiet night. Grey fell asleep that night at his desk, face down on his sketches. Pages of drawings and notes with titles such as; crystal pendants, prediction googles, more instant bottles, and repairs to building. It was a messy sight but a positive one, showing Grey might just be beginning to enjoy his time in the city.
.
.
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D.L.Evans Epilogue 3 - A Review in Grey Tone
The leader of the underground group was taking a bath surrounded by candles. A few faithful followers were attending to him masked in cloth. A hooded man walked in, standing by the door with his face covered.
"Humph. So did you do as I asked?" The leader grumbled towards the masked man not even raising his head to confirm who he was talking to.
"N-No. Not yet sir."
"Why Not!"
"I'm waiting for the perfect oppurtunity."
"Give me your memories and I will let you live. But you better not fail me this time." With a snap of his fingers another cloaked member brought his crystal ball. He wasted no time in copying the memories from the hooded figure, beginning to mull over the content. "Hah you're still alive. You might actually fulfil my request yet."
"Y-Yes. I won't fail you."
"Good. Now leave, you're ruining my bath."
Without hesitation the man nodded and disappeared. With a heavy sigh, the frustrated leader waved his hands around controlling the flames on the candles, playing with it darting the fire around the room.
"Hmm lets take a look at this useless man's vision... Ah hah. Their inventory." He stroked his beard flicking through the memories looking for interesting inventions, taking mental notes. "Spatial magic!!! Gah! This could be a problem."
Finally at the boiling point, He shot his ball of flames straight at one of the followers, igniting him. His waling screams where quickly washed out be the exasperated leaders maniacal laughter. "No this is perfect. We can turn the church against them."
The remaining members standing behind him mumbled to one another confused by what he meant. He glared at the two clocked figures and grunted before explaining.
"The church frowns upon forbidden magic after the gold light incident and the king quickly banned the use of it. That was long before my time when magic was everything and you were free to explore it. But of course those young mages who assassinated the royal family at the time had to ruin it for everybody. But I would of loved to of seen spatial magic in person."
He let out a short chuckle, stepping out of the bath and grabbed a towel. "However they were all caught and executed as a martyr and a message to all mages to cease their studies. Our three little caged birds will be our righteous saviours soon enough."
Clothing himself, he went to leave but the next words to resonate from the crystal ball stopped him in his tracks. "Hah. Hahaha. It seems Celia is already familiar with the name Heavenly Mage. Good. We can use her anger towards it to our advantage."
He threw his towel at his loyalists and chuckled walking off into the darkness. "Big changes are coming I can feel it..."