B01DCAV4W2 (S) (21 page)

Richter stared after the remnant wondering if he had just seen the first true sign of emotion from Futen.  He shook his head and put it from his mind, he had other things to focus on.  Richter turned his attention to Alma, “And you, my wonderful little beastie, thank you for saving my life.  You are beautiful and I am lucky to have you.”

Alma flared her wings and preened in the warmth of her master’s adulation.  He beckoned her and she launched herself into the air.  She circled his head once before assuming her favorite perch on his shoulders. 

Richter walked over to Sonirae’s body and rolled it over.  Almost all of the skin on her face was gone and her empty eye sockets revealed bone beneath.  A portion of her upper lip was strangely untouched and it was a deep violet blue.  Her scalp was relatively untouched as if she was the opposite of Richter.  Her hair was sodden and wisps of it were plastered to her desquamated facial muscles.  Looking down, Richter couldn’t believe this was the person who had mercilessly gelded him not long ago.  Now, she was just… meat.

As surreal as looking at the dead body of his torturer was, now was not the time for self-reflection.  Besides, he thought, this vicious twat deserved far worse!  With a sneer on his face, Richter got to work.  First, he examined the two blades she had plunged into his back.

Steel Dagger of Bleeding.  Damage 8-11.  Durability 18/20.  Item Class: Common.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight 0.4 kg.  Traits: The sharp blade is made to inflict extra bleeding damage upon successful strikes.  Bleeding time +10%.  Bleeding rate +10%.

Serrated Orichalum Dagger of Tearing.  Damage 9-12.  Durability 25/28.  Item Class: Common.  Quality: Superb.  Weight. 0.5 kg.  Traits:  The deep serrated teeth of this blade are angled toward the hilt.  The weapon will slide in easily, but will cause massive damage upon removal.

Richter grimaced upon examining both blades.  They certainly fit the Assassin’s fighting style.  The orichalum blade must have been the one that had made the large tear in his stomach.  Either way, it was his now. 

Those weren’t the only weapons she had though.  The woman seemed to be a walking arsenal of both standard and exotic weapons. 

You have found: Glass Finger Claw.  Damage 1-3. Durability 247/250. Item class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight 0.1 kg.  Traits: Specialized item created for Assassins who can produce their own poison.  This claw nestles onto the tip of the forefinger.  A specialized groove will channel the poison to the needle like point at the end of the claw.  A single scratch is sufficient to poison your target. 

You have found: High Steel Forearm Crossbow.  Damage 4-7.  Durability 37/40.  Item Class: Uncommon.  Quality: Superb.  Weight 0.6 kg. 

You have found: Mini Quicksilver Hollow Nose Crossbow Bolts.  Quantity 17.  Durability 9/9.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Damage +4.  Traits: Each bolt can hold a single dose of poison.  Extra compartment slows the speed of these bolt by 10%.

The crossbow was interesting.  It was only about six inches long and it had two leather straps attached to the underside.  The firing mechanism seemed to be operated by an adjustable chain with a loop at the end.  The loop had been around Sonirae’s middle finger.  It was easy to deduce that sharply flexing her hand downward would fire the bow.  A weapon like this could definitely come in handy.  It was also small enough that he should be able to cock it with one hand.  He nodded to himself, a lot of times, one hand jobs were the best in his experience.

Even the bolts were cleverly packaged.  They were held in a cloth band that tied around her upper arm.  The cloth had been attached to the same arm that the crossbow was attached to.  He could see how, with practice, a bolt could be fired, then the opposite hand would cock the mechanism again and quickly grab a bolt, easily slipping it back into place.  He placed the crossbow and bolts into his Bag.  The next thing that caught his eye was a leather strap on her arm.

You have found: Leather Wrist Sheath.  Durability 11/12.  Item Class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Traits: Made to hold a slim knife to the underside of a forearm.  Tensing and releasing the correct muscles will cause the dagger to slip free and into a waiting hand. 

A quick test showed that the dagger of bleeding fit into the wrist sheath, like a hand in a glove.  He removed the orange metal sheath at her waist and placed the orichalum dagger back into its home.  The bleeding dagger went into his Bag, and he strapped the tearing dagger to his thigh.  He kept searching. 

The bitch was wearing his Belt of Strength!  No wonder she hadn’t hit like a girl!  He quickly took it off of her.  She also had several pouches at her waist.  One held a roll of paper, now sodden.  Another a fairly large amount of coins, but it was the third that captured his attention and brought his joy.  It was his gear!

He quickly put his necklace back on.  It didn’t make him stronger or give him the ability to fly, but in its own way it was just as amazing.  His Necklace of Scry Defense let him avoid any divination, tracking or detection spells short of God level magic.  He hadn’t realized how naked he had been feeling without it until he put it back on.  A sigh of relief escaped from him involuntarily.  It wasn’t as if Richter thought the entire world was out to get him.  He honestly didn’t think he was that important.  At the same time, it never fully left his mind that he was brought to The Land by an unknown agency.  He had no conception if they meant him good or ill, he only knew they were powerful.  People could call him paranoid all they wanted, he just felt better with the necklace around his neck.

The other two pouches he just placed in his Bag.  He upended the coins so his bag could do its CoinStar autosort thang.  The other pouch went in because he didn’t want to risk damaging the information on the papers.  They were soaked and the ink had run, but maybe Randy could do something clever to retrieve the information. 

He placed his Belt of Strength on as well, but held off on his rings.  Sonirae was wearing several and he would check their stats before he put his own back on.  They went into his Bag.  Having donned his own necklace, he remembered the hidden compartment in the wooden necklace she had been wearing.  Sure enough, a search under her shirt revealed it. 

The necklace itself seemed nothing special.  A bit of finagling and he was able to find the catch to pop open the hidden compartment.  The blue vial and eye dropper were revealed, though the bottle was only half full.

You have found: Poison of Nil Abilities.  Item Class: Rare.  Quality: Exquisite.  Administering this poison will block all of a target’s Abilities for a period of one hour.  Doses 1 of 2.

Richter smiled imagining how Beyan would cream his pants to get a hold of this potion.  Richter then shook his head.  The gnome was a serious pain in the ass, but he still just might have to make the Philosopher’s Cauldron.  Richter put the blue vial in his Bag and continued searching the woman.  Tucked into a large pocket of her cloak he found a small rectangular box. 

You have found: Waterproof Iron Elm Box.  Durability 78/85.  Item Class: Common.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight: 2.4 kg.  Traits: The wood has been treated with an alchemical substance to waterproof the outside of the box.

He examined the object carefully, but saw nothing to indicate a trap.  It appeared to open like a cigar box and the lid was secured by a simple hook latch.  Despite not seeing a clear danger, Richter still decided to handle this item with caution.  A specialized Rogue would be just the type of person to booby trap her own equipment. 

Richter set the box on the ground and angled it so that the lid was at ninety degrees to where he crouched.  He then used a dagger to flick the hook free and slowly lifted the lid.  As he raised it he saw a thin string stretching up and froze.  A few seconds later, a red glow started to emanate from the inside of the box, confirming that he had found a trap.  Making sure not to move the hand holding the lid open, he cast
Simple Light
with his free hand
. 
The ball of light illuminated the inside of the box and he saw how the string was attached to a bottle of red fluid.  All that was needed to do to disarm the trap was to move the string off of a hook on the lid.  He carefully reached inside the lid and unhooked the string.  The red light faded. 

He looked at the body of the Assassin and then with deliberate slowness spit in her ruined face.  Not wasting another moment on her grotesque visage, he turned back to the object in his hand and opened the lid. 

What he found was a red velvet lined interior that was divided into eight different sections.  In each section was a vial.  Not the pinky sized vials he was used to seeing that held a single dose of a potion.  These instead looked like those bottles of ketchup you sometimes got with room service at fancy hotels.  The only differences were that these bottles were square, so as to nestle snugly in their compartments.  Each top was a rubber nipple connected to a dropper which extended down into its bottle.  As he continued to examine the contents of the box, he realized the red vial attached to the string was not just a potion.  It had a mechanism beneath it. 

You have found: Incendiary Trap.  Durability 15/15.  Item class: Common.  Quality: Average.  Weight 0.2 kg.  Will create an explosion of flames.  Damage 10-12.  Can cause Burn status.

The other vials were all potions.

You have found: Poison Antidote.  Potion Level: Solution.  Strength: Processed.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Will cure almost all poisons.  Doses 5 of 5.

You have found: Drowned One Poison.  Potion Level: Solution.  Strength: Processed.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Causes 13-15 points of Water magic damage for 5 seconds.  Can cause Slow.  Doses 5 of 5.

You have found: Salamander Extract.  Potion Level: Solution.  Strength: Strengthened.  Weight 0.2 kg.  Causes 10-12 points of Fire magic damage for 6 seconds.  There is a chance that the target’s blood may boil causing extra damage and lowering Constitution.  Doses 5 of 5.

You have found: Corrupt Leech Venom.  Potion Level: Tincture.  Strength: Enhanced.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Causes 7-9 point of Death magic (40%) and Poison damage (60%) for 4 seconds.  Doses 4 of 5.

You have found: Potion of Healing.  Potion Level: Tincture.  Strength: Enhanced.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Heals 150 health over 6 seconds.  Doses 3 of 5.

You have found: Potion of Healing.  Potion Level: Elixir.  Strength: Processed.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Heals 250 health over 4 seconds.  Doses 3 of 5.

You have found: Feline Grace.  Potion Level: Solution.  Strength: Basic.  Weight 0.1 kg.  Increases Agility by +4 for 20 minutes.  Doses 5 of 5.

Richter’s eyes widened as he examined each successive vial.  These were no weak health potions.  Every one of these was either a potent weapon or an amazingly effective healing draught.  If he hadn’t enraged the Assassin by killing her wasp, then she might have taken the time to coat her blades in poison.  If that was the case, then it would most likely have been him and not her that was lying cold on the ground.  She would have been able to take his manhood for the second time in two days.

That made him think about the small knife she had taunted him with.  He searched quickly, but couldn’t find it.  The blade must have been lost in the river or left at the site of their fight.  Perhaps it was better off that way.  He certainly didn’t need any more reminders of the traumatic experience.  He took a close look at the woman’s armor.  It all appeared to be a matching set of black leather wraps.

You have found: Ouroboros Assassin Cowl.  Defense +1 (Max +2).  Durability 9/20.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight 0.5 kg.  Type: Light Armor.  Provides Dark Vision.

You have found: Ouroboros Chest Plate.  Defense +9.  Durability 21/25.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight 3.2 kg.  Type: Light Armor.  Increases Stealth by 10%.

You have found: Ouroboros Arm Wraps.  Defense +6.  Durability 20/20.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight: 1.1 kg.  Type: Light armor.  Increases attack speed by 8%.

You have found: Ouroboros Fighting Gloves.  Defense +3.  Durability 15/15.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight: 0.5 kg.  Type: Light armor.  Increases unarmed attack damage by 15%.

You have found: Ouroboros Fleet Leggings.  Defense +4.  Durability 20/20.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Weight: 0.8 kg.  Type: Light armor.  Increases movement speed by 12%.

You have found: Ouroboros Moccasins.  Defense +3.  Durability 14/14.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Average.  Weight: 0.5 kg.  Type: Light armor.  Movement is 50% more quiet.

Congratulations!  You have obtained an entire set of matched armor: Ouroboros Assassin Armor.  Defense given by each piece increased by 25%.  Special Bonus: Critical strike damage increased by 20%.

None of the black leather armor was stronger than his current armor, but it also wasn’t anything to sneeze at.  Used in the right way, the extra critical strike damage could be absolutely deadly.  Every piece was extremely light weight, but was also extremely durable. Most of the armor was actually a series of wraps that could easily be adjusted to a larger frame.  The bonus in critical damage would especially be useful for him.  His critical damage had been decreased since being granted the Honorable Quality after saving Terrod’s friend Jason in the sewers under Law.  Still, he wasn’t inclined to trade in his Enhanced Sprite Armor.  He put the Ouroboros Assassin Armor into his Bag.  Who knew when such things might come in handy?

She wasn’t wearing any bracelets unfortunately, but she was wearing several rings.  At first they just showed Richter the frustratingly generic ‘Magic’ prompt that came up when he found a new magic item.  His new Lore skill came to bear however, and proved that his time reading the book of magic he bought from Leandra had not been in vain.  Three of the five rings revealed their secrets.