Chương 22: 21. Dark Silver Blades

Merchants were one of the lesser mysteries of the Grand Arcana. They came in any form and didn't seem to have any direct relation to the game. The only common trait was that they were always creatures and largely humanoid. During the years of my previous run, I had traded with everything from giants to gorgons. Once, I had had the "pleasure" of bartering with a mile-long dragon. The thought of that still sent shivers down my spine.

When it came down to it, all merchants could be divided into two types: standard and deities. Lots of stories circulated about why deities would engage in such mortal activities. Some claimed that this was their punishment. Others insisted that the beings were there to scout out favorites to form a pact with. The only solid fact was that all deities had golden eyes.

"Eves of gold to be sold," the rhyme went. That particular piece of information was revealed after the fiftieth trial. Coincidentally, or not, I had never come across a golden-eyed merchant since… up to now.

"What do you have?" I asked, maintaining the act of a common participant.

"Dear participant," the merchant said with smugness on par with Harlequin himself.

"It would be more appropriate to ask what you could afford."

"Aren't three gold coins enough?" Carl grumbled at him. The man had an almost supernatural ability to antagonize the wrong people. I raised my hand, indicating for him to stop, then retrieved all my gold coins from my inventory and piled them on the table. Then, I added the Five of Rings.

"I want a pair of weapons," I said, looking the merchant in the eye.

"What could that get me?" The golden-eyed whistled. Back during the second half of my previous run, such an amount would have been viewed as a pittance. For the start of the third trial, it probably seemed like a fortune.

"Someone's been lucky. Do you have a divine pact?" he asked, testing the waters. You know I don't.

"No," I replied.

"Will it give me a discount if I did?"

"Who knows?" The merchant smiled. A series of weapons appeared on the roulette board. All of them were pairs, ranging from large daggers to sabers. At first glance, all of them seemed pretty. That was one of the common mistakes newbies made, myself included. Knowing nothing about weapons, I had focused on the wrong things—ornaments and grip decorations—rather than what was important.

"No rapiers," I said, instantly dismissing a quarter of the selection.

"And nothing shorter than twenty inches." A large part of the selection vanished, only to be replaced by other weapons.

"Are any of these metals magical?" I asked.

"Magical metals?" The deity looked at me, intrigued.

"That would exhaust all your funds," he said.

"You won't have anything for defense."

"Attack is the best form of defense."

"So I keep hearing." His interest waned. Apparently, I wasn't the only mortal he had sold items to. The selection vanished again. This time only two sets of weapons emerged.

"These are all I have based on your specifications." You sneaky bastard, I thought. There was no way the weapons were worth less than ten times what I had offered. Normally, this was the point at which a person would take what they were given and be glad for the great deal. That was a mistake. Deities adored the greedy and self-confident. Naturally, there was a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

"Any chance you can add in a map to the deal?" I asked.

"It doesn't need to be detailed. I just want to reach someone to use these on." The merchant's smile faded, then grew again, doubling in size.

"A customer willing to test my merchandise," he said.

"I like that." A single orange gem appeared on the table between both sets of weapons.

"A map would be trivial, plus it will only be useful for one trial. Instead, here's a dowsing gem." Of crap! I kept my composure, but I might have just played myself.

"It'll help you find strong enemies as long as you figure out how to use it." Technically, what he said was true. The gem transformed weapons into dowsing rods. All I had to do was hold them in front of me and they'd move in the direction of the nearest boss monster. The unspoken issue was that this kind of upgrade had to be fed. In a way, it was like a blood weapon, though also much worse. Killing bosses was a way to satiate its hunger, but only for a time.

If it didn't get its quota, it would start consuming the cards in my possession, and once the last one was gone, it would devour me as well.

"Nice." I reached out and took the set of dark silver swords. The material had pretty much the same effect as silver—harmful to the undead, though not to the point that they would explode in flames. It was the design itself that was of significance. Made of a single ingot of material, the weapon had no parts. The guards were completely missing, and the hilt was a part of the blade, wrapped in a thin strip of black dragon leather. No acid would blunt these.

"Anyone else?" I turned to Cathy, completely ignoring Carl.

"We might not get such a rare chance again." The merchant let out a chuckle. I couldn't tell whether my compliment had tickled his fancy, or he was just looking forward to the rest of the trial.

"Do you take credit?" Carl asked. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. One indignant look said more than all the books in existence. A five-inch pocketknife appeared on the table in front of him.

"Please enjoy a free sample," the merchant said, disgust dripping from every single syllable.

"I want a dagger," Cathy said, placing a single face-down card on the table.

"You honor me, pact holder," the deity bowed. The card vanished, replaced by an elegant hunting dagger. The craftsmanship was exquisite, blending the practical with the elegant. It was impossible not to notice the hunting motif. Either the deity was on good terms with Diana, or he feared her. I watched the woman take the weapon and put it in her inventory. Already she had adapted a lot more than most players would. Without a doubt, she and Marcus were monsters.

Of course, they were no match for what I intended to become.

"Thank you," I said, showing the deity the proper respect.

"My pleasure, participant. Hope to see you again in later trials." The blink of an eye later, he was gone. All games, tables, and pieces of furniture had vanished along with him. The three of us were in a large, bare room. That was lucky. If someone else had reached the merchant first, we wouldn't have gotten anything.

"What happened?" Carl asked, in a slightly overdramatic fashion.

"We just found our first reward," I said.

"Let's get out of here." The goblin-killer went back into my inventory. Meanwhile, I took hold of my new set of weapons, getting a feel for them. The material adjusted to my grip. At the end of each, a topaz glittered, reminding me of the constant upkeep I had burdened myself with. No! I ejected the thought from my mind. Not burdened. Upkeep was only a burden for the weak. As long as I was strong enough, this could prove to be an advantage. No new undead had appeared outside.

That was suspicious, indicating that there were some additional rules to the trial we weren't told about.

"At least you got something good," Carl grumbled. If envy were a superpower, he'd have it in spades. Getting a divine weapon for free was beyond good. I would have given a lot to have scored something similar in my past run. So many trials I had to do with crap that chipped and shattered at use. Most were incapable of even theoretically dealing damage, but I kept them on the off chance I'd get lucky.

"Give me some space." I held out my swords, gently relaxing my grip. Similar to dowsing rods, they pulled gently to the side, pointing to the elevator. Apparently, the merchant had given me the smart kind.

"Cathy, be ready for surprises." I continued forward, following their directions.

"Carl, don't make a sound." Following an invisible path, we continued along the corridors of the ship. There were no screams or yells, suggesting that the remaining participants had either gone on a suicide run or had wizened up to remain in a locked room. Occasionally, small groups of undead would appear in an attempt to ambush us. My new weapons sliced through their hands and neck in a single strike. Flame bolts incinerated anything that was further than a step away.

No doubt about it, teaming up with Cathy had proved to be the right choice. The blades guided us to the maintenance section below the tourist decks. Things were a lot less maintained there, with pipes running along the full length of the passages. The lights were small and fewer in-between, in an obvious cost-saving measure. When the weapons pointed to a door with a warning sign, there was a pretty good indication that the fight might be inside. Gripping the weapons properly, I gave Cathy a nod.

The woman readied her bow. Even Carl had the foresight to remain silent and move to the wall. Let's see what you do. I glanced at the blades, then pulled the door open and rushed into the darkness inside. Blots of light zipped by me, granting some light in the space. Unfortunately, they weren't the only things providing light. Two skulls of fire floated a short distance away, like torches in the night. That was only part of it. The faint light was enough for the Harlequin's Sight to activate.

Dozens of status windows filled the space. Most of them were the usual undead, but there were three of special significance. The first two were skeletal warriors. In many aspects they were similar to the one I had thought, with the exception that they had the Twelve of Rings instead of the Eleven of Chalice. The last was completely different. Glowing a crimson red, I could feel it pull both my blades in its direction.

Scythe's Footman Level: 7 Cards: Magician Special: Life Drain, Dark Vision Weapon: Ice saber A carnal wave of euphoria rushed through me. The monster I was fighting was nothing more than a local leader. He wasn't any of the two bosses I had to fight to complete my sponsorship request, but had something a lot more important. The Magician card he had was a Chalice card. Along with the bard in my possession, that made two of the five I had to gather for the set.

Flames exploded as the skeleton warriors wrapped themselves in an attire of fire. A few more undead lit up—a result of Cathy's attacks. Among the horde, I could see my target, dressed like a butler in steel armor. I knew that the moment I headed towards him, he'd start using his skills. That only made me all the more eager to get there fast. The blades split the air, slicing through several monsters at once. The sharpness was incredible, almost making them feel like sheets of paper.

Not losing track of my surroundings, I spun around, performing a double circular slash. In the last years of my past run, I had acquired a few cards that let me do this attack on instinct. Here, I had to rely on my body and mind performing the actions. My muscles tensed as I put in everything I had. Grabbing hands reached out from all directions, eager to rip me apart. At my current level of adrenaline, they appeared as slow as moving through jelly. Finger bones rattled on the floor, like spilled rosaries.

A few heads followed. Meanwhile, Cathy had also picked up the pace. A moment wouldn't pass without something bursting into flames. Acid, I thought, activating the Eleven of Chalice. Both blades gleamed as they were coated with a layer of green substance. Unlike my last pair, there was no corrosion. Instead, the weapon seemed even sharper. The mass of creatures had thinned. Rags and bones covered the floor, making walking a bit more difficult. Trying to ignore the stench that filled the air, I looked around.

Right now, the combination of euphoria and adrenaline was making me feel invincible, but that was an illusion. Any veteran knew that the fastest way to die was to give in to the flow. In a minute, probably less, the consequences were going to hit me like a wall of bricks.

"Watch out!" Carl shouted. Even before I heard him, I had seen it: the flaming skeletons were making their move. Several arrows hit the skull and shoulder of one of them, though to no effect. Despite all her best efforts, Cathy had only managed to cause it to take a step back. Taking advantage of the lack of unison between the two, I attacked the other one. Silver blades struck a sword of bone. The weapon was broader than either of mine, and with a slightly longer reach. Yet, it was just one.

Seeing a weakness in the skeleton's defense, I performed a power thrust aiming for the rib that held the skeleton's rib ring. The tip of my blade stopped an inch away, wrapped in a circle of violet light. The Magician, I thought. The footman had joined the fight.

"Focus on the boss!" I shouted as I leaped back, just in time to parry a strike coming from the other skeleton.

"Leave these to me!" A newbie body against two flaming skeletons. Those weren't odds I would have gone with, ever. Having divine weapons and a pact holder for support changed the equation. Now, I had a better chance of success than failure.