I slowly unfurl the cloth from around my newly acquired weapon, hesitating for a minute at the last bit of fabric I need to lift to get a glimpse of my purchase. Delilah is staring at me lazily as she just lies there, nearly completely unperturbed by the bit of excitement that just occurred.

  “Here’s to hoping I didn’t just make a huge mistake. You ready for the big reveal, Delilah?”

  I take a deep breath in and hold it as I uncover the item I just spent literally all of my rings on. The suspense is nearly palpable as I slowly lift the material that conceals my purchase.

  “It’s… wooden?”

  My dismay is so overwhelming that I forget to use my internal voice to state the obvious observation.

  So much for the Etheri looking out for me! What kind of crap is this?! Luck? My name should be ‘Idiot’ or ‘Misfortune!’ Anything other than Luck, because that seems to be in short supply!

  Delilah’s projected thoughts burst into fits of giggles as she rolls back and forth on the barrel, clearly amused. I, however, feel no amusement. Sure, it’s a beautiful piece of art, with different shades of brown and green swirling around the curved two-sided blade, with the edges colored a beautiful, deep crimson.

  However… I run my finger across the edge of the dagger. The part that should be sharp. Yep. Completely dull. Fuck…

  Delilah is rolling with laughter so hard that she actually falls off of the barrel, flipping over before hitting the ground, as cats are wont to do. She then proceeds to prance her puny paws with pure glee.

  “You… haha… you bought… hehehe… a toy! BWAHAHAHA! Please, do tell me… how much did you pay for it?”

  Delilah is clearly very amused, which I’m very embarrassed and unhappy about. Her question has me backed into a corner, however, much like the purchase I just made.

  No wonder Lexi rushed me out of the store… and forced me into a deal where I wouldn’t return it. I really don’t want to answer Delilah, but not telling her will probably let her know just as much as doing so.

  “Hrrvrrthrrn…”

  I try mumbling in order to avoid revealing the exact amount I spent on the bauble, but that turns out to be pointless, as apparently the intent of the answer is all the cat needs.

  “GAHAHA! That’s even better!” Her cackling continues, to my chagrin. “YOU! hehe! You spent everything! All of it! On a fancy toy! hehehe… hehe… heh…”

  I summon Inventory A as she continues to harangue me, tossing the wooden dagger into it. A noticable difference slaps me in the face.

  No rings…

  I sigh, dismissing the container. As soon as I do, I feel a vibration from beneath my sternum, indicating that something has changed with my Heart Scroll.

  Is there…? There can’t be…

  I withdraw my scroll to see the ‘Quests’ option blinking blue. I focus my intent onto that one word, hope flooding my body.

  This situation might yet be salvageable! Let’s see what I found! Although I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up. I don’t see how a quest could change much, if anything at all…

  New quest found!

  Category: Special

  Aspects: Lost knowledge

  Level: 1

  Time Limit: N/A

  Description: You have found an infant Soulwood Dagger. This weapon could become your steadfast companion for many lifetimes. First, however, you must awaken it. The methods with which to do so are unknown to you and everybody around you. Discover these methods on your own in order to awaken this weapon so that it can fulfil its purpose.

  Quest progress: 0 of 1 Soulwood Dagger awakened.

  Reward: An awakened Soulwood Weapon is reward enough.

  Always remember, young aldkin, she is not a mere tool. She is alive. She is just sleeping. The path ahead of you will be made easier if you heed this warning.

  -Lelitra

  Lelitra… the Maxetheri of the entarin pantheon? I don’t see how the Etheri of fertility could possibly have anything to do with this. The only thing I can think of is that it— she is called an ‘infant’ soulwood dagger. But, seriously… it’s one thing to know intellectually that the Etheri are watching… This, however, proves it in a much more… real… way. That being said…

  A huge smile appears on my face as I point at the still prancing pussycat. No longer worried that I’d made a huge mistake, I bark a quick laugh back at her.

  “Ha! I just got a quest for this so-called toy! It’s actually made of Soulwood! It— no, she is a living weapon! I just need to awaken her to fulfil her potential.”

  Whatever that means… although it’s probably awesome if the Maxetheri of fertility took the time to send a message to my Heart Scroll.

  I keep that last thought to myself, not wanting to add more fuel to Delilah’s flame.

  She has enough trouble keeping her head from being bigger than her body, the smug little creature.

  “Never heard of it!”

  Delilah’s laughing has almost ceased, although she still occasionally lets a giggle come through our bond. Her amusement seems to mostly fade as she puts me back on track.

  “But it sounds boring. Well, Human, if you’re ready to go, with your new weapon, heh… Then let’s be off! You’ve only got about five hours, 47 minutes, and… ten seconds left to complete your quest.”

  “Wait— how do you… DUH! Temporal affinity! Why haven’t you told me that you can tell time?”

  The exasperation in my tone is met with a simple answer that I truly have no rebuttal for.

  “You never asked.”

  “Fair point… Let’s go, then.”

  I sigh in defeat as we begin to walk through the city, passing by various districts as we go, with the last one being the very same Travellers’ district I had been sleeping in not very long ago.

  Brick… I’ll get those bastards if it’s the last thing I do, I promise.

  As we pass through the eastern city gate, the guards don’t even look at us twice, caught up with inspecting merchants and peasants that are entering the city.

  They don’t care about people walking out, just the ones coming in. Well, unless someone were sprinting out. They’d probably care then.

  We continue walking until we’re about 100 yards from the wall, at which point I stop to pull the dagger from my inventory. The beautiful blade is impressively ornate, but still dull as a rock.

  “You doing okay, little… girl?”

  I feel absolutely ridiculous talking to a weapon, but I’m taking Lelitra’s warning very seriously. By that I mean that I have no clue what the warning even meant, so I’m playing it as safely as I can.

  Even if I’m not getting any response…

  Delilah, however, just snickers as I do this, clearly enjoying how silly it must look to anybody that’s not me.

  Well… if I were to see someone else talking to a piece of wood, I’d also find it weird, no matter how fancy it looks. I feel like Smitty, the old loon. Although… that does make me wonder…

  I ‘sheathe’ the dagger, which basically entails sticking it through the drawstring of my pants and letting the crossguard hold it in place. “Let’s go, ladies! Adventure awaits!” My bravado is only skin deep, as I twitch at practically every little noise I hear.

  The large expanse of clear land, free of any trees or tall grass, make way to the farms that dot the landscape long before reaching the majestic blue oaks of the Bluewood Forest, creatively named for… you guessed it, the blue wood! Well, the leaves are also kind of blue, just a hue that has more violet in it.

  They could have called it ‘the Violet Canopy,’ ‘the Oaken Expanse,’ or literally anything else. But no, of course they didn’t. They went with ‘Bluewood.’ Apparently everything else is too creative for them!

  Those thoughts aside, we meander our way down the winding road, with twists and turns at each of the larger oaks that are scattered throughout the forest.

  “Do you smell any animal trails yet, Delilah? I’m getting tired of walking through this boring forest!”

  This is the fifth time I’ve asked this since we started this trip about an hour ago, choosing to speak telepathically even though there’s nobody around.

  Just in case…

  “Human… if you ask me that again, I will claw your eyes out. As I’ve told you several times now, I will let you know when I find the trail. I smell animals everywhere, but there hasn’t been a strong enough scent that I can follow, so I doubt they lead to the trail we are looking for. Now. Be. Silent.”

  We walk about twenty more paces before Delilah stops moving.

  “I smell a mix of animal scents mixed with very strong whiffs of people. I believe this may be what we are looking for.”

  Delilah starts to backtrack a bit, to a tree that I hadn’t noticed before now that is marked with an angular ‘S’ for ‘scoundrels.’

  Or maybe it’s for ‘society…’ Whatever, who cares?

  We quickly find the path leading past the great oak, and turn to follow it to our destination. If I thought I had been jumpy on the street, now I feel like my soul leaves my body every time a twig snaps. Even if I’m the one who steps on it. Especially if I’m the one who steps on it.

  The sinister feeling beneath the violet canopy, Still a better name than Bluewood, intensifies the further we wander through the oaken expanse. Again, still a better name…

  The path seems to curve to the extent that I find us walking toward the direction from whence we came several times before we finally reach the place my sixth sense indicates is the dropoff point. It’s a jagged blue stump, wider than I am tall. As I circle around it, I find a hole, no bigger than a melon, that veers off at an angle into the long-dead tree.

  “No way am I putting my hand in that thing!” I whisper this loudly enough that ‘whisper’ probably isn’t an apt term at this point. “There could be anything hiding in there, ready to bite it off!”

  “Then you will not only fail your task, but also your quest. Are you willing to give that up? Remember, Human, five skill credits and 25 copper rings. Plus, who knows what will happen if you can’t afford the penalty.”

  I shudder.

  Delilah has a good point, but I still don’t have to like it.

  “Fine…”

  I respond with telepathy this time, belatedly realizing I’ve been speaking out loud.

  “You’re right! I know you are, it’s just… alright! Here goes nothing!”

  I hesitate briefly before slowly sticking my arm into the pitch black orifice. It gets colder as I get farther in. When I reach my arm’s full length, I feel something. Well, something other than the finger-numbing cold within the hole.

  It feels like a small box, around the same size as the one I’m to replace it with. I pull on it, slowly drawing it out as I summon my inventory to place it inside and put the ‘payment’ in the hole.

  “Ethical Etheri! What is in that package?! It’s deathly cold to the touch! Hadrix needn’t worry that I’ll pull it back out anytime soon!”

  As I’m about to dismiss the receptacle, Delilah walks up to it, sniffing the air. When she reaches the box, she hisses loudly, growling as if there’s something after her kittens.

  “What?!”

  Concern creases my brow as the cat’s fur stands on end.

  “Human! Whatever is in that package, it reeks of death! You should dispose of it immediately!”

  “Nope! Nuh uh, not my problem! I’m here to do a job, not deal with things that are waaaay above my paygrade!”

  I unsummon the box with a sense of finality, turning to leave. Well, that’s the plan, but as soon as I turn around, a large green flash barrels into me, pinning me to the side of the colossal stump.

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