Limitless Path

Beth steeled herself and took a breath before stepping into the outbuilding again. Thankfully for her, it was both small and rather barren, taking only a few moments to rummage through. She found nothing of interest, only a few very crude stone tools and a few animal hides and less…savory…bits strewn about.

She burst back out of the little shack, coughing and waving her hand in front of her face. Blood merely glanced at her before going back to her patrol, clearly happy to be the one to watch for additional goblins or dangers rather than dumpster dive. Beth moved up to the first of the three large longhouses as she glowered at her companion's back, shaking her arms out as she steeled herself again for the assault on her senses.

Entering the long house was just as gross as she had assumed, the stench hammering at her nose even with her breath held. She observed the interior for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the light, the building having no windows or openings other than a doorway at each end. The central area had a few support pillars, but no walls or dividers of any kind and was strewn about with what she assumed was the goblins' bedding. Having observed the area, she held out little hope for any loot, but she was determined to poke around regardless.

And poke around was exactly what she wound up doing, not wanting to touch anything even using her gauntlets, she poked at the mess with the tip of her sword. She discovered very little other than filth, a handful of crude stone implements, some of which she thought might be weapons, but it was pretty difficult to determine what any of the junk might have been in the general mess. Just as she was getting desperate for some fresh air, she flipped over a rather large and rather dirty animal skin to find a small, greasy box. She grabbed the little redwood box with the claw tips of her gauntlets and hustled out the back door right next to her, gasping in the fresh air as she circled back to the center of the village.

She looked around, seeing Blood still wandering the village while watching the surroundings, noting the two freshly killed goblins by the western edge of the village. Apparently, Blood had been taking care of the stragglers that had been out scavenging when the whole village decided to break itself against them. Shaking her head, she held up the little box in the light of the afternoon sun, looking at the greasy little treasure with a dubious eye.

Holding the box in the tips of her left fingers, she planted her sword in the ground, freeing her right hand to prod at the box tentatively. It didn't seem to be trapped, though she was no rogue to be able to guarantee such a thing, and it was held closed by a fairly simple clasp. The make of the box was not particularly impressive, in her amateur opinion, but it was not total garbage, either. Even though the quality was firmly mediocre, it was still leagues better than anything else she had encountered so far in the dismal little village, likely either being stolen or placed there by the Path.

She shrugged and dismissed the thoughts, flicking the clasp with her right index finger to pop the box open. The thin lid opened with a slightly pained squeak, the liberal coating of grease on the outside of the container having not worked its way into the hinges, somehow. She examined the inside, seeing nothing much of particular interest, though she was quite happy to note a few of the coins inside were silver. Apart from the smattering of coins, there was a small knife without any kind of sheath, made of some kind of silvery metal, as well as a small gem. The gem was a little bigger than Beth's thumbnail, and considering both her recent growth, as well as the fact she had always had long fingers, it put the gem at about three-quarters of an inch in diameter.

Blood had come over to see what she was up to in the meantime, giving the box a slight sniff before growling and sneezing, in that order. Beth pulled the gem out of the box and held it in between the claw tips of her right index finger and thumb, letting the sunlight shine through it. Blood cocked her head to the side at the stone before sneezing again and resuming her patrol of the area. The gem was round rather than diamond-shaped, with a large number of small facets cut into it. It shone a brilliant sapphire blue in the light, and Beth wondered if she might have in fact found an actual sapphire. She didn't know much about gems, but she did know both size and coloring really mattered, and something this size should be worth somewhere in the range of multiple golds.

Putting the gem back in the box and flicking the lid closed, she grimaced again before heading over to edge of the village, attempting to find a leafy bush. She had some success and gathered up a handful of the leaves which she used to scrub most of the grease off the little box. Once she had gotten it as clean as she could, she shoved it in her expanded belt pouch with a sigh, hoping that she wouldn't have goblin grease in there forever.

She returned to the center of the village and picked the second of the three longhouses to explore. This one was even less impressive, and she emerged back into the light gasping and coughing a few minutes later about ten coppers richer. If she had been offered ten coppers to quickly walk through that longhouse, she probably would have punched the offeror in the face, so she considered it a net loss.

Moving on, she entered the third house, a little concerned that she was becoming inured to the smell at this point. The last large structure was almost a carbon copy of the other two, and she realized that there were no tables or chairs or, in fact, furniture of any kind other than the bedding in the buildings. That meant the goblins ate where they slept and, she assumed from the smell, pissed and shitted there as well. She poked around with her sword for a little, scrounging up a couple copper coins as she worked towards the back of the building.

She was pleasantly surprised to find two silvers hidden under a small, particularly dirty rag of animal skin in the far back left corner of the building, making the smelly coins disappear into her status screen immediately. She poked around the back another half-minute but, on finding nothing else, quickly retreated through the back door and returned to the center of the village. She tossed a silver to Blood when she approached, the coin disappearing as it got close to the wolf's head. The coppers from the third house totaled another ten and she didn't bother divvying that up; not that it mattered that much anyway, the two happy to share money when needed.

She mounted up on Blood, the girls continuing on their way back to the CRA Hall. They didn't encounter anything else unusual before they arrived, only bumping into a large mole-like creature that tunneled into the ground rather than trying to fight the duo. Beth just shrugged as they continued on, not upset that low-level beasts were turning tail and running at the sight of them. Killing the goblins earlier had given her basically zero experience, and chopping apart enemies so stupid they threw themselves on her sword wasn't getting her any weapon-skill experience, either.

The two arrived back at the Hall in the late afternoon, the sun hovering a little distance above the horizon as Beth dismounted and they entered the lobby. There was nobody around other than Tazeen at the counter, the place brightly lit and spotless as per usual. Beth returned the elf's nod as they passed him by, heading deeper into the building along their usual route. Beth engaged the elevator in the arena section when they got there and pressed the button for the bottom floor.

The two trekked back to Jaq's regular haunt, Beth eager to get the contents of the box identified. If it was something of particular value, she wouldn't mind a little shopping spree, though it would be a little tedious to buy a bunch of supplies. Maybe Jaq had some kind of package deal or something that included all the necessities.

She approached the counter as usual, finding the shop empty, also as per usual. She quickly took the box out of her pouch as she got up to the front, setting it down with a slight frown. Maybe she should ask if Jaq had some kind of magic pouch-cleaning supplies as well. As she pondered what a magic pouch-cleaner would cost, the left-hand door slid open, whisper-quiet as always, and Jaq emerged.

"You always wear that beret?" she asked before he could say anything.

"Not that it should matter any, but yes," he replied coolly.

"Even to sleep?"

He narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on the counter, not responding as he waited for her to continue. She gestured at the box she had set down, and he glanced down at it before slightly raising an eyebrow.

"While I'm impressed you managed to make a box that actually closes, I thought you were trying to be a smith," he said laconically.

"I didn't make the damn box, I found it," she huffed back, reaching over to flick the clasp and tap the lid open.

Jaq's other eyebrow climbed up on having a glance at the contents, muttering something under his breath that she didn't quite catch before saying, "Always remember to put coins in your screen when you find them."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be more attentive," she replied with a slight eyeroll, snatching the dozen copper and two silver out and into her status screen with a wave of her hand.

"Well, let's see what this is first," Jaq continued, ignoring her snippy attitude as he grabbed the dagger and lifted it out of the box, holding it up between them by the hilt and point. "It appears to be made of truesilver."

"And that's different than mana silver?" she asked in response.

"Very much so," he replied as he continued to inspect the dagger. "Mana silver is similar to regular silver infused with extra mana. It is a somewhat soft metal that is particularly valuable as an inlay used to engrave runes into other materials, as mana silver has an extremely high mana throughput and compatibility with a huge number of elements.

"Truesilver, on the other hand," he continued, "is a material that is much denser and more resilient than regular or mana silver. It is much harder to work with as well, proving nearly as tough as tungsten to shape. For its added difficulty, it is remarkably strong, to the point that it would take me, an Ascended, a considerable effort to snap this low rank dagger. It also is particularly potent against monsters of all types, the undead especially so, as truesilver naturally disrupts the mana flow of corrupt beings."

"So, I hit a jackpot," Beth exclaimed in response, practically drooling at the potential profit.

"Yes and no," Jaq responded. "While the material is valuable, the weapon itself is low-rank, and of a style that not many would use. I don't specialize in knives and hidden weapons like John does, but this seems too small for a knife-fighting weapon, while too large and heavy to be properly used by most as a thrown weapon."

"Come on Jaq," Beth snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest, "quit yanking me around and just give me the bad news."

"I'll give you two golds for the dagger," he replied stoically, unperturbed by her rough attitude.

"Deal!" she immediately exclaimed, holding her right hand out, palm up. Jaq slid the dagger under the counter in front of him before slapping two gold coins into her hand which instantly disappeared into her status screen.

"Now this, on the other hand, is far more interesting," he continued, picking up the gemstone from the box. Holding it up to the light, he turned it slowly back and forth as he explained, "This is a Star Sapphire, and a fairly large one for a new world on the Path. These gems are extremely valuable to any kind of crafter, particularly enchanters and alchemists. I won't bore you with the details of it all, but it is a potent reagent that can elevate a crafted item to the next level if used properly."

"Keep going, I'm seeing bigger and bigger dollar signs," Beth replied as she stared at the glimmering blue jewel with an ever-widening grin.

"I will not, in fact, 'keep going,'" he replied shortly. "This is a very valuable jewel of a good size, seeming to have already been expertly cut by a skilled jeweler. If you were willing to sell it, I would buy it for fifteen golds."

"What do you mean, 'if you were willing to sell?'" Beth asked in reply, snapping out of her avaricious daze as her eyes narrowed.

"What I mean is that this is a valuable crafting material for any profession, as I have already stated," he replied tersely, frowning slightly. "If I am not grossly mistaken, you are attempting to learn how to smith from the dwarf, meaning you have a profession."

"Well, what the hell would I do with it?" Beth asked, once again crossing her arms as she gave him a narrowed-eyed glare.

"Use it, I would think," he replied tartly. "As I said, it is rather valuable for crafting."

"I think I'd rather have the gold. I can always get more materials," she replied, still squinting at him.

"You can always get more gold," he shot back, frowning slightly as he put the gem on the counter.

"Yeah, yeah. Fifteen coins, please," she answered, once again holding her hand out. With a deep sigh, Jaq made the gem disappear and three little stacks of five gold coins appear in her hand simultaneously.

"Anything else?" he asked, adjusting his beret slightly.

"Yeah, I need camping supplies, or whatever you'd call them. Stuff to cook with, water cleaning stuff, lighters, rope, and so on. Got that kind of thing?"

"Of course," he replied calmly. "I have anything you might need, but I would recommend one of two different pre-built kits that I have. There are various supplies in the cabinets and on the shelves, and you could build your own kit from scratch, but better you buy one of the pre-made ones and supplement it."

"Alright then, show me what you've got," Beth answered with a nod.

"Let me get one of each kit from the back, unless the wolf wants her own?" he queried in response.