Limitless Path

"I think Blood's fine using my stuff, might just have to get a couple extra things for her," Beth answered with a slight handwave.

Jaq grunted in response as he turned and walked through the center door, Beth narrowing her eyes at his choice. She was almost positive the doors were basically meaningless to him, and he was just doing it to mess with her. She stretched a little, feeling and hearing her back pop, before leaning her left hip against the counter and looking around the shop. Blood was sauntering about, sniffing and eyeing various items seemingly at random, and otherwise the place was as dead as ever.

Thankfully, it was only a minute later that Jaq was back, carrying two backpacks with him. He set them down on the counter in front of her, and she noticed that they appeared to be made of two different materials. The pack on the left was much bulkier, made of a thick, tough hide that was expertly stitched together with a heavy thread. The pack on the right was thinner, but the material still appeared to be rather resilient, and the stitching, though fine, was clearly of a very high quality.

"The pack on your left is the worst one," Jaq explained. "Just to start out with that. It's bulkier than the other because there's almost no space expansion or item compression involved in that set. The pack on your right, while looking more delicate, is both tougher and better. It has space expansion in a similar manner to your belt pouch, plus several of the items included in the set compress when put in the pack, allowing for extra room."

"Mind showing me what's inside?" she asked, eyeing the pack a little skeptically. They were nice, but they just looked like quality hiking backpacks, nothing too fancy or magical.

"Of course, seeing is believing," he replied stoically. "I will open the bulkier pack, but let me do the unpacking and packing, since I actually know how to make it all fit."

Saying so, he opened the bulky bag and pulled a number of items out. There was what appeared to be a pair of canteens, though Beth was guessing, they looked like they could hold water. There were several coils of rope, two small rectangular glass prisms that she thought were lanterns, several pots and pans, a small bundle of cloth that contained utensils, and a few other small bits that she hadn't the faintest clue as to their purpose.

"Canteens, rope, light boxes, cooking pots, utensils, two lighters, water tester, water purifying stone, box of salt and spices, and a little container with an expanded interior that contains cooking oil," he explained as he pointed out the items. "There is also a thin mattress that compresses that I do not want to have to stuff back inside, two blankets, a small tent, and several pitons and anchors useful for climbing or securing materials around a campsite."

"This seems pretty complete, other than maybe an axe and a first aid kit," Beth replied as she eyed everything laid out on the counter.

"A basic pack like this wouldn't include a first aid kit, the creator assuming that would be a separate purchase of a would-be adventurer," he explained. "As to an axe or hatchet, again, something that you would secure yourself. There are several such that I have for sale, as well as shovels and other simple tools, if you think them necessary for whatever it is you are getting up to."

"And how much does something like this run?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked over all the goods he had pulled out of the pack.

"This camping set is three golds," he replied calmly, beginning to repack everything quickly and carefully as Beth choked slightly.

"Not cheap, is it?" she asked.

"Buy yourself your own portable house bound to a spatial item," he replied calmly. "They start no lower than ten diamond coins for the absolute most basic, tiniest ones. I think Baelvyr has one worth about thirty mithril coins."

This time she really did choke, pounding her own chest with the back of her gauntlet to clear her throat. "The hell even is a mithril coin?"

"One hundred coppers to a silver, one hundred silvers to a gold, one hundred golds to a platinum, one hundred platina to a diamond, one hundred diamonds to one mithril," he replied calmly, finishing packing the camping set with and adroit tug of the outer straps.

"Baelvyr has a portable house worth more than three THOUSAND diamond coins?!" Beth shouted incredulously.

"He's one of the oldest and most powerful people in this galaxy," Jaq replied simply. "You shouldn't necessarily use very senior CRA members as your benchmark for anything, wealth included."

"Right, I think maybe I need to lie down for a while," she responded faintly.

"Not in my shop," Jaq snapped with a small frown.

"Right, anyway," she continued, slapping her cheeks lightly before turning to the second pack, "what's this?"

"A much better version of what I just showed you," he answered simply. "As you can see, the pack is both thinner and smaller. However, the space inside is over twice as large as the bigger pack, and the tools included in this variant, while much the same, are of higher quality."

Jaq pulled several of the items out to show, including the several cords of rope, which were thinner than the rope in the other pack, but Jaq insisted was much stronger. After putting the items back in the bag, he tied it off with his usual deftness before laying it back flat and looking at Beth.

"How much?" she asked with a sigh.

"Ten golds," he replied calmly.

"Holy shit," Beth replied, looking at the pack like it was a live snake about to bite her.

"Might I also add," Jaq continued, "that even the tent is of much higher quality, with a larger internal space when setup."

"You're starting to sway me a little," Beth replied, looking less put out.

"And that it assembles itself," he finished with a smirk.

"Sold!" Beth cried, slapping ten gold coins down on the counter.

Jaq made them, as well as the inferior camping set, disappear. "As to its durability," he said as she tried the pack on, "as long as you are not fighting anything over level fifty yet, it shouldn't even scratch. Beyond level fifty, I would recommend asking Rissa about a durability enchant if you intend to wear it while fighting."

"And are there any tools or first aid supplies in this one?" Beth asked as she flexed her shoulders and twisted her torso, testing how much the pack encumbered her movements.

"What you bought contains a small medical supply kit, though it doesn't come with any potions, just simple salves and supplies for tending wounds such as needle and thread," he answered. "Beyond that, you can buy potions or other supplies from me. If you want tools, there are axes, shovels, hatchets, and a host of small hand tools on the fourth shelf."

Beth walked over to the indicated shelf, looking at the tools before grabbing a hand axe with a decent sized blade and a thick, heavy, flat head on the reverse, likely useful for hammering in stakes or some such. She looked at the shovels and picks before deciding on a shovel with a fairly standard shaped head and a clever handle that telescoped in down to nothing but was both strong and easy to use.

"Thirty silvers," Jaq said once she brought them over to the counter. She took the coins out and placed them on the counter before he made them disappear in a blink.

"Hey, last thing," she said. "Can I get those better boots now?"

"Certainly," he replied amicably, walking down the counter a short way and lifting the armored pair of boots she had liked the best from the last time they had discussed up from the shelving under the countertop. "They are still one gold for the pair."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you," she grumbled, slapping a gold coin down on the counter and grabbing the boots. "At least I'm still up for the day."

"I'm so immensely happy for you," he replied entirely deadpan.

"Yeah, thanks," she huffed, turning and signaling to Blood before heading out of the commissary. "See ya later, Jaq."

A grunt was her only response before the door shut, the two of them heading back to the elevators to get back to their room. She carried the new boots in her hand, sure that they would fit quite well from the last time they had gone over them. When they were at the room, she opened the door with her key, watching as Blood headed for the bathroom immediately. She set her stuff down, including all the new additions, before removing her belt with sword and pouch still attached. Finally, she shucked her armor before entering the bathroom in just her regular clothes.

Shedding her clothes as well, she joined Blood in bathing after taking care of some business quickly. The two of them used the shower, which had more than enough room for even the massive wolf to fit within. Blood did, however, cause a bit of a mess when she shook herself to start the drying process while Beth had the door open.

Once they had dried off, the two made their way out of the bathroom, Beth heading into the bedroom to throw some underwear on quickly. The two then sat in the living room and spent a little time watching matches while eating some of the meals that always appeared in the fridge.

It was still a little early, but she didn't feel like heading up to train or down to the forge to work on her smithing, and she was definitely staying here tonight, so she decided to investigate the pack she had just dropped a huge amount of gold on. She grabbed it and set it down on the coffee table in the suite, flipping the top open by unhooking three small but sturdy clasps. Flipping the top up, it was a little bit disorientating to look in the bag, some effect of the space expansion causing Beth's senses to go a little wonky.

Reaching into the bag, she pulled out the first two items, which she knew the purpose of thanks to Jaq. They were little rectangles about an inch thick, three inches long, and just under two inches wide and were made of a dark, golden metal. They were fire starting devices, essentially powerful little lighters that could be fueled by a small amount of mana, and she thought it best not to play with them in her very nice, very flammable room.

The next items were a group that she was very interested in, those being the light sources. Unlike the cheap pack, this one came with three very nice little lanterns and two light stones. The lanterns were quite durable and had attachment points at the top, allowing them to be hung from the ceiling of a tent, looped onto a rope, or even attached to one's belt or clothes, though the last might be a little awkward. That problem was solved by the light stones, which were basically expressly made for the purpose of clipping onto equipment and providing light, allowing one to keep their hands free to fight beasts while exploring in the dark.

Beth investigated the lanterns for a minute before she figured out how to operate them, turning them on being not particularly difficult, but they also had a few more functionalities that she worked through. Namely, they could be adjusted in terms of both brightness and color, and she reset them to the default bluish green when she was done tinkering before she flipped them off. The light stone was even easier, a rune on the "back" allowing it to be essentially glued to a piece of equipment and turned on with just a flick of mana.

She pulled a few more pieces out to investigate, looking over the utensils and the first aid kit before carefully repacking the bag. She confirmed that it was as Jaq had said, there being only basic first aid supplies, though of a very high quality, in the first aid kit. She was conscious of trying to make everything fit neatly when she put it back but, also as Jaq had said, all the supplies combined only accounted for about half the space or just over. Still, it was no excuse for her to just toss things around, especially considering keeping the supplies organized would make it easier both to use the pack and to store her loot efficiently.

She set the pack back on the far side of the room under the wall-screen before cleaning up the remains of their dinner. She then headed into the bedroom and sprawled out on the bed, Blood following suit, before settling in and drifting off to sleep.

**********

Everything was golden, bright, a light that shone like a mighty beacon through the ages. There were trees and structures that looked like houses spread around, square and blockish things that seemed to dim in the overwhelming brilliance. Within that shining light, a spot of silver suddenly flickered awake, wavering and twisting before the radiance of golden light, it nevertheless persisted, growing and expanding as it fought. And fight it did, for there was something wrong in this light, a presence perhaps, or a force, that overwhelmed all before it.

For the golden brilliance was not gentle, it was an all-encompassing power that scoured the light, the life, from all before it. An inescapable might, golden and hot and overbearing, the little silver light flickered and flickered as it was oppressed. But it was not stopped, not overwhelmed, for it was pure, a truth of a final atonement that could not be denied. Even the golden light was not an exemption for, though an imbalance in their raw power existed, the fundamental ideal of the silver light was far greater, far more complex.

As the silver light grew it burned, for it was not just a light, a beacon shining in the dark, it was a fire, burning away anything that stood against it. It burned and burned, using even the golden light as fuel, and as it burned it grew. The surrounding area was bathed in flames, massive swathes of silver fire waving in the wind, as if great banners of silver and white flapped in a mighty current.

As the fire spread and grew, it burned everything around it. But the things that were burned were not destroyed, but instead made anew, made whole by the truth of the flames. The trees and odd, blocky buildings still stood, shining silver and white, somehow made greater by the cleansing of the great silver fire.

The silver flame spreading and pushing the golden light back did not go unnoticed, apparently, as a great presence descended upon the scene. The very air twisted and crackled, like it was put under a pressure similar to the furthest depths of the ocean. The pressure was guided, directed, a will manifest into reality, and it clamped around the whole area of silver, crushing it down and inward.

Not something to be denied by such an overbearing and vainglorious will, the silver fire pulsed mightily, throwing back the pressure and sending great, twisting streamers of silver shooting out into the area around where it had first started. A massive shoving match then started, as the golden will crushed and the silver flame exploded, the two forces causing the surrounding space to start groaning and fracturing.

With a sudden final effort, the silver flame expanded massively, burning away the golden light, burning across the space around it as all resistance crumbled away. The trees, the buildings, the ground, even the very air was burned silver. A massive wash of power burst forth, a deep truth of what this powerful flame was and how it operated.

********