Close to the bank is a Magic Shop. In these places you can find what you expect a mage like me will need for studies and adventuring, like spellbooks. Others can find useful items like wands and scrolls that give access to spells they cannot use.
I am here mostly for the scrolls.
The moment I enter I…
"WELCOME YOUNG TRAVELER!" someone yells at me the moment my foot is inside.
"Ah! YES!" I scream and answer instinctively, my body goes rigid in response.
In front of me, interrupting me from taking in the interior, is an old human with a blue robe who is making weird movements with his hands like he is casting a spell or… something… maybe he is just being weird.
He has long gray straight hair and a big pointy nose.
What kind of looney character did I find myself with?
"Tell me, what is it that thou seek?" He asks, extending his arms to the side and bowing.
A weird one…
"Y-yes… I am looking for a few scrolls… do you have Return scrolls on you?" I try to keep the conversation in a logical spot.
"Give me a second!" He says and moves behind a counter.
Now I take the time to look around as I approach.
The whole place is like a mixture of a small library and item shop, displaying the goods on shelves and glass displays. I can see wands, papers, grimoires, stones, runes, staves… anything that just says we have all your magic needs covered here, just spend your money.
I can smell incense in the air, the scent is soothing and calm. This guy could not have made his store yell MAGIC SHOP any more even if he tried… but maybe he can find the way, from what I can gather.
Karina is floating around in the room, checking the different magic items with her eyes. She seems tempted to touch (which she basically can with her powers) but she seems to have enough self control.
From under his counter, he pulls down a few scrolls of tattered paper. Then he shows me one of them.
"I have these available, and this one is blessed!" He hands it to me.
I check it.
[Blessed Return Scroll
It is made of paper
Blessed
It makes you return to any safe spot linked to you and back]
He is not lying. Items found in stores seem to still be immediately identified, like in the game.
"I will take this and other 4." I answer.
"260 for the normal ones, 310 for the blessed!" He says, his voice ready to go thunderous once more.
"Okay, just don't yell…"
I paid a total of 1350.
[You got Return Scroll x4]
[You got Blessed Return Scroll]
As the description says, these ones return you to a safe spot you have designated or linked to you. It can be a town or a base; it can even return you to the last spot you used a scroll at if you read another.
Normally, it takes a while for the Return effect to take effect. But if it is Blessed then it happens immediately. I am keeping this for an emergency.
"THANKS!" He suddenly yells and I recoil by taking a step back. "MAY YOUR TRAVELS BRING YOU WEALTH AND KNOWLEDGE!"
"Okay, thanks!" I remove myself from the situation.
Maybe I just lost an ear…
"We heard yelling." Lisa asks when I come out.
"The guy inside is a weirdo…" I comment. "Nevermind, I got what I needed!"
"I don't have ears and I felt like I was going deaf…" Karina comments.
"What you got there?" Aurelia asks.
I pull out one of the scrolls.
"Just give me a second…" I read one of the normal ones, and the scroll disappears.
"What?... what did that do?" Aurelia looks confused.
"Was that a magic scroll? What did you get that you used immediately?" Lisa seems as confused.
"Just wait." I say.
We wait… yeah, it can take a few seconds to activate. We just stare around while the people from town move around and live their normal lives. Aurelia starts to tap her foot. I start to scratch my left ear that suddenly got itchy.
Any moment now.
Aurelia is the first one to react.
"Hey, is that shit going to work or…?!"
FWOOSH!
We appear in the middle of a mountain. We are too high. No plants on sight, no trees, only a huge mountain range while we stand on a big plateau with the tip of the mountain to our left.
Right beside us is a perfectly circular shaped stone on a pedestal designed to hold it in place… and in a few steps forward there is a house made out of logs.
"Huh? Where is this place?" Lisa asks… she is looking around, while her eyes are weird and wraps herself with her arms, like looking for protection.
"This place looks dead…" Aurelia comments.
"I-I can see some souls in the distance… and they are stronger than Aurelia…!" Karina says while looking all around. She must be detecting a lot of dangerous stuff around us.
I am not surprised. I smile and start walking towards the small house with my hands inside of my sleeves.
"Hey, are you going to tell us where we are?" Lisa asks. "T-this does not look like the lands of the Kingdom or Federation… there is not even snow… and it doesn't seem like a desert."
"This is a place where nothing grows, no forests to speak of, only the occasional magma lake, and the big dangerous monsters that live off the Magic in the area." I start to comment and stop in front of the door. I turn the knob. "You said I would be sent to the core of this place when we met Lisa."
Realization hits her immediately and her face goes white. "Y-you didn't just… are you crazy?! Who builds something like this here?!"
"I admit, it is a bad choice, no natural fertility for farming, no easy access for travelers like visitors or marchants… but it is away from everyone and there are rare resources around here if we can brave the monsters… although not an option so far." I open the door.
"Stop being cryptic and say what you are talking about!" Aurlia finally yells.
"Isn't it obvious? This is my house in the great Nothing." I go inside, and they follow me right after.