"Thanks for the coffee, man," Kopius remarked between sips. "It's been a heavy morning."

"Coffee?" Oh-jin asked.

"It's my planet's version of morning energy," Kopius replied, gesturing at the cup in his hand.

The mood lifted as one might expect when a person of Cici's calibre enters the space. With the history lesson behind him, Kopius allowed his mind to focus on the bard's rendition of their adventures. Though the big man really laid it on thick for the red whip and golem encounters, Kopius chose to not correct or reel back the story. Cici was accurate in his telling and the added flair was likely due to his entertaining abilities.

"Santerium is an extremely rare find," Oh-jin mentioned when the tale had ended. "It's one of the key components needed to create a pugil staff."

"I thought it looked familiar," Kopius said, giving himself a mental highfive. "Can it be used for anything else?"

"Hmmm," Oh-jin hmmm-ed. "Like most metals it can be forged into a weapon or armor. When it is partnered with a conductive wood very unique things can occur: as exhibited with the pugil staff. It is similar to graphene in the area of a magical conduit but much stronger. A clever blacksmith would better answer."

"I swear, if we ever go to–to that place with the tree," Kopius fumbled about his memory trying to recall a petrified wood that Oh-jin had mentioned before. "That tree… you know the one that's good for making bows."

"Bamboosa?" Oh-jin offered.

"Yes!" Kopius rewarded Oh-jin with a snap of his fingers and a two-pointer finger gun barrage before continuing. "If I ever find a bamboosa tree in that place, the rock place–"

"Stoneclaw." Oh-jin interrupted.

"Thank you," Kopius said quickly, "Stoneclaw Village–"

"Mountains," Oh-jin corrected.

"Mountains?"

"Correct. The bamboosa is found in the Stoneclaw kingdom atop the Stoneclaw mountains. There is a Stoneclaw village. They may have some bamboosa there but they would have brought it down from the peaks."

"Can I get there on Stoneclaw river?" Kopius said before laughing at his own joke.

"Well yes," Oh-jin answered with a straight face. He glanced over at Cici, the wiggling wrinkles above his goggles asking the big man a question. Cici gestured in the negative. "You've heard of it?"

"No." Kopius answered. "I was just joking. Everything is all Stoneclaw this or Stoneclaw that."

"The naming is consistent. You still fancy a bow?" Oh-jin asked.

"I do," Kopius admitted. "I am not sure how Quinn would feel about teaching me though."

"He would not," Oh-jin agreed. "Up close and personal is his preferred method, has he mentioned this?"

"Not explicitly, but he has shown me on a few occasions," Kopius replied with some latent animosity.

"If I might suggest," Oh-jin offered, "melding petrified bamboosa with Santerium produces unique qualities. Look no further than Quinn's lodgings as evidence."

"The pugil staff is bamboosa?"

"Indeed."

"We can visit Lydian's suitor, he should be a clever smith," Cici interrupted. "That is if we can put my fair lady back in her place. Otherwise you'll have to make that trek alone."

"Is he in Stoneclaw?"

"That he is, that he is," Cici replied with a smile. "As for us, we have a busy day, lad. By no means do I wish to cut my visit short but bargaining and supplies await us at every turn."

"Of course, of course," Oh-jin agreed, gathering the leftover breakfast and debris. "Will you be back soon?"

"At least one more night I would wager," Cici said after a brief scratch of his beard. "Espeacially if our boy here finished his reading." The bard looked at Kopius as if a teacher were expecting homework.

"I'm almost done," Kopius replied defensively. "I'm just stuck on a few things."

"Prepare your questions, lad," Cici warned. "Yamabu is here and open for business. She'll be able to settle any riddles in your mind."

"Okay then," Kopius shrugged and glanced back at Oh-jin. "I guess I'll see you later tonight."

***

The streets were quiet for the most part and Cici explained that most people would sooner leave and come back than stay the night. There were only a few places to rest overnight and those were usually reserved for vendors who didn't have sleeping arrangements of their own. This was a good thing, Cici insisted, because that meant no lines to contest with. The only down side was that most merchants opened later, having little to no reason to open their doors before people returned.

This was the case for Salem and Parva. The weapons expert and jeweler would be closed for a while leaving Yamabu the best place to start. Yama, as people she allows to call her that, had long been a staple within Ashes & Embers and had her own building similar to the Oh-jins shop. She was always open regardless of the time of night.

In less than ten minutes of navigation the two men stood in front of a cobblestone hut, with wooden roof top shaped like a typical witches hat. Kopius regarded the place, feeling he had seen it somewhere before or at least something close to it. Two dormant windows were set into the stone to either side of another purple door with roughly the same mystical artistry as the one when they had first entered the village.

A sign above the entrance had five capital M's crudely carved into it but the letters didn't reveal any deeper meaning; like when he had read anything written in Jinovian or other fantasy languages. He felt it meant something but didn't pry into it. The darkened nature of the windows did nothing to deter Cici from stepping right up to the door and wrapping his knuckles against it. He knocked with a rhythm much like he had with Lydian leaving Kopius to wonder if that had some purpose to it as well.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"CICI BEO!" Screeched from inside the hut and the big man turned to Kopius with a winning smile. He jostled the handle of the door and pushed it open. An entire sun's worth of light and heat rushed out the door, momentarily blinding Kopius. He began to perspire like someone who had been drinking all night only to step out on to the Vegas strip in the middle of a summer heat wave.

When his vision cleared Cici could be seen motioning for him to enter. Kopius shook his head to decline and to remove the last of the sun spots dancing about his vision. Without missing a beat, Cici shaded his eyes and stepped into the light. Kopius squinted and wiped away a few dribblets of sweat from his forehead. He shaded his own eyes as best he could and without looking directly into the brightness, crossed over the threshold and into the hut.

Upon entering the heat and light lowered in their intensity but still gave the impression of an open roof at noon time on the equator. The space looked larger than the exterior presented. On one side of the circular shop was a variety of shelves and glass cabinets. The contents ranged from books and wands to herbs and ceramic cauldrons. They all ranged in size, shape and color; half of it looked like a vape shop selling drugs and every piece of paraphernalia associated with it.

The other side of the place had several comfortable chairs, some refreshments and other oddities that gave off the impression of a lounge. Kopius wondered if there were any hookahs about then they might be in for a smoke break, but no pipes or bongs seemed present.

In the center was an erected figure that came across as a scarecrow at first but after further inspection it was clearly a training dummy of sorts. The thing stood roughly 6 feet in height and wore a variety of different gear. One half had heavy armor while the other side sported lighter leather material. In both hands were different weapons; a sword in the right and a large mace in the left. The thing had a litany of scuffs, burns and acid marks as well as dents and slashes all over.

"I see you brought your shadow along!" A gruff feminine voice came through a string beaded doorway. Though Kopius should have learned to not be surprised by now, when the lady speaking emerged he was taken aback.

Striding out of a backroom came a petite, purple skinned, five-foot nothing, pink-haired woman with grey horns sprouting from her scalp as if it were a headdress held up by elongated, pointy ears. She wore a dark green dress with silver and gold motifs like it had been plucked right off a Disney princess. Delicate jewelry adorned with colored crystals clasped on her wrist, wrapped around her fingers and hung from her thin neck.

Her skin was smooth and stretched back, revealing high cheek bones, wide eyes and thin lips. She didn't seem human, somewhere between a troll or a goblin if Kopius had to guess. When she smiled at Cici, her teeth were wide, worn down and missing in some places. With her hair pulled back and her sleeves rolled up, she looked as if they had interrupted her in some fashion.

What threw Kopius off was an intricately cut, blood red gem somehow embedded in the center of her forehead. It glistened in the light and refracted around the room. Depending on how she tilted her head, reflected beams shot around like thin lasers seeking a target. Whether she was old or young was a matter of debate; how she dominated the space with her presence was not.

"Yamabu," Cici practically yelled upon seeing her, his arms open for an embrace. "You shine brighter than the midday sun!"

"Yama, my dear," she replied with a smirk and hugged the bard while staring directly at Kopius. She examined him much the same as Dylana had, which was somewhere between a stale threat and a curiosity.

"Yama," Cici replied and turned to introduce, "this is my boy Kopius."

"It's nice to meet you Yama," Kopius said, offering his hand to shake.

"It Yama-BU," she replied, emphasizing the 'bu' like she would frighten a small child.

"Of course–my bad, Yamabu," Kopius partially stammered while simultaneously wondering wtf is wrong with these people. Cici laughed and patted him on his shoulder.

"He is new here and the reason I came," Cici began. "He needs some tips of the trade from an educated mind."

"That much I can see now. Not a shadow…" Yamabu responded.

She produced a gem tipped wand from her waist, its color the same as the one in her forehead, and waved it at Kopius in three circles. Both gems glowed and a single beam struck Kopius between the eyes before disappearing just as quickly. Her face gave the impression that whatever she was attempting was not producing the desired results.

Kopius flinched back slightly when Yama reached out to feel his cloak. She gave an unimpressed shake of her head and sullen look in Cici's direction at the reaction.

"Parva is the one you want to limit the touching with lad," Cici said to which Yama grunted in amusement.

Standing his ground a little better, Kopius let the witch examine the material of his cloak. She also examined him like a foreign carcass, walking around his person a few times to get the full picture. When she was done, she stared into his eyes while donning a set of spectacles from her pocket.

"A man in shadow," she said to finish her last statement. "Where did you get the cloak?"

"We had it made," Cici answered but was quickly silenced by a wave of her hand. She wanted to hear it from Kopius.

"What is it made from?" She asked pointedly.

"Cloaked noir," Kopius answered hesitantly.

"I thought so," Yama agreed. "What else?"

"Graphene," Kopius responded after getting the approving nod from Cici.

"Interesting."

Kopius glanced between the woman and the bard only to get a mild shrug from the latter.

Yamabu took a step back and made several different swiping motions with her wand. When she finished, another red beam from her head struck his cloak. After a moment, an intricate pattern glowed from underneath the fur with some type of ornate tribal design. The entire garment lit up in a deep purple hue before dissipating.

"This work looks familiar," Yama stated as she rubbed her forehead gem in thought. "Infused psionic protection, sewn with graphene thread and crafted with precision. Moko would be impressed though she does view Lydian as a rival of sorts."

Kopius couldn't help but react to hearing the name. He wasn't scared or shocked, just impressed with the inspection and the quality of work Lydian commanded. Yama smirked in response and reexamined the air elemental. She plucked at the cloak and lifted it in places to see if there were any other hidden features.

"The cloak alone can hide you well enough," she admitted. "But there is more to a shadow than passive magic. You can keep your secrets though, what business do you need attending?"

The shadow comments tugged at Kopius's mind though he didn't know why. He didn't feel there was a deeper meaning, more that he was an unknown, a stranger unrecognized. Cici had often joked about it and had been amused introducing him as such. Maybe there is more to it, Kopius thought before dropping the matter.

"Well spell it out boy or does Embers have your tongue?" Yama podded, getting too long a pause from Kopius.

"I finished my spellbook," Kopius stated. "I'm not sure what to do next."

"Do you have it?" She asked.

"The book, yea it's in my pack."

"It's in your ring," Yama said with a short laugh. "No sense in being coy with me."

Kopius nodded his head a few times while considering her words. Cici gave another unhelpful shrug as if to say it were up to him.

"How can you tell what my ring is?" Kopius inquired defensively.

"Because I'm a clever girl," she smirked in response.

"Can anybody tell? Seems pointless to hide if that's the case," Kopius complained.

"Some can," she answered slowly. "I can only tell its magical, like your boots, the cloak and boots." She added by tapping the gem embedded on her forehead.

"Ok," Kopius answered after some hesitation, "here." He summoned the book from his ring and handed it over.

"Oh, an elemental, aren't you fancy," she responded with little humor while turning the book over in her hand.

Yamabu caressed the book, brought it to her nose for a smell and then opened it like some kind of sacred document. Flipping through the blank pages, she would occasionally pause as though there were something to read, nod her head in understanding and then move on. This went on for several quiet moments until she reached the last page which was adorned with magical symbols and a single hyphenated word: statiko-ilektri.

"Statiko-ilektri," she recited with perfection, running her thumb across the words. She snapped closed the spell book hard enough to offend a librarian, startling both men. "You must cast the spell to complete."

"Can you show me?" Kopius asked.

"Of course I can," Yama answered adamantly. "That's why you were brought to me."

"Okay," Kopius replied, "how do we do this?"

"With your coin and my wits," Yamabu answered with a grin.

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