Having spent most of his time back on Earth as a single man, Asher hadn't really spent all that much time in jewelry stores. Sure, he'd made the occasional trip to the jewelry portions of large department stores to pick up something for Mother's Day once or twice, but he'd never set foot in an actual, dedicated jewelry store.

He had the feeling that if he had, it would have looked a lot like the artifact shop he found himself standing in on the second level of Dormaul.

The artifact shop was a decent size, and was filled with dozens of glass display cases, each with velvet stands holding different items. There were dozens of smaller artifacts on display within a few long, glass cases as well, which Asher could only assume were the far more 'pathetic' tier one artifacts compared to the pieces in the individual display stands.

Besides the artifact-filled cases, there were three heavily armed and extremely dangerous-looking guards that the store had taken on. One of them stood right outside the front door, who nodded at Asher as he entered, while the other two literally patrolled the shop, keeping careful eyes on the small number of curious shoppers who were wandering about.

There were so many artifacts out on display, Asher didn't even know where to begin. Deciding to simply mimic the other shopgoers, he began wandering around himself, taking in everything he could get his eyes on. Quite a number of artifacts looked completely useless to him, such as a glass that kept drinks chilled, or a comb that straightened hair in a single pull. But there were just as many that caught his eye.

It was while he was examining a pair of boots that supposedly allowed the wearer to walk on walls and ceiling without issue, according to the small plate sitting beside them, that the shop keeper made her presence known.

"Looking for anything in particular?" she asked, taking in his appearance in a swift and calculating glance as she smiled at him. The woman wore a long, flowing pink dress, with a deep neckline that Asher had the feeling was intended to distract wealthy customers from some of the exorbitant prices he'd seen listed for the artifacts on display.

[Enchanter] - 3/3 Elements

"Possibly," Asher said, gesturing toward the boots he'd been looking at. "Are you the one who enchanted all these artifacts?"

"I prepared them, yes." She nodded, her smile so charming and warm Asher wondered if she was wearing an artifact that actually helped with that. "I'm Opal, the owner of the store. Are you aware of how artifacts are created? I have the Gemstone element, so I can tell you don't have any artifacts on your actual person."

Nope, just one hidden away within my own personal pocket dimension, he thought, deciding she didn't need to know that. "Asher," he said, returning her greeting. "I've had artifacts before, but no, I don't actually know how they're made. I imagine it's a complicated process?"

"There are a handful of steps required in the creation of any artifact, but only the second to last is regarded as particularly complicated," she answered, looking toward the boots he'd been examining. "Take these boots for example. First, naturally, someone is required to make the standard, unenchanted boots. Then, a gemcutter needs to create the proper gemstone based on the enchanter's specifications. Different gems hold different types of skills and elements more readily, and it is up to the enchanter to determine what cut and type of gem would work best for any planned item. Once the gem is cut, the enchanter prepares it. The actual preparation of the gem, getting it ready to accept a skill imbued into itself, is an incredibly secret process," she said, winking at him. "Once that's done, the person with the desired skill simply needs to imbue their skill into the gem. This sounds difficult, but it's actually the simplest part of the entire process. And once they're done, the artifact has officially been created!"

"Sounds like a lot of steps for each artifact," Asher said, understanding the insane price tags a bit more now. The cheapest artifact he spotted in the entire shop, that glass that chilled liquid poured into it, was priced at nearly twenty thousand shards. The most expensive one he'd seen, a battleaxe enchanted with both the ability to shear through anything and return to the wielder's hand when thrown, was priced at a little over two million shards.

"Every artifact is a work of art," she agreed, tapping the glass display that held the boots. "It's why we go to such great lengths to ensure they are protected. These glass displays you see were all created by Pamela Fronce, a famous architect living in the capital with a Glass element. These days she mainly only takes on the odd request that intrigues her, but years ago she provided my shop with these nigh-indestructible display cases. The guards are more for show than anything, not a single artifact leaves my shop without my permission. There are a few other safety measures of course, but you'll have to forgive a lady for keeping some secrets to herself." She smiled, winking at him yet again.

Glad I didn't just try slipping in and helping myself to the artifacts, Asher thought, examining the sizes of the displays once more. None of them were even close to large enough for him to fit his entire body into, which meant he couldn't just slip into the astral to bypass the glass. And of course, if he tried reaching just a hand into a case and returned to the material realm, his appendage would be sheared off as if via laser.

Turning to give the enchanter his full attention, Asher wondered how frank he should be with her regarding what he was looking for. He'd already examined most of the artifacts in the shop, but there was always the chance she had more hidden away somewhere. No doubt thanks to his new clothing he'd picked up back in Whikoga and the dagger-filled bandolier strapped to his chest that still smelled of worked leather, he came across as a fairly well off-warrior of some sort. If the enchanter had a method of identifying his class, she made no comment about him being a librarian.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"While a number of your artifacts are quite interesting, I haven't managed to find anything that really called to me yet, if you know what I mean," he said, gazing around the room once more.

"Don't worry, we cater to all kinds without discrimination," she said, her smile all of a sudden looking just a touch more dangerous without her actually changing anything. "Based on the dark clothing and weapons of choice, would I be correct in assuming you are more of a stealth-based fighter?"

"I try to be, yes," he admitted. Even if he preferred having a decent fight and working on his skills, stealth was certainly important for him to get into those situations in the first place. "Though I certainly don't mind going head-to-head with my opponents."

"In that case, follow me," she said, getting the attention of one of her guards. "Hogey, with me, if you would."

Hogey, who had the class of guardian and looked as though he could bench press a fridge, fell in line behind the two of them as Opal led them into a locked backroom and down a short flight of stairs. Tucked away in the back of the shop, past yet another locked door, was a room with far more interesting artifacts.

"This is where I keep some of my more… questionable works," Opal said, her smile widening as she nodded for Hogey to take up a guard position in one corner. "If you can't find anything of interest here, then I dare say it's you yourself who is lacking creativity."

Asher had to agree with the woman. This backroom was far smaller, but it was a literal goldmine of artifacts for someone in his line of work.

A blowgun that manifested and fired both tranquilizing and poison-filled darts. Gloves with a similar marking feature as his own Eternal Mark, but rather than show a person's location, could instead be reactivated to cause a small explosion wherever the mark had been left. There was even a cloak of actual invisibility, draped across a mannequin in an opulent display.

Asher slowly turned around, taking in each and every item as his mind whirled with possibilities. Unfortunately, most of these artifacts were even more expensive than the ones up above, and at the moment, he only had two hundred thousand shards and change to work with.

"Anything catch your fancy?" Opal asked, leaning forward far more than necessary with the clear intention of trying to show off her more personal assets.

"A couple of things." He nodded, making a point to not look where she was trying to get him to. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she could hike the prices on him because she thought he was interested. "I don't suppose I'd be able to test any of them out?"

"Unfortunately, with the existence of teleportation-based skills, the risk is too high that someone might try and make off with one of my artifacts," she explained, shaking her head. "That's why I give a full explanation as to what each item does. If you purchase an artifact and find you don't like it, you're welcome to bring it back, and provided it's still in fairly good condition, I will refund you part of your purchase."

Man, I bet shop keepers would love having something like my Spatial Lock around, he thought, wondering if perhaps revealing he had the power to stop teleporters wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would mean revealing he had the Spatial element, but it could also make him filthy rich.

Deciding that was a thought for another day, Asher pointed at one of the rings tucked away behind a small glass case down here that his eyes had continued to come back to. It would cost over half the shards he currently had on him, but it was perfect for his skill set.

"In that case, I'd like to go ahead and purchase your Ring of False Death," he said, pointing toward the small black band. His choice clearly surprised Opal, as she stood up straight, blinking in confusion.

"...You wouldn't rather the Cloak of Invisibility? Or the Mask of Illusions?"

"Perhaps one day in the future. For now, just the ring is fine," he said, giving her his own beaming smile.

Opal was clearly a bit put out that he wouldn't be making a larger purchase, but even if he'd had four and a half million shards to throw around, he probably wouldn't have wasted them on the Cloak of Invisibility. The Mask of Illusions was a bit more enticing, as it allowed one to take on the appearance of anyone the user had seen while wearing the mask prior. But again, he didn't have the shards for it.

"Once you give me the shards, you can follow Hogey upstairs," Opal said, her disappointment already hidden away behind her radiant smile once more. "I will retrieve the ring and bring it up to you."

Nodding, Asher handed over the one hundred and twenty thousand shards the ring cost, bringing his total down to just enough for his next skill evolution. In doing so, he also took notice of the other side benefit coming to this shop had given him.

Shards: 103,042

Identify - Lvl 25

Identify - Lvl 26

Two different level ups in an already evolved skill was nothing to scoff at, and he silently thanked Opal for having so many different enchanted items for him to look at. After following Hogey upstairs, he only had to wait a couple of minutes for Opal to return to him and hand him a small wooden box.

"If you ever find yourself in need of additional artifacts, my doors are always open for you," she said with a smile, leaning over her counter and literally fluttering her eyes at him.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, thanking her one more time for the ring before heading back out onto the calm and serene atmosphere of the second level. He had half a mind to go over and try to find the two other artifact shops that one of the guards had informed him of when he'd asked for directions, but according to the guard, the other two were much smaller than this one, and were located a good ways away. Evening was rapidly approaching, and Asher still had a job to do.

He could do some more window shopping after this situation with Leighann was dealt with once and for all.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.