19 - Frugal By Necessity (Patreon)

Saiya Dewsong was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the room she had claimed next to her sister’s in the embassy dorm they had gotten upon their arrival in Tulimeir. Technically, they were seen as foreign dignitaries, which came with certain benefits along with restrictions. One benefit was the nicer room while a downside was that it was located in the outer city’s southern International District, where most people who were neither cinderen nor runeforged seemed to congregate.

She didn’t mind the location, since it was the same district as her new party Defender and Mage and it was right next to the Martial District where the AOA was located. Rayna on the other paw often complained about the distance from the nicer shopping district within the inner city. Her twin was much more passionate about spending their money than she was.

For now though, Saiya was enjoying her quiet down time by plucking on her new guitar constructed with her [Accompanion] passive while Snowbelle lounged in her lap to steal the occasional tummy rub. Phoenix’s attempts at singing hadn’t been what she would consider stellar but the melodies had given her some new ideas as she played with the variant instrument. Her tails provided a bit of rhythm as they patted against the floor in time which was the best sitting location for her due to the chairs in this city all being voxen-bane.

The International District was better than most places but the standard items given were all sized for the larger species that didn’t have tails to worry about sitting on or getting caught in a doorway. She was just grateful that she was able to find a tailor that could handle the type of clothing she and Rayna both needed and preferred.

Saiya’s ears perked up at the sound of a soft knock on their front door and she heard Rayna call through their shared wall, “You got that or want me to tell them we don’t want to join and to take a hike?”

The Healer shook her head with a soft sigh, dismissing the conjured instrument and lifting the plump Familiar into her arms as she said, “I’ll check it out. Not everyone is wanting us to join their clergy, organization, or party, Rayna.”

“Tell that to the last thirteen people that have knocked randomly on our door,” the pugilist grumbled as Saiya exited her room and walked into the common area attached to the entryway where a few chairs and side tables were strategically placed for hosting their non-existent company.

When she pressed the rune on the back of the door, the voxen was surprised to see an amethyst gemite standing there alone in the hallway. As she opened it, trying to keep Snowbelle from flying out of her hands to tackle the shiny pats-giver, she greeted the man by asking, “Dazien? What are you doing here?”

“Ah, hello, Lady Saiya,” her party leader greeted in return and flashed a brilliant smile, “I was just curious if you and Rayna would care to join me in a little shopping adventure?”

Her amber eyes searched up and down the hall as she inquired in confusion, “Alone?”

The Defender chuckled as he reiterated, “Well, the idea was that I wouldn’t be going alone. Uriel does participate in certain activities without me, you know,” he added, pulling a cookie out of his pouch to offer to the gluttonous Familiar.

The Healer gave the man a soft smile and prodded knowingly, “He has his meeting with Priest Jacob again, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. Yes, he does,” the gemite said with a sigh of resignation, also indulging Snowbelle’s silent begging for a tummy pat, “Seriously, though, we are separate people with separate lives. I do go places without him and today I need to get a new shield; so would you and your sister like to come with? I thought it might be nice to have a guide show you where the good deals were.”

Rayna’s bedroom door suddenly slammed open and large amber eyes stared at them both as the voxen practically lunged at their party leader and wrapped her arms around one of his own, making Snowbelle give a little bark of annoyance at the ceasing of pets, as the bard begged, “Yes! Please, yes! All the yes-es! We just got all those Bits from the Call to Arms raid on top of the mission-spree and now I need a different kind of spree.”

Dazien laughed at her sister’s antics and reassured the shopping-deprived woman, “Yes, yes, I know just the places. Have to be thrifty when you don’t have a large family backing you, so I’ve managed to sniff out the best locations for getting the biggest bang for your Bit,” then his gem-like eyes met hers as he asked, “Will you join us, Lady Saiya?”

Despite the activity not particularly appealing to her, she did want to spend more time getting to know her new leader and she knew Rayna would also appreciate her presence so she gave a gentle nod of acquiescence and resigned herself to the shopping adventure.

They went north towards the inner city walls, making their way through the congested streets made worse by the blood moon, and towards the heart of the city. Saiya and her sister had never seen buildings so tall before as the few settlements in Epa Toivo were much smaller scale and more spread out. The Sapphire Caste desert storms were inhospitable to most places and it took dedication to constantly deal with rebuilding after a storm passed through. Though their capital did have a slight magical advantage with the cost spent to implement the enchantments to guard it from most environmental hazards.

The trio continued northeast towards the more commercial area with stories of open balconies and skyways bridging the towering buildings together for easier travels through the shops on every level. As the smells of the various restaurants hit them, Rayna turned to ask their guide, “Why haven’t we come here yet to eat with the others? Are they not as good?”

“No, some are quite good but… well, it might be silly,” the gemite said with a slight blush as they entered one of the tall structures and he admitted, “I just thought that a Wayfarer like Phoenix might enjoy exploring more of the world outside of what they can normally find here on the tundra. I figured we could give that to her by focusing on her meals with us to be at the more exotic places.”

Saiya smiled reassuringly at him, sensing his embarrassment more from his aura than the slight body language, “That’s really thoughtful of you, Dazien.”

“You don’t think it’s silly?” he asked and she could see his trepidation lessen before returning with her sister’s next words.

“Oh, it’s definitely silly,” Rayna interjected with a grin, as she looked through the glass shop windows at the items on display, “If she only ever eats with us then that means she’s never tried the local food either.”

The Defender laughed, shaking his head, “I hadn’t thought about that. I figured her mentor would be providing more local cuisine when they were together.”

“Have you met Paul?” the bard asked him with a flat look, “Any time they have together seems to be spent training, learning, or pouring over that magic book of hers. I’m surprised either of them even remember to eat anything. Oh, look, they have stamina potions here. We need more of those, right?”

“Not here,” the gemite replied almost automatically, “There’s a shop further in that sells them for only five Crystal Bits.”

“It’s only a couple Bits more,” the pugilist argued, pausing to read the sign posted by the door and causing the Healer to stop as well as she continued holding her sister’s paw, “These are listed at five Crystal and two Mundane.”

“A couple Bits saved now can add up to a nice meal later,” Dazien pointed out, not stopping as he moved past the storefront and further into the building. Leading them to a glass lift that would take them to the other floors.

Saiya observed the younger man for a moment before asking gently, “You’re rather frugal aren’t you?”

He gave a curt nod as he crossed his arms over his chest a bit defensively, “I’m frugal by necessity and logic. Why would I pay more for something I can get cheaper elsewhere? I might as well throw the Bits away at that point,” he explained pragmatically.

“Convenience? Saving time?” Rayna pointed out, gesturing to the lift whose doors had just opened to dump people out before they walked on to replace them.

“It’s not like I waste that much time searching for the cheapest things,” the gemite continued quietly in the confined space, “I still care about quality but in the cases where the quality is the same then it only makes sense to get more value out of your Bits. Taking advantage of the little savings means that when I need a new shield that can survive a strike from a Crystal Caste monster, like now, I’ll have the money to afford something of better quality that ideally won’t need repairing after each battle.”

“Well, we’ll definitely want a self-repair enchantment then,” the battle-loving bard pointed out.

“Definitely,” Dazien agreed, then added thoughtfully, “I can probably get away with foregoing the self-cleaning but I wonder if the cost of supplies in the long run out-weigh the upfront cost now.”

“I am so glad my weapons are conjured,” the pugilist stated emphatically at the mental image they all got of cleaning off monster goo and dust. Sometimes the abilities the monsters had were not fortunate enough to turn to ash upon its death and subsequent looting. The mention of her sister’s ability made her remember the display Phoenix’s book had granted them earlier.

Passive Ability: Gem Encrusted

Type: Utility (construct, elemental, gem)

Current Caste: Crystal 1

Crystal Effect: Construct gem gauntlets and tail covers that inflict additional Gem damage and accrue instances of [Kinetic Force] with each normal attack.

- Kinetic Force (boon, elemental, gem, stacking): Consume all instances to inflict Gem damage that scales with the amount of instances. Instances are slowly lost over time.

Saiya wondered if they should take the time now to start looking for a Sapphire Caste Spirit Gem to potentially feed into that ability once Rayna crossed that threshold soon. She knew that both of them would likely cultivate their Caste again before the blood moon ended at the increased rate they had been going lately.

“I definitely share that sentiment,” the Defender said in response to the bard, “Luckily, I don’t have to worry about my sword getting destroyed during a fight but my shield is another matter. This is us,” he added, gesturing for them to exit the lift as the doors opened on another floor.

As they exited onto the less crowded hall, Saiya adjusted her grip on her Familiar trying to lift the slightly hefty winged seal cub higher up. Snowbelle surprised her slightly by giving a few more flaps, attempting to land up on top of her head between her long furred ears, and she scolded, “No, Snowbelle, I’ve told you before that just because Tala can ride up there doesn’t mean you can!”

She heard the laughter from her companions as her party leader tapped his shoulder and said, “How about you ride over here, Snow? Is that alright, Lady Saiya?”

The Healer nodded and the furry feathered Familiar did a little hop and glide over to the larger frame and perched happily on the shoulder of the spoiling pats-giver, “You know that you can drop the honorific titles, Dazien,” she said softly, taking her sister’s paw once more as they continued following the gemite.

“Those titles are an honor that you deserve to be addressed by, m’lady,” he replied as he led them further while indulging the pat-beggar.

“It’s not like we’ve truly earned them yet,” she pointed out, trying to do her best to pull Rayna along from the many distractions in the various windows they passed.

The shiny gemite gave her a little lopsided grin over his unoccupied shoulder as he said, “From what I’ve seen, I think you have. Despite the unfortunate circumstances for why you were bestowed them, I’ve met many others Nobles who don’t come close to being as kind, compassionate, loyal, and dedicated to protecting others than the two of you,” he gestured towards the few people in the shops as he added, “These aren’t your people. This isn’t even your country. Yet here you are protecting them, nonetheless. If that’s not deserving, then I’m not sure what is.”

Saiya could sense the sincerity of his words and fell silent as her sister decided to fill the lull, “So are we getting potions or a shield first? I vote potions but if we go with shield I’m hoping whatever hole in the wall you lead us to has got some other armor options. I could do with an upgrade or fifty.”

Dazien laughed, “I’m not sure fifty items would function properly at once,” he pointed out.

“Just wait until I get a few more tails,” the bard retorted with a grin.

He raised an eyebrow, “Does that actually work?”

“No,” the pugilist answered with a dramatic sigh and grumbled, “A girl can dream, though.”

Saiya joined their leader in his laughter that time and looked around curiously as he turned into a large shop that looked like a hoarder ran it with how full it was with random assortments. Though there did appear to be a strange order to the chaos around them.

“Mister Dazien Smithson!” a raspy feminine voice called over as they entered and a large cinderen woman appeared before them, “Please tell me you’ve thought over my offer?”

“Sorry, Madam Malik,” the charming young man said with a respectful bow, hand over his heart, as he added, “You know that both Phoenix and I are going to be assisting as Adventurers until the end of the blood moon and most of our free time is spent in making sure we survive the ordeal.”

“Right,” the woman grumbled, putting her hands on her hips, “Well be sure you do survive and think more about the offer once this bloody moon is done with. Both of your skills are being wasted as part of that organization when you can accomplish much the same while making a lot more Bits under my enterprise. Now, if not for my offer, what might you be on the hunt for in here today?”

“The usual potion resupply and I am in need of a shield that can survive stronger monsters,” he gestured back towards her sister then and added, “Lady Rayna here is also in search for some armor that might suit a mobile Striker when her speed might not save her from a hit.”

“My speed saves me plenty,” the voxen retorted, tail bristling slightly before clarifying, “I just thought if you had something that might make it save me a bit more often that might be worth the Bits.”

“Well, I have just the thing for you,” the proprietor stated with a wave towards the Defender, “I remember that sorry excuse you had for a shield before, when we first met. Follow me,” the cinderen gestured for all of them to go further into the hoard of precariously stacked treasures and Saiya idly wondered if there were enchantments in place so that they wouldn’t fall if someone walked too fast and caused a slight breeze.

The boisterous woman led them into a smaller back room and lifted a larger metal shield with a slightly blue sheen to it onto a nearby table that had a bit more free space than the other surfaces in the room. The merchant next pulled out a slightly glowing stone tablet and a matching orb which she placed to the shield as she held the slate out towards them and they read the glowing text that appeared upon it.

Item: Frostiron Shield

A kite shield made from Frostiron mined in the Razorteeth Mountains.

Caste: Crystal.

Availability: Uncommon.

Type: Weapon, shield.

Requirements: Crystal Caste or higher.

Effects:

- Slowly repairs damage over time.

- Resistant to grime and rust.

- Increased resistance to negative Ice effects.

“You have a Knowledge Tablet and Identification Orb?” Dazien asked incredulously, “When did you manage to acquire one of those?”

“A friend of a friend of a cousin of a noble that decided they didn’t need it any longer and were willing to part with it in exchange for a hefty sum,” the cinderen explained, “Worth every Bit, though. I can not only guarantee the authenticity of the items I procure but the assurances I can give my customers is also a boon. Now, does the shield interest you, Mister Smithson?”

Dazien gave another of his most charming smiles that Saiya was beginning to recognize and match to the playful emotions he was projecting to her and smiled in turn as he said, “I guess now we haggle with the knowledge that you can’t claim it’s more than what this little tablet says.”

“And you all will know just how good of a deal you get when you come to Mother’s Cupboard to buy anything and everything,” the woman said, matching his smile with a wolfish grin of her own and Saiya gave a slight sigh as the negotiations began and she had a feeling they would be visiting a lot more in the future.

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