By the time they were back in Tian, Dakkon could open his palm and form a spear of ice in his hand—which looked impressive, even if ice wasn’t the most practical material for martial combat. A wall of ice still appeared to be out of reach, but a small, irregularly-shaped shield wouldn’t be much trouble. A more practical use, he found, was to form a sharp shard of ice in his hand which he could throw to give himself a practical ranged attack. Dakkon could manage to throw quite a few ice daggers in rapid succession. His aim was rubbish, however, and he had no clue how to hit a target with the sharp end of his icicles.
Once back in town, the five first reported to the city’s military guard, who’d issued the quest and would oversee distributing currency to the quest’s participants. Although the majority of players had fallen before the boss’s loot had dropped, they would still be able to collect the general completion reward available to all participants. Unfortunately, that reward itself didn’t justify the incredible commitment to the journey—but this was likely the side effect of losing so many lives and failing the primary objective of calming the spirit down. Dakkon and Cline each received 50 gold and the city’s thanks—the latter likely being the far greater reward as Tian was a wonderful city, and the powerful player Gullen was proof that gaining favor and influence within the right factions can bring about quite a bit of its own prosperity. Dakkon doubted someone could reach Gullen’s station through simply completing quests for the city, though.
When Dakkon met up with Sift, he walked up and immediately extended his hand with a smile. The monk took Dakkon’s hand and shook it.
“Thank you, Sift,” Dakkon said. “You’re a legend.”
Sift chuckled at the compliment. “As your ally, it was my duty.”
“Here, let me get your things,” said Dakkon as he quickly pulled up his inventory. He returned the items Sift had dropped upon death because of the player killer’s mark he’d gained while coming to Dakkon’s aid. “There’s one more thing. These ought to be interesting with that whole Bruce Lee-style finishing stomp of yours.” Dakkon struggled to set the boots on the table one at a time.
“What are these?” Sift asked as he lifted one up with what appeared to be little effort.
“Woah,” thought Dakkon. “I’ll definitely need to invest more heavily in strength down the line.”
“Heavy,” said Sift before examining the properties of the boots. As he read, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh…” he said.
Dakkon grinned at the usually stoic monk’s reaction. “Think you can get some use out of those?”
Sift nodded resolutely. “I will train until they are as my own feet,” Sift said. “Thank you, Dakkon.”
Dakkon waved away the thanks. “You earned those more than any of us.”
“Yet you slew the beast,” Sift said.
Dakkon shrugged. “I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention that to anyone for now,” he said. He had been gone over a week with few survivors. As far as Gullen’s faction knew, Dakkon could have died and dropped his dagger during or after the boss battle. The lie couldn’t last for long, but the uncertainty might gain him some small opportunity that he couldn’t otherwise afford. “There’s a powerful man in Tian who wants my dagger. As long as he believes that I’ve still got it, I think he’ll keep sending his goons to ambush me like they did in the cave.”
“Ah,” said Sift. “I wondered why our forces had divided.” He turned the boots over in his hands—admiring their craftsmanship.
Dakkon nodded. “Maybe I can skip town while he’s still guessing.”
“Then you are leaving?” asked Sift.
“Yup,” replied Dakkon nonchalantly. “I’ve got fame and fortune to accumulate. Want to come?”
Sift shook his head. “I must train. In my last trial, I was found lacking.”
Dakkon was a little shocked. Sift had likely already surpassed the human limit on how good at fighting one could be. Dakkon could understand why Saden had wanted to get the monk out of the city to test himself in live combat. That had somehow backfired.
“Well, that’s your prerogative, I suppose,” said Dakkon. “Let me know when you decide to train out in the world. I’ll have a party waiting at the very least.”
The two shook hands and set out on their own paths. Cline was, reasonably, unwilling to travel with Dakkon while he had hitmen chasing him around—so Dakkon set off to the east side of town to gather provisions for his next trip to—the northeast he supposed; toward Turlin.
Midway through resupplying, Dakkon was addressed from behind and to his right. “Did you trade your dagger for those water sprinklers?” asked a concise female voice. “That seems like a bad deal if you ask me.”
Dakkon turned warily to see the sorceress who had saved him during his first trip to Tian. Only now, in the city, her name was known to him. “Ah, hello again… Lina?” Dakkon ignored the question. “What brings you back this way?” When he’d seen her before she was heading east, away from the city where they stood.
“That’s precisely what I was hoping to talk with you about,” Lina said with a domineering smile. “Would you mind following and listening to me?”
The situation was suspicious, but the sorceress had saved him and Nightshade once already. He didn’t see the harm in simply listening. “Sure,” he said.
“Lovely,” she replied flatly, dropping all charm from her voice, then turned to walk.
Dakkon had to hustle a bit to catch up and fall into stride with her. “So, what’s driven you to seek me out, of all people?”
“I’d like to be completely honest with you from the onset. It should help to put the rest of our conversation into perspective,” Lina said. “I was hired to kill you.”
Dakkon skipped a half step at the admission.
“A lot, actually,” she emphasized the word ‘lot’ as though it were inevitable. “Over and over until you dropped the dagger or handed it to me.”
“I see,” said Dakkon.
“I was told you were collecting supplies here and came out to meet you, the supposed assassin-class who killed an ancient spirit,” the dark-haired sorceress said. “Imagine my surprise when my target turned out to be the very same traveler that I’d lent a hand to on the road.”
“How’d you know I killed it?” asked Dakkon. “The spirit, I mean.”
“I didn’t for certain, until now,” Lina said.
“Ah, right,” said Dakkon. “I thought you had intended to be honest from the onset.”
“I said you’d supposedly killed the ancient spirit.” Lina turned and smirked.
Flustered by her tone and guile, Dakkon asked, “Well then what is it that you want from me?”
“That depends,” said Lina. “I have a proposition for you.”
“You have my complete and undivided attention,” Dakkon said.
“Grand,” said Lina. ‘I’d like what I’m about to tell you to remain confidential.”
Dakkon nodded once.
“Something was stolen from me,” said the sorceress. “Something important.”
Dakkon nodded once again. He didn’t know what she meant. Items couldn’t simply be stolen from players without some sort of elaborate scheme like the one he had just suffered through.
“It is with great shame that I admit a fool has gotten the better of me,” Lina said. “I know him to be a fool because he’s made himself easy to track down—and I will regain what is mine. What I need from you is your dagger.”