Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

Chapter 17: Feather Of A Sphinx

Lucan and the concealed Silent Night teleported into Avalon. As Lord of Shadowsweep he could build a transfer portal capable of teleporting to any other transfer portal in the shadow realm, but it would cost 200,000 gold. That was something he defiantly couldn't afford.

"Do you know any good potion shops around here?"

Silent nodded for Lucan to follow her.

"So you don't even talk here? Do people recognize your sisters voice?"

Silent nodded.

"I bet she has creepy fans."

Silent nodded again.

"Might as well take advantage of the silence." Lucan said.

Even though her face was covered Lucan could tell she scowled just from the shift in her eyes.

It wasn't more than a minute before he broke the silence. "Anybody can learn the bow, it's the easiest weapon. Oh, not saying anything, you must agree." Lucan started to laugh to himself while Silent Night stomped off ahead.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I am just playing around." Lucan shouted while chasing after her, not wanting to get lost.

Lucan chased her into a large potion shop several stories tall. He started looking around. There were all sorts of fascinating potions, but he needed to save money for gear and wand supplies. Lucan made a single splurge and spent 50 silver on a 30 second visibility potion. Another 60 silver and he had 5 minor mana and 5 minor health potions.

"Any chance you would know where to find leather armor?" Lucan asked Silent.

She nodded for him to follow her again, but when she walked past, she stepped on his toes.

Lucan did his best not to curse and followed behind without provoking her further. Lucan ended up buying a level 25 set for way more than he wanted to. 18 gold gone forever. And it was a set meant for rogues. It gave good defense and agility, and the set bonus increased his movement speed but there was nothing to help his magic or mana.

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Before leaving he took some time to look at the different cloaks available. He paid attention to the details, they had several different colors and designs that would be useful for blending in. When he was done Lucan found Silent Night waiting at the exit.

"I am guessing you don't know any wand dealers?" Lucan asked.

Silent only shrugged.

One of the city guards pointed Lucan towards the magic district.

Mages, priests, shamans, sorcerers, clerics and other casting classes were traveling the streets of the magic district. Several shops sold numerous casting instruments. Lucan ignored these; at the end of the road he saw a dusty shop with little traffic. Without hesitation, he went straight to the first wand shop he had ever seen. He was intrigued by a place that only dealt in wands.

Silent followed him inside. There wasn't a single thing on display. Only an older woman sitting behind the counter reading a book.

"We don't sell staves or orbs." She said, not looking up.

"Great, I don't have an interest in those." Lucan took out his woodworking kit, flipping open the lid as he made sure to get everything he needed. "I need a new #3 flute gouge, a #8 V-parting tool, and a good slide chisel. Can I also get a list of your wand cores level 100 and lower as well as 5 strips of gum wood?"

The woman closed her book with a smile. "Certainly." She said while pulling out the tools from behind the counter. She then placed a handwritten list in front of him with prices for different wand cores.

"Do you buy wands?" Lucan asked. If she didn't, he wouldn't have any money to buy cores.

"Of course, and I give a 15% discount when you trade wands for wand supplies."

Lucan nodded and turned his attention to the list.

"Give me a dozen pixie wings, half male. 6 drake bloodstones and 50 of the low-grade mana crystals."

"Yes, of course. It sounds like you will be making some unique wands. Any chance you are selling some?" She asked.

"No unfortunately what I am selling was made from low-grade mana crystals. They are just average wands, but I am hoping to improve with a little experimentation."

"Ah, a bold one. I wish you luck." She said while setting 5 small packaged boxes on the counter.

Lucan spread out 46 wands on the counter. The woman took a close look. Lucan could see her eyes narrow as she inspected them with supernatural senses.

Lucan clicked his tongue while thinking everyone but him had a vison skill or ability.

"You have night vision." Silent said, responding to Lucan's thoughts.

"It's not the same." Lucan complained while the woman went through each wand.

"Then stop whining and buy something."

"Pff, you should buy something, I can't risk using my own experience."

"Now that we are back in the material plane, we can run dungeons, instances, and hit the fast-leveling spots. Unless you don't think you can keep up."

Lucan and Silent spent the next 10 minutes bickering until the woman finished making her assessment.

"With everything," She motioned to the supplies, tools, and wands. "It's 10 gold."

"What?" Lucan balked. He expected to have to pay 2 gold at most.

"10 gold and 50 silver is the best I can do." The woman said.

'Huh?'

"Wait, you liked my wands?" Lucan asked, realizing he wasn't paying, but getting paid.

She nodded. "They each had a hidden function. The 5% increase in speed of casting shadow magic is okay, it is a buff applied to any wand made in the Shadow realm. The real prizes were the 10 that prevent a good amount of mental effects."

"What?" Lucan asked while picking up one of the wands he pointed to.

[Wand of Mental fortitude.]

[Level 85, Crafted.]

[+91 magic damage.]

[+12 intelligence.]

[Shorten casting time by .5 seconds.]

[Hidden Feature: This wand was born in the Depths of Despair and created by an insane craftsman. This wand sees low and medium-grade mental afflictions as an insult to its creator. It will intercept and cancel any low-grade or medium-grade mental status conditions targeting its wielder. The wand will use 10 or 50 mana for each status condition it dispels.]

Lucan was impressed by the hidden feature that the wandsmith had found.

'Yet another reason to get a good visual ability. I doubt the wand would prevent my Warlock's Insanity; I think I would have noticed.' Lucan shrugged his shoulder.

"Instead of coin, throw in a sphinx feather."

The woman procured the last ingredient and took the wands behind the counter while Lucan began to pack away his supplies in his woodworking kit.

Lucan had learned a lot, location and mindset could have a distinct effect on the wands he created.

"It's almost been an hour, let's hurry to the transfer point." Lucan said, exiting the wand shop after marker its location in his interface.

Lucan and Silent arrived with 5 minutes to spare. Silent Night had overcome her refusal to speak in crowded public by sending Lucan whispers non-stop. Silent became cranky when she wasn't talking, so Lucan was happy that she was in a better mood, but he would have been happy just sitting down and waiting.

"Lucan, over here." A familiar man shouted while walking up. Codename Bloodfist, or Madlad, greeted Lucan with a warrior and a priest. "You remember Vanslaughterfest and Lucy Evermore."

The warrior stepped up first with his hand stretched. "You can call me Van." He said while shaking Lucan's hand.

"And I am Lucy." The priest waved.

Lucan invited them to the party and officially shared the quest. He set everything to a fair split. He didn't want to be someone they regretted partying with. Even though they said they didn't want the drops, they could give it to Lucan themselves if they felt the same when things were through.

Lucan was impressed, all three were over level 130.

"I known this is only a level 60 quest, but I still thank you for the assistance."

Madlad the monk smiled while saying. "When a 'quest' reaches a certain rank, success will give you an opportunity to meet people in high position and introduce yourself. So, feel assured that we are going to devote our full attention and strength to this job in order to guarantee success. And I have a feeling you will be a bit nicer than the high ranking NPCs we join."

Van scowled while Lucy covered her mouth while laughing.

"They usually don't let us speak when we collect the reward." Madlad explained.

"Ah, well don't worry, I am sure you will contribute more than I. I don't intend to take credit that isn't mine."

"Sounds like we are ready to transfer then." Lucy said.