Chapter 20

As we made our way along the corridor, we kept an eye out for any shops or stalls that claimed to be enchanters. We had stopped in a few that we found but felt that they were terribly overpriced for what they were offering. We planned to visit the other shops, then stop by the one that had provided services to us the last time we were here, so that we had a basis for proper comparison. We came across a shop as we started towards Arvin’s shop and figured that we would stop in. We entered the shop to find it mostly empty of people, filled with shelves of enchanting ingredients and books that lined along the back wall. Behind a small counter stood a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had a glum look on her face, even as we entered.

“Good afternoon ma’am,” I said, “Could I see a listing of the enchantment services that you have to offer.”

The women gave me a disinterested glance, leaned down to grab something from under the counter and tossed a book towards me. I ignored her behavior and opened the book to look over her listed services to find the book completely empty.

“Ma’am, I believe that you have given me the wrong book, this one doesn’t have any listed enchantments.”

She glared at me and said, “Because I don’t have any! My shop is closing tonight for the last time, all the materials and books have been purchased by a Pact house.”

I realized the dilemma she was in, but then the final part of her answer caused me to pause.

“It wouldn’t be the Tyr Pact house,” I asked, carefully. “You wouldn’t be a runesmith by any chance?”

Her eyes widened. Her posture changed to one of surprise and distrust, leaving me little time to alleviate her fears.

“How do you know that? No one knows that I was a runesmith as well as enchanter. I couldn’t tell anyone, because my Pact house forbids it.”

“Didn’t it get explained to you? You are going with everything in here to work with the quartermaster for Tyr’s Pact house. Tyr will be getting him a special dispensation to allow him to work despite not being in one of the smithing Pact houses.”

“No, I didn’t know that,” she answered softly. “All my Pact leader, Hekate, said was that my shop was being closed down and I was no longer part of her Pact house. She never explained why but acted as if I had betrayed her trust somehow. As for my things, they didn’t get moved, they got confiscated. I was told they belonged to the pact house and were no longer mine.”

“Did you have permission to practice runesmithing from her or did you do it in secret from anyone - save for Brot’k, who found out about it.”

“No, I didn’t get permission,” she answered with a blush. “I am not sure how Brot’k found out, I was very careful.”

“Well, he was in your position as well, though Tyr allowed him to hone his craft and sell it in private. Perhaps you share the same go between. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Pathios Daxion, my lovely companions are Amenthia Black and Entivala Greenwood.”

She shook our hands and replied, “I am Cassandra Telitopolous, it is a pleasure to meet you and I am sorry for my attitude, earlier.”

I shrugged it off, “No problem, Cassandra, I understand why you would be upset completely. Besides, this is kind of my fault.”

Her eyes narrowed as I said that and asked, “What do you mean that this is your fault? Explain!”

“Brot’k ran the armory and helped me with my armor. Now he is my personal smith, we supply him with drops to either use or sell to get the things he needs to fashion equipment for us. We wished to be able to upgrade armor and weapons in the future without losing enchantments that were on the item. He said I would need a runesmith for that, but I suggested that he talk to Tyr and see if we couldn’t get one to help in the Pact house. He is also getting another person who is skilled in making clothes for spellcrafters like Entivala, here.”

“Oh, wow, that is amazing! But I tend to like to collect the ingredients for my enchantments and runesmithing myself.”

I smiled and said, “We are well aware of that and as far as I know, Tyr will be allowing you to do so.”

“Well, the problem is that I will lose everything I had gained as a result of this trade, meaning I won’t have access to the enchantments I had learned, nor the levels needed to get to the floors I once did.”

I hadn’t expected a cost like this to occur when I suggested it, but I figured at some point we would assist the runesmith with collecting materials. I looked to Amenthia and Enti, who shared a quick glance before nodding to me.

“Well, we would be happy to collect anything you don’t have access to right now, or, if you don’t mind, you could travel with us for a while.”

Cassandra sputtered and blushed, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly intrude, though the offer is tempting.”

“If it helps to sway you, Enti, Amenthia and I defeated Trethraz recently,” I mentioned, gauging her response.

Cassandra’s eyes widened again once she realized the name and I could see her thinking about the offer.

“We tend to follow a process I call grinding, which is to not only accumulate points and ranks in our stats, but to also collect a large quantity of orbs and drops. I believe that this would be ideal for you and - should you be bumped back down to level one - we are all level two, so that will further help you quickly rebuild what was lost.”

“Give me a little time to think it over?” she asked hopefully. “When would you need to have an answer?”

“Take all the time you need,” I replied, “We aren’t going back into the Dungeon for another three or four days. Brot’k is building armor from the dragon and drake drops we collected, plus Enti’s new gear needs to be made as well.”

She smiled and said, “Okay, thanks. I promise to have an answer for you in two days. Besides, I will see you if you visit Brot’k, since I will be heading to Tyr’s Pact house tonight or tomorrow morning, Hekate has not yet told me when.”

“Thank you, Cassandra, we will leave you to prepare for your move. Try to have a good day and we will see you soon.”

Enti and Amenthia said their goodbyes and we made our way over to Arvin’s shop. We entered to find it busier than when Amenthia and I had come there last. Arvin was in the middle of talking to a customer when he spotted us. He excused himself from the conversation and made his way over to us, a large smile on his face. I glanced at the person he had been talking to, but they didn’t seem bothered by him coming to talk to us.

“My friends, it is so good to see you. I am happy to see that my enchantments kept you safe against Trethraz.”

I shook his hand and replied, “That they did, though we did get some other enchantments when we were in the Dungeon.”

“Of course you did,” Arvin laughed, slapping my shoulder. “You can’t expect to go to one enchanter all the time, as most specialize in one avenue of enchanting. This makes it prudent for adventurers to shop around and find the right enchanter for the right circumstances.”

“We are glad you approve,” Amenthia said with a smile. “We wanted to take a look at your book again, only this time to look at all the services that you have available.”

“Of course, but I do have one small favor. I would like to advertise that the group that defeated Trethraz got their enchantments here, prior to defeating him.”

I thought for a moment then answered, “I don’t have a problem with it as long as it doesn’t falsify the facts. We got fire resistance enchantments from you, enchantments for Amenthia’s armor and weapons and ones just for my weapons. It did help us to increase our chances against the dragon, but it didn’t give us any edge in battle. I know there are some who would advertise that their enchantments are what allowed us to claim victory, but it would be inaccurate. If you are truthful, I have no issues with you advertising.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Arvin replied, a bit of irritation in his voice. “I would never do that to a customer.”

“I am sorry, Arvin, but my experiences from my past have shown me that I have to specify things like that, or it could be misrepresented and have a negative effect on me and mine.”

He smiled reassuringly, “I understand, Pathios, and as a thank you for allowing me to advertise that, I will give you a ten percent discount on all enchantments.”

I thought the offer over. It wouldn’t do much to low level enchantments, but for multiple enchantments or later master level ones, it could make a big difference. Besides, if business boomed, he might think to increase the discount in the future.

“I am honored that you would do that for us. For now, we are looking, but in a few days, we may stop by.”

“Of course, browse around. There is the list of my available services over at the counter. I added another since my business had increased - thanks in part to the enchanter from the Hekate Pact house closing shop. Poor girl, I was sorry to see it happen, as she was talented. From what I heard she broke a stringent rule of her Pact house and is to be punished for it.”

We didn’t say anything about what we knew. It wasn’t our place to tell, especially to someone who was only an acquaintance. We thanked him and looked through one of the books, hoping to see some other enchantments we liked. He had the same fire protection spells, though he had slightly more expensive ones that gave a greater resistance rate. He still couldn’t do fifty percent resistance, though if he could, it would fully negate the effects of fire. As we continued reading, we were disappointed to see that he had no ice protection enchantments. That would prove problematic, but perhaps in time, Cassandra would be able to satisfy that need for us. All in all, there wasn’t anything that we would want to get now, but with the added business he could become an adept enchanter in time.

We made our way out of the shop, pausing to say our goodbyes to Arvin before heading out the door. With our goal completed, we made our way back to the stairs to head down to the fast travel pods.

“Tell me, ladies, are you really okay with Cassandra joining our party?” I asked, unsure of what their answer would be.

“Why would you have to even ask that, Pathios?” Amenthia replied. “You are the party leader, so if you choose to add someone, that is your prerogative. We appreciate that you considered our feelings before doing it, but it is your call. We are not exactly traditional party members; we are bound to you for the rest of our lives. If you die, we are free from that bond, though we would give our lives to protect you, if necessary.”

I felt my stomach turn at the thought of them dying to protect me and I would be damned if I ever let that happen.

Enti cupped my cheek and said, “If both of us were to die, then someone new would be paired to you. You will never be alone, and that person would defer to your judgement, as well.”

Amenthia nodded and uttered, “It’s not like you added her to the group, just to try and fuck her. If that was the case, then we would have spoken up.”

I blushed a bit at the vulgarity of her reply, which caused both to giggle when they noticed. Ten minutes later, we were back at the Pact house and I was feeling hungry as well as tired. I didn’t think that the training session would have tired me out as much, but I also hadn’t engaged my body in movements like that for some time. I had taken a six-month break from karate before I died; I couldn’t afford the fees as I needed the money for rent. Then there was the time I spent in limbo before coming here, as I was told that they put Amenthia into training after I had been in the cabin. So that meant that I had spent at least two years waiting, before I emerged.

We headed over to the dining hall in time for evening meal, Tyr let everyone know of upcoming events and how the Pact house was doing in a general sense. Once that was concluded, we got ourselves some food and sat down to a table. During the meal we went over the events of the day. I wanted to gauge how they felt, especially about the training portion. They were sore as well but were adamant that they would keep up the regimen.

With dinner concluded, we returned to my room and got dressed for bed. We all conceded that we were too tired and sore for any sexual hijinks, but that didn’t stop either of them from coming to bed in just panties. With them cuddled into their respective sides, their bare breasts pushed into my sides, I tried very hard to go to sleep.

I found myself once again within the Council room, seated in a chair in the center of it. I looked around quickly, seeing all five members seated before me, but Tyr was standing beside my chair. I quickly felt uneasy; his presence here could mean something grave but I couldn’t think of anything that I had done.

“We are here to discuss a very serious matter,” boomed Zeus. “Thanks to you, young man, changes are occurring in the very structure of our world.”

It was then that I realized why I was there and what the matter was about. I felt some of the unease dissipate as I formulated a response.

Zeus continued, “You have caused strife within the Hekate Pact house, resulting in the loss of a member as well as a shop. What do you have to say about this matter?”

“Only that I am surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner. There must be growth within the Pact houses, the professions and the world, else you will have discord and strife. Your system isn’t all knowing and all powerful. If someone like Brot’k ended up in a non-smithing Pact house or Cassandra in one that would not let her be a runesmith, there would eventually be problems. When people feel they would better serve a function, but they are unable to do it due to rules and how their Pact house is run, then they will do it secretly until they are caught. This will result in unnecessary punishment and the person would be ostracized without a justifiable reason, in my opinion.”

“These rules are for the good of the Dungeons, adventurers and the world as a whole,” boomed Zeus. “Who are you to challenge that?”

“Your son, Ares, has shown - through the stories of your Pantheon - that he will repeatedly act out against your rules when it suits him. Children lash out when rules hinder them unless they know why the rules are in place. When the person or persons setting the rules are not willing to change them as circumstances change, you will find that there are more people doing what Cassandra and Brot’k are doing and that that began long before I came here.”

“Well said, child,” Uttered Odin. “You are correct that there have been thousands over the past three centuries that were doing what those two have. You are just the one to openly propose these kinds of changes and as such have earned the ire of traditionalists. We are aware of your deal with Brot’k and that Cassandra, as well as another, are being added to facilitate the needs of your current party, though their skills would cover many other additions that could occur. The idea of non-smith house members building equipment is a new system of thought, as is the idea of trading people between Pact houses.”

I was guessing that the unnamed woman had to be the one that would be making Entivala’s robes.

“Along with that, your ingenious designs will change how some of the smiths approach armor design. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the other changes you might inspire. I call for a vote. Those for and those against allowing this new system to be implemented at the Tyr Pact House. All those in favor...”

Odin, Shiva and Saturn raised their hands and when all against was called, Zeus and Ra raised theirs.

“The votes is three in favor to two that are not. The motion is passed, and we will allow this to go through, though this will be the only case at this time. We will watch how things progress, to see if it will be beneficial to implement worldwide. For now, return to rest and we look forward to seeing what you do next.”

I turned to Tyr and he had a proud smile on his face, as he reached out and touched my forehead, causing everything to turn black.

I awoke and looked at my bracer, seeing that it had been roughly eight hours since I had gone to bed with the girls and I felt fine, despite my meeting with the Council. As I thought more about it, I figured that, due to their immense power, the meeting occurred in my dreams. Both of my lovely ladies were smuggled into my sides and as I looked at them, I thought of how lucky I was to have them in my life. Not just the relationship that was building between us, but the team that was forming. I knew that with time, our ability to draw on one another’s skills would make us a force to be reckoned with. I was about to go back to sleep, when I felt Enti stirring. She opened her eyes, rubbing them quickly before looking up at me, a groggy smile on her face.