Ruby bought a few more small, miscellaneous items, mostly related to toiletries, creams, and the endless supplies women seemed to love. I didn’t see why she bothered. I couldn’t imagine anything helping her look any prettier.

  Steve got an armored jacket, then surprised me by purchasing 10 sets of clothing, all in different styles, but none with any extra buffs. They were finely cut, but super cheap compared to the good stuff.

  “What do you want all that for?”

  He grinned. “Our chat this morning got interrupted before I could tell you about my second permanent spell. Remember that awesome potion I picked up on our hunt?”

  “Yeah. Echoing Doom, right?” As soon as I focused on it, the description popped back into my mind. Gotta love high Intelligence and perfect recall.

  “Potion of Echoing Doom. Rare. Create up to 5 clones that mimic your every move with your same abilities. Multiplies your attacks and provides improved defense, as any damage you take is reflected to your clones, destroying them first. Duration: 60 seconds.”

  “You’re dumping too many stats into Intelligence. Put them into charisma,” Steve said.

  I wasn’t about to talk about my stupidly high but useless CHA stat. “So what about that potion?”

  Steve smiled and suddenly 10 other Steves stood all around us. They all looked exactly like Steve, but each wore a different one of the outfits he’d just purchased.

  “Why would you waste that potion here?” He liked practical jokes, but that had been an incredible potion. Wasting it was nothing short of stupid.

  “Who said I was wasting it?” All of the Steves said in perfect unison before the clones all started wandering around the room, chatting together or admiring the paintings. A couple winked at Ruby.

  “Clones are craic, but what are you not telling us?” Ruby asked.

  “That’s my second permanent.”

  I looked from him to the clones. “How? I thought we couldn’t permanent potions.”

  “Not unless we first transformed them into a scroll. I bugged your friend Cyrus until he gave me a quest.” In perfect unison, all of his clones spoke together to add, “Won the quest. Got the scroll.”

  “You didn’t tell me about a quest,” Ruby exclaimed.

  Steve shrugged and several of his clones gave each other high fives. “Everyone was busy. You didn’t think I was just wandering around making a nuisance of myself when you weren’t available?”

  “Of course not,” she said, maybe a bit too quickly. Steve’s grin widened.

  “You’ll have to tell me all about that quest when we get more time.”

  “Indeed,” Sythrak said. “For you, sir? Are you ready to order?”

  I nodded and gestured down at my shredded pants. “I need better armor for my legs, a good pair of boots, and I want to look at some rare short swords, if you have any.”

  His smiled widened, making me suspect maybe he did get some kind of commission he wasn’t telling us about. “Indeed, my lord. Let us begin with the clothing.”

  He waved his hands and rows of pants, grieves, and chainmail trousers appeared in front of me, followed by racks of boots. Ruby eagerly helped me review the selections and in short order I narrowed the choices down to three pairs, 2 uncommons and a single rare.

  “Thunderstride Greaves. Uncommon. These armored leggings provide excellent defense against physical attack. Apply an elemental potion for short-term immunity to that element, or to add elemental damage to kicks. Limited self-repair.”

  “Silkspinner Leggings. Uncommon. Crafted from ultra-strong spidersteel silk, these stylish and comfortable leggings offer fantastic defense against slashing and piercing attacks. Limited self-repair.”

  “Phantomstep Breeches. Rare. These self-camouflaging pants help you blend into the background, granting a 30% boost to Stealth, while the titansteel weave provides excellent protection from most forms of physical attack. Self repair. Grants the ability Phantom Step, level 3.”

  “Phantom Step. Ability. Rare. Phase to incorporeal for up to 5 seconds, becoming immune to most physical damage. Limit of 30 seconds per level per 24 hour period.”

  “Those are all amazing,” Ruby said.

  I had to agree. At a nod to Sythrak, the reptilian salesman cycled through them, making them appear on my legs. I’m glad I didn’t have to manage the transfer. I still missed half the time I tried directly changing clothes.

  “What do you think now?” Steve asked Ruby with a perfectly straight face.

  She flushed slightly and I tried to act casual as I strode back and forth in them. The Silkspinner Leggings were super lightweight and comfortable. The Thunderstride Greaves were a lot stiffer, but I loved the ability to mix in elemental protection or attacks, especially since I couldn’t use my mana for the next 48 hours.

  The Phantomstep Breeches were just boss. I’d loved the Phase Walk temporary spell I got a few days ago and would have definitely made it permanent if I hadn’t run out of uses. Phantom Step was like a baby brother version of the spell, but still awesome. From what Cyrus had said, I bet I could use the charges captured by my Magical Resistance to trigger the ability too.

  “How much?” I asked finally.

  “100,000 for the Silkspinner Leggings, 250,000 for the Thunderstride Greaves, and 2 million for the Phantomstep Breeches.”

  Ruby blanched, but Steve leaned closer and whispered, “I can spot you enough for the Thunderstride Greaves, if you need it.”

  “Thanks, Steve.” That was the kind of gesture I’d expect from Tomas. Despite sticker shock from the high prices, I still had way more money than Steve. Those 10 tier-6 crystals, each worth 1 million tier-0 crystals, were about to come in handy.

  Steve shrugged. “Any day you give me an epic bow for free, I’m always good to help you buy some pants that make Ruby drool that much.”

  “I am not,” she protested, but flushed a little.

  “You are so much fun to tease,” Steve said.

  Glowing chains appeared in her hands and her tone turned warning. “Keep it up.”

  Steve bowed low and a fancy medieval hat with a feather popped onto his head. He doffed it and included it in the grand bow. “I would expect nothing less from a woman tough enough to keep up with Lucas.”

  The chains disappeared and she shook her head, smiling. “One of these days, Steve.”

  “You wish. I have a new girlfriend, remember?”

  I ignored the banter and turned to Sythrak. “I’ll take all three.”

  Steve whistled. “Big spender. I like seeing a man willing to put his wallet where his mouth is when it comes to impressing the ladies.”

  I ignored him and moved on to boots. Sythrak couldn’t easily get me a replacement for my missing boot, so I decided to buy a new pair.

  While I browsed with a lot of input from Ruby, Sythrak’s eyes glowed golden again. He started and said, “Sir, I see you have access to convergence mana. I apologize that I did not see that before. I had not expected anyone so new to the multiverse to have advanced to that stage.”

  “What is convergence mana?” Ruby asked.

  “Part of the story I haven’t shared yet. Sythrak, what difference does it make?”

  He smiled and waved his hands and the other boots disappeared. A pair of simple brown leather boots appeared in the air in front of me. They honestly looked like work boots. Several of the other pairs had looked fancier. Then Identify kicked in.

  “Treads of the Luscaan Explorer. Uncommon. These sturdy boots are the go-to choice of the Luscaan adventurers. Extremely durable, they provide enhanced protection based on your unique mana signature.”

  “What’s the catch?” Steve asked after he read the description. I was trying to puzzle that out myself. They were only uncommon rank and didn’t sound awesome at first glance, but Sythrak looked excited.

  The reptile plucked one the boots out of the air and held it, as if showcasing a world-famous diamond. “These boots are not of great worth to anyone who has not unlocked advanced mana control. With convergence mana, you easily qualify. For you, these boots become a unique item that will grow and evolve with you.”

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  “How do they do that?”

  “These are built by the Luscaan. They are a physically weak race, but with highly advanced mana control. As such, they produce very high quality goods, and these boots are perhaps their most famous. They have proven extremely popular across the multiverse. As you channel your mana through these, they will begin to take on additional defenses and unlock new abilities based on your particular build, fighting style, and mana preferences.”

  “That sounds pretty neat,” Ruby said, then added, “Steve, I bet you wished you had a pair of these back on Earth when you were a plumber.”

  He chuckled. “You got that right. You have no idea what I had to walk in.”

  Sythrak smoothly interjected, “Indeed, my lady.” He flicked his tongue out a couple times before continuing. “Let me elaborate. Say a Luscaan had a build focusing on manipulating elemental forces, these boots would no doubt increase the power and damage dealt by elemental spells, but also develop defenses against common spells used to counter elements. In this way, they would provide greater defense exactly where that particular wearer needed.”

  “That is pretty cool.”

  “Indeed, and they will continue to evolve and grow with you. They are listed as Uncommon because it is not hard to find a pair. Once they begin to evolve to your unique needs they would better be qualified as legendary, epic, or even unique, given enough time.”

  “Sold.”

  They only cost 150,000 mana crystals. I slipped on my luxuriously soft Drop Bear Plush Stockings of Happy Feet I’d gotten from the weird drop bear monster. Then I tried on my new boots. They fit perfectly, cushioning and protecting my feet better than any footwear I’d ever tried.

  Blades came next, and I was eager to get my hands on good replacements for Soulrend and Fang. Unfortunately, Sythrak had no blades above Rare tier, nor did he have any ethereal ones.

  It was pretty awesome walking down long rows of softly glowing short swords with Ruby and Steve. Sythrak had access to literally thousands of blades, but I quickly narrowed down the list and made my choice. I still hoped to win a better sword from a monster drop, but maybe not in the next couple of days. Cyrus seemed to want me to focus on hand-to-hand combat.

  I’d do it, partially because I did want to test out the two new close combat spells I’d gotten. Also, Cyrus was pushing his little experiment hard, which meant he was invested. Hopefully I was about to see more of the returns he’d been promising.

  I did find a couple better options than I’d feared.

  “Echo. Rare. This finely-crafted short sword will resonate with any force applied through it from the wielder and will echo that force, unleashing a second blast at 60% of the original force damage.”

  The double-edge blade flared slightly before narrowing to a sharp point. It looked a lot like Sting from the Hobbit, with a pearlized hilt and a silvery sheen to the metal.

  Sythrak assured me that using my advanced mana techniques, I could add pure mana to my strikes as force that would get echoed. I couldn’t wait to try it out with my Cascading Force class spell once my mana pool filled.

  “Scalebiter. Uncommon. Ramp up damage over time as this blade adds 5% extra damage per consecutive hit to the same target while doubling the chances of penetrating defenses, armor, or hide. Stacking.”

  Some of the blades had flashier abilities, but I liked the simplicity of Scalebiter. It was a slightly curved, single-edge weapon, ideal for long slashes. The entire thing was crafted in a matte black metal that looked pretty intimidating.

  Without Soulrend to ignore monsters’ innate defenses, the promise of doubling penetration with each strike was huge. Most fights I hadn’t needed to cut the same monster many times, but I was now facing werewolves. With their regeneration, the added 5% damage per strike would quickly stack to a lot of extra damage.

  They were expensive. Two million each, but I had the money and I needed the blades. I worked the two blades through a few fighting forms and my mood lightened. It felt so good having blades in hand again, even if they weren’t my original epic swords.

  I bought some miscellaneous stuff, including a few scrolls of ice blast and firestorm, plus 2 more scrolls of short-distance teleport. I asked for full spells of teleport, but they were all legendary or above and not yet available.

  “How about stuff for fighting werewolves. Oh, and wolfsbane potions,” I added.

  Not surprisingly, silver was effective against our alien species of werewolves, just like in Earth legends. I bought each of us silver daggers for up close and personal encounters, as well as 20 full quivers of silver-tipped arrows.

  “I’m good, but I don’t think I can shoot all those in the next week,” Steve objected.

  “Not with how much time you’re spending with Susan,” Ruby added.

  Steve grinned and made a line in the air, as if marking a score card. “Point for Ruby.”

  I handed him 1 quiver and dumped the rest into my inventory. “You’re not the only archer in town.”

  “Taking responsibility for the town, eh? So rumors of you rejecting a seat at the council table are overrated?” he asked.

  “I’m just trying to help.”

  “Good. The town needs the help,” Ruby said.

  Basic silver daggers were cheap, so I bought 50 more, along with 100 1-pound silver ingots. Maybe the crafters in town could get some experience making werewolf-fighting weapons or gear.

  Wolfsbane was cheap, but Sythrak could only get 100 doses for some reason. I took them all, as well as 20 large bear traps that could be set just about anywhere. They’d stick to whatever surface they were pressed to. Once activated, an illusion covered them that made them look like a bit of shadow.

  “How much money do you have?” Steve asked as I paid the 2 million for all that gear and equipment.

  “Not as much as I had an hour ago.”

  “Will there be anything else?” Sythrak asked. Throughout the process, his grin had steadily widened. Definitely some kind of bonus for dealing with so much business.

  “I think that’s everything on the purchasing side for now. Let’s see what you’ll pay for extra stuff we no longer need.”

  Sythrak bowed and long silver tables appeared in rows down the room. They had no legs, but floated in the air. “Please deposit anything you would like to sell onto the tables for evaluation.”

  We started pulling out all the random stuff we’d looted from monsters. I tossed out everything, from the one random sock with the hole in the toe to those 10 gallons of toxic sludge from the nasty Maze Guardians, and everything in between. I threw in the giant worms too. It turned out to be a gigantic pile of loot.

  I held some back. I wanted to help the local crafters too, but they’d never be able to utilize everything I’d looted from monsters. Ruby and Steve produced their own piles of harvested stuff. They had a lot, but not nearly as much as me. I’d killed probably 10 times as many monsters, so it made sense.

  “How did you squeeze so much in your inventory?” Steve exclaimed as he surveyed my huge piles.

  “Oh, yeah. I got an upgraded inventory size with one of my titles.” I had gotten so used to having an inventory with a 50 x 50 grid I totally forgot I’d started with a much smaller 10 x 10.

  “Totally unfair,” Steve griped.

  “Don’t complain. He’s going to make so much more money this way and I bet castles cost a lot more to upgrade than our tents,” Ruby said.

  Steve sighed. “If I’d had that much space, I could have just picked up everything. How do I get a bigger Inventory?”

  I shrugged. “Talk to Cyrus and find out how to get a title or an upgrade scroll.”

  Steve wandered off, looking up at the ceiling, calling Cyrus’s name. Several of his clones joined him, each calling for Cyrus in turn. Who knew? It might work. He might get a quest, or something. I doubted Cyrus would ignore him too long with how annoying all those voices calling like that must be.

  Sythrak clapped his hands and a score of other reptilian humanoids scuttled out from the door behind his desk. They each bowed to us, then hurried to the tables piled high with loot. With remarkable efficiency, they sorted everything, catalogued it, and made marks on tiny glowing tablets.

  While they worked, I pulled out one of the rolls of eel hide I’d gotten from the terrifying flying giant eel that almost ate me in the sky. The description suggested it could be crafted into gear with extreme defense against physical attacks.

  Holding it out to Sythrak, I said, “You mentioned something about commissioning custom orders. Can I get some clothes or armor made out of this?”

  “Ah, that is wonderful material to work with,” Sythrak declared once he examined the hide. “Indeed we can, although a single roll will not provide much.”

  I extracted 10 more rolls. Sythrak beamed and waved one hand. The rolls disappeared. “I will submit the order immediately.”

  That was the only looted item I really wanted to see custom made. Some of the other loot looked promising, and I’d see what local crafters could do. I also kept a few things for myself, like that damaged energy crystal. I bet I could get a bunch of mana crystals for it, but I hoped to find a way to repair it eventually.

  Within minutes, the appraisers passed all the tablets to Sythrak.

  “That is significantly more loot than anyone else has produced so far today. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. We’ve been busy.”

  Steve wandered back over. “Your pile makes mine look like I’ve been a lazy sod, but that will change.”

  “I did have to hunt pretty much non-stop.” I didn’t mention to him I’d saved out a bunch of the really good stuff. “What did Cyrus say?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  Sythrak ended up paying Ruby and Steve each 500,000 mana crystals, much to their delight. I had several times more loot, and a lot of it was higher rarity, with more magical properties. I got a full 2.5 million for all my loot.

  “Just wait. I’ll increase my Inventory and I’ll loot twice as much as you before we reach the third stage,” Steve said.

  “Bring it on.”

  Ruby interjected. “A wager without betting something on the outcome is just empty boasting.”

  “She’s got a point.”

  Steve grinned and rubbed his hands together. “All right. You want me to throw something into the pot, you both have to match me.”

  “Hey,” Ruby started to object, but Steve shook his head. “Nope. You brought it up, you can’t back out now.”

  “Fine,” she said, tilting her head in consideration for a moment. “I’ll give the winner a kiss.”

  “Oh, you’re a wicked one,” Steve chortled. “As Lucas’s friend, I should throw the bet just so he can get the kiss, which is the outcome you both want anyway. Too bad. You’ll have to kiss him the old fashioned way. I’m going to win and you’ll have to explain to my girlfriend why you’re going around kissing other men.”

  I shrugged, trying to keep the conversation light, although the thought of another kiss from Ruby set my heart racing. No drama, remember? Why did she have to volunteer that as her prize? “Well, Susan did kiss me a bunch. Only fair, right?”

  “Sure,” Steve laughed. “Each of our girlfriends kissing the other guy totally makes sense.”

  “Hey, I’m not—“ Ruby objected, but Steve waved it away.

  “You can’t complain. You’re the sly devil who set up the catch-22. Fine, if I lose, I’ll let you choose the consequence for me.”

  Ruby’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “Nothing permanent,” he interjected quickly.

  “I can work with that,” she said, rubbing her hands together in imitation of Steve’s earlier gesture.

  I laughed. “You’ve got a bet. Steve, if you win, I’ll split whatever mana crystals I get for selling my next pile of loot.”

  “Really?” Ruby exclaimed, while Steve pumped a fist into the air and laughed. “Done!”

  Sythrak interjected. “I look forward to seeing the results of your bet. You have the right mindset. Many of your people struggle with managing their Inventory. Some seem to have very limited funds and very little to sell.”

  “I’m not surprised. Hopefully we can all do better moving forward.” I extended a hand. “Thanks for your excellent support.”

  Sythrak took my hand and bowed over it. “It has been my absolute pleasure, sir. I will be here whenever you are ready to return.”

  He bowed over Steve and Ruby’s hands too, then with a final wave of his hand, the store vanished and we returned to the crowd near the pool. It looked exactly the same. One woman I’d noticed rushing toward us was still coming.

  “Did that all happen in the blink of an eye?” Steve asked, looking around, confused.

  “It feels like it,” Ruby agreed, then glanced down at her new outfit again and beamed. “That was one of the best shopping trips of my life.”

  “Yeah, it was fun.”

  I turned, but nearly ran into Burns. His weathered face broke into a smile and he laughed. “Lucas! Now that was what I call a show! How did you survive that Alpha, and where did you go?”

  “It’s a long story, but one I need to share with the council. I’ve got important news.”

  “Then let’s go. Most of the town is going to be busy checking out the store. I came down to find out firsthand. Need to report to the council too. You can come along.”

  “Good.” I turned to Ruby and Steve. “Find Tomas and Jane. Tell them what we found in there. I’ll take them in again later.”

  “Have fun, councilman,” Steve called with a jaunty wave.