The Tale of Dragons and Dungeons

Chapter 2: Legendary Equipment

Chapter 2: Legendary Equipment

In a place not far from the salty ocean, there is a town known for booming trade and a place of work, Erehedart. It is most known for it's mysterious black market. It is also known for it's dwarven population. In the dead of night, 6 adventurers ride into the town. At that time, most of the traders have closed up their shops and moved either into their homes, or walked to the inns where they are staying. In fact, all traders have retired to their beds, except for a mysterious man (or woman) in a black cloak. In the person's store, there are many assortments of weapons and clothes. There are also strange potions and other items in the store. The adventurers tie up their mounts and walk into the store, taking their hoods off. "Welcome to the store, strangers. What'll ya have?" Blader inspected the large number of black weapons on the wall while Oznerol inspects a jug of apple juice, as he is reliant on it. Stella was sniffing bottles of perfume while Naunia looked at the extensive supply of medical tools and chemicals. Lightning Heart was looking starstruck at the pets he sold in the store. Blader took a particular sword off the wall. "Oh that is a wonderful sword sir. You have a good eye. No one ever looks twice at the Elucidator." Elucidator is a pitch black sword with trims of gray and is evenly balanced and quite powerful. It has a black handle connected to a handguard that drops down on the right side. Attached to this elongated area of the hand-guard is part of Elucidator's obsidian blade so as to better aid the user in retaining their grip on the sword when it is being used. The blade is completely black like the rest of the sword and the said blade is outlined in a light gray. A small cross is emblazoned on the flat of the blade, just beneath the tip. The sword is less than 120 centimeters long. Blader retained his total focus on the blade. "How much do you want for it?" Blader turned the sword over, recognizing the perfect balance and sharpness of raven-steel. "600 gold pieces. No sword like that would be worth a petty 50 silver like most broadswords sell for." "I'll take it." The sleazy dealer put on a face of astonishment, even under his hood. "Are you sure you have enough gold sir? That is quite amazing if you do." "Just take my money and give me my sword." Blader took out his coinpurse and poured out his gold, counting 600 and putting the rest in his bag. He handed over the money and took the sheath for the blade from the man. "Did you want anything else, strangers?" Blader went to inspect the collection of jackets and armor the man had, and this time, Oznerol came forward, carrying a 5 gallon jug of apple juice and new clothes. "I'll take all of this crap please." "Really Oznerol? Really?" Blader interjected. "Yes! I need this!" Blader frowned and sighed as he went back to inspecting a black coat and a complete set with iron clad boots and armor. The dealer gave Blader the evil eye. "What? Ya got a problem with my wares? I could be selling you something that is not as pleasant as this apple juice. Here, I can give you something for free. How about a blast from my arcane staff?" Blader moved backwards, slightly scared for his new inventory, and moved his hand to Elucidator, in case he was going to have to fight. He fired a blast, and it hit his new Elucidator in his place. Blader began to have a strange reaction from the blast hitting his blade. He begins to hear voices in his head, giving him a headache. It was telling him to do horrible things to his friends. He realized it was cursed quickly, and resisted it's control, thinking to it "You're a sword. Shut up." Realizing what is going on, Stella runs up to Blader and whacks him on the head with a chair, stunning him. Blader fell on the floor, dazed, and looked at Stella. "Relax... I've got control..." He stopped hearing the voices (Well not completely, they're just tiny murmurs in the back of his head) for now, and managed to get up after 3 seconds. "Alright shopkeep, I give in. I was just saying that Oznerol relies far too much on that drink." A look of realization dawned on the dealer. "I see. Well, I will give you the apple juice for free, but that outfit is 399 gold and 5 copper." Oznerol looked in horror at his items. "Th-That much? That's all of my money!" "Come now shopkeep, can't you bring the price down for my dear friend?" Stella moved toward the man, slightly lowering her armor. The man looked dazed at her amazing figure. "Oh... Oh yes! How much would you like, you beautiful woman?" He was looking noticeably close to her chest. Stella blushed and put on a face of embarrassment as she saw the man looking at her in a lusting way. "Y-You old perv!" The dealer immediately reacted by looking away and yelling "50% percent off!" Oznerol grinned and payed the man, mouthing his thanks to Stella and she nodded to him, happy to help. "Could you also give me this helmet?" The man looked at the helmet and gladly complied, giving the price of 100 gold (Reduced from 10,000) and she put the helmet on. It squeezed tightly around her head, and she realized she could not remove it. She sighed as she realized the item was cursed, and Blader took the outfit he had been inspecting off the wall. "Hmm... " "Oh you can't take that sir! It is a cursed item, known to be worn by several killers! No one has been able to wear the Coat of Midnight since Jiraya the Great and Fat!" The outfit's fabric had been stretched and worn, almost destroyed beyond recognition. He took off his armor revealing his black t-shirt and pants underneath, complete with being barefoot. He put the clothes on and walked around in it for a bit, frowning at how loose it fit on this thin frame, when suddenly, the shop went black. Blader was in a realm of blackness, free of gravity and his clothes. He suddenly heard a voice. "BLADER. ARE YOU PREPARED TO WEAR CLOTHES OF A GODLY FIGURE? NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO WEAR THESE CLOTHES FOR A SEPTENNIAL! TO TRULY PROVE WHETHER YOU ARE WORTHY OR NOT, YOU MUST FIGHT THE MIDNIGHT WYRM." Suddenly the beast appeared, immediately trying to kill him. Blader jumped and ran, but the realm seemed endless. The shadowy talons of the dragon suddenly tore into Blader's flesh. He ran once more and began breathing heavily. He watched as the dragon began to launch it's breath attack at him. He winced as he prepared to feel the heat of a thousand suns. Suddenly, time stopped. A cold voice cut into Blader like a sword. "Hey partner, draw me." "What?" Blader asked as he suddenly realized his wound had healed and he was wearing the Coat in it's former glory, and Elucidator was on his back. "Listen, Partner. If you die, I lose my power in the real world. I can take control of magical items like the Coat if you still wield me. Your mind has an extremely powerful conductivity with magic, allowing me to do stuff like that. Because my curse is active, I can use your mind to give you mystical powers." Blader grinned as he heard his sword speak to him. "Alright." Time unfroze as Blader drew his sword and sidestepped the attack, running forward afterwards. The beast was stunned for a sec as he tried to see where the young man had gone. Just as he pinpointed his prey, Blader disappeared again as he began moving really quickly, practically warping through the beast's field of vision. At the last second as he began to swing into the dragon and it reacted as Blader disappeared again, this time appearing behind the dragon. He brought his sword down and it slammed against the dragon's hard scales, drawing it's black blood and releasing the liquid into the open air. Just as the dragon returned Blader into his field of vision, he disappeared again. This time Blader swung his sword hard into the dragon's neck, releasing much more of the dragon's blood and giving it a strong bleeding effect. "What do ya say Elucidator? Should we finish this?" Blader asked his sword, still jumping in and out of the beast's sight. "Sure, Partner." Blader kicked himself off the ground, doing 3 front flips, shouting out "Super Awesome Finishing move! Ultimate Dragon Shredder!" Blader came down from the imaginary sky, blocking out what seemed to be the sun, and began madly cutting the dragon's scales, destroying it's body. He brought all of it's scales into the air, flaying the dragon and immediately killing it. Suddenly it's insides disappeared along with the scales. "YOU HAVE DONE WELL, I GRANT YOU NOT ONLY USE OF THE COAT OF MIDNIGHT, BUT ALSO 3 VIALS OF DRAGON'S BLOOD AND A SMALL BAG FILLED WITH DRAGON SCALES. I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN SOON, BLADER." Suddenly Blader was back in the store. The Coat was perfect, back to it's former glory. 4 new items were in Blader's bag, 3 vials of black liquid, and a bag of scales. Unbeknownst to Blader, there had been multiple black energies dancing around him as Blader battled the dragon in his mind. The dealer had fallen backwards, surprised by Blader's magical display. "Y-You! You are-" "So how much do I owe you?"