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I was relieved when Khyrmin passed up the eleventh and tenth floors. While some of it might be useful, I didn’t really want to receive miscellaneous junk. We passed up the floor with armor, then polearms, then axes. We passed the hammers and maces, then the curved swords. I thought perhaps I would be getting another rapier but then Khyrmin stopped on the fourth floor and looked around. The fourth floor contained short swords and daggers- far too many to count. I wondered how long it took Khyrmin to gather all of these… but then again, I knew it was probably around fifteen or twenty years now. The more difficult question was where the dungeon got them.
Then Khyrmin grabbed something and tossed it at me. To me, actually. It sailed high in the air without that much forward momentum. I instinctively reached to grab it. I would have activated Martial Trance, but Khyrmin’s presence made me instinctively avoid that. I was lucky I caught the handle of the little dagger… or perhaps she had just intentionally made that easier.
I looked down at the dagger. It had no hilt, and was made of a sort of blackish but still reflective metal. Adamantine. It was a throwing knife, actually. Even a piece that size would have been my entire budget back when I was at level 17, the peak of my wealth. That included giving up armor.
“A spear would be too much for you,” Khyrmin stated. “You don’t always have to completely impale an enemy. Sometimes taking out something critical is enough. That dagger won’t get stuck easily or break.”
“Thank you very much!” Though it was the least impressive looking, the cost of this dagger could still be more than any of the other things, even if they were magical. Then again… it depended on what magic they had. Khyrmin seemed to have access to a number of things with quite powerful magic- for example, the sword that Alhorn’s father had was sure to be quite special.
I didn’t particularly care about the monetary value so much as its utility. The throwing dagger was small and easy to carry. I could pull it out easily for an attack. It wasn’t going to be as effective as a spear or javelin for the most part, but it had the advantage of being made entirely out of adamantine. While that was possible with something like a spear or javelin, it would be very expensive. Even a spear made entirely out of steel had cost as much as a magical weapon. There was much use to be had with a spearhead made out of adamantine, but if the shaft broke that would make it unusable until you could get a new one.
Of course, an adamantine throwing dagger wasn’t going to be used more than once a battle either, but that was without Return Weapon. A dagger was lighter, and with the blade as sharp as it was- which I very carefully tested- it wasn’t going to really get stuck. I could use Return Weapon more. Even if I failed in my attack, it would only waste a small moment.
—–
Traveling back to Sradena was slightly faster, if for no other reason than Khyrmin travelled faster than we normally did. That included us riding horses and her walking. Mine was named Blackberry, and she was quite tame. She was about the same size as the other horses, regardless of my own size. She did have to carry a lot of weight after all. Kasner was actually on a pony- it would have been very uncomfortable for him to ride a normal sized horse without a special saddle, and he didn’t carry heavy armor or anything like that.
“We can buy you a horse…” Alhorn offered.
Khyrmin shook her head, “No need. What good would I be if I couldn’t keep up with a little exercise?”
Khyrmin did have one advantage to not being tired out from a day of walking. She only wore light armor- which was actually surprising, since she didn’t wear anything protective at all during training. Her current armor seemed to be little more than enchanted clothing, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. She had an entire cabin full of equipment, after all, and a career as a duelist before that.
We stayed overnight in Sradena, even though it was only late afternoon when we arrived. Khyrmin wanted to get a full day’s travel into Fepresil.
In the morning we approached the border. Khyrmin clicked her tongue as she saw the guards. “Oh, right. There may be a bit of trouble at the border…”
“Why’s that?” Alhorn asked.
Khyrmin shook her head, “Ah, don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with it somehow. Just be ready.”
As we reached the actual border, there were two different guard towers. Khyrmin approached one with elven writing on it- I had no idea what it said though. My ability to speak a language from being an otherworlder only applied to one language, just as the message from the Great Sage had said. Not that I knew who he was when I read it.
The human guards at the other tower waved at us as we went past, “Good luck getting in. They’re pretty picky.”
“So I hear…” Alhorn nodded.
“Well, an elf shouldn’t have trouble… ah, but you’re a half, I suppose?”
Alhorn nodded.
A short while later, Khyrmin came out with a frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?” Halette asked.
“Nothing. Come with me.” Khyrmin led us inside the building. She spoke with the guards, then turned to us, “Hand over your guild cards so they can register your arrival.” We did just that, and then we followed Khyrmin out after she spoke to the guards some more. Then we continued along the road into Fepresil.
“Is something wrong?” Kantrilla asked carefully, “It seems to have gone well but you look upset.”
“I’m not sure,” Khyrmin said. “I don’t know why they still accepted my guild card. They didn’t even try to arrest me.”
“Umm…” Alhorn smiled sheepishly, “Did you think that was going to happen?”
“Oh… well, yeah,” Khyrmin nodded, “There was a bit of trouble with the guild when I left Fepresil.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Don’t worry about it. It won’t matter until later.”
Somehow, I didn’t find that encouraging.