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Rem POV
Tereda charged forward, his movements a blur as he dashed towards the left, drawing the massive wolf's attention.
I instinctively mirrored his action, retreating backwards and to the right, putting distance between myself and the monstrous creature.
My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I assessed the situation.
An Elder Alpha Walgram, I realized with a jolt of fear, recognizing the distinctive markings and the aura of raw yin magic emanating from the beast.
Walgrams were known for their viciousness and their unique curse, a parasitic magic that drained the life force of their victims.
"Sir Tereda!" I shouted, my voice laced with urgency. "Be careful! Its bite carries a curse that drains life force! If we're bitten, we'll be dead within six hours!"
Tereda nods, his eyes tracking the beast's snout.
The monstrous Elder Alpha Walgram let loose a guttural roar, its hot breath washing over me as it lunged towards Tereda. I reacted instinctively, flinging a Huma spell towards the beast's face, the ice spears shattering on its massive snout.
The distraction was momentary, but enough for Tereda to sidestep the snapping jaws and deliver a swift slash across the Walgram's flank. Surprisingly the slash barely cut its hide.
I swung my morningstar, the spiked ball whistling through the air as I aimed for the beast's hind legs.
The chain extends quickly, and on its way past its flank, one of the spikes on my morningstar tears into the small cut that Tereda slashed into it.
The creature howled in pain, its intelligent eyes narrowing as it reassessed its opponents. It tried to circle us, but we were trained fighters so instead of letting it get around us, we re-positioned so it couldn't.
Tereda moved with the grace of a seasoned warrior of many styles, his swordsmanship a mesmerizing blend of different attacks.
One moment he was a whirlwind of slashes and thrusts, the next moment, he was making long strides while slashing into its tough hide as if propelled by a steam-boiler explosion.
With a flick of my wrist, I retracted the chain, the spiked ball returning to my hand with a satisfying thud. The chain of my morningstar had trapped its legs.
But then instead of staying still, it struggled and rolled, knocking trees over in its destructive wake.
I tripped forward as the Walgraam was freed by a tug of strength.
My eyes widened as it tried to bite me.
I saw that one moment Tereda was slashing empty air, the next he was in front of me clashing his blade with the teeth of the walgram.
The walgram jumped back as its mouth bled.
"You alright? Rem?" I heard him, and took a deep breath to respond with my heart beating at a relatively normal speed instead of pounding out of my chest.
"Ye-yes! I'm fine!" I exclaim, which is entirely a lie.
He nods seriously, though.
The Walgram growled and didn't give us much time to regroup, I launched more ice spears into some of the open gashes in the massive beasts hide, this time they found purchase and exploded into shards while within the wound.
Tereda's eyes narrowed.
He bolted forward, and I swung my morningstar to distract it further.
The Walgram, enraged and wounded, reacted with surprising speed. It swiped a massive paw at Tereda, forcing him to duck and roll to avoid the blow.
I retracted my chain, the spiked ball returning to my hand just in time to parry a snapping jaw aimed at my throat.
The beast's hot, fetid breath washed over me as I struggled to maintain my footing. Its immense strength threatened to overwhelm me, and I knew I couldn't hold it off for much longer.
Tereda, seeing my predicament, adjusted his tactics. He abandoned his direct assault and instead focused on flanking maneuvers, using his speed and agility to dart in and out of the Walgram's reach, slashing at its legs and flanks with his sword.
Each strike drew blood, but the wounds weren't deep enough to significantly hinder the creature.
The Walgram roared in frustration, its movements becoming more erratic as it tried to track both of us at once.
I used the chaos to my advantage, extending my chain and wrapping it around one of the Walgram's hind legs.
With a sharp tug, I pulled, attempting to throw the beast off balance.
It stumbled, momentarily losing its footing, and Tereda seized the opportunity, leaping forward and delivering a powerful blow.
His sword smashed through its eye, and into its brain, and finally the beast stilled and then collapsed.
"Rem, are you alright?" he asked, his voice urgent.
"I...I think so," I gasped, struggling to catch my breath.
A moment later, I realized something was wrong, the blue glow of the barrier was absent.
My eyes darted around and noticed the magic crystals powering the barrier were missing.
Howls echoed around us.
Tereda POV
A tide of walgraam's exited the foliage.
The howls of the approaching Walgrams echoed through the forest, I turned to Rem, my voice urgent but steady. "We need to get to the center of the village. Protect the villagers."
She nodded, her eyes mirroring my resolve despite the pain etched on her face. Together, we retreated, fighting back-to-back against the tide of snarling beasts.
The hours that followed were a blur of blood, ice, and steel. We fought with every ounce of strength we possessed, our movements a synchronized dance of desperation and defiance.
The village square became a battlefield, littered with the corpses of fallen Walgrams and the echoes of our own ragged breaths.
Slowly, painstakingly, we thinned their numbers.
The remaining Walgrams, sensing the shift in momentum, began to hesitate, their hunger outweighed by their fear. Finally, with a whimper and a tuck of their tails, the remaining few slunk back into the forest, leaving us battered but alive amidst the carnage.
The village was devastated. Homes lay in ruins, the streets stained with blood.
The survivors huddled together, their faces etched with grief and terror.
Both Rem and I bore at least one bite on our arms and a few on our legs.
Just as despair threatened to engulf me, a flash of light heralded Beatrice's arrival.
She surveyed the scene with a look of grim resignation. "The curses are intertwined," she declared, her voice devoid of its usual sarcasm. "You have two hours, at most."
Two hours.
Two hours until Rem and I would succumb to the Walgram's curse, our life force drained away, her memories fading into oblivion.
The thought of losing Rem, of her forgetting our first date, our shared experiences today, was horrible, it hurt like I had drank acid.
"There has to be another way," I muttered, my eyes scanning the village desperately.
That's when I remembered.
The boarded-up magic and alchemy shop, the one I had noticed earlier.
Kasimir had to have something for this.
He was our only hope.
Without a word, I grabbed Rem's hand and pulled her towards the shop.
She didn't resist, her eyes vacant and filled with a quiet despair.
Reaching the shop, I performed the summoning ritual, clapping four times, speaking Kasimir's name, and clapping twice more.
The world shimmered, and we were transported into the familiar space of Kasimir's interplanar bazaar.
He materialized before us, his usual playful demeanor replaced by a look of concern. "Tereda Chouju," he began, his voice grave, "I see you are in dire need of assistance."
He wasted no time with pleasantries, recognizing the urgency of the situation. "Let me explain the rules of this establishment," he said, his voice taking on a business-like tone. He proceeded to lay out the guidelines for transactions within his bazaar.
Kasimir will try to charge you more than what the item is worth every time. remember to try haggling.
You can sell anything you want to kasimir, but it will be a lot lower than you wish.
Kasimir does not like the Company but he thinks their tiering is smart, even if most branches shove the highest tiers into t10.
Items have 16 tiers.
Upon purchasing an item or a bundle of items 10 times, kasimir will internally roll a 6-sided die. if he rolls a one all items in the shop will stay the same price. if he rolls a 2, they will double if he rolls a 3, they will triple.
Upon purchasing 25 items, the shop will close for 7 days, or 7 loops if you are in a time-loop and all items below the last tier will be removed from the shelves. All items will triple in price.
You can use any crafting facility, including the equipment merge pot and the item synthesis pot for a fixed price of 1 platinum coin for each use. This will not affect anything in the shop.
Upon entering a higher world, lower world currency is useless and can be exchanged for a 10:1 with 1 being the higher world equivalent.
Buying books on crafting is recommended."
knowing your current predicament," he added, "I have reset the price multiplier. However, the next purchase will trigger a dice roll, potentially increasing the cost of all items, by a maximum of 6 times. If you are lucky it will stay the same."
Ignoring the fact that he ripped me off multiple times, I just spoke. "I need something," I stated, my voice firm despite the tremor of fear that ran through me. "Something to share my ability to remember lost timelines with Rem."
Kasimir's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly regained his composure. "Intriguing," he mused, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "I believe I can whip something up, but it will require a drop of your blood."
I didn't hesitate. With a swift motion, I drew my sword and pricked my finger, letting a single drop of blood fall into a petri dish that appeared in Kasimir's outstretched palm. He disappeared into the depths of his bazaar, returning moments later with a small vial filled with a shimmering liquid.
"This potion," he explained, "will allow Rem to share your memories of past timelines and the abilities linked-which. However, it is a potent concoction, I will not be able to ever make another. Twenty large gold coins."
I was surprised by the price. I had expected something far more exorbitant, considering the circumstances. "Twenty gold?" I questioned, my voice tinged with relieved disbelief.
"Consider it a professional courtesy," Kasimir replied with a wink. "After all, I wouldn't want to profit from such a dire situation."
With trembling hands, I handed over the coins and took the vial.
I turned towards her, her eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and despair, "Rem, you need to drink this."
She nodded, drank the potion, and followed me out.
Her eyes were unseeing.
She then paused as if she had realized something.
"Wait? Timelines?" She muttered.
"Wait?! Wait wait wait!" She exclaimed.
"You- what- I-?" She took a deep breath. "Explain."
I nodded and began to explain everything from my perspective.
About an hour of explaining later, Rem seemed like she understood.
"When we first met, you were very charming. This date was excessively perfect as well. Did you use your ability to.-"
"What? NO! That was all me and you. Getting along well. This is the first time this has happened and I haven't even died since before I met Emilia the first time."
She nodded, smiled, and grabbed me by my shirt and gave me a searing kiss.
A few moments later we separated.
"Good, now let's go back in there and buy something to cure this curse." she said, while ignoring the searing flush that had reached my face.
I smiled a happy dopey smile, and then registered her voice and what she said.
I nodded, and we re-entered the portal to the bazaar.
I bought a set of 2 potions that can cure any curse below the middle of the 2nd tier for 6 platinum. I tried haggling this time too, because it was 5 platinum each, he said initially.
By the disappointed look on her face, I don't think I haggled well enough.
We drank the potions.
"Can I ask what the dice landed on?" I asked.
He nodded, "it was only a 2. I would have started at 2.5 platinum if it was a base price." He shrugged. "Would you like anything else?"
I nodded, "can we do a trade-in?" I asked.
"It depends. I will, of course, identify anything you show me as a matter of course."
I dumped every book on blacksmithing and its magical variety, enchanting, tailoring and its magical variety, leatherworking and the like, and jewelcraft.
The desk he was sitting at was now towering with books.
He smiled.
"Can you trade these in for 1 book of the same quality of the collection for each 1 book of each craft?"
Kasimir nodded, "I can condense all of these books. You can too, actually." He stands up and waves us to follow. The books float behind him.
A moment later, we arrive at a massive towering pot with stairs that lead up to the lid. A metal fence surrounds the protrusion to avoid falling into the pot.
"This is the synthesis pot." Kasimir starts. "You may pay me 1 platinum to use it once. It can be used to combine similar items of any amount. The more money you put in with the items, the better the item that comes out will be." he puts his hand out in my direction, and I nod.
I give him 9 platinum, 1 for each set of books.
I toss in all of the books, one set at a time along with 100 platinum each.
Full Blacksmithing Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Magic Blacksmithing Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Tailoring Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Magic Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Leatherworking Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Magic Leatherworking Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Jeweler Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Magic Jeweler Compendium for the waterfall world.
Full Enchanting Compendium for the waterfall world.
I had apparently gotten the best possible result for this world.
"Last thing." I said, after putting the compendiums in my inventory.
"I need another 1000 hour amulet for Rem, as well as a cultivation technique that can be upgraded later for her. Then we need something to find a person or creature based on actions they have taken."
The compass of hearts desire cost me 20 large gold coins.
The Snow Maiden Heart Sutra which was a high heaven grade cultivation technique that covered spirit and body cultivation cost me 1000 platinum.
Surprisingly the 1000 hour amulet was only 2 platinum.
Rem was stunned silly, her jaw was already proverbially on the ground after seeing how many platinum/ holy dragon coins were leaving my armor's pocket-space.
We left the magic bazaar.
The moment I took a look around, I saw Beatrice staring at us, her small hand was pointing at us trembling, her eyes wide, and jaw wide open in surprise.
I don't think this is Kekkaiku.
