Fight. Level. Survive.

Chapter 55 - The Kethul

Walking through the Market, they were both taken aback by the sheer size and atmosphere of the place. There were stalls by the hundreds, each with merchants doing their utmost best to outshout their neighbours and attract the attention of any possible customers. While Mason often felt quite out of his depth in this world, Market shopping was something he felt he was a pro at.

Mayry had initially been excited to visit the Magical Market and see what there was to buy. This quickly changed when she saw the gleam in Mason’s eye that she had learned by now meant trouble was afoot.

Back on Earth, Mason lived nearby to a very popular market which was well known for its outrageous prices when selling to tourists but great deals when dealing with locals. Mason had grown up haggling for the very best deals. He hadn’t had the chance to use this talent in Sparksford as he found actual shops tended to be quite rigid with their pricing while people at markets often tried to squeeze you for every penny.

Things went quite well until Mason spotted a stall with several sphere-shaped artefacts that looked similar to the flashbang he had bought in Sparksford’s Magical Item shop, just several times bigger. Using his Identify skill confirmed that these were, in fact, just bigger versions that packed a bigger bang. The trouble started when the Merchant, a seven-foot tall humanoid Snake-like creature, saw him looking at the orbs and grinned at him. “Ahhh young massster hass impeccable tassste, for one sssuch asss yoursssself I can offer you thessse exxxquisite orbsss of powerr for jussst an Iron each.” The lizard man hissed as he reached towards the orbs intending to slide them into a bag for Mason, assuming by Mason’s smile he had already made the sale.

Going with a hunch, Mason asked innocently, “What do they do?”

The Lizard man’s head slowly looked up at Mason, eyes slightly wider, “Why, they are orbs of power, of course, they, um, contain Chaosss Magic, and through carrying them, you increase the power of your abilities?”

Mason narrowed his eyes at the man and shook his head, “You have no idea, do you? How about I give you 5 Iron for all 20 and tell you what they actually do?”

“Well, I… “ This went back and forth several times before they finally agreed on 10 Iron and Mason Identifying 2 other objects for the salesman, both of which turned out to be fake imitations of various magical items.

The merchant seemed annoyed but let them leave with the orbs.

As they walked away, Mayry whispered to him. “Mason! That was a Draconi, I can’t believe you managed to get away with that. They’re the most vicious Merchants out there. Very few people even attempt to barter with them, and did you see the way he was eyeing our Armour?”

“Nah, he was nice! Come on, let’s see what else we can find!

It was an hour later when Mayry finally managed to drag Mason away, “Please, Mason, let’s go! If you ‘haggle’ any more, I think they’re going to ban us! I’m sure that last guy had tears in his eyes!”

Mason, in reply, let out an exaggerated breath, “That guy had no business being a merchant! He crumbled almost immediately!”

“Mason!” Mayry said sternly! “That was the merchant’s eight-year-old son! The actual merchant saw you coming and hid!”

“Oh… well, whatever! I got a good price, didn’t I?!” Mason said smugly. “But fine, we can go; we’re coming back, though!”

With a sigh of relief from Mayry, they exited the Market with Mason having pissed off no less than nine merchants. Most, he just haggled down a whole lot, but the others, he managed to embarrass in front of other customers by using his Identify skill to correct their sales pitches.

On the plus side, he managed to walk away with a butt ton of healing potions, a few other simple magical items and even managed to find a ring of protection which he paid a full silver coin for.

Wearable Item - Ring Of Protection (Rare) - A very well-made ring often used to protect family members and loved ones.

Effect: A mid-grade barrier will protect the wearer against physical and magical attacks. Once the barrier is broken, a 24-hour recharge time is required.

He wanted to give the ring to Mayry but was unsure how to do it in a way that wouldn’t be misconstrued as something else.

Before he could bring up the topic, Mayry spun him around and pulled him into a deserted alleyway.

“Woah there,” Mason protested, “I know my haggling skills are good, but they ain’t that good!”

“Oh shut up,” Mayry said, swatting him on the arm, “I spotted trouble.”

“Oh yeah? Aiden?”

“No, that first guy? The one you bought the orbs off? I knew he was checking out our armour….”

Mason adopted a confused look. “Okay? What’s that got to do with anything?”

Mayry started to explain, “The hooded people you said you saw earlier? I think they might have been the Kethul, I saw two of them walking towards us just now.”

Mason cut her off before she could continue, “The Kethul? Where have I heard that before? Kethul, Kethul…”

She just rolled her eyes, “If you would let me finish… After you killed the Basilisk….”

“OH! The Basilisk was called the Kethulhu Basilisk. That’s where I heard it… I’m sorry. Please continue.”

“…After you killed the Basilisk, I did some research but couldn’t find much. The only giant snake that I kept finding references to was the snake deity of the Kethul. I assumed they worshipped the Basilisk, not knowing what it really was. The book said they’re a primitive tribal society that live on a whole other continent, so I never bothered saying anything.”

Mason’s eyes narrowed at Mayry, “So you’re saying these people worshipped the Basilisk as some sort of Go… G word, and now they’re here searching for it? How could they possibly know it was sent here?!” a thought occurred to him, “Oh fuck, do you think the Merchant somehow recognised what the armour is made from and called those guys?”

“Hmm,” Mayry replied, “I mean, maybe… the merchant was a Draconi, they’re pretty snake-like, maybe they thought he had something to do with their deity… but still, that wouldn’t explain why they were already in the city and what they were doing… Maybe one of them has a Chaos Ability to do with the Basilisk? Either way, I think it’s definitely better if we avoid them for now and change out of the armour.”

“Agreed, I mean, I think we could probably take them, but I’m not really into killing people… Even if they are weird snake-worshipping people. Should we just change here? I still have a few sets of your clothes in my inventory.”

“Yeah, I think the sooner we change, the better. Give me an outfit.” Mayry said before adding, “If you peek at me while I change, I will go demon on your ass so fast you’ll wish you were still in the in that goblin orgy village!”

Mason threw up his hands in surrender. “Ok, ok, no peeking, got it!”

He tossed over a bundle of clothes, checked the coast was still clear, and then quickly got changed himself.

Once they were both fully clothed, they headed out of the alley, back onto the main street.

After walking for a few moments in silence, Mayry blurted out, “It’s so unfair that you get more muscular every time you level up! Do you know how long it takes me to lose any weight at all!?”

Mason stared blankly at her for a beat before making sense of what she was saying, “You watched me as I changed?! You hypocrite!”

Mayry went bright pink, “I err… How else would I make sure you weren’t peeking at me!”

Mason dramatically covered his chest with his arms, “I feel so violated!”

“Oh shush, It’s not like I didn’t see all you had to offer in the first 2 seconds of meeting you!”

“Oh yeah… I forgot about that- shhh” They abruptly stopped talking as they passed a pair of hooded figures who were trying and failing to blend in. Their heads moved as each person past them then one of the two would shake his head ever so slightly.

Mason and Mayry walked past them and held their breath. When they were far enough away, they let out a sigh and continued towards the city centre in hopes of finding an Inn.

As they continued their walk, they couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of unease. Though they had managed to avoid an encounter with the hooded figures, the experience had reminded them that Monsters and the ‘Others’ weren’t the only things in this world they had to worry about. They quickened their pace, trying to put some distance between themselves and the mysterious individuals.

After a few minutes, they spotted a signpost directing them towards a nearby inn. Relieved to have found a potential safe haven, they made their way towards it. The inn's exterior had a rustic charm, with a cosy-looking tavern on the ground floor and rooms on the upper levels.

This Inn looked nice, but compared to his luxurious room back in Sparksford, it was a dump. Mason had grown quite used to that level of comfort and tried to steer Mayry towards a more expensive-looking Inn across the street.

“No! We are supposed to be laying low and trying not to draw attention to ourselves! Flaunting your wealth is probably not a great idea to do right now, and knowing you, you’d probably tip the receptionist a silver if she was pretty enough and smiled at you.”

“Oi!” Mason snapped back, “It was an Iron and I didn’t understand the currency! It had nothing to do with Nays being pretty and smiling at me!”

Mayry glared at him, “Ugh!” she stormed off towards the cheaper-looking Inn, leaving him confused.

When he caught up to her, she was talking to a fat human man who was wearing an apron. As he approached, they both looked at him expectantly.

“Err, hi?” Mason tried, unsure what had been said.

“They only have one room available, It’s 15 Bronze a day.” She explained.

“Oh, okay, Guess we’re sharing?” Mason said.

“Yup,” She replied as both she and the innkeeper stared at him.

“Err, are you mad at me?” Mason asked hesitantly.

“Nope, not at all. I’m just waiting for you to pay, so I can go up to the room and rest.” She explained curtly.

“Oh, yeah, right, of course,” Mason forked over a handful of coins to the man, and he, in turn, handed over a key to Mayry, who hurried off up the stairs leaving him standing wondering what was going on. He looked at the Innkeeper, about to ask if he said anything but stopped himself as he saw the man was just slowly shaking his head at him.

Mason frowned and hurried up the stairs after Mayry.