Riv caught on right away.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. You staying alive keeps all of us alive.”

Everyone tossed their coin bags on the table while Marco tried to arrange his face in such a way that didn’t indicate that the money they were spending was just a small fraction of their total wealth. The price that the Barbarian had quoted was scarily close to what they had on them in person. It didn’t matter what the true price of the equipment was if the seller could calculate things to such precision. He didn’t want to see the price rise, and he wanted even less to have to fight his way out of this house.

Once they left, Riv used a stop at a public lavatory as an excuse to refill all their purses. They continued on knocking on doors, finding nothing of interest for a time. Everyone had something to sell, but after ten doors, the most that was up to the standard Riv had enjoyed was a ring Marco thought he’d wear while steering their ship.

They kept trying anyway, until they found an old shack occupied by an even older Ranger type. He hardly spoke as they explained what they were there for, nodded, and disappeared into the house before returning with just three objects.

“And that helps?” Marco asked. “I can see the magical damage helping, but…”

“It helps.” Aethe was already shoveling money into the Ranger’s hands. “Thank you, sir.”

“I’m glad you understand. Take the bracer and the cloak too. A gift. Goodbye.” The Ranger turned away the moment the transaction finished.

“The descriptions are just as terse as he is,” Marco said. “I don’t understand what this does.”

“It lets me… I’ll just show you.” Aethe took off her quiver, staring at the arrows in it for a few moments before all but one of the disappeared. “Stand next to that tree. I won’t shoot you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” She materialized a normal arrow on the string and stretched the bow. “See, this is where I start firing. This part doesn’t matter much unless I’m surprised. After I fire…”

The arrow thudded into the tree next to Marco. She materialized another arrow and fired again, quickly. It was all a little terrifying.

“I have to reach back, get another arrow, and fire. Now I’m putting on the bracer and using the quiver. Watch carefully.”

The last motion had been something like thud-grab-draw-thud. Marco was not completely sure he could have dodged both arrows, but he thought he’d at least have a fighting chance. The second time, he got a thud and thud so closely spaced it sounded like a heartbeat. If he was perhaps still able to dodge the first, there was no way he’d be able to get out of the way of the second.

“I’m not quite twice as fast now, but with the cloak making it hard to read my movements, I’m more than twice as hard to dodge, and a little harder to hit if people close distance with me,” Aethe explained.

“And that’s all you need?” Marco asked. “I would have thought that you’d want a cool dagger or something like that.”

“Find me a dexterity buffing ring and I’ll be even happier. But I’m a ranged fighter, Marco. Being better at range is just better for me.”

This story originates from NovelBin. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Elisa turned out to be the easiest to equip of all of them, and also sort of the hardest. The items that were really meant for her class allowed her to become a better scholar, which she sort of wanted but didn’t really need. That meant she mostly just took the best of the generic mage-wear she could find.

Some of the equipment was a little less generic, if not entirely suited for her in the way others' gear had been. Though unlike the others, it also had names that were slightly less intimidating.

“I just wish I could find something specifically for me,” Elisa said as she went over her new gear. “This all makes me better, but I’ve been lagging behind you all for a while, and that gap is getting bigger right now.”

“We’ll find something.” Riv said reassuringly, before double-taking at something behind all of them. “What in the world is that?”

A squawking sounded from a bit away as a very, very small man sprinted up the path. He was, to Marco’s first approximation, completely covered in birds. On a closer look, that proved to be true. He was also covered in enough bird by-product that Marco tried not to look too close after that. He almost ran completely past the group but skidded to a stop at the last moment and faced them, lungs working like smith’s bellows and gasping for air.

“Outsiders… money?” he choked out. “Lots of money?”

“That’s us. Probably,” Elisa said. “Are you all right?”

“Had to catch you. No points in endurance.” He stood up a little straighter and forced himself to take a couple long, deep breaths, improving slightly once they were in him. “Is there a magic user on your team? And a scholar?”

“Yes,” Elisa stated. “I’m both.”

“Oh,” the bird person said, handing her a parcel. “Here. Two of those bags of gold, please. It’s a fair price.”

Elisa looked at her hands and the slightly dirty package in them like she was holding a dead thing.

“What’s in here?” she asked.

The man cocked his head at her, confused. “Equipment,. What else?”

“How do you know I’ll want it?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” The man’s confusion persisted. “It’s good stuff.”

Marco answered Elisa’s confusion with his own, followed by Riv and Aethe. They instinctively huddled closer to Elisa. The small man was oblivious to the looks, or else truly didn’t care. She carefully opened up the package, picking out a small metal rod and a filthy-looking notebook and holding them as one would hold a rabid rat. Then, suddenly, her expression changed.

“Bag of gold,” Elisa said. “Now.”

She took out her own and snatched Marco’s out of his hand as he held it up, then handed both to the man.

“What?” Riv said. “Is it that good?”

“Oh, yes.” Elisa hugged the dirty items to her chest. “It’s that good.”

She read them out loud, unable to conceal her glee.

“Fifty percent is a lot, Elisa. Something that would have hurt is only now just a tickle,” Marco warned.

“Oh, Marco. You sweet naive summer child. It would be if I was trying to do damage,” Elisa said. “I haven’t ever really done that. Really I just shock people. Until now, we’ve had a tank, a ranged fighter, and a close-up damage dealer. You know what we have now?”

“An insane look in our eyes?” Marco suggested.

“A mid-ranged debuffer, Marco. Dodge.”

He didn’t dodge in time. Elisa hit him with electricity as easy as pie, jolting him. He recovered quickly, moving towards her to take the wand on instinct. Her new shoes allowed her to keep distance as she jolted him again, then again.

“Dammit, Elisa!” Marco yelled. “That stings!”

“Right? Now think about what it will be like when I’m doing it to whoever you are fighting. Or, really, whoever Riv is fighting. Riv, you want your enemies to hold still so you can hit them with that big slow club, right?”

“Oh yes.” Riv held his new club lovingly. “I’d like that very much.”

“Ahem.” The man stomped his feet and sent some birds flying from his figure. “I’d like to leave now, if we are done. Are we done?”

“I think so.” Marco rubbed his arms, trying to get the last of the electric shock out of his system. “Unless those birds lay magic eggs, or something. We could use something like that.”

“Oh, no,” the man said. “The only birds I have that lay eggs are chickens. And only the birds themselves are magic. The eggs are quite conventional, unless they hatch in the right way.”

“You have…” Marco blinked. “Magic chickens?”

“I do. I am a Fowl Wizard, after all. I raise special birds for ships.”

The team blinked at him as one, then all started talking at once. It was Aethe, somehow, who talked loud enough to drown the others out and get the message across to the man first.

“You will take me to see these chickens.” There was a dangerous glint in her eye. “And you will do it now. Please.”