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"...already told you, you bought all I had"

The neck of the corpulent man was bulging, irritation was clear on his face as he talked with a calm tone but it was clear that he was reaching his limit, even his politeness sounded strained. The surrounding people were trying their hardest to seem inconspicuous as they eavesdropped on the conversation, maybe it was a survival instinct that made them take notice, or perhaps the city of Valheim was used to the drama that arose from Adventurers, whatever the case it was obvious they were prepared to act if things took a turn.

"Fine!" James rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh "Fine I get it, is there anywhere else I can get it? I [i]really[/i] need it"

At his words the big man seemed to relax, tense shoulders dropping by a small margin "I don't think you can get it anymore, with the city under siege all our supplies are becoming depleted fast, the only reason I still had some left was that I accidentally overstocked" At the man's words James' face fell and the man took notice "Look, I can ask around but I wouldn't get my hopes up, every day more and more resources are used up and any useful material is snatched as soon as it appears"

The situation was less than ideal, the material in question was an uncommon type of magical reagent used in rituals regarding barriers, were it a herb or some kind of bark he could have asked Adam to do something to grow more but sadly it wasn't the case. In the first place he had been lucky that the merchant before him still had some, the material was not used extensively so it was always stocked in small amounts and whatever there had been had most definitely been used by the city defenses, it was just a conjecture but he wouldn't be surprised if it had been utilized in a ritual to lessen the strain the barrier around the city had on the mages.

But that was not the point, he needed it for the second attempt at the sealing ritual.

Letting out an exhale he thanked the merchant and left the stall, he could feel the eyes of the crowd following him but he paid it no mind, already too preoccupied with a different worry.

Zell didn't want to let go of the Black Sword.

The corruption was worsening, he could see it in the way he sometimes stared at nothing, how he always made sure the sword was within reach, the small flinches whenever someone got too close to it. Fuck it was [abbr=Familiar]Abhorrent[/abbr] and he hated the way it made him feel powerless. There it was, his best friend suffering and he couldn't do anything, he had even tried going to the church to pray but for all Areleth told him the gods favored him his prayers were only met with silence.

He didn't know what to do.

Before he realized he was deep in some alley, knees tucked and back against the wall, hands grabbing his face as his eyes burned with the feeling of unshed tears. There was a part of him that was offering advice with glee, to do what he had to do. To avenge his own death and save his friend at the same time.

The other part was raging, screaming at the other and failing to get a reaction.

He was at his limit.

He just... he just didn't know what to do.

One last time he decided, he would try one last time. Shaking hands clasped each other and he began a prayer, listing each name carefully and promising to be a good little priest if they could help him just this one time.

After some time he finished and waited.

Ah

Of course that wouldn-