Excited to have a look, Valthar bid the boy good bye and retreated with the leather sacks.
The sacks were not big, only the size of a large book, but each felt both dense and heavy in his hands.
With bated breath he plopped them on a table and slowly opened the first sack.
From it he pulled out a box made of dark brown wood and a leafnote.
With a quick glance he skimmed its text.
—----
Enchantments:
Self Repair (Wood Element)
Sturdyness (Wood Element)
Increased Grip (Wood Element)
Size Adjustment (Space Element)
To adjust correctly:
First squeeze…
…
…
—----
Gently Valthar opened the handcrafted box and inside he found a cane, but with the size of a wand.
The was made of two types of wood, black wood for the crook handle and a brown one for the shaft.
The craft looked seamless as the woods integrated by elemental magic were bonded together as if crafted from a single tree.
'The carpenter must have a wood elemental affinity.' Valthar guessed confidently.
It was somewhat uncommon, but made sense for a carpenter to have it.
With a quick glance he read the instructions again before gently squeezing the shaft three times.
Slowly the mana in the room was syphoned into the cane.
And as it grew larger in his hand Valthar stood up and pointed its tip to the ground slightly in front of him.
In a matter of a few seconds the full fledged cane rested in his hand.
For the first few steps Valthar felt strange.
He had read about how to walk with them in healer books, but unsurprisingly this was his first time actually holding a cane in hand.
Even with this strangeness his steps grew more certain, as the extra point of balance brought Valthar a sense of safety.
Satisfied, he went to open the other box just as eagerly but the next moment his smile faded away.
In front of him was the second box, made with a wood that looked exactly like white marble.
The cane inside had a derby handle made of a jade like green wood, but its shaft was carved of the same white wood…
The build was very well made with the impressive feat of making wood look like jade and stone, it also had followed his instruction to make each cane distinct from each other.
But that white marble color…
Valthar didn't take a second glance before closing the box back up and pushing it to the side.
Ignoring the disappointing twin Valthar grabbed a dozen silver, gripped the brown cane and made his way out of the room.
While he had already collected life force in the morning, by now the night market Marcos had mentioned a few times should be in full swing.
***
A slight chill had fallen over the world as the sun hid itself behind the horizon.
At the center of Emberheart city elemental lanterns lit up five or six streets, on those streets one could see food and trinket stalls line up one after the other.
In the food stalls vendors charred beast meat over elemental firepits in real time.
As Valthar walked into the market a wave of heat hit his face and the smell of barbecue flooded his nose.
In his ears Valthar could faintly hear street performers play the lute and sing, just loud enough to not be drowned out by the murmurs of the crowd.
After a quick exploration Valthar's curiosity was piqued by a small agglomeration of people.
Right in the middle of the night market a story teller used air elements to spread his voice.
"This is a new story whose end has yet to unfold! Noble tongues speak of someone attacking royals on the road!"
Gasps echoed through the crowd.
"But who would dare to do such a thing?!" a woman yelled out from the crowd.
"The winds speak of a guild hidden from the public eye! Like the moon to the sun, this entity operates under the adventurers guild's shadow, they are caled… The Thieves Guild!! " The story teller said with seriousness as if it was something to be kept a secret.
Valthar tilted his head in confusion, he had never heard of this guild.
Then again, he did focus mainly on elemental magic and healer theories instead of the numerous organizations that lived in the Empire.
"But the Adventurer's guild is so large! Could a rag tag bunch of thieves even compare?!" The same woman asked at the perfect moment, a bit too perfect in fact.
"Do not doubt it, my lady! The Thieves have no morals working with dark mages and nobles alike! Trusted sources told me their influence reaches far and wide, many even say there is even a branch inside Emberheart itself!" The story teller yelled out in warning as another multitude of gasps spread around.
"Even then! What could possibly be worth offending the royal family?!" A woman asked from another direction, but when Valthar looked it was the same woman again.
"That's a great question! And one I dare not answer! For the thing the Thieves are after is so valuable the royal family made everyone that knew the tale take an oath of silence! I myself am one of those!"
Shocked gasps and curious mumbles spread once more.
Silence reigns for a moment before…
"You know the secret but you can't tell it to others, isn't that convenient?! I bet you have no proof!!! I bet all my 3 silver and 78 copper that you don't even have an Oath mark on you!!!" The woman yelled out with fervor.
And Valthar could feel the crowd's emotion stir as all eyes shifted to the story teller.
"I hear your doubts, my fair lady! But such oaths are shameful to show even for a showman like myself! To sell my shame for three silver is tempting but…" The story teller said full of hesitation, as if one more coin would change his mind.
Tension spread in the crowd, as people hesitated on whether to add to the pot.
"I'll ping a few coppers as well, story teller! I want to see the oath mark and I'm sure my brothers and sisters here tonight wish to see it as well!" A third 'bystander' spoke from the side, raising a handful of copper and placing it on a hat in front of the showman.
With someone taking the lead many others moved as well, some dropped silvers, most dropped coppers.
In a matter of minutes the hat was holding at least a couple dozen silver.
Valthar was impressed, their act looked obvious to his eyes, but their effortful execution brought a smile to his face.
He too pinged a silver on the hat.
After that the showman showed the oath mark on his large tummy and many laughs spread around.
Faking embarrassment but with life force pulsing happiness the showman took his hat and disappeared in the crowd, right on his heels the woman and the third bystander followed.
Valthar and the crowd were left to wonder.
Though the oath looked real, how much of this story was even true?