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Post by Jack on Aug 30, 2020 17:42:07 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 17:49:34 GMT -6
[61]
Nerius was still debating whether to grab, when the seedling started wiggling, and shifting, and, oh! He knew what was happening. Droplet wasn't injured, it was growing, and after a few seconds, there was a walker floating in front of him.
Not that it would be doing any 'walking' underwater, and after giving a few moments to adjust (which it may very well not have needed), he scooped it up, and swam back to the front of the shop. The street continued on, and there were plenty more underwater buildings to explore. He swam down the street, which felt as odd as it sounded, looking around for anything interesting, either items or architecture.
In the end, it wasn't something he saw, rather, but something he felt. Specifically, the sudden surge of magic, coming from somewhere to his left. It wasn't a node, he could tell that much already, it was too.. unfocused, but even from a distance it seemed more powerful than just a crystal.
(Nerius: 6/20) (Droplet: Lv: 5, 26/30 | Lyl: 26 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 18:04:48 GMT -6
[62]
It wasn't too far away, roughly a block, and the building it came from was rather ornate. Worn, as expected, from being underwater, but clearly it had once been a nicer storefront. Some of the displays were still partially intact, and Nerius recognized part of an alchemy setup in the window display. That wasn't where the magic was coming from though, that was further inside the building, and he swam through the empty door.
Any books or scrolls that were not preserved would have long since disintegrated in the seawater, but there were enough tattered tapestries and carved tablets to make him suspect this had once been a shop that dealt in the arcane. That would explain the magic, but where exactly was it coming from? Droplet wasn't any help, though the golem at least wasn't getting in the way, and allowed itself to be carried without complaint as Nerius searched the store.
(Nerius: 7/20) (Droplet: Lv: 5, 27/30 | Lyl: 27 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 18:14:48 GMT -6
[63]
That much magic drew him like a beacon, and it didn't take him long to find the display, empty, save for a glowing bottle. Carefully, as not to damage anything potentially fragile, Nerius picked up the bottle, and peered inside. There were two! That's why the source of magic felt stronger than just a single crystal would have. He was grinning like a manic, and absolutely thrilled at his discovery.
As tempting as it was to hold them, Nerius decided to keep them in the bottle for now. They were relatively safe in there, and weren't likely to get lost in a rogue current. Droplet may not have really understood what was going on, but it could tell its master was very happy at finding these crystalline sources of magic. It didn't have Nerius' ability to sense for magic, but if it found any, it would certainly bring it to Nerius as that would make him pleased.
(Nerius: 8/20) (Droplet: Lv: 5, 28/30 | Lyl: 28 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 18:22:03 GMT -6
[64]
Nerius could have spent a ridiculous amount of time focused on his new crystals, but he ought to see if there was anything else of note in the shop. If it had dealt in magic, that was a real possibility. Carefully he stowed the bottle with the crystals in in backpack, double checking to be sure there wasn't anything that it could bump against and break on. The only potential hazard was the other bottle, and he made sure to stick them in different pockets.
Now, for anything else... The tablets were interesting, but they were much to eroded to be of use, and he didn't sense anything coming from them either. Some of them were broken too, either in half, or even crumbled into multiple pieces, and not worth grabbing. Droplet was trying to help, but other than magical crystals, the golem didn't really know what it was supposed to be looking for.
(Nerius: 9/20) (Droplet: Lv: 5, 29/30 | Lyl: 29 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 18:29:19 GMT -6
[65]
It did spot something in one of the displays, Nerius was currently busy inspecting a threadbare tapestry, and the golem wiggled to get his attention. Nerius glanced down at the golem, and followed its line of sight. Oh, just shells. There were several of them, and it wasn't a bad find, by any means, it was just that finding two magical crystals was a hard act to follow.
He'd taken them though, the well often gave magical items as well, so in a way they were helping his search for magic. Just, not in the way he was intending. Nerius added them to his backpack with the others, and continued investigating the shop. He'd spotted a row of what looked like alchemy supplies along a back shelf, and that was something he wanted to look through, even if it was somewhat unlikely that most reagents would have lasted long under the water.
(Nerius: 10/20) (Droplet: Lv: 6, 30/35 | Lyl: 30 posts)
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Post by Jack on Aug 30, 2020 18:37:33 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 19:02:11 GMT -6
[66]
Nerius swam toward the back of the shop, and as he grew closer to the shelf, he sensed another pulse of magic. It was harder to pinpoint the location this time, the two in his pack overpowered the new source slightly. That would explain why he'd felt it from so far away though, if there were three crystals in the ruined shop, no wonder he'd picked up on it from a block away.
Now, where was this new crystal? He was pretty sure that's what it was, it blended to seamlessly to the crystals he already had to be anything else. There were a lot of reagent bottles and boxes, could it be in there? He let go of the golem so he'd have both hands free to search. He made sure it was far enough away that it wouldn't bump the shelf though, many of the containers looked worn and fragile.
(Nerius: 11/20) (Droplet: Lv: 6, 31/35 | Lyl: 31 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 19:07:44 GMT -6
[67]
A lot of the bottles were cracked, or outright broken, and whatever organic reagents had been ruined by seawater. That wasn't what he was looking for though, and while some of the bottles did glow, none of them did so with the light of a magic crystal. It was possible the crystal wasn't with the reagents, but there were also several tins, and small stone boxes. They were mostly closed, and the few that were cracked open didn't have any light coming from within.
He'd search through those first, and if he didn't find the crystal in any of the boxes, he'd look elsewhere. Droplet was trying to help too, it hadn't gone near the shelves, but it had found a cabinet with broken doors, and had swam over to start poking around. It might not have understood what exactly Nerius wanted, but it could tell he was searching for something.
(Nerius: 12/20) (Droplet: Lv: 6, 32/35 | Lyl: 32 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 19:14:54 GMT -6
[68]
The golem continued to rummage through the broken bits in the shelves, until it came across a necklace. Was that what its master wanted? It had no way of knowing better, and it picked up the necklace in its jaws, and paddled back over to Nerius.
He wasn't having quite as much luck as the golem, there were a lot of boxes, and so far they'd been filled with nothing but rotten plants and seawater. Normally he would have been able to sense the location easier, but the two in his pack muddied it enough that he couldn't just sense exactly which box it was in. If it was in a box, there were lots of little places for things to be hidden in this shop. And the fact that so much of it was crumbled or half broken wasn't making matters any easier, there was a lot of rubble to sift through as well.
(Nerius: 13/20) (Droplet: Lv: 6, 33/35 | Lyl: 33 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 19:21:00 GMT -6
[69]
Nerius was still opening boxes, when something gently bumped his arm. It was his golem, offering him a necklace. Not quite what he was going for, but Droplet was trying at least. It wasn't his goal, but he still accepted the jewelry from the golem, sticking it in his pack before going back to the boxes.
He was down to only three boxes, and was starting to think the crystal was someplace else, but as he open a small stone box, Nerius was greeted by the light of a glowing crystal. There it was! He happily picked it up, inspecting it for anything unusual. There wasn't anything, that he could see or sense, and he carefully stored it in the pouch he'd brought for just this purpose. He wasn't going to take the casing this time, the stone box was cracked, and he didn't trust it to safely hold the crystal for the rest of his journey.
(Nerius: 14/20) (Droplet: Lv: 6, 34/35 | Lyl: 34 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 30, 2020 19:30:02 GMT -6
[70]
He'd found his goal, or was that 'goals', but Nerius wasn't quite ready to leave yet. After this kind of haul, he wasn't exactly anxious to go someplace else. He had gone through the main displays already, but this place had so many shelves and cabinets that he doubted he'd found everything, even if what he was missing was more shells and bottles.
Speaking of shells, there were several purple ones arranged in what looked like it might have been a magical setup. Most of them were broken, but Nerius managed to salvage three intact shells, and stashed them in his pack. Droplet hadn't followed him, and looked over to check on the golem. It was still trying to help, doing its best to dig through a small pile of rubble that had probably been magical tablets once. They didn't have a hint of magic left in them, and Nerius didn't really mind if the golem rummaging through them.
(Nerius: 15/20) (Droplet: Lv: 7, 35/40 | Lyl: 35 posts)
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Post by Jack on Aug 30, 2020 19:45:52 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on Aug 31, 2020 16:49:24 GMT -6
[71]
Nerius was still investigating the display, just in case there were any other interesting components, when he felt the sudden tingle of.. something. He turned, trying to move out of the way, but the water and his soaked cloths made him move more slowly than normal, and something bounced off his shoulder. It glided away from him, its path also slowed by the water, and Nerius could only stare. It was a crystal. Another crystal. This couldn't possibly be normal, he'd found twice as many in one building than he had all his other trips combined.
Not that he was complaining of course, he was thrilled! It was far beyond what he'd hoped for in this trip, and he collected the crystal from where it had drifted down to the floor. Droplet paused in its rummaging to look over at Nerius, picking up that its master was surprised and pleased at something.
(Nerius: 16/20) (Droplet: Lv: 7, 36/40 | Lyl: 36 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 31, 2020 16:56:14 GMT -6
[72]
It watched as he carefully stored the crystal in the pouch where he'd put the other, and somewhere in its simple mind connected that its master liked shiny glowy stones. Which wasn't entirely wrong, but missed out on what he was particularly excited to find, magic.
Nerius had searched a large portion of the shop, but given what he'd been finding, he wasn't planning on leaving until he'd thoroughly explored the place. There weren't any more big displays that he'd yet to examine, but there were still plenty of smaller ones to check. He started methodically working his way though the shelves and cabinets, most of them were just junk, but he did come across a few more intact bottles. No crystals inside these, unfortunately, but he kept them all the same. At least they weren't full size drink bottles, he'd have run out of room in his pack, not to mention it would have been harder to store them safely.
(Nerius: 17/20) (Droplet: Lv: 7, 37/40 | Lyl: 37 posts)
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