Somehow, their fight hadn't drawn any attention from the rest of the town. When Alex, Finley, and Claire followed Alyssa out the door into daylight, not a single person was in the area. Either they were all used to fights near the teleporter or the magic Absolution had used on the walls had somehow soundproofed them.

But Alex's thoughts didn't linger on the other Outworlder for long. His first sight of Blackreach outside the teleporter building momentarily stunned him into silence and he nearly ground to a halt.

Stretching out to his left were curling clouds and open sky.

There was nothing but empty air.

Alex blinked. He nearly lost his footing before he caught himself on the wall to his right, rising up parallel to the building they'd just emerged from. He stared in confusion for a moment before his mind finally managed to piece together what was going on.

Blackreach was built into the side of a mountain.

A winding stone path ran along the cliffside, just flat enough to let people walk over it easily without risking plummeting over the edge to their side. The lack of railing at the edge of the path sent an uneasy feeling twisting through Alex's insides.

He'd never have said he was scared of heights, but this was something else. A strong wind probably would have been enough to dislodge anyone unfortunate enough to be standing too close to the open air.

That said, his initial assessment of the mountainside wasn't quite right. There wasn't just open air before him. Peering just over the edge of the path revealed a dozen buildings built into the face of the mountain beneath him at a sloping angle. They jutted out from the stone, many of them connected by swaying rope bridges and ladders.

The situation above was much the same. A few people milled about along the path in the distance, striding along the mountain like a pack of goats as they went about their days.

"Whoa," Alex breathed. "This is not what I was expecting."

"It's a bit of a doozy, isn't it?" Alyssa asked as she set off along the path, using her huge brush like a walking stick as she headed up it. "Don't worry. It's a lot easier to move around than it initially looks like. I picked it up pretty quickly."

"Maybe you can bring the merchant here," Finley suggested. "I can wait. Fighting is one thing… but a fall will kill me just as much as anything else."

"Get your ass moving," Claire said. "You're the reason we're here. Get some confidence in those eyes, Finley. You're going to have to be bargaining in a moment. I don't think you're going to make much progress if you look terrified."

"Bah. Those are two completely different things," Finley muttered, but the three of them all set off to keep up with Alyssa.

They wound up the path along the side of the mountain, passing by buildings and — judging by a tantalizing smell of honey and cinnamon drifting out from within one of the buildings — a bakery.

Their group passed by a few other people. While some of them had something hiding their levels, the others were in the early Initiate stages. It didn't seem like this town was any farther ahead than Mirrorwane was — and in many ways, it seemed a bit behind.

I suppose that would be because they didn't have to fight a Region Boss off.

It wasn't long before Alyssa came to a stop at a stone building that didn't look too dissimilar from any of the others. It was one story, with a rickety wooden door hanging from loose hinges that squeaked loudly as she pushed it open.

The room beyond filled the entirety of the house. It was surprisingly well decorated for being so high up on a mountain. A wide table of lacquered wood sat in its center with comfy padded chairs distributed around it. Several large chests lined the walls and a straw mannequin clad in metal armor stood in the corner as if watching over the entrance.

A woman in heavy furs crouched near the chests. She had her arm buried all the way up to the shoulder in one of them. That was rather surprising, as the wooden boxes barely seemed to have half the depth they'd needed for that to be possible.

The woman paused as she heard the door open, then her head back to glance in their direction.

Blonde hair framed her angular yet wide features. The woman looked to be in her early thirties. Alex might have said she seemed vaguely Scandinavian if not for the slant of her eyes, which was decidedly different from anything he'd ever seen on a human. It was just a bit too sharp, and the edges of her eyes were closer to the sides of her head than the front.

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She's definitely an Outworlder.

A name shimmered into being above her head as she extracted herself from the chest.

Bridget - System Merchant (Initiate 5)

"Alyssa!" the woman exclaimed, raising a hand as she put a foot on the top of her chest and closed it with a thud. "What brings you back so soon? Not hoping to come back and change the deal, I hope? Final is final, dear."

"Bridget," Alyssa said with a nod. "I'm not here to do anything like that. I know when I've been beaten." Keep us going by reading on MV_LEM_PYR.

"Nonsense," Bridget said with a sharp smile. "It was a mutual victory. I just won a little more than you did. Nothing to be ashamed of. You did a splendid job… though that may change depending on why it is you've come back so quickly. And goodness, what did you do to your clothes? They're ruined!"

"I'd like to introduce you to some people," Alyssa said. She gestured to Alex and the others with her brush. "They—"

"Two hidden classes and a merchant who hides his class?" Bridget's thick eyebrows rose on her forehead as she gave them a closer look. "Dear, what manner of group have you gotten yourself wrapped up with? I don't deal with hooligans."

"Hey," Finley protested. His features tightened in displeasure and he took a step forward. "We are not hooligans. I am a perfectly respectable—"

"You're stinking my shop up, boy," Bridget said. "And I don't mean that as an insult. When's the last time you had a bath?"

Finley paused. He sniffed at his arm, then grimaced. "It's been a busy few days. I haven't had a chance recently."

"What, since you arrived on 274-50?" Bridget raised a hand to cover a laugh but trailed off as she saw the dead serious look on Finley's face. "You're serious. Absolutely not. Alyssa, I don't know what you're thinking, but I do have standards. Our deal does not give you the right to start throwing my name around. Now, if they're looking to buy, then I have a number of wares that I'd be happy to give a small discount on since they're your friends. Perhaps a portable bath, for one. How's that?"

Alyssa cleared her throat firmly. "Bridget. Our deal was nearly rendered null and void about two minutes ago, when I was ambushed at the teleporter and nearly killed. They saved me."

The merchant paused. "Killed? In Blackreach? Surely not. The town has protections."

"Not against Absolution," Alyssa said grimly. "Rank 1 from the Local Leaderboard of the Initializations. He'd have taken me down within moments if they hadn't been there. They're here in search of a merchant to deal with. I felt it only right that I return the favor for saving my life."

"This lot was enough to fight off someone that strong?" Bridget asked. She peered down the bridge of her nose at them for a long second. "That holds some promise indeed. But repaying a life debt is your problem, Alyssa, not mine. No good merchant makes deals out of pity."

"Who said anything about pity?" Finley asked. "Don't look down on us just because we smell like death warmed over."

"Speak for yourself," Claire said. "I smell fine."

"I wouldn't pass this one up," Alyssa warned. Her voice held a firm note in it. "You'd regret not at least hearing their offer out… whatever it is."

"Unless, of course, a good merchant destroys deals before she gets a chance to see what they are," Claire said casually.

The corners of Bridget's lips pulled up into something that might have resembled a smile if it had held for more than an instant. The merchant pulled one of the chairs at her table out and sat down upon it. "Very well. Come inside. If Alyssa vouches for you, then I suppose you must have some worth. I will refrain from judging your overly scruffy merchant for the time being."

A faint rose-vanilla scent greeted Alex as he stepped inside the room. Claire, Alyssa, and Finley followed him in. They all sat down across from Bridget.

The female merchant crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her chair as she arched an eyebrow in an expression that had to have been practiced at least a few hundred times to reach such a perfect mixture of sass, interest, and mild annoyance.

"Well?" Bridget asked. "You've got my attention. Let me guess. You're mercenaries with very convenient timing and some requests to get weapons that your decrepit family couldn't quite manage to muster up?"

Alex blinked. Then the corners of his lips pulled into a smile before he could stop them. Bridget thought they were Outworlders.

"Close," Alex said. "But not quite."

"Where'd I go wrong? And please don't tell me that it isn't just your family being a little down on their luck. Nobody believes that and you know it," Bridget said.

"No, not that either. It was actually more just about everything you said," Claire said. "And it isn't weapons we're looking for. We're here for two reasons. First, to establish trade between you and Finley. And second… we have a few things to sell. We'd like to offload them with you."

"Trade?" Bridget let out a bark of laughter. "That's a good one. You want me to establish trade with him?"

"Now I'm just offended," Finley said.

"Not nearly as much as I am," Bridget said. "What family are you with?"

Finley hesitated for a second before answering. "Starlight."

"Starlight," Bridget repeated. "They're still around? You aren't even part of the 14. Did you pay one of them to port you here?"

"Yes," Finley said, his words terse.

"Well, give it a few months, I suppose," Bridget said with a shake of her head. "What of interest could you possibly have for me?"

"This," Alex said. He activated his magical ring with a thought and grabbed the Harvester within it, rolling the ball across the table to the merchant.

Bridget stopped it with a single finger, an amused look on her features.

"A Harvester? Cute. What did you…" And that was just about as far as she got. The words died in the merchant's throat. Bridget stared down at the Harvester, her lips parting in disbelief as her eyes went wide. Then her gaze snapped back up to Alex, face a shade paler than it had been before. "This has a core from a Mirrorlands monster. How — how did you get this?"

Alex smiled.

Gotcha.