CHAPTER 63: [ WHITE RING ]

After a walk that lasted longer than he had wished for, they arrived at Brak’s shop.

Sunder had planned on getting there the moment he arrived.

At first, he thought his main purpose was to lecture him, but the lecture stopped quickly, turning into Alexander recounting his latest adventures.

Nothing much had happened, yet Sunder was truly amazed by everything he heard, a reaction easily readable on his face.

"It’s late, isn’t he sleeping?" asked Alexander, standing in front of the door.

"Him? Not when you have new items, he’s not."

Sunder took a few decisive steps forward, loudly knocking on the door.

Lights turned on inside, Alexander could see movement inside as Brak threaded through his messy store to get to the door.

He opened it, surprise on his face. But as Sunder stated, that expression turned into a bright smile rather than an annoyed one.

"What a nice surprise," he said. "Come, come."

Brak turned around, heading toward the area with both couches.

Alexander, Sunder and Fae all followed right behind, making sure to close the door behind them.

The store barely changed, most items he recognized from his previous trips. It would’ve been a sign that barely anyone ever came here, if it wasn’t for new items here and there that he hadn’t seen before.

"You know you make money when you sell items, right?" said Sunder.

Brak waved his hand in the air at the front.

"I’ve actually made fair profits in the past days, thanks to Veil. I can’t help but notice you’ve barely brought anything here, Sunder. Care to explain?" said Brak with a playful accusatory tone.

They all sat on the couches, Fae took their loot out while Brak inspected it.

While he was concentrated with the new items, Sunder turned to Alexander with a bright smile on his face.

"I didn’t come today for no reason. I’ve made some progress," he said.

Sunder extended his arm, a ring with a pure white gem in the middle of it was in his palm.

The ring itself was made of a pale gold color. The stone wasn’t see-through, it almost looked like a block of marble, if it wasn’t for how it reflected the light in a way most precious gems would.

"What is it?" asked Alexander.

Sunder threw the ring to Alexander who caught it mid-air, thanking his [ Witness of All Paths ] for allowing him such fast reflexes.

"Since you left my place, like I told you, I’ve been working on a fix for you. Well, that, and other stuff."

"And that ring is it?" asked Alexander.

"The rune on your chest probably doesn’t work as well now, does it?" he asked.

Alexander shook his head.

"I can hear the entity’s voice, even if it’s faint and distant."

Sunder nodded while taking a deep breath.

"Yeah. Thought as much. As a cultist, the one thing you must do is not listen to that voice."

"You might be right, but it won’t go away. My class is tied to it, every time I use my magic too much it becomes louder, it feels as if my head would explode."

"You’ll be forced to hear it, just don’t listen to it. Remaining sane should be your priority, and most cultists don’t."

"So, what’s with the ring?" asked Alexander.

"I couldn’t improve the rune engraved on your chest, so I figured I could engrave something like a ring instead. Put it on."

Alexander took a closer look, then brought it toward his finger.

Fae’s hand grabbed his wrist, his attention switching to her.

He could see concern in her eyes.

"Don’t worry, if he wanted to get rid of me he wouldn’t need a ring to do so."

She slowly loosened her grip, her eyes to staring at Sunder, severing the silent thread between them.

Sunder kept smiling, amused by Fae’s distrust, while Alexander slid the ring down his finger.

He felt a wave of peace and serenity going through him, a radiant feeling of wellness and comfort overwhelming him.

He looked at the ring again, confused.

"What does it do?" he asked.

"The rune on your chest tries to keep your mind from breaking. When it breaks, it tries to fix it, essentially. It picks up the pieces and puts them back together, it’s a sort of healing after-the-fact spell."

"So it doesn’t stop the entity’s influence, it fixes the damages it causes," summarized Alexander.

"Yup," said Sunder brightly.

Sunder then pointed at the stone on the ring.

"This engraved stone acts as an actual ward. Its purpose is to take the influence on itself, redirecting the damage your mind would normally take. It’s not perfect, there is a breaking point, but it shouldn’t be reached anytime soon."

"What happens if it breaks?" asked Alexander.

"Find me before it ever happens, its color should change as it fills up. Once it’s at three quarters just come find me and we’ll replace it."

Alexander thanked Sunder, while Brak let out a content sigh as he leaned back into the couch.

He had gone through everything, smiling the whole time.

"This is pretty good," said Brak. "I’ll be updating your balance on your black card tonight. From the dungeon cores alone, you’re looking at a nice payday."

"Thanks," said Alexander. "We’re going back into a dungeon right away, so there’ll be more coming."

Brak’s smile couldn’t grow wider as he waved a tiny wand around. The items on the table floated away in all directions, most likely going directly to contribute to the clutter.

An item did move the opposite way, coming from the clutter to lie on the table.

"This is one of the scrolls you’ve brought last time. The other one wasn’t useful for you, but this one..."

He grabbed it, handing it to Alexander.

"It’s for companions. It’s a sort of summoning scroll. It takes time to activate—several minutes, or hours depending how far she is. If you ever get separated it should be useful, but it won’t do much good in the middle of a fight unless you’re able to buy a lot of time."

Alexander’s eyebrows raised while he took it from Brak’s hand.

His eyes directly went toward Fae, who didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as he was.

"That reminds me, you’re not going back into a dungeon just yet," said Sunder, cutting in.