Chapter 96 : Familiar Choker (2)
Vivian led the trio to a shop, more specifically a specialty shop. The moment they stepped inside Agni could feel an intense sense of giddiness overwhelm her, there were so many sparkles! Particularly jewels, necklaces, rings and dozens of other accessories.

“Vivian! What are you doing here!” An older woman’s voice practically shouted as soon as the trio entered.

“Martha.” Vivian smiled and greeted her long time friend. Martha was an older woman, most likely in her fifties or sixties by Agni’s reckoning. She wasn’t an adventurer which meant….

*Normal?* Agni thought to herself as they strolled towards the counter.

After a brief introduction and discussion the woman known as Martha showed them to the back of the store, revealing a workshop of sorts.

“Well, let’s see. You need something that can’t easily be snatched even if it weren’t binded to the user. I see.” Martha thought to herself as her gaze shifted between both Agni and Shula.

Agni had questions.

*She looks so normal. I always thought Normals would be….like...NPCS or something.* She thought.

*Ditto.* Shula responded.

*And what’s up with that serious case of raisin face? She’s super old.* Shula added.

*Well...you’re not exactly wrong…* Martha indeed looked to be an elderly woman entering her sixties. Despite her good health and stout body, her face was well creased with lines. Despite this all she was fair looking with a pleasant smile.

“Which of you will be wearing this item?” Martha asked suddenly, snapping Agni back into focus.

“Um. Me? Maybe? Is it possible for...you know?” Agni directed the question to Vivian but all she got was a shrug in return.

“That’s a good question. Let’s find out. Martha, do you have a ring or something we can borrow for a moment?” Vivivan asked.

The next test was to attempt to equip Shula, the imp familiar with an accessory. It was done mostly to appease Vivian’s curiosity as well as Agni’s but Shula found herself to be genuinely interested too.

All of her thoughts weren’t immediately shared with Agni, unless she desired as much. She tested this the moment she obtained her own body with a nonstop barrage of insults. And right now Shula’s most pressing desire was to simply not have to give up her body. She could, if she wanted to at any time. She was also aware that at some point the small amount of mana contained in the Crimson Core would eventually need to recharge, but she didn’t care.

Being formless had its own merits. She could see and feel things from Agni’s perspective to a degree but having her own body was a thousand times better! Nothing beat the sensations, sights and sounds of everything around her. Shula was determined to experience them all and test every possible limitation.

Even Shula was surprised when she received an alert to equip the ring.

“What the heck? I don’t have a Systema mark.” She said as she stared at the floating prompt. She clicked the ‘Yes’ option and to her surprise the ring equipped itself to the first available finger.

“Oh. It worked!” It was a struggle for Vivian to contain her thoughts. Afterall, she was the one who was adamant that Agni play her cards close to the vest. Agni was pretty sure she understood though, somehow what Shula was doing was not normal.

“This is unusual, right?” Agni asked, prompting Vivian to nod her head. Martha just looked on in confusion as she thought, *What’s so weird about an adventurer wearing a ring?*

“So...would it matter if Shula wore it then?” Agni asked., ignoring Martha who was beginning to feel as if she was being purposely left out.

“Well, I don’t see a problem with that under most circumstances but what happens when she needs to ‘rest’?” Vivian asked.

“Oh. True.” Agni responded as she placed her hand against her chin.

Ultimately they decided to equip Agni with the new accessory and at Martha’s behest they even chose the perfect option -- a choker.

“This fits all the requirements. Once you equip this someone would be hard pressed to remove it. Also, since the gem you want to affix to this is pretty large it would be easier to have it hang. Actually, it would be best if we split it into several smaller pieces and--”

“No!” Agni, Shula and Vivian all shouted in unison, causing a bead of perspiration to appear against Martha’s brow.

“What we mean is, this gem is very precious to her. It can’t be altered in any way. The accessory has to comfortably meld with the gemstone.” Vivian corrected.

“This may help.” Shula said as she placed her hand on the stone, which was now in Martha’s grasp. The tennis ball sized sphere glowed with fiery energy as it began to shrink, slowly and surely until it was no larger than the size of a marble.

“Wow, this is amazing! You adventurers sure are lucky.” Martha practically beamed at Shula’s demonstration of her abilities.

*How did you do that?* Agni asked.

*It’s essentially a part of my body. Why wouldn’t I be able to control its size?* Shula rebutted.

“Yes, with this size it should be simple to make you a choker. I can also make it much more sturdy, though you may have to sacrifice some comfort. How often will you be wearing this piece?” Martha asked.

“As much as possible, so it should be as comfortable as you can make it.” Vivian replied and Martha nodded as she got to work. It was the first time Agni got to take in the spectacle of crafting in the world of Adventia. Although it was clear that Martha was no adventurer, the process seemed a lot like alchemy to Agni’s eyes. Martha lined up all of the ingredients and moved her hands as if she was casting some sort of invisible spell. Agni immediately realized that Martha was accessing the Systema, despite the fact that there was no visible Systema mark on her body.

“Vivian…” Agni spoke up to ask a question but was met with the raising of Vivian’s hand, as if to halt her.

“We’ll discuss in a while.” This was all Vivian said , which made Agni feel as if Vivian had an idea of what she wanted to discuss. Shula too was completely in awe of the crafting process. The items lined up turned into light orbs and danced around one another before joining together in order to create the choker itself.

After the choker was completed Martha held it up for inspection then passed it to Vivian. After a few seconds Vivian then made another request.

“Perfect. What do you think Agni?” Vivian asked as she passed the choker over to the Succubus.

“This is a bit on the nose isn’t it?” Agni asked as she gazed down at the accessory. It was incredibly light to say it was created with metallic materials and cloth. The fabric against her hand was divine, like a delicate mix between silk and velvet which practically melted against her flesh. The main point of contention was the heart dangling from the front of the choker. It had wings and a succubus’ tail curling at the end of a small metal piece. There was a depression in the center of the heart which is where the core would reside.

“Well, I just figured...you know, it would be cute with your appearance.” Martha said as she sat back in a nearby chair and looked Agni over.

*C-cute huh?* Agni thought to herself, suddenly reconsidering her gripe.

“Okay. I’ll take it like this.” She said finally.

“Great. Since I need to place the gem manually it will take a bit more time. Say fifteen minutes? Feel free to make yourselves at home while you wait.” Martha said. She then turned to get to work.

A few seconds later Agni, Shula and Vivian were standing out in front of the store at Vivian’s behest.

“You wanted to ask me something inside. I have a feeling what it is, but just to be sure--indulge me.” Vivian replied.

“Oh. Martha...is she a Normal?” Agni asked, whispering at the final word. For some reason she felt it was appropriate to do so.

“Yes. I actually thought you would ask me how I know a Normal. Ha. Well, I don’t mind telling you anyway.” Vivian replied, thus both Agni and Shula waited to hear the story.

“I’m not sure what you’re expecting. Don’t get your hopes up too much!” Vivian said suddenly as she felt all eyes on her. She sighed before she began her own story.

“Martha is from my adventurer’s class. It’s...what we call adventurers who spawn here at the same time. As you can guess, at some point she was a victim of second death. Now she is a Normal.”

“Why’s she so old?” Shula asked, rather bluntly.

Agni shot her a glance but the imp simply shrugged.

“It’s okay, it’s a logical question. Adventurers never age. No matter how long we live in this world, that is unless ranking up alters our bodies. For the most part, we look the same as the day we are spawned into Adventia. However, falling to the ranks of a Normal will no longer bless you with strength or longevity. When an adventurer dies from second death, all of their belongings and Systema mark are erased. Their memories are also overridden and they disappear, dissolved into cubes of light.”

“Wait… you mean Martha has no idea that she used to be an adventurer?” Agni asked.

“Correct.” Vivian said with a nod.

“And her age?” Shula asked.

“As I mentioned, adventurers never age but former adventurers do. It was over fifteen years ago that I first met Martha and we were both younger then. For some reason after dying twice she aged dramatically.” Vivian replied.

“And her ability to craft, is that something left over from the Systema mark she used to have?” Shula asked. To this, Vivian also nodded.

“Or to be more precise, she still has a Systema mark, it’s probably just dormant. Second death destroys memories, items -- everything. Furthermore, the person is teleported somewhere into the world at random. These Normals then live a new life with some remnants of their old abilities. For this reason, most of the skilled traders you find who aren’t adventurers are actually Normals.”

“Wow. I never would have guessed.” Agni replied. She felt as if her perception of the world had somehow shifted just from hearing this story.

“So how did you two manage to find each other again?” Agni asked. At that moment the door behind them opened and Martha appeared, holding a beautiful Crimson Choker in her right hand.

“It’s done!” She said as a bright smile appeared across her face.