"Well that went easily enough." V thought as he left the blacksmith's shop. If the royalty living in the castle was anything like every single other government V had ever known, it would be at least a few days before anyone even noticed the invoice. However, best not to push one’s luck. He planned on leaving as soon as possible. Tomorrow if he was lucky. As he waited for Eika, there were two more things he needed to take care of. First, onward to the alchemist... assuming the city had one. After wasting a few minutes asking around, he determined that, apparently, the city held only one alchemist. The job, or perhaps class, seemed to be rather rare compared to other "crafting" type classes. Someone also pointed him in the direction of the so-called Crafting Champion, claiming they had seen him make a healing poultice once, but V figured it would be best to leave him out of it, although he supposed it was nice to know he survived not only the merchant square fiasco, as well as the brawl from yesterday. 

As V followed the directions given to him, he almost could not believe his eyes. He had assumed that considering there was a single practitioner of the trade, they would be in high demand. He expected to be standing in front of a high-class shop at the noble quarter. In-fact this had concerned him, as it would be harder to pull his "Bill the Queen" scheme if the shop was crowded. However, the building was a rundown mess. The sign was hanging on one hinge, the door needed to be repainted, and one of the windows bore a large crack. Well, no time like the present, V thought to himself as he steeled his resolve. The upending of his expectations had shaken him a little. The inside was not much better than the outside. The first thing V noticed was a burning sensation in his eyes and nose, the place really needed to be aired out. The almost chemical haze in the air made it hard to breath. Secondly, other than the front windows, very little light permeated the place, resulting in a smelly, hazy, dark mess. V had been in some backwater places of business before, but this was rough. A small woman, perhaps around Eika's size, sat behind a short counter resting her feet upon it.

Squinting through the haze, V greeted her "Hello. I was wondering if you-" V stopped a moment as a particularly acrid patch of air caused him to cough for a few moments... "Excuse me. Anyway. I was wondering if I could convince to you make something... custom... for me." The woman jumped up, standing upright she was roughly the same size as the blue bearded champion V had killed in the alley, and as the woman who assisted Gergor back in the small town. "Hello! Not too many people brave the smoke and fog of my establishment! If you can pay, I’ll make you anything you want. If it’s in my power. Well, not power. Skill. If it’s in my skill." The woman talked manically. Her speech was uneven and halted in strange places. "Uh, well thanks, although it might be sort of dangerous to work with, I had also considered going to an herbalist for this, but I figured someone like you might be better suited for -" before he could finish the woman spoke up quickly "Herbalists? What are they good at? Not much I’ll tell... .... you. They are just not brave enough to get the alchemist class so they stay that way all their... ... lives. Not good for nothing." V nodded in agreement because, what else was he supposed to do? "While you are on the subject, I was wondering, what does it take to be an Alchemist? Why is there only one of you in the whole city?" The woman snorted and giggled for a moment, paused for about thirty seconds, and then spoke "Well you have to already be an apothecary, or an herbalist or some related class." she waved dismissively before continuing "Then you must... .... craft two original potions, or medicine or magical brews of some sort, and catalog their effects. In some ways, it’s easier to become an alchemist the less you know. In theory... ... ... ... even simply mixing salt and water, to make salt water, would count as "original" if you did not know it existed prior to you "inventing it." However due to the requirements of already being a similar class type, you would already know something simple like that. Now on the other hand if you mixed..." She continued talking for several minutes about plants and mixtures that V knew little about. However, she either did not notice or did not care that V had obviously checked out mentally while waiting for her to finish.

"And that is why most alchemists will have some sort of internal organ damage, or something else wrong.... ... with them. The only way to catalog a random mixture of things is to test it on someone, most of the time its yourself. Luckily.... .... .... I suffered no ill effects during my experimentation." V nodded, choosing not to point out certain facts that would seem to dispute that claim. "Well, thanks for the information, but back to business." He pulled out a small bundle of silk from his pocket, the edges had clearly been cut, taken from the Champion of Life's clothing. He unwrapped it, carefully showing the woman its contents. "Well, those are... ... strange bugs." The women examined them visually as V explained, "Careful, they have some form of stinger on them. I don't know if they can sting while dead. To be honest I’m not one hundred percent ready to even commit to them being truly dead. A lot of things were going on when I collected them. However, I have good reason to believe that the venom their sting inflicts causes nearly instant paralysis. Although, it only seems to last a short time" The women's eyes sparkled, "I drank a paralytic once nearly.... .... died." she pulled a thin glove out of her apron pocket and slipped it over one hand. She then picked up one of the bugs and examined it closely. V waited patiently, holding back the coughing fit that had been looming over him for a while. "Oh yes! I can see it! It has a weird stinging apparatus in its mid-section. Very strange. I don't think this has any medical use. I can try but it’s not worth your time." Her voice had become manic again, out of excitement, or for some other reason, V could not tell. "Actually, I was wondering if you had the expertise to extract whatever poison they use. I understand that it won’t be very much, but it could still be very useful." The woman looked at him for a moment. "Although I don't really care what you use it for, I don't want the city guard pounding down my door in a few days..."  V chuckled and once again displayed his Divine Champion class. "Well, actually...." 

Five minutes later V was standing back outside. The city air seemed to be positively fresh and pure by comparison to what he was breathing just moments ago. Convincing the lady that he was working with the queen’s sister was even easier than last time. To be frank, V suspected that the woman just wanted to play with the strange bugs he brought her, and only required the thinnest of lies to convince. With that finished there was only one more stop, although V figured it would be the easiest. Eika needed new leather armor, and so did he for that matter. He had decided that even though leather armor would not stop most blows from a champion, it might still protect him from glancing blows or weaker weapons like darts or daggers... at-least a little. While he was asking around for reputable shops that carry leather armor, he had the distinct impression that he was being observed. V spent a few extra trips around the city streets, trying to determine if someone was, in-fact following him. However eventually the feeling simply dissipated. V would like to have taken more time attempting to discover the source of the feeling, but decided against it. The sun was starting to hang low on the horizon and it was starting to get a bit later then he would like. Assuming Eika had gotten the hilt of L's sword and taken it to the blacksmith, he did not want to leave her standing in front of the blacksmith's, waiting for him all day. He located a shop that was reputable, but not too crowded. As he suspected, the only real issue he had was finding something to fit Eika. The owner of the shop only had one set of armor for a young adult Rabbitkin. V suspected that it was not even really made for Rabbitkin, but for one of the other small races. For now, it was going to have to be enough. After once again lying to the proprietor about his identity, he left the shop. Two sets of fine leather armor richer. According to the shopkeep, they had been reinforced with magic in an attempt to bolster their durability without losing the light and maneuverable nature of a set of light leather.

"Eika thought L found you on the streets and beat you up or something!" Eika ran over to V as he approached the blacksmith. She had been waiting inside at the window, and came rushing out when she noticed him. He shook his head "Nope, everything is fine! I did manage to buy you a new set of armor though." he handed the package to Eika, who jumped up and down. "Nice! Hooray!" she tried to hug V, but the package got in the way. "Brand new armor. I bet it's better than the old armor. I mean, I liked my old armor and I'm sad its cows now, but new armor is like... new and fresh! You know? It also came from the capitol city so I mean it has to be better than the stuff I was given in that town, right? Well, maybe they had some sort of expert leather craf-" V halted the tirade of words by waving his hands in front of her face. "Do you know if L's sword is finished? Did they tell you?" Eika nodded "Eika wanted to see it, but they said I was not allowed until you picked it up..." Eika looked around, a conspiratorial look crept over her eyes as she, mostly, whispered "The woman kept asking me how I got to know you and the Queen's sister. The friendly lady seems to think you’re the champion of fire..." V nodded and whispered back "That is who I am for the day." He patted Eika on the head as he steered her back into the store. "Ah sir! Your weapon is ready. The smith was happy to finally use that magical metal stuff. It has been here for ages; he was starting to think he would never sell it!" V nodded; he had already gotten that impression from both of them the last time they spoke. The women disappeared into the forge, returning a few moments later with a katana sized wrapped blade, the smith at her side. "Well, it turned out very nice. No troubles bonding or "setting" the metal. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed making it!" He unwrapped the blade, it did indeed look like it had turned out nice, at-least to V's eyes. The sword had what looked like "cracks" running all through it, but the smith explained "What you are looking at is the metal that bonded with the pieces of the sword, it may look like its only filing in the gaps, but trust me, it has permeated the pieces as well, you’re just seeing the "raw" form of the metal in between the pieces." V nodded and thanked the man, "I am no expert, but the work looks superb to me." Eika nodded as well, her eyes as large as saucers "Ohhhh it's very pretty! It’s like it has sparkles in between the broken pieces!" The smith smiled as he re-wrapped the blade and handed it to V. "Well, over the next day or so the "sparkly" looking parts may or may not turn dull, or mimic way the rest of the metal looks. It’s hard to tell with this sort of thing...." As V thanked him the smith wrapped the blade in cloth, and V began to leave, the smith called out "Next time you're free, I’d like to ask you a few questions about my forge. I would like to see if we could forge something using that fire of yours!" V smiled and waved as he pushed Eika toward the door. "Of course! That would be an interesting experiment, however we can discuss it more later, I must return to the castle before the sun sets entirely."

As they were walking back toward T's hideout, Eika kept looking over her shoulders, a sort of panicked look in her face. "Something's not right. Eika feels something watching!" V looked around, he had not felt anything since he had bought the leather armor, but he was more than willing to trust Eika's instincts on this matter. He kept his eyes open, leaving the ears to Eika. They slowed their pace slightly, if V was going to walk into a trap, he was going to walk into it slowly. No need to run headlong into it. Eika's fear was evident, in many ways she really did remind V of a rabbit that was being hunted. In other circumstances, that may have been sort of endearing, at the moment, it was simply concerning. "Ah hello! I was hoping to see you before the end of the day." V whipped around, drawing his sword. A few feet behind him stood a man with jet black hair that just barley brushed his shoulders. "You!" V exclaimed, recognizing him as the man who took O, and who had waved to him shortly before Eika had gotten shot. If he remembered correctly the man could teleport. He doubted he would be a match for him, but he had yet to lower his sword. "You were following us? Why?" The man laughed lightly as he gestured to V's sword "Yes yes I was following you, but I doubt if you would have been able to tell. You can put the sword down. If I was here to kill you I’d have attacked while your back was turned. I’m not the champion of honor, and we have some matters of high import to discuss." V was unwilling to sheath his weapon, but he did stop pointing it at the man’s face. "Thanks. Now, I know the first time we met I did not introduce myself. Honestly, I expected you to die in the forest, and had little reason to introduce myself to someone I thought was a dead man. The intervention of the forest fairies was something I could not have seen. Since you have lived through that ordeal, I will take the time to introduce myself." The man bowed elegantly. "I am Julian, or, my official name J. Champion of Wisdom. Class: Divine Grand Magus." V hesitated, there was no reason to disbelieve the man. Who would claim such a thing without being able to back it up? The truly concerning part is why he felt the need to reveal that information to him.

"What do you want from me?" V asked the man, who was trying to wave at Eika. For Eika's part, she still seemed to be visually searching the streets. "Don't bother sweety, you can’t see him..." he looked back up at V "Ah, well. As I said, the matter is quite important. If you would step over this way for a moment..." the man gestured at a nearby house. "No need to worry, I just would like to make sure we are not being observed, well, to be specific I wish to not be heard." If the man was going to attack him or Eika, there would be little reason in luring him into a house. There was a chance that he was being led into some other type of trap. Perhaps the man was planning on capturing him and coercing his surrender. Although what was the other option? Run? Can't outrun someone who could teleport. Fight? So far, the man had only been helpful. Well, other than "stealing" O away from him, but really was that even so bad? As far as V could reason out, following the man was his only viable option at the moment. "Will you let the girl leave? She does not need to accompany us, does she?" V gestured at Eika, hoping to at-least get her free of this dangerous situation. The Champion of Wisdom scanned the rooftops as he spoke "Well, she does not have to... however I would recommend she accompany us." Eika spoke up "Don't worry! Eika will be brave. That way, I can listen and see if he has friends in the house!" Eika gave the man an attempt at a cold stare. He laughed lightly again "Well then, shall we go?" he gestured to the house, and led them inside.