Once Saphielle was successfully detached from Nethlia’s side, she led the pair off to the Alchemist’s Row.

While the entire city felt cramped, the Alchemist’s Row was even more so. Shops and workshops were built onto each other, overlapping in some cases. Charred wood and blackened stone clarified several shops had, at some point, blown up and had been rebuilt over and over.

From chimneys billowed forth smoke of many colors; swirls of purples, reds, and greens danced together as they drifted off into the ether. Further into the district, they wandered past shop windows displaying glass vials filled with concoctions of every hue. Glowing alchemical light lit the evening streets in a fantastical, prismatic spray.

Jutting off a corner was a tight alleyway. Small lanterns orbs floated around the entrance, lighting it in a soft gloom.

“It’s just down this way,” Saphielle reassured them.

Sure enough, at the end of the L-shaped alley, there was a colorful red door. Beside it hung an old signboard that read “Ember’s Elemental Elixirs” in fading font.

“Here it is. A hidden little place, but no lesser than the rest.” Saphielle said.

Autumn was glad to find a place to offload her miscellaneous jars and bottles. She had skimmed through the Tome of Witchcraft for other recipes, but it looked like the good Witch Augus wasn’t that much of a brewer. Of the recipes Autumn found, most were for boils or warts, funnily enough. The healing cream was the rare exception. 

It made her wonder why the witch had so many random ingredients in the first place.

As Saphielle pushed the door open, a small bell jingled.

“Welcome to Ember’s Elemental Elixirs. What can I do for you today?”

From the interior, a bored voice called out.

As Autumn entered the shop, she got a glimpse of a familiar face. It was that fiery-haired girl she spotted in the Adventurer’s Guild. 

Currently, the girl was slouched behind the counter, gazing at them with flickering orange eyes. A head of short flame danced on top of her head, as well as her eyebrows. Scattered across ash-colored cheeks and a small nose was a considerable collection of orange freckles. A soot-stained shirt clad her slim tomboyish body underneath a heavy fabric dress with a copper trim. It enshrouded her shoulders and fell to her knees. Thick workman’s gloves of some sort of leather ran up to her elbows, stained by a great many spilled concoctions and ingredients. From what little Autumn could see behind the counter, she saw the girl wore bulky reinforced workman’s boots.

“Oh, it’s you Saph, never mind then.”

“Rude, is that how you talk to your best customer?”

As the two bantered, Autumn glanced around the store. Rows upon rows of ingredients cluttered the walls of this modest store. Potions of all varieties glowed, shimmered, or even floated in their respective stands.

On a central display was a run of potions in the shape of a female bust with a placard beside reading: “Vial of Vigorous Virtue. Spice up your nightlife!”

“That’s an aphrodisiac.” The flaming-haired girl answered Autumn’s unspoken question. “They’re on sale if you buy three.”

Autumn blushed as she turned her attention back to the counter.

“Oh, hush Pyre.” Saphielle admonished the shopkeeping girl, “Autumn, this is Pyre; Pyre meet Autumn. She’s here to sell some things, so let’s get to bargaining, shall we?”

At Saphielle’s avaricious grin, Pyre backed up.

“Nuh uh, not with me. Dad! Saphielle’s here to run us out of business again!”

From a backroom behind the counter, an older man emerged and eyed Saphielle warily. Like his daughter, the man had a head of flaming hair but his was droopy and thin while age had cracked his ashen skin like burnt-out wood.

“What is it this time, Saphielle? Here to clean me out over a handful of coppers?”

“Hah, you wish, old man. This time I’ve got a bargain for you. My friend here is a witch, and she has rare ingredients for you. If you can pay for it, that is?”

Saphielle leaned over the counter as she taunted. 

The man, presumably Ember, only raised a flaming eyebrow.

“We’ll see. Go on then, place your ‘rare ingredients’ on the counter.”

Autumn approached the counter with her bag unslung. From it, she retrieved various glass and porcelain jars and containers. Although cracked in some places, they had survived Autumn’s perilous journey intact. 

One contained a twitching fetus of some unknown creature, one packed full of eyeballs, a jar of glowing green goo, and another of dancing purple flames.

“Gross.”

Pyre spoke as she eyed the jars in fascination.

Aside from the more interesting ingredients, Autumn had also collected varying jars of more common ingredients. She placed those on top of the counter too, just off to the side. The final jar contained darkness. Not just that it was dark inside or that it was a dark liquid, it was the essence of darkness.

Ember had been keeping as much of a straight face as he could as jar after jar came out. He was mostly successful until the last jar. Upon seeing the depthless dark, he emitted a small gasp of surprise and wonderment.

“Ah ha!” Saphielle crowed in delight. “And you didn’t believe me when I said it was rare.”

Ember grimaced at his slip-up.

“Well, be that as it may, I still have a store to run. I’ll give you 20 silvers for the creature fetus, 5 for the eyeballs, 15 for the goo, and 20 for the dancing flame. These other random bits I’ll take off your hands for 5 silver. For the jar of darkness, I’ll do 2 gold.”

Saphielle scowled.

“Are you trying to insult me, old man?! Triple that, for starters, and the jar of darkness is at least 100 gold!”

At Saphielle’s outrageous number, the alchemist’s hair blazed up high, almost scorching the roof.

“100 gold?! You’ve lost your mind, girl! Rare or not, I can’t afford that. The best I can do is 5 gold.”

“I didn’t know you were that broke! 20 gold!”

“8!”

“15!”

“10 and that’s my last offer!”

Saphielle and Ember glared at one another as the other watched on, amused. Sparks of lightning seemed to flicker between unwavering gazes.

“34s for the fetus, 23s for the goo, 10s for the eyeballs, 40s for the flame, 5s for the assorted, and 10g for the darkness jar, deal?” Saphielle asked.

Ember contemplated for a moment, his flaming eyes taking in the jars arrayed before him.

“So, 11g 12s in total? Alright, you got a deal.”

With that, the two shook hands, completing their rather heated round of bartering. Autumn suspected neither knew what the jar of darkness cost, but seeing as she didn’t either, there wasn’t much to be concerned about.

In the future, she might have been able to use it, but right now it was nothing but dead weight.

The jingle of coins as they fell into Autumn’s coin pouch was rather musical. In total, she now had 13g, 24s, and 32c, rivaling Nethlia’s. While she still didn’t know if that was a large sum or not, it confirmed to Autumn the exchange rate of 100 per denomination.

“Alright, now was there any other business?” Ember asked.

Glancing around, Autumn spied an assortment of glowing red potions situated behind the counter. Peering closer, she saw a sign helpfully displayed that they were a series of health potions.

“How much for the health potions?” Autumn asked.

“50g each.”

Autumn blanched.

“Maybe some other time.”

Seeing that neither Autumn nor Nethlia were buying anything, Saphielle clapped aloud in the silence. With attention drawn by her sudden action, she addressed the pair.

“Alright, next stop is Catherine’s Clothing Collections because, frankly, and I don’t say this to be insulting, you two need a serious wardrobe change.”

---

 

Located just off the central market square were an array of shops that weaved and clustered together to create an assortment of twisting alleys and pathways. Bright silken banners draped overhead while hued walls displayed all manner of signage.

Here the buildings were far more tidy and ordered than the clutter of the Alchemist’s Row or the chaos of the Red-light District.

Down one twisting back alley, a massive store stood. The owners had converted it out of what had once might have been an old warehouse. Upon its side, a painted mural declared: “Catherine’s Clothing Collections, your one-stop shop for all your second-hand and discount apparel!”

“Don’t let the slogan fool you. Everything here is of mostly good quality,” Saphielle reassured them before entering.

Racks upon racks of outfits dominated the inside of the store. Underwear and outerwear, armor, robes, and more, this store seemed to have it all packed inside its four walls.

“Hello and welcome to Catherine’s Clothing Collections. I’m Catherine. Feel free to browse and when you have what you need, bring it here.”

A well-dressed and green-skinned Inferni welcomed the trio into the store.

Immediately after greeting the proprietor, the group split up. Each headed off to different sections of the store. Saphielle made a beeline to the dresses on display while Nethlia headed for the armor sections. Autumn made her way over to the underwear first; her’s was on its last legs and rather unflattering. It was with great relief that she could gain some nice underthings.

It was nostalgic for Autumn as she wandered around what was essentially a fantasy department store.

Autumn was an adventurer now and she’d found clothing to match.

The tattered witch’s hat still sat perched in place upon her head of messy twilight curls. Around her athletic upper body and modest breasts, she’d clad herself in a tunic made of a soft and warm cotton-silk blend in a striking dark-gray color. Protecting her stomach and keeping her shirt from billowing too much was a leather under-bust corset. It wasn’t as rigid as Autumn had been expecting, but it still felt strong to the touch. Maybe it was made from some fantastical creature.

After a brief struggle, her wide hips had slipped into a pair of reddish-brown hide pants. The leather was stretchy, allowing her a greater freedom of movement than she thought it would. Autumn wrapped a bronze-colored sash around her waist first, then a long belt that could enclose her twice over. The belt came with a few pouches and a pair of straps from which she could fasten her Tome of Witchcraft.

Over top of this, she threw on her beloved robes. The fraying material still had some life in it, and to be honest, Autumn just loved how spooky it looked and the way it made her feel safe.

While the clothing was all well and good, she still wanted some armor.

Autumn came across two items that fit her needs: a pair of bracers and a pair of boots.

They had made the forearm bracers of red leather and held panels with bone facing outward. On the inside of each, there was a sheath that one could slip a dagger or wand within. When worn, they disappeared beneath Autumn’s billowing sleeves. The boots she had obtained were thick and study-looking. Rigid leather came up to her mid calf while a thick multi-layered sole protected her feet. Bound to it were greaves and a partial sabaton of carved Agoroth horn to cover her shins and foot.

All in all, it was the outfit Autumn wanted and needed, one that favored mobility but still kept a modicum of protection.

“Hey, good looking! I almost didn’t recognize you without your tattered visage!”

Saphielle grinned as she bumped into Autumn, her arms piled high with dresses and other items of apparel.

“What do you guys think? Does this look ok?”

Turning around, Autumn caught sight of Nethlia. Contrary to what Autumn had expected, the demoness now wore fewer clothes than before.

Fur, leather, and bone had been meticulously cut and crafted into a lightweight armor. It protected Nethlia’s upper body and waist but left her scar-clad and muscular abdomen exposed under Autumn’s ardent gaze. Bulging biceps and thighs of ruby-red stood out proudly from the hide armor. Wraps of cloth and furs held her breast protectively while a heavy mantle rested upon her shoulders and back to guard her neck.

A pair of fur-lined and bone-studded bracers sat atop a set of fingerless leather gloves with knuckles armored by more dense bone. A huge belt decorated in the bones, teeth, and trinkets of slain monsters supported Nethlia’s waist. Tucked into it was a small curved dagger scrimshawed from a horn. A loincloth-like skirt hung front and back from her hips and on her feet she wore a set of reinforced boots like Autumn had found.

She now looked like the berserker that she was.

“Uhh, Autumn? Hello, anyone there?”

Nethlia waved a hand in front of Autumn’s glazed eyes.

“Huh, good! Umm, you look, I mean, it looks great!” Autumn squeaked as her cheeks turned red.

“Righttttt.” Saphielle purred. “All this shopping has made me hungry. Let’s go get this stuff paid for and get back for dinner.”

With Saphielle at the helm, the cost of their shopping only came out to a gold each, and they left Catherine’s Clothing Collections with a smile, a wave, and a spring infecting their step.