A Superb Business Deal

“You!” shouted Sofia in surprise.

“The both of you know this person?” asked Lucille quizzically.

“Yeah. We met him back in town. He’s the guy who gave Sofia that bracelet. Excellus!” I yelled. The enchanted item vendor turned to us, giving an exaggerated bow.

“Oho? So you all were the ones who’ve been causing such trouble. I must admit, I underestimated you when you entered my shop,” he said gleefully. “You will prove to be entertaining specimen.”

“So, you’ve been out in Hearthvale all this time,” said Minerva, dismounting the Manticore. “I’ll have you know, I don’t appreciate you harming my pets.”

“And you’re with them as well Minerva...how annoying,” said Excellus, wiping the blood from his cane sword. “Was flunking out of the university not enough to humble you? Must you even now interrupt my research?”

“I-I didn’t flunk out! I quit that shitty university! If scum like you gets their ‘research’ approved, then I made the right choice by leaving!” Minerva retorted.

“The university clearly didn’t approve his research. Why would he bother working with bandits if they had. He’s just a failure they tossed out,” said Sofia, ripping the ‘Flame Bangle’ off of her wrist and tossing it back at the mage.

“Oho? Figured out it was cursed, did you? I do suppose it was too much to ask that you blow yourself up twice,” said Excellus, brushing off the insult and catching the cursed bracelet, stuffing it into his pocket.

“Enough talk already!” grunted the bandit leader. “If you’re dead set on helping, then let’s go already.”

“Agreed,” said Excellus, readying himself for battle.

“STEAL!” I shouted, trying to nick one of the boss’s enchanted items right at the start.

“Nice try runt!” said the boss, charging me. The skill did nothing to him.

“Anti magic enchantments, obviously,” said Excellus, charging a spell of his own. I braced myself against the boss’s incoming charge. He was clearly armed with a speed enchantment, as he was almost as fast as Victor. Excellus fired a bolt of lightning towards Minerva, who dodged, causing the bolt to slam into the Manticore, knocking it out of commission.

“One hit!?” I muttered, distracted.

“Look out!” yelled Alice. I jerked my head back around, seeing the bandit boss’s fist collide with my jaw, flinging me into a stalagmite. So he also had a power enchantment. Luckily, that and my durability enchantment about evened out, so it only hurt about as much as being punched in the face by a really buff guy. Yeah.

I dragged myself to my feet and observed the state of the battle. Excellus and Minerva were trading spells. Alice and Sofia were blasting the remaining bandit regulars with a barrage of spells. Meanwhile, Lucille had activated full guard, and was focused on keeping the bandit boss busy.

“You alright?” asked Flora from behind me, having been hiding behind the stalagmite.

“Yeah, just fine. Hey, I need your help with something,” I said, removing the enchanted bracelet. “Get this to Lucille, then see what you can do about getting that Manticore back in the fight.”

“Got it,” she said, grabbing the bracelet, and running off. Figuring that’d be enough to ensure Lucille’s safety, and trusting the others to deal with the small fry, I went to join Minerva against Excellus.

“Bolster!” I said, activating the buff on Minerva as I ran past her, locking swords with Excellus.

“Oho? The party leader going after the mage and leaving the boss to his party? How strange!” Excellus taunted.

“Shut the hell up! We both know you’re the real threat here! You’ve been distributing cursed items to adventurers like Sofia!” I shouted, deflecting a thrust from his cane sword. Excellus stopped a spell from Minerva with a magic barrier. “And you’re arming the bandits with enchanted items! Why!?”

“It’s a superb business deal actually. I trick foolish adventurers into buying cursed items at a ‘discounted price’ and send them towards the bandits in exchange. They’ve been armed with enchanted items, ensuring their victory. The bandits defeat the adventurers, take their belongings, while returning me the cursed items and acceptable specimen for my research.” cackled Excellus.

“Bastard!” I shouted, activating mana blade and swinging full **** at him. He dodged, spinning around behind me and blasting me in the back with a bolt of lightning. I screamed in pain as I sprawled onto the floor, electricity coursing through my body.

“So easily manipulated!” Excellus said, trying to capitalize by stabbing me while I was down.

“None of that, Excellus,” said Minerva, as several roots sprung up from the ground, wrapping around Excellus’s sword arm and legs. “Hurry, now!”

I dragged myself to my feet, still jittery from the shock. I stumbled towards the restrained Excellus.

“Back off!” He yelled, firing off another lightning bolt at me. Too slow to try and dodge, I tossed my sword in the way of it, the metal blade acting as a lightning rod, and the enchantment weakening the spell, preventing it from arcing to me. I grabbed the mage by the collar, punching him in the face, bloodying his cartoon villain mustache. A second broke his nose, and a third left him with a black eye.

“Now, how about I run an experiment of my own,” I said deviously. I pulled the cursed pendant out of my pocket, and **** it around his neck before stepping back and observing the effects. But, nothing happened.

“Imbecile! Now, chain lightning!” He said, slurring a bit due to the broken nose. However, once again, nothing happened.

“So that’s what it does,” said Minerva, walking over to us. “Seals the wearers magic.”

“You got it from here?” I asked, retrieving my sword.

“Of course. I’ll take care of him and come join you,” she said, a maniacal smile on her face. Excellus screamed as the roots tightened around his free arm. I headed off towards Lucille and the bandit boss. Both combatants were bloodied, Lucille’s armor shattered near her breastplate. The bandit was bleeding from a gash on his chest, though it didn’t look very deep. Lucille’s full guard had worn off, and she was breathing heavily.

“Can you keep him occupied just a bit longer? I’ve got a plan,” I said.

“If I must. But, Flynn, whatever it is, do it fast. I won’t be able to hold him much longer,” she said.

“Bolster!” I said, feeling my mana drain as I activated the skill again. “That should help out for a bit.”

“Thanks,” she said, clashing with the boss once more. I ran off to the manticore.