"The rune in the middle is a dead give away." She pointed it and the bugs eyes widened and feelers perked up. "It's the word of power the monks use. It's strange someone would use it though. It's as if someone was trying to read one of the monks minds. But why go through all that trouble when a simple charm spell on the monk or an insect would be enough to know what they were up to. "
"It's a curiosity! I've got a use in mind for the stone though, if you want to travel with me while I collect some more items I would be happy of such learned company. And then I would let you have the item if it was still worth anything to you." The wizard bartered with the old man for a few moments then turned back to her after purchasing the items.
"Should be an enjoyable evening then. A pleasure to meet you, I am called Vodka." She courtseyed thinking better than to shake the insects claws. "Mmmhmmm, Yes, I am Xzar Firefly, at your service." The bug made agreeable clicking noises and they both ventured off into other parts of the city.
Hours passed as Xzar shopped, it was his first trip to the city and he was enthralled with not only what he could purchase but also on the "Amaza-Za-Zing" deals. The two conversed about a variety of subjects and after a few local drinks shared stories of their homelands. Xzar had been back to his much more recently than Vodka had, but it was hard to say no to 3, 000 brothers and sisters at his families hive. Sharing the tale of her Tonic he was intrigued by such power.
"But even with such power, it must have been terrifying to essentially take your own life and lock it away within yourself!" It seemed everything was a learning experience for him.
"It was, but knowing it had been done once before at least made it a bit easier." She shrugged trying not to think of the hours before that she had sat in her Lab crying about what might happen if things went wrong.
They again shopped, now more freely and with the commeraderie of friends making jokes as they discovered new shops and intriguing items. At an odd shop filled with boxes of strange items, Xzar literally crawled inside one of the crates and thre objects out of it much to the shopekeepers dismay. It was only later and after a few more local drinks that Xzar entrusted her with why he was gathering these items.
"I'm serious! I know there's a way to gain more power, physical or otherwise through the enhancement of armor beyond the obvious temper imbues and magical enchantments." He nodded looking almost hurt that she had laughed at him.
"They've tried that for centuries, the only ones to even get close were the Vectorians and they had to slaughter espers by the dozens to do it and even then they only achieved it within such constructs that they were unsustainable." She leaned in close so that no one could here her next words. "If this happens to be true, it's dangerous. There's no telling how it could amplify spells and enchants! " "Exactly," His grin was almost mischievious. "There's so much more to this kind of power than we could even conceive! Imagine how we could help people! Imagine the evil we could drive from this world."
"It could change everything or destroy it. Balance in this kind of magic was never abundant." She thought deeply and ordered another drink. Could there be more power that her new form was seeking? This wasn't the end, it was for sure a new begining.
