Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

We did it! As promised here is the extra chapter on Friday! A special thank you to @oliokos and @Anthony_Beasley, for the golden tickets! I am so grateful to all readers even if you just comment or vote with power stones. Have a good one.

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"You seem to be in an awfully good mood today."

Ayemon remarked while they were eating breakfast.

Aldrich stopped eating his omelet to answer, "yeah, what can I say? Good sleep does that to you hahahaha."

"Can you stop being so happy? Seeing you in a good mood puts me in a terrible one."

"....you need to seek some professional help."

"So, are you ready for today?"

"Is the fake identity finished?"

"Not yet, I meant about finding a place."

"How badly do you want to kick me out? Anyway I'm ready of course. I will try the 6th pioneer street first I may have some luck there, I have a good feeling about it. Or I will look in Berry Lane, I think."

"Don't forget to buy shoes first, boots are for outdoors rugged work."

"Sure, by the way I will go to a barber first. My hair has been bothering me lately."

"Sure thing. I just thought that you might be short on money."

"Me? Short on money? ...I'm not."

"Well I don't care where you got the money as long as you don't steal it."

"Is looting the dead considered stealing?"

"Of course not. The dead don't need money, now do they? The money is only useful for the living! In fact you could consider it a kind of help that the dead give to the living, ah, such good people."

"That's what I thought."

Aldrich left the mansion after his meal and turned to the street, he stopped at a sign that indicated the place where carriages were allowed to pick up customers.

Aldrich didn't wait long or rather didn't wait at all, a carriage stopped in front of him immediately.

"Where to, sir?" Asked the carriage driver a man with greyed out hair.

"I want to go to a barber and to buy some shoe. It would be better if it was close to the academy district."

"So somewhere on 3rd pioneer street?"

"Yeah that works nicely."

"That'll be two coppers."

The carriage drove swiftly and smoothly. From this, he inferred that the driver was an experienced man who knew how to control the carriage.

After twenty minutes or so the carriage stopped and Aldrich saw a boardwalk lined the street in front of him.

Aldrich payed the driver and chose a respectable looking shop that has a sign that read: Excellent hair care for men. Aldrich opened the half glass door and entered the barber shop.

The first thing he saw was a man strapped on a strange looking chair even his head was forced into place by small leather belt around his forehead. The barber was injecting him in the neck with needle.

The needle had a transparent tube attached and it was currently emptying out a funny looking liquid into the man's neck.

"Are ya gonna come in or are ya gonna block the way son." A voice said.

Aldrich looked at the half-elf standing beside him. He was too focused on the scene before him to notice.

This wasn't the first time Aldrich saw a half-elf. Throughout the journey there were many of them around, the closer you get to Voryhrm the more they popped up.

"Eh, I'm sorry, I was absentminded for a moment."

"This yer first time at a surgeon barber's shop I take it?"

Aldrich nodded.

"Well don't keep standing there, take a seat right there."

Aldrich followed the instructions, there were three other strange seats besides the occupied one, they were empty.

Aldrich took his seat on one of them, the seat was warped with hard leather but it wasn't unpleasant. It was painted red and brown, some of the colors were faded, telling of the chair's age.

"What's a surgeon barber? Shouldn't a barber just cut hair?"

Actually he only learned what a barber is when he asked Ayemon. In Wakefield there was no such job. If you want your hair cut just ask some to do it for you.

"Surgeon barbers do cut hair but they also double as physicians. If you can't afford a real physician."

"Oh, cities have all sorts of jobs."

"Well we do." Laughed the half-elf.

"So, How do want your hair done? Something flashy? Something intellectual?"

"Just a little pruning is all."

"No no, look at your hair. I have to fix this. My pride as a barber will not allow me to let you walk around with that mess."

"Eeh? like I said just some pruning, you get me right? Like trimming."

"Yeah, yeah sure, I got you, just leave it to me."

The barber used all sorts of tools on Aldrich and cleaned his wild hair, he cut it a bit lower from the back of the neck and behind the ears. Then he washed his hair in the sink and dried it with a towel after that he put on some gel and combed the hair nicely.

Aldrich walked out of the barber's shop looking like a new man. Even though the barber didn't listen to him, the results spoke for themselves.

Aldrich didn't need to call a carriage, this boardwalk street had many shops for all needs. A few of which were shoe shops. Aldrich decided on one that had a board which read: Nadeen, Shoemaker and cobbler.

The shop had many cupboards lined against the walls of the shop, the doors of the cabinets were removed so onlookers can see the shoes on display.

"Hello," Aldrich greeted as he entered the shop. At first he thought that the shop was empty when he saw an old halfling sitting on a wooden chair behind a desk.

"Welcome young human." The female halfling replied. As she messed around with a hammer and an awl.

"What are you here for custom? Repair?"

"I want to buy some shoes."

"What size?"

"Size? What do mean?"

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen and a half."

"Fifteen? You look a little big for fifteen. Let me see."

The halfling woman got out of her seat and started searching the shoes rows. Finally she took out three.

"This one here is laced-up walking shoe, these are button-ups with low heels for formal occasions or if you want to impress someone."

"I'll take one for each type."

"Whoa, easy there try them out first."

"oh yeah sure."

Aldrich tried the shoes on but they turned out to be too small for him and the woman brought another pair, this time bigger and they fit perfectly.

"So your size is eight remember that when you go to buy shoes again."

"Thank you, I will remember that. How much will that be?"

"Fourteen coppers. Seven for each."

"That's too much, ten seems more fitting."

"In the city people don't haggle."

"Well good thing I'm not from the city."

"Smartass, give me thirteen and we'll have a deal."

"Twelve."

"Fine, but when your shoes need repair or you want to buy some new ones you know where to come."

"Deal."

"Also tell your friends to come here I'll give them a nice discount."

"Have a nice day." Aldrich exited the shop with his new shoes on and his old boots in a paper-bag. The shoes felt comfortable but alien.

His overall look, now was very similar to the surrounding people around him. No longer were people giving him strange looks as he passed by.

Aldrich stopped another private carriage and told the driver to drop him at 6th pioneer street. Aldrich looked around at the five and six story buildings, some were wide and had different wings.

Aldrich looked the blue and white building with the fenced black painted iron and gate. This was the supposed building. Aldrich stopped by the gate and looked around.

He had forgotten how to contact the owner. There was some instructions but among the many advertisements he read it was lost on him.

"Hi! Just a moment." Aldrich saw a blonde girl exist the building and waved at her.

"Hi there," the girl turned to him and smiled.

"Hi, yeah, didn't mean to bother. Actually I'm looking for the owner about an advertisement for an open apartment."

The girl blinked her emerald eyes for a moment before replied, "well the owner is not here at all. But you're in luck, if you want to see the apartment talk to the head guard there. He can make all the arrangements for you."

She pointed at a tiny room beside the gate, it was so unassuming that he just didn't notice it or maybe he didn't have the time to look carefully enough.

"Oh, now that's embarrassing, thank you for the help all the same. I'm Aldrich."

"Oh no, I don't mind. We might become neighbors if you take the apartment it's only right we help each other out. I'm Irene. I'll see you around, Aldrich."

"Yeah, see you." Aldrich was glad that he stopped Irene to ask her, she was such a nice and pretty girl.

Aldrich then walked over to the tiny room and knocked three times on the door. The door was opened by a black haired dwarf, whom Aldrich assumed to be the guard.