Donut jumped to the table and gave the ooze a suspicious sniff. “MySmoke Formspell that comes with my Assassin of Sekhmet class is better. It’s aPhase-style spell. Why don’tyoutake it?”
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Mordecai said. “Carl, yourGloom Wraith Phaseis an attack and forces you in a direction, so it’s not useful as a travel spell. If you take this, both you and Donut can equally slip through and around obstacles.”
“Really?” I asked. “Wait, what else do you have that’s new, Donut?”
“Oh, it’s just fantastic. I got all sorts of goodies. It buffs all those weird create-tree and summon-vermin spells I got from that Oak Fell thing, and it also comes with thatSmoke Formspell, and I got my first aura! It’s called Healer’s Grasp. If you’re near me, you get healed! I don’t know why an assassin might need to heal people, but that’s what I got. I’m like a mini Imani! And don’t forget I also have two celestial boxes to open, and that’s before I look at some of my new achievements, so I must insist we get this moving.”
The book made a strange squealing noise and more goo squirted out. The cleaner bot continued to complain.
“Sorry,” I said. I grasped the book in both hands, and I applied it, learningOozy Form. “Okay, okay. That’s done.”
[ 8 ]
I turned to Donut.“What accessories did you get?”
She did a little excited hop. “Look at this!”
Her tiara disappeared, and an Egyptian-style beaded headdress appeared atop her head. It was something one would have seen on Cleopatra. Red, yellow, and orange beads cascaded down either side of her face. The colors matched her fur.
“Isn’t it just divine? I’ll drain it of its magic for my tiara, of course, but it’s just beautiful as is. It calls it a veil even though it doesn’t cover my face.” She pulled out a little mirror and started shaking her head back and forth. The beads clacked as she moved. “Just exquisite.”
Enchanted hat item. The Assassin’s Veil.
This is a unique item.
Warning: This item may only be worn by a female.
Warning: This item may only be worn by a Feline-class species.
Worn by those in the court of the goddess Sekhmet, this beaded headdress warns off strangers who might think to do harm to the bearer.
Wearing this item imbues the following benefits:
Plus 10% to dexterity.
The Precognition Benefit. Warns wearer if someone nearby is preparing an offensive or binding spell or readying a skill.
Warning: Enemies of Sekhmet will be automatically hostile to you if you wear this in their presence.
“It’s a great item,” Mordecai said. “But if you transfer that over to your tiara, those conditions will also transfer over. The female and cat things aren’t an issue, but the enemy of Sekhmet might be a problem because the goddess Sekhmet is most definitely going to be under Odette’s thumb by now, which means all of Odette’s enemies will be hostile toward you. And knowing Odette, that’s going to mean pretty much everybody. Let me do some research first before you drain it.”
“What were the other hats?” I asked. “The ones for Mongo and Rend? Can we drain those, too?”
“We will not be stealing Mongo’s new hat’s powers,” Donut said.
“We can’t anyway,” Mordecai said. “Both are labeled as pet accessories.”
Two more items appeared on the table. One was a fabric hat with shiny blue and gold stripes on it. It had two wide bands on either side that were designed to hang down, almost like large, floppy ears. It was the same sort of hat a pharaoh would have worn, though it looked more like something from a cheap costume shop. It was something called a nemes. That was clearly meant for Mongo. The other was more a headband than a hat. It was just a red piece of fabric, Rambo-style. But when you looked more closely, the rich red fabric was covered with an intricate pattern that I couldn’t quite make out. I examined the items. They both did almost the same thing with a few differences.
Enchanted hat. The Nemes of Pestilence.
This item may only be equipped by a pet.
Equipping this item to an eligible pet will imbue the following properties:
Eternal Protector of Rage. Pet will become temporarily invulnerable and will gain 2× strength if it is within three meters of its owner and their health is below 10%. Invulnerability will last 60 seconds and can only trigger once per day.
Bringer of Death. Bites from this pet have a 75% chance to inflict the Cruel Sepsis debuff.