All characters that are used belong to their respective creators. I do
this for fun and do not make any money off of it. Please don't sue me.
The stories are mine, so please don't use them without asking me.
===================================================

Lina shook her head, as she sat down for a meal at a local inn.  She
ordered a three course meal and thought about her adventures that she
had since leaving home.

 'That stupid nickname.  Yeesh.  About the only good thing about that
nickname is that everyone underestimates me.  At least I got my Bandit
Slayer nickname back.  At least, that's what the bandits call me now.'

 Lina started eating and put aside thought about her nicknames.  She
glanced around the inn a couple times in irritation.

 "That's odd.  I'm getting the feeling that I'm being followed," Lina
muttered to herself.  "Probably nothing."

 Lina finished up her meal and paid for it.  She also rented a room for
the night, and headed upstairs.

 'Let's see what the Glowing Silk Fist Bandit Team had,' Lina thought,
as she removed her mantle, showing multiple full bags attached to the
inside.

 Pulling out the Crystal Knowledge Sphere, she muttered a chant and the
globe lit up and floated at the height of Lina's head.  Sitting on the
floor, Lina emptied the bags of their contents. She sorted the treasure
into various piles.  Lina smiled up at her sphere, before continuing.

 'Small modifications that allow me to do other things with it than just
store knowledge.  I'll have to check if I got any new knowledge as
well.  I doubt it though.'

 Lina frowned, as she tabulated the value of the treasure.

 'A pile of rubies and sapphires.  A lot of silver, but little gold.
And, twelve items that have magical auras. Two rings, three wands, a
bracelet, a pearl necklace, two small statues, a circlet, a coin purse,
and a belt.'

 Lina pushed the magic items away from the normal treasure and stood
up.  She grabbed her sphere out of mid-air and held it before her.

 "Well.  I guess I should find out what those things do. Sphere of
crystal and metal I now call upon your power.  Knowledge that is
scattered before me allow yourself to now be shared."

 Amethyst lightning launched out from the sphere and bathed each item
with its power.  After a second, the lightning stopped and Lina stared
into the sphere.  She blinked and turned towards the pile.

 "Okay.  That takes care of that."

 Lina shoved one of the rings, the necklace, the circlet, the coin
purse, and the belt away from the pile.  She picked those items up and
stuffed them into a bag.  Holding the bag in front of her, she shook her
head.

 "I have no idea what I'm going to do with these cursed things."

 Lina tied the sack up tightly and then tied an orange ribbon around the
knot.  Tossing the bag aside, she went back to the other items.  Lina
looked around for a second before noticing that she was still holding
her sphere.

 "Whoops.  Oh well.  Lighting."

  A small ball of light leapt upwards from Lina's hand and reilluminated
the room.

 Picking up one of the statues, Lina giggled.  "Air fresheners.  They
should bring in some money."

 She pushed the statues aside and picked up the remaining ring. She got
a disgusted look, as she stared at it.

 "A ring that magically poisons a person when you punch them with it?
I'll sell it to the guild.  They can deal with it and track who created
it.  As to the wands, like I can really use an item that magically
amplifies Ext Ball.  Firefighter mages could use them.  They should
bring in some money as well."

 Lina wrapped the poisoning ring in a hankerchief and stuffed the other
useful magical items into another bag.  She tied that bag up and tied a
green ribbon around that bag.  After doing that, she put the rest of the
treasure back into different bags.

 Lying on the bed, Lina held her sphere before her eyes.

  "The books they had gave me fifty more cooking recipies.  Always a
plus.  No new magical knowledge.  A book of hymns to Cephied and the
four Dragon Kings.  Hmmm.  Funny, considering....  Scratch the no new
magical knowledge.  I can now create air fresheners."

 Stowing the sphere in her robes, Lina grabbed the hankerchief wrapped
ring, the bags with ribbons tied to them, and her sword.  She walked
downstairs and told the innkeep that she would be back and not to let
anyone in her room.

 'I've got to dump this stuff on the guild.  Let them deal with the
nonsense.'

 Lina asked directions to the local magic guild and made her way there.
She unloaded the cursed items and poisoning ring onto the guild with
asurances that the stuff would be properly handled.  She ignored the
mumbled comments about her sword sheath with clenched fists and gritted
teeth.  She then sold the stuff in the bag with the green ribbon for
some decent prices.  Lina put both hands behind her head and casually
walked back to the inn.

 'They didn't have to call me an idiot.  I know it's a dulling sheath,
but I'm not selling it.  I finally got the thing to exist symbiotically
with the Blast Blade.  It draws upon the Blast Blade's power to keep
itself from being slashed apart.  That's right.  They don't know the
Blast Blade is out and about.  I wonder what people would say if they
knew that the other legendary sword is in my hands.'

 Lina brought her hands down and felt inside her cape.  Her right hand
closed upon the amethyst sphere hidden inside.

 'I guess I really should get this world's  non-magical knowledge as
well.  I did it for the other three.  Hmmm.  That looks interesting.   I
should put a return spell on my sword.  I'll tie the other half of the
spell to the sheath.  It would be nice havign the ability to call my
sword to my hand.'

 Lina released the sphere and noticed that the sun was low on the
horizion.  Shaking her head, Lina meandered along as her thought
wandered.

 'My sphere.  Getting some holy and demonic magic into it was fun.  Now,
I can cast Holy or Black magic spells while holding onto the sphere no
matter where I'm at.  I might have to put some offensive enchantments on
it, in case my magic isn't up to its usual levels.'


  As the shadows deepened, she noticed a ruddish glow comming from the
direction of the inn.

 "No.  It can't be," Lina whispered, as she took off towards the inn in
a mad dash.  "Please don't let it be."

 She quickly made her way to the inn she was staying and saw that it was
aflame.  Lina tried to go into the inn, but a large man grabbed her
under her shoulder and held her back.

 "Do you want to die?" the man asked.

 Lina snarled a bit and snapped her head around to stare up towards the
top of the inn.  Seeing that Lina wasn't going to run into the burning
building anymore, the man let her go.  Others started looking up to the
top of the inn.

 Lina whispered, "Why?  My current reputation should have prevented
this."

 Loud laughter was heard coming from above.  Lina noticed that everyone
else was shuddering.  She sank to her knees and bowed her head, as
single tear fell.  Looking back up, she saw what she dreaded.  A tall
woman with a large bustline was standing atop the inn dressed in the
evil sorceress look that went out of style a few hundred years ago.

 'Naga the White Serpent.  Why?  Why?  WHY?!'
================================================
Previous chapters can be found here:
http://home1.gte.net/mathews1/


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