Artifacts

With a flourish of the hand, Akil produced and handed Shai a tablet. Where was he hiding that, Zale wondered?

Shai tapped on the screen a few times and moved around beside Zale. "This is the full archive of all the items here. They are sorted by alphabet and strength. I believe it best to choose something relatively easy to replicate."

"Something that doesn't cost too much too. I may not know magic and shit, but I know the market for crystals and cores. We should save every penny we can. Probably want one that's easy to test as well. No sense in blowing anything to bits," Zale added while scanning the document.

Mert and Akil greatly favored his response, and Shai was also surprised, realizing that Zale wasn't just a normal man, but someone with his own expertise that he brought to the table.

The two of them, with the occasional input from Mert and Akil, spent several hours pouring over the details of various artifacts. Though they were all sorted neatly in the documents, that was not the case for the treasury. They walked up and down the hall again and again while working.

At some point, Zale came across a glistening battle-ax. The weapon looked like it had never seen a day of battle, the blade shining with mesmerizing beauty. For a moment, he thought he could see Meru's face reflect rather than his own. The weapon was nothing like hers, yet he could see nothing but the ax she's swung like a madwoman in battle.

"Did you find something? Shai inquired when he lingered a moment too long.

He turned, eyes red with tears. Almost immediately, Shai was at his side checking him over, as was Mert. "It's all right. I left a lot of business unfinished back home when I left. This ax just reminded me of it. I'll tell you about it...when there's more time."

Shai breathed a sigh. Though his words weren't convincing, Zale's face was. "My apologies. I was relatively quick to return. Maybe I-"

"It's like that sometimes, right? Besides, I chose to come here. Let's just focus on today, yeah?" he said, wiping his eyes and taking the lead to show he wasn't just talk.

Not long after, they settled on an artifact called the "Crest of Ra." It was a protective item that was easy to test and with relatively low cost.

"All right. Akil, if you would. We need a silver amulet, twenty pounds of blue crystals, four tier-four beast cores, and a single seven-pound red crystal," Shai listed off as his attendant make a note of it.

"Will there be anything else, Pharaoh?"

"That will be everything. Inform them the test trail should start at 12 PM on the dor. Of course, I won't be expecting such punctuality, but they will be more inclined to hurry if I urge them on as such," Shai winked at Zale.

"Very well. I shall inform the team to collect the materials at once."

"Thank you. Well then, shall we?"

As they left, Zale cast a look backward at the ax. This time, he didn't see Meru's weapon, but just a random artifact in Egypt. He smiled to himself and followed the others.