Identifying Magical Items

Elin felt out of place in the hydra's lair. Not so much because of the lair itself, but rather she could tell that there wasn't anything there for her. At least not with the equipment. Though, she couldn't say if Kim felt the same way, since she didn't get anything for herself, either.

So she suggested that Elmo identify the items to see what magical properties they had. As she recalled the time before when they found the hidden room shortly after they'd started out and had gotten themselves some better equipment than they'd started with.

Though, as soon as she spoke, she realized that Elmo wasn't as excited as she was. She couldn't say why that was, but it was clear from his expression. However, when she made the suggestion that she now regretted, he merely nodded, his expression looking more resolute, as if being asked to do something that was otherwise unpleasant or difficult.

Elmo looked at the staff that he held, one that somehow seemed to suit him, even though the top of the staff stood above his head. "Identify," he said quietly, making Elin wonder if he was trying to keep it low key, despite the fact that everyone was watching him.

Elmo studied whatever information he could see for a moment before turning to Elwin, holding out his hand for something, though Elin suspected that he was trying to move on to the next item without letting the rest of them know what he found out about that staff.

"Come on!" Bart called out, sounding as annoyed as Elwin had looked when he was creating problems. "You didn't tell us what you found out about the staff!"

Elmo paused in his reaching for the next item he had his sights on that Elwin held and sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. "The staff increases whatever power its wielder puts into it by 5 percent as well as increasing its range by an additional ten feet, when it has range restrictions. Happy now?"

Bart nodded, looking rather satisfied with himself, though it wasn't clear as to why he seemed so satisfied with himself. Not that Elin really cared.

Elmo then returned his attention to what he'd been wanting Elwin t hand over next. Which Elwin handed over almost immediately, his expression a mix of hope and excitement.

"Identify," Elmo said almost the moment he touched the armor. Then he looked in the middle of the air for a moment before adding, "While not made of steel, it has the same hardness of it and weighs a quarter of what a steel breastplate would weigh, it also can create a barrier that prevents all physical attacks from getting through for five minutes once a day, and it provides twice the armor protection that a normal breastplate offers."

Elin didn't really follow all of that, but Elwin certainly seemed impressed with it, as shown by how excited he was getting. Even as he handed over the sword that he'd acquired and planned to have as his back-up sword. A decision that Elin suspected he might change in a minute or two.

"Identify," Elmo said as he put his hand on the flat part of the blade of the sword, clearly being careful to avoid touching either side as both sides did look especially sharp to Elin.

After a minute of looking at whatever popped up in front of him, Elmo said, "The sword has an ice attribute, that will activate whenever it strikes anything living. The cold damage it deals depends on how much contact the sword had with whatever creature it struck and how long the contact lasted. It protects the wielder from extreme cold temperatures, but it also makes the wielder take more damage from fire. Then, it also has the ability to summon two Giant icicles, like Kim's sword, per month."

Elmo took his hand away from the sword, though he then shook his hand and rubbed it, as if it felt like it had suddenly become cold. Though, Elin wasn't sure if that was the effect of the sword or Elmo's imagination. Either one could be correct as far as she knew. Though, she suspected that it was an effect of the sword more than anything else.

Next, Owen held out the intricately carved bow. It was made out of wood, but didn't show signs of aging, so Elin was confident that it was magical in some way and she was pretty sure that Owen suspected that as well.

"Identify," Elmo said, sounding bored already as he touched the bow. Then as he looked at the air in front of him again, he continued, "This bow can shoot out a magical arrow that will be guaranteed to hit its target, though the damage will depend on the stats of the user, three times a day. Other than that, it can infuse arrows you shoot with it with an electric element that will either cause electric damage or have a chance to stun whatever it hits."

Elmo sighed and looked around. Was there anything else he asked, looking like he was ready to just leave right then and there.

"Just the bag of books," Patricia said, holding them up, though with how Elmo looked, she wondered if he was deliberately trying to avoid 'identifying' them himself. She wasn't sure herself about that, but that's what it looked like to her.

In the end, Elmo took the bag and said, sounding rather tired, "Identify."

What he saw when he looked into the air in front of him, however, seemed to bring him fully back to life. "Uh, apparently the books aren't magical, " Elmo reported. "The bag itself keeps things inside it from being aged, even through mold and mildew."

"How would you know?" Elwin asked, almost like he was challenging Elmo on what he knew about using his spells. "You only touched the bag."

Elmo, however sighed as he shook his head and turned towards Elwin. "I know they aren't because when I identified the bag it indicated what it held and that the books weren't magical themselves or even magic books."

"Then why the hell would they have them with them?" Elwin snapped, looking like he was about to burst a blood vessel.

Elmo merely shook his head. "I have no idea. Just that they were here. I don't know anything more than you do about them."

"Whatever the reason, we might as well take them with us," Jonas commented. "From what I've heard, games like the ones mentioned before also would provide useless items like those books to be used for other things."

Elmo blinked, making Elin wonder what was going through his head. His expression had changed to the point it seemed like he was likely thinking something completely wrong and was getting excited about it.

"You've played those games before?" Elmo asked, confirming Elin's suspicions.

Jonas, however looked blankly at Elmo. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied calmly. "I only heard about that from kids whom I was supposed to be guarding sometimes. Nothing else. I've never had time for games like that.

The crushed look on Elmo's face as a result made Elin want to hug him and try to cheer him up, but before she could, Jonas had pulled Elmo into a hug.

"Don't expect this that often," Jonas informed Elmo, like he was doing something incredibly uncomfortable, or even embarrassing. Elin wasn't sure which it was, but wouldn't be surprised if it was both for Jonas.

With the way Jonas was holding Elmo, Elin couldn't see his face, but she could see that his body relaxed and leaned in towards Jonas.

"Uh, let's give them the room," Elwin said, clearly getting uncomfortable with how much Elmo seemed to react to Jonas' embrace. "We might not have much time if this escalates any further."

"Probably a good idea," Kim agreed. "I haven't been able to get a read on those two, so who knows if this might lead to 'something more' or not."

Elin wasn't sure exactly what Kim meant by 'something more,' but she had enough of an idea herself that sticking around to find out didn't seem that appealing. Besides, she figured that they'd taken a look at the lair and so should continue on their way. Like they'd planned on.

Though, leaving Jonas and Elmo probably weren't that big of a deal, since she was sure they'd be able to catch up quickly enough. Though, how long that might be before they started, was anyone's guess. As even Bart seemed to have picked up on what might be likely to occur between those two in a few minutes and with Jonas, Elin wouldn't be surprised if he didn't care if anyone was around to see.

When they reached the entrance to the lair, Elin noticed that the others had stopped at the entrance. She didn't want to complain, but it was inconvenient for them to block the entrance like that. Especially when they were supposed to be heading out already.

"That doesn't look good," Kim commented, pointing towards a point in the sky that Elin couldn't see, making her feel rather annoyed. Whatever it was, she was certain that it wasn't a reason to be blocking the entrance to the hydra's lair!