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Commission for Smoky

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Infinite Mana

By holodrom

It was tough work keeping a shop stocked for wandering adventurers and protagonists. The mysterious cultist in the hooded robes carried a small oil lamp in their hands as they lit the candles around their shop to illuminate it while waiting for the light of dawn to stream through the windows. One by one the candles pushed the dark back into the corners of the shop, giving them some light to work with.

The light in their hands did nothing to illuminate the shadowy circle of their face, nor did the light from the candles. Only their round nose and two bright eyes were visible under the hood. Once the candles were lit, Hardlight went about getting the shop in order. They unpacked boxes of basic supplies to set on display tables; health potions, ammunition, your basic bulk consumables.

Rare items went on shelves behind the register, making them tougher to steal. Hardlight bent down to unpack boxes of rare items from the floor, and one by one they reached up to set them on shelves overhead.

WHAM

"OUCH!" Hardlight yelped as they stood up and bonked their head on the bottom of a low shelf that displayed some of the rare wares. The shelf leaped out of its holders and tossed all of the objects across the store before the wooden shelf itself crashed to the floor at Hardlight's feet.

The shopkeep grumbled and rubbed their head as they scowled at the many scattered objects before sighing and beginning to set everything in order. They still had some time before the shop opened. They started by hoisting the plank of the shelf up over their head and setting it back into its holders. Once it was steady, they began to sweep up everything on the floor into their arms, using the oversized sleeves of their orange parka to gather everything together. They piled the objects on top of the countertop, right next to their register and a complimentary candy bowl.

They plucked a small decorative pin in the shape of a shield from the pile and set it up on the shelf before fishing out its matching tag that listed its effect and price in a few different popular currencies. Next up was a few pouches of assorted rare ammunition for ranged weapons. After that, an overpriced, gold-plated vanity weapon that had no advantages over the basic form other than looking cooler.

Those always sold well.

They had almost everything back in order, aside from a single display stand for a small item that they couldn't recall. The price tag he had for it read "Infinite Mana Orb (Cheat Item) 9999 Gold" but as he scratched his head through the hood of his vibrant parka he couldn't for the life of him remember what it looked like.

Hardlight shrugged. It would turn up sooner or later. He didn't have time to go looking under the tables and counters before opening shop for the day. He took his mind off the missing item by grabbing a handful of small hard candies from the bowl on the countertop and popping them into his mouth one at a time. They disappeared into the dark void of his hooded face.

The candies were small things. Round little marbles of hardened but brittle sugar that were hollow on the inside, encouraging you to bite down on them. He chomped down on them, enjoying the flavors. Cherry. Lemon. Blue Raspberry.

Crrrrunch.

The flavor of that one was weird, but Hardlight barely had any time to process that thought before they felt their head swelling atop their shoulders. Their thick orange hood stretched to contain their ballooning skull as their almost featureless face pushed forward. They could feel massive pulses of energy blasting out of the cracked surface of the candy they bit, filling their head with energized vapors. By the time they tried to spit it out the candy was wedged under the side of their tongue, and their bloating, expanding features robbed them of the dexterity necessary to remove it from under their tongue.

Their growing head bumped the shelf they'd just reset and made it tumble again. Everything fell and bounced off the top of their head, and a single label fluttered past their widening eyes and landed on the countertop in front of the. "Infinite Mana Orb." They realized immediately that the candy they just bit wasn't a candy at all. It was the cheat item they had up for sale, a small and starry little marble of an item that blended in with the rest of the hard candies when it had bounced into the bowl the first time she shelf was knocked over.

"Mpphh hhmmhp!!" Hardlight bobbled around their shop, trying to find something in their inventory that could get them out of this situation. Their head knocked against the walls every time they took a step, and their face bounced against the floor when they leaned forward to pick something up. HP Plus? Nope! Double Strike? Useless! Accuracy Boost? Come on! They began to regret not carrying any status effect blockers, not that they imagined there was anything to prevent the "blimp head" affliction.