"Forget amazing," Louie interrupted. "Think of how useful this is going to be if we're to find this elemental and have it attack the dragon."
"It seems like a very specific gift," I said, and looked at Leo.
"What are you looking at me for?" he said defensively. "I only reported the truth. I didn't have any say in the gift selection process. In fact, I had no idea there were going to be any gifts."
"Will I even be able to use them?" I asked him. "They're B grade. I don't think I even know when one gets B-grade mastery."
"It's at level 52," Rory said, looking very annoyed at our non-stop conversation that had to be carried out more loudly than the plane's engines. "And yes, ye can use them. It's just equipment of higher grades ye can't use. Magic items are fine."
"Then they're definitely going to come in useful," I said, but was interrupted by Louie's excited yapping.
"Look at mine! Look at mine!" Louie shouted in between barks, once he had retrieved his own gift from the significantly smaller wooden box.
Item: Freedom of Movement Collar
Type: Magic Item
Durability: 9500/9500
Rarity: C Grade
Weight: 12st.
Description: This collar has been crafted from the powerful leather of a cockatrix. These creatures are worshipped as the personification of flight and constantly changing one's position, some even going as far as claiming that these flying beasts never land, sleeping while floating in the air and exploding into flames when their natural time to die finally comes. The wearers of items made from their leather are able to move above any terrain without being impeded by it. Additionally, elementary floating movements are also possible without the need to cast the necessary spell or concentrate on maintaining it.
"Finally, I can go up stupid stairs and jump up on sofas without having to cast a spell," Louie said enthusiastically. "Put it on me, Alex! Put it on me!"
I did as he bid me and he floated upward immediately. He wasn't exactly levitating, since he was able to move in any direction he wanted but he wasn't flying either. His movements reminded me a lot of the way UFOs moved in B-movies or cartoons.
"Does that mean you can fly and cast spells at the same time?" I asked.
"It seems like it," Louie said, as he landed back on his seat. "I don't have to worry about not being able to heal you while levitating."
"Hey that's not fair," Leo protested. "I don't have anything like that."
"Why didn't ye get one yerself?" Rory said, still doing his best to forget that we were about to take off.
"I hadn't thought about it really," Leo confessed, "and I didn't know we had anything like this in the guild warehouse."
"Leo," I started as the light that signified we should remain seated and buckle up lit up, "your father said something about resurrection insurance. Is there such a thing?"
"There is," he replied, "but it's extremely expensive."
"How does it work?" Louie asked.
"You get a specific tracker," he explained. "Kinda like a GPS, only there are different tiers. Simple ones work only in this plane, more expensive ones in multiple planes or in places where magic has a hard time piercing through or conditions are rough in general."
"Okay, so suppose I get this tracker..." I interrupted. "Do people monitor my health and come to heal me?"
"No, that's an entirely different service. Resurrection insurance covers death only. If you die--like you're actually not breathing and your heart has stopped beating--this tracker will send a signal to the insurance company. Depending on your insurance plan, a healer or a whole party with multiple healers will be mobilized to save you. The cheapest plan includes a healer teleporting to your location, as long as teleportation is possible and there are minimal environmental dangers, and they'll bring you back to life before leaving again."
"What if I'm surrounded by enemies?" I asked. "Would they help me fight them?"
"No, that's not part of the job," Leo replied. "At least not under the cheapest options."
"So they'll just bring me back to life and let me be killed again?" I said, confused. "Won't they just need to come and resurrect me again?"
"I'm not an insurance broker, but I think the cheapest plan only covers something like one death per quarter."
"Well, that's not good!" Louie exclaimed. "What about more expensive plans?"
"If you've got the money, you can do pretty much anything you want," he said, looking out of the circular window of the plane. "You can have whole parties of B-grade people come to pick up your body, teleport you out of trouble, and resurrect you with minimal losses to your XP. And XP penalties can really hurt at higher levels, you know. You may lose years of XPing."
"But if someone attacks me and I kill them," I said, thinking of a possible loophole in this whole insurance thing, "and someone comes to resurrect them, what stops me from attacking that person as well?"
"Oh, ye don't want to attack insurance people, lad," Rory said loudly. "Better attack a reaper coming to claim a soul than someone from an insurance company."
"Yes, nobody messes with them," Leo agreed. "It's like trying to heist a shipment from the Dark Energy Marketplace. You can certainly try it but it's pretty much suicide. Insurance companies deal swiftly with these kinds of issues. Anyway, parties that fight for you in case you die are just too expensive, even for someone like my father. Especially considering the cheapest of insurance plans costs in the billions."
"Billions?" I shouted in surprise. "With a 'B'? Are they crazy? Who pays that type of money."
"Oh, I don't know, Alex," Leo replied as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "People who don't want to die and can afford to make sure of it?"
"Well, I definitely can't afford it," I said. "What about you, Rory? Have you ever
