Amanda wouldn't stop until Robert's bank account hit the negatives, and then she might make him take a loan. Her enthusiasm knew no restraints.

"Now, weapons! You use a sword, obviously. Any other weapon with which you are proficient?"

"I don't claim to be proficient with the sword either," Robert said. "But I sometimes play with a spear."

"Great. They have an excellent beginner sword here... where is it? Oh, there, on that shelf!"

She dragged him to a wall rack covered in swords from top to bottom. They all had minor differences between them, from the size of the cross guard, the length of the hilt, the gem in the pommel, and the blade length and thickness.

As confusion swirled in his eyes, the clerk returned. "Try them out, see which one is a better fit for your strength and style."

The two women gave him some space. Robert started to take the swords out of the rack, give each a few test swings, then returned them to their place. Several of them were okay but given the prices he saw under each blade; they were too expensive to stop at okay. He kept trying them out, until one of them clicked.

It was a long and broad blade, sharpened to a ridiculously thin edge, balanced around three-quarters of the blade. It wasn't meant to stab even though it could do that. The blade's weight and higher center mass made it a cutting tool, designed to slice the flesh, and sever limbs. And yet the blade seemed too delicate for chopping living beings.

Robert gave it a few test swings, the sword merrily whistling as it cut the air. It was so sharp he was afraid he'd maim someone by accident if he didn't handle the weapon with utmost respect. And yet, it felt like an extension of his arm. Puzzled, his eyes met the clerk's.

"Isn't this blade too thin? Will it hold an edge?"

"It wouldn't but for the fact this is not ordinary steel. The metal is extraordinarily hard to chip and has some Water affinity to it. if it gets bent or deformed from striking something too hard, the metal will naturally flow back to its original shape. Not to mention the runes engraved on the weapon. Here, self-repair, hardness, sharpening, and essence storage. This weapon will serve you without fault for years to come,"

As she explained the clerk took the sheath from behind the rack. Robert accepted it and sheathed the sword.

"Follow me."

They went to the back and into a room with a hydraulic press shaped like a V. She took the sword and mounted it in a vise, with the blade suspended between the arms of the V.

"Esteemed guests, please let us get behind the safety barrier, please."

They did. The clerk turned the press on, causing the blade to bend in the middle, then shatter cleanly into two pieces. Robert held his breath. Was she insane? Why destroy a perfectly good weapon? Was there some trick? Was it some sort of prank?

Donning some leather gloves, the clerk went and picked up the pieces. She pressed them together and sent some essence of her own into the sword. "Now, don't mistake this for some special ability of mine. Anyone with the ability to manipulate essence can do this." When she stopped, she let go of the tip and the sword now looked whole. She sheathed it back and returned the weapon to Robert. "You won't find the seam."

Robert unsheathed the blade two-thirds of the way and examined the metal. True to her words, he couldn't see the spot where it broke even though he was sure where it should be to an inch of precision.

"How much for this sword?" He asked.

"Eigh—"

"Half a million," Amanda chirped. "After factoring all the discounts."

The resigned clerk nodded in agreement. After that they bought a boar spear, perfect for hunting monsters because the prongs on either side stopped the monster from pushing forward impaling themselves in the spear. Its two-foot blade and prongs were the same metal as the sword, and the haft was a gorgeous black wood from some passage. The wood was as strong and flexible as a steel pipe but didn't conduct vibrations. It meant that no matter how strong the impact at the blade was, the spear would remain steadfast in Robert's hands. Furthermore, the spear had a spatial compression rune that allowed the weapon to shrink to half lengthwise. It made the weapon so much more portable with the drawback that it couldn't go into his storage ring.

The final item they bought was a backpack of holding. It had the same runes Robert now considered the bare minimum for his equipment, and the space expansion was four times in each direction, to a total of sixty-four times the volume. It only divided the weight by eight, though. The clerk said it was hardly an issue for Archhumans since almost all of them enjoyed some sort of enhanced strength. The exception was those in the weightless affinity category, like Light, Shadow, Void, and so on. Not even Air affinity made that list, as air had weight and strength to it. The hefty hiking backpack had a forty-liter capacity, expanded to two and a half cubic meters.

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His last purchase was a camping kit for passage delvers with practically everything a delver needed to survive in the field, from shelter to cooking, harvesting, storing monster parts, climbing, first aid, heating, and even diving underwater. Some passages led to water-filled realms with no air. Amanda also bought one of these for herself, using some of Robert's new backpack space rent-free.

Robert left the shop another two million poorer. And he couldn't shake the feeling these over-generous discounts were subsidies. Just like the clothes, the shop would deliver the weapons and equipment to Amanda's address. Once they knew where Robert would live, she could redirect the deliveries to his place.

But he felt awesome. Geared in top-notch stuff, what couldn't he accomplish? Daydreaming in delusions of grandeur, he only noticed they had reached their next destination when a pungent smell assaulted his nostrils.

"Ashflaking Trading Company?" He read the sign. it depicted a majestic tree with black trunk and red leaves sitting atop a snowy peak, against the rising sun. The tree had a giant demonic eye coming from a vertical slit in its trunk. "Ash... flaking?"

"Yeah. It's a tempering and medicinal supplements shop. Oh, you've never used a tempering bath, did you?"

"No. Not really."

"Well, the name is because when you leave their baths, you will feel like a burning ember with ash flaking off of you."

"That sounds painful," Robert winced.

"People who think that are the ones who didn't do enough body tempering. it doesn't only sound painful. It is painful."

She ushered him inside. An Asian woman in traditional clothes approached.

"Young master, young mistress, welcome!"

They were into roleplaying in this shop. The ambiance was very well-thought of. The music was soothing, and now that he got used to it, the smells weren't so strong.

"Hello, Stella. This is Robert, he is looking for a year of medicinal baths for tempering."

Stella nodded and bowed. "Yes, master Diana can surely create the perfect concoction for young master Robert. We just need to know his affinities."

"That won't be a problem."

Robert raised an eyebrow, then sent a suspicious glance at Amanda. She let her smile dissolve.

"Robert. My father will trust you with my life. That's what means to be my bodyguard. I know you have dozens of secrets; we don't intend to pry. But can you at least trust our intentions? We are not trying to make you a slave like those crazy blood cultists. This is a honest job. Now, you can keep silent about your third affinity. It's fine. You can also tell it to Stella in private. I don't mind."

The way she said made Robert believe she minded it very much. But she was right. Their relationship was a business one. It was all give and take. And right now, Robert had a thing he wanted to take.

"I'll tell you if you promise me to find all the information on it. Some spells, techniques, and even a tempering method, if you can."

The smile came back as easily as it went. Robert adjusted his assessment of Amanda's personality.

"Wait," she said as his words sank in. "Your third affinity is so rare you found nothing on it?"

"Not even the ATA—" Robert clamped his pie trap shut.

Amanda waved Stella away. Alone in the shop, her eyes gleamed as she stared at him. "You must tell me what it is."

"Void."

Amanda blinked. She laughed. "Nice try. Void. I didn't know you could lie with such a straight face."

"I'm not," Robert deadpanned.

"I've never heard of it. I wasn't even aware it was a thing. You inquired the ATA about the affinity and they produced nothing?"

"I don't remember the exact words but they said they couldn't provide me with anything. It was probably too expensive for them."

She shook her head. "Did they give you a quote?"

"No."

Amanda paced around the shop. "Okay. I believe you. Void. That's either awesome or creepy. I can't decide."

"It can be both."

"Did you even find a void wisp?"

"Yes, I know how to find them. They are scarcer than Time wisps but I can get by."

She rang a bell, summoning Stella back. "Yes, young mistress?"

"We need a private consultation with master Diana."

*

*

They had to wait for about five minutes but eventually sat face-to-face with the raven-haired master of the shop. The room had colorful hanging fabrics hiding every spot of the walls. Some floating crystals provided mood lighting and burning incense sticks filled it with a soothing aroma. Diana was sitting on a silk pillow. She gestured for them to take the other two empty ones. Amanda sat first, with her legs crossed. Robert imitated her.

Amanda spent a few minutes explaining Robert's affinities.

"Void," the woman played with the word in her mouth. "That's a dangerous affinity. Tell me, Mr. Blaze. Do you have any shells for that affinity?"

"An incomplete one."

"Did you get wounded when you used it?"

"Yes, I did," he rubbed his right hand.

"At least you can heal yourself. Take extreme care. The void is a very potent but dangerous affinity."

Robert just nodded. He knew how dangerous the void was but telling her that wouldn't help his case.

"Can you help him?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, I can. it won't be cheap, though."

Amanda shrugged. "That's not an issue. I'll even pay half of his tempering."

"You don't have to—"

"It's an investment, Robert," she replied with her business voice and a faint undertone of anger. "The stronger you are, the greater the risks my father and my great-grandmother will allow me to take. And with greater risks come faster growth. I'm not spending a decade just to reach two stars safely. Not to mention that if you get stronger, you'll get a raise. We both win."

He just nodded. "I'm in your hands, master Diana."

"Good. Do you have tempering techniques for your other two affinities?" Diana asked.

"I have lavi flows, vitae infusion, and chronal shear."

"How is your progress in the latter two?"

"I'm still working on vitae infusion and hadn't yet tried chronal shear."

Diana nodded. "A wise choice. Here's what I want you to do. You have a month to evolve lavi flows into something useful or discard it. During this time, I want you to finish vitae infusion in your whole body. it's annoying but it won't kill you. After you become so proficient with vitae infusion that you can use it in your whole body in a single session, you may start with chronal shear. Go slowly and only start with that one a month from now. After you finish chronal shear, which should take at least two months – I can't stress how important it is to take it slow enough – then you'll start with the tempering baths for all three affinities of yours."

"Three months?" Amanda asked. "Can't you hurry it?"

"No. Void-infused herbs and monster flesh is extremely hard to come by. I don't have any here in my shop, I'll have to outsource and the suppliers will most probably need to harvest it in the wild as they won't have it either. And I'll need six hundred thousand dollars up front. Half of the treatment's cost."

"Money is not an issue," Amanda stated.