The store inventory was split into three tabs: All Items, Weapons, and Armor. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for, but I wasn’t jazzed on the idea of squishing anymore mobs with my bare hands - that had gotten old immediately. So I went to the weapons tab and started perusing.
There was pretty much every weapon type you could imagine - short of magic based weapons like wands. I saw swords of numerous types - straight swords, two-handed swords, scimitars, and even a rapier. I wasn’t sure about the usefulness of a sword as thin as a rapier against the hulking gorilla I had encountered, but maybe they suited the rogue class abilities or something. There were also various axes, bows, crossbows, daggers, and primitive guns. All of the weapons were of the same variety: [Common]. But that was fine with me. I imagined my insane stats would compensate. I mean, judging by what my bare hands had done, I assumed a full power swing of a [Great Axe] would cleave any level 40s in half. I would need to hit up a major city at some point to get max-level gear before I took on any truly tough opponents, but this stuff should hold me over until that point.
I hadn’t known what to expect when I walked into the shop, but I had an idea of what I wanted. Something with range that would allow me to hold enemies at bay, and cleave through multiple mobs at once. Not getting soaked in gore was a nice side benefit.
I immediately discounted the swords. I had never been a fan of the traditional sword-wielding hero, and other than the knives, they would all require me to be fairly close to the enemy. I did think about the bows and guns for a minute, but managing ammo wasn’t very appealing to me. I bought one of each anyway. Hey, it wasn’t my gold. The two items transferred to my inventory immediately, along with 500 of each type of ammo.
*****
[Long Bow] (Common)
Attack: 57 - 72
Attack Speed: 1.2/s Base (Modified by Dex)
Durability: 40/40
Req. Level: 42
Req. Dex: 60
Range: 40 meters
Simple long bow. The most common ranged weapon. Pull, aim, fire.
*****
*****
[Flintlock Rifle] (Common)
Attack: 86 - 120
Attack Speed: 0.8/s Base (Modified by Dex)
Durability: 40/40
Req. Level: 42
Req. Dex: 60
Range: 40 meters
Simple flintlock rifle. This weapon is one of the most basic contraptions of the Goblin Technocracy movement. Automatically loaded, simply pull back the hammer, aim, fire.
*****
I stored those away. Maybe they would be useful later for pulling individual mobs, or picking off mobs that I couldn’t reach. Better to be prepared for anything. The next thing I bought, I imagined, would be my main weapon for now. It was a [Poleaxe] - also common rarity. But it was the highest range melee weapon, and also had one of the highest DPS ranges of the melee weapons. It was two-handed, so I couldn’t wield a shield, but I bought a simple [Straight Sword] in case I changed my mind and wanted to do a more sword and board style of play.
*****
[Poleaxe] (Common)
Attack: 99 - 144
Attack Speed: 0.6/s Base (Modified by Str and Dex)
Durability: 80/80
Req. Level: 42
Req. Str: 60
Req. Dex: 45
Range: 2 meters
A long pole…with an axe at the end. That’s it, it’s in the name.
*****
I immediately equipped the [Poleaxe] and it appeared in my hands. I almost dropped it at first, so taken aback by the size of the weapon. As the description said, it was about 2 meters long, with a single-sided axe at the top. The blade was probably a foot and a half, and was a simple crescent shape. It was unwieldy inside the small NPC shop, and I mentally sheathed it. Rather than unequipping the weapon, it teleported from my hands and attached to my back. I looked over my shoulder, but there didn’t seem to be any harness or sheath holding it in place. I also noticed that the weapon had a ghostly texture to it, like it was incorporeal. As I turned back to the shop menu, the blade at the top passed through a set of tools hanging from the ceiling, like it was the ghost of the weapon rather than the actual weapon. I realized that this was a convenience mechanism, so that players’ weapons didn’t scrape and collide with objects when sheathed. I mentally unsheathed and sheathed the weapon a few times to get used to the feeling of the weapon essentially teleporting to and from my hands. When I was done experimenting, I turned back to the shop menu and clicked the Armor tab.
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There was no leather armor here - I assumed that would be found at a different shop. But there was an entire set of matching plate armor, and a matching set of mail armor. I initially thought about maximizing my defenses and getting the plate armor, but the weight and ungainly nature of the plate made me second guess. If I had been wearing that when I was attacked in the lagoon, I’m pretty sure I would have died. So I went with the full set of mail armor. The defense values were about half the plate armor, but so was the weight. I equipped the full set. There was no mirror in the shop, but I was able to pull up my character sheet to see my full stats and a rotating avatar of my character. I manually rotated the character around, and noted that I looked much less like a [Damsel]. Obviously, anyone inspecting me would see the [Damsel] identifier, but from a distance, I would look like just another player.
The shop actor patiently waited for me to finish checking out my new gear before speaking. “If you would like to buy the accompanying weapon tactics, the shop next door can accommodate you.”
“Oh? What’s that?” I asked.
“Weapon tactics are skill books that you can learn if you meet certain requirements,” he answered. “When you activate them, a specter appears in your vision, moving through useful movements of the given weapon. They’re used for training that weapon type, and if you follow the movements closely, your skill in that weapon will increase. It’s not as fast as actually fighting with that weapon,” he added, “but it’s certainly safer.”
That was intriguing. A way to level up my skills without risking my life was just what I needed. I thanked him and left the shop. The whole set of weapons and armor had only cost me 200 gold, given that they were just basic [Common] rarity items. But my inventory was filling up with the extra weapons, so I made a mental note to find some inventory expanding bags when I got a chance.
As the actor had said, the next door shop was a weapon’s skill shop, and I went right in. The familiar look in the shopkeeper’s eyes told me an actor had just appeared in the NPC’s body.
“Hello there,” I said with a wave. “I’m looking for some weapon skills.”
The actor gave me a strange look, and I internally sighed. I would have to get used to that, I realized. There was no getting around my [Damsel] class, no matter how I dressed it up. But the actor recovered after a moment. “Why, yes! You’ve come to the right place. Take a look at what I have to offer.”
A familiar shop inventory appeared in my vision. There were maybe a dozen skill books in the shop, and nothing else. They were significantly more expensive than the armor and weapons had been, but well within my price range.
“Is there any limitation on how many weapon skills I can learn?” I asked the shopkeeper.
“No, you can theoretically own every weapon skill available, and switch them on or off as you desire.”
Well, that settled it then. I promptly purchased all dozen of the skill books, handing over nearly 2000 gold. My inventory was almost full now, the books taking up nearly a third of my available space. But I mentally clicked on each of the books, learning them right away. Opening the skills sub-menu of my character sheet, I saw that I now had a dozen level 1 weapon tactics skills.
I gave the shopkeeper a friendly wave and turned to go. “Thanks for the-”
A sharp pain cracked me in the back of the skull, and my body went rigid, my limbs not responding.
You have been incapacitated by [Blackjack Surprise Attack]!
(Broken by damage)
30 seconds…
The text appeared right in the center of my vision, along with the timer counting down from 30 seconds. The pain was blinding, and I struggled to see who or what had hit me. My body wouldn’t respond, but I saw the shopkeeper’s eyes go wide.
A figure materialized directly in front of me.
“Well, well, well…who let the little damsel out of her cage?”