*groan* 'Are these for real? 20 Bronze Coins for a single iron sword? 35 for a spear? I barely have 20 Copper Coins... What a bloody pain...' Soren commented inwardly, as he checked on the prices for the weapons on display, even though there were barely any weapons, let alone any armor. Despite their prices though, he had to admit that all of the displayed weapons looked very formidable and with one wrong move, he could easily end up tearing off his own limbs. In the end though, he left the blacksmith's shop as quietly as he entered it, even though no one was inside the shop. He did consider trying to steal one, but the weapons were covered with a solid cover, making it impossible to take them.
After leaving the blacksmith's empty shop, Soren slowly made his way towards the alchemist's shop and unlike a nearly barren shop, he was met with racks, filled with green, blue and yellow potion bottles, all neatly organized by their colors.
"Oh...? You must be the new kid around the settlement." An old lady spoke in a kind manner, as she beckoned him to arrive near the counter.
"Uh... How did you know I was new around here? And kid? I'm only 25. I may be young, but I'm no kid either."
"To me all youngsters are kids these days. Besides, you kids let out some of the loudest screams the old lady has ever heard and yours is no exception! Hee hee hee..." The old lady explained joyfully with a hearty laugh, before she put on a serious expression. "So, you'll buy anything or just stand around like a headless chicken?"
"Mostly just checking the settlement and prices for now, since I'll need to get acquainted with the whole... place. By the way, are there any collection spots or anything of the sorts near the settlement?" Soren asked calmly, as he needed find ways to grind materials for potions, since he would need an ample supply of them for his future party excursions with his friends.
"For the potions here, you'll need 10 Copper Coins for the Trainee's Health Potions, 30 for their Basic version and 1 bronze or 100 Coppers for Intermediate. For Mana potions, 25 Coppers for Trainee's and 75 for Basic and for Stamina potions, 20 Coppers for their Trainee's version, 60 for the Basic version and 2 Bronze coins or 200 Coppers for their Intermediate versions. As for collection spots, they're about everywhere in the entire forest. Just have a keen eye and trust me, you'll have more plants in your bags than you could ever care for. Hehehe..."
"Uh... Thank you very much miss..."
"Just call me Manny. I don't want you to start treating me like I've got my feet in the grave. I may look like this, but remember that as I'm still as energetic a Cockatrice in its mating season."
"Alright. Thank you miss Manny for the-"
"Just Manny."
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"Thank you... Manny..." Soren responded in an awkward manner, before leaving the shop and tried to slowly get rid of the awkward feeling inside of him, before making his way into the Hunter's Guild to accept his next two missions.
"Hopping Rabbit Hunt" Quest has been accepted.
Description: The Hunter's Guild requests any local hunter to hunt these rabbits, for their food and pelts. Be aware of their bites and crushing dives. The reward depends on the condition of the meat and pelts.
Task: Hunt Hopping Rabbits: 0
"Lazy Squires Hunt" Quest has been accepted.
Description: The Hunter's Guild requests any local hunter to kill the Lazy Squires, since they tend to trigger and destroy all of the traps for food in their own marked territories. In case of an emergency, always retreat since they'll never pursue you, even in their own territories.
Task: Hunt Lazy Squires: 0
After accepting the missions, Soren left the settlement and started wandering around the area near the settlement for any lone targets, before trying to hunt deeper into the forest, since he had no prior knowledge of the wandering enemies. It wasn't before long that an enemy appeared, but it was a Lone Vermin and didn't bother killing it, since he had no reason to hunt it and hadn't seen him yet, so he could get away without any problems and continue his hunt unimpeded.
After wandering around for a little longer, Soren found, what he could assume, one of his hunt targets. The creature in front of him looked like a small hand-knit doll with small beady eyes, holding stick the height of its own body and wearing some sort of metallic costume. Although the little doll looked harmless, Soren could tell that the doll as anything but that, since one of its hands was locked on its stick and its eyes had been locked with his, as the two of them were engaged in their own staredown.
It wouldn't last long though, as the moment Soren blinked, the doll charged immediately and brandished its stick vertically, while Soren brought the sword in front of him to block the initial attack charge. The result was equal, as the two of them pushed each other a few centimeters away, but the doll immediately charged once more towards a nearby tree and jumped from branch to branch, before jumping towards Soren and attacking with a somersault. During their second exchange, the doll ended up breaking through his guard, allowing it to strike Soren on his chest and sending him away a couple of meters away.
"Gaah! F*ck... Got to get away first!" Soren yelled out in pain, as he ran away as fast as his own feet could carry him, before stopping right outside the settlement and collapsing on the ground from the fatigue and rubbing his aching chest to check on his damage.
"F*ck me... That has to be a broken rib or something." Soren commented painfully, before opening his status and seeing that he had only 3 Health Points left.
'There's no way I'd be able to take two hits, if one hit from that doll nearly sent me to my death. Thank god it didn't pursue me, but maybe I should try to avoid them for now.' Soren thought to himself, as he sat down to let his health to slowly recover for around ten minutes, before making his way back into the forest, albeit a lot more vigilant than before. It wouldn't take long to find an enemy, since he found the same doll as before.
In a similar manner as before, the doll performed the same first strike as before, but rather than just blocking it, Soren also brandished his as sword to parry its initial strike. The result of the clash was the doll's loss, since it was sent flying a couple of meters away and nearly lost its balance once it landed on the ground, allowing Soren to get a free attack on it and send it flying towards a tree. While the doll was flying, he immediately rushed towards it and once it crashed on the tree, he pierced the doll's chest with his sword and stuck it in the tree, while doll desperately flailed to escape, before its black beady eyes slowly turned into white, as it laid motionless in front of him.
"Holy f*cking hell... That was way harder than the bloody rats..." Soren commented weakly, as his body collapsed from the sudden drop in tension and stared at the tree-covered sky and a feeling satisfaction enveloped him, since he defeated his first real-life fantasy monster, even if it was just a kid's doll that had the capability to send him into the grave.