Chapter 7
We wasted no more time and set out in search of the weapon and armor shops. The city was growing busier as the morning progressed, and I would check the stats of wielders as we passed them. However, the information my crystal would give was limited, so it did not grant me any advantage in learning what armor to look for. I would have to wing it and do what seems sensible once I see our options.
We stopped at the weapon shop first, a short dark wood structure wedged between two massive stone buildings on either side. Upon stepping in, we found hundreds of weapons to choose from. The ones displayed throughout the aisles seemed lower quality than those behind the counters, and taking a look at the price tags confirmed this was likely the case.
The cheapest weapons could be purchased for 50 copper pieces, these were the daggers and knuckles. There were also simple swords similar to the ones aboard the ship, that could be purchased for a single silver coin. I looked amongst these and the more expensive ones, but had no way to determine their intrinsic value.
I went over to the shopkeeper who was standing behind the counter, while Alura and Chris ventured around, browsing their options as well.
“Excuse me,” I said, “Can you tell me the difference between this sword and that one?” I pointed at the cheapest and then one that was a few tiers higher. The weapons behind him were beautiful, some imbued with gold and jewels. One glance at their price tags showed they were far out of our price range.
The shopkeeper smirked, glancing down at my crystal. “You’re a wielder, so just use check stats and see for yourself.”
“I see. Thank you,” I said, deciding to ignore his condescending tone. We were new, there would be some simple things we were unaware of, but I supposed I’d just have to accept looking like a fool on occasion.
I compared my current sword to the cheapest I could find, and found they were identical.
Adventurer Sword
Atk: 35
Weight: medium
Skills: none
–Requirements–
None
Skills? Out of curiosity, I checked the stats of a weapon on display behind the counter with a price tag of 149 gold.
Hell Scourge
Atk: 4300
Fire: +3200
Weight: medium
--Skills--
Inferno, Asunder,
Crit-up (passive)
–Requirements–
Dex: 40
Str: 40
Mag: 35
It seemed some weapons naturally came with elements, though that may have been useless with my chosen class once I’ve gained the ability to imbue weapons. Or, could a weapon hold two elements at once? Would there be a situation where that was effective? I would have to consult the guide further, or ask Leon.
I looked over some more weapons, deciding we should keep a bankroll of 15 silver pieces, meaning that each of the three of us could spend around 28. Another thought occurred to me: could we resell our weapons and armor for a similar value to the purchase price? A 10 or 20 percent markdown would be acceptable.
I eventually decided on a sword that cost 5 silver.
Squire sword
Atk: 110
Weight: medium
Skills: Pierce
–Requirements–
Str: 15
I was unsure what the skill “pierce“ did precisely, but I did not imagine it could be of negative benefit.
I went to find Chris and Alura to see what they’d found for themselves. I came across Alura first, holding an oak staff, similar to the one we saw in the blue mage’s possession on our first day here (it was hard to believe that was only yesterday.) The one in Alura’s possession had lighter coloring, stained white. Near the bottom, the wood was engraved to make it seem ivy was crawling up the base of the staff.
“What do you have there?” I asked.
“Take a look,” Alura said, smiling joyfully. She seemed happy about her find. I checked its stats.
White staff
Atk: 20
Healing: +100
Mana: +50
Weight: medium
--Skills--
Focus
–Requirements–
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Mag: 20
“Do you think it’s good?” Alura asked, with a hopeful look in her eyes.
“Seems fine. Do you know what focus does?”
“Not sure, but maybe the shopkeeper can answer us.”
“How much does it cost?”
“10 silver. I hope that’s not too much,” she looked down at it, her eyes gliding over the polished wood and the fine carving near the bottom.
“It should be fine, but let me look over some other staffs first,” I answered. After looking at some others, I found hers seemed okay for the price. Definitely one of the finer ones within our budget, though that amateur appraisal of mine depended on what exactly her skill did. It was probably a good idea, though, to have our white mage with a more expensive weapon, as she had the important duty of keeping us all alive.
We brought her staff up front, hoping the shopkeeper would be more polite in answering our questions this time. “Pardon me, but do you know what this focus skill does?”
“Focus increases your magic power for your next spell.”
“I see, so in the case of a white mage, it would strengthen their next heal or shield?”
“Yep, that’s what that would mean.”
“I see, thank you,” I answered, still sensing some attitude from him, but I did not care.
Now, where did Chris go?
I found him standing by a circular rack with knuckles on display. His face had a bored expression, and he let out a loud yawn before he noticed my approach.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“More expensive ones have higher attack, cheaper ones have lower attack,” he said. “I’m not sure what the skills do.”
I started checking the stats on some, and picked a pair that cost 5 silver. “Is this acceptable?” I asked him.
Spiked Knuckles
Atk: 70
Weight: ultra-light
Skills: Bleed (passive)
–Requirements–
Dex: 20
“Sure,” he said. “What’s bleed do?”
“I am not sure, but I take passive to mean it will affect your attacks without consuming mana, so I believe it will be a good value.”
I paid for our weapons, trading in a gold coin and receiving 80 silver pieces for change. I gave Chris and Alura each 5 coins, their per diem for the day. We still needed a deep satchel which would cost 25 silver, after which our party funds would be left with 30 silver to purchase armor with if we wanted to maintain a bankroll of 15.
Once checking our options at the armorer, I found armor purchasing was much more straightforward than weapons. The cheaper items simply providing defense, with no need to weigh stat bonuses. As expected, my set would be more expensive, as I required a shield and full body protection. Chris’s set was leather, and Alura’s cloth.
Upon stepping out of the armorer, we finally looked like proper wielders. The raggedy peasant clothes we had been walking around in finally replaced with something that made us look like we belonged as patrons of the guild hall.
Chris wore a leather vest with a white shirt underneath, a green headband tied around his forehead, and his hands wore fingerless gloves with spiked knuckles.
Altogether, his armor provided 200 defense and cost us 5 silver
Alura’s cost us another 5 silver and she was dressed similarly to Victoria, with a white robe and witch's hat, staff held at her side, though hers was clearly of lower quality than the high-level white mage who watched over Zelik’s party.
Her added armor was 70, which seemed quite low so we would have to be careful to keep her from taking damage directly.
My armor was the most expensive, a shield over one arm, my sword sheathed at my side. The steel chest piece fit like a glove over my form, chainmail guarding my elbows between the chest piece and the gauntlets, and a steel skirt and grieves with chainmail on the leggings.
My armor set, including a shield, cost us a grand total of 15 silver, leaving our joint fund with 5 (plus our bankroll of 15) silver to spare.
Rin should have just stuck with us. We made out quite well with our shopping efforts and we had plenty to spare.
With all our shopping complete, we went to meet with Leon, arriving right on time to find him sitting on the edge of the fountain furthest the gate. “Hey, looks like you’re missing one,” he said.
“We had a bit of a disagreement,” I said. “I will give her fifteen minutes to arrive, then I think we should go.”
“Damn,” Leon said under his breath. “Well, that’ll ruin what I had planned.” He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Found a quest that would be perfect for you guys, after leveling up on some goblins. Might be too much if it’s just the three of you, though.”
“Leveling up on goblins?” I asked.
“Sure, since you handled the wolves so well yesterday, might as well not waste time grinding out lowbies. A few goblin camps will get you right back to level 5, and then you’ll be able to crush this quest I picked for you.” He sighed. “Whole plan is kind of ruined if Rin doesn’t show up, though.”
“We are only level 1. Should we not continue farming wolves?” I asked.
“It’ll be fine. You got proper weapons and armor now, plus your HPs are retained from your adventurer levels. Classing up doesn’t really set you back too much if you think of it that way.”
“If I might ask,” I said. “I appreciate all your help, but why are you going so far for us?” Victoria had her thoughts about him, but I figured I should ask myself.
“Because you’ve got potential. I want to see just how far you guys will go.”
“But why do you care?” I asked again. “Wouldn’t you rather spend time doing your own quests?”
He stared at me, his eyes deep in that moment. Then a grin touched the corner of his mouth. “Let me guess; you’ve been talking to Victoria, huh?”
No point denying it. She had warned me he would push our limits, and he seemed to be doing just as she said. I didn’t have to answer though, as he got the idea and laughed.
“Yeah, she gives me a hard time, but… well,” His eyes dropped, his good-humored demeanor dropping into a rare serious expression. “Victoria plays it safe. Too safe, honestly. There's a reason for that, but it's not my place to tell you her story.”
“She warned me that you might try to push us too far, and put us in a dangerous position.”
He sat back and shrugged. “No one is forcing you to come along with me. You want to keep grinding wolves, or even slimes, fine by me. It’s kind of boring, though. So I won’t be sticking around for that, and that’s just me being honest. You might gain a few levels and grab some low-tier loot, but it’ll take you months to get where I can get you in just a few days.”
“I see,” I said.
“But look, I’m not lying when I say you guys did an outstanding job handling those wolves yesterday. You can manage the goblins, especially with your new gear. If it doesn’t go well, I’ll be there to bail you out. So, the choice is yours, do whatever you want.”
“You don’t have healing spells,” I pointed out. “What if something gets a jump on Alura and she dies before you can step in?”
He sighed once again, flattening a hand over the piece of paper next to where he was sitting. “And things really were starting to get fun… too bad.” He suddenly hopped off the fountain and smirked at us. “Fine, have it your way. Like I said, I’m not forcing you.”
“Are you leaving?” I asked.
“You have too many doubts about me, so I guess so.” He looked past me. “Oh, looks like your assassin showed up after all.”
Casting a glance over my shoulder, I noticed Rin approaching, her attire dramatically transformed. She now donned a provocative all-black ensemble. Snug leather shorts left most of her thighs exposed, and her top was closer to a sports bra, leaving her toned stomach bare. Sleek leather gloves and boots extended just shy of her elbows and knees, while a face shield covered her from nose to chin, lending her the air of an outlaw. Two daggers hung from sheaths on either side of her hips.
“Hey, you made it!” Chris said.
“Yeah, I’m here,” she responded, purposely avoiding my eyes. “So, are we going or not?”
Leon looked at me. “Yeah, we going or not?”
I sighed, looking at the paper that had this supposed quest listed. Finally, I said, “Fine, we’ll do things your way, but on one condition. If I feel things are getting too dangerous, we are falling back to an easier farming location. Is that alright with you?”
Leon smirked, seeming quite pleased with himself. “Fair enough. But don’t worry, trust me; you’re making the right decision by sticking with me!”