The next two stores were quick and easy.
Neither had the personalized service that the first two had displayed. But that was largely because the gear had to be refitted to match the Adventurer’s needs. In Andutt Clothing, I didn’t need armor, so it was a simple matter of finding clothes in my size and buying them. In Reder Apothecary, there were potions of all sorts, so I grabbed a dozen health potions and a three sets of ailment curing potions. While the Healer of a party was the one responsible for removing negative status effects, it never hurt to have some just in case I got separated from the rest of the party, or if the Healer was incapacitated.
With most of my shopping done, I stopped in at Reace Armaments. The shop was busy and the front counter was empty, but as soon as I walked down the empty aisle with Tier Four weapons, a thirty-two year-old red-haired, green-eyed, golden man walked over to me.
“Good Afternoon! I’m Rankeith Zarboe, can I help you with anything?”
“I’m just looking for a simple crossbow.” I picked one up off the rack of five. This one was the highest level at forty-six, which was close enough for a common weapon.
“Will you need it adjusted?” The redhead looked very eager to take on a new project.
“It’ll be fine as it is.” I picked up a crystal book that held level forty six bolts. While I could use level forty eight ones, shooting them in a lower level weapon would ruin the crossbow. Plus, taking the weapon as is, meant that I’d have a weapon when I went to the Taray Hub next.
“I can ring that up for you.” Rankeith started moving towards the front. ‘If you decide that you want a custom job, we have a wide range of enchantments and can even increase the rarity of a weapon if you find one that you really like.”
That wasn’t something that shops usually offered because of how difficult it was. It also took a lot of resources, so most smiths stuck to the less risky tasks of repairing, enhancing, or enchanting gear.
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“I’ll keep that in mind.” I followed him to the counter and as soon as I put the weapon down, the crystal in the counter greedily ate it up. It left the ammo containing crystal out, but I had a feeling that it could transfer the ammunition just fine.
“Now your total is five thousand forty All.” The redhead tapped on the counter’s menu to initiate the trade.
I had a lot more money that I had expected to walk away with after my shopping was done, but that would be used down the road. “Have a nice day.” I turned to leave.
“If there’s anything else I can help you with, I’d be happy to help!” Rankeith sounded hopeful.
The effort gave me pause. I doubted anything would come of it, but it was worth a shot.
“You must hear people talk a lot.” I gave him a smile as he nodded. “Have you ever heard anyone talking about Sipher Gar?”
His eyes widened as he recognized the name. “We don’t deal in clientele that would be affiliated with outlaws.” He swallowed and lowered his voice. “But if you really want to know, then I’m sure there are lots of people at the Hollows who have a loose definition of morality.”
“The Hollows?” I tried to remember where that was. I remembered the same time that he reminded me.
“It’s the dungeon that the Taray’s run just west of the docks.” Rankeith shook his head. “Nothing but outlaws and criminals if you ask me.”
As a personal guard to Tres, sometimes I’d needed to assist the town guards or Authority when there was an Adventurer problem. I’d been sent to the Taray Dungeon building a handful of times, but I’d never got that impression. Sure, it wasn’t common for a family to run a Dungeon. Usually the order of ownership went: the Temple, then the Dispatchers, then the Authority or the city’s God. There was at least one dungeon in every Ward that was run by a family, but there were over three hundred dungeons and only about sixteen that were privately run. Ceridwen Taray did a pretty good job of managing it in my opinion, but maybe they had rushed to clean things up and put on a pretty face because the palace guard was coming. It was probably worth the time it would take to go there and ask a few questions. Especially since I couldn’t leave town until tomorrow.
“Thanks for the tip.” I smiled at the younger man as I walked out. If I hurried, I’d be able to get there as the Adventurers were coming out of the Dungeon. I thought of the extra All that I had and knew exactly how to get them to talk to me. I simply had to provide a rough Adventurer’s favorite alcohol. Free.