They spent the next hour wandering the various stalls in the Shopping District, buying groceries. Elain ended up doing most of the buying, however. She bartered for prices, picked out purchases, and paid the price, before handing the food to Eric to put in one of the bags.

With nothing much to do himself, Eric ended up looking around the Shopping District, taking in the sights. The places seemed to sell everything. He could see stalls that sold a wide variety of weapons standing next to one that sold jewlery, and another that sold what appeared to be herbs.

Naturally, he just had to ask Elain some questions.

"You think I could get like, a sword or something?" He asked Elain, as they stood in front of a fishmonger stall.

Elain responded by tossing an entire wrapped up fish at him. He fumbled with the fish and the bags in his hands for several long moments, nearly dropping both. Elain observed him struggle for a moment, before responding.

"Do you have any proper weapons training?" She asked.

"Well....no." Eric admitted.

"Than don't even bother with a sword. You'll probably just end up stabbing yourself." She replied.

"Alright, fine. But there has to be some weapon I can use, right? Something to defend myself with?" Eric asked.

Elain seemed to ponder that for a few moments, before responding.

"Magic items, than. Most of the weaker ones can be used by anyone, and all you need is a bit of concentration."

"Alright, cool! Than lets go get me one!" Eric said excitedly.

Elain laughed, holding up the coin pouch, which was now two-thirds empty. "With this much money? I doubt we could afford anything. However," she said thoughtfully, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look inside one. Who knows, we might find something cheap." As she spoke, a tone of wistfulness entered her voice, and Eric knew he had hit a weak spot.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He said eagerly.

Elain smiled slightly. "Alright, alright. We passed a magic store a while back. Let's go."

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The magic store Elain had been refering to was a few minutes walk behind themm and so small that Eric had no idea how Elain had managed to notice it. It was tucked into a corner, no real decorations marking it, aside from a small sign with the words "Arreus Magika." on it. A dusty display window was next to the front door, showing off a dusty skull, an empty glass vial, and what looked to be a clear, glass orb behind the window.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I'm going to be honest here," Eric commented, "This doesn't seem to be the best store in the area."

Elain nodded her head in agreement. "But we might get something cheap here," she replied, "Worth a shot.".

"True. And besides, places like this, they almost always have something cool hidden inside, if the stories I've read are any indication." Eric grinned.

Elain rolled her eyes slightly, before walking up and opening the door.

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As they stepped inside, they found themselves in a small, dark room. The only light came from the display window, which let in dusty, afternoon light. It illuminated three rows of wooden shelves, with various items piled on them. At the back of the room was a small counter, hidden in shadow.

"Hello?" Elain called out.

She had just finished speaking when Eric suddenly heard movement from behind the counter, and an old woman emerged. She was over a head shorter than Eric, with wrinkly brown skin and a shock of grey hair. 

"Oh, what's this? Customers?" Despite her age, her voice was bright and cheerful.

"That's right." Elain smiled politely. "We were here because we were wondering if you had any cheap magic items on sale. We were looking for some for him." She nodded at Eric, who smiled and tried his best to look polite.

The old woman nodded. "I see.". She walked up to Eric, looking at him curiously. "Do you have an Affinity? Or a Talent?"

"Nope!" Eric said brightly.

The woman nodded. "I see. Well follow me, you two. We'll see if we can find anything." And with that, she wandered off down the rows of shelves, pointing at various items and rattling off descriptions.

Eric tried his best to listen politely, but soon found his eyes wandering to the various items on the shelves. A wooden wand, a leather bound book, a a strange stone made of some shiny black material.....Eric gave the last one a curious touch.

"Hello." A voice suddenly spoke in his mind, a voice as cold as ice, sounding like it was being whispered right into his ear.

"Shit!" Eric yelled, stumbling back, accidentally knocking the stone off its perch, causing it to fall to the ground with a clunk.

Hearing the noise, Elain turned, an annoyed look on her face. "Eric-," She began.

"The stone! I-it talked to me!" Eric stammered out, pointing at the stone that was now innocently lying on the floor,

"What?" The shopkeeper exclaimed, spinning around and walking back over to Eric, her motions quick. "This stone?" She picked up the black stone, extending it to him. 

Eric nodded. "Y-yeah." He said shakily.

"Than you must take it!" The shopkeeper proclaimed, "For the stone has chosen you as it's master!"

"Alright, alright, hold on." Elain said, walking up to the two of them. "I don't think Eric should just take the stone. Sentient magic items have a tendency to be dangerous. Besides, it's not like we have money-,"

"I'll give it to you for free," The shopkeeper proclaimed, shoving the stone into Eric's hands. It felt cold to the touch. "I am not one to come between an item and its master."

"That's fine and all," Elain replied, "But-," She abruptly froze as she stared out the window, behind Eric, all colour vanishing from her face.

"Elain?" Eric asked nervously, "What is it?" He followed her gaze out the window, and found two men in armour on the other side, peering in. One had an arm extended, finger pointing at Elain.

"It's the city guard." Elain groaned, "They found us."