Chad led us to his store, where piles of empty boxes and barrels were strewn around. The inside wasn’t much better than the outside. Instead of empty spaces, it was tables and chairs covered with books, paper, and other tables and chairs. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs.

Does he really run a store like this? No wonder nobody shops here.

I wiped my finger along one of the tables, clearing a line through the dust. “You know, Chad, if you cleaned this place up and made it look like a shop, people would actually come here.”

Chad froze mid-flutter to turn to me. “And invite thieves? Nope. Besides, this is just an anchor for the real store.”

He waved at a chalk outline on a wall. The pixie knocked on it with all four hands in a rhythmic pattern I would’ve been hard-pressed to imitate back on Earth. The outline glowed a soft pink as it turned into a pink door, with white clouds moving across it.

Chad opened the door and waved us in. “After you, ladies.”

Through the door, there was a blue portal that rippled like a pond. Shadara gave me a shrug before walking through. As I walked through, I felt a warmth wash over me as the whole place felt significantly more humid. I looked around and saw that we were in a colossal hollowed-out tree.

A whistle sang from my lips as I looked at the neat and organized shop with plenty of lighting.

“Impressed?” Chad landed on a counter and winked. “Now, you’re still holding that end of your hair. Would you like a clip to keep your braid from undoing itself?”

I nodded. Shadara held up a hand. “How much?”

Chad waved two hands. “This one will be on the house since it won’t be much. Also, take it as a sign of good faith.”

Shadara frowned but nodded me over to the small pixie. He hopped off the counter and returned shortly afterwards with a silver clasp. It was the shape of an eagle with fire all over it. He buzzed up and showed me how to clip it. As he closed it on my hair, I could feel my head get a little colder.

I touched it. “Was this thing magical?”

Chad grinned. “Oh, but of course.” He fluttered back to the counter. “Your hair will be a bit harder to catch on fire now. It’s not something most people find exceptionally practical, so consider it a gift.”

I ran my fingers over the silver ornament. The etchings were smooth, and the bird had two little rubies for eyes. “Thanks. Did you make this?”

He chuckled. “Nah. I can’t forge anything like that. All I did was enchant it.” The pixie clapped all his hands together. “Now, what kind of equipment are you looking for?”

Shadara looked around. “Well, we were kind of looking to get some armor for Rina here. But I’m not seeing any.”

Chad crossed his arms. “And you won’t. I told you I can’t forge anything. But what kind of armor are you looking for? Based on what you’re wearing, you probably want something light and flexible.”

I scratched the back of my head. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never worn armor before.”

Chad snapped his fingers. “Then cloth armor it is.”

I turned to Shadara. She nodded. “That’s actually pretty smart. But what are we going to get you?”

Chad floated up to us. “Well, we have a couple of options. One, you can commission something, and I can make it happen. It’ll cost more, but it’ll fit perfectly, I guarantee it. To do that, I’ll need you to strip. Everything needs to come off.”

I took a step back. “And the other option?” Let’s not jump to taking my clothes off right away.

Chad frowned and pointed at me. “We just enchant and adjust what you’re wearing right now. Those are some high-quality materials. They’ll hold some quality enchantments.”

“Does that make a difference?” I asked as I put a hand on the bag of holding full of Killa’s clothes. “I’ve got others we could look through.”

Chad tapped a finger to his chin as he folded his other arms. “Well, we could. If that’s what you want, but that jacket will probably be the best you’re going to get. It’s made of blue wyvern leather.”

I ran a bit between my fingers. “Really? I wouldn’t know. But could you add a holster for my gun while you’re at it?” I held up my gun as the pockets on the blue jacket were smaller than the ones on the black trenchcoat.

Chad leaned in. “Yeah. I think I can make something that works.” He leaned back and landed on the table. “Now, how are you going to be paying for this? I’m guessing you want the jacket, boots, shirt, and pants enchanted. Depending on the materials used for the enchantments, it could run you at least two hundred thousand for everything.”

I bit my lip. That’s expensive.

“What kind of enchantments are you planning?” Shadara flattened her ears.

Chad paced on the counter. “Well, the basics, of course. Increased durability, self-repair, you know. If you want something specific, then we’ll have to talk about it.”

I tapped my metal finger on my forearm, and the clinking caused the other two to stare at me. “What if we only do the coat, but we also do extra to it?” Honestly, I miss that black coat already.

Chad hummed. “We’ll start with a hundred thousand.”

I pulled out the headband we found on the fourth floor. “What about this? It’s magical.”

His eyes narrowed on it before popping out wide. “Where did you get one?”

Shadara snatched it from me and wagged her finger at Chad. “Ah, ah, ah. You want it; you will enchant everything Rina wants for her coat.”

I elbowed the panther woman in the side. “What gives?”

“This is called bartering,” she whispered and gave me a wink. I rolled my eyes. I know that. “He obviously wants this badly. So if he wants it, he’ll give us what we want.”

I bit my tongue. This feels a lot like we’re taking advantage of him. But supply and demand. I’ll let her do it.

Chad nodded. “Absolutely. Done. Deal. Gimme.” He held out his hands as he flew towards the metal headband.

Shadara caught him with one hand in front of her and held the object of his desire behind her with the other. “Nuh-uh. You need to knock our socks off first.”

Chad’s little body shook. “You don’t even know what it does. And you’re not wearing socks.”

It’s a figure of speech, but he seems a bit stressed. I tap Shadara’s shoulder. “Just give it to him. If he tries to cheat us, then, and only then, you can do whatever you want to him. I won’t stop you.”

Shadara grinned, and her eyes flashed a maliciousness I’d never seen before. “I’d start with the wings.” She held out the headband for Chad to grab.

The pixie flinched as I heard him swallow a hard lump in his throat. “Y-yes ma’am.” He grabbed the band and tossed it behind the counter.

All that for you to treat it like that?

Chad held out his hand to me without ever taking his eyes off the panther woman, who was clearly itching to pounce. “Coat, please.” I took off my jacket and dropped it over him. A muffled “Thanks” came from under it as it floated to the counter.

Chad pushed it off himself and onto the counter. He then flew up to a high cupboard, where he pulled out several boxes the size of him. Each box held tiny, sparkling sapphires. He then dumped each box over the coat. As he grabbed more materials—some silver powder, golden wire, a needle, thread, small scraps of blue leather, and a pair of small black magnets—he mumbled something under his breath.

Shadara never took her eyes off him as her tail swayed behind her.

“I’m going to need your gun’s measurements if you want a spot for it.” Chad’s eyes weren’t focused on me as he floated in front of me.

I held my gun up, and he stared at it for a minute before returning to the pile of materials, burying the jacket. He stood on top of it, mumbling as he waved his hands over it. The gems, along with everything else, started to melt. The heat in the room grew stifling. It got so hot that I had to hold myself up against a wall as sweat poured out of me. My arms unfortunately couldn’t sweat and got so hot that I believed I could fry an egg on them.

“All done,” Chad called out once the pile was reduced to just the jacket.

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He looked at me and then at Shadara. She had taken her eyes off him and was on her hands and knees, gasping as her tongue hung from her open mouth.

“It’s not that hot, is it?”

I would’ve wiped the sweat from my face if I knew I wasn’t in danger of burning myself. Yeah, I know my nanites will heal the burn instantly, but there’s no need to inflict more pain on myself. I’ve already done enough of that today.

I straightened myself. My knees wanted to stay weak, but that’s a perk of having absolute control over your tendons and muscles; they can’t argue with you. “It is. How can you stand it?”

The pixie shrugged. “Easy; I don’t feel heat or cold.”

I wanted to smack him. It’d be so easy too. Just a little one.

“Whatever. It better have been worth it.” Shadara sounded like she had run a marathon, and she looked like it too. “If it’s not, you’re going to pay extra for that.”

Chad dropped his smug look and glared at the panther woman. He grabbed the jacket and hung it over the edge.

The once simple jacket’s outer layer transformed into a mosaic of sapphire scales shimmering in the light. Each scale reflected the light floating from the ceiling. I walked towards it, almost in a stupor.

It’s beautiful.

My fingers tapped against the gem surface, and my metal fingers let out a melodious little note. Tracing through the intricate design like veins of precious metal, golden wire ran in a sinuous pattern from the collar down to the ends of the sleeves, and also to the hem at the bottom. As my fingers continued to glide down, they sounded like whimsical chimes blowing in the wind.

Chad floated up and draped it over my shoulders. I slipped my arms through the soft sleeves. Something on the inside caught my attention. Just above my left hip, a custom-made holster sat snugly within. It was designed to hold my gun perfectly as I set it in there. I lifted the flap over it and found that it had a magnetic hold. That’ll ensure it remains secure yet easily accessible. Cool touch.

As I fastened the jacket around myself, each movement sent a shiver down my spine. The coat’s tails draped until they covered my knees. A split in the back made sure my mobility was never obstructed either. It was heavier than before, but I couldn’t help but give it a twirl.

“Wow. Just wow.” I extended my arm blade from my forearm, and it slid out easily without cutting it. “It’s perfect.”

Chad jumped. “What the? How did you do that? Where did that come from?”

I retracted the blade. “Don’t worry about that. I have a secret or two of my own.”

“I’ll admit, it looks good.” Shadara pulled off her bow. “But how well does it function?”

Chad held up his arms. “Wait. Please, no shooting in my shop.”

Shadara glared at the pixie. “You don’t want us to test it? Why? Did you not make it very strong?”

Chad waved his hands as if to calm her down. “It’s strong. If you need to test it, fine. But no shooting. I don’t want any accidental damage.”

I slipped off the coat. “Alright, do you want to hold this for me, Shadara?”

She shouldered her bow and grabbed the coat. “Wow, I was expecting it to be lighter.”

The panther woman held the coat with the sapphires out to me as I extended my arm blade. I wound up and punched as hard and fast as I could. My blade bounced off, and I nearly went stumbling past it. I tried a few more stabs and a few slashes. Each attack didn’t even scratch it.

With a clink, my arm blade went back into its grove between my bones. “I’d say that’s pretty good.”

Orange, your thoughts?

We estimate the defensive capability of the jacket to be a minimum of seven hundred and fifty.

I let out a whistle. “Hey Shadara, how tough is your armor?”

Shadara tossed my jacket back to me. “Eight hundred-ish. Why?”

I slipped the coat back on and fastened a few of the buttons. “I’ve got an estimate of something close to that.”

Chad scratched the back of his head. “How do you know that? I don’t even know that, and I made it.”

I gave him a smirk and a wink. “Secrets, remember?” He rolled his eyes as I pointed to the counter where he threw the headband. “So, what was that thing we gave you, and how much was it really worth?”

The pixie lowered his head and floated away from us. “It…it is a circlet of false detection.”

Shadara started coughing. “What?”

“It’s worth at least three hundred thousand to those who know its true value.”

My eyes darted between the two. “I’m out of the loop here. Can someone fill me in?”

Shadara tapped her chest with her fist a few times. “Sorry. It’s something that prevents anyone from finding you with magic.”

Chad shook his head. “It’s so much more than that. When someone uses magic to make an inquiry of you, it will always return with a negative, false, nothing, or whatever response.”

I crossed my arms. “Okay. We don’t have a use for that.” That creature following me probably has a way of following me even with that thing. Besides, we already traded it to him. “And how much would you’ve sold this jacket for?”

Chad tapped his fingers together. “Two hundred and forty thousand.”

Before Shadara could explode on the poor guy, I jumped in front of her. “So how about enhancing my boots? We’ll call it even after that.”

Chad nodded sheepishly. “Okay. What were you looking for? Enhanced speed is usually the most common.”

I snorted. “Speed is something I’m not lacking.”

“Speak for yourself,” Shadara mumbled as she turned around.

I glared at her. You’re far stronger than me. “Actually, I was thinking something more along the lines of protecting me when I kick something.”

The memories of Orange making me train against the bav’varsts ran through my head. The number of times they would bite down on my leg after I kicked them got me in as much trouble as not.

Chad tilted his head as he sat on the edge of the counter. “You’re an unarmed fighter? I thought you used a gun to fight.”

I waffled my hand from side to side. “I do. But I’m also somewhat trained in unarmed combat, and I’m also just starting to learn magic.” I’m guessing we’ll have more lessons next time I sleep. Has it been more than a week?

Correct.

I can’t wait. Not! And you better not be setting me up against a version of Tasha.

We won’t. Don’t panic.

When you say that, I feel like I need to start panicking.

Chad’s wings flapped lazily behind him as he leaned forward while he stayed seated. “Well, the easy way would be to graft metal to them. But I’m kind of short on supply for that. And I don’t have any gems that would work with that material.”

I looked down at my hand. So much for not inflicting pain on myself. “I’ve got some metal for you.”

I extended my arm blade. Both Chad and Shadara stared at me. I gave my furry friend a wide smile as I grabbed the blade with my other hand. I twisted it from both inside my arm and outside to pop it out of its track. Pain lanced from my arm, and I let out a groan. As I pulled it out, I could feel the muscles still attached to it.

Here we go.

I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes. I pulled the muscles from the inside as I pulled the blade with my other hand. Agony dropped me to the ground as I could feel the muscles tearing away from the metal bones. With one final tug, the whole thing came loose, and I let out a cry and collapsed.

“What is wrong with you?” Shadara dove to my side and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Why would you do that?”

I could feel the tingle of my nanites already replacing the blade. Panting, I held up the blade to Chad. “Here, use this.” I dropped it and clutched my arm as the blade was more than half rebuilt but still throbbed with pain. “Please tell me that’s enough.”

The pixie just stared with his mouth agape. He snapped out of his shock and nodded. “Uh, yeah. But don’t you want to keep that? Was that thing attached? Is that blood?”

There was a small amount of blood on the base of the blade, where the synthetic muscles were attached. But I waited until my nanites finished rebuilding my arm blade before showing Chad it.

“It was. But I’ve got a new one already.” I rubbed my forearm. Okay. I really need to stop doing that. “Don’t ask how. Secrets.”

The pixie rubbed his temples. “Right, right. Secrets. Not that anyone would believe me anyway.”

He scooped up the metal as I pulled my boots off to hand them to him.

Shadara pulled out a bottle of water. “Here, you first.” As I took it and drank it, she glared at me. “That isn’t healthy; you know that, right?”

I handed it back to her after finishing half of it. “Physically? It doesn’t make a difference. Mentally? It’s absolutely as messed up as it gets. But I’m a walking gold mine. Besides, that’s quality metal right there.”

Shadara shook her head. “This isn’t funny. I can’t stand seeing you inflict all this pain on yourself. You’re practically giving me a heart attack every time.”

I hung my head. “I know. That’s why I asked you to wait outside while I augmented myself. So you didn’t have to watch.”

Shadara cupped my cheek and turned my head to look her in the eyes. “I don’t know what it is about you. But I’ve never cared for someone like you. There’s something special about you. And it’s not what’s inside you. It’s who you are.”

Her eyes shimmered as she leaned forward. She placed her forehead against mine. “Please, please, stop hurting yourself so unnecessarily. I could’ve picked up some metal from nearby. It would’ve taken a few minutes.”

I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to think like that. I just jumped to solving the problem with what I had and knew worked before. Ever since I got these nanites, I’ve inflicted more pain on myself than I have experienced before in my life. Everything I’ve done to myself, I’ve done for survival, for need, for progress. But at what cost? It feels like my humanity is slipping from my fingers, piece by piece. I jumped at the chance to hurt myself. I didn’t even think about it. How much longer before I feel like the person in the mirror isn’t someone I can recognize?”

Shadara put her hand over my mouth. “Shh. You are never the same person you were yesterday. You will never be the same person you are tomorrow. That’s life. Every moment, you grow, change, and hopefully, for the better. What you’re going through is something I can’t fully understand, but I can still walk this journey with you. Why? Because I want to.”

Shadara is correct. Change is inevitable, and your journey is far from over. Your resilience and adaptability are remarkable, but it’s crucial to recognize that each transformation doesn’t diminish who you are. Your arms, legs, mana battery, and heart are a part of you. But they are not who you are.

Acceptance isn’t a one-time revelation. It’s a continuous re-evaluation and understanding of yourself. We’re here for you, Rina, to guide and support you in any way possible. We will persist with these conversations as many times as you need.

Thanks, Orange. You’re sounding more human already.

I opened my eyes and smiled at Shadara. “And thank you, Shadara. Thank you for putting up with my emotional immaturity.”

She wiped a tear from my eye. “Anytime.”

Chad cleared his throat. We turned to see him fluttering over the boots. “Sorry. I hate to disrupt such a beautiful moment. But I’ve finished.”

Vertical strips of black metal lined the leg section of my boots, which were taller than before. More of the black metal that had once been my arm blade covered the foot in a tent-like fashion as it came to a point at both the front and the top.

As I slipped my feet into the new boots, a sensation of weight settled around my ankles. The metal strips along the legs felt rigid, but my leg easily slid inside. With each movement, the boots hugged my calves snugly, gripping them securely yet gently.

There were no laces, buckles, or anything. But I could feel that my foot was perfectly secure, as if the boots themselves held onto me. I wiggled my toes to feel the soft, almost plush sole. My eyes almost rolled up into the back of my head at the almost messaging sensation.

“They are impact-resistant, but don’t jump off anything too tall; it’ll still hurt.” Chad smiled as he waved to the boots. “Just like your jacket, they’ll repair themselves through the ambient mana in the air. If you inject some of yours, it’ll speed up the process.”

I stood up and stomped my foot. It didn’t feel like I took a step, but I could feel the ground beneath me. After a few steps, I took off, sprinting around the edge of the entire store. Three laps in six seconds, roughly six hundred feet, and I didn’t feel even close to tripping in my new boots. They moved perfectly.

I smiled and held out a hand to the pixie. “Well done. You’ve knocked my socks off.”

The little guy beamed a smile. “I don’t disappoint.”

I helped Shadara up and guided her to the door outside. “We’ll be back. And I promise Shadara here will be nicer.”

Chad waved. “Yes, please, keep your girlfriend in check. I’ll be sure to stock up for your next visit.”

Girlfriend?