We followed Sally out of the Adventure Society building and I was honestly surprised that her footsteps didn’t shake the ground.
I’d expected we’d head straight for the bridge but instead she began leading us further into town. Panda tugged on the hem of my trousers and I looked down.
“Be careful around her. I know you don’t have magic sense, so trust me when I say she’s dangerous. The magical pressure she emits is wild.” He whispered, keeping an eye on our mentor as she strutted up the street.
I nodded to him in response. Perhaps that was why he was so uncharacteristically quiet in the meeting. I had wondered why he didn’t speak up when Sally had said she’d be keeping the reward for herself.
I quickened my pace slightly until I was walking next to the silver rank bodybuilder.
“Is it ok if we make a quick detour?” I asked, “I need to buy some arrows.”
“What kind of archer doesn’t have arrows?” She replied scathingly. “Fine, there’s a shop just round the corner. I’ll take you there. You should stock up on some other supplies too, we might be gone a while.
“Lesson number one: an adventurer is always prepared. You never know how long a quest might take or where it’s going to take you. So you need a constant supply of food, water, and potions just in case. Especially at your level where you still need to eat semi-regularly.”
I thanked her for her advice as she led us towards the supply shop. This quest could be useful after all if Sally was actually going to give me advice.
I’d played plenty of video games before, but having to think about things like supplies was alien to me. I was sure there was going to be more to adventuring than I realised and I was actually getting quite excited to see Sally in action.
It was obvious that there was a huge gap between us. I could tell just by looking at her, and Panda had said she gave off some kind of magic pressure as well.
I needed to see it. See the difference levels really made in combat.
Sally led us to an unassuming store called Adventurer’s Stockpile and Supplies. That’s right, the store’s acronym would be ass. We were about to enter ass, a thought that wasn’t lost on me.
Inside, the place reminded me of an Army and Navy store from back home. The kind of store that sold all kinds of gear and knickknacks for soldiers to buy.
There was a myriad of battered armour in the corner, a few old swords, and bows. There was a selection of shelves on the wall entitled: rations and potions.
There were also bargain bins full of arrows and quivers in the corner. The thing I needed most was proper ammunition for my bow, so I headed there first.
The store really was a cluttered jumble sale and I had to scootch around so I didn’t knock over any of the merchandise.
In the bargain bins there were lots of arrows and damaged quivers. They all had super low prices too which was a bonus. I didn’t know how many arrows I’d need though, or why I’d want a quiver when I could just summon them from my inventory into my hand.
Hanging behind the bins was a black quiver that had been hung on the wall with a nail. I focused on it.
Quiver of The Infinite (inferior)
This quiver has an infinite supply of inferior arrows, meaning you can shoot as fast as you want without running out of ammo. Of course you’d know all about shooting fast.
Ignoring the snarky remark from the system as I reached up and grabbed the quiver. It was perfect. Infinite arrows would be a huge boon to an archer, especially one who couldn’t make every shot count yet.
I took it over to the counter and rang a little brass bell that was left on there.
I heard a rustling from in the back somewhere and a small racoon dog jumped up onto the counter, standing on its hind legs like a person.
I stared at it and it stared back at me. It had black fur around its eyes that looked like a burglar mask and the rest of its fur was greyish brown. It was wearing a little bowtie which made it look like a cartoon character. As I focused on it a notification appeared.
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Racoon Dog
Similar in size and appearance to the racoon dogs of Japan, this little guy loves trash. That’s probably why so many of them are low level merchants running pawn shops or any other cluttered store of crap you can think of.
“Well are you just gonna stare at me all day or do you need something? What? You never seen a racoon dog before?” He said with a 20’s mobster accent.
“Actually no I haven’t.” I replied. “Sorry for staring, I want to buy this.” I said, holding out the quiver.
“Ah, you’ve got a good eye mister.” He said, taking the quiver in his paws and looking it up and down. For all I knew he was appraising it, but I was pretty sure it was just for show considering it was already in his shop. “It’ll cost you one thousand five hundred gold pieces.”
“1.5k for an inferior item?” Sally said, pounding her fist on the desk and making the entire counter shake. “Come on Tanuki, I know this guy is a noob but he’d have to be an idiot to fall for that line. He’s with me, so treat him good yeah?”
Tanuki? I thought, isn’t that just the Japanese word for Racoon Dog?
“Oh, Sally hi.” Tanuki said backing up a few steps. “I didn’t realise he was with you! Of course I’ll treat him fairly. How about 1000 gold?” He asked cautiously.
Sally didn’t even justify that with a response. She glared at Tanuki with the eyes of a predator and I saw her fangs glinting from within her mouth.
“Ok fine! 800 gold, but that’s as low as I can go.” He said, huffing as he gave Sally the stink eye.
She smiled back at him and I had to assume that it was good price. I had 989 gold so I could afford his asking price. I just hoped I could still get some potions and food as well.
This world’s economy confused me. A single gold had gotten me a week at a bed and breakfast, yet a single inferior quiver cost this much. It didn’t make sense. I could live at the inn for 16 years for the price of a single quiver.
“I’ll take it.” I said, nodding at Sally. “I also need some food and water supplies and potions if you’ve got any.”
Tanuki’s beady eyes lit up.
“I can give you a week’s supply of food and water for 2 gold, the potions are gonna cost ya though. Those things ain’t cheap. So, what kind do you want?”
I looked towards Sally, pleading for advice with my eyes. So far I’d only seen a health potion, I had five of them in my inventory from the divine loot box.
“You’ll need some health, stamina and mana potions.” She said, shaking her head as she looked at me. It was like she was speaking to a disappointing child.
“I don’t have any mana.” I said, leaning into her and whispering behind my hand.
I was pretty certain that wasn’t something I wanted most people to know. However, if she was going to be my mentor she’d find out eventually.
“Really?” She said in a calculating voice. “How interesting. Just get the other two kind for now then.”
I ended up leaving the store with my new quiver, which I immediately equipped, a week’s worth of rations, five inferior stamina potions and two inferior health potions.
Each potion was supposed to cost 30 gold, but Sally helped me work out a deal with Tanuki so I got them for about 26 gold each. Unfortunately all of my money was now gone.
I’d spent everything I had in that little shop, but I was happy with my purchases. The quiver was a good find and as a clothing item I could wear it all the time.
Panda had begged me to buy him an enchanted cowboy hat that changed colour with your mood, but I didn’t have enough gold left.
He’d been pretty reluctant to let go of it when it was time to leave. He even went as far as to demand Tanuki keep it behind the counter so he could buy it when he got back.
He lit up his bamboo pipe as soon as we left and Sally began leading us further into town. I had no idea where we were going since the exit bridge was the other way.
We mostly kept to the main street, walking in silence as I filtered around the people going about their business. I noticed that Sally didn’t have to move for someone even once.
It was like they avoided her. She walked in a straight line and people parted around her like they were the sea to her Moses.
It was a little unnerving and I soon learnt to walk behind her, letting her shield me from the annoying amount of people.
We walked up the main street for a little while, eventually coming out at a huge port. It was all hustle and bustle there too with sailors and traders carrying boxes of cargo from their ships.
Most of the ships looked like pirate ships. They were all wood and sails. It was awesome. There was also one that looked like a modern, luxury cruise liner.
It seemed pretty out of place compared to the others and it was parked off to the side, taking up a lot more space than the rest of the ships in the port.
Sally led us to the end of a pier. There was a smaller wooden ship moored there. It had only a single mast and was tiny compared to the others.
Sally jumped down onto it, rocking the little boat and beckoned for me to do the same. I noticed a ladder and climbed down that instead. Panda clung onto my back, ripping my shirt with his claws because he held on so tightly.
It was a good job my new clothes came with self-repair. If even Panda could break them with ease I didn’t want to know how bad they’d be after a fight.
“This is a cute little boat.” Panda said as he walked around gingerly.
“It’s a schooner, which is a ship, not a boat.” She retorted. “Besides, you should be happy that a woman like me is content with a smaller one. You men always go around saying size doesn’t matter after all don’t you?”
Panda looked at me, he seemed at a loss for words. She’d done it. Someone had finally managed to shut him up. I laughed as Panda stared between me and Sally expectantly.
“So, I take it we’re sailing to this mystery quest?” I asked, moving around the unsteady boat, and trying to get my sea legs.
“Sailing is for chumps.” She replied as she moved around the ship, tying knots and fiddling with ropes and the sail.
I looked after her with a furrowed brow. Why were we on a boat if we weren’t sailing?
My question was answered a few seconds later as Sally grabbed the wheel and the ship shot off into the air.
“We travel by air.” Sally said, grinning maniacally.