I stopped by the general goods store, and stocked up on some food and drinks for our journey. There wasn't a lot I had to pick up, but I also had to stop at the blacksmith's store for some armor.

"How long do you think it will take?" I heard a voice say as I opened the door to the weapons shop.

Arin? I thought to myself, wondering why he would be here at this hour.

"A-about 30 minutes. I can start forging it right now for you, sir." The guy who ran the shop was an old dwarf, was talking. He had a long ginger beard and the top of his head was bald, despite him having longer hair on the sides and back.

"That'll have to do." Arin said, he was breathing heavily. I rummaged through the shop, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Just ping me when it's done." Arin turned to walk out, but the keeper stopped him.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, a quiver in his voice. "How did you get this? This ingredient is .. we didn't even think it existed! This weapon will be one of a kind!"

Was Arin buying a new weapon? I thought, wondering why he'd even need a new one.

"Good." Arin said. "She'll need it." She? I wondered. Was he talking about me? I saw Arin as he walked away, and horror filled my one eye.

Arin was covered in blood, his armor was battered and broken. Part of his mask was missing, revealing some of his dark gray hair and left eye. His cape was tattered and torn to shreds. He walked with a limp and I could hear his breathing and grunting as he moved.

What the hell happened to him? I wondered.

"That man is crazy, ordering a Tempest runeblade before checking into a medical bay." I heard the shopkeep say to his apprentice. "Let's get to work Galphar." They went off into the back, leaving only the cashier who worked there.

I was dumbfounded, speechless even. I couldn't believe Arin had gone through that much trouble for me. I wanted to cry, I felt joy, anger, so many emotions. Why had he done that? Why would he order something so expensive for me? Did I really mean that much to him? I'd known him for a little while now. I don't know what it is. Did he have feelings for me? That would be really awkward.

These thoughts raced through my head as I looked around the store picking out a few pieces of armor from the wooden boxes on the floor under the shelves. I stared at some for awhile, before noticing a box labeled "Tempest Attire" and immediately dug inside.

"That armor is pretty strong." A feminine voice spoke from behind me. Startled, I turned around quickly, which caused her to back up a bit. She had dark purple skin and a bright smile on her face. An elf? I thought, staring at her ears. "I'd highly recommend it."

"5,000 Marks for the full set?" I asked, gesturing to the price tag.

"That is our price I'm afraid." she replied. I thought for a moment, before realizing I would make all this money back and then some from our level 10 quest.

"I'll take it." I said lifting the box labeled "extra small". I carried it over to the register, where she rung me up and I used my adventurer card to pay for it. She smiled and led me to the changing room. I was still in my adventurer's outfit, and it was skin tight, so I assumed the armor would just go over it.

The armor set was blue and black, consisting of leather plates that strapped all along my body. I had one large breastplate, that looked like a crop top. My joints were all free, and I was extremely mobile in the armor set. The shoulder pads were a bit bigger than I would have liked but I thought I'd get used to it. The boots and gloves were extremely comfortable, and I had some bracers to cover my wrist.

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A special black scarf surrounded with a magical enchantment covered my neck and part of the shoulder pads. I was able to pull it up to cover my nose and it conformed quickly to my skin, surrounding my chin and neck, up to my ears. It felt nice and comfy and was easy to breathe through.

"That mask is quite special." The shopkeep lady had said as I walked out of the changing room. "It alone was half the price!" my eyes widened.

"Half?!" I exclaimed. "What does it do?!"

"It allows you to ignore poisonous gas, paralyzation, and a few other status effects, as well as increasing your reaction time. It'll surprise you." She smiled. "You look great though!" She said eyeing me.

"Thank you!" I smiled back at her before waving goodbye. I had a few more errands to run before I caught up with the team.

I bought another pack of Cryo-Crystals, as the questing with Zach had taken up the majority of them. I acquired a new belt to store my weapons and a larger backpack. I packed food and water, healing and magic potions, catalysts, and my new armor set. Being broke isn't so bad.

"Lady Anna." I quickly spun around. "I have something for you." It was Arin who spoke. This was the first time I had seen him outside of his armor. He was wearing a hoodie, with a cloth mask covering his face everywhere besides his eyes. He looked so casual, like another human being. He wore combat boots and sweatpants. His sword strung around his back like always. Bandage patches were bloody and noticeable all around him

"Arin?" I asked awkwardly. "You look so-" I couldn't come up with words. "Are you okay?"

"I am alright," He said. "I'm not usually outside of my armor, but I required to change to have my armor repaired." He reached his arms out, a piece of cloth covered an item. I assumed it to be the order he put in.

"You are going on a journey with your party. I thought I would give you a custom ordered runeblade." He raised the cloth to reveal a dagger. I picked it up in my hands, it was extremely light. The blade was sheathed. The dagger had an elegantly etched black blade with multiple blue glowing runes on it and held a very simplistic guard and black handle. The blade was straight and sharpened on both ends. It was much larger than my other knife, but so much lighter. It felt like I wasn't holding anything.

"Arin-" I began. "Why?" Is all I could muster, even overhearing it in the shop I still couldn't figure out why.

"You said you wanted to be as strong as me." He stated. "Having a strong weapon would always help." Arin helped me put the blade around my waist. It laid horizontal on my back, making it very easy to pull out.

"I- I know I said that. But that doesn't mean you had to go and almost kill yourself to get the ingredients for this!" I shouted. "Where did you go? Look at you! You're half-dead!" He just shook his head.

"I made it back," he managed. "I won't die on you that easily." his voice and demeanor were warm. I didn't understand him sometimes.

"Thank you." I said, holding back tears. "I will wield this weapon with pride." I said.

"Only use it if you have to." Arin warned. "It does sap your magical energy, and could cause you to pass out if you use it too long." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Are you kidding me?!" I exclaimed. "You give me a weapon but it saps my magical energy?" I questioned. "GREAT!" I shouted, "I might as well just use my other dagger."

"That's the other thing." Arin mentioned. "You can't wield both blades at once, yet."

"What happens if I try that?" I asked. "Will I explode?!" I exclaimed, joking.

"It would be like crushing 10 Cryo Catalysts all at once." Arin mentioned. "The amount of magic you would absorb might actually make you explode."

"Oh what the fuck!" I exclaimed laughing. "I've been able to crush four catalysts at once, I even bought upgraded ones so I don't need to worry about crushing so many to get more spells." I told him.

"Just be careful." Arin said. "I don't want you to die." He looked at me brightly.

"I'll be safe." I promised, rolling my eyes at him. "You're not my dad!" I joked.

"I know, but you're like a daughter to me." I felt him smile behind his mask.

"Oh.." I didn't know what to say. I thought about if he had ever had kids before, or somebody that he loved. "Have ... you ever had children? Or been in love?" I asked. Arin scoffed.

"Take care of yourself." Arin walked past me.

"You take care of yourself!" I said, pointing out his horrible condition.

"I heal fast." He gave an excuse, waving one arm up as he walked by me.

Arin walked by, and as he left I watched him go. I never had a father at home, so having an older figure takes care of me like he does reminds me of that. I guess you could say I admired him, besides the whole killing people thing.