Blackstone Armory was his favorite weapon store in all of Preshen. The shop was where his parents bought their stuff, and he bought his armor. It sat close to the western side of the city near all of the factories. The attire of people steadily declined as he headed to his destination. Three-piece suits and canes faded to tattered shirts and patchwork pants. Makeup and cologne changed to oil and grease stains as the pipework became increasingly intrusive. He left the business owners behind for the working class, which he appreciated to no end.
Sure, most of them had poorer hygiene and the smell of smog was far worse, he had a chance of getting pickpocketed by urchins and mugged by the desperate in the alleys, but the lot here felt better to be around. More real, almost. They didn’t bother to act like gentlemen and women, nor did they dress up in costumes to show off fake wealth.
As he began to move closer to the factories, the shop faces of buildings began to fade as they became more and more residential. After missing his turn a few more times than he would like to admit, Verlon finally stood in front of the armory. It was a fairly simple building, though larger than the surrounding ones. The armory was one of the few on this street with a shop face. it was fairly plain all things considered. Just a couple of windows peaking into the merchandise cluttered about.
Verlon entered the store, spotting rows of chaotically placed weapons and scattered bits of armor all over the dozens of racks and shelves. Most appeared to be steel or some other alloy similar to steel. The blades were sharp, and the armor was polished, at least at some point. Most of the stuff resting atop the shelves were covered in dust and cobwebs as if the smith hadn’t come back to the storefront since tossing them up here.
The other side of the room had neat racks of guns placed along them. He recognized a few of them, but most of the firearms were new to him. There was everything from pistols to rifles to even a few kinds of mortars set out. Attachments, such as a few sights and some optional pieces, sat off to the side of the weapons.
Blackstone Armory was more a smithy than anything. The forge was in the back, and everything out in the storefront was hand-made by the smith. Well, almost everything. The firearms and related products came from their respective creators and this place just acted as a seller.
A bored-looking teenager sat off to the back behind a counter. She was reading a book and didn’t even bother to look up as the bell over the door rang. It was impressive she even heard the bell over the racket of a hammer in the background. “Welcome to Blackstone Armory. Let me know if you need help…”
“Thank you.” Verlon first perused the cold weapons. He came here mainly to get a sword. He had plans to get swordsmanship training while he was in Preshen this time around, and his current weapon wouldn’t cut it. It was covered in nicks and the balance was thrown off from years of use. It had been good for as long as he had it, but it was time for a reliable new blade.
What kind though? All cold weaponry would basically be the same starting point since he had yet to get real training in anything. Should he stick with the short sword? There were so many options though and he had been feeling the drawbacks of a shortsword ever since he bought it. Maybe daggers, hammers, scythes, axes, spears, halberds, or some other weapon would be better…
Verlon looked over the weapons, swiping off the dust as he pulled them out to do a few practice swings. Daggers were his first thought. They were easy to have equipped, looked badass, and tickled his rogue fantasy for a slight moment. Then reality got to him. He already knew this, but it really hit him as he swung the blades around: they had no range. He would have to be hugging a beast to get an effect out of the daggers, which was not quite what he had in mind. They were cool, but no amount of coolness was worth his life.
Since daggers were out, that knocked out hand axes and hammers. They also suffered from a similar issue, though to a lesser extent. That, and they were too unwieldy for his purposes. Their top heaviness made them a bit awkward as he swung them around. He would have to get momentum behind his swings to do any real damage. Melee weapons were already his backup weapon, so he needed something that could be deployed and used quickly without having to rear back for a strike.
That knocked out every polearm. Most were quite heavy and would require him to have space to use. That would be fine for a bruiser or tank, but he wouldn’t have space to begin with if he was forced to pull out a melee weapon. Greatswords and claymores were similarly knocked out. Weight wasn't even an issue for the weapons, it was purely due to their length.
So what did that leave? Rapiers were out due to the skill cap. He didn’t have time to become a master swordsman and likely would only get some very basic lessons. Maybe if he had a couple of months to train with a rapier he might consider it, but he needed to return to Endenheim sooner rather than later.
There were quite a few odd weapons, such as weird hammers on chains, though he decided to stick with swords. They were simple and easy to use, and he already had a small amount of knowledge with them. After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to pass by the shortswords. He originally bought one because it was cheap, but he had money now. They suffered from a similar reason as daggers, they were just too short for his comfort.
So longswords it is. They were a bit longer than shortswords and yet hit the perfect ratio he was looking for between ranges of attack. For a brief moment, he thought of grabbing a scimitar of some kind, but then he thought realistically about his weapon choices.
A weapon focused on slashes was okay, but what if he went against something with chitin or scales covering it? He was already stronger than a normal human thanks to his years of adventuring and consuming in Endenheim. Still, he didn't have nearly enough strength to slash through scales. Maybe a bruiser or tank could but he wasn't quite there yet. The longsword would provide better versatility with its stabbing capabilities. It wasn’t as good as a scimitar in terms of slashing, but could still have a good effect when it mattered.
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He looked through the blades for a while before settling on one he liked. It was steel, he thought, though a bit darker than the normal steel blades he had seen. The sword was fairly light and the guard would protect most of his hand. Guards likely wouldn’t matter too much against beasts, but it was still nice to have. The grip was a simple black leather wrap that prioritized one-handed use but would allow him to fit one and a half for a more powerful strike. The pommel was a dull round piece that held quite a bit of weight counterbalancing the sword.
It had no sheath, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise. Blackstone Armory was a smithy first and foremost, so he would have to go get a sheath at a separate store. It wasn’t too odd either for a smithy to not produce leather, especially considering the hundreds of different kinds of leathers pulled out of Endenheim. He would have to head to a true leatherworker sometime over the next week.
Verlon nodded to himself one last time before heading over to the firearms. His current loadout was okay, but he needed something new. The Kar98’s slower fire rate as a bolt action wouldn’t do it for too much longer. He had already experienced plenty of issues with it as is. Beasts only became more resilient and bullet-immune as he went further into Endenheim, such as the Fallen reflecting his bullets with electricity.
He could probably still use the Kar98 for a bit longer. Before he became a blue cross, he would have to change something up. Rangers unfortunately fell out as the ranks progressed due to the decreasing effectiveness of firearms. They would either have to move over to a ranged relic, most of the time bows or along the same lines, or get lucky and find a Core that enabled ranged attacks. There was a third option though not a good one; change to a bruiser or tank and use a melee weapon.
Cores were incredibly scarce items that could grant powers to the person who consumed them- wait… were Cores Biotic Bundles? It made sense considering what he learned from Ai so far… not every Core came from a ruin though... He would have to think more about this later. Maybe he should grab a book on Cores when he swung back by the Sekorium? If he was right, Ai might be far more useful than he originally thought considering the device directly interfaced with his own Biotic Bundle.
He started his search at the pistol section. He had felt it this last trip. His revolver would no longer cut it. Beasts were able to close the gap much quicker, and he didn’t have time to slot each individual bullet into the chamber anymore. He was better off moving over to a sidearm with a magazine.
There were dozens of options, and probably more if he wanted to go to a true gun range. He almost reached for one before pausing as he locked eyes on a silver piece. It was a 1911, a pistol he had wanted for a long time. Named after its creation on the nineteenth day of year 511, it was by far one of his favorite weapons. To put it simply, the gun’s sleek design was made all the better by its effectiveness.
Verlon didn’t hesitate as he grabbed the pistol and headed to the counter with the teen behind it. Buying a better primary weapon would have to wait at the moment. He wanted to check the auction house at the Sekorium first to see if there were any relics before he spent more money on a rifle. He placed the sword, pistol, and five spare magazines on the counter. “I’d like to buy these, and a couple boxes of .45 FMJ.”
The girl sighed and put a bookmark into her book as she leaned forward and looked over the items. She spoke with a bored, almost dead voice. “The themium sword is forty-three silver coins, 1911 is seventeen with the mags, and a fifty box of .45 FMJ is two silver. Total is um, sixty-four silver coins.”
What the hell? Why was the sword so expensive? "Umm... what's themium? I haven't heard this term before."
"Oh." A bit of passion entered her eyes for the first time. "Themium is a newer alloy, so it makes sense you haven't heard of it. It boasts better durability than steel, allowing weapons to hold their edges for longer. Unfortunately, it corrodes a bit easier, so it is not a hundred percent better than steel. Still, as long as you take care of the sword, it'll last longer than a steel one."
Nice. Themium sounded quite good. From what he understood, he would have to pay a bit more attention to the sword, but wouldn't have to sharpen it as frequently. Verlon pulled the amount from his bag and passed it over. It hurt to lose so much money in the first hour of receiving it, but it was something that needed to be done. That left him at five notes, eighty-five coins, and eighty-seven pennies if he included his savings.
The girl handed him a small leather loop with a clip on it. “This’ll do for your sword until you get a scabbard. It is highly recommended you get one soon to protect your blade from the elements.” Then she went back to her book as if he wasn’t there. “Oh, have a nice day.”
"You too." He moved his new purchases into his bag, adding quite a bit of weight. Ammo was unfortunately quite heavy. He also clipped the loop onto his belt and thrust his new sword through it like it was his longsword. Instead of reaching to his knee like his shortsword, the themium longsword went down to his midcalf. It was a bit award to wear at first, but he got used to it after the first few streets.
Next stop: the Gold Sky auction house. He hadn’t had money when he was initially by the place, but now he could probably afford something there. The auction house was a unique existence that allowed Seekers to reliably auction off anything from rare medicinal plants to relics. For the most part, it was more cost-effective to sell directly to the Sekorium in regards to small items such as the uncommon plants he found and the Brimstone from two weeks ago. The Gold Sky auction house, however, was better for selling more expensive items. For just a small percent of the profits, the auction house would act as the middleman and ensure profitability all the way around.
They even had a monthly auction for the more precious items that drew quite a large crowd. He never had enough money to bid on anything there, but he had heard of some of the items offered by other Seekers. Needless to say, they were quite pricey. Like starting at three notes and ending in gold pounds or even platinum motifs expensive. He had even heard the Gold Sky location in the capitol threw a yearly auction with the best of the best items found all around imperial lands. He would never get to see such a grand event, but that didn't stop him from dreaming about finding something to sell there.
For now, though, he just wanted to see if there was something that caught his fancy. In particular, he was hoping to find a relic bow to upgrade his firepower. He had been practicing with a bow on his off time, and while he wasn't super good with one he could probably hit a beast. Sear Bows were sold somewhat frequently and he intended to buy one if it showed.