Dawn- An age of Darkness

I needed to buy some armor and sharpen the sword. This sword I had now, felt rather light despite its size and even looked brand new. According to Jowy it was an ancient relic, but how in the world was it still sharp? It made me wonder if it was really necessary to sharpen it.

Why was so paranoid? I was impaled with this damn sword, so of course, I\'d be.

So the old man gave me this much money?

The pouch had ten silver beauties and ten copper uglies left. That wasn\'t really that much money but I had to make do with what I had; the so-called doctor ripped me off and I could feel that in my gut! This much money was good enough to live with comfort for roughly two weeks but it wasn\'t enough to buy things like armors and all that. I could have always bought a cheap one though. So I didn\'t have many worries in that regard. Besides, my armor never lasts anyway.

But then again I didn\'t expect the old man to give me money. Well, he was rich, so I didn\'t know how to react to it. I\'d still have to agree, just taking it without even saying anything might have been a little rude. But given the fact, how much he pissed me off, I really didn\'t want to thank him in the least. But this time I made up my mind that I would.

I went further inside the town. The town was paved using quartz. Roads were wide and blooming with activity. There were all sorts of shops everywhere. People were carrying bags and buying stuff; it was an even busier town than Moire. Thinking of Moire, that city was built rather nicely too. But I preferred this city as I felt as ease since I wouldn\'t have worry about the undead of all things.

Food stalls were looking straight at me: I was glaring straight back. I was literally drooling over the roasted meat on the street shops. Who cared about the incident only minutes ago? Who cared about all the problems my life had to offer?

I needed a new start to my day. A new start with sweet juicy grilled meat.

It\'s now or never!

I paid the stall owner and bought two full sticks of skewered meat.

My first real meal in ages!

Finally, I didn\'t have to be guilty about eating rabbit meat or nauseous about eating fish. I could actually eat all the meat I wanted. As long as I had enough money that is.

I talked as I shoved the meat through my mouth. "Ol\'man do\'yoknow wmhere I \'could fi\'md a good weapon shop here?"

"I couldn\'t understand half of that but if you\'re looking for weapons, I\'d suggest making a visit to Calor\'s shop. She\'s got the best goods in town. But beware, don\'t go hitting on her or her husband would start to hit on ya too, with a solid hammer that is." Halfway through, he started laughing. He was half-joking half teasing.

He was an old man selling food on a cart with wheels. Unlike the rest of the stalls, his one wasn\'t that fancy but his food smelled the best and I went with my gut feeling. After all, the gut wants what it wants.

"Thanks for the info. Half of it wasn\'t really necessary though."

The owner laughed.

I finished my meat and listened to him for a while. He was fun to be with. He told me various stories about his glory days. According to him, he was a grand adventurer. I couldn\'t picture that though. I shared some of my stories too; not that any of them were worth telling. I told him about how I spent two months on an island only to be rescued by pirates. I didn\'t go through much but he sympathized with me. It wasn\'t like I went around boasting, but every once in a while I felt like talking….

I went toward the direction he\'d pointed in. it led me straight to the massive store in the central. It was big, very big; so much so that our house (back on earth), the backyard, and the front yard would have fitted in. I was in awe seeing so many weapons and armor. There were various staff members and from the moment I walked in, two of them started to ask me questions.

So this world has these sorts of places too, huh?

"What is your choice of weapon, Sir?"

"Are you here to buy armor, Sir?"

"Come this way, we have great armor!"

They were quite excited and started to promote their stuff a bit too much.

Am I in the wrong world or something?

I was wearing only a shirt, so they assumed I was here to buy armor. They were right on the money though.

"Hey, you two!" A woman shouted from the opposite direction. She came towards us. "I\'ll take it from here." Her voice was soothing. She dismissed the two in front of me. She must have been someone of higher-order in the store; maybe the owner? "Hi there. I\'m sorry you had to go through that. Lately, those two have been at it with a bit too much passion."

Tall, slender, and pale-skinned, the woman in front of me looked quite appealing. Her blue hair didn\'t do her justice. I\'d have preferred to have seen her as a brunette or even a blonde but that was just my preference.

She smiled and from my perspective, I found her smile a little attractive.

The inside of the store was very busy. The products were showcased on walls and some were even encased in glass. There were more customers than I could count, yet the service seemed too good to be true. "Yeah, I could feel that."

"Anyway, what brings you here? I would assume new armor? Although you aren\'t wearing any, so that must be the case." The eyeballed me and put up a PR smile. She knew her stuff; there was no doubt about it.

"Actually yes. And I would also need some protective gear for my hands and feet."

"How much is your budget?" She was fast and asked all the right questions.

I have to have to buy some items too, so.…

"I also have to sharpen this sword, so about eight silvers would be my limit."

"Eight? I think I can provide you with some decent quality stuff, and that is the sword?"

"Yes," I said. I handed over the sword to her.

"Not bad…" She held the sword in her hand and admired it for a couple of minutes. "Not bad at all." Her voice hid behind her breath.

She went to the counter and gave me a slip.

A slip before even paying? Is something wrong with this store or with me?

"Wait here. Let me get this to the blacksmith." She then went further inside to a room.

I\'d assumed that was the smithy. She came back and brought a man. He was muscular and big, something which always made me jealous about those kinds of people.

He was taller than me and looked at me with rather serious eyes. "Where did you get this?"

"In an island," I said.. I felt more intimidated than I should have.