After seeing Anna off, Alex had a few tasks to take care of—first, he needed a weapon for upcoming commissions.
Second, he needed food to help him throughout the time he spent here. And, finally, he needed to find a place to stay.
But that was already covered. Thankfully, he had asked Anna to give him a location of an inn, where he could stay for a while.
Now, he had to go and find himself a weapon to carry on his journey.
He hadn't thought about the weapon until now, though. He regretted not asking Anna about it, but she'd done enough for him.
He had to start relying on himself more.
He started walking around the town, until he ended up in what looked like the town centre.
While his clothes still somewhat stood out, the cape given to him by the nurse helped.
Yet he couldn't help but notice the vast difference there was between himself and those people. The Aelorians.
The aura they carried, their strong but kind gazes. He saw them all the time, when they stared into his clothes.
But now he could just say he was a traveller, with his license. It couldn't be a big deal.
He kept walking around the town centre, seeing many open shops. One of these shops had golden necklaces and bracelets.
They looked very captivating, but he continued on searching for a weaponry store.
As he was walking, he saw another open shop. This time, it had fruits and vegetables in square-shaped rustic crates.
He walked to the shop and waited behind a customer.
Overhearing the conversation between the customer and the owner of the small shop, "2 silver coins for 3 mere apples?! Are you out of your head?!" the customer yelled.
As he shrugged, the owner replied, "Take it or leave it. I'm doing you a favor here, lad," in a rather cold tone.
The customer, annoyed, clicked his tongue and muttered in a voice Alex could slightly hear, "Nyern curses on you."
He was confused by the sudden outrage of the customer, having barely understood anything from what the customer muttered and what the owner said.
He just moved slightly forward, facing the shopkeeper. "Excuse me, sir," he greeted.
After the shopkeeper greeted him back, Alex asked for a bag of fruits and vegetables, mixed in a single bag. The man got up from his seat and started picking them up. Alex noticed some unique-looking… fruits? Vegetables?
It was especially this one that caught his attention the most. It was shaped like a wide orange, but the color couldn't be any more different.
It seemed to be glowing with a white color, very noticeable even under the shade of sunlight.
He pointed his finger at it, then asked, "What is this?"
The shopkeeper answered, while continuing to pick up things from the crates, "That's an Idun. Completely fresh, and clean."
While it did pique his interest, he just wanted more of the normal fruits for now.
He didn't want to try something he had absolutely zero knowledge of.
After a minute or two of waiting, the shopkeeper handed him a bag full of different types of edibles. As he took the bag, the shopkeeper said, "That'll be 2 silver coins."
Wasn't that the same amount of coins he asked the customer just before him, for only 3 apples? Or was he hearing wrong?
In any case, he doubted the man was trying to fool him. It was only reasonable, considering what he asked for.
He handed him the coins, specifically the silver coins he got as change from the Guild.
He proceeded to thank him for his kindness, and then took his leave with a bag in hand.
He'd finished one thing, now he needed to find a weapon, then he could start thinking about taking commissions.
Walking around the town made him realize more and more just how peaceful it was here.
The sounds of the footsteps of the somewhat big crowd, the bustling markets—he felt at ease.
Yet he couldn't help but wonder. Where did that beast even come from? In such a peaceful town.
The Silver Knight was even present, so perhaps they knew? Or the Silver Knight just happened to be there?
His guess was it was just a criminal that went into the town, then started wreaking havoc.
Anna would have most likely defeated him by herself. If he wasn't there, of course.
As he kept gathering his thoughts, he noticed another store nearby.
It had the same writing that he didn't understand right above the entrance.
What caught his attention were the two medium-sized swords, hanging right outside the doorstep. It couldn't be more obvious it was a weapons shop.
He smiled as he approached the shop, ready to complete his final task. He went inside and noticed many different types of tools and items.
When he entered, there was in front of him a section with backpacks, belts, etc. Seeing them made him realize he needed more than just a weapon.
Traversing more inside, he came across the section with weapons. Many weapons.
Swords, spears, daggers, bows. He was completely taken in by what he was seeing, but he had to make a choice. Something that would fit him.
While a bow or a dagger did sound cool, a weapon that would fit him was a sword. But he would need a medium-sized one. Not weighing too heavily, either. He could control himself better that way.
Before his arrival here, he used to practice the sword each time school ended, and summer break started. His experience with it was no more than 5 to 6 months, but even so, he knew it would help him heavily during his time here.
As he was still stuck thinking, something snapped him out of his thoughts—a sword inside a glass box.
He leaned closer to inspect the sword in the glass box. He saw it had a slight curve to it, with its somewhat long handle being even more unique with a weird, yet beautiful design.
It resembled a katana.
Its handle was colored with a dazzling black and purple that seemed to be in the form of curved lines. The blade shone with a silver color, making it seem even more like a beauty.
He was especially good at slashing, therefore this katana-looking weapon would be perfect for him.
He kept looking around at other weapons, inspecting what he saw carefully, but nothing was like the blade he'd just seen. There were claymores that looked rather heavy to lift, and there were captivating rapiers that seemed to be opposites of claymores in terms of weight and size.
He noticed even a couple of wands as well, most likely for people with a Core.
He came to a conclusion and chose the katana sword. Before he went and asked the store owner, who'd been sitting in his seat the entire time he was looking, he thought he needed more items—specifically the ones he saw when entering the store.
After a bit of time, he finished looking around. He planned on taking a backpack only, along with the sword.
He moved at a steady pace toward the store owner, who was still sitting on a wooden chair, reading what seemed to be a newspaper. Alex was a bit surprised they had one, but it was only normal, he guessed.
"Hello, sir," he greeted.
The shopkeeper looked up from his newspaper. A middle-aged man with short gray hair and eyes that didn't seem particularly interested in anything.
"Looking to gear up, traveler?" he asked, folding the paper.
"Yes. I'd like that katana displayed in the case… and one of the backpacks near the entrance."
He raised a brow. "You've got an eye for the rare ones. That blade's not just decoration. It's tempered with Veilsteel. Expensive, but durable."
Alex hesitated. "How much?"
The man gave him a number that made him flinch a little inside, but he still had some silver left. He could afford it, barely.
"Alright," he nodded. "I'll take it."
As the man wrapped up the blade, he added quietly, "Not many people pick that one. Most say it has a… temper."
Alex blinked. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "You'll see."
Alex nodded back at what he said, then made his way toward the exit.
The blade he'd just gotten—he didn't pick it just because of its looks. He picked it because he felt it. He felt the sword itself.
Now that he'd got everything, it was time to head to the inn Anna told him about.