All four sat down on a table and Jazz ordered a casks of Firebreathing Ale and was excited to be back in town and not out there whistling for hours on end. Rahz and the others were happy as well as the meal was a creature they had not tried before called the Giant Marsh Frog. The only thing on the plate were the legs but they were 3 ft tall a piece. They were loving the portion sizes in the Abyss and even though it came from a marsh area it didn't taste bitter at all. The real discovery was the spicy sauce that was in each table that made their mouth tingle when they ate put it over the meat, it was a revelation.
It didn't take long for Rahz to stash it in his pouch for future use. In the meantime things were heating up in the table across the room, the fact that Jazz was basically ignoring them and pretty much letting bygones be bygones actually annoyed the shit out of them.
They thought Jazz was going to talk crap in order to start something and then they would look righteous while beating him up again. The insults never came and so, one of them grabbed a frog leg and tossed it to Rahz's table. The leg flew across the room and a lot of people stop what they were doing and just stare at the airborne piece of food. The eyes of Jazz opened wide looking at the incoming projectile but before it could hit anybody a 4 ft snake grab the leg by the bone and claim ownership of it as Rahz and Riddick reached to steal some meat from it.
Jazz took the cask of Ale and almost down it in one go before giving the group the finger. It wasn't how the group of five wanted to start the fight but it was now or never. They stood up and started walking towards Jazz and then the person that got up last, grabbed his neck and screamed.
AHHH FUCK!!!
When they all turned to see what happened, the first person to stand up also grabbed his neck and so on and so forth until all of them had been bitten by something.
Hiss!!!
Midori's yell brought the attention of everyone present and then she shook her tail while hissing and pointing at Jazz conveying to everyone present, " Nobody mess with my Bitch"
The people that got bitten in the neck didn't last long, 30 seconds was all it took for the venom to travel to their brain and actually corrode into paste. The One bitten in the leg was the last one left alive but when he was trying to run away Midori appeared from his shadow and gave him another dose in the neck.
The manager incharge of the inn saw what happened and frown but it was nothing uncommon in Shinjuku,"You guys have to clean your own mess, want to call the cleaners?".
"There is no need, food can't be wasted" said Jazz while grabbing a couple of the bodies and taking them outside then coming back for the others and making a pile.
The people curious about what was going on fan out of the Inn to take a look and then were left flabbergasted as Midori melted their bodies and absorb the liquid through her skin. The pouch of the leader was then picked up and given to Rahz that collected the coins inside and return the pouch to Jazz for keeping.
The team acted like it was an evening like any other but the rumors of what happened spread like wildfire but they were distorted to a degree that nobody would know it was a serpent that did it.
The next day Jazz took the team to the trade district as per Rahz request, if he was to make it into the Dreadnought Temple, he need it something a lot heavier and even though the material was on point the weight had now outlive its usefulness. Its father lesson still stuck with him wherever he went, one was to always take care of his weapon and the other to always use a weapon that he could barely swing so that he could train his muscles every time he used it.
There were at least 5 blacksmithing stores in the district and all specialized on different things but there was 1 that had a grandmaster dwarf blacksmith of the Bronzebeard clan that still used the forging techniques of the past but he hated Jazz to the core because he abandoned the Race tradition to try his luck at playing music. Jazz was reluctant to accompany the team in but after they made him feel like family he was dragged inside.
"Welcome to the Bronzebeard Shop would you be placing an order or would you like to take a look at our collection of works".
Rahz was about to answer a very nice dwarf woman when the smell of alcohol assailed his nostril and he couldn't help but frown. He look to the left and saw that the smell came from a semi old dwarf with a bronze beard that was divided in two and then braided down and it had some beard clips that had the logo of the shop a hammer hitting an Anvil. The material's color was abyss blue and the craftsmanship of the clips was exquisite.
Cough.. Cough …
The woman brought the attention back to her and smiled awaiting the team's response. Rahz came back to his senses and said "I would like to see a 2h Axe made at least out of Iron but needs to be a lot heavier than this one Ma'am".
Rahz gave the axe to the lady who grabbed it like it was a toy, before looking at the symmetry and other things, "I can see that you took good care of the weapon despite the amature skill of the maker, we do have a few items we can show on the second floor please follow me"
There were a couple doors behind the counter that gave the visitor the impression that it was a small shop but it was a different story once the customer reached the second floor and saw an open floor plan where weapons were neatly arranged by type in ascending order of price and they all had a centerpiece that was encased in a strong material.
"The centerpieces are the best of their respective category and are made by the best apprentice in the shop and his quality has been inspected by Grandmaster Bronzebeard himself so you can be sure you are getting quality. It can also be enchanted 3 times, a fair amount considering the material being used which is an alloy made of Mithril and Saronite a material only found in the abyss".
The lady dwarf was extremely knowledgeable about all the pieces however the 1 H sword was worth 1,000,000 Gold coins and it was a 1h weapon that required a lot less material. The team followed after the nice lady all the way to the back where the heavy weaponry was being displayed and started salivating. Rahz now knew why the lady said his father's Axe was amateurishly made, because it was. There was one that was shining silver throughout with some nice engraving and had a big side and a spike on the other making it top heavy.
" Can I touch them?"
They look so pretty he didn't know if it was allowed or not. The Dwarf lady climb on top of a set of moving stairs and brought out the silver one and talked about a little bit about the craftsmanship. This one is made with pig iron and a silver coating and if you ask me is a piece of crap made by an untalented apprentice.
"I DID MY BEST GRANDMA MAE… THE OLD GUY IS JUST TOO STRICT"
The nice Dwarf lady click her tongue and just looked the other way no paying any attention to Jazz. "The reason why this Axe is crap is not the technique but the Blacksmith didn't understand the purpose of the tool, you seem like a capable fighter give it a swirl and let me know what you think"
Rahz took the Axe and it felt like nothing was in his hands, he didn't have to swing the axe to know what was wrong with it. 2H weapon wilders like power and the weight was one of the main providers of it, the second problem was the price one would have to pay for a gravity enchantment to make the weapon work for them but that would cost a lot more money than they already spend on the Axe and it would also take away the space of another enchant the fighter needed.
A noble might spend the money to hang it on a wall in their house since it was very pretty but nobody that depended on their weapon to survive in the wild could risk it.
"It's too light, maybe if I was five I could used it but then the length would be too long"
Jazz almost fainted at the comment but he knew Rahz didn't lie so he had to take it and learn from it.
Snort…
Rahz passed the Axe over to Lady Mae and said, " If I could just get something at the level of my axe but a lot heavier It would be nice"
Lady Mae put the Silver Axe back and then walked towards another piece on the wall. The Shaft is 5 ft tall made entirely out of Iron and the Axe heads are made of a material called cobalt that look slick but has high density.
Rahz took the Axe with one hand and it felt a lot better than his dad's but still lack weight. Rahz shook his head and passed the Axe back. The dwarf lady stop for a second thinking about the problem and shook her head as well even if she took out another one, they were all about the same weight so there was no point.
"I am afraid it would have to be a custom job but the problem is the cost, just in materials there would be a fee of 500,000 gold coins and the cheapest of our apprentice won't do it for less than 300,000".
Rahz was sweating as they only had 500,000 and he need it a weapon. Rahz was pondering in what to do when he saw Jazz get Tail Whip by Midori that Hissed at him saying " You better step up and make that shit or get smack"
"I can make it for you Rahz if Grandma Mae would let me use the facilities that is"
"I don't know Jazz we only have 500,000, we can't afford to have you make something like that silver one, if you mess up there is no more Ale".
Jazz was sweating but how could he let his savior without a weapon and he also knew how important the one made by his dad meant. "Don't Worry Leave it to me"
Lady Mae looked at her grandson and saw that he was changing for the better. "I'll help you talk to your grandpa"
Jazz shoulders droop down as he took a Cask of Firebreathing Ale from his pouch and walk to the entrance. The old man was still sleeping and reeking of alcohol but the moment Jazz opened the Cask the old man sprung from the chair alive like he was 20 years younger.
"FireBreathing Ale aged about 2 weeks not bad not bad"
"Hello Grandpa"
"OUT!!!"
"Now.. Now.. Dear"