The next morning came, and Zeke woke up a bit later than he usually does, he went downstairs ready for the day ahead only to realize that all of his farmhands has already left for their jobs.
He went to the kitchen and found the usual note of Magnus instructing him that he left some baked potatoes on the table for him to eat, he also said in the letter that Zeke was free to do whatever he wants, go to town or laze around in the house, knowing that he will not do the latter he pocketed the note.
The meal was good as usual and after preparing himself for the day ahead Zeke remembered what happened last night, how Wulfric's soft fur touch his smooth ones and how out of character they both acted. The thought of him acting the way he did caused Zeke to shake his head and cover his face in embarrassment, and the way he pushed Wulfric to come with him to the town, at night! Goof thing the rest of his boys didn't question them when they came back, otherwise they would've known for sure, Zeke is pretty bad at lying he doesn't know about Wulfric though.
"Alrighty, I know that they're going to be super busy today so what can we do," Zeke said talking to himself, "relax until Friday? Nah, that will be to boring, and farm work is pretty much done at this moment so what to do?"
Circling around the hallway Zeke was lost in what to do for the day, all these free time after all those weeks of pure work and he can't think of anything to do, until he remembered that he needed to upgrade his combat repertoire. They suggested to use this time to actually prepare for the dungeon and Zeke was doing nothing but pace back and forth in his house, cool.
Realizing this he immediately took his disguise of wearing a hat and a mask from the coat room beside the entrance of his house and his Polymorph Sword that was on the weapon rack in the hallway of his house. He can go to the town by himself because he pretty much got the whole place memorized by now so he's not worried about getting lost. He wrote a note for his farmhand saying that he will be out for a while and that he is going to the town to gear up for the upcoming expedition.
After writing the little note, he heard someone come down the stairs, the footsteps was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. "Good morning, are you perhaps going somewhere boss?" Avin said as he elegantly brush off some dust from his elongated tail, "that note, I could pass it to them."
Zeke has totally forgotten about his recently recruited farmhand, him speaking up like like that almost gave Zeke a scare, "ah, yes here. You can give it to them or just tell them that I'll be going out for a while."
"Sure thing, have fun," Avin yawned as he went to the kitchen.
"Thanks!"
The path to Yggdra's shop was nice to look at, the cobblestones were well-trimmed of overgrown grass, the numerous flowers and plants that surrounds the shop were also looked cared for. The owner must have a green thumb keeping all these plants alive and well, it helps make the whole atmosphere of their shop refreshingly inviting. Zeke went inside the shop as he appreciate the wonderful layout of the shop.
It has been some time since Zeke has visited the shop, to be fair this was only his second visit and there was no other reason for him to visit because he was given a free Polymorph Sword by the Mayor that he brought with him, and there was no time because of the amount of things that needs to be done at the farm. Now is a really good time to browse and maybe get some upgrade for his weapon.
"Welcome!—Oh! Sorry, we actually don't serve civilians in this shop, I apologize. But, you can show me a certificate or proof that you are working for the guild so we can entertain your needs," Yggdra said as soon as Zeke entered the shop.
Confused, Zeke didn't know that the proprietor could actually forget him in such a short time, in hasn't been that long wasn't it? He was about to tell her who he was when he realized that he is in disguise, he inwardly groaned as he removed the mask and hat from his face.
"Hello Yggdra, sorry it was actually me, I didn't mean to look suspicious," Zeke said apologetically.
"Oh! Farmer, I though you were some shady guy," Yggdra laughed, "don't worry I understand your issues come in so I could help whatever it is you came here for."
The interior of the shop has changed its layout since the last time Zeke was here, there are now a line of swords with different length in the middle of the room. From daggers, short swords to rapiers and greatswords, all weapon types are displayed neatly on the walls of the shop and all of them are kept sharp and shiny. There are also some bows and greatbows that are hanged behind Yggdra which further indicates that they can also work with wood and not just steel. This is a haven for people who likes to collect these kind of stuff back in in his home world, Zeke thought,
"Right, okay I got the sword here that the Mayor requisitioned from here last time, I was wondering if I could ever upgrade this?" Zeke asked, "not that the craftsmanship right now is bad I am just making sure to prepare thoroughly for the upcoming expedition."
"I guess they have finally got what they wanted, huh?" Yggdra said as she wiped the sword she was holding.
"Pardon?"
"The people who wanted new stuff from the market," Yggdra replied a little irked talking about the topic, "they've been hounding the guild ever since they got tired of the new shipments. It hasn't even been that long since the produce that you guys shipped arrived and they want something new and fresh already."
"People needs to realize how hard it is to actually do and acquire these things," she continued, "they need to learn how to be patient, especially since we are all going through this hard time."
Noticing that Zeke has been standing there a little awkwardly, listening to her rant Yggdra recomposed herself, "I'm very sorry about that, truly unprofessional of me, loading off all these problems onto the farmer himself."
"Ah.. no it's no problem, I'm a good listener actually, just got a little caught off," Zeke offered to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation, although it did nothing but to make things worse.
"It's okay dearie, that was just myself being endlessly chatty again," Yggdra giggled, "so let's actually get back to the topic at hand shall we?"
Zeke nodded pleased to finally see what he could do with his basic equipment.
"Let's see what we have here, yes the morphing sword we made for you," she said looking over at Zeke's weapon, "we could definitely make some changes, small or big, that was always how it is when we make weapons: they are interchangeable, upgradeable and modifiable. But I don't think you have some materials with you yet, judging by how empty handed you look."
"You are right," Zeke said while scratching the back of his head, "I know that you told us before that we could obtain it from the dungeon but we were so nervous and preoccupied about it being our first time that we only brought home the seeds."
"No need to justify yourself dearie, it's totally fine no pressure at all," Yggdra smiled, "as a matter of fact our shop would provide a free upgrade for your weapon right now."
"Really?! I mean that would be swell! But why?" Zeke said, going though a lot of emotions at the moment.
"It's our thanks to the tireless efforts of you and your farmhands," she replied smiling warmly, "this would be a novice upgrade anyways, as we lack materials for a more complex method, so please accept it."
Smiling widely at the proprietress, Zeke eagerly accepted the offer, "yes of course! Thanks a lot for this."
"Do not mention it sweetie, it's the least I could do," Yggdra said her eyes crinkling in fondness, "now, here are the options of which you could turn that weapon into a better version of it."
Yggdra went to the back table of her counter to fetch a catalogue, which she then handed to Zeke, "you can find the upgrades on the novice section. The ones that has materials which can be obtained from monsters you can skip for now, focus on the ones that your Polymorph Sword can access for now."
His morphing sword belongs to the Short Sword section of the catalogue.