We returned home once again on a loop and came back to Ruby excitedly marching around the house. She ran up to the four of us as we entered and declared what she wanted to do with her class.
"I want to be an archer! Of some type... I just wanted to be a ranged person really." Her excitement died off as she continued to speak.
"That can easily be done. Hey, Ipa, Soul, do you guys know anything about picking a class like that? What are the requirements? Do we have to pay for that?" I asked them. They both shook their heads.
"Not everything is about money, Anima. All she has to do is just pick up a weapon and commit to learning it. The only ones with class restrictions are Heroes like you and I." Ipa stated.
"Oh, I see. Alright, what kind of ranged weapon do you want to use? A bow?... What else is there?" I silently asked myself.
"Bows, crossbows, chakrams, whatever you'd like Ruby." Soul offered to her. Ruby thought about it for a weirdly long amount of time and decided on the crossbow. Ipa was nice enough to pull one out of his inventory and hand it to her. It was already pretty strong, but I also learned a lot about how ranged weaponry works.
Ipa clarified that the need for arrows was irrelevant. Crossbows and other ranged weapons shoot bolts of mana that are synthesized into the crossbow and thrown out to the opponent. It makes a very good weapon so long as your mana is high. I wasn't sure if Ruby had a measure on her mana, but if I were to use a weapon like that, it would be devastating for the attacker. I should've asked for that when I was summoned...
"Okay, now that she has her weapon, what's next? Oh, can you aim with it?" I asked her. Ruby shook her head shamefully.
"Don't worry about it! I can't even aim my skills sometimes. That's okay, with enough practice you'll be a scary opponent. Let's go!" I said, walking out of the house in search of targets that we could use.
My first thought was to use cans, but this world didn't have aluminum cans as we did. I had no idea what else we could use.
Ipa was smart enough to use broken crates as her targets. We didn't have a backyard, but we took everybody out to a field nearby our home and set the boxes up in the long grass. The hills made uneven ground so they were blown down by the wind. Ipa said it wouldn't be a problem and Ruby's training began.
"Alright, aim down those crosshairs on top and pull the trigger. Once you do that, imagine an arrow being created out of your mana that will pierce the box. Depending on how intense you focus, it might explode, so be careful." Ipa explained to Ruby. She nodded and refocused on the box in the distance.
With absolutely no time wasted, Ruby shot three arrows, each one piercing the back of the other and splitting the arrows down by the feathered part. I couldn't fathom how fast my jaw hit the floor.
"So, am I accurate enough?" Ruby asked Ipa.
"Uh... yeah! I'd say so!" He said in an annoyed tone.
"Why are we even training if she's that good? Does that crossbow need any upgrades?" I asked her. She shook her head and slung it around her back.
"Works just fine to me. Unless you want to waste money on me, I would just save it. Hey Ipa! Do you have any other weapons I can use to show you up with? I love making you feel insignificant." Ruby smiled with a wicked stare.
"That's enough! If you can use it, that's good enough. That leaves us with you, Anima. So long as Soul and Tama are clear for their upgrades, our leader is the only one left." Ipa told me.
"Geez, I'm not sure. I could use some new armor or a staff upgrade, but my stuff works just fine. I haven't been hit in a while, actually, so I'm not sure my armor could take another hit. What's the cheapest armor shop nearby?" I asked Ipa.
He led me down the road right back toward the old blacksmith from an hour ago and he was pleasantly surprised to see us again. I looked at him and he did the zipper motion over his mouth once more. I can't believe he was still doing that, but I was grateful nonetheless.
"I'm looking for armor! Do you have anything good for mages?" I asked him.
"Well, I did just get something in today that's pretty useful in my eyes. This is the Mage's Vessel. It's a cut robe that has these two large elixer bottles near your hip. It holds excess mana so it's not going to waste and you can drink it to restore mana at any point. They automatically refill, just like that sword I sold you earlier. It's going to run you up for about one fifty gold though. Do your pockets match my price? Oh, and I don't need any more of those potions." He said.
I threw up 150 gold coins on the counter and smiled at him.
"Anything you want Mr. Blacksmith. Tell me, what's the defensive quality of that armor like? Could I take a hit?" I asked him.
"Yeah, it has a regeneration feature that works so long as the user has excess mana, just like the elixirs. It's quite fine and probably the strongest thing this shop owns." He said.
"So why are you selling it for so cheap?" I asked him in response. The blacksmith rubbed his beard and pointed outside.
"Are you kiddin'? My business is booming right now! You gave me the gold I needed and I was able to order some equipment for the construction crews and soldiers of Zeus. I'm back on the grid!" He declared.
"Oh, well I'm glad everything worked out. I don't mind paying an extra ten gold if you need it." I told him, but he declined and handed me the armor, thanking me for my patronage.
Before I knew it, I was holding the armor in a big hug while the door shut behind us.
"Hey... where the hell did you get all of that gold from?" Ken asked me. I explained that I sell my potions in my free time and have been collecting the gold slowly... but I've probably destabilized the economy at this point. I think I've sold over a hundred by now.