Putting his sword onto the front desk, he could see Dante trying his best to hold back tears. He was a forger, and seeing a weapon that hadn't been properly cared for hurt his heart more than anything.
"So, what can I sell this sword for?" Getting straight down to business, Mark asked the only question he had.
"Kid, look at the state of this sword. It has dents and is chipped all along the blade." Pointing along the blade, Dante pointed out places where the sword was damaged. "I can't possibly sell this sword to anyone, so it would just end up being melted down. Most you would get for this would be 10 white."
The currency of this world was all classified by colour. White was the lowest form of the currency, behind light grey, grey, and black. It took 100 white to make 1 light grey, 100 light grey to make 1 grey, and 100 grey to make black.
"Come on, surely you can buy it for a bit more?" Looking dejectedly at Dante because of the low amount of money he was offered, Mark tried to bargain for a bigger sale.
"I want to help you kid, you still have that young feeling about you, but if I buy it for anymore I would be the on losing out, and I still have a business to run." Steeling his resolve, Dante made sure that he wouldn't be looked down upon for giving preferential treatment to a kid.
"Fine, if that is all you can give me, then that is all you can give me." Grabbing the money and starting to turn away, Mark remembered he was here to get something. "Hey Dante, do you know where I can find an underground fight club?"
Hearing the words coming out of Mark's mouth, Dante stared him in the eyes and put on a serious expression. "Kid, I would suggest you stay away from those places. They ain't pretty and people die there regularly." Giving his warning, the Animen turned away and began helping his other customers.
'He seemed like he was scared of something, should I try pressing for more?' Curious as to why Dante was worried, Mark began pondering the benefits to pressing answers out of him. Deciding the cons out weighed the pros, he decided to let the matters rest.
Walking back to the front door where Abby was waiting, Mark caught sight of someone placing a ring on display into their pockets and begin walking towards the door.
After having spoken to Dante, Mark knew he was a kind man who wanted to help him, making Mark want to help Dante. Now turning towards the thief, Mark spoke out making sure his voice could be heard throughout the shop.
"I have to say, stealing in broad daylight doesn't seem smart does it? You would need to be incredibly lucky to get away with it, don't you think?"
The thief, being stopped by a kid, began to sweat as he knew what would happen to him if the owner caught him stealing. Hastening his pace as to make it out of the store as quick as possible, the thief felt someone grab his arm. Trying to free himself by jerking his arm away, the hand holding it didn't loosen its grip at all.
"So, you were trying to steal something were you?" A cold voice could be heard behind the mans head. "You know what happens to thief's, don't you?"
The thief, turning his head to see his trapper, came face to face with Dante. Scared out of his wits, he began sweating bullets, coating his clothes in sweat.
"I didn't steal nothing, this kid is just making a scene!" Trying to put the blame on this random kid, the thief once again tried pulling his arm out of Dante's grip.
"I happened to have just made a deal with this kid, why would he make a scene right after he got paid?" Still seething with rage, Dante tightened his grip on the mans arm. "If you didn't steal anything, then you wouldn't mind emptying your pockets."
Seeing that he had no other choice, the thief put his hand into his pocket and slipped the ring onto his finger. Feeling a rush of strength flow through him, he gave one last yank of his arm, finally getting out of Dante's grasp.
"A ring of strength enhancement, not a bad grab... If you had grabbed a higher quality one." Reaching into his own pocket, Dante equipped a ring of his own. Just by looking at the two rings, everyone could tell which one was superior.
"Just let me go, I need the money!" Trying to plea and worm his way out of the situation, the thief tried using an old classic. "I need to feed my family!"
"Sorry about your family, but I have my own family to feed and you stealing from me is taking away from them." Deflecting the family plea with another family, Dante knew that the man was terrified. He could see his knees knocking and could hear his teeth chattering.
Letting out a small chuckle, Dante took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After he exhaled, his eyes shot open and he charged for the thief, pulling back his fist and aiming for his stomach.
Putting up his arm to protect himself, the thief felt multiple bones in his arms breaking, pushing the bones out of his skin, visible for the world to see. Falling to the floor in pain, he passed out before he could impact the ground.
Kneeling down next to the thief, Dante took the ring off of his finger and began walking towards Mark. A smile across his face, Dante held out his hand with the ring on his palm.
"Good job kid, thanks to you I wasn't robbed. As thanks I want to give you the item he was trying to steal." Explaining the reward in a loud enough voice so the entire shop could hear him, Dante urged Mark to take the ring from his hand. "Come on kid, my arms getting tired."
Taking the ring, Mark put it onto his finger and shook Dante's hand. "Not a problem, I just saw some guy stealing and knew you would be pretty upset if you were." Smiling while saying this, Mark tried to make his deed seem like less of a deal than it was.
"Whatever you say kid, just know that you are always welcome in my shop." Leaving and heading towards his other customers, Dante gave a wave towards Mark.
'Time to make my leave and find someone to tell me where to find the underground fight clubs.'