I spent a while exploring the city, wandering around and checking out the shops and other buildings. I allowed myself to spend half of my emeralds on armour and potions, as those would certainly help in battles.
I was strolling through a street, pouch of emeralds in hand, when I heard someone shout, "Hey, you! You look like you have some emeralds to spend, so why not check out my shop?" I glanced around.
A merchant was waving at me. Behind him was a rack full of polished swords, daggers and armour. I walked forward to examine the gear. They looked like very basic equipment, but they came at a decent price and looked durable enough to withstand attacks from undead. To test, I punched one with as much strength as I could muster. To my horror, my fist left a dent so large in the breastplate that it almost seemed like a crater in proportion to the rest of the armour.
"Well, you've left a mark on that, so you're paying!" the merchant declared, lifting the armour off the stand and extending his hand forward, gesturing for me pay up.
"No, there's no way I'm paying for this low-quality -"
"You're paying, boy! That'll be thirty emeralds, and if you don't pay, I'm screaming theft!"
~
A few minutes later, I walked out of the shop dejectedly, with my pouch of emeralds weighing significantly less than before, and donning a shiny set of iron armour - that had a dent in the breastplate. Why did I do that? In my defence, there was no other way to test the strength of the armour, since my wand would probably just vaporise it, but still...
To the credit of the armourer who forged this armour, it was very light, which made it much easier to move around in. I'd expected the heavy ones that guards wore, those that rooted you to the ground and were heavily impractical in almost all situations, except for those which involved you becoming a fortress of your own.
For a mage like me, being unrestricted would be ideal, so that I could constantly be on the run and stay far away from the enemy. That would be the best situation, seeing as my only magic so far was a beam of destruction, and there was no point risking my life engaging in close combat when I could just shoot the enemies, as if I were an archer, from afar.
I still had around half of my emeralds. I should probably buy some potions to restore my body before getting out of the kingdom and potentially getting myself killed. Though, my natural regeneration rate was so high that it would probably not be necessary. I decided to save money buy refraining from buying healing potions, and instead buy 'buff potions', as I saw on the potion shops' advertisement posters, which could strengthen the body temporarily and grant some form of power-ups to aid me in battle.
After looking around for a while, I made up my mind and opened the door to a prestigious-looking potion shop. The entrance was a sliding door of tinted glass, framed with gleaming gold. This shop must be very successful to be able to afford such a luxurious entryway, I thought. A sign hung by the entrance, which read CERELIA'S BOUNTIFUL BREWS.
I slid open the door and entered the shop. I blinked for a fraction of a second and when I opened my eyes, I found someone's face millimetres from my own.
"Gah!" I stumbled backwards, practically slamming into the glass door which had just slid shut behind me. I backed up as much as I could, but found my back pressed against the glass door.
"Hm, a shy one." The person gave me some space, and I got a better look at my attacker.
It was a young woman around my age, judging from her complexion and growth alone. Chocolate curls cascaded down her slim shoulders, and that didn't even begin to describe her beauty. Her soft pink lips complimented her pale, creamy skin, and... her eyes.
They were the most alluring part of her. And easily the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
They almost glowed a brilliant array of colours, reflecting every shade of the rainbow. It was almost as if her eyes were prisms of their own. Those irresistible eyes seemed to stare right into the depths of my soul, and I felt myself being sucked right into them. She looked so radiant that everything else in the room appeared dim.
It was love at first sight.
"Hey! Are you listening?" The girl waved her hand in front of me, and I snapped out of my reverie.
"Ah - sorry - see, you captivated me for a second there -"
"It doesn't matter!" the girl snapped, waving her hand around her as if swatting a fly. "What does matter, though, is what potions you want to buy!"
"Ah - I'll have a look around," I answered, avoiding lookinh at her in fear of getting enchanted again. "There was really no need to get in my face there -"
"I was reading your mana signature," she grumbled, looking at me as if I was an idiot. "Have you never been to a professional shop in your life? We have to check your mana readings to see what class you're specialised in. Some people come in claiming they're archers or assassins, but in reality, they're just normal, boring warriors."
"Well, I'm a recruit, and this is my first time in a city, so..." So far, this was not a great start. My chances of getting to know this girl were basically zero, so I did what any guy would do.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Hold on. You aren't serious, right?" She looked at me incredulously. "Did you not see the gigantic sign outside? Recruit or not, your brain is pretty small -"
"Well, I assumed you were the daughter of the shop owner!" I cried, burying my head in my hands.
"My reading seems to be inaccurate," Cerelia mused. "It shows that you are adept at using all the classes, but you are especially fit for... never mind. In any case, since you're carrying a wand, I'll take it you're a mage. Mana potions and intelligence potions will be the best choice for you - especially the latter." She headed to the shelves, and beckoned for me to follow her.
"Wait, I'm capable of using all the classes? Hey! Explain!" Cerelia completely ignored me and carried on walking to the potion shelves.
This girl... she was going to be a pain in the ass, all right.
I headed over to the shelves that Cerelia was browsing, and found that she was looking at some vials of glowing blue liquid.
"Are those mana potions?"
"Yes," she replied. "They'll help you cycle mana faster through your body and the surroundings."
"Good to have," I agreed. I examined the potion she was looking at. The ocean-blue liquid in the vial glowed dimly, and bubbles within it sank to the bottom instead of rising to the top. Curious. Though I had never drunk a potion in my very short life, if this shop was so pristine and radiated such wealth, I could probably trust the alchemy skills of this young woman.
Cerelia glided over to another shelf and grabbed a handful of vials containing bright blue liquid, then picked another few red potions, and finally walked to the counter, shoved all the potions in a bag, and handed it to me. "That'll be sixty emeralds."
My jaw dropped as I struggled to form words. I had slightly more than half that amount, and I would have had enough had that old merchant not forced me to purchase his armour. I sighed.
"I actually can't afford this -"
"And you made me go through all the effort of reading you and picking out potions for you, as well," she sighed. "You're a recruit, aren't you? I saw Armourer Bulecha harassing you, as well. Though you really shouldn't have punched that armour... In any case, you can have these, free of charge. Just for today. The recruits haven't been very promising lately, and you look slightly better the rest, so I'd like to help in whatever way I can. Here." She forced the bag into my hands, and disappeared into the back of the shop, the door slamming behind her with a resounding thud.