AN: As my birthday is on Friday, I am taking a mini vacation for the rest of the week. The next chapter will be on Monday.
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Taking the four women to a cousin-in-law of mine from Gearnia's family, I opened the door and ushered the women inside. Surprised to see such a large variety of weapons on display, it took them a few moments for them to move toward the counter.
"Hey Vasian, are you in?", I called out, lightly pounding on his front counter, "I have a close friend of mine here looking for some excellent pieces to improve her kit. Hopefully, you have something in the back because all I see up here is shite."
Gasping in shock, Hilda inquired if I spoke to all the tradesmen in my country that way. Chuckling at her reaction, I informed her that Vasian was a relative of mine. Not only was he a relative, Vasian was also a Dward so this sort of greeting was standard for them. Unsure if I was teasing her, Ghislaine backed me up and assured her my greeting was normal for a Dwarf.
"I had no idea, I wonder if Sauros is part Dwarf.", Hilda giggled, recalling how often he swore and said such things.
"That is doubtful, he is too tall and does not have a Dwarf beard.", Ghislaine remarked, not realizing Hilda was joking.
Hearing the noise of metal hitting the ground and shouting coming from the back, Vasian made his way out to the front covered in sot and dirt. Grabbing a clean cloth from under the counter, he wiped his face and hands off before addressing us.
"I knew it was you motherfucker!", Varsian spat, cracking a smile on his face, "You finally realize that your craftsmanship is not as good as mine I see. It only took you a few hundred years, but I am happy to see you came around."
"Haha, you wish you piece of shite.", I laughed, shaking his hand firmly, "I am trying to be nice and offer work to my relatives. If you do not want my coin, I will make the equipment myself."
"Now hold on a bloody minute, I didn't say that!", Varsian insisted, "What are ya lookin' for?"
"My close friend Ghislaine is looking to improve her kit, can you take a look?", I asked him.
"A close friend huh…", Vasian stated, looking her over, "Somehow I doubt that, but that is a topic for another time. Bring that shite up and let me have a look at it."
Stepping up to the counter, Ghislaine set her katana and two daggers down on the counter. Pulling them out of their sheathes to examine them, the two of us almost missed Ghislaine starting to remove her chest piece. Frantically grabbing her by the arms, the three women told her not to strip in front of us. Reminding them that she wanted armor upgrades as well, Lilith told her that this was not an Armorer Shop.
"This man is a Blacksmith only, if you want armor you go to an Armorer.", Lilith sighed, "Even if he could assist you with your armor, why would you strip naked out here?!"
"How else is he going to know what size I am, and what I am looking for?", Ghislaine inquired, tilting her head with confusion.
"Miss Ghislaine, you must not reveal your body so casually to men. Many slimy men will try to take advantage of you if you do not guard yourself better.", Yasaka scolded her, "When it comes time to size you for armor, Lilith and I will help size you."
"I…I understand, I have never really put any thought into it before.", Ghislaine admitted, "If you say it is a problem, I will stop doing so moving forward. That means I cannot bathe with men anymore, right?"
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Lilith and Yasaka were at a loss for what to say, and Hilda just stood there with embarrassment. Patting me on the shoulder with a tearful expression, Vasian wished me luck fixing this oddball. Telling me that I worked wonders on Gearnia, he hoped I could pull off the same with Ghislaine.
"Ya sure know how to pick'em Cole.", Vasian commented, "She will fit right in with the rest of your bunch."
"It is not like that Vasian, she has no romantic interests in anything except her blade.", I informed him, "Just take a look at the bloody blades would you?"
"Uh-huh, right.", Vasian chuckled, pulling out some of his tools to examine the blades, "Alright, let us see here how much she loves these here blades."
Starting with the katana, Vasian gave the blade a once over with his eyes and fingers checking for any abnormalities. Marking some spots on the sword with a magic marker, he notated a few things on a notepad before continuing. Pulling out a small hammer from his tool belt, he began to lightly tap on the blade and listen to the sounds it made. Looking for any cavities or deformation in the metalwork, he again wrote some things down before moving on to the daggers.
Taking one look at the blades, his expression frowned as his finger ran across the blade. Shaking his head with disapproval, Vasian set the blade down and lightly struck the blades with his hammer. In the same instant his hammer made contact with the metal, the daggers violently exploded sending shrapnel flying everywhere. Using my Electromagnetism to stop the fragments from harming anyone, I gathered the pieces together and fused them into a ball of iron.
Reaching under the counter for a canteen, Vasian unscrewed the cap and took a big gulp of the liquid. Screwing the cap back on, he let out a sigh to calm his nerves before speaking.
"This here blade is quite an excellent piece. It is well-balanced, maintained, and most importantly in good shape given the beatings it has taken. All things considered, after some minor repairs and some rune smithing this blade will be quite a sight to behold.", Vasian stated, before turning to the daggers, "As for yer bloody daggers, who the hell did ya piss off?! Whoever you got them from wanted to kill or mame ya for life!"
"I do not know, I bought them off a Dwarven Blacksmith in the Asurian capital. He told me that they were excellent blades, and would serve me well for disassembling monsters. Since I bought them, they have remained in my pouch as I have not had the time to go monster hunting lately.", Ghislaine told him.
"You are well-known for being the Greyrat Family bodyguard, it could have been a family enemy that wanted you out of the way.", Hilda remarked, feeling bad for dragging Ghislaine further into this mess.
"Whatever the case may be if Cole were not here…we would all have guts full of shrapnel.", Vasian said, thanking me with a nod.
Having witnessed this fact herself, Ghislaine was grateful she had never used them in combat. Requesting a replacement dagger, that would not explode on her, she requested to see what he had. Motioning to the wall of blades, he told her to look at his stock and pick what she liked.
"These are my display models, pick'em up and try'em out. When ya find one you like, we can discuss materials.", Vasian said, turning to Hilda, "How about you Miss, you lookin' for a weapon to defend yerself? If blades are not yer style, I have other weapons for you to choose from."
"Cole, what do you think?", Hilda asked, wanting my opinion on this, "I do not want to rely on you solely for my protection, but I have no combat abilities. Other than ceremonial swords, I had never once held a weapon in my life before that night. If I get one, would you be willing to teach me?"
"Of course, that will not be an issue at all.", I replied, "Now then, instead of a blade I think a Magic Gun would be better suited for you. They are easily concealed and pack quite a lot of power for their size. Does your wife still make them, Vasian?"
"Aye, she does, let me bring a few of them up for ya.", he replied, stepping into the backroom.
Returning a few minutes later with some of his wife's product, Hilda stared at the pistols with a mix of admiration and surprise. Laid out on the table in front of her were what most considered to be pieces of art as Vasian's wife spared no expense in designing and engraving her Magic Guns. Nervously picking up one of the gorgeous items, she gave it a once over and asked how it worked.
"All you need to do is imbue the pistol with some of your magic, aim, and pull the trigger. Based on the type of magic you use, the projectile type will change accordingly. For example, if you use Ice Magic your projectile will freeze your enemies upon impact.", I told her.
"What if I do not have magical capabilities?", Hilda inquired.
"There are Magic Stones that will socket into into grip that will supply the magic. Just like with magic, depending on the stone you have the projectiles will have a different effect.", I replied, pointing to the stones he had in the display case.
"I see, I am only able to use Fire and Water Magics of the lowest degree. If these stones can be used in place of magic, I think it will work for me.", Hilda stated, setting the pistol she picked down, "If I were to pick one, it would be this here."
Picking up a scarlet-colored pistol with thorny roses engraved on the weapon, she nodded her head with satisfaction and moved toward the stones.
"So which stones should I get?", Hilda asked me.
"I would suggest Lightning, Fire, Water, Earth, and Ice Stones to start with.", I explained, "Between those five, you should be able to take on most enemies you might encounter. At the very least, it will be enough to buy you time to escape with your life."
"Very well, I will take your suggestion and get those as well.", she said, with a nod of her head, "How much with the repairs to Ghislaine's sword and my weapon be?"
"Usually I'd charge ya full price, but since you are with Cole, I will give ya the family discount.", Vasian stated, quickly doing the math on his abacus, "After tax, the amount comes to…fifty platinum coins."
"Platinum coins?", Hilda repeated, "What are Platinum coins?"
"Oh right…you do not have platinum coins in your world.", I chuckled, "A single platinum coin is worth roughly fifteen Asurian Gold Coins."
Taking a moment to do the math, Hilda's face went pale as she realized it was seven hundred and fifty gold coins for everything. Moving to put the gun back, as they did not have the leeway to afford such luxury at the moment, I told her I would pay for it. Telling me that it was not necessary, I assured her it very much was as her safety was important.
"Your life is much more valuable than some stupid coins.", I told her, "If it is only this much, I will earn it back in a few hours on my investments."
Pulling the money out of my Storage, I handed it over to him and took the stones from him. Show her how to insert and remove the stones from the grip, she kept the Fire Stone in and requested a pouch to keep the others in. Giving her a Storage Bag, she slid the others inside and looked at the pistol for a moment.
"Something wrong?", I asked.
"If it is supposed to be used for defense, I should have it readily available to use. Putting it in this bag will be too cumbersome…", Hilda replied, looking down at her chest, "There is only one place I can put it for now. Could you please turn around, and shield me for a moment?"
Doing as she requested, she hid behind me and tucked the pistol in between her breasts. Once she was comfortable with the gun's placement, we asked Ghislaine if she had picked something out.
"This one!", she proclaimed, presenting us with a large Bowie Knife, "Now this is a knife!"
Chuckling to myself, recalling that line from a movie, she walked up and set it on the counter. Asking how much it would be to make a blade like that for her, Vasian replied that it would depend on the metal used. Explaining to her that it would range between ten gold on the low end to a few hundred platinum on the high end, she looked back at me for my input.
"Here, just use some Mythril scrap I have.", I suggested, pulling some leftover Mythril I had from one of my old projects.
"That works!", Varsian chuckled, "In that case, it will be two platinum coins for the blade along with some rune smithing."
"Just out of curiosity, what will the rune smithing doing for the blades?", Ghislaine asked.
"I will imbed a magic stone in the sheaths, and etch some runes in both blades. When ya sheath the blades, the runes will activate causing the effects to become active. In your case, it will repair damage to blades as well as sharpen them to a razor's edge.", Vasian informed her, "If ya want additional effects, that can be arranged as well!"
"No, that is that more than sufficient.", she acknowledged, "Cole, can I have some of my money for this please?"
Handing her the money she needed, Vasian gave me a smirk and nodded his head. Telling her to come pick her equipment up in three days, he gave her a temporary sword to carry in the meantime. Thanking him for his consideration, we promptly left the Store and continued our shopping.