"So... do we just wait here?"
"Don't expect them to come back quick."
"Why?"
"Lord that's your favourite word isn't it? Their policy is if you want something good you're going to have to wait."
"Sorry for all the questions."
"Nah it's fine, makes me feel smarter."
"So you're the best at combat and the best at general trivia, nice combo."
Mimi giggled at his remark, it was a snarky comment but also a compliment to her.
"It's a great combo. Let's look around, I love messing with the things on show."
Mimi quickly started to run around the shop's floor, inspecting every gadget that came within her grasp. On the contrary, Karlyle was anxious to even breathe too hard on the merchandise. His only income so far was that singular quest reward but that'll only go so far after buying this mask. Mimi didn't even mention the price to him so he was going into this deal blindly.
"Don't worry, it won't shatter by looking at it, plus these floor models are meant to be tried."
Noticing his uneasiness around the toys, Mimi emphasised to Karlyle that it was ok to touch the things showcased outside the storage room. She recalled one scare she had when she was younger. Her mother took her here and Mimi accidentally lost one of the Sword-Rings. It was a ring that harnessed the bearer's kinetic to form a sword out of it, any kinetic had some sort of physical manifestation so virtually anyone could use it.
While Erik and Gina were in the storage room, Mimi tried on the ring and ran around with it, even going outside of the store and then it disappeared by the time she got back. Erik scolded her as a joke at first but then told her that the floor models can't exist outside of the building so it was ok.
Nobody truly knows Erik's or Gina's kinetic, nor do they know how this place works, but people have their theories. Some believe that they have some sort of energy or technology manipulation.
Unfortunately, the only people that know are the council and most likely Chief Lissandra Waltz. Erik and Gina are afraid that if their kinetics were to be revealed their business would be threatened so it took a lot of paperwork for Chief Lissandra Waltz to allow for their kinetics to be hidden from the safety corps.
"Catch!"
Mimi threw a small silver ball at Karlyle's back without prior warning but he managed to turn around and catch it. Unfair to him, the moment the ball was in his grasp, strings wrapped around Karlyle's wrists and pulled them tightly together.
"Hey what is this."
Karlyle's struggle in the makeshift hand-cuffs only made the string shoot towards his waist and wrap around that as well, causing his hands to be smacked against his lower stomach.
"Take this off."
Stupidly, Karlyle continued to struggle and the grip tightened. To make things worse, when he tried to take a step forward the string slithered down to his ankles and wrapped those together too, causing him to fall forwards instead. Mimi blatantly laughed at Karlyle's fall, especially when the crashing noise echoed through the shop.
"MIMI! I SWEAR!"
His face was flat against the ground so his voice was muffled by the wooden floors, it was shocking that nothing broke when he landed.
"What was that?"
"MIMI!"
"Ok ok I'll take it off."
Mimi crouched down and flipped Karlyle's body over, revealing the silver orb still in his clutches. She lightly tapped it and the strings quickly retracted into it. The silver ball rolled down onto the floor before Mimi placed it into her palm, stood up, and positioned it on its holder.
"Get up before you dirty the already dirty floors."
"You're the reason I was down there anyway."
Karlyle dusted his trousers as the floor was shockingly disgusting. For a store with so many random inventions you'd think they'd have a cleaning system. His shirt luckily avoided the grime so he didn't have to worry about that.
Noticing a monocle, Karlyle grabbed it and put it on.
"How do I look?"
Slowly turning around, information appeared around Mimi. The style resembled that of the Arkana Network but was blue in colour instead.
[-
Mimi Rivera
Location manipulator
! TAKE CAUTION !
-]
"Monocles don't suit you, also I recommend listening to that warning."
Without paying any further attention to Karlyle and his fashion choice, Mimi got back to inspecting the floor models as if she was a professional judge tasked with giving the store a rating. Undeniably, this store would've gotten 100%, well, maybe 90% solely for its fair uncleanliness.
Karlyle set the monocle back down and picked up a wooden staff engraved with cursive writings that read 'through which power flows, may the source grow.' Karlyle didn't understand what that meant and truly didn't care. He picked up the staff and swung it around.
"What's the point of this?"
"That's just a staff you can use to channel your kinetic, it's mostly for cosmetic purposes."
"Do you use something like that?"
"I have a ring if that counts? I usually rub the base of my middle finger against it whenever I teleport. It's a habit I picked up that I can't drop."
"Should I use this?"
Like a child, he continued to play with the wooden stick that was detailed to appeal to the eye.
"If you want, and if your fire doesn't burn the wood, go ahead."
"Hmm.. nah, I'll stick with my hands for now."
Karlyle set the staff back down slowly as the wood looked weakened as a result of his careless swinging. Another thing that caught his attention was the sudden blindfold that came upon his eyes to block his vision.
"Mimi if I end up on the floor again..."
"Calm down this is something else."
The knot at the back of Karlyle's head tightened and squeezed into his skull.
"What is with you and tight things."
"Silence."
Mimi threw a punch at Karlyle but he sensed her movement through the air. His body moved automatically to evade the punch and this sudden motion slightly spooked him.
"What was that?"
Unwrapping the blindfold from Karlyle's head, she placed it back down onto its podium.
"It's a sense blindfold. It enhances your other senses through spreading your kinetic power around you."
"Can I use that in the tourney?"
"In theory you can but I wouldn't recommend it. The use of tools can affect your ratings although slightly."
"Then why am I getting this gas mask?"
"To help you in the tourney, but to the judges it'll just be a cosmetic change if it doesn't work and if it does then it'll be a lucky coincidence. Plus, even if you use it as a gadget then like one or two of your ratings would only drop half a letter, give or take."
"Good to know. Wait are those the Sword-Rings?"
Karlyle noticed a set of golden rings resting next to the wall and swiftly got to it. Mimi didn't remember what they looked like so she let him try those rings out. When Karlyle put one of the rings on, it started to glow orange and red before being set aflame. The flame expanded into a sword which neatly rested in his palms.
"I won't get in trouble with the law right?"
"Why would you?"
"I'm using my kinetic.."
"Technically that is using your kinetic's power, not you using your kinetic itself. The law is pretty lenient around these."
Grasping the fiery sword, he checked out every side and part of it.
"I might want to get this if I'm being honest."
"The price can be checked with Arkana, just ask her to."
"Arkana, show me the price."
A green circle spun around the rings before forming into a text box.
[-
Sword-Ring/Kinetic Weapon Manifestation Unit 2
SSS-grade
Description: Turn your kinetic flow into a sword with this handy ring!
Price: 175,000
-]
"Nevermind then!"
"How much?"
"175,000"
"You can afford it though."
"Yeah but what about the gas mask?"
"Ehh Foster said we can put it on his tab so feel free to buy that."
"What would we do without Foster's wallet?"
"What would we? Also, make sure to request the item before Erik and Gina come back."
"Which I do how?"
"Just tell Arkana to do it."
"Arkana, request one Sword-Ring please."
[Your request has been sent and accepted by the seller]
The two continued to mess around with all the floor models until Erik and Gina finally came back from the storage room. This time, the door was no longer a water whirlpool but a frozen gate. Where was this storage room exactly?
"One SS-grade Gas Mask and one SSS-grade Sword-Ring."
"Payment or tab?"
Erik and Gina spoke one after the other which started to get quite creepy. They also both sounded fairly exhausted from their mysterious journey to gather these items.
"The mask on Gillian Foster's tab and the Sword-Ring will be paid for by this guy."
Karlyle weakly elbowed Mimi in a 'how do I pay?' way.
"They'll give you a machine and it'll scan your eye, then the price will be automatically deducted from your balance."
"Gillian Foster? Gosh he sure spends a lot of money. What I'd give to be rich."
"Gina, you probably spend triple his spendings every day."
"Don't reveal our finances."
After the payments were finished, Mimi and Karlyle grabbed their items and left the store. Karlyle immediately put on the ring that had cost over half of what he had to spend and it felt quite nice around his finger.