"This place doesn't look all that impressive, and I'm not sure how I feel about the location either." Luna looked somewhat worried about the Blacksmithy which Lucian had led them to.
"Don't worry about it, this place is the real deal. Trust me."
Luna's expression changed, and she smiled, "Okay, if you say so then I'll take your word for it."
Lucian pushed the doors to the Blacksmithy open, the heavy wood putting up a little bit of resistance against his pushing. Once the door opened, the smell of metal and the feeling of heat hit the couple.
"Brokk, are you in?" Lucian shouted out.
A booming voice came from the back of the shop, through the door behind the counter, "Aye laddy, what're ye looking for today then?" An overweight, ginger man emerged through the door. His arms were huge, and covered in tattoos.
"How've you been?"
"Lucian, it's you, ma boy. I'm sorry to hear about Jackson, he was a true warrior an' one o' ma best friends." Brokk was clearly a tough man, working with metal every day, but a look of sadness filled his eyes when he mentioned his late friend.
"It's a tragedy, I'll be sure to avenge him."
"Aye, good spirit ma boy. I would do it maself, but am not really in the position to." He walked out from behind the counter, and the reason why became much more obvious, he had a metal leg. He had lost it while fighting in a dungeon many years before and turned to blacksmithing as a way to carry on the fight against the monsters. "So, what're you looking fo'?"
"I was thinking a spear for myself, and I'm not sure what she would want so I'll let her pick."
Luna looked thoughtful, "I think I would suit a katana best, it's what I trained in the most after all."
"Sounds good to me kiddos, I'll show ye me fines' weapons o' y'ur choosing."
"Thanks, Brokk." Lucian waited with Luna while Brokk returned to his store room in the back to look for the weapons.
"What do you think then babe?" Lucian asked.
"He seems nice, a little rough, but nice. You seem to know him quite well."
"Yeah, Jackson used to bring me here when I was younger sometimes, show me where I should be getting my weapons from when I become a hunter, and now I'm finally here."
"I'm glad that I could be of help with letting you be a hunter. Nothing would make me happier than helping you avenge our families."
"Thank you, Luna."
"Think I found somethin' you young'ns might like." Brokk walked back into the room, a weapon tucked under each of his arms.
He walked back over to the two of them and handed them the weapons, "What do ya think then?"
The weapon which Brokk had given Lucian was the perfect example of what blacksmiths could create with the perfect amount of talent and effort. It was seven feet long, with a handle around 1.5 inches in diameter. The spearhead was around three inches wide and 10 inches long. It was made of a dull, silver-coloured weapon, and had no fancy designs. It was a weapon made for combat and not much else.
Luna had been handed a katana with a handle around an inch in diameter. The blade was around three feet in length, with a width of about 1.5 inches at the base, and looked as though it had been forged countless times to give it the sharpest edge possible and toughest body. Its surface shimmered with a polished steel finish, reflecting the light in a mesmerising dance of reflections, and etched along the length of the blade were intricate patterns of flowing lines.
Both weapons were of the highest quality available for a beginner, and Lucian was determined to get them, "How much for them?"
"Six thousan' for the Katana, 'nd three for the spear. I use metal from the dungeons, 'nd I'm givin' you a pretty discount. 'ats the lowest I can go, my boy."
"How much for two inventory rings on top of that, just enough inner space to hold our weapons and a good amount of items we might find in a dungeon?" Lucian was unsure of whether he would have the funds for them or not, as inventory rings were hard to come by, with them being rare items from dungeons, and only a few people with spacial-related powers being able to create them.
"I've got two, and I'll be extra nice. You can 'ave 'em both fo' five grand, how's that sound?"
"You've got yourself a deal." Fourteen thousand pounds was no small amount of money, but with everything Lucian had saved up, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he could afford to buy them and still live a comfortable life without working for a while. High-quality weapons made from materials from dungeons were hard to come by, especially at a price like that, and two inventory rings for five thousand was more than a bargain. What Lucian was buying would in normal cases cost at least three times as much as what he was paying.
"Just sign this here contract, and it'll be tekken care of by yer bank once I send it off."
Lucian followed Brokk to the counter, where he pulled a contract from behind it. He scribbled down the amount and handed Lucian the pen. Without hesitating, he signed the paper.
"If the bank gives ya a call abou' it, just authorise the purchase. Enjoy your goods lad, I'll see you soon. Go 'ave fun with your girly."
Lucian and Luna turned around to leave.
"Thank you, sir! See you soon." Luna shouted back, happy with the weapon she had gotten.
"Oh, Brokk, she isn't my 'girly', she's my wife."
"You what now boy, aren't ya a little yo-" Brokk smirked to himself, 'Little bastard, leaving before I'm done talkin'.
Lucian and Luna walked back into the open air of the alley, and Lucian turned to Luna.
"Here, let me put this on for you, I promise that I'll get you a better ring one day but for now this'll have to do."
He slid the ring onto her ring finger, before putting his own on.
"What do you mean?"
"On Earth, when two people get married they wear rings on this finger. It lets other people know that they're taken. For now, though, wear this inventory ring, it's not exactly beautiful but it should work."
"There wasn't anything like that back on Sylvestris, everyone who was linked just knew that the person they were with would be with them forever. Also, what's an inventory ring? Sorry, I feel useless."
"Don't worry about it Luna, if you didn't have them on Sylvestris then it isn't your fault at all. If you think about storing something inside of that ring there, as long as it belongs to you the ring will keep it safe, and whenever you want to bring it out, you can just will for it to happen. Look, I'll show you."
Lucian held his spear in his hand, and within a second it had disappeared.
"See, it's easy. Now, if I think about taking it out."
The weapon appeared again, "Isn't that easy? Want to give it a try?"
"It looks fun!" Luna smiled, and the weapon in her hand disappeared, then appeared, then disappeared, then appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again.
"You having fun there?"
"This is amazing! It's so easy!"
"You should probably keep it away while we're outside. It's frowned upon to brandish a weapon while in public. Sorry to spoil your fun."
"It's okay, I'll keep it safe for when we go into a dungeon."
"Speaking of dungeons, we should go and register at the association shouldn't we?"
"Probably, you lead the way then."
The two of them put their weapons away and began to walk. Lucian put his hand out, and Luna grasped it, locking their fingers together.
"You're lucky there isn't a written test for being a hunter. They'll ask us some questions and perform some minor tests, and then we'll start out as F-ranks. Everyone does, so we'll have to work our way up quickly to take out as many dungeons as possible."
"If we work together then we shouldn't have a problem reaching the highest rank, should we?"
"Of course not babe, we have to be strong enough to save the world after all, don't we?"
"You're rig-" Luna was cut off, as she felt something was wrong.
"Do you feel that as well?"
The area around them seemed to be distorting, a pressure unlike any Lucian had ever felt was exerted on his body, and he looked over to see how Luna was handling it.
She was visibly straining herself to stay standing, but Lucian could tell that she wasn't going down.
The reason for this pressure revealed itself, a crack forming in the space in front of them, in the thin alleyway which they were only halfway through.
This crack started to grow in size, and eventually, a dungeon portal appeared.
"Shit, Luna, try and run away. It's green, we can't handle a C-rank dungeon yet."
"I-I'm trying. I don't think I can hold my ground."
Lucian watched as Luna began to float off of the ground, and was pulled against her will into the dungeon.
"Fuck, don't worry Luna!" He stopped trying to move away and instead ran straight into the dungeon.