Iain fully concentrated on the bluish sword in front of him. He admired its long, shapely body. He felt as if the sharp edges stung his eyes from a mere look.
Despite his inexperience in magic, he felt the weak fluctuations of mana surrounding the weapon.
The young smith slowly felt his eyes heat up. An extremely weak connection to somewhere in the universe inconceivably manifested itself in his head.
Lilly held her breath as she watched her brother. She was mainly interested in this different way of acquiring skills. The curious woman had many questions but unfortunately no one to answer her.
"Welcome to Wonn's Wonderful Weapons! Can I help you, customers?"
A sudden voice interrupted Lilly and Iain. While the young redhead merely turned around with an annoyed expression, Iain's reaction turned out rather harsh.
"F*ck!"
The young man let out a shout, only remembering at the last second to suppress it. Some surrounding customers threw confused gazes their way.
On the clerk's face his enthusiastic smile slowly turned stiff.
While Iain continually rubbed his eyes to ease the pain he was feeling, Lilly looked apologetically towards the clerk.
"I'm sorry. My brother sometimes has his… special moments. Don't take it personally."
"You…!"
Iain tried to insert himself disgruntledly, but his sister ignored him.
"You have to understand that he is really into weapons. When he finds the right one, he can gaze at it for hours."
The young smith's eyes had gradually recovered, so he used them to angrily glare at his sister now.
Lilly didn't dare to acknowledge her brother though. She certainly wouldn't be able to hold back her laughter.
"Ahm… sure."
The clerk proved his professionalism as he quickly gathered his bearings.
"I can totally understand your brother here. This wonderful sword is one of our proudest productions. Forged by our best smiths from locally produced Hequarium.
It his high affinity with 'water'-mana, making it the perfect companion when you conquer the Frozen Hell!"
While the clerk professionally introduced his wares, Lilly nodded her head in appreciation. The siblings didn't have that much experience with merchants. They only had to buy resources in Regensburg, where they mostly went to the same vendors.
The middle-aged clerk was well versed in reading people. From the expression on the sibling's faces, he understood after a few words how he could make the biggest impact.
Thus, he turned to the slightly naïve Iain.
"You certainly have a discerning eye, young man. As soon as you entered you figured out this swords' brilliance. Should I lead you to our test chamber, so you can get familiar with this marvelous weapon?"
The young smith was slightly overwhelmed. But as long as he didn't have to pay, he was very eager to try out a magical weapon for the first time.
"Sounds good."
A big smile formed on Iian's face. His sister eyed the clerk suspiciously but didn't want to dampen her brother's joy.
However, Lilly would definitely prevent Iain from getting ripped off since the store didn't display their prices here.
The clerks' smile also widened. He was sure he could finalize this deal. He only had to get one more clarification, so he asked carefully:
"Certainly customer is a valiant warrior, but I still have to remind you. This sword is recommended for experts from level 20 onward.
Naturally, this doesn't pose any trouble to Sir, right?"
Although the pair of siblings looked young, as a former adventurer the clerk had long learned not to judge a book by its cover.
However, the enthusiasm in Iain's eyes suddenly faded. A bad feeling emerged within the clerk, as he heard the young smith's question.
"Are… apprentices not able to use the sword?"
Regret filled the clerk, but he quickly suppressed it. Keeping up his professionalism, he still answered Iain patiently.
"My apologies, customer. With the strength of an apprentice, you might have a hard time even lift this sword. Not to say activating its skills…"
Feeling Iain's disappointment, Lilly patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry Iain. We will get there soon!"
Although the clerk didn't have high hopes for these grown-up apprentices, but he almost instinctively echoed Lilly's words.
"I'm certain you will! Until then this sword will wait here for you!"
"Ok… you both are right. Let's train hard!"
Seeing the enthusiastic siblings reminded the clerk of his younger years. Once he also thought he would overcome all obstacles until his fame spread through the universe.
In a mellow mood the clerk caressed his metallic right hand absentmindedly.
Lilly raised her eyebrow as she only now grew conscious of the man's artificial limb. A few days earlier this might have been a huge shock to her, but after a week on planet Hex she had already seen all kinds of bodily modifications.
The clerk shook off his mood a second later. A genuine smile formed on his face as he continued doing his job:
"Well, would costumer want to buy something different then? I can show you the area for apprentice equipment."
"Ok, we follow behind you."
The siblings followed behind the shop assistant towards a big area to the left. They quickly spotted a big, open square containing multiple rackets.
Different clerks recommended weapons and armors to mostly young clients. Iain and Lilly were surprised by the sheer variety of weapons.
It could be seen that apprentice level weapons were really considered standard, almost reaching levels of mass production.
Their clerk faced them as he asked for their preferences. Since the siblings never came into contact with such a variety of weapons before, they only considered using swords until arriving on planet Hex.
Iain remembered the gorgeous equipment Nua prepared for them at home. Comparing them to the shop's wares, he recognized how well-crafted they were.
Suddenly he thought Nua might have too high expectations for the siblings. Iain was uncertain if the prepared equipment could be worn at the master rank or if they would have to even surpass this.
The young man smiled wryly. As he contemplated which weapon to choose, Iain came to the conclusion that Nua had made reasonable choices for them.
"I'd like to take a look at two-handed hammers, while my sister needs a good wand."
Before the clerk could answer, Lilly interrupted suddenly:
"A wand and a sword please."
"What? Lilly, what do you need a sword for?"
The young man incredulity gazed at his sister.
"What would one use a sword for? To defend myself at close range of course."
Iain's mouth gaped open.
"Why close range? That would definitely be my job. You are going down the path of magic."
Gradually Lilly grew angry as her brother tried to dissuade her:
"Who says I can only learn magic?! I love my healing magic but it won't be of much use in a fight!"
The clerk quickly tried to calm the waves as the siblings started arguing.
"Please, customers, calm down."
Maybe he shouldn't have said this, as he now drew attention from Lilly and Iain. Both spoke to him at the same time.
"That's right, you should know a lot. Tell my sister that it would be safer to focus on magic. I will take on close combat!"
"You look like you have a lot of experience. Tell my brother that I need something to defend myself if an opponent ever manages to come close!"
The clerk showed a stressed smile, as he contemplated his answer for a second.
"Both your ideas are valid. There are many different schools of thought on which skills to train. Some warrior hyperfocus on one stat and some are jack of all trades.
At the end your preferences matter the most. I only advice you to seek a good teacher if you want to combine sword and magic seamlessly."
Since the clerk didn't really answer their question, Iain decided to bring out the ultimate argument.
"Listen, Lilly. Don't you want to follow mothers' path? You saw how easily she killed those monsters. Her magic was impressive, right?"
A victorious smile appeared on Iain's face as he noticed his siter wavering. He added in a confident tone:
"Maybe we should just ask our parents?"
Silence ensued for a few seconds. Seemingly even their parents thought about what answer to give. Lastly voices sounded in their minds.
[Your mother… focused on magic while also being proficient in a variety of weapons.]
Iain's smile froze while Lilly's eyes lit up.
The clerk was confused as to what led to this sudden change.
Lilly snickered lightly as she passed Iain with her head held high.
"Clerk, show me your swords!"
Iain could only sigh reluctantly as the bewildered shop assistant diligently followed his sister. Some worry for their future pressured his mind as he looked at his sister's back. Hopefully they would manage to stay out of battles…