A few hours later the siblings left Wonn's Wonderful Weapons after a big purchase.
Lilly was satisfied with her slender, sharp sword and leather armor while her brother fell in love with a massive two-handed hammer and heavy plate armor. Luckily the siblings didn't have to carry their new purchases around as the shop would deliver them to their home.
Therefore, Lilly and Iain still had some time to take in the busy atmosphere on craftsman street.
They strolled down the street in an unhurried manner, curiously admiring the wonders of magical craftsmanship. All kinds of dangerous looking weapons were displayed to attract customers.
Shimmering in fanciful colors and lighting up their surroundings like fireworks, they attracted the siblings' gazes. From time-to-time adventures would exit the surrounding stores, sometimes with impressive new weapons and armors in hand.
While the siblings were gazing at a strange long weapon with an opening, they suddenly noticed a quiet sound from an alley to their right. It sounded like a muffled scream which quickly died out.
On this noisy street no one seemed to hear anything and if they did, they wouldn't care. However, since the siblings weren't used to living in this society, they were still unsettled by this eerie occurrence.
Lilly and Iain looked at each other.
"Did you hear this, Lilly?"
"Yes… it sounded like someone was in trouble."
"But no one seems to care."
"I think we should take a careful look. But if we notice anything strange, we should just inform a soldier."
Iain took a deep breath before answering bravely.
"Ok, let me take the lead."
With those words Iain balled his fist as he took a few steps towards the right.
The young man was used to dirty and dark alleys from Earth. He had heard many scary stories from their neighbors of children going missing and even grown man getting kidnapped.
Monsters and the darkest of humans liked to hide in those wicked places to ambush innocents. A story quickly played out in the young man's mind as he carefully glanced around the corner.
Lilly observed her brother's antics. She realized that Iain let his creativity run wild. Obviously, he wasn't fully used to their new lives yet.
Rolling her eyes, Lilly overtook her brother and entered the small alley. Iain gasped at his sister's braveness. Just as he wanted to caution her, he got a full picture of this alley. The young man coughed in embarrassment.
Looking at the bright, clean alley, Iain reminded himself that this planet naturally didn't have any dark places. It didn't even have a night. Now he wondered if there existed humans on this planet who lived their whole lives without ever encountering any darkness.
Shaking off his embarrassment Iain followed Lilly into the alley. Observing the plain walls around them, they didn't notice anything out of place.
Rhythmic sounds and various voices proved that diligent craftsmen worked in those fenced-in backyards. The siblings soon came to the conclusion that the weird sound they heard must have come from one of the surrounding workshops.
Lilly sighed lightly as she understood why none of the adventures showed any concern earlier. Maybe the siblings still had to get used to their new environment.
Just when Lilly wanted to signal her brother to turn around a weird feeling assaulted her mind. Both siblings instinctively felt like someone observed them. Trusting their newly risin perception, they scanned the alley closely once more.
Finally, Iain spotted some clothes jutting out from behind a gate's ledge not far form them. The young man signaled his sister with his eyes, as he took the lead again.
A few seconds later a pair of resentful eyes stared at the siblings.
Lilly smiled in embarrassment at the young man opposite them.
The piece of clothing they noticed belonged to the man's wide, stylish, yellow coat which hid almost all of his body. Only the young man's round face and long, white hair could be seen.
His clothes appeared rather luxuriously decorated, but the siblings couldn't see it's front, as another body hid it. A young girl snuggled into the man's arms, shily looking away, only presenting her short black hair to Lilly and Iain.
Judging from the lipstick decorating the man's neck Lilly and Iain had some ideas where the strange noise might have come from. As they imagined a passionate couple sharing their love, Lilly's ears reddened.
Looking at the way the young woman was calmly embraced, Lilly knew they overthought things when they heard the muffled scream earlier. Maybe the young man was a bit to forceful, but even so it wouldn't be good to meddle with other people's affairs.
Trying to get out of the embarrassing situation, Lilly quick-wittedly spoke up:
"Sorry, sorry. We really didn't want to interrupt you guys. We might be lost haha…
We were told to visit Aal's Pharmacy."
A disgruntled voice answered her:
"Hmph. You are off by two streets!"
Looking at the man's rolling eyes and the young girl as she further buried her head in the strong chest before her while lightly giggling, the siblings smiled apologetically before swiftly leaving the alley.
Back on craftsman street Lilly and Iain looked at each other before breaking out into a short laughter.
"Maybe we shouldn't be too nosy in this big city. Let's go, Iain."
Unfortunately, the siblings couldn't see the young man leading his girlfriend away. The young girl woodenly followed him with despairing eyes while her mouth smiled beautifully.
A few minutes later Lilly and Iain had reached a store Groob recommended them. In another, albeit way bigger, alley the siblings looked at the sign saying Aal's Pharmacy.
As soon as they entered, they were welcomed by the comfortable smell of precious medicine.
Now it was Lilly's turn to observe the shop in awe. Hundreds of bottles containing various pills were lined up on the shelves. Compared to the multiple weapon's shops, this place was packed to the brim.
Dozens of adventurers invested in the potentially live saving medicine. They bought everything from antidotes to med kits and wondrous healing pills. One prominent shelf was filled with multiple Coldaway Pills with all kinds of potency.
Lilly dragged Iain from shelf to shelf as she admired the people who could create such wonderful pills. A desire to learn pill making sparked in her mind.
Honestly ever since arriving on planet Hex, Lilly wasn't sure what to do with herself. Both siblings knew that Iain would want to become a great smith, but Lilly hadn't found her path yet. The young woman liked healing people, but she wasn't as pure hearted as Sophia.
A lot of doubt had already settled in Lilly's mind about choosing healing as her profession going forward. She knew it wouldn't fulfill her. Now that the young woman learned about all those magical pills, a new way seemed to open before her.
With bright eyes the young woman took all kinds of samples and stuffed them in Iain's arms. When the young man saw his sister handing him some blue pills specifically for curing a man's most embarrassing condition, he couldn't help but speak up:
"Lilly, do you really think we need all those pills?"
The enthusiastic young woman stocked as she looked at the small hill her brother was carrying. Lilly smiled wryly.
"Well, maybe I was too hasty.", she admitted.
Iain sighed and shook his head while carefully placing some pills back on the shelves.
"Normally you are so calm and intelligent, but if something really interests you, you become so obsessive."
"I know, sometimes I can't stop myself."
"I guess that's what I'm here for.", laughed Iain. "I take it you are interested in these pills now?"
Lilly smiled at her understanding brother.
"Yeah. I think I want to learn making them."
Iain rolled his eyes.
"Really? But what has your buying spree to do with that. Even if you buy every pill in the shop how would you learn to concoct them?"
Lilly's smile stiffened. She quickly calmed down and recovered her intelligent self after this little episode.
"You are right. Maybe I could learn from Nua's notes but getting a teacher would probably be faster. When we come back from training I should ask around. Maybe I can find Felio's mother and work as a healer while learning."
"Doesn't hurt to try."
After nodding at her brother, Lilly helped him put back some pills. They only kept a few according to some recommendations from Groob.
Exiting the apothecary, the siblings now had all the equipment they would need for their training. Now only one last stop on craftsmen street remained. Lilly and Iain were already eager to see their own store. Following the street until they reached another gate Iain and Lilly finally stopped and gazed at their own store in awe.