Ertex found himself in what seemed to be a town. It had multiple facilities that had different things, from food and basic necessities one needed, to new equipment and blacksmiths. It was also full of people.
As he glanced at some of them, he couldn't see the scared and desperate faces he had seen previously. While some stress was present, they all seemed unfazed by anything.
Well, it's not like he cared. Looking at his sword, he saw that it was almost destroyed so he choosed to go to an equipment shop to see what he could buy.
Arriving there, he scanned all the products.
[Sword - Common
A common sword. Nothing special about it.]
[Dagger - Common
A common dagger. Nothing to be said about it.]
[Spear - Common
A common spear.]
Seeing that everything here was trash, he left and choosed another shop. He wasn't lucky there either, so he kept trying.
'Third time's the charm.'
Entering, he once again scanned everything.
[Bow - Rare
A rare bow. Significantly better than a common one.]
It was his first time seeing a rare item. Not wanting to use a bow, though, he glanced at the close combat products.
[Spear - Rare
A rare spear. Significantly better than a common one.
Has the ability to return to the wielder once thrown.]
This one even had an ability. Knowing he'll surely find something even better in this place, he kept looking.
[Dagger - Uncommon
An uncommon dagger. Slightly better than a common one.]
'Definitely not this..'
[Sword - Epic
One of the best swords you'll find here. It's easy to wield and can cut through almost everything.
Has the ability to regenerate it's durability by absorbing blood.
Can be upgraded to a better quality using certain resources.]
'I'd say this is it.'
It could even be upgraded. He didn't know what those 'certain resources' were, but he's sure he'll find out from a blacksmith. While he was thinking, the seller approached him.
"I've seen you going from place to place. Are you gonna buy something or just stare at everything?"
Ertex looked at him, seeing a short man with short hair and a long beard.
'Quite the temper..'
"How much is that?" he asked, pointing at the sword. The short man looked where he pointed, rolling his eyes.
"As if... That one is not for sale. Someone has already booked it."
"For how much?"
Seeing Ertex now wanting to give up, the seller thought of something.
"Five thousand."
There was a moment of silence.
Ertex smiled at the short man.
"You're lying, but I'll amuse ya. Give it to me with that price."
"What about my profit, then? The one that booked it is a very important person. She'll get very angry if she won't have it. So I at least have to make some money if I were to get on her bad side. 6,500 and I'll think about it." the man responded, laughing.
Ertex sighed dramatically.
"Such bad people really exist... I'm trying to give you money yet you just want more."
He stopped for a brief moment, looking at the sword.
"Well, I'll just take it for free, I guess." he finished, walking towards it. Just as the short man wanted to scream at him, someone entered.
The seller seeing who it was, rushed towards her.
"M-ma'am! He's trying to steal your sword!" he screamed, pointing at Ertex who by now had the sword in his hand, with his back towards them.
The newcomer looked at him before sighing.
"What happened here?"
"This bastard went from place to place, saying he looked for a sword. I'm telling you this guy is just a -"
The seller didn't have the time to finish his sentence.
A perfectly straight string could be seen at his neck, just before his head fell to the ground.
"Wow... I can definitely feel the quality change." Ertex said, looking at his sword.
The woman's heart started to beat violently.
.
.
.
... was it out of fear, though..?
Ertex glanced at her, first checking her panel.
[Name: Adarlett Edna
Class - None
Lv. 28
(176/30000 EXP)
Atribute points - 0
Advanced Martial Arts (A)
The ability to skillfully perform almost every martial art.
Beginner Swordsmanship (B)
The ability to averagely wield a sword.
STR - 102 - S-
END - 100 - A+
DEX - 108 - SS+
INT - 100 - SSR
MP - 108 - SSR+
CHR - 60 - EX+
LCK - 0? - 999? - (F? - EX?)]
'Quite the potential for magic..'
While for the charm... He had to admit she looked gorgeous. She had thigh-length blue hair, a small nose and small lips. She was wearing black baggy pants but even then they weren't completely hiding her thighs and a white long sleeve shirt.
What he liked the most about her, though, were her eyes.
'Heterochromia?'
Indeed it was. She had one blue eye, and the other one was green. He even grabbed her by the chin to see it better, nodding after.
"I like your eyes." he said as he let go of her, making her flustered.
"H-hey.."
"Yea?"
"Give it to me."
"Huh? Here? Kinky. I don't recall ever doing it in public before."
'That dumb smile...'
"The sword, dumbass!"
He looked at it before responding.
"Did you pay for it?"
"I was gonna, until... you know." she pointed at the now headless short man.
"Then you lost nothing. Even more than that, you met me. Hi! I'm Ertex!"
"... How much do you want for it?"
"How rude... You can at least tell me your name, right?"
Edna was quite popular, being one of the prodigies here. Him not knowing her either meant he was from a higher place, which Edna did not believe to be the case since he wanted a sword from this place, or..
"Are you new there?"
"Yeah."
"... I'm Edna."
"Nice to meet you, Edna." Ertex said, glancing at the remaining swords, looking for something.
[Sword - Epic
One of the best swords you'll find here. It's easy to wield and can cut through almost everything.
Can be upgraded to a better quality using certain resources.]
And he found it. It was almost identical with his own sword, the only difference being, of course, that this one had no ability.
Not like she could see that, since she doesn't have EoE.
He grabbed and tossed it to her.
"There. It's just like this one."
Edna inspected the sword, swinging it around to see if it was feeling any different than the other one. It felt the same.
"... Thanks."
"Of course."
He said as he left. He knew he could find her if he wanted, so there was no point in staying any longer. As he passed by her, he could see a crowd of scared faces right where he came from.
'Other survivors, I guess.'
He briefly looked at them, not expecting anything, until he saw a calm expression from a woman. She seemed way too familiar, making Ertex frown.
[Name: Kleiss Arga]
.
.
.
'Mom?'