The weapon continued to envelop strange feelings into him. A tempting feeling; he felt as though he should grab hold of it, touch it. But after hearing Huweyn's remark, he resisted its temptation.'That thing is darn cursed.' Kairi thought as he backed away from the weapon.
He then continued looking about. It was a small workshop. Other than the stuff he had already seen before, there was not much left to be seen. It was then and there that he caught sight of something. Hiding away behind a large claymore was a silver breastplate, and atop a wooden table was a bright silver shoulder piece.
Kairi then pointed toward the two, "I'll take these."
"Great. Now all you need is a weapon."
Kairi then recalled his build. He was quite frail, lacking in both muscle and size. If he were to decide on something, it would have to be something that could accommodate these qualities. Something small, something similar to the strange dagger he had seen before.
'Dagger,' he thought, with his hand on his chin. "I'll take a dagger, specifically a light one."
"Certainly would suit your build." She then looked about, "Would those do the job?"
She then pointed toward two curved blade daggers with rugged sharp blade edges. Its hilt was a light green color.
Kairi then walked over to them. As he picked them up, his hand slightly dipped downwards. It was heavy but light enough for him to still carry about. 'With light training, these should be easily usable,' he thought.
He then cleared his throat, raised the two pointed rugged daggers upward, directly in line with his sight. "I guess I'll take them."
Huweyn then took them from his hand, observing them closely, passing his covered finger across the ruggedly sharp blade edges. He then unusually smiled, "Nice pick. I think they're adequate enough, adequate enough for taking down small-time Beasts, that is."
"Not my best work, but they're still a good piece, I per se," the woman remarked. She then walked toward Huweyn, reaching her palm out, and demanded, "Alright, my Prystals."
Feeling as though his personal space had been invaded, Huweyn slowly backed backward, "How much?"
With her finger on her chin, "Well, they're not that expensive or valuable, but their materials are still a bit hard to come by. As you know, I collect them myself, so they did take quite some time to whip up. Surely you understand?"
Huweyn's temple vein bulged visibly upon hearing her blather. Placing a palm on his forehead, he thought, 'The audacity this woman has to try to play me. It's just basic metal and leather pieces.' He then looked over to Kairi, who still seemed to be fascinated by the pieces. 'Oh well, it's not like this is coming out of my Prystals.' He then cleared his throat, "How much are we speaking, roughly?"
"Fifteen gold Prystals," she immediately replied, still grinning.
Sighing loudly, he dipped his hand in his back pocket before then handing her the total. 'I was right, this woman is a cunning one. To scam such a young boy, what a heartless wrench.'
Kairi had unintentionally heard her total. Upon hearing it, his soul had left his body. He had never used this many Prystals before. Though it was Mother's money, it was still practically his allowance. His happy mood, invoked by getting his first-ever equipment pieces, had turned to melancholy and visible distraught. 'I guess poverty is a lost cat thT always finds it way back to me.' he thought, with his hand clasped in a prayer-like gesture.
Huweyn, with his hand on Kairi's shoulder, said, "Worry not, lad. Prystals are temporary; they come and they go. As a Transcender, I'm quite used to this being the case. You'll soon be too."
"It is what it is," Kairi sulked.
Kairi, upon paying, began to put them on. As he put on the shiny silver breastplate, a weight was added to his whole body. It felt as though he was carrying something heavy on his back. He felt sluggish, and the armor piece felt stiffening. In response to the silver shoulder pad armor pieces, his shoulders shrugged, and his back, from the added weight of the chest piece and the newly added shoulder pads, hunched. Even with just light, small pieces, he felt slower, but not overwhelmingly; after all, they were still fairly light pieces.
He anchored his newly bought daggers to both sides of his belt. He wore his pieces above his leather clothing, which subtly complemented his messy layered light brown hair. The armor, in addition to the weapons, had given him a more masculine appearance. Compared to his usual casual tunics, he looked much more grown and manly. Aside from his frail frame, it suited his more masculine features: his thick eyebrows, strong ramus, and proportionate jawline.
"Alright, it's time we left. We should have made our way to the gates by now."
Kairi, still feeling himself, replied, "Right."
The woman then began to wave as they marched away, "Come again! Clara's workshop is always open to fine eyes such as yours!"
They then made their way away from the woman's shop and then back onto the main street, being revealed to the multiple Blacksmith's Forgeries once more.
Kairi, still gloating over his lack of satisfactory currency, wondered, "What's next?" He then placed a finger on his forehead, trying to recall, "Wasn't there a Chasm or something? I recall something along those lines from a bunch of stories I've read some time ago. Are we're going there?"
"That's right. We're going to Labyrinth City."
Kairi's eyes lit up in awe, "Labyrinth City, one of the most advanced places on this depressive continent?"
Huweyn then raised his index finger at the center of Kairi's gaze, a gesture he had used once before. "Though, there's still one condition you still need to fulfill before we really finalize the decision to embark onto the Chasm."
Kairi, walking the street alongside Huweyn, then stopped in his tracks, sighing heavily, "Not the first time I've seen this from you. You're not serious, are you?"
The two were on their way on the path from the Blacksmith's Forge back to the bridge, going back where they first had entered. Their destination, the front gates of Sandridge, lied in a straight path past where they had first met, The Tavern, which was at the central part of the town, the Market Square.
"Oh, but I am," Huweyn remarked, a smile atop his face.
"This Soul Synergy propaganda again?" Kairi asked.
"That is an outdated term but you're right on the mark," Huweyn replied. Huweyn then pointed toward the straight path leading to the end of the town. "I'll teach you it on the way to the Chasm. It'll help bring the gap between you and seasoned Transcenders a bit closer... Even if just a little."
Kairi, upon hearing this, was given a glimmer of hope. He stopped in his tracks. His first memory of meeting Huweyn replayed in his head: his fight with Tevin, his superhuman movement; all of it replayed. 'Soul Synergy, and also, Spirit Stones, the two are definitely but somehow correlated?' he thought, trapped in a daze.
Huweyn, a whole crowd away from him, standing amidst the Starlit Span, meanwhile, Kairi had not yet made his way to the bridge, only now exiting the path from the Blacksmith's Forge. He began to wave at him, "Pick up haste and quickly!"
"Alright I get it!"