Chapter 98: Lipon

From a table, he brought over a small ornate box and opened it, revealing what appeared to be a weapon handle. It was oddly shaped with a hole where the blade or handle would normally be attached. Sol used [Analysis], but nothing appeared; he didn't know whether this was a prank or real.

"This is the weapon?"

"Yes! It's a true marvel, combining the best parts of alchemy and tinkering, creating what I like to call a Lipon." Fabio produced a small metal cylinder with a light blue liquid inside and showed it to Sol before demonstrating how it worked. "First, you insert this cartridge charged with pure elemental essence into the bottom of the handle here. Then, once you hear the click and you know it's locked in place, you grip the handle like so and pull back on the trigger here…"

As he pulled back the trigger from the hole on top of the handle, a burst of ice blasted outwards as a curved sword of ice was formed.

Using [Analysis] again, something actually appeared.

Elemental Ice Sword

Unique

Attack: 145-175

Durability: 900/900

Skills:

[Sharpness] Lv 7, [Frost Touch] Lv 7, [Ice Shatter] Lv 7

"And tada! You now have an ice sword! It doesn't only just create blades but hammers, whips, you name it! All you have to do is have the right pattern slot in place."

Fabio opened a small compartment on the side of the handle and took out a tiny metal rectangle with a sword engraved on it. After showing it to the two, Fabio inserted the pattern back in its place and continued with the demonstration.

"Once you're ready to put away your weapon, all you have to do is hit this button here. It will close the valve and stop fueling the weapon."

Hitting the button, the ice sword began to evaporate, losing its source of power until all that was left was the simple handle.

"Soooo? What do you think?"

Fabio was trying to market this weapon extraordinarily hard, and honestly, it was a pretty good weapon all things considered. It was versatile, being able to form a variety of weapons, and it can do different elements depending on the needs of the occasion. It would be hard to swap on the fly, but that was a downside that Sol could live with. There was only one worry that could dissuade him from buying it: the price.

"How much is it?"

"This fine engineering marvel can be yours for 400—no, 350 gold!"

'Still too high, maybe I can bring it down some more so we can also get Amber a unique weapon.'

Making an unwilling expression, Sol spoke, "Hmm, I think that's too high as there are a few problems with this… Lipon. The elemental weapon looks to be on the weaker side of unique weapons, which could be offset by the different weapons it could form, but who has talents with multiple weapons? You would need to find someone with a [Weapon Master] talent at the very least, and they could probably afford better weapons."

Surprised at the criticisms, Fabio nodded, "That's true, but even with only one weapon pattern, the Lipon can be of any element with the right cartridge!"

"That's the second issue I wanted to talk about: how long does each cartridge last? Wouldn't want it to run out during battle. Also, how do I go about getting more of these cartridges?"

"A full one will last for about 5 hours, but no one fights for that long continuously. You can turn it on and off and conserve it so it lasts about 5 hours of combat. For how to get more… there's three ways. You could buy it here for 20 gold each, fill it with elemental essence you buy or find, or if you have a mage friend they can fill it up for you. After testing, we found it takes around 800-900 mana to fill one container. We can give you the spell scroll so your mage knows how to fill it with their elemental affinity."

Sol found this extremely useful for him as he could fill it with dark essence found in the dungeon or with his own mana and fill it with earth, water, wind, and fire.

'If it was anyone else, this would become a money sink… Ah, wait!"

Putting on his most convincing face, Sol negotiated, "That's even more reason why it shouldn't be that high. 350 gold for a weapon that needs more money for it to actually work? I would get it if it was 150, 200 would be pushing it, but 350?"

Fabio had a difficult expression; he couldn't deny it was a huge flaw for long-term use, but he couldn't lower the price that much either.

Sol presented an offer, "How about this: 150 for the Lipon, 20 for the ice cartridge, and the last 30 gold in however many empty cartridges. I'll see if I am able to fill them with dark essence from the dungeon, but I'll still need other elements so I'll have to come back for more. On top of it all, I plan to participate in the upcoming knight selection."

Fabio tilted his head not knowing what that had to do with this.

"You know the final test for the selection is an optional tournament for all the participants. When I fight in front of the entire city, I'll do it with this." Sol held up the Lipon. "I'm sure this will garner a lot of attention to you and your shop."

The man sighed, 'I have no guarantee he will qualify for the test, but if he does…'

The thought of the free marketing he would receive from the event made his mouth slightly water.

"You drive a hard bargain, kid! You have a deal! 200 for the Lipon, the ice cartridge, and 30 empty ones. What pattern would you like for the Lipon?"

Hiding the excitement at convincing the man, Sol asked, "Can I have all of them?"

"Huh? All of them?"

Sol quickly realized his mistake and quickly made up an excuse.

"Well, how am I supposed to showcase your weapon if I can't show one of its defining features? I have a few weapon skills that aren't tied to one specific weapon."

"Oh, I see, sure then."

Fabio took the Lipon and placed it back in its ornate box, he left the ice cartridge still inside and also added 30 empty cartridges neatly in the box. Fabio also took another smaller box from a nearby drawer and opened it showing a variety of small metal rectangles. On them were the pictures of weapons engraved onto the metal that made it easier to identify which creates what.

"Here, these are all the different patterns I have managed to make so far. Be careful with them as they are delicate. Though don't worry once inside the Lipon it is well protected."

Receiving two boxes, Sol stored them in his spatial ring and handed Fabio the 200 gold.

Fabio smiled and thanked Sol, "Pleasure doing business with you. I hope you make it to the finals."

Sol smiled back and nodded, "Thanks, I'll do my best."

With a final wave, the two left the shop and headed back to one of the previous weapon shops. Since Sol obtained the Lipon for a cheap price, the two could pool their remaining money and buy Amber a unique weapon as well. Luckily, daggers tended to be cheaper than other weapons as they were smaller and required fewer materials, so they found a decent unique one for 400 gold.