First purchases and first dissapointments (3)

In the depths of the blacksmith street, I finally found my destination - it was the "Bottomless Satchel" guild's shop, and they traded not only with goods produced by their neighbors but also with rare weapons from all around the world. Among their products, one could find genuine masterpieces from nearby forges, as well as ancient artifacts, but there were also items that looked like they had been in the mouth of a dragon and came out not by the same path they went in. However, even among this jumble, not everything was rubbish, as some blades, despite their unimpressive appearance, were made from rare metals and could be reforged into something valuable. One just needed to have a good understanding of blacksmithing; experienced warriors didn't allow themselves to go on a mission with poor equipment, so they had to have at least some basic knowledge of metallurgy. The owner was a man in his forties, and judging by his muscular hands, it was evident that he was no stranger to the craft of blacksmithing, and deceiving him would not be so easy. The shop had shelves with a wide selection of weapons, staffs, wands, amulets, and armor - everything that could be made from metal. Naturally, I headed to the section with swords.

"Eh, what are you doing here?" Katrina asked with confusion. "You're a mage, right? So why are you looking at this stand? Staffs were there a little while ago."

"Listen, don't you care what I'm looking for?" I retorted irritably. "Let's just say I decided to experiment a bit. Staffs are not quite the right weapon for me right now, and besides, if we have a guild with two mages, serious problems can arise in battle. For example, if you need to cast a powerful spell that requires time, I'll have to protect you, but it's quite problematic to do so with a staff, as I also need time to cast spells."

"Don't worry about that," she said haughtily, striking her chest. "I hardly need any time to prepare, and I can crush any enemy in the blink of an eye!" Then, disdainfully pointing her finger at me, she added, "As for you, you can hide in some shelter and then haul trophies back to the guild."

"Ah, I sense that your self-assurance might backfire on you! Not all enemies can be defeated with a single blow," I replied, whispering to myself.

"What did you say?" Katrina squinted at me in displeasure.

"Nothing, just don't disturb me while I'm choosing my weapon."

The selection was good, but unfortunately, our finances didn't allow us to choose anything valuable. Here, they displayed the best weapons made by famous masters, with a price tag reaching several thousand gold pieces, and each had the master's stamp, but even here, one could stumble upon a counterfeit that would fail you at the most inconvenient moment. On the shelves along the walls, there were simpler weapons, well-balanced and made from basic materials, which were still quite decent, but for my purposes, I needed materials capable of conducting magic, and there were few samples like that here, with prices starting from two hundred gold pieces. Alas, after Katrina bought that crooked madness, she was left with only forty coins, and my money had already been spent on paying for the room's repair.

There remained a basket for old and defective weapons, the material, manufacturer, and date of manufacture of which all remained a mystery, and the price was determined solely by the individual wishes of the seller. Here, one could find a variety of items. On top lay a huge two-handed sword, clearly not of local production, with a curved blade made of a material that suspiciously resembled bone from some large animal. It looked beautiful, but it wouldn't be of much help to me.

Next to the box, there lay a formidable-sized mace, its sphere cracked, and the handle burnt in several places. It had clearly been in more than one battle, and its owner's fate seemed rather tragic. Despite its size, it was quite lightweight, and when the sphere was rubbed well, it acquired a faint pearlescent glow. Definitely, the mace was made of mithril, and it could be useful to me, but I didn't know any blacksmiths who would reforge it into a sword for free.

"And how much are you asking for this mace?" I inquired.

"Heh, what a horror! You can't think of worse weapons for a mage," as always, Katrina's words were out of place.

"Hmm, you're a mage, huh? I understand, I understand. You know about weapons. Although it doesn't look impressive, it's made of excellent materials," the shopkeeper replied.

Damn, if he only knew I was a mage, he might have sold it at the price of a regular mace, as its weight clearly didn't match its purpose.

"I'll give it to you for only eighty gold pieces. Trust me, you won't find such a price anywhere else."

"What? This is robbery! It's cracked, and it looks like it's been in the mouth of a dragon! Where will you find that fool who would pay eighty gold pieces for it?" Apparently, money concerned Katrina more than my peace of mind.

"Calm down, Katrina, its price is not inflated at all. If you hadn't interfered in the conversation, I could have bargained and got a lower price, but now it's too late."

"Do you really intend to buy this piece of junk?"

"Doesn't matter. Sir, could you set aside this mace? I don't have enough money right now, but I promise to buy it by the end of the year."

"You're quite a character, kid. I'll set it aside for you, but you better bring this beauty back to my shop again," the blacksmith grinned.

"I don't really appreciate compliments from this old man," Katrina muttered, making a grimace of slight disgust.

"Never mind, we need to pick something anyway, and this time, it's better you keep quiet," my serious tone, or maybe the fact that I muttered the last phrase through clenched teeth, clearly offended Katrina. Arrogantly snorting, she moved away to a showcase with magical amulets.

I had to choose something quickly. Katrina and a showcase with trinkets were a dangerous combination. She might buy half the store, leaving me as collateral.

My attention was drawn to a sword lying at the bottom of the box. It was severely worn out: the blade was blackened from the marks of intense flames, the handle had nicks, but still fit tightly against the blade. Though its condition left much to be desired, its shape seemed familiar to me. The blade was one and a half forearm lengths long, wide at the base, pointed, and slightly curved at the end, sharpened only on one side. The sword had no guard, and the handle was made of a white material resembling bone, with the end curved towards the blade. Surprisingly, it fit my hand quite easily, but the blade clearly outweighed the light handle, making it comfortable to hold only when tilted towards the ground. After a couple of swings, I realized that it was designed for delivering powerful slashing strikes. Moreover, thanks to its weight, it was easy to spin the sword, pivoting on the base of the handle, and change the direction of the blade in hand. It was convenient for both defense and powerful strikes, but something seemed to be missing. Shifting the sword from one hand to another, I realized it was equally suitable for both. A strange combination since rarely would a knight release their weapon from their grasp, let alone switch it to the other hand. Considering that the sword was sharpened on one side only, it all seemed to lose its meaning.

"And how much are you asking for this sword?" I inquired.

"This? Are you sure? I thought you were more knowledgeable about weapons. This sword was probably created by some master as a joke on classical swordsmanship. And if you want to reforge it because of its material, forget about it. Several blacksmiths have tried, but nothing worked. I myself used ten elemental stones to ignite the strongest flame I could, but it didn't help. As you can see from the burn marks, those are all our attempts. The sword only charred, and we couldn't even chip a piece off it. Most likely, it's made of some non-metallic alloy, perhaps volcanic rock. I can't take more than five gold pieces for this piece of junk."

"Oh, by the way, do you have another one, almost the same sword?" I asked casually.

"You're starting to scare me, kid. I don't know how you guessed it, but there is another similar sword. We didn't try to reforge it because it has a beautiful dragon head pattern. Perhaps it was the master's mark who created the blade, but I don't know any other weapon made by this master. I thought about selling it to collectors, but it seems like you know some secret related to these blades. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I tried the blades in my hands and immediately felt that the second one was better balanced than the first. Like its larger sibling, this blade fit perfectly for both left and right hands, but its balance was classic. The small sword showed no signs of burn marks, like the larger one, but it was still black in color. However, a slight bluish glow could be seen in the thinner parts of the blade when held up to the light. It was unclear what material it was, but these were undoubtedly matching blades.

"So, how much are you asking for both?" I asked.

"Sigh. Of course, the smaller one could be sold well to collectors, but I already said five gold pieces for each sword, so that's ten in total."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. After all, these blades were made to cut down enemies, not gather dust on a shelf."

"And do they have scabbards?"

Ah yes! Old weapons with scabbards are rarely handed to me, but this was a different case, apparently, this strange shape didn't fit other swords, and they brought them to me together.

From under the counter, the owner produced unusual scabbards that completely mirrored the shape of the blades, but the smaller ones were wider than the blade and had a metal clasp on the sharp side of the blade.

"Alright then, eight gold pieces for the scabbards, making it a total of eighteen gold pieces. Promise me you'll take good care of them."

"Alright. By the way, where's Katrina?"