Chapter 29- Robbery

Upon arrival at the marketplace, Dubs and Alt scoured the stalls, which had all sorts of different trinkets and items.

Dubs had not been accustomed to using currency, and first decided to scout around to figure out the value of money in this world, and which items were valued higher than others.

Coming upon a wooden shack that was selling sticks of meat and vegetables, the sizzling flavors engulfed the air around Dubs.

"Get a kabob cheap, only 1 copper coin!", the shopkeeper advertised.

"I suppose food costs a very low price, seeing as copper coins are the lowest unit of currency.", Dubs thought, as he bought one for himself and one for Alt.

Alt took the kabob, and the scene following would have been horrifying to anyone who could see it. Alt consumed the kabob rapidly, biting off both the meat and the stick simultaneously. If his body was not made of the shadow material, his lips would have been splintered and torn.

Dubs laughed. "What are you doing, Alt? Don't you know how to eat properly."

Alt continued stuffing his mouth with the kabob and laughed, and the two walked off.

When they reached a larger shop that was inside a building, with a sword and shield as a crest, they entered.

A bright young man with long blonde hair wore a green apron with a white workers uniform.

"Welcome to my weapons shop! Is there anything I can help you with?", the shopkeeper asked.

There were all sorts of weapons laid across the shelves, and even some shields. Most were a grey or black tint, but some had vibrant colors- rarer ores that were much more costly.

"Yes," Dubs responded. "I have a stock of weapons I would like to sell."

The shopkeeper looked at Dubs in confusion. "I... see. Where exactly would this stock of weapons be?", he asked, dumbfoundedly.

Alt began to mold himself once more, and spitting out of his stomach came the weapons. The shopkeeper looked somewhat disturbed, and fearfully began to speak.

The shopkeeper couldn't see Alt, so he only viewed a series of weapons appear to emerge from the air.

"Um... could it be that you are one of the magical knights, sir?"

Dubs scowled at the man. "Looks like this won't be so easy.", he thought. "I can't allow any rumors to begin spreading about my existence until it is time to come out in the open."

Dubs stepped swiftly over to the shopkeeper, and his dagger was placed around the mans throat in an instant. Before the man could realize what had happened, Dubs began to whisper in his ear.

"It appears that you've seen too much. I'll let you keep your life on the condition that you keep quiet about everything that you've seen here, and purchase all of my stock... for a fair price of course."

Dubs glanced over at Alt, who smiled and began emptying the entirety of the stock into the shop.

"3 suits of leather armor, 2 iron suits, and 6 iron weapons. What would you say is a fair price for this?", Dubs asked, pressing his dagger closer to the shopkeepers throat.

"Un... understood sir! I will give you 10 Silver coins for that stock!"

Dubs looked over to Alt and nudged for him to look around the shop. After taking a look at the prices of the weapons, Alt put his eyebrows up in suspicion.

"These higher grade colored weapons sell for 2 golds a piece, and the black ones sell for around 5 silvers. The iron ones only sell for 10 coppers a piece, but if this man is making so much profit off the other weapons we certainly can't be giving him the precious stock we worked so hard for so easily...", Alt taunted.

Dubs smiled. "Looks like your offer wasn't generous enough, good sir!". Pressing the dagger into the mans neck so a slight amount of blood began to flow, Dubs got closer. "Let's try this again."

The man's face continuously twisted with fear. "I cannot believe this! I've offered you twice the selling price... what more could you want? 4 times?"

All of a sudden, the door began to slide open, but Alt held out his hand and it slammed back shut, locking it. "It looks like we have some customers. Lets finish things here, Dubs.", Alt stated.

Dubs care freely took the dagger away from the mans throat, and motioned for Alt to heal the man and replace the items.

"We will take 4 times the rate, 20 silvers.", Dubs stated as he nonchalantly waltzed to the door to open it.

Alt quickly began to channel the energy around the room, and the cut on the mans throat was healed. The Weapons flew over to their respective shelves, and the coins from the purse on the shopkeepers side flew out and into the pocket of Dubs.

Dubs unlocked and opened the door, revealing a young boy. He had a bowl cut and brown hair, and was only around 4 feet tall.

"Sorry for locking you out, boyo! I had some important personal business to take care of. Go get a kabob for your patience." Dubs flipped the boy a copper coin, and calmly walked off.

The boy was left with a dumb look on his face. "That guy was super cool!", he shouted after staring at Dubs until he had left the boys view.

Alt began to speak to Dubs. "Looks like our merging is progressing quite quickly. I was able to control so much of the magic in the air so easily just now, while multitasking. It also seems like I'm becoming slightly more sane, and you're becoming slightly more insane. Haha!"

Dubs smiled. "Being insane isn't so bad, my other self! I can feel the magical power growing in me."

Heading back to the shop where they originally met at, Dubs felt fearless. After being able to handle a complicated situation so simply just by relying on Alt's ability to multitask, he felt that world domination wasn't just a dream.

The merging process, after this event, had reached 12%.

Arriving at the original shop, Dubs counted up his money, worth now a total of 470 copper coins.

"This guy seemed like a cheapskate, but I can get more money whenever I need it. I will browse the shop and purchase anything I feel could be useful.", Dubs stated.

Dubs entered the shop and began to look around. The rest of the party was there, and they had all finished their shopping. Enferia had bought a new looking pair of gloves, and Drodus had purchased a shoddy looking club for melee combat.

Samuel and Tirian had both decided not to purchase anything, probably both sensing that they would be ripped off.

Dubs considered that he couldn't openly shop here, as that would reveal to the party that he obtained income elsewhere.

Looking around, he found a set of experimental tools. Upon seeing them, Dubs began to remember his curiosity.

"Ah, that's right. I should try to begin running experiments as soon as possible once I've finished magical training. I should get back to Lardis then by tomorrow.", Dubs thought.

Samuel called the party around. "Alright, now that we are all gathered, I think its best that we each take care of our own lodging. We will meet in front of this shop tomorrow morning, 6 am to head back to Lardis."

The party agreed, and they all went their separate ways. Dubs decided not to buy anything for now, as he didn't know what he should get. "I will wait until I am staying with Reagan and running experiments before determining what is useful and what isn't.", Dubs thought.

After leaving to the inn with Alt, Dubs rested for the night, and morning quickly came after.

Dubs considered going off on his own, and letting the squad return back, but he reasoned that if they died it would create problems for him.

"Others are always creating problems for us, eh?", Alt stated.

"You worry too much, the more problems a person causes the more we can use them. If I can tolerate the issues someone makes, then I will reap the benefits later. I could always go off on my own if I wanted to avoid problems, but I wouldn't gain anything that way.", Dubs replied.

Alt remained quiet and Dubs met up early morning with the other 4. Morning or evening didn't make a difference in the apparent time,however, as it was always dark.

After all meeting up, Samuel once more took the lead of the squad, and Dubs stood towards the back, slightly away from everyone.

"Move out!", Samuel shouted, and the party began to head back to Lardis.