24 Tutorial pt. 5

Sara headed back to her "dorm" room.

Her mood was soured after being unable to complete her revenge, but she swore to herself that if she ever got the opportunity at a later date, she would definitely make that bitch pay.

As she walked the streets, kicking stones and any debris that were unfortunate to cross her path, Sara found herself passing by a relatively strange looking shop.

What made it stand out from the others was the fact that there, in the window, was a strange looking lamp, and a few other items that Sara found to be misplaced in her current world.

What the hell…they didn't have electricity, so why were there lamps, electric shavers and a strange looking teapot with gears and pulley's all over it?

Sara paused before pushing open the door to find even more eccentric electronics within the small store.

There were clocks, cameras, clothing items…all seeming to belong to a time that didn't match the current one.

Sara's eyes drifted over the various items before settling on one that was mounted over top the far wall.

It was a gun! A rifle, to be exact.

Sara had never seen a gun in real life, let alone fired one. Gun rights were suspended for the general population decades ago, and the video's online were old and of bad quality. Many were censored and could only be found on those obscure sites that went down periodically due to some or another government's influence.

As Sara stared wide eyed at what she saw as a massive killing machine just sitting out in the open, a man walked up to her side.

"Sir, can I help you find anything? Is there something you are looking for in particular? We have many exotic and interesting items here…."

Sara tore her eyes away from the gun, but pointed to it in reverence. Could anyone even imagine what she could do with a gun!?!?!?!?

"I want that."

The man's lips pulled down at the corners after seeing what she was interested in. He glanced at the rifle, then back to Sara. He gave a toothy smile.

"My apologies, sir, but that item is not for sale, currently…."

Sara furrowed her brows. "If it's not for sale, then why is it in the shop?"

The man took in her angry expression, but held firm to his stance. "It's on display. We keep it as a decoration."

"If you aren't going to use it, then why not sell it to me? Just give me a price, real quick. I'll pay top dollar."

The man shook his head, but made a mental note about her seemingly limitless wealth. Clearly, this was not a simple character that had wandered into his store. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. It's not for sale."

Sara was about to argue further, but paused as she thought better of it.

Maybe arguing was not the best way to get what she wanted in this situation….After all, maybe instead of buying that particular item, she could convince the nice, respectable man to tell her where he found it….

"Alright…what else do you have that's…similar to that item?" Sara asked slowly. Trying to keep her thoughts from showing on her face

The man gave an apologetic smile, but felt unease beginning to fill him at the dark look that flashed across this patrons face. "I'm sorry, it's a one of a kind item. We currently do not have any others in the store and there are none that resemble it. If you wish…for a price…I can have another item that is similar in looks created, but it would merely be an art piece, unable to function as the original functions."

Sara watched the man's reaction as he spoke. When he finished, she sighed out in frustration. The man felt his back tense at her reaction.

'Damn…'

Sara cast one last glance at the rifle, then turned to look around the store. After thinking it over, she asked, "So…do you have any other weapons that I can take a look at?"

The man smiled, grateful that Sara had finally seemed to give up on the item hanging on the far wall. He hurried to fulfill her request. This could very well be a noble male from one of the top families, he couldn't afford to offend someone like that!

"Or course! If you would step this way, please allow me to show you some of our sellable items."

The man led Sara to a glass counter. He walked behind it and ducked down. Sara could hear him rummaging for something, but as she leaned over to see what it was he was looking through, he popped back up.

In his hand was a bow. Not a regular long bow, like one would expect to see in their setting, it was a compound bow. There were gears and pulley's in the bow's creation and on the side was a small hand crank.

He sat the bow atop the counter.

"I see that you are a student at the magic academy. Forgive me if I am mistaken, but you appear to be of the lower rank of mage." He paused, watching Sara's reaction. Seeing that she neither confirmed or denied the claim, he smiled and continued in his sales pitch.

"The world…can be a dangerous place. Especially for new mages just starting out on the path of the arcane. Your magical ability is low, presently, and the spells one knows is…limited. This," he gestured to the bow, "can help bridge the gap between one's self and another's ability and resources in the field of magic."

Sara stared down at the bow, distrust clear on her face.

"How?"

The man continued to smile as he answered her, though her sharp tone made his unease grow. Maybe his mage ranking was a sore spot that he'd inadvertently poked? "Well, the element of lightning is one that is both hard to learn and even harder to control, almost impossible to master. This bow, however, can help with that. You see this here," he touched the crank on the side, "Builds an electric shock when turned, and this here," he pointed to a pulley attached to a bolt, similar to that found on a bolt action rifle, "can switch between two settings. The first setting, builds the electrical current, allowing for the bow to shoot further and harder than an ordinary bow, and the second setting allows for one to utilize the electric current to arch off and hit a nearby enemy."

The man looked up at Sara, watching her expression as she turned over what he said in her mind.

Despite the feeling of awe and her excitement, Sara tried to keep her expression neutral, resulting in a rather heavy scowl.

Seeing the darkness entering into Sara's face, the man felt a bead of sweat begin to form on his brow.

"If this….is unsatisfactory, I have other products that may better suit your tastes…." The man cursed himself for his greedy nature, originally wanting to sell a mediocre item at top dollar to an unsuspecting money bags.

Sara felt an alarm go off in her mind at the thought of losing such a great weapon. Her eyes grew wide as she searched her mind for a way to convince the man otherwise.

The man, seeing the animosity entering into Sara's features quickly backtracked.

"If, instead, you are interested in something specific, I would be happy to accommodate you in any way that I can." He could hear the apprehension entering into his voice as he spoke.

Sara stared at the man, somehow wondering if they were on the same page. Her old habit of over thinking began to take over as she wondered if he was trying to drive up the price. Maybe he thought she couldn't afford the item after thinking over the way she was dressed and the way she carried herself….

Sara gestured toward the bow on the counter with an open palm.

"Price." She wanted to ask what the price would be on an item such as the bow, but due to her own flustered mind, she could only get out a single word.

As she scolded herself inwardly at her inability to calmly ask a simple question, the man before her had his own crisis he was dealing with.

'Does he want to buy this item, or is he asking the price of another item, not wanting to even look at it after coming to his own conclusions on the quality of our shops items?'

The man glanced down at the opened palm. His mind whirred at an astonishing speed as he tried to understand her intentions.

'Opened palm? It's as if he's asking me to pay….Is this a shakedown? Did I just offend some noble from a high ranking house? I should have asked his name before trying to sell him an item of such low quality!'

The man felt a cold sweat develop on his back as he tried to find a suitable way to rectify the situation.

As Sara stood, watching the man's expression shift, she herself felt as if she had somehow offended the shop owner…

'Shit. Maybe I should just leave and come back after I calm down…'

Sara pulled her hand away. The man looked back up, searching her expression for signs of anger and resentment.

Sara turned, her eyes wide with anxiety. As she made her way quickly toward the door, she called over her shoulder, trying to explain herself to the shop owner. Unfortunately, her flustered state of mind was still not helping.

"I'll be back later. Gonna go calm down."

Sara chastised herself. It wasn't as if she NEEDED to say that last part. What was she thinking!? The shop owner probably thought she was some kind of lunatic! Would he even do business with her in the future?

'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!' Sara thought to herself as she flew out of the shop and made her way briskly down the street.

Thus, Sara ran all the way back to her dorm room, leaving a flustered and anxious shop owner preparing for the worst in her wake.