18 Sword and safety

-Merchants Hall- Tyr Merchants House-

Distracted by Celia, Penta focused on the man they were walking towards.

A Merchant type middle-aged man with short blond hair, short beard, and a protruding belly sticking out of his dark yellow robe that held a silver trim all around. He had a smile that wasn't a smile that Penta was far too familiar with as any merchant of any good reputation would have this face.

"Celia my dear, as enchanting as usual. Welcome to Tyr's Merchant House! Come in." Ther with a professional disposition welcomed them.

"My friend Penta here is looking to sell a Blood bear crystal and hopefully purchase a weapon of his liking. I hope you can assist us. " Celia replied while walking in with Penta as Ther entered a private room with them.

Penta always thought only VIP customers got this sort of private room treatment but he also figured Ther might just be a big shot in the Tyr House.

"Oh wonderful, I can definitely assist with this. May I inspect the beast crystal, sir Penta?" Ther asked as Penta handed over a small red crystal.

Ther looked over the crystal with a monocle that he popped out of nowhere and had put on a serious face while inspecting it.

"This is rather good quality, from the looks of it, it was from a Blood Bear that had stepped into the advanced realm for a while which would fetch a good price. I can offer you 50 Iron Ony for it." Ther said after putting his monocle away and staring ahead at them.

"This good Celia?" Penta asked as he had only had a few bronze Ony from Celia to pay the guards at the gate.

"Oh, that is a good price. You got lucky there Penta. Ther is very reputable so this should be close to the market price." Celia confirmed the trade for him as Penta was in no way a merchant.

For reference sake, Penta had learned the currency system of the world which was the following.

1000 Bronze Ony = 1 Iron Ony

100 Iron Ony = 1 Black Ony

10 Black Ony = 1 Purple Ony

Whereas One Iron Ony could last a family of three for a month if they spent frugally.

Shaman's used Shaman crystals which were a special mineral from the world but he would only see them if he entered the Storm Tribe. While for reference 10 Purple Ony could technically be traded for 1 Shaman crystal though no fool would ever do so.

With that being said. Penta was still shocked at receiving the equivalent of 50'000 bronze ony. This could last him quite a while, to be honest.

This thought was, however, short-lived. As Ther brought them to another section of the merchant house, Penta's eyes were opened to the reality of the world.

The cheapest of swords displayed on the racks were at 10 Iron Ony while the more grandiose looking swords and bows were heading into the hundreds and only exchangeable with Purple Onys.

Penta eventually decided to give up on anything too fancy and walked around while inspecting different weapons.

He eventually settled for a black double-edged sword that was 1.3 meters long with a silver sheen in the middle part while the handle was made a purple ringed wood tied with a black ribbon around it.

Looking at the price it was at 75 Iron Ony's but Penta didn't really like any of the other cheap ones. Considering his preference he really wanted this one. Ther noticing it and smiled a crafty smile while mentioning " It seems you don't have enough for that one, cough."

Celia noticing offered to pay the balance but Penta immediately refused. He was already freeloading at their place though that was only his opinion as Celia would beg to differ.

"Why Penta, it's not like I can't afford it! I own one of the better Inns in the city and with your help, we've been doing good business-wise.

Penta simply shook his head while smiling at her. How could he the roach emperor from another world, the future wannabe god killer be as such.

"Ther, tell you what. I'm buying this sword mainly because I plan to hunt a few more of these types of beasts. Why don't we come to an agreement."

"Oh, and what sort of agreement are you looking to make." Ther asked curiously as he was an adept in the field of business, an agreement at many times could result in much more profit than a measly 25 iron onys.

"Last time I killed this Blood Bear with only a butcher knife. Loan me the sword with a deposit of 50 Iron Ony's and I'll agree to sell all my future Beast crystals only to you while I reside in this city and I'll even do it at a rate that leans in your favor. How about it?" Penta offered as even he knew he was strong enough to get a few more of these crystals and he figured he might as well get a merchant on his side.

Ther was slightly surprised that it was Penta that killed the Blood Bear and that too with a butcher's knife and was considering the deal.

Celia seeing a chance to help offered to be his guarantor. As he was staying with them anyways, it wasn't too much considering she knew he could do it and Ther was actually benefitting the most in the deal.

"Oh, even Miss Celia is willing to jump aboard. How could I refuse one of the most beautiful Inn owners in Mirage City? Deal Penta." Ther smiled from ear to ear as he just got him another source of profit.

"Thank you Celia! I owe you one." Penta nodded before grabbing the sword while playing around with it to feel its weight and get accustomed to its dimensions.

"This isn't much, you just make sure to keep helping out at the Inn you hear!" She smiled at having helped Penta out after mostly having received his help in handling the Inn's food expenses.

"Ha and miss the food, please, I'd be bringing in meat even if you weren't there just to get Claud's cooking." Penta laughed.

"The hell you mean, you just stay there for my dad's food? You foodie!" Celia pouted cutely but soon the atmosphere was lively again as they toured around the Merchant's House while Ther left them to go deal with a few of his own matters.

Celia was having a lot of fun while going from counter to counter looking around at all the new ornaments, furniture, and serving dishes. She was thinking of upping the quality of the Inn while also looking for a few personal items.

They left the merchant's house and headed to a restaurant nearby afterward for lunch as they had both gotten hungry from shopping. Penta was pleased with his purchase as he strapped the black sword on his waist with a purple sheath he received from Ther as an agreement bonus.

As they were eating lunch Celia couldn't help but get curious about Penta's origins as now he could talk casually with her without sounding like a barbarian.

"So Penta, where are you from? I've been curious to ask but with running the Inn and your language lessons it always slipped my mind." Celia asked while drinking a delectable fruit wine she ordered.

Penta munching on some exotic fruits was surprised but still answered.

"I came from a really far away place, to be honest. Somewhere far south, I had only arrived on this continent a week before I met you." He answered in between bites.

"Oh wow, really!? Another continent, I haven't ever heard of there being one it must be an amazing place!" Celia said while surprised at his answer as it was very normal for people to not know the fact that there were other continents as Valor itself was huge and not many can even travel the ocean beyond. Considering even a third-grade shaman such as Old'Ban took months.

"It really isn't actually. It's a very lonely place, to be honest. Dead trees everywhere, dry land without even grass growing. If I didn't have my siblings with me, I probably would have gone crazy from the depressive atmosphere of that place. Sigh," Penta said while some memories flashed through his mind.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring up bad memories for you... so where are your siblings, did they come with you? You haven't been hiding them have you?" Celia felt bad at having asked now so she tried changing the subject.

"Yeah, I did. They're always with me actually." Penta replied while patting his heart while a slightly bitter smile appeared. He ate them to survive and was one of them in the first place. It was messed up but as a human soul, he had emotions just like any other and he still felt their mild presence as though they truly were accompanying him though this was only from his perspective as he really did consume them whole before birth even.

Celia panicked as she went from one bad subject to another and didn't know what to say.

"Haha, don't worry about it. I've long come to terms with the situation. They're gonna follow me on a grand journey and I'm sure they will love it." Penta lightened up and continued eating while not minding Celia's question. This put her slightly at ease.

Not knowing what to say, she simply asked about this grand journey of his.

"Well first off, I'm planning on joining the storm tribe and try and get some more knowledge on Shamans. My inheritance was a rather short one without much explanation and even your 100 times more knowledgeable than me about what a Shaman is and can do. Aside from that, getting stronger and seeing the world while chasing after a certain someone. Sigh" His tone changing slightly at the end.

"Oh is it a woman?" Celia asked curiously.

"To be honest, I'm not too sure though I'm leaning towards it being a guy. It isn't what you think, it's more so a sort of quest to defeat this person than anything else..." Penta vaguely answered as he kept eating the different dishes.

Celia stopped that line of questioning as everyone had their own little secrets but Penta just seemed to be getting more and more mysterious to her which kept her wanting to know but she refrained from asking.

"Hmm, well I won't pry as it seems to be quite personal. How old are you anyways, there is a minimum age for the Storm tribe recruitment test before being allowed to participate with a few rare exceptions."

Penta looked up at Celia and his eyes narrowed while a grin started forming on his lips. Celia watching the scene unfold felt slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

"Hehe, would you believe me if I told you I am the world's youngest prodigy to ever roam these lands?" Penta asked while smirking.

"Huh? No way, I've seen much younger!" Celia was shocked at his reply and got even more curious though she was in her twenties she didn't believe Penta much younger than her considering his body and face and even she has heard of a few 15-year-old prodigies becoming advance level apprentices.

Chuckling Penta simply raised up one finger and told her that was how old he was.