The Bow of Prayer

To reach the shop, Pete and Marian had to walk almost a quarter-mile around the guild. The Adventurer's Guild was a massive establishment, sprawling over a square mile of land. Pete suspected that its space was somehow condensed through magic.

Marian's contact was a medium-sized shop scrunched between two potions stores. An unpainted metal door served as the entry point.

[ You have reached LEXI'S ARMORY ]

[ Task: Perfect Attire Tutorial ]

[ Perfect Attire Level 3 ]

[ Adventurer mode: Activated ]

'Whoa! So, Lexi's armory is an important location in the main storyline? Interacting with Marian and Lexi will bring me to important game points. Perfect Attire can pick up designs here.'

Marian raised a knocker and slammed it on the door twice. There was a large peephole at the center of the door. After a few seconds, an eye appeared in it, scrutinizing the guests.

"Who is it?" a squeaky voice asked.

"I know you recognize me, Preddy! Don't be an ass. It's Marian! Open up!"

The door unbolted and slid open. The duo walked in.

On the inside, the shop looked like a storage shed. Armors, weapons, and accessories overflowed from heavily stocked shelves and hangers. Most of the equipment was rusted or damaged.

"This is a dump," Pete whispered to Marian.

"I know," she whispered back. "We won't buy this crap. The good stuff is somewhere in the back."

The boy looked around for the owner. The eye that he saw through the peephole- whose was it? Did the person open the door? Preddy, was it? However, Pete could not find a soul in the shop. Where did this Preddy run off to?

"Where's Lexi?" Marian asked no one in particular.

Pete scanned the room again. Who was the girl talking to? Perhaps his eyes missed someone in the dump. 'Nope, there's no one here,' he concluded after several searches.

"She's out in the back, forging a new weapon," a squeaky voice replied. "She warned not to disturb her."

Pete lowered his gaze, following the sound of the voice.

A short, stocky animal stood before his feet. It had a thick tail, a reptile-like face, and large, saucer-like eyes. The boy likened it to a baby dinosaur.

Was it a pet monster? Pete tried not to be shocked by it. But part of him reached for a weapon.

"Don't be scared of him," Marian told him. "He's Preddy, a snaglin. They are intelligent monsters raised in Nottingham Zoo and adopted by adventurers and smiths."

Pete was still a little wary of the little monster. He gulped, looking for an appropriate ice breaker. A talking monster running a shop was not something one could digest easily.

"Hi, I am Preddy," the creature said. "May I take your cloak?"

"Err… I am not wearing a cloak."

"Ah, that's a shame. You should, though. It would look great on you. We have a discounted woolen cloak available at the attractive price of four gold coins. What do you say? Shall I pack it up for you?"

Pete looked at Preddy with a puzzled expression. "No, thank you."

"Your loss," said the snaglin and hopped onto the coins counter. He began stacking coins into a roll, occasionally shooting glances at Pete to check whether the boy had changed his mind.

"Come, let's go to the back room," Marian said, pulling Pete along. They went through a door that brought them to a winding staircase. They descended to the bottom, which opened into a large basement workshop.

A skinny girl in metal armor and mask worked by herself on a runes table.

"Hey, Lexi!" Marian called out.

The girl looked up and removed her mask. "Hey, Mar! Long time no see."

"Well, I've been busy."

Lexi removed her armor and walked around the table. "Don't be such a liar. Once you leveled up and finished more quests, you made plenty of gold. Then you stopped visiting my poor establishment because you wanted the branded stuff. Don't make up excuses now. I know a clerk from Knightdale. Don't deny it."

"Fine!" Marian said, throwing up her arms. "I go to Knightdale. Maybe because the shop is right near the guild's reception lobby. Yours is a quarter-mile away! And maybe because you never completed my orders in time! Why don't you save some gold and get a new shop near the lobby? Why don't you hire more assistants so that you can complete orders in time?"

"Mar, don't be ridiculous. This shop used to be Luxor's Armory, by my father's name. Now it is Lexi's Armory, by my name. I will never be a sellout like those branded shops. I do specialized work. Lexi is not a factory!"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the workshop. Pete felt he should not be there at the time of their reunion. The scene had turned into a soap opera suddenly.

The girls suddenly started laughing and hugged each other. "I missed you," Lexi said.

"I missed you too. Look, I brought you a customer."

The smith eyed Pete from head to foot. "He's easy on the eyes, but can he fight? I don't want to sell my stuff to weaklings. It will ruin my reputation if they lose. People would blame my equipment for their terrible performance."

Marian looked proud of herself. "Ha! Rob won the templar trials. And he can use fire magic."

Lexi whistled and looked at Pete in a new light. "Not bad."

"What are you working on right now?" Pete asked curiously. Lexi had a pen-shaped object in her hand. She appeared to be etching a sword's blade with the pen.

"Ah, this? It is a magical rune stylus. I am enchanting this sword according to the specifications provided by the customer."

"Wow. Do you have something for an archer?"

"Did you come here for weapons?"

"Err…"

Marian spoke for Pete. "He's a complete newbie. Talented but clueless. I think he'll need the complete set."

"I see. Archer, huh? Come with me."

They walked past a series of pedestals on which various weapons, and armors were displayed.

[ Initiating Perfect Attire Tutorial… ]

[ Recorded ]

[ Recorded ]

Whenever Pete saw a new design of armor or gauntlets or other accessories, the system issued a notification that it was recorded. He was yet to figure out how Perfect Attire would reproduce such heavy equipment.

A massive sword was resting on one of the hangers, one that Pete could not imagine lifting. "That's the Zertonian sword," Lexi explained. "Only level five and above adventurers can use it. It is said that it can defeat a dragon."

They saw lances and shields and several designs of armor on the way.

"Ah, archery," Lexi declared as they reached the last row of weapons.

A series of bows were placed on mini-pedestals. There were recurve bows, longbows, flat bows, and bare bows. The last weapon caught Pete's attention. It was made entirely of wood and had ancient-looking etchings.

"I like this one…"

"It is the Bow of Prayer. Made from magical yew wood collected from Sherwood. This weapon is not of my making. It's a family heirloom, passed on from my father."

Ding!

[ Loading Quest… ]

[ Quest Title: Pray for the Prayer ]

[ Obtain the Bow of Prayer ]

[ Reward: Advanced Archery Skill ]

"I want to purchase this bow," Pete said to Lexi assertively.

"What? It's not for sale."

"Please. Name a price."

"I just made it clear it's not for sale."

Pete folded his hands, looked earnestly into Lexi's eyes, and said, "Please, I will do anything. This is very important to me."

Lexi was silent for a few moments. "Fine. If you are so desperate. I need you to do an errand for me. I will give away the Bow of Prayer if you complete it successfully."

Pete smiled and said, 'Thank you. What is the task?"

"Morag's tooth. Two units."

The boy looked to Marian for an explanation. "That's ridiculous, Lexi! Morag's tooth is impossible to get. One has to defeat and kill the monster Morag first."

"Well, that's my price. Your friend can take it or leave it."

Marian turned to Pete. "Rob, don't do it. Morag is a dangerous lake monster that only level 6 and above parties have managed to defeat. Your level is too low."

Pete gave the offer consideration for a minute. "I agree. We have a deal," he said, holding out his hand to the smith.

"No!" Marian exclaimed. "This is suicide!"

Lexi shook the boy's hand. "You are brave, Rob. I will give you that."

[ Quest Accepted ]