Chapter 9

[DING]

({Daily Quest}: Do 250 push-ups, Do 250 sit-ups, Run 3 kilometers, Do 50 pull-ups, eat at least 2,500 calories. {Reward}: one random skill point)

'Well at least that confirms that it is indeed a repetitive quest' I quickly got up and decided to check on my mom before I left. I kissed her forehead and let her know id be home later. She smiled and went back to sleep.

Once I had met up with Raoul, we began our walk towards the archer range… or at least I thought so, until we made an unknown turn at some point. We continued walking a bit longer until we eventually stopped in front of a small shop in the corner of the street.

We walked inside and there were glass display cases everywhere with bows behind the counter and different arrows in the display cases. The only similarity they all had was the head of a snake engraved on each of the arrowheads.

"Welcome to my little shop, what can I interest you two boys in today?" the shopkeeper was a thin man with brown hair and freckles covering his face; he appeared to be in his mid twenties. Raoul then stepped forward and told the keeper about my interest in a good bow as well as some arrows that could pierce a tough hide.

"Hmm… I have a good bow I can recommend but its going to be a bit more expensive than usual" the shopkeeper said this while gesturing towards a bow in a black case near the back. It was a black bow with a faint red glow appearing from a crack that travelled down the whole bow. The best way to describe it would be molten lava inside the crevices of obsidian, streaming down the side of a volcano. Next to the bow was a price tag labeled at 55 gold pieces.

"What's so special about this bow that it can be priced at 55 gold pieces?" Raoul decided to ask, rather than believe we were being scammed right off the bat.

The shopkeeper proceeded to tell us about the bows nearly unbreakable nature, as well as its ability to increase the holders' agility. Finally, he pointed at the red "fluid" inside the bow and said that it would ignite any arrow that was shot from it; as long as you pushed a small trigger on the side, which allowed small runes to appear on the bow. This was key because if you were trying to be stealthy a flaming arrow is going to draw a lot of attention.

'If only I could inspect it myself to see how it might effect me with this system'

[Would you like to inspect item?]

'YES' I'm really starting to appreciate having this. As I looked at the bow this time a status bar showed up

{Intermediate Volcanic Bow}

Durability: 100%... increases user agility by 3 points temporarily while using bow. (Active Ability: when activated sets arrow ablaze doing increased penetrative damage while setting target ablaze.)

"We'll take it" I quickly decided I should buy it before he changed his mind about selling it "I'll also take 24 arrows"

"Woe… slow down for a second, there's one more thing I need to tell you. Due to the power of this bow as well as its ability to set arrows ablaze, you can only use arrows with a metal shaft… in addition they must be enchanted with fire resistance, so the arrows don't melt half way through the air."

I grit my teeth and decided it was best to ask "How much?"

He seemed to appreciate this question as he quickly answered, "Normally it would be 48 gold pieces for 24 arrows, but if you buy this bow I'll sell you 24 arrows for the price of 36 gold pieces."

I decided to look to Raoul for confirmation, and he quickly stated, "He's not scamming you it is a great deal, but ultimately the decision is your own. In addition, due to the strength of the arrows you'll be purchasing, a lot of them can be retrieved from the corpse afterwards. Meaning you wont have to continuously buy more arrows."

"I'll take it" I grit my teeth as I watched my gold coin quickly dwindle from 100 pieces to 9 gold pieces in an instant. As I retrieved my new bow I noticed the grip also had the snakehead engraved on it, "why do all of your products have this engraved on them?" I decided to ask so as to not have my curiosity fester.

"It's my mark… it's placed on every weapon or tool I make to show I was the one who made it." The shopkeeper seemed happy to answer. 'This shopkeeper is really someone special, I should stay in his good graces.' I thought while exiting the store, eager to try my new weapon.