12 - Smithy

Mase woke up at 3 PM. The group updated him on their plans to get a few weapons.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can manage. My entire body is hurting like hell, it's like being stabbed by thousands of needles. I'm going to make sure to never deplete my mana ever again, fucking hell."

"That's not a problem. I think the biggest challenge will be finding a smithy that still sells archaic weapons. Once we find one, you can go there tomorrow." Albert said.

"Yeah I guess it's fine. Oh right, Since I can't move, I guess it's a good opportunity to gather as much information as I can on the internet."

"All right, see you later then."

The three friends departed from the house in Albert's economy car, which he typically used to reach his workplace.

After a quick ride the trio stopped in front of a metalware shop titled [Metals & Keys]

"Hello?" Lele's friendly face appeared at the door.

"Hi, what are you youngsters looking for?" A sturdy man in his forties asked.

Finn answered in excitement "We are looking for some medieval weapon, something like Longswords, Daggers…"

Before he could go on with his speech he was brutally cut out.

"What is wrong with you people? You are already the third group to ask me about such a thing in one day. Is it a trend or something?"

"So, I assume you don't sell weapons." Albert stated.

"Of course not, do you not know what year it is? It's the 21st century."

Without losing hope the group left the shop and moved to a different one, however the same exact sipario repeated 2 more times. Finn and Lele were looking gloomy.

"Aww man, I'm starting to get discouraged." Lele said.

Finn pinched his cheek "If you say things like that you are going to make me lose hope as well."

"Sorry."

"Guys don't worry, I'm sure someone smelled the cash opportunity and has lots of weapons ready." 'It would be weird if no one has figured out how profitable this business is going to be in a couple months.'

"Really?" They exclaimed with sparkly eyes.

'They are so simple.' Albert smiled internally 'That is why I must protect them.'

After a few minutes they reached their destination. After parking the car they took a good look at the insignia.

"Wow, this is already more promising!" Lele exclaimed.

[Weapons on sale -50%]

The moment they stepped into the store, they were struck by the sight of dozens of weapons resting on special supports and displayed along the walls.

"That's it!" Finn rushed in.

A clerk greeted them. "Welcome, new customers. How may I assist you?"

"We're looking for weapons that can match our individual preferences. Could you help us make a well-informed choice?" Albert inquired.

"Oh, of course! What kind of weapons are you interested in?" the clerk asked with a friendly smile. "Are you looking for something specific, like swords, axes, or perhaps something more unconventional?"

The peaceful atmosphere of the shop was shattered as a girl burst through the doors, commanding everyone's attention.

"EVERYONE STOP!" She shouted.

'Shit, she is bad news.' The clerk cursed under his breath.

With an impressive, muscular figure, she wore baggy blue pants and a white crop top that revealed her toned midriff and abs. Her tanned skin and ponytailed brunette hair were further accentuated by her astonishing height; She even towered over Lele, standing at a staggering 187 cm. A red cap adorned her head, with a pair of yellow goggles resting above the visor. Her trousers were quite dirty with black powder, hinting at a hardworking lifestyle.

"I will not allow someone that has never held a hammer to fool newbies!"

"You again!" The owner of the shop emerged from the back room. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not welcome here?"

"I couldn't care less." she sneered, grabbing two shortswords and slamming them against each other with a resounding clang. The blades shattered into pieces. "You're trying to sell this shoddy excuse for equipment!"

"Urgh!"

"Boys! If you follow me to my grandpa's forge I can sell you much better weapons. What do you think?"

'She seems incredibly knowledgeable about weapons. This smithy has probably just converted to a weapon store trying to make a quick buck. Also I can tell just by looking at her bruises that she has a lot of experience handling a fire.'

"Sure lead the way miss."

"Call me Lara, no need to be formal. We're probably around the same age, I just turned 17 two months ago." she said with a smile.

'HUHHHHH?' The entire group internally questioned their standards.

After they left the shop Albert nonchalantly asked "How far is your grandpa's forge?"

"Hmm, 1 Hour on foot, 20 minutes by car."

"Hop in then."

She sat near the driver, giving out the directions to the smithy. Meanwhile Lele was daydreaming 'Abs'.

After a while they reached a dirty hallway.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?"

"Of course!"

They entered the shop, the insignia was so dusty that it was almost unreadable.

"Grandpa! I brought customers!"

"Didn't I tell you to take a day off to play with kids your age?" A raspy voice, bearing the unmistakable mark of years of heavy smoking, could be heard coming from upstairs.

Soon enough, the group was greeted by an old man with a garibaldi-style white beard and long hair. He was clad in black leather, and his exposed arms displayed numerous tattoos.

"Oh, for once you didn't bring some old man. I'm proud"

"Hehehe"

"However this is our off day, so you take responsibility to show them around."

"Yes, Grandpa!" She looked back at the trio. "Come, follow me."

Lara guided them to a massive room. An amazing forge as well as any kind of equipment that a blacksmith could ever dream of was in full display. A few boxes in the room were filled with a variety of weapons, there also were cool replicas of weapons from famous franchises.

"I wonder why a place like this isn't on the internet." Albert asked in confusion.

"Internet?" The girl tilted her head.

The boys stared at her wondering if she was some sort of alien.

"Yeah, there was no advertising for this place. It seems strange considering the exceptional quality of everything," Finn remarked.

"I'm not very good with technology." she added.

"May I see your phone?" Albert asked politely.

Lara pulled out her phone from her pocket. It was an old phone without a touch screen or internet access.

'That explains why there is no information about this place. In a way, I'm relieved. I thought this shop was rather dubious.' he thought to himself.

"Enough chit-chat, let's get down to business. Do you have any idea what kind of weapon you'd like?"

"To be honest, not really. We were hoping you could help us figure out what would be best suited for us." Albert stated.

"Let me ask you one question first. Are you perhaps… Awakened?"

The group tensed up defensively.

"Why do you ask that?

"Well, it's true that I'm more muscle than brains, but in my line of work, I've learned to recognize a certain type of customer. In this day and age, young people who seek out weapons are usually after cool replicas. But your guys seem genuinely interested in practical applications for these weapons and the only practical scenario that I can think of is hunting inside rifts."

'She's spot on. There's no way of hiding our intentions. Lara seems genuine enough. I think it's time to take a gamble.'

"You are right, but please, I beg you don't tell this to anyone. Not even our parents know that we are involved with rifts yet."

"Rest assured I'm not a snitch. The reason why I wanted to know it's because I discovered a 100% accurate way to find the right weapon for you, but this applies only if you have access to status. I figured it out while playing with my forging hammer."