Shopping

They left the hunter association building together, and Lucien wanted to check something that would be necessary for shopping. He accessed his information by tapping on the chip in his hand. His information appeared, and what he was looking for was easy to find. 

Hunters were given a monthly amount of money depending on their rank, and as a CCC Rank Hunter, Lucien had already received his first payment which would come in immediately. The amount displayed was £10,000. This was a good amount of money, and it would only increase as his Rank increased over time.

"How much money do you get at your rank Yui?"

"Let me check really quickly... How do you check again?"

"Just tap on the chip in your hand, and it's the fourth row down."

Lucien watched as Yui did as he said, and she looked as though she was looking through some information, "It says £3500, that's pretty good right?"

"Yeah, that's five hundred more than a C Rank normally gets, probably a bonus because your healing skill is valuable."

"That's lucky, I should be able to buy some good stuff with this right?"

"Yeah, you'll be able to get better than basic equipment, but not by a lot."

"If you don't mind me asking, how much money did you get Lucien?"

"Ten thousand, two thousand more than what a CCC Rank should get, probably because I have an S Rank Class."

"That's amazing, what are you thinking of buying?"

"I'm not sure really, just anything that catches my eye."

"Fair enough, I was thinking of getting some defensive clothing, and maybe something to amplify my healing ability."

Lucien and Yui continued talking the whole time that they were walking, luckily for them, there were a lot of shops that sold equipment for Hunters around the area where the Association building was. The things they sold varied, as there were clothing specialist shops, weapon specialist shops, and potion specialist shops. These were the main three types, although there were other less important types, such as accessories and monster information brokers.

"What shop do you want to go into first Yui?"

"I was thinking of checking out that weapon shop on the corner, it looks like they have quite a lot of customers."

"That's fine with me, I'm pretty sure they have quite a good reputation."

The shop, Ogun's Smithy, was quite a good one and was where a lot of mid Rank Hunters would go for their equipment, although their items did howe a limit, as they were not massively useful for anyone over BB Rank.

They walked through the doors of the shop, and were greeted by the sight of weapons lining the walls, rather than looking through all of them, Lucien knew that it was better to ask someone working there for assistance. He approached a man who was adjusting the position of a long sword on the wall and asked him, "Where in here would I find equipment that would amplify someone's healing skills."

the man turned around and looked at Lucien, "You'll find them at the back of the shop on the left, it's easy to see once you're close. We do have a limited stock, but what we've got is of top quality."

"Thanks, I'll let you know if I need any more help."

Lucien turned back and spoke to Yui, "He said that we can find them at the back, on the left."

"I'm excited to see what they've got."

Lucien was happy seeing the smile on Yui's face, as he followed her as she quickly made her way to the back of the building and eventually stood, mouth agape, in awe at the equipment that would suit her best.

There was a large class cabinet, and inside of it were items that didn't look like conventional weapons. These ranged from magic staffs with crystals embedded in the end, orbs, and even wands. 

"This is amazing, expensive, but amazing!"

Yui had seen the price, and noticed that one of the items would cost her around half of her budget, and she still wanted to get clothing, so she could only afford one thing.

"What are you thinking of getting Yui?"

"I don't know, what do you think I should get?"

Lucien thought for a moment, he had known a healer in his previous life, an elderly man named Ken. He had used a multitude of different types of equipment, and the one he had settled for was an orb.

The reasoning for this was mainly due to the negatives of the others, a staff was too large. Not only could it get in the way, it would also take too long to pour mana into the entire thing and then output it.

A wand had the opposite problem, as it was too small. Therefore, it couldn't hold enough mana and the magic used would become weaker. As well as this, as mana could quickly be poured into  wands, it was harder to control the output. Weak and uncontrollable magic was never a good thing, so wands were off the table.

The only option left was the orb. Although not massively large, its shape and size would allow for a good amount of mana to be stored within it, and due to the spherical shape of it, mana is unable to run wild as the smoothness and fully curved shape wouldn't allow it to do anything other than float inside. Orbs were also good at amplifying the mana output, and helping to stabilise it, so the obvious choice was an orb. However, they were underused, as people thought that the conventional weapon choice of a staff or wand was better, as it was more well known and they looked cooler.

"Definitely an orb, the other two options are definitely out."

"Are you sure? I know I asked for your opinion, but the orb is cheaper than the others, doesn't that normally mean it's worse?"

"Not necessarily worse, just not as well known. Trust me, get the orb and you won't regret it."

"Okay, I'll trust you."

Yui opened the glass cabinet, and removed the translucent orb that fit into the palm of her hand nicely. She walked over to the counter, and a woman was there to greet her, "Hi, how can I help you today?"

"I would like to buy this orb."

"That's perfectly fine, if you could just scan your Hunter Chip, the transaction will automatically go through."

Yui placed the back of her hand on the scanner, and a beep rang out, before the woman spoke again, "That's all set for you, the total came out to £1200.  Thank you, have a nice day."

"You too." 

Yui walked away from the woman, and back to Lucien's side, "You happy with what you've got?" Lucien asked.

"Definitely, thanks for helping me pick, I might have bought the wrong thing if you hadn't. Are you not going to buy anything?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just use magic by myself. Although I do want to look in some other shops, so let's go into Tayt's clothing."

Although his Class hadn't been high rank, and his skills had been below average in his past life, Lucien was confident in his mana control. He knew that the best way to use magic was without any equipment, but it did take a while to get used to, so he wasn't planning on making Yui attempt to live without anything to assist her.

Tayt's clothing was right next door to Ogun's smithy, and it was of similar quality, as most high rank Hunters would get their equipment custom made.

When they entered, the two of them immediately saw what they wanted.

Yui ran off to buy what she wanted, and Lucien walked over to what had caught his eye.

It was a cloak, and he instantly recognised the material used, it was the silk of a Dying Spider, a type of monster that appeared in rectangular dungeons as strong monsters, and triangular dungeons as somewhat weak monsters. 

The Dying Spider's main reason for being dangerous was the 'Dying' aspect of it. The monster was inflicted with a disease that would cause it to be decaying, and if it touched a Hunter, they could get inflicted with the same illness. As well as this, even when a Hunter managed to defeat a Dying Spider, they would burst open, and a group of smaller spiders would swarm them.

The easy way to take them out was with an area of effect magic, or by having great defence or equipment to resist the illness. 

The silk was famous for being quite hard to come by, and clothing made from it was top notch. Despite being very lightweight, it could deflect physical attacks that came into contact with it, and the silk also had another unique effect.

The wearer of an item made from a Dying Spider's silk would not be targeted by arachnid type monsters, and their attacks would occasionally give the receiver the same disease that Dying Spiders have, albeit only for ten seconds.

However, this was enough for a good amount of damage to be done, especially to the mobility of the target.

Lucien knew that this was what he wanted, and immediately went up to the counter, where an old man with rough hands was working, "How much for the Dying Spider Silk Cloak?"

"£7000, no more, no less."

"Deal, I can pay with my Hunter Chip right?"

"Of course you can young man, you sure are a hasty one with your purchases, you only walked in a moment ago. Are you sure you want to spend this much money on a cloak at such a young age?"

"I'm absolutely sure."

"Okay then, just be careful out there in the Dungeons, I lost my best friend years ago, and life has never truly been the same."

"I understand how you feel, but I'll be sure that doesn't happen."

"I'm sure you will young man, you look as though you have a bright future." The old man smiled, as if he was reminiscing on the old days when he was a Hunter himself with his friend.

Lucien scanned his Hunter Chip, and after the payment had gone through, he lifted the Dying Spider Cloak off of the mannequin and put it on himself.

It was mostly black, with red trimmings, the same colours as Dying Spider silk. It went down long enough to cover most of his legs at the back, although not getting in the way of his movement. The hood was the perfect size, as it fit comfortably on Lucien's head.

He was happy with what he had bought, and went to check on Yui.

She was also done with buying what she had seen, as she was now wearing a new top and bottoms, which were both made out of a White Harpie's feathers, which were known to boost the natural healing factor of the wearer, as well as improve the ability of healing magic.

The design was simple, but they were pure white, and it was possible to see each individual feather that was used to create them, and due to the feather's strength, any movement was possible in them without damage.

Both Lucien and Yui had purchased what they had wanted to, and were ready to go.

"You look good, a White Harpie's feathers are some great materials to make equipment out of for a Priestess, you made a good choice. How much did it cost you?"

"About that, it was £5000, so I've had to say I'll pay in instalments. Until it's paid off, I'm going to have less money for a few months."

"It's not the end of the world, the product is good quality so I can understand why you would pay over time instead of finding something cheaper."

"I'm glad you understand. You look really good in that cloak, what is it?"

"Thanks, it's made of a Dying Spider's silk, and it will be good when we face any arachnid type monsters in the future, and it also will let me immobilise and damage enemies more than I already am able to."

"That's so cool, how much was it?"

"£7000, so I got it for a pretty good price."

"I would say that's a lot, but mine wasn't much cheaper, and I know you can afford it. Anyway, did you want to go check out the other shops around here?"

"We can, but I don't think there will be anything of value for me to buy. I don't need any potions, because you can heal me, and I don't have any need for accessories yet. We could just walk around for a bit before going back home if you want to."

"That sounds fun to me, I'm glad we've become Hunters together. I'm having fun already, I can't wait to go into a Dungeon with you. But you have to promise to protect me, and in return, I'll make sure you don't get hurt."

"That seems like a good deal to me, let's go."

The two left the shop, and began to walk around the area together, popping in and out of shops as they pleased, enjoying the time that they were together, ready to go into a Dungeon the next day.