Chapter 156: Peculiar store [3]   After leaving the bookstore, following Amanda into the busy streets of the area we were in, we soon took a couple of turns and entered a few alleyways. As we moved into the alleyways, with every step I took, I noticed that there were fewer and fewer people present.

Frowning, glancing at Amanda who was walking ahead of me, I asked

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

Staring at my surroundings, I couldn't help but think that we were headed in the wrong direction as everything around me started becoming dirtier and more worn out. Graffiti appeared all over the walls of the buildings next to me, and more and more litter could be found on the ground.

This place seemed to resemble the slums rather than a high-end place that sold powerful artifacts.

"mhm"

Without glancing at me, moving around some of the alleys, Amanda nodded her head.

Observing her from behind, from the way that she was confidently moving around the alleyways, it became apparent to me that this wasn't her first time going here.

"alright"

Thus, seeing Amanda nod her head, I shrugged my shoulders and followed her. No point in regretting this now.

Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about our safety. Although I had no idea of what place we were going to, I was pretty sure that we were currently being followed by a couple of Amanda's bodyguards in the shadows.

Though I couldn't sense them nor see them, I was naturally aware of their presence due to Amanda's identity as the princess of the demon hunter guild.

Since she wasn't in the academy, she naturally had bodyguards following her at all times. This was especially so after what had happened to her a couple of months back with Elijah.

Back then, because she was at the Lock, she didn't have bodyguards tailing her. But now, after what had happened, bodyguards stuck to her like glue. Even if she was at the Lock.

Although her father wasn't there for her very often, that didn't mean that she wasn't precious to him.

In fact, he loved her quite a lot but with everything going on at the guild he rarely had time to spend with her which she naturally understood as his every move and decision could affect the lives of tens of thousands of people.

…being a guild master both had its perks and cons.

"We're here"

After a while, we arrived in front of a large metallic door. Moving in front of the large metallic door, Amanda raised her hand and knocked on the door two times.

-knock -knock

After knocking, silence prevailed in the surroundings. Shortly after, a couple of minutes after she knocked, a hoarse voice resounded from the other side of the door.

"what day is it today?"

Without batting an eye, Amanda indifferently said

"It's the day where the moonlight shines and the dust sweeps"

Tilting my head as I listened to their conversation, I thought to myself

'Was this some sort of password? It made no sense…'

This sort of reminded me of the black market where I would similarly have to tell them a password in order to enter. Well, that was before…now that I had the VIP card, I could naturally go in without needing to tell them the password.

-Clank!

After Amanda recited the password, after a short pause a small compartment appeared on the side and the hoarse voice resounded again.

"Identification card"

Nodding her head, Amanda placed a small purple card inside of the compartment. Thereafter, a couple of seconds after placing the card in the compartment, the compartment lit up and a red hue enveloped the card.

-Ding!

Moments after the red hue enveloped the card, a green one replaced it and a loud ringing resounded across the area.

-Clank!

Shortly after the light turned green, the metallic doors slowly opened revealing a long and dark corridor.

"Come in"

With his back hunched down, an elderly figure with fading hair, holding onto a wooden stick to support himself, casually greeted us at the entrance of the place. Thereafter, turning around he walked deeper into the tunnel.

Briefly glancing at me from the corner of her eyes, Amanda nodded at me and followed the old man in. Rubbing my nose, I followed her in.

…This honestly looked really sketchy. But well, I probably shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

After all, even if the building was ugly on the outside, that didn't mean the interior was ugly too, no?

Well, I was quickly proven wrong.

After walking down the long dark corridor we soon arrived inside of an old room that had a musty odor, evocative of grandparents' houses - the type that made you feel safe and cozy yet at the same time stuffy.

In the corner of the room stood an old lamp that dimly lit the room, and at the center of the room, there were two white sofas next to each other with a squared wooden table in the middle. The walls were draped in light green wallpaper and on the right-hand side of the room were wooden stairs that led towards the upper floor.

Seeing the state of the room before me, frowning, I couldn't help but stare at Amanda.

…was this really a weapon shop?

I had honestly expected this place to be extremely luxurious on the inside. However, it seems like this place was both ugly on the inside and the outside.

"Please sit down"

Gesturing for us to sit down, the elderly man glanced towards his right where the stairs were and shouted.

"Richard we have two customers, please bring down two catalogs"

"Coming, coming, give me a minute"

Following the old man's voice, a youthful one filled with vigor could be heard from the second floor of the apartment.

"Be quick"

As I sat down, glancing towards Amanda, with a hint of doubt in my voice I softly whispered.

"This is the weapon store?"

"Yes"

Nodding her head, Amanda's eyes drifted towards Angelica who had calmed down and was now resting on my shoulder. As she looked at her, a look of longing appeared in her eyes.

'…it seems like she really wanted to pet her.'

Seeing this, whilst still staring at the front, I thought inside of my mind.

'Hey Angelica, if she pets you will you be discovered?'

Raising her head and staring at the side of my head, Angelica's voice transmitted inside of my mind.

[Not unless they channel their mana inside of my body to inspect me, why do you ask?]

Hesitating, I briefly glanced at Amanda next to me and said

'Do you think you can let her pet you?'

[Human, do not test my limit]

'Not even once?'

Raising her paw in a threatening manner, Angelica angrily said

[Human, do you want to get clawed again]

Seeing Angelica raise her paw once again, I instantly shut up and waited for the catalogs to arrive as I inwardly cursed.

'…when I get back at the Lock I will definitely set things straight'

If not for the fact that me retaliating would lead to me being seen as an animal abuser, I would've already shown Angelica her place.

"Two catalogs coming right up"

After a couple of minutes, walking down the stairs was a young man with brown hair and brown eyes, his face was relatively handsome and if not for the lazy look on his face as well accompanied by his unkempt hair, he would've looked like a rich second-generation hair.

As he walked down the stairs, his eyes turned towards the sofa areas. Thereafter, spotting Amanda quietly resting on one of the sofa's, Richards's eyes lit up as he straightened his posture, and proceeded to fix his hair and clothes.

Walking towards Amanda with a bright smile, handing her a tablet, he politely greeted her.

"Why if it isn't Miss Stern, what do I owe the pleasure of having you come here?"

Glancing at the Richard for not even a second, Amanda took a tablet and indifferently said

"I'm here to buy a weapon"

Not minding her attitude, Richard smiled. However, his smile soon froze after he spotted me sitting next to her. Warily looking at me, he asked Amanda

"May I ask who this gentleman is?"

Still looking at her tablet, Amanda indifferently said

"He is a fellow classmate"

Hearing the word 'classmate', Richard secretly sighed in relief as he couldn't help but ask again

"Just classmate?"

Frowning and putting the tablet down, Amanda just stared at Richard.

Instantly the room froze.

Realizing his mistake, Richard lowered his head and apologized.

"Ah…I apologize for the slip of tongue"

Thereafter, taking out another tablet, Richard coldly looked at me as he handed it to me

"…Here, take the tablet and choose whatever weapon you want. After you're done choosing tell me and I will place your order down"

Taking the tablet and ignoring the obvious difference in treatment, I inwardly shook my head.

With how beautiful Amanda was, such scenario was bound to happen. Still, I didn't think much of it and looked through the catalog.

Soon I was presented with a long catalog of weapons that ranged from swords to axes and all other types of weapons. There were even some weapons that I had never thought of as practical such as a string-type weapon and boomerangs.

Staring at the long catalog of weapons, I soon realized why Amanda was adamant on coming here.

The weapons here weren't branded nor were mass produced. There was only a single one of each weapon thus making me realize something.

This wasn't a weapon store but rather a smithy…where the weapons were directly made.

Realizing this, scrolling through the table, using the filter function I narrowed down my search to swords and set a price cap.

Since the weapons weren't mass produced, they were bound to be much higher in quality than what could be bought in regular stores.

Thus, thinking along those lines, shortly after, three swords that matched my criteria appeared before me.

====

Artifact name : Roaming star

Rank : D

Price : 11,999,999 U

Description : A long, thin, and slightly curved blade, sharp-edged on both sides, with one end pointed and the other fixed in a hilt. The Roaming star is a sword that is extremely light and durable which is great for users that specialize in speed.

Effect :

[None]

====

Artifact name : Death kiss

Rank : D

Price : 16,999,999 U

Description : A sleek and thin blade. The basket handle is comprised of a mix of special metals that are specifically selected and molten together after a rough analysis of their properties. The sword is a magnificent masterpiece created with the intent of reaping the lives of those who are against it.

Effect :

[Ligh of dawn] - By utilizing light psyons, the sword can illuminate the surroundings for a split second blinding the opponent and thus, creating an opening.

====

Artifact name : Bleak star

Rank : D

Price : 19,999,999 U

Description : A slick black sword made out of an alloy between Tristar metal and Kolak metal in which upon molding together created a tough and light metal alloy that is tougher and sharper than titanium or any metal that was known to mankind prior to the second cataclysm. Crafted by a skillful blacksmith.

Effect :

[Psyon coating] - Allow for the sword to be coated with psyons and thus enable the sword to gain an elemental attribute enhancing the power of the sword.

===

Looking at the swords presented before me, I couldn't help but mumble to myself.

"Oh? some of the swords have effects too"

What set artifacts apart from each other was not only their rank, there were other criteria that could determine the worth of an artifact, and that was whether they had any effect or not.

Effects were like skills but only appeared in artifacts moreover they were permanent and couldn't be changed.

When forging a new artifact there was a small percentage of a weapon gaining an effect and once it did gain an effect…its value would drastically increase.

Naturally, in order for an effect to appear the blacksmith had to be skilled, and seeing that there were two swords with an effect, I could instantly understand that whoever the blacksmith of this place was, he/she was definitely incredibly skilled.

Roaming star, Death Kiss, and Bleak star.

…those were the names of the three swords that I was presented after setting my criteria.

Honestly, if I waited a bit more I could've definitely have gotten a better sword as I did have one sword in mind that I wanted to get at all costs…but unfortunately, the time to collect it wasn't ripe yet.

It was a sword that originally belonged to one of the villains in the novels who eventually loses to Kevin. During the fight, the sword gets destroyed as a result of the fight with Kevin and thus never truly got the recognition it deserved.

Thinking about 'that' sword, if I had to estimate the approximate rank of the sword it would be around rank, however, although its rank wasn't the highest, swords could easily be upgraded by going to a good blacksmith.

Moreover, the real reason why I was interested in the sword wasn't because of the sword itself but rather its effect…one that would really help me in the future.

"Huuu…"

Taking a deep breath, I stopped thinking about that sword. I shouldn't get ahead of myself as that was something that would happen later on in the future.

Right now I needed to focus on the swords before me.

Looking at the price tag of the swords before me, I instantly felt a pang in my heart, but thinking about my trip to Immorra in two months' time, I could only helplessly firm myself and buy one of the swords.

"…I'll guess I'll choose this one"

In the end, after a bit of thought, I chose Bleak star.

Although it was the most expensive of the lot, it was also the most powerful of the three as its skill was quite good. Moreover, considering the fact that I needed to increase my strenght as much as possible, I could only firm myself and empty my wallet.

Thus, as I made up my mind, turning my attention back towards Richard, I pointed at the tablet and said

"I'll buy this one"