Chương 26: Won't be the last

Inside the back room of the shop was like a dream; weapons and armour were lined on racks while specialty consumable items were stored in crates or in showcases. While her nose filled with the faint smell of polish, nothing was neglected in here. It was everything and more she could ever want in a place. She almost caught herself drooling over a longsword when a woman cleared her throat beside her. She hadn't noticed anyone sneak up on her.

"Got that from a Gate World yesterday. Never seen anybody fight like how those things did, jumping and climbing over eachother. I'd have been impressed if it wasn't so annoying," the woman said. Grim turned to look at her and was surprised to see someone who looked around her age. She was dressed in a pair of cargo pants while wearing a white tank top. Black feathers covered the backside of her arms and back, which blended into her skin. She almost didn't notice them at first glance.

Her head was shaved which wasn't uncommon for those who saw a lot of combat, but she was remarkably pretty. That wasn't bad, but if she just looked at her face, she would never imagine she would be on the battlefield. Playing as one in a movie or in a commercial selling weapons would have seemed more fitting. Her presence alone disavowed her of that opinion; she couldn't pinpoint a single thing that tipped her off; it was more so the aura that exuded off her.

She'd felt it from Valorant and Aegis when they'd touched down and to a lesser extent some of the other Witches she'd met. It wasn't the threat of easy violence, it was the promise. Her heart rate increased and her palms got sweaty even knowing that there was no reason for her to attack her. She wanted to grab Hazel and run out the doors but she couldn't do that. She needed a weapon and here she could get one, some piece of junk elsewhere wouldn't cut it. This was the real deal.

She took a deep breath and spoke to the woman, shaking as she did so, "What does it do?"

"Stay still, I'll show you," The woman said before Grim realized how much of a mistake she'd just made. The weapon was about five feet long and shone with the typical signs of being Boon enchanted. As she lifted it, she made a handsign with her other hand and whispered something underneath her breath that Grim didn't catch. The weapon shimmered signalling that something had happened but as to what, Grim didn't know. She could only stand, frozen as a very dangerous woman, held a blade that was aimed at her.

"Ready?" The woman said as she closed her eyes.

"No—" Grim tried to say before there was a blade coming straight at her neck. She didn't even have time to react before it had stopped an inch from her throat. She reversed the blade and made to stab her when another voice cut through the room.

"Maya! Fucking Saints, stop!" An older man that looked like he could have been his father walked into the room from the back, he was carrying a large half eaten sandwich in his hands.

"What?" Maya asked with a scowl, "I was just showing her the Boon. I couldn't hurt her even if I wanted to."

"Look at her, she's terrified. Put the blade down and go to the back. I'll clean this up."

"She's fine!"

"Now, Maya. I'm not asking." She looked like she was going to argue, but something in the way the older man was looking at her made her change her mind. She put the blade down and stalked off into the back, but not before sending one last scowl towards Grim as if any of this was her fault.

"Sorry about that, she's not used to being around lower ranks. What can I help you with?" It took a second for Grim to reply, everything had happened and ended so fast she was still catching up. With Maya gone, she did find it easier to think, which helped, that aura of terror disappeared as she left. She racked her brain as she replayed what had just happened in her head, but she didn't find anything else she could have done, she didn't even have time to re-summon Hazel.

"What the fuck," Grim shouted at the man, who'd just now lowered himself onto a stool.

"She could have killed me." The older man frowned, "My apologies for her actions, truly. If it helps she wasn't lying when she said she couldn't hurt you. The sword's Boon lets the user designate a target to forcefully stop yourself from hitting them. Makes friendly fire impossible!" He smiled halfheartedly, knowing his attempts at downplaying were inadequate.

"Awesome, if I had two fucking arms maybe that'd be useful but as of right now I don't think I could even swing it. Thank you so much for the demonstration," Grim said, her words laced with sarcasm. She wanted to leave and would've if she didn't actually need a weapon. That was pretty important and her little knife wasn't going to do. The man glanced down at her arm, he might not have noticed the empty sleeve in her hoodie, but he did now, "Now hold on a second. I'm sure we can find you something that could work.

What's all this for even? No offense, but you look a bit... small to be going into any Gate Worlds." Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"Well, I am." He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as he turned around. He opened a drawer and pulled out a bundle of cloth, beckoning her closer as he did so. Once she took a step forward, he unrolled it, revealing a selection of daggers and small swords.

"Sure hope you're not going alone or anything. Scary world out there, and one of these daggers aren't gonna get you far if you don't know how to use it," he said.

"Just tell me what they do so I can get out of here, please. I've been helped enough today."

"Well, suit yourself, we've got an assortment of E and D rank infused Boon weapons, but I can bring out the higher ranks if you want. Although they do get a lot more expensive." Grim shook her head, she wasn't sure what she could afford yet as is. With her denial, the man got into the details, "Not a ton of great offensive options at such low ranks, but there are some useful ones here. [POCKET EMBER] is a fire starter and a knife, I'd recommend it for just about anyone. Fire is good. Keeps you alive.

[ECHO POINT] repeats a soft tapping noise every few seconds for around an hour, great for ambushes. We've got more that will keep your hands warm, smell good, shine in the moonlight. What's your poison?" She frowned, those all sounded useful, but not quite what she was looking for, "What about the D-Ranks?" He waved his arms over another group of weapons, most of them were shorter blades that were fairly functional, while some were a bit more … esoteric, to say the least.

If they weren't magically empowered, she was sure that they'd be functionally useless. He picked up a blade made of dark metal and moved it into a dim corner of the shop where it became a lot harder to see. Another one left a trail of frost wherever he touched the point, while with another he swung it and it struck out with a small wind blade. It struck a mannequin and left a small cut on the material.

It wasn't much, but that was more along the lines of what she was looking for, "Got a sword breaker here, the boon lines up pretty well too. Draws other metallic objects into the barbs to make it easier to block. Got some others here too that are less flashy but will save your life all the same. You know, more people die to the elements when raiding than to the beasties out there.

Got one here that will lead you to the nearest source of food or water, however, that one's only gonna work if you're alone, if you know what I mean." She nodded, boons often didn't care about small human sensibilities like not eating your friends, "What's that one over there? The broken one." The shopkeeper groaned and picked up a small blade. It was plain steel with a bronze and wood hilt and an almost nonexistent guard. In his other hand he picked up the pieces of the matching blade.

It was identical except on the other the blade had snapped in half.

"Sorry about this one, I shouldn't even have it out; it's broken and not for sale."

"Both of them? Shouldn't one still work?" Grim asked.

"You're right in the loosest sense, it's still a blade, but the Boon had them linked. You see, if you slashed someone with this one, the broken one would form a chain from its hilt and wrap around wherever the cut was. It was pretty useful when it worked, but unfortunately, the chain proved to be stronger than the blade while we were testing it. It's useless now without its other half," he said.

"You're not thinking of buying it are you?" It was tempting, if she had to be honest. He didn't know it, but if she was lucky, she might be able to fix it. If she could transfer the boon onto another blade, that might just let her use it as it was intended. Even in the meantime, Hazel might be able to use it as the other half. It didn't call to her beyond that, to even use it, she'd have to get a lot closer to her enemies than she liked. If she could attack from a distance, that would be way more useful to her.

She shook her head and pointed to the wind blade, "How much?"

"Eighty thousand or its equivalent in shards, but I'll knock it down to seventy-five to apologize for the trouble my niece caused you," the shopkeeper said smiling. Grim's mouth dropped, she knew it would be expensive but that was insane. She had about fifteen left after she'd gotten her C-rank shard exchanged, so she was nowhere close.

"Why so expensive?" He tilted his head, "What do you mean? That's one of our cheaper options. I suppose I could go down to seventy at the lowest if that would help. If that's too much, some of the E-rank weapons range from twenty to forty thousand."

"Fuck, I can't afford that," she mumbled half to herself.

"The broken blades, how much for those?" He looked down at the blades, appraising them.

"I could do forty for the pair, they're broken, but it's still a D-rank weapon. It'll cut just about whatever you throw at it." Grim shook her head, "Forty? No, you said it yourself that they're broken. The way I see it they're just gonna get sit unused in a little drawer of yours until you forget about it. You might as well make some money on it, right?"

"I suppose. What did you have in mind?" He asked, scratching his chin.

"Five thousand for both, and I won't report your niece for nearly taking my head off."

"Five? Are you out of your mind? Do you think the trouble I'd avoid causing her is worth that much?" He stood up and asked her, enraged as he stared down at her. Grim held his gaze, "I don't know. Is it?"