12 Getting a Weapon (2/2)

Seeing the actions of the young incubus, the rest of the room started laughing. After all this serious talk, Kalin seemed to be in his own happy world. Lili chuckled and exclaimed, ”I guess we need to go soon. We have one more errand to run before making the trip back home.” Taking out a small bag of coins, Lili handed them to David, ”Here is a donation.”

David received the coins before bowing his head, ”Thank you for your contribution. May the gods bless you.”

After saying their farewells, the trio of Lili, Kal, and Mei left the church and made their way toward the blacksmith. There was only a single block between where the church and the arms shop sat, so it didn't take them more than a moment to arrive at their destination.

Inside the shop was slightly dirty and smelled of smoke and oil. Though there was no smoke inside the room, even the air of the shop tasted of burnt coal. The room was filled with many second-hand weapons, mostly short swords, cudgels, maces, and various beginner-friendly weapons sitting in various barrels around the shop. There were also racks and display cases with more specialized and expensive items like polearms, spears, and rapiers. On one of the walls sat a sign that pointed to a door that read armor and shields with an arrow. A somewhat lazy-looking young man looked up from where he sat at the shop counter and grunted before starting to nod off.

Lili looked around the shop and said, ”Come on, Mei and I will help look for a weapon that suits you. If you see anything that catches your eye, grab it and show it to us.”

Kal couldn't help a large smile from finding its way onto his face. After nodding, he quickly made his way toward the barrels that covered most of the floorspace of the shop. As Sweetgrass was a small town that didn't have many advanced or rich adventurers, it appropriately sold an abundance of cheap, disposable, cast-made weapons. Though, this was only when compared to hand forged or new weapons, as even the 'cheap' weapons were costly. The barrels were a gamble for young adventurers. Usually they were filled with the aforementioned weapons, but occasionally they would be able to chance upon a nice second-hand weapon that an adventurer, soldier, or mercenary let go of because of equipment upgrades.

Though there were a lot of clubs and swords, Kalin was very intrigued how all of them were slightly different. Some were fatter, some were skinnier, some longer, some crooked, other curved. Some of the barrels had strange weapons he had never seen before. His smile only got bigger as he made all these new discoveries. As his smile got larger, so did the bounce in his step. Although none of the weapons jumped out to him, he still had a lot of fun shopping in a store for the first time in his life.

Sadly, good things couldn't last forever, as he was soon beckoned over by Liliana. The two girls were already at the counter with several weapons sitting atop. ”Mei and I found some descent weapons that you can choose from.”

Approaching the counter, there were 5 swords and 2 spears. Pointing to them, Lili said, ”Though I expected it, there were almost no good options here.” The lazy, young man at the counter frowned at her statement, though didn't deny it. ”These here were the only passable options in the entire store.”

Mei smiled slightly as she stated softly, ”Though some of the weapons might be a little long or tall for you, you'll get used to them. Go ahead and try them out. Give them a light swing if you want.”

The two spears, one 6 and the other 8 feet, were relatively plain. Kalin didn't want to use a spear though. He felt like he needed to use a sword, so he didn't even take in their features before looking over the swords present. There were two arming swords. The first had a somewhat awkward handle that restricted hand movement due to the bulky pommel and hilt. As Kalin swung it slowly, he knew that this weapon wasn't for him, and almost immediately placed it back on the counter. The other boarding sword had a hand and a half handle, allowing a better feeling when swinging, but eventually placed it back on the counter.

The next sword was a falchion. It looked like a typical short sword but had a curved end reminiscent of a machete. Amongst all the swords, it was the most unique-looking, and Kalin actually enjoyed swinging it around, but he felt like it lacked somewhat in the stabbing department.

The next sword he tried was the flashiest weapon on the table. A rapier with a somewhat simple but elegant guard and handle. It was wrapped in a black leather of some kind and was very comfortable to hold. The entire handle, from the guard to the pommel, had a near-mirror finish. Although it was longer than any of the other swords, it was a hint lighter than the others. Although it had a great feel to it, and thrusted wonderfully, Kalin turned his head toward the last weapon.

The sword was very strange to him. The blade wasn't very wide, but it was incredibly thick. The guard was somewhat large, and the handle allowed enough room to grab it with both hands. The pommel was brass, and the handle was a plain brown leather wrap. The blade had no edge, and had a straight, continuous taper throughout the blade. The estoc in his hand was very short compared to most others, though was surprisingly heavy. The shape of the blade made it deceptively heavier than any of the other swords. When Kalin picked it up, he felt the sword very natural to hold. When he started stabbing and thrusting, his eyes shone. That's all it took for him to fall in love.

He turned his head to his sister, only for her to laugh at him, ”It looks like you're going to have to thank Mei for picking out that weapon.” She looked at the young man at the counter and said, ”We'll take the sword. I'll be paying for it completely upfront.”

Though the shopkeeper was slightly surprised that a young girl could afford a weapon, he had second thoughts after he looked her over. Her long ears, spade-shaped tail, and tiny horns sticking through her hair caused him to look more closely at the group. He couldn't help but swallow when he finally noticed all their stunning appearances.

Lili smirked seeing this, before saying, ”Now let's start the negotiations.”

Kalin placed his soon-to-be partner in a scabbard that was handed to him by Mei. He jumped at her and hugged her waste and said, ”Thanks for picking a sword for me, Mei!”

Looking at his crooked grin, Mei hugged him back, ”You are welcome Kalin.” The corners of her mouth curled upward because of the adorableness of the child in front of her.