Chapter 11: Shop
The three boys trekked throughout the city, following the directions of multiple passersby and shop owners.
"God... We get confused, then lost, and this walk to the shop is taking fucking forever!" Nico whined, "How am I ever going to buy a new sword at this rate!"
William tapped his brother's shoulder, "Don't worry. We'll get there eventually. I hope."
"Right..." He nervously chuckled in response.
Salvador barely talked. He was digesting the extraordinary sight the metropolis withheld.
On the walk with his brothers, he also realized that most of the people he saw were stunningly good-looking, which would put Earth to shame.
'Because of the lengthened lifespan, would cougars still only be fortyish years old, or would they also reach into the nineties? Those would be the only girls near my mental age...' Salvador sighed at his love life which was going to be near non-existent.
'Since the mana core also refines the body a small margin, it's expected everyone would be attractive.'
What girls could hours to apply, the girls here naturally possessed it.
He wouldn't feel comfortable dating someone younger than him, mentally at least.
'I don't even know why I'm worrying about my love life right now. Would some magic babe pop out? Heh...'
A sinister grin was painted on his face before his brother smacked him out of it.
"Salvador! Don't ogle at girls! Be a gentleman!" Nico stated as he shook his head.
"I wasn't even looking at a girl!" He yelled back, smacking his brother's leg.
"Yeah yeah. Anyways, we're here."
Salvador turned his head, expecting to see a gigantic, multi-story building filled to the brim with staff, weapons, armor and any other things that would be bought there.
But, it was just a building the size of a restaurant, a singular large window placed on the front side.
William noticed the disappointed look plastered on Salvador's face. "I know, it's not huge and fancy like the others, but there's a reason for that.
The owner who built it is still alive and he preferred to keep it like this, exactly how it was when he first opened the shop."
Salvador slightly nodded and followed behind William as he walked into the shop.
Similar to the restaurants on Earth, a clamorous jingling sound resounded throughout the shop as William opened the door, instantly grabbing the attention of the elderly man behind the counter.
"Hello!" He shouted with a strident voice, startling the three. "Welcome! If you need anything just let me know!"
Nico nodded, walking off to the far left where William followed.
Salvador stood alone, just in front of the door with the man staring at him. 'Awkward...'
He strode off to the far-right section, opposite from his brothers.
He could sense the man still staring at him which especially made him uncomfortable, but he disregarded the man, labeling it as watching him in case he did something foolish.
He did have the appearance of a four-year-old to be fair.
He pranced over to the far left, where an item he found more intriguing than the others lay.
It was an odd sword, to say the least.
Where the blade was supposed to be, was gone, only leaving what Salvador supposed was the outline of the blade.
'Weird...' He inspected the sword on all sides, eventually placing it back on the rack.
The owner of the shop walked towards Salvador which easily caught his attention.
The man was large and his footsteps were noisy. Salvador could even hear his jacket rubbing against his legs as he walked.
Salvador intently looked at the sword, begging that the man would leave him alone.
"Youngling, do you know how that sword works?"
The man's voice was gruff, significantly different from his shouting voice. Salvador shook his head, lightly swinging it around.
"Well, no one really knows. Besides me of course." He proudly said with a smirk.
He took the sword and gave it three swift slashes before nodding. "Still in good condition, as you can see.
I'll give it to you as a gift, I suppose. In the nearly hundred years I've had this shop opened, no one even showed interest in it. Until you came." He stated with a small smile.
He practically forced Salvador to take the sword, pushing it into his chest where he had to grab it.
"Once you figure it out, come to me. Even if it's years from now."
Salvador only nodded in response to the seemingly odd man. 'He just gave me a random... I can't even call this a sword. Then he expects me to figure whatever the fuck out? I'm not doing this!' He yelled in his head, deeply confused by the interaction.
'I guess I can keep it.'
Salvador walked over to his brothers who were buying at the counter. Nico dug in his pockets for a few seconds before yanking out three silver coins.
'T-THREE???'
William could see Salvador's shocked face and nervously chuckled. "Welcome to the real world, these things are expensive, Salvador," William told him.
'That's nearly three hundred dollars back on Earth!'
The man took the three silver coins from Nico's palm and put them in a glass jar. "And here's your sword!" He gladly exclaimed, putting the sword back into Nico's hands.
At first glance it was easy to tell this sword was an immense upgrade from his previous weapon.
The cross-guard has a wavy design to it that stretched one and a half inches, a long golden etching drawn into the middle of it. 'It's splendid and just an upgrade overall.'
Compared to the old iron longsword he had, it was like a human to a god.
The blade was infinitely sharper, and the beauty it radiated was countless times more. 'He definitely has a good eye. Not just for looks but for quality.' Salvador mentally noted in case he needed help with such things in the future.
"Back up for a second," Nico instructed William and the shop owner.
Nico gave it a few test swings, all of which Salvador could barely follow with his eyes. 'I can't wait to awaken! It'll be so cool...'
"I like it," Nico stated, sliding it into its sheath.
"That's good! And by the way, I gave your little brother a harmless sword, just for fun."
Nico peered over to Salvador and just nodded. "No worries, that's fine."
"Good!" The man said while clapping his hands together. "I hope all goes well at the assessment. Farewell!"
Nico returned a small wave and walked out the door.
Before Salvador walked out, the man spoke to him.
"Little one, when you find out, come to me. And I'm not talking about the sword."
He went from a cheery old man to a stoic one in a blink of an eye, and it seemed his brothers didn't hear a single word.
"What...?"
The man shook his head. "You'll know what I mean. I hope you will remember in the future."
Salvador opened his mouth to respond, but as if a force was controlling him, he was forced outside the building and the doors slammed shut.
"What the hell..." Other than those three words he couldn't even muster a single thought for a few seconds. 'It didn't even feel like I was in my own body.'
"Salvador, come on!"
Salvador followed his two brothers and was baffled.
"Come to him when I figure it out? I'll know what he means? What the fuck is he talking about..."
"What are you saying?" Nico hollered to him.
Salvador didn't even register he was speaking in English when he spoke his thoughts out loud.
"Nothing! Just mumbling under my breath."
Nico intensively stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and walking away with William.
"Y'know, you're acting a bit weird today, Salvador," William told him as they walked through the crowded streets of Holst, the name of the city.
"Sorry, I guess I'm nervous in case Nico gets hurt." He decided to make up an excuse, as it was reasonable to worry about such things.
Nico smiled and giggled a bit before turning his head to his brother. "I won't get hurt. If anything, the other person will get hurt." He cheekily remarked, flaunting his new sword which was strapped in its sheath on his hip.
"Don't get too cocky, Nico."
"I'm aware."
The three aimlessly walked throughout Holst, taking in the wonderful sights it offered.
"So, where are going next?"
Nico caressed his chin in thought before widely opening them. "The arena! We can watch fights!"
All of the brother's expressions seemed to light up in unison, "Great idea!"
Similar to the shop, the two older brothers asked for directions to the arena which they closely followed.
After nearly an hour of straight walking, a large dome structure came into his sight.
"There it is! The Arena!"
'As big as I expected.'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone