Chapter 70 — A New Blade

Chapter 70 — A New Blade

Knock-knock-knock-knock.

I woke up to someone pounding on my door. When I walked over and opened it, I saw Sherial.

"Good morning. Want to take a walk around the city today? We can also buy some equipment we’ll need for the dungeon," she said.

"Yeah, I’d love to," I replied.

I could use a few things myself. Especially some magical gear — armor, gloves, or boots.

"And what’s that?" Sherial suddenly asked, pointing at the table beside my bed and the other table in the middle of the room.

I looked over. Yeah… both tables were literally buried under health potions. I think there were already around a thousand of them. I was planning to sell them to the Adventurers’ Guild today, earn money, and buy more mana potions.

"Those are health potions. I made them to sell at the Adventurers’ Guild," I said.

"And you’re just leaving them like this… in a hotel room?" Sherial looked the tables over in disbelief. "You have the safest storage place imaginable. Why are you keeping them here? Is there a reason?" she asked.

"Well… you see, time passes nine hundred and sixty times faster in the training room. I thought the health potions might spoil there," I answered.

For a few seconds, she just stared at me in silence.

"Are you an idiot?" Sherial suddenly said.

"Hey! Why are you insulting me?" I frowned.

"Sorry… that’s not what I meant," she sighed. "But why did you even decide that health potions could spoil over time?"

"Well… everything spoils eventually, doesn’t it?" I replied uncertainly.

"You kept the Origin Mushrooms in your training room, right?" she asked. "Did a single one of them rot?"

"No… I don’t think any did," I admitted.

"Because Origin Mushrooms are created in dungeons from pure mana. So what do you think your health potions are made of?"

"Pure mana…" I answered, because I used only mana to create them.

"Exactly," Sherial nodded. "Health potions don’t spoil over time. Wealthy people and nobles store tens of thousands of those vials in family vaults, passing them down as treasures from generation to generation."

Damn… Sherial was completely right.

Why hadn’t I been storing my health potions in the training room this whole time?

I… I had never even tried leaving a single potion there for a long period. I always carried them with me, without even thinking about it.

And even if I had doubts, I could have simply run an experiment. Leave one vial. Check it later. It was basic.

Damn.

She was right…

I really was an idiot.

--

I managed to fit all the potions into one large bag. I thought the vials would break, so I carried it to the guild very carefully, but as it turned out, not a single health potion was damaged. The bottles really were incredibly sturdy — there were no issues, everything stayed intact.

The bag contained 1,011 Rank 3 health potions. For them, I received 808 gold and 80 silver coins. For 600 gold, I immediately bought 1,000 Rank 4 mana potions. I thought they would at least ask why I needed that many mana potions, but apparently they didn’t care. And it seems like their stock of mana potions is enormous — since they sold me 1,000 Rank 4 potions without a single question.

--

"No problems?" Sherial asked as I came out of the Adventurers’ Guild.

"Yeah, it all went smoothly," I replied.

"Good. Then let’s go. I found a weapon shop that’s big enough — we’ll be able to stock up properly there," Sherial said.

We reached the store. From the outside it didn’t look as large as Sherial had described. But the moment I stepped inside, it became clear — the place was much bigger than it looked from the street. It wasn’t one huge hall like modern supermarkets back on Earth. No — it had many separate rooms. Each smaller, but there were at least five of them: different types of weapons, supplies, rations, and long-term food.

Sherial immediately headed toward the goods she was interested in, while I was drawn to the room with the main weapons — swords, spears, and halberds.

"Hmm… maybe I should buy a halberd?" I thought. It looked very impressive. The halberd I lifted was taller than I was, but since I had absolutely no experience using that kind of weapon, I decided to put it back.

No… a sword would be better.

Dozens of blades hung on the wall, but one immediately caught my eye. In size it was similar to my dungeon sword, but it looked far more luxurious — with elegant decorations and a polished blade. I took it and made a couple of test swings.

Not bad balance. As a backup weapon, it could work.

"Excellent taste. I can tell you know weapons," a voice said.

I turned. A man in his fifties stood in front of me — a short gray beard, neatly groomed hair, and a friendly smile.

"You’re in luck. This sword is one of a kind. It was forged by a famous master who usually works only for nobles. Our shop got it thanks to… let’s say, a fortunate coincidence. If you buy it, you won’t regret it," he said.

Interesting…

"And how much does it cost?" I asked. If the price was reasonable and I had enough money, I might take it. If it truly came from a well-known smith, then the blade should be good. And it looked quite intimidating.

"Three hundred gold coins," the seller said.

I slowly started returning the sword to its place, but the man immediately continued.

"But today you’re lucky. I can sell it to you… for only thirty gold coins."

Thirty gold? I thought. In principle, I could afford a weapon like that. It wasn’t that expensive… or was it?

Last time, back in the village, I bought a sword for much cheaper, but that one was old and used. I figured this sword really was worth its price. And thirty gold wasn’t exactly a huge sum for me right now.

"Oh, if you don’t have enough money, I can arrange a loan for you. You’ll only need to sign a couple of papers — and that sword will be yours. With a weapon like this, you’ll start earning much more," the seller said.

Looks like he misunderstood my silence — decided I simply didn’t have thirty gold. Oh… so even in this world, you can take out loans right in shops? The financial system here was surprisingly developed.

"If you’re unsure — test it," the seller continued. He pulled out a mannequin wearing armor and placed it in front of me. "Try cutting through it. You’ll immediately feel how sharp the sword is."

"Alright."

I took a stance and swung.

Damn… the sword really was unbelievably sharp. The mannequin, along with its armor, felt like it offered no resistance at all. I didn’t even feel an impact — everything was cut cleanly and smoothly, like butter.

"Oh, decided to buy a decoration?" I heard Sherial’s voice behind me.

"A decoration?" I repeated, thrown off by her words.

A decoration? Yes, the sword could be called a work of art… but a decoration? First and foremost it looked like deadly weapon.

"Yeah, a decoration. That’s all it’s good for. You can hang it on the wall — and that’s it," Sherial said.

I looked at the seller. Was he… trying to scam me?

For a moment, anger flashed in the merchant’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by a polite smile.

"My apologies, milady, but this isn’t just a pretty weapon. It was made by a famous smith who works only for nobles."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know those 'famous smiths,'" Sherial cut him off. "They make weapons for nobles… and then those nobles decorate their houses with them."

The seller went silent for a few seconds.

"Forgive me, milady, but it seems you don’t understand weapons very well," he said.

"I don’t understand weapons?" Sherial smiled and showed him her C-rank adventurer badge. "Trust me, I understand weapons quite well."

The seller fell silent again, staring at the C-rank badge. It seemed he hadn’t expected her to be an adventurer too. Although… no, that was unlikely. She wore leather armor, and there was a dagger at her waist — it was impossible not to notice. More likely, he had simply taken Sherial for the same kind of rookie adventurer as me — especially since I only had an E-rank badge.

"Perhaps this sword isn’t suitable for you," the seller quickly added. "But for your friend — an E-rank adventurer — it’s an excellent weapon."

"On that, you’re right," Sherial agreed calmly. "For an E-rank adventurer, it really is an excellent weapon."

"See!" the merchant brightened and turned to me. "So you’re ready to arrange the loan?"

"A loan? What loan?" Sherial frowned, looking at me.

"You see, the young man decided to buy this weapon, but it seems he doesn’t have enough money right now…" the seller continued with a smile. "So I made him a wonderful offer. He can take the sword today, and pay for it in parts — each month, from his loot and quest rewards."

"And believe me, with this sword he’ll start earning far more than before," the merchant added.

I carefully put the sword back in its place.

"Sorry, but I don’t think this sword is right for me," I said.

"No-no, think again! Our loan terms are very favorable, the interest is very small—" the seller rushed.

"No. It’s not for me," I replied calmly.

I wasn’t going to take anything on credit. That was stupid. And I did have money. Besides, Sherial said the sword was more of a decoration than a real weapon. Which meant the mannequin and armor had been prepared in advance.

I stepped closer and touched the cut part of the mannequin. Earlier I thought the armor was metal, but by touch it turned out to be made from a hard, yet not durable material at all.

So the seller had been trying to deceive me.

How could anyone trust merchants after that? Though no one had tried to scam me before… seems you have to be especially careful with expensive items.

"How much is this sword?" Sherial suddenly asked, picking up a completely unremarkable blade from the counter.

It looked old, with rust in places. Why would she even want that?

"Oh, this sword once belonged to a famous adventurer…" the seller began.

"Enough. Two silver coins. That’s all I’ll pay," Sherial interrupted him calmly.

"…Fine. Take it," the seller grumbled. The smile vanished from his face.

We left the shop. Sherial held a large bag in her hands — looks like she bought a lot of things.

"Here. Take it. This is for you," she said, handing it to me.

"For me?"

"Yes. It’s my gift."

I opened the bag.

Inside were old pieces of armor, rusted in places, that same cheap sword for a couple of silver coins, some gloves, and a few other things — all of it looked worn out and clearly used.

I looked at Sherial.

Why was she giving me… what could basically be called trash?

As if reading my thoughts, Sherial smiled.

"Take the sword and try using your Ascensio skill."

Without a word, I pulled out the blade and activated the skill.

In the very next instant, the sword in my hands flared with a bright light. I squinted from the flash — it was too bright — but it quickly faded.

When I opened my eyes, I was holding a completely different sword.

Not an old, rusted piece of iron…

But a new, shining blade.