Black Market #5

 They arrived at record speed, just stopping in front of the establishment carved from the stalactite that reached the floor of the cave. The two were then allowed in by two of the largest bodyguards they have seen, which were wearing the best sets of equipment money could buy, and they were greatly impressed by the interior of the establishment.

It was not on the level of the royal castle, but it was well-maintained and high-quality, something one wouldn’t expect to see so far down underground and in a black market no less. Akiro looked up at the high ceiling after noticing a staircase that led upwards, and he noticed that the building had more floors; and based on the empty spaces in the center of said floors, used as balconies, there were three more.

There were about a dozen employees in sight, all of which were dressed in fine, custom tailored suits and armed by at least one personal weapon. Ayama and Akiro walked forward, being glanced at by the employees with understandable suspicion, as not anyone can just walk in here.

“Whoa!” Ayama gasped, his head turning around to see at the stands of armor being displayed in front of the aisles of shelves, all of which were holding equipment of all kinds. “This place is huge!”

“That’s right,” Akiro nodded in agreement, “This is the armor section of this place,” He said, deducing the strategic layout of the fortress-like building. “This is where they keep the more common, less-valuable items, I believe.”

Ayama looked forward, “I see the stairs,” he pointed forward, just on the other end of the hall. He turned to his friend, gleaming with excitement and desire to explore, “Say, why don’t we split up? It seems that it would be the most efficient way to get around this place.”

“You just want to explore,” Akiro thought, looking at Ayama with a knowing look, “and as logical as that is, I’m still worried for your current state.”

Akiro looked at Ayama, thinking of declining his idea, but his beaming face made him digress, agreeing to his idea despite having his own worries. “Just…be careful, and remember you have a budget.” He said apprehensively, “This place seems secure enough, I guess; but that is not reason enough for us to drop our guard.”

The blonde nodded and turned away, rushing towards the aisle dedicated to plate armor section he had been eyeing for a while, leaving Akiro to his lonesome by the center. The raven of the two just sighed, pushing back his worries and turned to the opposite direction of Ayama and into the light armor section.

As he walked towards the section, however, a small booth managed by a single clerk caught his attention. A sign over the man’s head displayed a very interesting message, and while it was written in the native tongue; Akiro’s passive skill activated, the writing slowly being translated into Japanese.

“Discounted, Second-hand items.” He read, smiling positively at the booth, “I’m not sure if there are useful items here, but it is worth a look. Budgeting my money would be smart– considering this place is incredibly expensive.”

Akiro approached the booth, activating another skill. “[ Appraisal ]” he thought silently, scrutinizing the available items for sale.

He stared long and hard at the items, but almost nothing caught his eye; but the one that did was in the worst condition he had ever seen. Looks can be deceiving, however, and Akiro couldn't believe his eyes.

[ Mithril Katana ] [ A single-edged and curved blade of westerned origin. ] [ Heavily rusted and currently unusable ]

“I-Isn’t mithril supposed to be incredibly rare?” Akiro gasped, staring at the item with curiosity. The weapon was uncannily like the swords seen in the museums of Japan, but unlike the displayed pieces, this one looked like it was almost on the verge of breaking.

The wooden sheath was molding, cracking in places; the handle caked in thick layers of sand and soil, and the guard seemed to be the cleanest of it. But despite the current state, it was not just the material of the weapon, but the extra window that came along with it.

[ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master’ is activating. ] [ ‘Swordsmanship / A’ can be learned from this weapon. “

“I-Incredible!” Akiro thought, “An A-Rank skill from an incredibly rare weapon, who knew?” He looked at the clerk, “How much for that?” he asked as plainly as he could.

The man in the suit looked at the customer, and the weapon he was pointing at. “That junk?” He asked, questioning the item more than the customer, “Why is this here?! This will lower the store’s standard. If the manager saw this, he would have my neck.”

“It’s quite rusted you see, are you sure you want this? It doesn't even have a price tag.” The clerk asked, bewildered at the young boy, “That being said, I can’t just offer an item for free even though it… is currently junk– that is against store policy.”

“I would gladly pay for it either way,” Akiro smiled kindly at the man. “So how much would it be?” he asked, “It doesn't matter how much I spend, but If I can restore that— the pay-back would be extraordinary.”

The man looked at the boy, answering the question apprehensively, “T-Three silver—”
Akiro did not let the man finish, and he already submitted the coins, “Here.” he said firmly, “What a bargain.”

He received the weapon and then left the booth, entering the sea of aisles while carrying the junk-like weapon as if it was the most priceless thing in the world– confusing the clerk. “What a strange customer.”

Akiro slowly leaned against the shelf of items, staring into his status window. “My hunch was right, after I received the weapon– the skill appeared in my window.” He thought, looking at the skills he currently had on hand, “Although it decreased in rank, I suppose I still have to put some work into actually learning it— bummer, but logical.”

“My previous guess was also right, skills in fact can be separated into different categories—”

[ Active Skill: ‘Gunman's Manual / EX’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Appraisal / A’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Stealth / D’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master / D’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Sprint / F’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Radar / E’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Disguise / S’ ] [ Attack Skill: ‘Square Cut / F’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Language comprehension / F’ ] [ Passive Skill; ‘Swordsmanship / F’ ]

[ Needle Dagger ] [ A thrusting and piercing weapon made form the largest fang of the desert Mamba ] [ Attack Skill: ‘Thrust / F’ can be learned from this weapon. ]

“Naturally, I can’t get skills from every weapon but knowing what skills I can get from which weapon is also beneficial.”

[ Attack Skill: ‘Thrust / F’ has been learned. ]

“But that aside,” Akiro yawned, taking the dagger he placed on his waist. “It’s getting quite late and new provisions take priority.”

Getting up from the floor, Akiro dusted his pants and slowly began to browse through the items. He took a folded cloak from the shelf, caressing the fabric as he read the window.

[ Assassin cloak ] [ A cloak that makes little to no sound, and it made from Desert-Prowling Vultures. ] [Increases speed and Dexterity slightly.]

“This seems useful, but not exactly what I’m looking for.”

Akiro set the item back neatly onto the shelf and proceeded on, three more shelves away from that one.

[Assassin's magic camo Cloak] [ An Assassin's cloak made out of the Man-eating shadow chameleon. This cloak will mirror the environment around it when the user channels magic through it.] [ Increases Defense greatly. ] [ The Active Skill: ‘Disguise’ has already been learned.] [ 200,000 Au.]

“I see. it’s not entirely unordinary for me to have learned a skill– how unfortunate.” Akiro sighed, “But in hindsight, this is a great item for increasing my pitiful defense. Slightly Pricey, however.”

Taking the cloak, Akiro moved on from that section and moved onto the leather armor section, picking only the sets of reasonable price.

[ Black Assassin leather Armor. ] [ This leather is made out of dyed Sandworm hide, extremely thin and flexible but also durable. ] [ Reduces speed but increases defense ] [ 150,000 thousand ]

“Although the speed decrease is not entirely likable, the defense trade-off is great—” Akiro made a sour expression, “Ugh! Whatever, I need it anyway!”

[Tough Boots] [ Decreases speed and slightly increases defense ]

“Absolutely not.”

[Assassin Sneakers] [ A new shoe made of hardened slime gelatin and sandworm leather. [ Greatly Increases speed and increases defense slightly. ] [ 75,000 Au ]

“So expensive… What is wrong with the economy here?” Akrio grumbled, putting on the shoes, which reminded him of Earth’s sneakers. “Very comfortable– agh, Damnit.”

Akiro grouchily made his way up to the second floor, carrying the items he had picked out under his arm. “Well that’s that.” He sighed, “in terms of armor, I’m already set– but my weapons are kind of lacking.”

As he said that, he came into view of the floor, the racks and shelves all filled with weapons stunned him. “This place has enough to arm a small castle.” he said, passing by the various types of weapons.

The designs greatly varied, from humble daggers to the most grandiose of spears– the store did not lack anything in terms of sample size. Akiro briskly walked through most aisles, looking for a suitable set for himself while also scouting for more skills to learn.

To his dismay and annoyance, there were none that had a skill; but a certain dagger caught his attention, not because of its name or stats but the unique design. It was a pair of daggers that had a long and very sharp edge with an Anchor-like projection protruding sharply at the end, like a sickle.

The pair of sickles were unlike what he was familiar with, because it was double edged, thus it had a handguard with a circular ring on the end. Taking the pair, Akiro approached the counter.

Akiro pointed at the pair. “ I'll buy this one,” he said.

"Are you sure boy? There are plenty of good looking ones over there" The lady replied, trying to persuade him to check the more expensive options.

Akiro shook his head, “This is what I want. How much are they?”

The lady sighed, bummed that her suggestion did not work, and she just answered, “Those are 30,000 a piece– so 60,000.”

“S-So expensive.” Akiro thought, receiving internal damage, “D-Do you sell some gloves and steel wire?”

Akiro held the items he had purchased in his hand, walking alongside Ayama, who was merrily whistling as he skipped. He still had not recovered from the terrible economic state of the city.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Ayama hummed, poking fun at Akiro. “C’mon, I know it was expensive but nothing we both couldn’t pay for.”

[Assassin's magic camo Cloak] + [ Black Assassin leather Armor. ] + [Assassin Sneakers] + [ Twin Sickles ] and others will equal 510,000 Au.” Akiro recalled, calculating in his head, “Leaving me with 405,000 left—”

But despite the large amount left or the large expenditure, Akiro froze in his tracks, mumbling worriedly, “Oh no.”

Ayama stopped too, looking at him with worry, “What is it?” he asked.