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n“I won’t ask what’s going on, only how much you have on you, kid,” Saylin caught on to the fact that the customer was in some situation and needed equipment for some desperate reason. Even though he was known as a shrewd businessman, this young man had netted him a lot of money off their last transaction, but this alone wouldn’t have spurred him to help out the person standing in front of him. But, just like the last time they met, Saylin had an inexplainable feeling that he MUST help out this person.

nCynrik, on the other hand, was unsure what the green-haired shopkeeper was up to but decided to take a chance. Knowing he needed to get his hands on the gear for the upcoming battle, he made a split-second decision and pulled out the Poison, Sand, and Wood Elemental Affinity Orbs. Initially, he wanted to hang on to these three orbs, especially since they were all SAG elements, but now wasn’t the time to hold back; he had held onto the Lightning and Metal since both were advanced forms of Fire and Earth which could eventually be put to use by him and Brance.

nBut the other elements were passing fancies, so he was willing to part with them. When the three orbs landed on the counter in front of Saylin, he struggled not to scold the person in front of him. ‘Where the hell did this kid get all of these orbs? He pulls them out like they’re snack cakes.’

n” 150 SP and 400k Credits, that’s the only offer ill give you,” Saylin felt his heart tighten up as he shook the man’s hand and stored the three orbs in his inventory.

nLooking over his wares that were strewn across the counter, Saylin waved his hand, and several of the lesser grade equipment disappeared, only to reappear on the shelves from which they originated, “Tell me about these gauntlet blades you spoke of.”

nCynrik gave a brief description of what he meant by hidden blades. Unfortunately, the more Cynrik spoke, the more confused Saylin became before something clicked in his brain. “Wait, a moment, what you’re describing, are you speaking of an assassin’s tool?”

n“If this assassin’s tool is a thin blade inlaid into a gauntlet or bracer that has a mechanism in the inner wrist allowing it to extend on command to a length of around seven to eight inches, then yes.” Cynrik crossed his arms and was unconsciously tapping his forearm with his index finger.

nThe room was silent for a moment while Saylin mentally ran through his inventory with narrowed eyes. Then, several seconds later, he waved his hand, and a pair of matching gray leather bracers appeared in his hands, making Cynrik’s eyes light up.

n“I think these should work,” Saylin carefully handed them over to Cynrik, who immediately tried them on. The matching pair of gauntlets were the most beautiful thing Cynrik had ever seen in his life. Although they weren’t flashy or ornate, the simple leather had a reptilian scale-like pattern running the entire length of the outer shell. The inner part of the bracer was secured with two thick straps held with a metal buckle on opposite ends of his arm; one at the wrist, the other a couple of inches below his elbow. But none of these was the focal point; Cynriks sight drifted to a specific part of the bracer. Resting on the inside of his forearm lay a metallic device positioned just over his wrist and extended down about five inches towards his elbow.

nSaylin watched as Cynrik adjusted the two hidden blades on his arm before he spoke up. “By infusing a bit of your Mana into the tool, it will automatically adjust its size to fit perfectly,” with a nod, Cynrik did just that. Like magic, the hidden blades shrunk slightly and constricted into his arm, molding to it. Then, with a smile plastered on his face, Cynrik balled up his fists and swiftly flicked his wrists back, triggering the mechanism in the tool and forcefully extending both blades out of their housings.

nShink

nThe blades instantly extended out from under his wrists and extended past his fist around seven inches, with the base being at exactly where his hand bent. Letting out a slight chuckled, he flicked his hand downward and sheathed the blades back into their housings before looking back at Saylin.

n” Perfect; I’ll take them; I still need three swords, a shield, and a dual-wielding passive skill booklet, also; if you have any Mana potions laying around ill snag a couple of those too.”

nNot wanting to waste any more time, Cynrik used his Inspect and made his choices without hesitation. Since he had been reading the descriptions the entire time, he had already decided which weapons would be the best fit for Brance and himself.

nWhile he was doing this, Saylin had ducked behind the counter and rummaged through several small wooden chests at his feet, looking for a booklet and potions. Mana potions weren’t rare, but they weren’t cheap either; each held a 10 SP, 10k Credit Price tag, and he only had a handful of them in stock. The Duel-Wielding Skill book, on the other hand, was cheap.

nWhen he stood up with several bottles and a green booklet in his hand, he noticed Cynrik had already arranged his choices neatly in a row on the counter and pushed the ones he didn’t want to the side. However, Saylin didn’t waste any time and placed six Mana potions and the booklet on the counter with the rest of the equipment before calculating the total cost in his head.

nOnce Saylin was done with the calculations, he began listing off the price of everything.

n“Assassins Tools, 30 SP and 40k credits each, Terra Guard 30 SP and 25k credits, the swords are all about the same price, so 120 SP and 90k credits, Mana potions will run you 10 SP, 10k credits each I have six of them in stock currently, and the booklet ill toss in for free. So the total comes to 270 Skill Points and 255k credits.

nThe price gave Cynrik a certain amount of heartbreak, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, so he extended his hand towards Saylin, signifying he accepted. Then, shaking the man’s hand with his right, Cynrik raised his left and took the three swords, shield, six potions, booklet, and matching pair of hidden blades into his inventory before turning around to leave so he could log out of the RWT. Watching Cynriks back as he left, Saylin couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “The hell have you gotten yourself into, kid….”

nBack in the kidnapper’s van, Cynrik gave Brance the rundown of the new gear he had obtained, and after sensing how pleased Brance was with his new equipment, he couldn’t help but want to pull them out and watch his brother hack away at the kidnappers, but he held himself back.

nWhat did you get? You’ve told me the stats on my new gear but not your own. Out of curiosity, Brance began trying to persuade Cynrik to spill the beans about his own equipment, to no avail. Cynrik just waved him off and said it would be a surprise. This reaction only spurred Brance to continue pestering Cynrik for the next 30 minutes as they traveled further and further away from home.

nEventually, to alleviate his boredom, Cynrik began singing obnoxiously out into the mind link in an attempt to get his annoying little brother off his case; this worked like a charm. Finally, after the fifth anime opening, where Cynrik was screeching in a high-pitched voice, Brance yielded and begged him to stop.

nHehehe, I’m surprised you made it to the fifth song; I figured you’d end up breaking midway through the first one. Then, hearing the cocky tone Cynrik teased him with, Brance attempted to change the subject.

nSo… how far do you think we’ve gone? I’m sure that CPU of a brain you’ve got can figure it out; his bait worked perfectly, causing Cynrik to shut up for a few minutes as he ran several calculations at a rapid pace.

nBased on the size and shape of this vehicle, I assume it’s a hover van, weighing around 6000 pounds, adding in about seven to ten thousand horsepower. Cynrik paused momentarily as he listened to the engine and wind coming from the open front passenger window. Plus, how jitter the car is and the sound of the wind breaking on it, if I had to put a number to our distance, I figure we’ve gone about 500 miles from home. If we plot that into a map….. he paused again, bringing up the mental image of a map for the City of Lawton and the surrounding cities and counties he had memorized out of sheer boredom.

nWe should be around two to three cities east of our own. SEE THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH THIS WORLDS TECH; due to the high speeds of hovercars, this group’s abduction area is absurdly large.

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