[Farmer] Mage

It didn’t take long for Cal to find what he was looking for. All the potions were behind lock and key, so he waited for an attendant to get to him.

In the meantime, he observed the others around him. He found it curious that most of them were mortals, yet they were splurging on potions that cost several silver at the minimum. After eavesdropping, he discovered that many of them traveled to Silverpine.

Apparently, it was cheaper to buy potions here than any other place, including Lumina. Most of these mortals were traders who bought low and sold higher wherever they did business. Even though it was guaranteed profit, it was low enough per potion that guild members didn’t bother to take over.

“I apologize for the wait. What can I get for you?”

Like all the others, the attendant who spoke to him was a guild member. It wasn’t hard to figure out that they were beginner alchemists.

Cal was direct. He knew what he wanted. “A healing potion. A mana restoration potion. And a calming potion,” he thought about another situation that might come up and added, “give me a rage potion too. Make it a few of each.”

The attendant gave him a short nod and quickly moved to gather what was requested.

Cal decided to get the rage potion at the last second in an attempt to forcibly put himself in that state where he was hyper-focused. While it wasn’t ideal, if he ever got himself into a situation where he had exhausted all his options, taking the rage potion would be the last resort.

It likely wouldn’t end well, but that was the least of his worries as long as he was alive.

“Here you are,” the attendant had the potions arranged neatly in a box. “Two of each. It’ll be eight gold and sixty silver.”

Cal reached into his pocket and pulled the necessary coin from the storage pouch. He handed it over and took the box before leaving the shop without dawdling.

He would return later when he had more time to look around. Some potions looked promising to use on the farm, but he would need to read more into them before making a decision.

Cal had hoped to use [Master Negotiator] to try to get a discount, but when he observed the other customers, he noticed that they always paid the sticker price without fail. It wasn’t odd for that to be the case in some shops, though rare.

Since that was the case, he figured it would be better to save up his three tries on the weapon he needed to buy.

Cal made his way towards the west side of the town, where Mel said plenty of shops sold weapons. When the foot traffic reduced drastically, and no eyes could catch his move, he quickly put the box in his storage pouch.

He checked the interface to see how it was stored.

Basic Storage Pouch: 15/20

Inventory:

8 Unknown Gems

127 Copper, 107 Silver, 4 Gold, 2 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potion (Minor)

2 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

Cal had wondered if that was what would happen. While a different type of potion took up one of the limited allocations in the storage pouch, duplicates did not. He found it curious that this was the case when the unknown gems all took up a separate allocation, although they were the same type.

I need to find out how the storage pouch decides the allocation use.

He didn’t have a search hard for the weapon stores. Most of the alleys and streets he passed were for residential buildings, and the single street containing shops had far too many weapon stores. Almost everyone on the street was either in a weapon store or about to head to one.

Cal wasn’t looking for any bladed weapon because he simply didn’t have the skill for it, nor did he intend to try and learn. He needed a simple weapon that any fool could use with some effectiveness. He was looking for a hammer.

He checked the weapon stores from outside to see if any of those were in stock. They were not a popular choice, so every shop he checked simply didn’t have them. However, his window shopping came with the unexpected benefit of eavesdropping.

The guild was subsidizing the purchase of weapons. It started a month ago, and apparently, there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Cal had been confused about why alchemists were so happy to spend their limited funds on weapons when they rarely fought, but this certainly explained it. The problem now was why.

Nothing in his memories from his first life explained such an odd subsidization. For a guild that copper pinched enough to starve its farmers, there must have been a significant enough concern that pushed the guild to splurge.

I remember hearing about the massacre caused by the Silvermane Wolves. Whatever happened here must not have been as noteworthy since I have no recollection of it at all.

He was about to give up on his wish to have a hammer as a weapon and revert to checking the tool shops for a sledgehammer like the ones he had on the farm. Those would come in handy even if they weren’t technically a weapon.

Cal had nearly given up when he moved from the shops with greater foot traffic to one with none at all. It was strange seeing the weapon shop utterly empty, with only the proprietor sitting inside with an unhappy face.

Its name was appropriate with what he could see inside. ‘Unique Weapons.’

Even though the proprietor had seen him, all he did was make an ugly face before pretending Cal didn’t exist. If it wasn’t for the strange weapons that were in displays—weapons that didn’t exist in the other shops—Cal would’ve purely on principle.

“Do not want my business?”

The proprietor was a mortal, just like all the other merchants he saw except for the attendants in the Potion Emporium. It surprised him that the proprietor was willing to lose business when he had none.

“You want to buy here?” The proprietor asked with surprise.

At this point, Cal was wondering what the deal here was. “I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t. What made you think I didn’t want to buy anything?”

“Oh,” the proprietor’s fledgling hope died. “Then you must not know. Well, I might as well tell you. Almost none of my weapons qualify for the subsidization from the guild. Just go back to the other shops.”

Cal did the opposite. He entered and took a quick scan of the weapons hanging on the wall. Unfortunately, there was no hammer or anything similar, but there were small daggers that gave him an idea.

“You still want to buy something?” The proprietor’s hope was back. When Cal nodded, he gained a burst of energy and stood with a beaming smile. “Welcome! I’m Vern! What were you looking for?”

“A hammer, but unfortunately, I don’t think you have —“

“I have it!” Vern ran into the back of the shop, leaving Cal in the shop.

He didn’t mind. If he could get a hammer as planned, that would be ideal. He still planned on getting the daggers.

Cal smiled slightly when he thought about using the explosive power of [Lightning Aura] on those daggers. It could get him out of the tight situation, especially since he would face ten people if the note were to be believed.

There was nothing wrong if he prepared for more than ten.

The back door was kicked open as Vern carried a large hammer into the shop with the red face. He huffed from the strain of carrying it and looked like he was about to topple over when Cal decided to help.

Cal was a little taken aback by the weight of the hammer. The only thing he could compare it to was a sledgehammer, and this one was at least five times heavier.

“T—Thank you,” Vern stuttered as he recovered his breath. “This is the only war hammer I have in my shop. I would have it displayed, but I could barely lift the thing, and I feared it would rip the display down from its weight.”

He paid little attention to Vern as he studied the war hammer. It was made entirely of metal, with a two-foot-long handle wrapped in leather. The head was a large rectangular block that comprised most of the weight he could feel.

Cal swung it around—much to Vern’s alarm—and nodded in satisfaction at its sturdiness. It would do.

“How much?” Cal didn’t expect it to be much since it was an Uncommon-ranked weapon.

“It’s fantastic that this war hammer caught your eye! It was actually made by the blacksmith in Lumina, so you can imagine how well-made it must be. You felt the weight, so you must know it took a lot of material —“

“That’s all fine, but what’s the price?” Cal understood that he was about to hear a price he might not be happy about.

“… One gold.” Vern looked like he was ready for Cal to storm out.

Cal felt for a moment that storming out was the right thing to do since this was just an Uncommon-ranked weapon. He paid fifty copper to Orrin for similar ranked tools. He was aware that the war hammer would cost a little more due to the material cost and perhaps the labor cost, but not two hundred times more.

I would’ve asked Orrin to make one if I didn’t need it immediately.

He looked around the shop before resigning himself to buy the war hammer. He had more than enough brute strength, and this really was his ideal weapon.

At least he could use his skill for the first time.

[Master negotiator] activated.

It can be discounted by five silver.

Two uses left for the day.

Cal frowned at the number the interface gave him. That was only five percent off the price, but that was only a random number that could be anywhere between zero and a hundred percent of what Vern would take off the price.

“I’ll give you eighty silver,” Cal offered what he considered was a lowball and expected pushback.

“Done!” Vern accepted the offer immediately as if he were scared it would be withdrawn.

Cal felt like he got swindled, and when the interface appeared, he felt even worse.

Since you used [Master Negotiator]’s ability, you will not receive a contribution to the skill on this trade.

Cal swallowed his irritation and handed over the silver before asking, “How much for four of those daggers?” He was pointing at the daggers that interested them at the start.

“Oh, these don’t fit someone like you. They're far too basic for any real use. Might I suggest these instead?” Vern was pointing at something that exuded money.

Cal refused. “I think those basic daggers are perfect for what I want to use them for.”

“I see,” Vern was visibly disappointed. “They are twenty copper each. A silver in total for all four.”

“Forty copper,” Cal countered with a straight face. It was no longer about the money but to recover his pride.

It looked like Vern understood, so he held himself back from haggling and reluctantly agreed.

Cal left Vern’s shop with his damaged pride slightly recovered and returned to the town center. He stored his newly bought weapons in his storage pouch when there wasn’t anyone looking in the less traveled streets on the way back.

He checked his inventory out of curiosity.

Basic Storage Pouch: 17/20

Inventory:

8 Unknown Gems

137 Copper, 27 Silver, 4 Gold, 2 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potion (Minor)

2 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

4 Daggers (Common)

1 War Hammer (Uncommon)

Cal had bought four daggers with the assumption that they would take up the rest of the storage pouch's allocation. For some reason, all four only took up one allocation.

I have to set aside the unknown gems as unique. There is a point where the storage pouch refuses to take up only one allocation for the same item. If it didn’t, I would’ve been able to store the barrel of Sunfire Grain seeds.

He shelved the mystery of the storage bag for now and put all his effort into finding Tavia.

Complete stat sheet in author note (under spoiler tag)

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