The open gates were set in a stone wall, while barely taller than the average man it was at least in good condition. At this hour there was no line and the two guards on duty were hanging out chatting in the attached guardhouse with the door open. Once they were in range Linus risked it and used [Analyze] on both of them, it was unlikely people on door duty would have any skill detection or privacy skills.

Tier 2 - ???, Tier - 1 ???, Tier - 1 ??? Tier 2 - ???, Tier - 1 ???, Tier - 1 ???

He couldn’t wait to get [Analyze] into a class and to a higher level for greater detail. Still two Tier 2s seemed appropriate and wouldn’t be a problem, he gave Archie a nod and left him to deal with it while he turned to Luke.

"Calm down" he said before Luke could even get a word in. "It's clear from your poor response that even you need a break from our current state of life."

"You can't just make unilateral decisions without discussion. This is the real world and actions have consequences. Your father and my organization gave me a mission and you are making it more difficult to both our detriment."

"Don't be so dramatic, I promise nothing bad will happen. Also I was thinking about your advice and figured I'd buy some weapons to work on acquiring the blade skill. It appears between the three of us we only have daggers and knives." Luke was surprised that the usually careless noble had actually been paying attention to his earlier suggestions.

“That’s not your worst idea, though we don’t need to stay over in order to do that.”

“Are you proficient enough in swords to give me initial instruction?” Luke’s silence was answer enough. “Then it’s settled, you go get the supplies, Archie will find us an inn and I’ll go acquire some weapons.”

“No, I want you to stick with Archie. Your father would have my head if he knew I let you wander around a random town by yourself. I’ll go get the supplies then meet you at the inn. After you and I can go get the weapons together. That way I can also make sure you aren’t overcharged and buy something appropriate. Do either of you have armor?” Linus shook his head.

“I’ve got a ceremonial set at our estate but obviously we didn’t have the time to grab that. Archie has never had the need for any.”

“Right, we’ll add that to the list as well.” By this point Archie had concluded his conversation with the guards and was waiting for them.

“Sir, I got directions to a recommended inn. I wouldn’t get your hopes up but the kind guardfolk assured me it was our best option.”

“Ugh, guess it was too much to hope a small town like this would have a quality establishment. Lead the way.”

“What’s the name of it so I know where to find you?” Chimed in Luke.

“The Gray Goose.”

“For fuck’s sake, they couldn’t even name it The Golden Goose? Or any color more cheerful. Why something depressing like gray?” Archie just shrugged at his agitated noble.

The Gray Goose lived up to its name. The walls and door were all made of a faded gray wood that had definitely seen better days. Their horses and bags were handed off to an attentive stableboy. Making their way inside they found a rundown but clean common room with several tables occupied by people nursing mugs of beers despite it being barely past noon. Linus and Archie made their way across the room to the counter that appeared to serve dual purposes of bar counter and reception desk and the lady behind it.

“Hello, welcome to The Gray Goose. My name is Frannie. How can I help you fine gentlemen today?”

“Hello Frannie, we will take two glasses of your finest wine.” Said Linus before Archie cut in.

“Good afternoon ma’am. This is Linus and I am Archie. We are more interested in securing rooms. Do you happen to have any available? Preferably three, with two connected for ourselves and another party member.”

“Yes, yes, what he said but let’s start with the wine.”

“Additionally we’ll need stabling of three horses and feed. Do you have a discount for meals if we add them as well?” Frannie laughed at their antics before responding.

“Two glasses of our finest and only vintage of house red coming right up. We have rooms available but none connected. I can either provide you with three singles or a single and double suite. The suite is more expensive but nicer. We are able to stable your horses but only have hay available. Meals can be included for a nominal fee but only includes a stew for dinner and porridge for breakfast, no lunch is provided and drinks are extra. If you go with the three single rooms your total will be five silvers a night, a single and the suite will be six silvers. I can give a discount if you commit to and prepay for five or more nights.”

As she finished her spiel two mugs filled with a reddish liquid appeared on the counter. Linus gave a sad internal sigh at the sight of them, unsure if he was ecstatic to have wine again or saddened at this excuse for wine, before scooping them up and pushing one into Archie’s hand. A deep sip produced a wince.

“Definitely an interesting vintage” he choked out before downing it in a forced gulp. “I’ll take another one.”

“No he won’t” said Archie as he tried to hand back his mug.

“Nonsense Archie, if you don’t have it I’ll be drinking along. Can’t have that.” Once more Archie questioned how he got here as he resigned himself to the dubious drink.

“Here you go,” said Frannie. Producing a rather large jug and refilling Linus’ wine.

“Excellent, put it on our tab.”

Linus grabbed his refreshed mug and made his way to an empty table while Archie continued to iron out details with Frannie. By the time that Luke arrived at the inn Archie had checked out the rooms, confirmed all their bags had been brought up and prepaid for one night. Meanwhile Linus was working on his fourth mug of wine.

“Luke! Ready to go sword shopping?” Linus shouted across the room when Luke came through the door.

“How are you already drunk? The plan was to go weapon shopping then training. Neither of which are smart to do while drunk.” Luke angrily answered as he sat down at Linus’ table.

“Whose drunk? Archie? He really can’t hold his booze. It’s embarrassing.”

“No, not Archie. You. This behavior is the reason why you can’t go off on your own.”

“Oh please I’m barely buzzed, now let’s go shopping. I’ve already wasted too much time waiting for you.” Linus was up and out the door before he realized he had no idea in what direction a weapons and armor shop might be in. Fortunately Archie and Luke joined him momentarily and both of them had the foresight to ask around. A quick discussion between the two of them comparing the pros and cons of the recommendations they had received found them on their way to Alia’s Warfare Emporium.

Despite Linus’ continued denials Luke was convinced he was drunk while Archie knew he had barely gotten started. [Inebriation] and [Altered State] were surprisingly effective, even capped at level 5. As they entered the store Linus lingered behind them and cast a [Minor Heal] on himself. The transition from heavily buzzed to stone cold sober would’ve been shocking if this wasn’t a fairly regular occurrence for him. He stepped into the store ready to do some shopping.

Alia’s Warfare Emporium was everything that The Gray Goose wasn’t. The door was beautifully stained wood with polished metal fittings. Walking into the showroom everything was bright, clean and colorful. The walls were decorated with intricate tapestries, floor to ceiling windows and mannequins or racks displaying goods for sale. Linus felt a part of him relax in this environment, these were his type of people.

“Welcome to Alia’s Warfare Emporium, I’m the eponymous Alia. How can I help you today?” Luke and Archie practically fell over themselves, and each other, to initiate the conversation before Linus could open his drunken mouth.

“Good evening ma’am-”

“I was recommended to you by-” Stymied by each other they both fell silent, leaving Linus the opening they were trying to prevent.

“Hello Alia, Linus here. We are looking for the best blades you have.”

“Say no more, I’ve got all your needs covered.” She hooked her arm through Linus’ and dragged him off to see her goods. First they stopped at the daggers and utility knives. Linus was about to wave her past this section when he saw some strange shorter blades with a perpendicular handle.

“What do we have here?”

“Ah that’s a punch dagger, useful for self defense or a sneaky close quarters attack.” Sensing Linus’ interest Alia was soon pulling out all her punch daggers and similar weapons. Archie and Luke tried to argue with him that their current daggers were plenty similar but he ended up requesting she set aside a simple one of steel with a black leather handle.

After that they moved quickly through the rest of the dagger and utility knife sections. Pausing just long enough in the next section to set aside two identical sets of small, thin throwing blades for Linus and Archie against Luke’s protests that only an idiot threw away their weapon.More time was spent lingering in the short sword section. Linus played with multiple weapons, swinging them around to get a feel before settling on a straight single edged blade two foot long blade with an additional half foot worth of hilt. It felt well balanced in his hand and came with a stylish leather case.

After that things got more contentious. Both Archie and Luke shot down the giant greatsword that Linus tried to talk them into, with their fears justified when he almost dropped it on his own foot while returning it to the rack. Then there was a scythe he was trying to justify to the group.

“Maybe we can revisit this weapon once you have the [Blades] skill” hedged Luke. “I don’t know anyone that is actually trained on it as a weapon.” Linus reluctantly to consider at a later date. Finally they had moved into the specialty weapons. There were staffs with hidden blades, bladed hairpins, belt buckle blades, heck there were even spring action shoe blades and chakrams. None particularly intrigued Linus until they came across a thin, serrated looking longsword.

“What’s this weapon over here?” He asked Alia.

“Excellent eye good sir, this here is a whip sword. It’s made of individual chevron shaped blades linked through their core. When in its sword form they are all pulled down towards the hilt, slotting together to fit a rigid blade. To convert to the whip form or back mana is fed into or withdrawn from the hilt. When mana is fed in the core of it lengthens and thins, turning the blade into a long flexible cord with razor sharp blades.”

“It is an extremely impractical weapon, nearly impossible to master and more likely to injure it’s wielder than its enemy. Plus it requires fine mana control, in the middle of battle.” Countered Luke. Linus was not persuaded by Luke’s argument, in fact his [Mana Manipulation] skill seemed like a great combo. Nevertheless he wasn’t a fool when it came to bargaining. Indeed he could feel his passive [Persuasion] skill engaging as he started negotiating with Alia.

“We’ll definitely take the punch dagger, two sets of throwing blades and shortsword we set aside earlier. I’d love to take the whip sword off your hands but the price is frankly absurd. 17 gold for just that piece? It’s more than the 12 gold for the rest combined. What do I look like, a duke’s son?”

“I know it may seem like a princely sum but I guarantee it’s worth every copper. Just look at the superior craftsmanship. It takes a real master to make such a complicated piece, equal parts weapon and art.”

“Oh come off it Alia, as Luke said it’s a very specific weapon with unique challenges. It’s more of a statement piece than a functional weapon. The most I could possibly offer is 6 gold on top of the 12 for the rest of them.”

“6 gold for the whip sword? You’d beggar me. The 17 gold is already a steal. 15 is the lowest I could possibly go without losing money on the deal.” Linus felt a drain from [Mental Resistance] as it worked to counter whatever bargaining skill she had.

“15? You must be joking, clearly this was a custom piece that never got picked up. 9 is the highest I’ll go for such a curiosity to decorate my wall.”

“You dare call an enchanted treasure like this a curiosity? It has been designed to give flexibility and power to any lay person that has any control over the mana. 13 is the absolute lowest I’ll go.”

“11 or I walk on it and the rest of the items.” For a moment time stood still as Linus and Alia stared each other down. His [Mental Resistance] and [Persuasion] skills were straining up against their level 5 limits.

“Fine!” Alia cracked first. “I’ll take your offer even if it is highway robbery. That piece has taken up space in my inventory for far too long.”

“Excellent!” Smiled Linus. “Archie, please pay the woman her gold. Luke be a doll and grab the weapons. Alia, we must definitely do this again. Maybe next time I’m in town if I survive the wilderness I’m headed to. Now if you will all excuse me I need to go grab a drink to celebrate. Feel free to join us at The Gray Goose Alia!”