Adrianne thought deeply about her current troubles. To be exact, her inner worries and her external situation.

Without the reassurance of Novus being present, she hardly had the comfort to go anywhere for too long. After all, who knew when the temporary sealing would wear off?

Why? Why is it him?

Adrianne stared at the young man weaving his way through the busy clusters of people. She activated her Spirit Eyes and saw it again just to be sure that she couldn’t simply whack Novus unconscious and drag him to power level.

Layered across Novus’ entire body were dense lines of chains that pulsated with an azure light. The light made Adrianne’s eyes twitch in defiance, but she remained unable to peer past it.

Hmph.

Right now, Adrianne felt many words to describe the man before her; however, the only polite one would be eccentric. Even with her amnesia, Adrianne was sure no young man had ever rejected her like this in a long time.

Where’s he going anyway?

He hadn’t sped away to escape her, and although Adrianne felt confident in chasing, it hadn’t come to that point. Instead, he simply let her trail behind him like a haunting ghost. Which only added to Adrianne’s dissatisfaction with the man.

Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!

The resounding hits of a hammer against metal were the first of many sounds that Adrianne heard. Soon, she could see numerous buildings and even more artisans swarming around them from all sides.

Like many fantasy games, the players could choose to focus on lifestyle skills. Smithing, alchemy, cooking, fishing, carpentry, and many more choices were available instead of the brutal fighting seen by combat-style players. Many lifestyle players dreamed of cooking with a man-eating squid or hammering against a legendary metal. But, of course, those materials weren’t currently available, so the lifestyle players had to resolve themselves with simple fish and copper ore.

An artisan hub?

Adrianne looked suspiciously at Novus’ lack of quality armour and proved her investigative abilities.

Come to think of it; his armour was all torn up by the power clash. Is that why he’s here? For better equipment?

However, Adrianne’s investigative abilities tripped.

Is that why he said no? Because my power sealing ruined all his armour?

“Hey, do you need money again?”

Adrianne watched as Novus lurched to a stop and his face scrunched. Undoubtedly, many curses were flowing in his mind, but he replied without any of them.

“No!”

Adrianne lightly chuckled to herself and followed Novus into a light armour and weaponry shop. Despite the hustle and bustle of the outside, the inside of the shop was dead quiet.

In truth, many current players were unwilling or unable to spend the high cost of the equipment sold here. However, that didn’t seem a problem for Novus as he waltzed up to the counter.

“Hail, Shopkeeper. May I interest you in a trade?”

Adrianne watched Novus and the shopkeeper exchange pleasantries and quickly grew bored of their... chatting? They seemed overly friendly all of a sudden. So instead, she decided to look around the store.

Wait, was that a smile on his face?

Novus' eyes drifted towards her, and Adrianne quickly shifted her focus back to the store. The light armour looked well-refined and detailed. The swords, when she held one, were balanced and sharp. However, Adrianne didn’t find an interest in any of them. In her demonic rampage, and thanks to her enviable luck, Adrianne had unintentionally obtained equipment that was even or slightly better than the equipment sold here.

Of course, each store holds its mysteries.

It wasn’t until Adrianne’s Spirit Eyes caught a lingering trace of mana that she was drawn to a dusty box of sheathed swords. Adrianne rustled around the box, inhaling in no lack of sneeze-inducing dust, until a sword giving off a lingering trace of mana caught her eye.

Compared to the other pristine swords, this sword looked like it was from a bargain shop. Its handle was worn, and upon unsheathing, Adrianne found the blade rusted along some parts. Whatever this sword had gone through, it looked like it was on its last legs.

Adrianne lightly swung the sword.

Oh, it's perfectly balanced.

With another slow, slashing movement, Adrianne was sure this sword had been an incredible weapon at one time. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but perhaps there were memories of swords in her amnesiac mind. Quite extensive knowledge based on the way her Sword Mastery had skyrocketed in level.

The ability Inspect has failed! As a result, the item’s information cannot be viewed.

Wait, why didn’t it work? It always works. Well, except for when it's on him.

As if on cue, a voice scared Adrianne from behind.

“Hey, what’s that? WOAH!”

Adrianne felt something come over her as she swung the rusted sword on instinct, and it clipped a few strands of hair from Novus’ head. For a second, Novus looked angrily at Adrianne, then he placed his fingertips on the sword blade and took it into the sheath while chuckling.

“A spiritual sword, huh. Looks like it’s a feisty one. Doesn’t want to be used.”

Adrianne looked confused at Novus, who lightly sheathed the sword. He softly muttered, but Adrianne’s sharp hearing caught the words.

“Damned luck…”

Despite cursing her luck, Adrianne saw the tinge of greed appear in his eyes over the sword. Ultimately, he stuffed down the feeling and gave it to her to decide.

Adrianne sighed as she stopped Novus and gestured for him to keep it.

He obviously wants it more than I do. I already have two perfectly good swords with me. Maybe showing him some good will convince him.

“Oh, you don’t want it? Well, ok.”

Novus practically ran to the shopkeeper’s counter, where an intense haggling session erupted.

“Listen, you see the condition of the sword? It’s hardly useable! If I didn’t want it for a wall mount, what else would I do with it!”

Adrianne’s expression showed a half-smile as she saw Novus haggle with an energy he didn’t usually show.

I’m beginning to think that he really likes money. And really hates losing or spending it.

The shopkeeper seemed unable to keep up with Novus’ reasoning until, finally, Novus loosened the deal a bit.

“Listen, you and I both know this sword is hardly worth the other stuff, so that’s why I’ll do a favour for the kindest shopkeeper around. I’ll throw in a lesser kitsune fangs, and we’ll call it a deal.”

An awkward silence filled the air as the shopkeeper assessed the trade values of each item. Eventually, he looked at Novus in defeat.

“You have yourself a deal.”

Suddenly, the two men laughed.

“You haggle unlike anyone I’ve ever met! I think I even learned a thing or two. Hopefully, with that fang and hide, I’ll be able to learn a thing or two regarding crafting too.”

“There you go! You’ll be a master craftsman in no time, Ted!”

He even learnt his name? Is this the same Novus that was sulking at me?

Adrianne looked incredulously at the sight of Novus laughing with the shopkeeper as he subtly put away all the equipment and took out a pile of nicely carved rabbit, fox and lesser kitsune hides. Then, like a cherry on top, a lesser kitsune fangs sealed the deal.

The shopkeeper almost looked emotional as he looked at the resources and gave one final warning to Novus.

“I usually don’t say this, but be careful of that sword. It’s been returning to my shop every time its owner mysteriously dies. Terrible karma, or something. It’ll look nice on the wall though, and probably safer there too.”

Novus chuckled as he sheathed the sword into his belt loop.

“Trust me, no need to worry.”

After a brief farewell and a wave goodbye, Novus & Adrianne stepped outside the armoury. Adrianne looked confused and shocked as Novus’ disposition instantly changed to his usual self. His previously grinning smile flattened, his eyes regained a hardness to them, and his body language turned self-controlled like his newly sheathed sword.

It made Adrianne question Novus.

“Hey, do you have split personalities or something?”

Novus numbly looked at Adrianne, almost forgetting that she was still there.

“No, my mind and body aren’t that far gone.”

Then, Novus rubbed his fingers together.

“That shopkeeper seemed warm and likeable. So I acted that way and got a good deal out of it. Humans like it when other humans are like them. They’re self-centred that way.”

Adrianne stood there for a moment, dumbstruck. She went to say something until Novus halted her and spoke on her behalf.

“I won’t tell you why I don’t do it around you.”

Then, Novus turned to leave. Adrianne shook her head in slightly annoyed confusion.

What!? We don't do that! Well, I guess there are narcissists actually.

Adrianne looked up and saw Novus walking ahead, so, she hurriedly followed. He wasn’t running ahead, but he wasn’t slowing down his pace for her to think all day either.

Unnoticed behind her, a shadow slipped to and from the other shadows, slowly trailing after them both.

Teehee!

Suddenly, a flower was placed beside the squirming shadow by a little hand that soon disappeared. In its wake, the shadow violently shook before resuming its tranquil state hiding from the sun.