The next day afternoon, Loganel was walking on the streets of Astalan towards the store that Redgilus had took him to yesterday. He looked up at the sky that was dyed orange by the setting sun. The streets were busy, with people going about with their business. There's the ordinary residents, traveling merchants, and there's also the travelers whom came to Astalan in search of jobs either as a monster hunter or as a waiter in the restaurants.

Loganel nervously glanced around the street. This street is the red light district of Astalan, housing numerous brothels and other stores that offer adult services. Loganel was careful to not allow his eyes to linger on a specific store or a person. Even though the night has not yet begun, there were women dressed in skimpy clothing wandering about already. He carefully avoided those women and kept to the side of the road as he walked towards his destination. He was somewhat distracted by the environment, but he always kept his task in mind.

"Hey young man," a man outside a brightly lit store approached Loganel, "wanna come in and relax? We offer the best prices and the best girls."

Loganel ignored the man and continued walking. Loganel knew that if he would've even responded or looked at the man, acknowledging him would've made that man more determined to talk to Loganel and pull him into his store. Basically, if the man thinks that you are acknowledging them, that means that you are interested. Loganel knows this and is careful to not fall for it. This was almost instinct for him. It was as if he was born knowing what to do when facing shady people.

Not long after that incident, Loganel was able to exit the red light district and approach the shop operated by the two elf siblings. Light shone through the thin curtains and was visible from the window. Loganel slowly walked over to the door and opened it, allowing the familiar bell chime to signal his arrival.

"Loganel," Merian greeted him as he walked downstairs from the stairway that led up to the sibling's private living area. "Here to pick up your armor?"

"Yeah," Loganel said, following Merian over to his workshop on the left side of the store.

There, in the center of the workshop area that was surrounded by miscellaneous pieces of armor and clothing was something on a clothing stand that was covered by a white cloth. Merian walked over to the clothing stand, grabbed hold of the white cloth with both hands, and pulled it away from to reveal a beautifully crafted black military style battle coat.

"Base material is Minotaur hide," Merian informed Loganel, "which offers superior protection for light armor. I grind some of that crystal and mixed it with water. I soaked the Minotaur hide in it before the sewing process, which made it more resistant to elemental damage."

Loganel walked over and removed the coat from the clothing stand. He carefully moved his arms into the sleeves of the coat and then finished putting the cut on his body. He looked down and started buttoning the buttons on the coat.

"Try these boots on," Merian said to him as he brought a pair of black leather boots over to him.

"How do I say..." Loganel looked at himself in the mirror after putting everything on. "This looks kinda formal..." Loganel said after realizing that the whole outfit reminded him more of a formal tuxedo type outfit.

"It's just the design," Merian answered. "What do you think? Anywhere not comfortable and need some fixing?"

"No, it's good," Loganel answered. "But...is thirty Silver really enough for all of this?"

"It's fine," Merian smiled. "A special discount for a first time customer and another discount for being a brother of an old customer."

"Is that so..." Loganel said, walking around a bit and testing out his new boots. "This is so high quality."

Merian smiled. "Glad you liked it. However, the true high quality stuff is in the back. Go check it out."

Loganel followed Merian's suggestion and walked over to the door that led to the backroom of the store. There, the temperature was higher than the outside room but not by much, which meant that Meriath had not been running her furnace for a while.

Loganel entered the forge and looked around. He could see various unfinished products laid carefully in an area to be finished at a later date. In addition, Loganel could see that the unused metal ingots for the day were placed in a neat stack next to the cabinet that Meriath most likely had gotten them from. All in all, Loganel was shocked at how clean the place was.

"Hey," Meriath said, sitting on the stool by the furnace. She then stood up and walked over to him, grabbing a sheathed blade that was on the table as she walked over. "Here," she said as she thrust the hand that was holding the blade out to Loganel.

Loganel accepted the sword from her. His eyes studied the beautifully crafted sheath of the blade and the simple but elegant design of the hilt. Next, he unsheathed the sword and discovered that the blade of the sword was also black but with dark purple glyphs in the center of the blade. Loganel slowly brought a finger over to the blade's edge and felt the sharpness of it. It was leagues above his old sword.

"This is beautiful," Loganel admired.

"Of course it is," Meriath said with a proud smile. "I forged it. Let's go to the back and give it a few swings."

Loganel followed Meriath as she led him away from her forge. She led him past the dormant furnace and past the cabinets housing the numerous metal ores and ingots to the back door of the whole place. There, Meriath opened the door, revealing the sky that was starting to transition from an orange to a dark purple. Loganel was surprised when he stepped outside. He was in a garden with beautiful flowers of different colors, all blooming with an ethereal glamour.

"Try it out, but don't hit any of my flowers," Meriath warned.

"You planted these?" Loganel asked.

"Yeah," Meriath said as she knelt down next to a flower patch and stared at it dreamily. Then, she noticed Loganel's stare and blushed with embarrassment as she looked away. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," Loganel answered, still maintaining the usual poker face, "just didn't think that you would do something so feminine."

"That's rude," Meriath stood up. She appeared to have calmed herself again.

Loganel then swung his new sword in the right side of the garden, away from the beautiful flowers planted against the left walls that marked their backyard.

"You see that test dummy?" Meriath asked, standing a few feet behind Loganel. "Concentrate your Mana, a little bit not too much, into that sword and swing it at the test dummy."

"Like this?"

Loganel allowed the Mana in his body to flow to his right hand, and from there, into the sword that he held. He slowly allowed the Mana to trickle out of his body and was surprised as the glphs on the sword began to light up. After a bit, the glyphs shined brightly and Loganel did as Meriath said, swinging his sword in the direction of the test dummy. As he did so, the Mana stored within the blade was released in a sharp compacted crescent that sliced the test dummy in half.

"This is..."

"My special gift to you," Meriath answered. "Something that you won't find in the rest of the world."

"This is great." Loganel thanked her.

"All done for today? Then start heading home then."

"I guess so."

Loganel and Meriath then reentered the shop, where Loganel exchanged goodbyes with the two elves prior to his departure.

"You're heading out tomorrow right?" Meriath asked. "Redgilus told me that you were unconscious after fighting the Cleaver. Be careful out there."

"You're worried about me?" Loganel asked.

"Nope," Meriath answered with a calm face. "Just don't want to lose a customer."

"Oh and," Loganel unsheathed his new sword. "When I saw it I was curious...Um...what does this glyph mean?"

"That? That's Elven for 'Stubbron Fool'. I think that describes you," Meriath answered.

"..." Loganel regretted asking. "But..ugh...we've only known each other starting yesterday."

"Only a fool would take on the Cleaver this early on in their career," Meriath explained. "And you're a stubborn one that didn't die after fighting the Cleaver."

"That simple?"

"Sorry," Merian chuckled, "but my sister is like that. Good luck out there."

"Thanks," Loganel nodded.

Then, he started for the door, turning his back on the two siblings as they watched him leave.

"Wait," Loganel stopped and looked over as he heard Meriath's voice halting him. "Just a quick warning. If you don't think you can win, just run away. There's nothing to be ashamed about that."

Loganel nodded after hearing her warning. "I know," the young man said before closing the door.

That day, Loganel left the store exited about being able to return to his old way of life. However, little did he know that the next time he would return to this store would be after a life changing incident.

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!! Please vote and comment if you've enjoyed!