The Red Morning Weapon's shop was one of the more popular shops in the entirety of Seacrest City, enough to be a landmark of its own. It was opened a long time ago, apparently by a person who had returned from the 8th Carriage to live out the rest of his days in peace.
He had brought back a variety of weapons, allowing him to open his shop within the city. Those weapons accelerated his popularity, making his shop one of the most well-known shops in the whole city.
Jax arrived at the shop around evening, right as the sun went past the horizon. The salty sea breeze filled his nose, and a storm brewed far in the north. It looked to be a strong one.
There was a bit of a crowd, with people streaming in and out of the shop, coming to buy new weapons or fix one they had damaged during battle.
Walking in, soft light glowed around the room from incandescent bulbs placed all around. Multiple young men and women wore light blue garbs, standing around helping the customers.
Jax was taken aback by the sheer size of the place, as well as the many pieces of equipment ready to be sold all around it.
From swords to spears, to bows, to daggers, to scythes—everything was there. Jax even saw armor placed around the location. He felt at his ribs, feeling the slight ache from when the snake had hit and broken them today. It might be a good idea to get armor for himself, even just a leather one.
"Not bad," Gemma claimed. "They have some good stuff. I expected worse from the 10th Carriage.
"Let's look for something great."
He walked around the shop, looking at each weapon, but he didn't know which one to choose. Instinct told him to get a sword just for the slime alone, but he wasn't as fond of swords from what he knew.
There were other weapons he rather preferred, like staffs. Unfortunately, he didn't see any good staffs, so he could only search for anything else that would work.
"Would you like some assistance?" someone walked up to him at that moment—a staff member.
Jax turned toward the woman. "Oh, yes. I think I might need some." He was overwhelmed with options.
"What precisely are you looking for?" the woman asked.
"I'm not really sure," Jax said. "I want a weapon, but I can't tell what it is I should get."
"I should be able to help you with that. What weapons do you commonly use?" she asked.
"Daggers and knives, but I don't think I'm comfortable with those. I need something with more force and range," Jax said.
The woman nodded. "And what monsters precisely are you getting them for?" she asked.
"Any," Jax said. "I want to be ready for anything that comes my way."
The woman became thoughtful at that moment. "Something with force and range," she muttered. "That would mean spears, halberds, glaives, poleaxes. And if you are okay with it, whips and chained scythes too. Which one would you like?"
"Uhh... can I just look at them first? I don't know most of what those are."
"Certainly," the woman said and took him to each weapon.
He immediately ignored spears. He had tried them in the training area, and he was aware that he didn't like them. He moved on to the rest, checking each one to see how comfortable he was. Finally, he landed on the poleaxe.
The poleaxes on display had a point at the top like a spear, but it also combined an axe and a hammer on either side, making for a terrifying weapon. The entire thing was on a six-foot-long pole, which gave him around eight to nine feet of range. He could attack many things without getting too close to them that way.
The thing he liked so much about the poleaxe was that he felt instinctively good with it. He held the shaft, understanding why the staff likely felt the closest.
"Do you like it?" the woman asked.
Jax nodded. He was happy that the price for the poleaxe wasn't that high either. It was 10 stones. He could easily afford it right now.
"How sad. There are no weapons with attributes or spell slots here," Gemma said. "Those would be good ones to buy."
Jax paused. "A what? Attributes and spell slots?"
"I haven't explained those, have I?" Gemma asked. "Attributes are like the property of your weapon. Imagine a weapon that deals additional burning damage, or a heavy weapon that is lighter. That sort of stuff," Gemma said.
"There's such a thing?" Jax asked.
"Your threads have an attribute too, don't they?" Gemma asked. "It's similar."
Jax thought for a moment and nodded. Wind threads were invisible and weightless. That was technically an attribute too.
"What about spell slots?" Jax asked.
"It's a slot in the equipment where you can place spell stones," Gemma said. "Lets you use spells through that weapon."
Jax was a little stunned. "You can use a spell through a weapon? How does that work? Would I be able to?"
"Of course," Gemma said. "But don't expect much from them. The only spells that can be created are spells that warriors learn on their own, something sorcerers can never learn from anywhere else. So most of the time, it's just the warriors using those weapons anyway."
Jax was very clearly interested in all of that. "Who makes these things? Do you kill monsters to get them?"
"You can get them through monster skills, but Runemasters can also do it."
Jax cocked his head to the side. "What's a rune?"
"It's like a mark made by a warrior with a rune-making spell. Forget about it for now. Just focus on your weapon. You want that poleaxe, don't you?"
Jax didn't like that she changed the topic so quickly, but he did need to focus on what was in front of him at that moment. The poleaxe was of great quality, so purchasing it would be the right choice.
However, something held him back. After a bit of thought, he looked at the woman before him and asked,
"Do you have an axe here?"