Return of the Woodcutter

**** BONUS CHAP****

"Define durable," Ainar said.

"The kind that won't break until I clear the Tower," Aito replied.

"Boy, no matter how good the armor or weapon, if you don't know how to use them, they will break before you might clear the Tower."

Aito noticed the minerian's addition of "might" which meant Ainar didn't believe in his success, but he simply brushed this detail aside.

"Like you said before, that's my problem.'"

Ainar shrugged, then pointed at the racks of weapons, armors, and a few magical items spread around his stall. "I've got everything there. Of course, the more expensive the item, the better the quality."

"No need, I want tailor-made ones."

Tailor-made equipments were better in general than those crafted for the purpose of selling in a shop. The reason was simple; it suits its user better. An armor, like a shirt or any other cloth sold in a store, would never fit Aito as perfectly one that was tailored to his body and needs.

Unless he was extremely lucky, but luck wasn't Aito's forte these days. Dumped on a deserted island to survive three months. Do the bidding of a certain divine asshole. Being hunted by a bald maniac thirsting for revenge.

That bastard, Sam, had sent someone to spy on him on the third floor while he was training. Aito had noticed his presence a few days ago. And now, the same guy has been tailing him since he had left the training grounds early this morning.

'Yeah… this situation smells as bad as Jack's feces.' He thought, thinking that the sect members might prepare an ambush for him somewhere on his return trip to the third floor.

"Tailor-made, hum?" Ainar said, rubbing his bumpy chin. "Sure, but do you have the TPs?"

"How much?"

"That, I don't know." Ainar said, shrugging. "You've yet to tell me what you need."

During the past few days, Aito had the time to think about the new equipment he wanted. With Gwen's training, the inherited memories from Ogoro, he had come to know more about weapons and armors than he ever had before. Which didn't necessarily mean he was an expert—far from that, actually.

However, thanks to that, he knew what he wanted and promptly explained it to the minerian.

A new set of steel armor because the one Sam had kindly provided to him was uncomfortable.

"Is it possible to make it resistant, comfortable, easy to equip, and keep the maneuverability high without sacrificing the defensive aspect of the armor?" Aito asked.

It was a question he had tackled quite often during his warm-ups. His current full plated armor barely allowed him to lift his knees past the waist.

The armor also hindered movements of his shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Not by much, but such minute details could sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Moreover, climbing the Tower clad in a medieval armor would be uncomfortable. For example, he couldn't quickly take it off for relieving himself. It was also a pain in the ass to suit up alone.

"High maneuverability and defense. Hum, that's quite demanding considering I do not have as many materials and tools at my disposal as I would in my shop outside of the Tower." Ainar said.

Aito sighed, disappointed.

"Still, I can craft you a comfortable, easy to wear balanced armor set using the trash you left in my stall before and a few other materials I have here," Ainar said, showing a tattered armguard. "Furthermore, if I use the materials you provide, it'll cost you fewer TPs."

'The trash?' Aito thought, remembering his viking armor set he had forgotten in Ainar's shop before. Originally, it was due for a repair, but if he could use the material to craft a brand new set and lower the cost, all the better.

"Sure, if you promise me it'll be durable," Aito said.

"Of course it will," Ainar said, slightly lifting his chin to show his pride. "If you're not satisfied, I will refund it."

"Deal," Aito said, smiling at the poise shown by the minerian.

"Anything else, boy?"

"Yes."

Aito wanted a round steel shield large enough to cover at least half of his body. It also must have a good grip and a strap he could use to wear it on his back when needed.

"That much is easy, what's next?" Ainar said.

He also needed a pristine one-handed bearded ax, which was an ax with a beard-like blade specially made to hook an opponent's shield and pull on it to create an opening. It could also be used to hook other types of defensive means, like an armored arm or even a weapon.

By searching Ogoro's knowledge on weapons for one that would suit him the most, he had determined the bearded ax to be his destined partner—at least when he was using a one-handed weapon.

As for a two-handed weapon, he already had one. However, it had been damaged by Sam when they fought near the Mall's fountain. So it might need a little repair. Aito then thought back to the morpho weapons he had seen which gave him an idea.

"Is it possible to craft a morpho of a one-handed ax transforming into a two-handed ax?" Aito asked, his eyes glinting with hope.

Ainar scoffed, "Of course, but it'll be more expensive."

"How much in total?" Aito said, hoping it wouldn't exceed his budget of 10000 TPs.

His training would cost a total of 83000 TPs.

Thirty thousand TPs from Gwen's coaching. Around forty-eight thousand TPs in sixty recovery beads and seven thousand TPs in mana beads—which fortunately were much cheaper, considering Aito's mana beads were of inferior quality.

Then there was the cost of the three thousand TPs' worth of food and four thousand TPs of inventory bags.

Aito counted on the daily training quest that would bring him three thousand TPs by the end of thirty days to buy the necessary supplies he would use to climb the Tower.

Which left him with 10000 TPs to spend right on equipment. In a nutshell, he was almost broke and hoped his budget would suffice.

"Hum, let's see," Ainar said, rubbing his chin while speaking cut sentences. "The armor set. You provided some of the materials. Hum. This minus that. Since it's tailor-made. Hum. Added value. 15000 TPs. The morpho-ax? 10000 TPs. Plus the shield. 2500 TPs. So a grand total of 27500 TPs. Anything else you want to add, boy?"

Aito's mouth was wide open, threatening to fall to the floor. He had guessed that Ainar's equipment would be expensive, but not that expensive.

"What's wrong, boy? You will not complain about the price, right? You thought I would be cheap because I'm located in the bazar district? Know that it's called a bazar because you can find anything here, be it weapons or prostitutes, not because everything is cheap, well the zone was cheaper to rent. Oh, or was it because I only charged you 200 TPs before? If that's the case, know I've only done so because the rock had picked my interest."

Aito found his "blabla" on point, but there were too many "because" to his taste. It was true that he had seen a lot of services and merchandise in this area, bed-warming ones included. 

"Honestly, I can't pay for all of it. My budget is only 10000 TPs." Aito said, ready to kiss goodbye to the armor set and shield in favor of the morpho ax.

Ainar stared from his 1.40 meter heights behind his counter, which apparently served as a workshop too. "If you're hoping for a discount, my answer is no."

"No, of course not," Aito replied.

"Good," Ainar said, with a severe-looking face before his gaze settled on the Ancient Shard. He then rubbed his chin, appearing to be ruminating. "There might be another way for you to pay me."

Aito's eyes widened with surprise as a new hope arose. "I'm all ears."

"Here's what I'm offering," the minerian said, placing his hand on the shiny silvery rock. "I'm very much interested in studying this metal. But to do so, I would need tools crafted from this… thing. Considering it's a one-of-a-kind material, it could be said to be rare and thus expensive. Do you follow me, boy?"

"I see where you're going," Aito said, nodding. "But I cannot give it to you."

The minerian intended to keep the stone for research purposes and also use it to craft new tools. Its unique properties would certainly bring unique tools. However, in Aito's opinion, it wasn't worth 25000 TPs. The rock's peculiar ability to regenerate meant Ainar would possibly have an infinite amount of supply of it. Which, honestly, wasn't worth twenty-five thousand TPs.

"I did not mean handing it to me, boy," Ainar said, shaking his head. "What I want is keeping the rock long enough to study it, and your approval to craft myself some tools with pieces of it."

Sensing an opportunity to gain more than what he has ordered, Aito said, "Hum, considering the rock's extraordinary property to violently repel aura and the possibility of it being the only one in existence, I'd say your demand is worth over 25000 TPs, don't you think?"

Ainar scoffed, then grabbed a piece of charcoal from under his counter and chew on it. Compared to other races, minerians could eat rocks and minerals of all kinds. Ainar had a habit of eating when frustrated or grumpy—which happened quite often in Roan's company.

"Did that scrog of a merchant tainted you with his shady ways?" Ainar said, swallowing his food.

"Who?"

"Never mind, let me make you another offer," Ainar grunted, shaking his hand to brush the matter off. He then walked to a weapon rack, grabbed a small crossbow, and came back behind his counter. "Here, I've seen you staring at it with a fanboy-like expression earlier."

Ashamed, Aito looked sideways, grunted, but took the item anyway. In his hand, the crossbow felt comfortable, perfectly balanced, and heavier than expected. Probably four or five kilograms. Taking into account the fact it measured barely a little less than forty centimeters long, it was indeed considerable.

"It's called a Repeater, a standard military small crossbow used for short-ranged targets by archer classes," Ainar said, then pointed at the wooden magazine located under the foregrip. "Of course, since I made it, it's of better quality. It can hold up to forty bolts thanks to the four inventory beads inside it. Compare to the usual ones, it's capable of firing two bolts per second instead of one bolt per second. At point-blank, it could even damage steel armor. Hit the same spot two or three times and it'll pierce through steel. Now, try to infuse mana into the grip."

Intrigued, Aito did as he was asked. His mana traveled into the grip, it then spread to the magazine, entering an inventory bead to free a bolt that got automatically lifted by springs to the flight groove as the crossbow's string was pulled and lock on the latch. Just like that, in less than half a second, the crossbow was ready to fire.

Aito's eyes sparkled with interest as he thought about using the weapon to practice marksmanship using Ogoro's memories. 

He'd continue to wield axes as his main weapon, but like a certain quote said: "having more than one string to its bow, is always better than one."

In other words, being able to use more than one weapon was helpful.

Then ensued a bunch of blabbering and haggling, with both parties trying to determine the fairer price—meaning what could be more advantageous to one another. 

At the end of it, Aito exited the shop with a content expression under the gaze of a grumpy minerian, which he was supposed to meet here at the end of his training in 23 days. 

His joyful mood, however, was soon sullied by the grim reminder of someone following him around, announcing an incoming storm.