An Assassin's Adventure: The Great Conjunction

Chapter 19: Vortex

"Come again, any time you like!" An overly enthusiastic voice sounded out as Hit rushed out of the tailor shop.

'Yes, quite eccentric, as expected.' Hit had managed to find someone who did not critique his fashion sense and was instead overjoyed to discuss garments that were out of the ordinary. The shop had been much neater and tidier than the previous one and was full of every style of clothing one could imagine.

A chill breeze ruffled Hit's new trench coat as he walked along: it was dark grey in colour and was left unbuttoned, revealing a form-fitting, dark cyan shirt underneath. The coat extended past his knees, revealing that his trousers were the same colour, held up by a belt with a gold-coloured buckle. He was currently wearing his armour underneath, their position in his backpack replaced by other sets of simple clothing he had also purchased. Stretching sounds exuded from dark-purple leather gloves, as he pulled them properly into place. Onlookers glanced at Hit, far more than once, demonstrating that he was finally beginning to look a little like his former self. Hit was looking forward to throwing the cheap rags from his village into the trash. Or maybe he should burn them?

Sadly, his coin pouch jangled far less than it had a few hours earlier.

'This leaves me with just 16,000 valis left. Segmented armour would have been nicer, but I can't expect such specialist items from random shops. I can commission an identical outfit later...when I'm richer.'

It pained Hit to spend so much, but it was a worthy investment. Besides, he just needed to kill a few hard armoured and he'd recoup the losses.

*r-ring*

A quiet bell sang as Hit entered his final shop for the day.

"Hm?" Hit faced a familiar woman: the Chienthrope that manned the Blue Pharmacy. For some reason, her ears drooped, and she looked rather unenthused when she recognised him. Hit ignored her, like last time, but quickly gathered five green potions and one blue vial, as well as some miscellaneous items for his dive, and placed them before her. "I will be purchasing these today."

'I may not have awakened magic, but I still want to see if the magic potion has an unusual effect on me. I would be kicking myself if I didn't try the elixir at least once.'

The sleepy girl quickly woke up from her drowsiness and raised her ears. Faint puffing sounds indicated that her tail was wagging, softly. "O-oh, thank you... that will be 11,700 valis...sir."

Hit crossed his arms and looked down at her, appearing far more menacing in the correct clothing. "I will be purchasing my potions here from now on. Would you consider 9,000 valis?"

Brown eyes narrowed as she realised that he was one of 'those' customers. "...11,500 valis...".

Hit tapped the counter, not expecting her to shoot up the price so much. "I'm not absolutely certain I will even be needing the magic potion. 10,000 valis."

Clattering and footsteps sounded from a small corridor to Hit's right.

"Naaza? Is someone there?" A friendly voice was drawing closer to them.

Shortly after, a handsome man walked into the room, medium length blue hair in a messy fringe. Bits of plant matter and flowers clung to his grey robes, suggesting that he was a potion crafter. Small blue eyes blinked at the intimidating boy. "Oh! Hello, I don't believe we have met. I am Miach, the owner of this shop".

Instead of shying away, he approached Hit, a genuine smile on his face. His colleague scratched her nails on the counter, as if she didn't want him here. "Are you a new adventurer? Did you need any assistance?"