Chapter 67 Yes, A Pleasure.

  The Sales building of the Smiths’ Guild was simple but far more impressive on the inside than it was on the outside. The simple but effective construction of the exterior of the building belied the magnitude of iron held within. Rows upon rows of swords, spears, axes, every kind of strange polearm imaginable, maces, flails, daggers, shields, over-armor plates, plate armor, chainmail, buckles, hinges, fittings, door knobs, and everything in between positively suffused the interior of the building. It was so packed that the circular racks could hardly be seen under the mound of weapons packed atop them. One of the walls was covered in small buckets that were each filled with different kinds of small items, like the daggers, hinges, fittings, and buckles.

  Surprisingly, there were only around a dozen shoppers walking about checking through various racks or buckets for whatever they were in need of. Just inside the door there was a rogue with eyes sharper than the stiletto knives in his belt. The stool next to him and his guardsman uniform proved that he was, in fact, supposed to be there and it drove home the point that only a thief could spot a thief. The guard nodded to both Isaac and Lenna as they entered but his eyes never left one specific patron. It looked to Isaac and Lenna like the guard was just waiting for the patron to try to take something so he could pounce on him like a fat cat on a baby mouse.

  Isaac and Lenna looked around at some of the more normal swords closer to the entrance for a minute or two before they decided that nothing in the front was going to be able to handle Lenna’s abuse. The duo approached a small waist high wall that separated the back quarter of the building from the front. There was a desk on either side which made a checkpoint to prevent common shoppers off of the street from having direct access to the truly high quality gear. Apparently only people who had an actual form of identification, from any of the major guilds, or a sealed and signed letter from a noble house or recognized merchant group could enter. Isaac and Lenna’s double platinum Adventures’ Guild badges were more than enough to get one of the gate guards to switch from that role to salesman in a blink.

  “Thank you for shopping with us, Lord of Darkness, Lady of Hellfire, it is truly an honor to host not only one, but two such as yourselves.” The middle aged man gave them a standing bow. “If you would tell me what you are in need of, I am sure that we have it here, somewhere, or if you are not in need of anything specific, you are more than welcome to browse.”

  The back quarter of the Sale building was much more organized and every item had its own rack or sealed glass case depending on the quality and price of the item. Each item also had the name of the smith who crafted it. “A longsword for my Lady.” Isaac told the salesman. “It must be strong enough to clash swords with an adamantine club wielding ogre. If it so much as deforms, then it is not strong enough.”

  The salesman rolled with Isaac’s declaration well but it was clear that he thought that Isaac was asking for something a bit, but not overly so, unreasonable. “I will take you to our Sub-Legendary sword section. We only have two Legendary swords for sale but one is a one handed short sword and the other is an executioner style blade with a curse and a blessing that makes it unusable for an adventurer.” The salesman explained.

  “Well, for my curiosity’s sake, tell us about the legendary swords while we walk.” Isaac told the man and motioned for him to lead the way.

  “The first one has had many names. Apparently it changes what it is called depending on who wields it, but the fact of the blade is that it glows brighter the more the wielder is in danger. For someone like me, if I were to wield it while someone like you were both right next to me, and wanted to kill me, then it would be blindingly bright. If I were to be out in the wilderness and come across a lone wolf, it would shine bright enough to cast my surroundings in a soft glow but little else. The sword also has the ability to reflect the imparted force of a blocked attack when the wielder is truly about to die.” The salesman explained. “We are selling it for eight hundred thousand gold, if you are interested.”

  Isaac shook his head. “It is interesting, to be sure, but it is not a weapon for either of us.” He replied around the time that they reached a rack covered in longswords. Each longsword was enchanted with vastly different effects and many of them were coated or made of various metals. There was even an ironwood sword that had been enchanted with nothing more than nine levels of self repair. It was a training sword that was still heavy and sharp enough to be used against real but unenchanted steel blades in a pinch. Isaac left Lenna to begin reading through each of the swords that looked like they were the right size and weight for her, and turned his attention back to the salesman. He did this partially because he was curious, but also because he knew that Lenna wouldn’t want someone like the salesman watching her every move while she tried to pick a new sword. “What about the other one?”

  “The Parting Gift.” The salesman actually had a name for the second blade. “‘When this sword I do lift, I wish this sinner’s life as a gift.’ It is quite the sword, though also even more unreasonable. The blade will not exit its sheath unless it is going to be used in an execution. If it is not used in an execution, returned to a sheath or scabbard, or is used to kill in any way other than an execution within one minute, it will take control of the person attuned to it and use itself to lop off their head. It also won’t let itself be drawn unless there is someone attuned to it who is also the one drawing the blade.”

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  Isaac’s eyes went wide in surprise and Lenna stopped perusing the stock of swords in order to bring her full attention to bear on the salesman. “How?” Isaac couldn’t help but ask. That just didn’t make any sense based on what he understood about magic. A spell that was capable of causing someone to kill themselves had to also be one of the easiest ones to overcome based on just mental fortitude alone.

  “The curse.” The salesman explained. “The curse is sated by ‘the blood of one condemned’. Once the blade has been satiated, the blood of the slain will be used to heal the wielder and bolster their strength until the power of the blood runs out, the sword is stowed, or it is used to kill one who was not condemned. That is ‘The Blessing of Blood’."

  “And how much is that being sold for?” Isaac wondered.

  “We have not had the weapon for very long so it is still at the opening price of one million gold. The longer we have a weapon of Legendary quality, the lower the price will get until someone finally purchases it or it reaches the minimum price of five hundred thousand gold. At that point, it is not uncommon for high nobles or royalty to purchase the weapons simply for the clout associated with owning a legendary armament.” The Salesman explained. “Of course, if you would like to purchase it now, I am sure that we could offer a slight discount courtesy of this being your first time shopping with us.”

  “I think we will take you up on the first time discount but we will not be purchasing either of your legendary swords.” Isaac informed him.

  “We will, however, be purchasing this one.” Lenna said and rose to her feet. She had been kneeling on the ground where a relatively unimpressive looking sword had been resting on a shelf at ankle height. It only took one look for Isaac to be sure that it was adamantine.

  “Ah, the Steel Breaker.” The salesman began. “It was originally a concept piece. Apparently, Hredda Ferrisblood had the idea to make swords for the dwarvish royal guards that were capable of sundering other swords and armor alike. The enchantments add more weight to each swing but at the cost of also making it harder to swing in the first place. It has no sharpening enchantments but does have the hardening enchantments to stand up to ‘an adamantine club wielding ogre.’ as it were. It is generally unwieldy, though for someone of your caliber, I suppose you of all people would be able to find a way to use it effectively. The core of the weapon is lead and the rest is solid adamantine. The blade cannot be damaged by normal means but also cannot be repaired by anyone with a forge colder than an ancient dragon’s breath and the patience of Mother Gia herself.”

  “That’s fine.” Lenna replied. “It is heavy, sure, and it’ll take some time to get used to the horrendous balance, but this is a weapon that I will be able to keep even once my new sword is finished. This will be my sledgehammer for when my pickax won’t work.” She told her husband. “I want it.”

  Isaac smirked. “Alright, how much is it?” He asked the salesman.

  “Three hundred thousand gold.” The salesman replied with a smile.

  “You said it yourself, this is a weapon that no one else will be able to use effectively. On top of that, if that is really something that she wants, then I can always have one commissioned that also has a self repair function for when it inevitably needs to be sharpened. That slab of adamantine doesn’t sharpen itself, does it?” Isaac countered.

  The salesman had slipped up. He was still in the mindset of talking about weapons that were technically for sale but wouldn’t be used by the duo that he hadn’t even thought about how his own words could be used against him. And even if he had, it was pretty obvious to anyone who knew anyone that the Lord of Darkness and Lady of Hellfire were positively rolling in platinum coins. They shouldn’t have had a reason to haggle. That was, unless the Lord of Darkness was one of those rich people.

  “What kind of price did you have in mind?” The salesman asked Isaac.

  “One hundred and fifty thousand.” Isaac perfectly cut the price in half.

  “That is far too low.” The salesman stated. “In lieu of what you have so skillfully pointed out, I believe we can lower it to two hundred and seventy thousand.”

  “It is worth little more than scrap for everyone else. How long has it been sitting there gathering dust?” Isaac questioned but only got a frown in response from the salesman. “One seventy five.”

  The salesman couldn't entirely hide his wince. Isaac was not raising nearly as much as he had hoped. The worst part was that Isaac was right. The sword had been there a while and no one was willing to both spend a fortune and risk their lives on a blade that was so unoptimized for swordplay that it had been thrown out by the dwarves of all people. “Two hundred and fifty thousand is breaking even for us. I cannot go any lower. That is the price for a ‘Nearly Legendary’ weapon.”

  “I can have this exact weapon made for one hundred thousand.” Isaac told him. “I could have Eliza Thane handle the enchanting for seventy thousand and just about any decent smith with the right tools will be able to make this for thirty thousand gold or less. We can pay double that simply because we need a sword for the short term but Lenna is an elf and is also very patient.”

  The salesman turned to look at Lenna who shrugged and moved to put the weapon back. “Fine! Fine. Two hundred thousand gold.” The salesman relented.

  “Good.” Isaac held out his hand. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

  The salesman took his hand with a wince. They had lost money. He wasn’t lying when he had said that two hundred and fifty thousand was the lowest that they could go without losing money. The previous Chief of Acquisitions had paid the exorbitant price for the weapon at an auction two decades ago and had only found out later that the reason the price had kept climbing was because his competitors had been bidding on the weapon in order to drive the price up as high as was reasonably possible. “Yes, a pleasure.” The salesman grumbled. At least that godsforsaken sword was finally off of the shelf. The reason it was so low to the ground was because none of the cleaning staff could move it around with any manner of ease. The weapon just felt like a lead pipe filled with more lead.

  In the end, Lenna walked out with a new and very quirky sword, Isaac saved a bunch of money, and a certain salesman had silently vowed to never let Isaac get one over on him again.

  Amaranth Serentia V'Nova Wexler