"I see, in that case, I pick... the ohat looks like a machete," said Ax.
"That right there is a fal, good choice," said the dwarven man.
Ax picked it up and immediately weighed it, gently swinging it, expeg it to be much heavier than what it actually is.
"This is... one-handed, correct?" asked Ax.
"Yes, it is," said the man."I reend buying a one-handed sword. You already have a dagger and a gun; use them alongside your sword," the man tinued.
Ax gave him the s to pay for the sword, only left with two bronze s in his pocket.
"pared to the prices I've seen farments and some eleics, your ons are surprisingly cheap. How do you even make a profit?" asked Ax.
"Selling ons is the easy part; even the 'Ranker's Association' sells ons, not just local bcksmiths. However, we make the most amount of Totas from upgrading the very ons we sell," answered the man.
"I'll tell you more when you e back... ime," the dwarf says as he visually is Ax.
"ime? Why ime?" asked Ax.
"You'll know; just get going and sy a few more monsters and e back," answered the man.
"Alright, if you say so," said Ax.
"And before you go, here," the man says as he pulls out a leather scabbard for his fal and a small leather scabbard for his dagger from uhe ter, ying it on top.
"Oh, thank you," Ax said as he grabbed the scabbards and attached them around his waist, the dagger and sword both set on the left side of his waist.
"Perfect, you look like an experienced sum—never mind, just go already before I kick you out," said the man, demanding that Ax leave as soon as possible.
"Oh okay, damn, just say you don't want me here," Ax said half-sarcastically.
Ax repared, and after he walked back out of the shop, he stood there and thought about what he should do now.
He walked around for a couple of minutes, and he ran into a vendor who sold some fruits he didn't reize. The vendor himself was an elven man; he was slightly taller than him, and he was staring off into the distan a random dire when Ax was walking towards him, which he thought was odd.
"Uhm, hey, what are these?" Ax says as he points to a fruit in the shape of an apple, but it was yellow, too yellow and somewhat metallic.
The elf snaps out of it. "Hm? Oh, they are a mixed golden apple. You look new, so just know that these do not rot, and they are bred offshoots of the infamous Ieunn's golden apples. They have some healing properties," expins the man.
"I see." Ax thought about it; he wouldn't o buy the apples because he always es out fully intact when he loses a fight in the rooms.
"They are one bronze each," the elf added.
"Oh, I see. Then I'll take two," Ax said. After thinking about it, he doesn't have muyway, and since he's going through the door at one point anyway, he might as well stock up just in case he o take a bite.
Ax took the apples and walked away, thinking about how he should get bae.
As Ax made up his mind, the blue door appeared in front of him again. With the apples in hand and the ons on his side, he went through the door.
He was bae again.
It was 10 pm.
Ax took off his jacket and his scabbards and the gun, kicked them uhe bed, ao lie down and try to sleep. As he was lying down, he went through his phone again, looking at the tracks he had to py and looking up the location the venue was situated at.
He slowly drifted off to sleep; he was drowsy and fell asleep by 12 am.
...
He slowly started to wake up at 8 am, too cozy to eve up from his bed, but he mustered enough strength to sit upright, get up, and walk over to the bathroom.
He brushed his teeth properly for the first time in a while and washed his face with a facewash he didn't tou a long while.
...
As he walked back out of the bathroom, he grabbed his gig bag, his amp and effects processor, and his phone, and sat down on his bed.
He was using a 30lifier and a multi-effects processor his mom gave him years ago as a gift.
But his gig bag, that was the bag that was holding his electric guitar. It was a crimsuitar with a e finish; it was of a cssic Gibson-shaped guitar. It had four stickers on its body, each representing the different suits found in a deck of cards.
The Spade, The Heart, The Diamond, and the Club.
He was getting ready to practie tracks.
...
After two hours of practig, he took a break. The gig was in five days, but he was ready to py his parts at a moment's notice; he just o take it easy, after all.
"This'll be my first pr... in like three months, with them at least; I don't want to disappoint them," Ax muttered to himself; he wao make up for all the lost time.
Ax put his equipment aroperly and walked into the kit se of his apartment ahrough his fridge, which was now full of groceries, courtesy of Ace.
He grabbed two eggs and some bread slices, fried the eggs sunny side up, and overcooked them just a little to get the crispy texture he missed having, and toasted three slices of bread in butter on the same pan, making it just as chy.
He grabbed some tomatoes and cut them up into thin slices. As he put them to the side, he noticed that the bag Ace left still had some stuff he didn't sort into the kit; he rummaged through the bag and found some cheese slices.
"Eh, why not," he talked to himself as he grabbed two slices and walked towards the vegetables, fried eggs, and bread.
He grabbed a pte, put a slice of toasted bread on it, lettuce, a fried egg, and a cheese slice, and put another slice of toast on it, the a fried egg, some tomato slices, and another cheese sli top, finishing it with the st slice of toast.
Ax grabbed a seat by the kit ter, pced his phoo the side, and finally grabbed the sandwich with both his hands and took a rge bite out of this goliath of a sandwich he just made.
ch
An audible ch could be heard as he bit into the sandwich; the cheese melted slightly because of the eggs and toasted bread, the yolks popped in his bite, and the tomatoes auce just added to the fvor.
Ax audibly groaned with the first bite; he hadn't had a proper meal in a while, excluding fast food and the random cup ramen he would find in his cupboard.
As he was eating his breakfast, he went through his phone again, this time finally opening his Redbook messages. He then saw that the 'Presence' group chat was oddly active at this time.
He took a picture of his half-eaten sandwid sent it to the group chat with the text, "I'm alive, by the way."
"What the hell, man, I'm hungry now.". -Ace"That's what you focus on? Ax finally remembered his password; also, wele back, Ax!" -N
"ht, wele back, Ax." -Ace
"Oh wow, his picture finally loaded. What the hell, man? Now I'm hungry too." -N
"EXACTLY! THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING." -Ace
"Great to have you back, Axton Abanish." -Hamz
"He called you by yover name; you're screwed. Niowing you." -Ace
"Dibs on his guitar."-N
"I hate all of you."-Ax.
...
Ax put down his pte in the sink, did his dishes, a back to bed; he had nothing to do for the rest of the day, maybe practice a bit more. He wasn't sure.
But an idea crossed his mind: maybe he should go a his sword out in the rooms. He then got ready once more, pulled his ons out from under his bed, attached them to his side, and grabbed one of the golden apples he bought and put it in his hoodie pocket.
It was around 12pm now and he was free the entire day, so might as well try to gain some more Totas incase he o buy something else and explore Nexus a bit more.
He stretched, reached for his toes, and stretched his knees and arms.
"Maybe... I should make a stop to Nexus first and actually try to talk this time," he muttered to himself.
So he decided to go to Nexus instead, expeg the blue door to appear in front of him.
But nothing happened, so he focused on it, trying to will it iehing. So he decided to just walk into the rooms and worry about it ter.
With a simple thought he summohe bck door in front of him; he walked towards it, grabbed the knob, and turned.
He was fully prepared this time and fident in his ability, in the fact that he 't die anymore.
Little did he know what awaited him.
