The market row turned out to be more of an arcade of sorts – a small alley that was covered by a low transparent canopy. Sean wondered whether it was to stop the rain, or maybe to create a 'shopping mall' feel. He hoped it wouldn't start raining: the low clouds in the sky seemed pretty thick. There were lots of shops on both sides of the narrow alley: big and small, fancy labels over their entrances, and all kinds of gear showcased in the storefronts. Sean wondered how they were handling deliveries – a simple cart would block the whole passage! Maybe the items were made on the spot? Or perhaps they simply 'spawned' on any purchase…
Emma led the way into the first store with robes on display. She stopped a couple of steps in and stared. Sean put the candles out and stored them in a pouch at his belt, then followed Emma inside and glanced at what caught her attention: a large crate with assorted clothes, labeled on the front: 'BARGAINS!'
"What. The…" She trailed off.
He began, "Well, it looks like a dump bin. Maybe there's some kind of sale or like a–"
Emma had reached into it in the meantime and retrieved what appeared to be leather underwear – not even briefs, just skimpy panties… though sturdy-looking, at least. She was carefully pinching the garment as if it were toxic and now cut in: "What. The. Hell!"
Sean glanced at it, then smirked and suggested, "Huh! Maybe… Barbarian's outfit? Or, I mean, Berserker – the new name."
She dropped it back into the crate and raised her voice: "But what the fu–"
"Oh come on!" he interrupted. "Don't you remember how instructor Bruce said they have to wear… battle-bikinis, was it?"
Emma stared at it for a couple of seconds, then shook her head and declared, "That's it. We're out. No cosplay." She had already turned around to leave.
"Wait, where are you…" Sean started but didn't stop her – instead he argued, "Come on, it's not– Nobody's asking you to wear 'these,' and I'm sure– Hey, let's check out the robes section – there has to be something less revealing." He managed to keep his voice steady, but couldn't stop himself from smiling. He had half-assumed the 'battle-bikinis' weren't real – or that the name was an exaggeration – but seeing it now…
She finally stopped in the doorway for a moment, sighed, then turned to him with a glare and threatened, "Fine, but if there's even one 'sexy-healer outfit,' then–"
"But nobody's telling you to buy or wear anything indecent!" he cut in. "And I'm sure we can find– Come on, let's take a look around." She only fumed, so he added, "Did you avoid shopping malls because they had a Savage-cringe inside? You don't have to buy anything too revealing, and these aren't even for your class, so there's no need to–"
"Fine, whatever!" she broke in and walked past him, back inside the store.
Sean sauntered after her and glanced into the bin… it also contained skimpy bras and some sandals, all in different cuts and sizes. Berserker class was clearly not very popular. Once past the bargain crate, he explained, "They have to wear these, otherwise their skills don't work. I think. The Berserkers, I mean. But there's no need to overreact or–"
"Yeah-yeah-yeah!" she cut in and looked around. The place was small, but not cramped. All kinds of gear hanging on the walls, display cases featuring various cloth and leather armor sets, some staves and wands, daggers. The wares seemed caster-oriented, maybe also light armor for ranged physicals? But no bows or thrown weapons. Sean remembered Aiden's darts, but figured this probably wasn't the right place to ask about that stuff – though they had been pretty handy in the sewers…
"Where do we– Where's the stuff?" Emma wondered out loud, confused.
He began, "You mean all the robes on display? You can–"
"Sure-but… which ones are for Healers already?" she interrupted and sighed again. There were a lot of choices, and she was in a hurry. Sean glanced to one side: there were two players inside, maybe he could talk to them – one had a tag on: lvl 6 Mystic… of course.
A male voice asked from the other side: "Good day, adventurers, how can I help?" Sean turned in that direction and saw a young-ish NPC – he wore local clothes and sported a rather fierce beard. Nothing excessive or outcast-like, but six or seven inches – it was quite something! Especially since most locals didn't seem to have one, and barely any players did.
"Yeah, where's some stupid cosplay I can wear?" Emma asked the shopkeeper. Sean frowned – Emma must've noticed it since she promptly corrected: "Or Healer robes, whatever."
"Certainly, I can help you with that. If you follow me this way…" the bearded NPC offered and motioned to the back corner.
"But something like a starter–" Sean tried, but pivoted: "I mean, simple enough? We don't have a lot of cash… or currency, or uhh…" Emma rolled her eyes.
"There is a variety of garment options suitable for any budget," the local infodumped on the move. "If you're searching for a suitable kit to begin your adventuring journey, then–"
"Okay-okay, but no need for exposition !" Sean interjected.
The NPC stopped and turned to him, waved at a selection of robes hanging from the wall, then suggested, "One of these should do, maybe you can–"
"Whatever!" Emma broke in and examined the outfits.
The bearded man merely took a step back. Sean wanted to ask him about gear details, but wasn't sure how to phrase it to avoid infodumping. One of the other players shouted from across the shop, "Yo-NPC! Could use some help around here!" Sean looked that way… two guys, neither of them was Black. Sean assumed they must've grown up in the ghetto – or maybe had listened to too much rap. Or perhaps they were simply making fun of the shopkeeper?
"If you'll excuse me," the local said with a nod, then left.
Emma asked after a second, "Soo… which one?"
Sean stepped over to take a closer look. The cloth garments on crude wooden hangers looked all the same. Different cuts and colors, maybe even fabrics too – but all fairly simple robes, plain cuts, no symbols or fancy decorations. They had price tags attached: thin leather slips, about palm-sized – and the numbers ranged from just under a silver to five, eight… One cost a dozen silver – probably beyond what he brought with him. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the coins: nine… ten silvers.
Sean tried, "I don't know, I should've brought more–"
"You're not going cheap on me, are you?" Emma accused.
"What? I, uhh…" he hesitated, then exhaled tiredly and countered, "Wait, I thought you didn't care about 'stupid cosplay' ?"
She shrugged and went back to her phone. Sean looked at the outfits again: they looked decent enough, no mini-robes or otherwise sexy-anything . But he also knew about their bet, and Emma might be just petty enough to hold him to it – provided there wasn't a meaningful improvement in her mana situation. He wished there was a magic orb like in the lecture – so he could use to manifest some UI popups for quick comparison, or to learn that the cheapest robe granted twelve percent increased mana regeneration, while a more advanced one gave thirty-one.
Sean shook his head at that last thought. It had been oddly… specific. The numbers and the stat – had he merely hallucinated them? The whole thing felt super freaky, like… almost as if he knew… or did he? How could he! Then again, how could he have known Santiago's last name – or thought he had, yesterday. He had already forgotten: was it G… something or… Didn't matter.
But what else could he do to pick the best choice? Emma was busy typing, so he looked at the NPC – it seemed the man was done with the players in the other section, so Sean raised his hand and tried, "Excuse me? If we could…"
The bearded local nodded and approached to ask, "What is it that you require assistance with, adventurer?"
Sean cringed at the phrasing and complained, "There's no need for infodumping or… Anyway, what's the difference between cheap robes and more expensive ones? They all look kinda the same…"
"Certainly, I can outline the differences between various apparel options," the shopkeeper explained. "We are currently in the support section. Therefore, most of these robes provide–"
"Okay-okay, but specifically…" Sean cut in and sighed. He wondered if an instruction to the NPCs to be brief and succinct could work – but for now he focused on that weird thought: "Is there any way to find out, say… how much increased mana regeneration this one provides?" He pointed to the robe priced at five silver.
The local nodded and stepped to the wall without a word, then lifted the price tag – or rather, he rotated it. There was a whole list of hand-written notes on the back side: dyed wool, light-support, small CDR, +1/3 MReg, no MDef, and 'flexible.' Sean figured these meant cooldown-reduction and some kind of magic-defense. But 'MReg' couldn't possibly refer to increased mana regeneration…
The bearded NPC began, "As you can see, the robe is made from–"
"Yes-yes, we can see all that," Sean interrupted. "But what's the 'flexible' label… and uh, also the 'M-Reg' ?"
The local answered, "Of course, the flexible label means that the outfit doesn't incur any movement penalties – but doesn't provide any movement bonuses either, unlike certain nimble-enchanted armor types. And M-Reg refers to a bonus to mana regeneration, so it helps with–"
"Yeah, that's pretty self-explanatory – thanks!" Sean cut him off and… shuddered slightly. '+1/3 MReg' … so basically a match for the thirty-something percent he must've hallucinated. It felt like some kind of strange deja vu or, even weirder, a premonition? No, it must've been just a lucky guess! He looked at the NPC and remarked, "Thanks, that's very helpful – but no need for you to… hover."
The shopkeeper nodded and walked away. Sean started examining the labels while Emma kept scrolling and typing on her phone. A new player entered and asked about some gear. The two guys bought something and left. Then a whole group of four players entered – but luckily they were all focused on the offensive section of the store. Probably Mystics… Sean assumed.
He reviewed all the options he could afford, and the price progression was rather steep – but it seemed worth it. Out of curiosity, he also checked a fancier robe worth a dozen silver: it had by far the best stats, a healing bonus, and also slight magic defense! He noticed a more ornate vestment valued at nineteen, but didn't want to even look at its stats… There were eleven robes within his budget, and he finally settled on the one for eight silvers – it had no CDR, but a whopping +3/7 MReg. Almost as much as the dozen-silver one, which promised a whole +1/2 – or fifty-four percent, if his hallucinations were to be believed. Sean could feel them when he focused…
But he finally waved to the NPC and asked, "Hey, uh… I don't suppose I could get a discount or maybe 'a bargain' …" He wasn't sure if bringing up the dump bin by the entrance would help or not. "The thing is, I only have ten silvers and I'm still trying to–"
"Of course, I can offer you this one for ten," the local interrupted, pointing at the dozen-silver garment. "Your friend could certainly use some proper attire."
He chuckled at the NPC's assumption it was for Emma… then again, her Earth-clothes made it rather obvious. Sean wanted to clarify that he meant maybe lowering the eight silvers on the other robe to seven – because he still wanted to buy a better weapon for himself. But this offer felt awfully tempting: two-silver discount for much better gear.
Emma glanced up from her screen, then snorted and resumed scrolling.
"Alright," Sean said. "Where do we sign– Or pay for it, I suppose? Or wait, is there a changing room or…"
"Payment at the exit, and changing rooms are this way." The shopkeeper motioned to a short hallway in the back of the store, then added, "Let me know if you need more help." He turned away.
"Wait, do we– Do I take this one, or is there some stockpile? How does this work?" Sean followed up and glanced around. It didn't seem like there was any stash of robes anywhere – other than what was already on display.
The bearded man answered, "There's only one – but we get new deliveries daily. You can take it off the wall." This time Sean nodded, so the NPC promptly left and attended to the new customers.
Sean grabbed the dozen-silver robe from the wall. It seemed decent enough, light-blue with subtle yellow decorations upon closer examination – befitting a pricey vestment. He offered it to Emma. She stared at it for a moment, confused – or maybe annoyed? Sean explained, "In case you weren't paying attention: here you go, way more than I can afford, actually – thanks to that nice NPC giving us a big discount. Unless you'd rather try the bargain bin?"
She rolled her eyes and complained, "It's just f**king cosplay!" – but she took it and headed to the changing room. So she was paying attention, after all!