Meres Visits

He lifted the coffin and moved it out. 'Where should I go now? Oh, maybe I should get weapons and armor now that everything I had is gone. I even lost the sword while I was falling.'

Dives went off in a sleek carriage. The carriage read [powered by mana by plugging a hand into the hand-shaped hole in a circle and turn the hand to turn the circle and the wheels. Two others were waiting in the car and just before the door closed he could see Dives shaking his head.

Zeeth went off to the hunters association. The one thing he did have was the spatial bag Avery gave him to hold. He was hoping to meet them there and figure out what to do. All four of them were found at the reception telling the woman behind the counter, "we did kill them, I'm telling you we killed a bunch."

"I'm sorry, ma'am I need to see the bodies."

"I told you, the dungeon caved in and they were lost! It's not our fault."

Zeeth walked up to them, surprised at his luck. It usually didn't work so quickly. "Hey, guys."

All four of them turned to him, staring in disbelief. Reya was the first to run up to him and hug him. "Thank you so much for saving me, I heard about what Russel did, I'm so sorry for passing out, I hate heights I thought I was going to die!" She wailed.

"It's alright," he awkwardly told her, patting her back. He didn't know what he was supposed to do in such a situation, having lost his memory and never remembering such a situation. "By the way, I have the bag with our first monsters but I lost the rest."

"Oh, thanks!" Diane exclaimed.

"Never mind that, why are you carrying a gold coffin with you?" Avery asked.

"Who cares, show her the monsters, we need to know how much this will get us."

"Guys, let's calm down, people are looking at us…" their fourth member said. "By the way, my name's Aroc."

"Right, I've never met you before." Zeeth handed the bag to the woman and shook Aroc's hand, still in the suit of armor. But the helmet was taken off and he could see Aroc had pink hair and a very soft face.

"Aroc is the cutest member of the team, he is our mascot!" Diane hugged him from behind.

"He?" Zeeth asked. In all his experiences, men had sharper faces but his face was much softer. 'There are a lot of people in the world.'

Aroc blushed and tried to put his helmet back on but Diane stopped him and rubbed her cheek against his, squealing, "Aroc, you're so cute!"

"This is 5550 Styrs." the receptionist told them. "Would you like to split this five ways?"

"No, Russel- oh right. Russel's. Gone." Aroc mumbled

Reya Blurted, "He was a jerk."

"No, he wasn't!" Aroc declared, "he was a good person, he taught me a lot of things!"

"He pushed us into the hole to kill us."

"That- he said he tripped!"

"Aroc, we all know that was a lie. He was jealous." Avery said. She took the spatial bag back while the body of the horned wolf, large slime skin, bloody alligator, and lizard were all put on a conveyor belt leading into a wall. He heard the swish of a teleporter and the smell of blood from the creatures mellowed out.

He took his part of the cash, 1110, stored with his other 750 Styrs and left it with the association, wanting to wait until he got his things back to take the cash.

"That wasn't him, he was better than that."

"Aroc, he may have been helpful to you since you were a boy and he didn't treat you like us, but he was a pervert. He was only with us for so long because you like him. He may have been like a brother to you but he was a scumbag to us. Don't you remember, when he first thought you were a girl, he tried to touch your butt?"

Zeeth left them after sorting out his money, not wanting to get mixed up in their mess. The last thing he heard was, "I still don't want him to be slandered even in death, he's already dead, just leave him be." and Aroc angrily stormed off.

The first place he went was the weapons and armor shop all while trying to figure out what to write in his book. The storefront showed off many suits of armor and matching weapons in the window, the same ones he mentioned in his book, but the actual store was multiple stories tall and housed some of the fanciest stuff around, prospering greatly from the vicinity it had to the Hunters association. It seemed like a mall, there were many stores with the Hunters Association logo and next class designs in their products, but there were also many individual sellers showing off their own items, usually of lower quality or messier. He looked around at a few of the items and it seemed that most of them had no magic imbued or badly made circles etched in.

The floor beneath them, labeled U1, was much less crowded, people looked richer and more well off, they were selling better items but there were fewer sellers and buyers here. They began looking more like what he made, some of them even surpassing his items, but still, nothing really caught his attention. He tried going down another floor but two bald, burly people in thin metal armor stopped him. They grunted, "Only for authorized personnel."

He went back to the U1 floor and began really looking at the items. People in glowing armor and fancy clothing watched him with aversion. Sellers followed his hands cautiously and they were all thinking the same thing, 'this poor fellow will try to steal something.'

He stopped in front of a Hunters Association store and stared at something. It was a large sword with a circle he had never tried before. The owner, a thin man with a similarly thin mustache, looked down at him as he bent down to stare at it closer and thought, 'Ugh, he's in front of my store. Look at his dirty brown robe, when was the last time he took a bath? He better not try to swipe anything, everyone's watching.'

"What does this circle do?" Zeeth asked. He tried checking it with God's Eye but all it said was [Unknown Circle]. It seemed there were limits, it could easily tell him the strengths of humans but there were many things he had to learn himself if it wasn't living.

"That sword will cost 1000 Styrs, sir," he said.

"Okay… but what does the circle do?"

The seller sighed and said, "sir, are you sure you would like that one?" but he was thinking, 'Gah, he better not touch anything, I'd have to wash it off. Why can't he just go somewhere else, does he want to blow his entire monthly wage?'

"No, I don't know if I want to buy it, I want to see what it does," Zeeth replied, slightly annoyed that he was avoiding the question for some reason.

He stared at the sword and Zeeths hand with his narrowed eyes, "The circle allows you to add a gravitational push on the sword upon activation in the direction the edge of the blade is facing."

"Oh, awesome. Gravity circles." he was spending his time trying to memorize the placement of the circle so he could try it himself.

'Just letting you know, all these people feel disgusted and distrustful of you.'

'What? Why?'

'Probably because you look like you just climbed out the sewers and want to steal something, I can't blame them. You look disgraceful for someone of your strength.'

'That's harsh, this robe was a gift and a magic tool.'

'They don't know that, you look poor and like a beggar.'

'Hey, would you be able to make this?'

'I only know the basics. I never spent too much time learning how to make magic weapons, tools make people weak and over-reliant on temporary items that could be lost at any time.'

Zeeth asked, "can I test the sword?"

He eyed his arms and legs and noticed they were in fact muscular. He was probably a simple hunter with some strength and his sense as a salesman told him to at least try and sell the sword so he took out two brown gloves and said, "Please wear this glove before handling it."

Cina came down the steps and saw Zeeth's back and tried to walk back up the stairs but two others, Puq and Luka were coming down the steps and she didn't want to go back in case it made her look weird so the three of them came down the steps and saw Zeeth. Puq held Luka back from greeting him and simply watched.

Zeeth put on the gloves that he thought fit nicely with his robe, and picked up the sword with surprising ease, lifting it far higher since he expected it to be heavier, especially for a sword that was meant to use gravity and weight to crush opponents. He swung it down and activated the circle, feeling the gravitational pull yanking on the sword. He definitely felt its power and it was something quite substantial, but with some random material he could find in the City of Swords, he could make something better for such a circle.

The sellers were surprised he didn't let go of the sword upon activating the circle. Most people would have trouble handling such a sword on their first try, but having been trained and held up to the standards of an ancient sage dragon, he was much stronger than a normal human. He thought back to his tough times with Afir all of a sudden and remembered the near trauma he had trying to escape his deadly blades of wind and unpredicted punches. Almost every night, he was bloody and bruised, but Afir had somehow always fully healed him by the time morning came. At first, he thought it was a blessing but it turned out to be the greatest misfortune of his life, he could always be healed enough for another terrifying day of "training" and painful near-death experiences.

But he must admit, it was the fastest he had ever grown and the most helpful time of his life for his future endeavors.

He put the sword back and took the gloves off. "Sorry, it's not what I'm looking for."

"What? A 1000 Styr sword isn't up to your standards?"

"Hey, peasant." Someone said. It was a tall fellow with a clean-cut and orange hair a lot like Cina's. His expensive armor and shield along with his demeanor easily showed to others that he wasn't someone to be truffled with. Or in Zeeth's eyes, a narcissistic asshole. "This place isn't for the poor, you best get out of here before you keep lying your ass off."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion."

He checked him with God's Eye and he wasn't anything that great either. He was slightly stronger than Puq and only his armor was impressive.

His massive shield, his only weapon, read [Arnold's Shield. Durability: 1198/1250 Defense:1380. A shield adorned with high-class gems. A phosphorescent shield that can be used as a compass and designed specially to parry attacks.]

While his full suit armor said, [Arnold's Armor. Durability: 1700/2500. Defense: 700. Made for ease of movement during the battle, its defense is low although the great craftsmanship and magic increase its durability greatly. Phosphorescent and can grow a pair of decorative metal wings.]

"Listen, if you can't afford 1000 styrs, you're better off on the first floor. Don't come to bother us here, you're unappealing to look at." A few other customers and even some brave sellers chuckled at his joke, his smirk turning into a confident grin.

Luka jumped in and told him, "don't judge a book by its cover. He can easily take you on."

The simple phrase sent Zeeth into a volley of memories, flashes of entertainment like music, movies, games, and books flashed in his mind, he remembered watching comedy shows and amazing books of adventure and thrills, so much of his cherished memories he didn't even know he had all came back to him.

When he came back, he looked around and finally noticed Luka, Puq, and Cina. Arnold also noticed the three but focused only on Cina. her long orange hair, pretty face, and beautiful eyes mesmerized him, he couldn't stop looking. But Cina was only looking at Zeeth, disregarding Arnold.

Zeeth started talking but a guard interrupted, "do not start a fight here."

"What's this about a fight?" someone asked. Coming down the steps was someone, a short man holding a large suitcase that looked like it was holding a long guitar. It was Meres, Page's grandpa, coming down.

"Meres?" Zeeth asked.

"Zenith. Interesting name choice. Don't start a fight here, people don't like me here."

"What are you doing here?"

"Here to check up on you. Make sure you didn't run away."

"Why would I do that?"

"The skeleton isn't having as easy of a time as you are."

Dives burst from the stairs, staring at a beeping disc. He glossed over Zeeth and stared at Meres.

After a few seconds of shock and slight fear he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, Dives. I'm not here to fight, just here to check up on this kid."

"Uncle Dives, can you ask this filthy bumpkin to get out of here if he isn't buying anything?" Arnold asked.

"Arnold, don't get involved."

"What? Uncle! What do you mean?"

"Arnold. Stop being rude to customers. Another word and you'll be banned for a week." Dives said stiffly, still staring at Meres. "Come with me downstairs. Zeeth, come along."

He made sure to take a long look at sellers and Albert and grinned as their jaws dropped. "He knows Dives?" one whispered.

"And he's friends with someone Dives is scared of?"

"What the- but he's filthy and probably poor."

all the merchants and customers looked at each other in fear. Dives had completely blown off his own nephew for this man and he was chummy with someone who scared their big boss, Dives. who was this man that they had just angered?

He hopped down the stairs after Dives and Meres while Luka and Cina were glaring at the sellers.

"Meres, why would you come back?" Dives immediately asked upon entering the room. Beyond the guards and closed doors was a room full of packaged boxes and wrapped items. A few unwrapped items lay sprawled on tables and glowed magically.

Meres said, "I told you it was to see the kid. I'll be leaving in a minute."

"Meres, you are not a welcomed man here. Please leave and never come again, things will get violent if you try something."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?"

"Meres. Please just leave before my father finds out. This city will fall if he sees you here."

Zeeth looked between the two of them and then at all the scattered boxes and items. Anything that was unwrapped was of much higher quality than anything on the two other floors. Round shields that spun at incredible speeds to increase defense and attack, wands and staffs that strengthened magic attacks, circles carved for unknown functions.