Arc 1, Chapter 17: Like Kids in a Candy Store

The bell at the door dinged. Windows open, the shop filled with antiques and magical items to the brim—they had to duck around certain parts of the shop. Paintings browned and old, fuelless lanterns exhibiting a glow.

"Ah! Customers," a short man, old to the bones wearing a white tunic and a brown vest, climbed down from a step stool near his counter. His walking stick clacked against the wood to approach the four entering his shop.

"Hello, I'm Hotaru Kinoshita-"

"The Amazing ASOBI!" Asobi interrupted, introducing herself with a flick of her wand and glitter spraying through the air. Fumeko finally put the map down and Jotou stood back.

"What? You don't wanna introduce yourself?" Jotou side-eyed Fumeko, surprised she didn't slam the table or yell out her name.

Fumeko glared back, "I sense some hostility."

"Where d'you get that from detective?"

"Ooh, what's this?" Fumeko yanked off Jotou's hair tie, letting her blonde hair fan out all around her.

"Give that back!" obstructed by blonde strands she reached for Fumeko.

"Nope!" she stuck her tongue out, using it to tie her own her into a better ponytail, quickly, "I know how to use it better."

"Not you too…" Hotaru sighed looking back at Jotou.

Her eyes widened, "I didn't do anything! Ask insecure chest size over here."

"Hey!" Fumeko punched Jotou's left breast. Jotou felt electrical shocks in her hair warning her of the attack; but it was too late as Jotou huffed out all her breath, leaning forward.

"Ow…"

The old man squinted at all of them, before his eyes widened, "You must be the adventuring party that saved my shop last night!"

"How could you tell…" Hotaru had her eyes glazed over.

"Come, come, tell me what you'd like to purchase; I will offer a great discount!" he walked back to his counter, while three of them went forward.

"One moment," Jotou rasped, putting a finger up. 'Why right there of all places…? Ow.'

_

They gathered around the counter, while Asobi whirled around the shop, looking for things to catch her eye.

"I asked for which party solved my problem just this morning. Thank you so much," he gave a wrinkly smile.

"Our pleasure. We came here to find out if these three have affinities. Asobi get over here!" Hotaru looked for the whizzing elf.

The man nodded and his smile faded. He went beneath his counter, pulling out a thick and tall board that had tiny runes written all over on the coffee-coloured surface—focus in his eyes. "This costs two silver, but it can be free, I don't mind."

"If I'm not mistaken sir, you don't have a magical affinity. We'd hate to burden you by not paying," Hotaru recalled the commission details.

"Nonsense, you kept my shop still running! I slept peacefully last night; I insist," he requested Asobi's hand to be placed on top of the board.

She giddied up in a hop, positioning it in the middle. The old man knocked his walking stick against the board and specks of purple dust sprayed out from it.

The dust shaped around Asobi's hand, flowing around her black painted nails before the dark purple dust turned into white liquid and seeped into the board.

"Let's see," Mr Baregout clicked a button; pistons ejected and lines revealed along the height of the board mechanism, like layers of cake.

The white liquid seeped into the second tier and he pulled out the board out from below like a drawer. The white fluid centred upon one of the runes, glowing, "Light," he uttered.

"Yay! …Is that good?"

"There are no good or bad magics young lady, just magic," the old man relayed.

"Then yay!" Asobi began shooting out sparkling lights from her wand.

Jotou nudged Fumeko and pushed her attention towards the board while Asobi moved away. Fumeko looked over, eyes shifting; she sighed, taking a step, then another… eventually placing her hand on it.

With a knock and some dust, the liquid went blackish-violet and seeped down the fourth tier, "Shadow," he announced.

"See, I don't- Wait, what now!?" Fumeko's eyes went wide, staring back and forth, before jumping her head forward onto the board; she was unable to read the rune the liquid stopped on.

"Maybe you shouldn't give up on your dreams no matter how impossible," standing next to her, Jotou stuck her tongue out.

Fumeko took her hand away, staring into the lines of her palm, "I… I, have an affinity…?" she muttered to herself.

"Now, let's see the last one," the man tapped against the board. Jotou's hand fell onto it. The liquid went bright yellow …sinking down several tiers. Hotaru peeked over from the shelves she was searching.

The man raised his eyebrows, shifting the board to release the board from below, "Lightning…"

Jotou noticed the stare from the shopkeeper, "What? Did it calculate wrong or something? What's wrong with lightning? It sounds pretty… cool."

"Nothing, it's simply rare," the man began shutting the boards.

"There's rare within the extremely rare?" Jotou took her hand away.

"It's abnormal to have four people with affinities in my little shop to begin with!"

"Even the rare has its rarest Jotou. Water, light, shadow, earth, fire? These are somewhat common elements for affinities," Hotaru's tail wagged, "Lightning, Frost, Psychic, Void? Those are the truly difficult ones to find."

"Maybe that's why the velatos are harmed by her," Fumeko theorized, her gaze never shifting from her palm.

"Now! We just need to find out what your exact abilities are! Try doing a trick Jotou!" Asobi hopped up and down.

'Lightning huh? Weird why I have that out of all things. How the hell do they cast magic again?' Jotou closed her eyes, "Thunderbolt!" she shouted with a hand out.

…

Nothing happened.

"Maybe the box is busted," Asobi poked it with her wand.

"I assure you it's not," the man hurriedly got into the back rooms, whilst Jotou stood.

She shifted her pose a few more times, shouting out, "THUNDERBOLT! …Maybe I need both my arms out?" Jotou attempted while Asobi encouraged from behind. Hotaru waited for the shopkeeper's return.

He brought back sets of scrolls, "These can teach you various spells that might fit your true affinity," Jotou opened one of them while the man explained.

The diagrams showed sketchings of a person in motion, with various spells named and illustrated on how to cast, "These will run you about… two gold… I will say."

"I'll take them," Jotou smiled. 'Learning magic!? Hell yeah, I'll take them!' She placed two gold on the counter and bunched the scrolls together.

"Meko?" Jotou called as she finally glanced away from her palm, "Wanna get some scrolls to train with?"

"I'm, good for now actually," Fumeko's voice was as haunted as her face.

"Suit yourself."

"Can you examine my wand please?" Asobi placed her wand on the table.

"Examine? Sure," the old man closed his eyes, holding the wand in his hand as he puffed out dust from his walking stick… "This… is just as stick…" he gave it back.

"Hmm!? No! Master Zayexiwovu gifted it to me! He said there were dozens of enchantments on it!"

The blonde's eyes narrowed, "Did he say what enchantments?"

Asobi put the wand to her chin, "I don't think so, he said it was "Super Enchanted"!"

…The other three shook their heads or rolled their eyes. "He's legally untouchable and ugh! I swear, I hate conmen," Hotaru walked around the room, grabbing boxes of tea.

"Those are five silver per sachet, each box comes with ten of them, so five gold for the box," the man told, making Hotaru contemplate… "But, if you take four boxes, I'll say ten gold would be fine."

"Certainly a bargain," Hotaru took four, putting them on the counter, using the party funds to pay.

"What's the tea for?" Fumeko enquired.

"This is mana-cooling tea. I thought I'd train either of you with the basics at least. This'll make it go smoother if you've never done magic before. It stabilizes the flow of mana for better casting efficiency."

Asobi stared at the wand she now knew to be a stick, flicking it around, "Was it just in my head…?" she uttered to herself.

"It's obvious, isn't it? You don't need a wand," Fumeko replied.

"Oh! I might have something," the man leapt down from the steps again, rushing to the back. They could hear till the outside, boxes shifting if not falling over before he returned with a rectangular box.

Asobi leaned in close to the invasion of dust. He opened it, presenting it to her like a sword… "OH, MY, YES!!!!!" she picked the wand out of the box immediately.

The glossy black wand ended with a white tip—a true magician's wand, "How much is it!?" Asobi held it in both hands.

"Let's see, the actual price is twenty platinum. It has mana efficient enchantments and also increases how far you can cast your spells.

In other words, around three spells for the mana cost of one when casted through that wand and can cover a bigger area, as long as it's a low level spell that is," he told.

"Oh…" Asobi frowned, feeling the pieces of copper in her blazer pocket, "I can't afford this," she sighed and her entire body slumped down.

"I'm willing to let it go for fifty gold," the man added. Asobi jumped up in excitement.

"Sir, we appreciate the generosity, but we don't want to be the ones to save your business and end it," Jotou put her hand up.

"End it? Pffft! That old wand's been in my inventory for decades. Nobody bought it, might as well clear some stock. Don't worry about me miss," he waved his hand.

"Then, Hotaru!?" Asobi turned.

Hotaru nodded, "It's within your budget; your whole budget to be exact-"

"I'll take it!"

'Show a toddler a toy at a store and they'll never let it go…'

The three left the store, new items in hand, "You can teach me lightning magic?" Jotou asked to Hotaru.

"No. We don't even know what under lightning you have. Could be healing which maybe I could help with, otherwise I can definitely help teach you some basics I learned myself."

Asobi, waved her new wand around, threw it into the air, poked Hotaru on the shoulder. "What else did we have planned for today?" Jotou queried.

"Nothing really."

Fumeko spotted a restaurant in the distance, "That's the one on the map! Can we have lunch there? Please!!!" she pointed to a red building with a black roof.

"Training after lunch can be arranged," Hotaru smiled to Jotou.