Chapter 23: Urban Hunting

"So, a Leshy tried to conscript you to plant trees in the forest?" Dimitri asked, as the two of them were waiting outside the changing room.

Dimitri had chosen some hiking clothes for Jack, enough to load at least three shopping baskets, and now they were waiting for the man to make up his mind on what he wanted to wear.

"Not tried. Did," Nikola told him. He had learned his lesson from Tangra. Knew that being asked was just a formality.

"And what are you going to do? Go around the forest and healing the trees?" Dimitri asked, but there was no disbelief in his tone.

Both knew that Nikola was going to do just that if he needed to.

"Something along these lines," he said, as he looked at the bag with the seeds they had gotten from the agricultural shop earlier. "I think we will need to summon another Selkie."

"Why?" Dimitri asked, as Jack finally came out. He looked like a hiker, and not like a squatter — now.

"I think I like this one," the ghoul said, as he took his wallet out of his old clothes' pocket. "But I will keep my clothes as well."

Dimitri thought better than to try to pay. Nikola didn't say anything, either.

Soon, they were going down the streets. Dimitri leading them.

"Honestly, I should have taken you to Emily earlier," the blonde said, as they rounded a corner. "Back when you first unlocked your powers."

Nikola nodded absentmindedly.

"Things happened," he countered.

They finally entered a dimly lit shop. There were cauldrons on display. Crystal balls. Blue charms for luck.

Nikola considered it to be a tourist trap, and not a normal establishment.

"Welcome! Oh, a druidic shaman!" The girl behind the counter exclaimed as soon as Nikola walked through the door. "Do come in! I have just the thing for you!"

Nikola blinked. Would everyone recognize what he was at a first glance?

"Emily, don't scare my soulmate by uncovering his secret like that. We are here for some books and some crystals," Dimitri said, as he eyed the wares on offer.

"You are not here for blood?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raised.

Dimitri smirked and clapped Nikola on the back.

"I have a donor," he told her, as he left Jack and Nikola by the cash register and then began to pile up a shopping cart with goods.

Nikola was also looking around. There were some masks in here.

"Do you also buy stuff, or do you only sell?" Nikola asked Emily.

"I buy them, sure! If they are magical."

"So, golden masks from goblins and black pearls from sirens will be something you buy as well, right?" Nikola asked. If he could get rid of the masks and the pearls, which were in his backpack, then he was willing to give it a try.

"Masks from goblins? Pearls from sirens?"

The girl whipped around so fast that Nikola worried that she might fall over. "Show me!"

Nikola placed the backpack on the counter and began to take out his bounty.

Soon, the girl was totaling up the worth of each item he was willing to part with.

"The pearls are not magical, but I think I can make some charms out of them! And the masks are perfect for making curses!"

Nikola blinked. Curses? A part of him didn't want to contribute to something like that, but he was certain that if he did not, he would soon run out of money.

"Ok, all in all, I can give you a thousand dollars," it was unfair, Nikola thought.

It was time to haggle.

"The gold of the masks alone is worth five times that," Nikola protested.

"Oh? A tricky seller? Yes, it is. But there are curses on the masks. I can't melt down the gold! But you are right, the masks are worth it. How about two thousand?"

Nikola furrowed his brows.

"I can take my stuff elsewhere," the old walk out tactic was used.

Unluckily for him, though…

"Good luck. This is the only magical shop in town. The next one is two towns over. And believe me, Arnold is going to ask you where you got these things from."

Nikola looked to Jack for support. The man was playing with a riffle.

"How about this," Nikola said because he honestly didn't believe that he was going to get his money's worth from this shop. "If I can pick anything I want from your store. Anything at all. You will give it to me in exchange for this treasure."

Emily smirked, thinking that someone who had never been to her shop was going to fail.

"Sure! Go and browse! I will be taking these to the backroom!"

She began to bag the loot.

Nikola went from display to display. Trying to find something that would be useful in the long term.

Until he saw it.

He blinked once when he read: Bottomless Bag.

The description stated that he could put just about anything inside. It looked like a normal leather messenger bag.

Easy to carry, from fine leather.

There was no price shield on the display.

Nikola took the bag and went back to the counter. Even if the bag was not something he could really stuff to the brim with loot, it was still of good make.

When Emily saw the bag, she bit her bottom lip.

"Man, can't you show mercy? There are about four of these in the entire world," she tried to reason with him.

Now Nikola understood why there was no price shield on the bag.

It was priceless.

"Won't you hold to your word?" Nikola asked, as he pushed the bag to the cash register. "Think about it, if I have a bag where I can stuff everything, then I will be able to bring you more loot!"

Emily looked at Jack, who was now taking the magazine out of the riffle, then at Dimitri, who was throwing stuff in his shopping cart without really thinking much about it.

She opened a PDF file on her computer and then printed it.

"I will give you the bag, if you agree to become my official supplier."

Nikola knew that the woman was going to hound him to hell and back if he didn't agree.

He smiled.

She had played herself.