Hugo shook his head. The hedge mage woman running away from the gang of kids wasn’t his problem. He wanted to learn more about them but he had five months to get around to that. He was going to have some fun first.

Since most fun things cost money, Hugo headed into the Blue Gauntlet to sell his sword. It was a large building with ornate stone columns and many entrances. Walking inside revealed weapons and armor everywhere. Counters housed weapons behind glass, and rows of them affixed to the walls. Full sets of armor stood in the corners. Some special items rested on pillars and covered with a glass case. Throughout the store, guards stood silently, watching the customers.

“Welcome honored customer. How may I be of assistance?” a nox attendant said.

Hugo flinched back. He hadn’t seen the little guy there. Normally he hated it when they snuck up on you like that, but today he actually wanted help. “Hello. I was looking to sell my sword here. Who do I need to talk to about that?”

The nox clasped all four hands and bowed as he said, “The Blue Gauntlet sells to those with particular taste in weapons. We only buy what we think our customers would be interested in. May this one inspect your sword to see if it might be something the master would like to look at?”

That was a very polite way to say they don’t buy shitty swords and he didn’t want to bother his boss until he saw the sword. Hugo nodded and unwrapped the sword. He had thought his creation was impressive, but now he saw it was on the lower end of what they had displayed around him.

The attendant looked over the sword and nodded once he saw the runes. “I believe my master would be interested in examining your sword, please come with me.”

Hugo followed the little nox through the shop. It was fascinating to Hugo, they had such a wide variety of weapons and armor on display. It was almost like walking through a museum. The daggers had a sign that said they could pierce dragon hide. The green gauntlets supposedly made the wearer stronger. That spear over there was literally floating in its display case.

The attendant stopped in front of a small side room. A human was working on a piece of armor carefully forming the shape of a pauldron. She wasn’t touching it all though. The bright red metal was just deforming under the pressure of her magics.

When the woman looked up, the nox said, “Master Gabija. This honored customer would like the experience of you inspecting her sword. Is now a good time?”

“Yeah, sure. I could use a break,” she said and took off her gauntlets. They were blue gauntlets, so Hugo suspected this was the owner. She gestured to a table nearby and said, “Put it over there and tell me what I am looking at.”

Hugo placed the sword down on the low table and said, “It’s a fairly standard arming sword. The metal is a titanium mithril alloy, four percent mithril. Sharpness rune on the blade, connected to the pool rune here. It holds twenty points of mana and is currently charged.”

“Maybe an arming sword for you, lass. It’s a greatsword for me. May I?” she said. When Hugo nodded, Master Gabija picked it up and swung it a bit. “Fairly expensive metal for a sword, but titanium makes it light enough to wield. Unique but useful enough.” She activated the runes and made a test cut. The sword easily sliced off a bit of wood from a broom handle she had nearby. “You wanna sell it to me?”

“If the price is right,” Hugo said. He liked Master Gabija. She was so casual and matter of fact.

“That might be a sticking point. It’s a fine sword. Perfect for somebody’s first runed weapon. But it’s big, too big for plenty of people. And there is no maker’s mark. That means the quality is unknown and buyers will be taking a bit of a risk. I’m not saying all of this to drive down the price, you understand? I just want you to be aware of the facts.”

Hugo nodded. Those were all reasonable points. He would make his next sword smaller. Maybe even a pair of katanas sized for nox.

“I can offer you forty-five silver. I don’t negotiate though. Forty-five silver, take it or leave it,” she said and set the sword down.

Frowning, Hugo considered the offer. It was simultaneously too much and too little. On the one hand, he knew that she would be selling it for several gold. On the other hand, forty silver was a lot for one morning’s work. Why hadn’t he been doing this before? It was ridiculous.

“Yes, I’ll take it,” Hugo said. A thought occurred to him and he continued, “Also, what do you want to buy? I am a formations and runic mage. I can create whatever you want.”

Her eyes went wide, “You have two domains?”

Hugo shrugged, “Yeah, it’s a new thing. Kills most of the people that use the process. Worked for me though, obviously.”

She stared at him for a moment and said, “Slap my grandma. That’s something new.” After a moment to think she said, “There is something I would love if you could create. Follow me.” She led him to another section of the store and pointed to a shield and hammer behind a thick glass case. She pointed and said, “I would give my eyeteeth to have a steady supply of these.”

Hugo walked up to the case and read the description.

Bastion’s Boon and Titan's Hammer

Weapons of the late Shatterfist. Adamantine Shield reflects damage and force. Titanium Hammer shatters solid objects on contact. Sold as a set. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

“Reflects damage and shatters objects? Those are some impressive effects. Do you know what runes create those effects?”

She shook her head, “No, and they are embedded deep into the metal. Last runist I had look at them said they didn’t recognize the runes. There are three of them in the shield and two in the hammer.”

“I am not sure if I can recreate them, but I might be able to create something similar, can I see them in action?” Hugo said.

“Do you think that would help? I hate getting them out, it’s a whole ordeal,” Master Gabija said.

Hugo shrugged, “I know some runes that might be what they are using here, and I have mana vision. It should only take a minute for me to tell you if I can help you. If it’s too much of a hassle though, I can make something else. I have made armor, crossbows, and spears too.”

“No, no. Everyone wants a shield that can stop the charge of the rock golems out there. And arrows don’t do shit against them so I definitely want warhammers,” Master Gabija said with a sigh. She gestured to the guards and the small room was cleared. Security doors were shut and an employee came out to help Master Gabija open the case and deactivate the security measures.

She slipped the shield on herself and said, “This one is easy to show off. Anything that hits the shield while it is active will bounce off. The harder it hits, the stronger it bounces back. None of the force is transferred to the wielder. Go ahead and punch it.”

Hugo activated his mana vision and lightly tapped the shield. He didn’t need to go flying so she could have a laugh. He recognized some of the runework. On the left was an impetus rune, connected to a modified pool rune. That was connected to a rune Hugo didn’t recognize at all.

“Does the shield use mana stones?” Hugo said as he tapped it a few more times.

“Yes, up to one a day if you are fighting hard. The rock golems are big and take a lot of magic to push back. I am told even riese have problems with them,” she said.

Nodding, Hugo felt like he knew what was going on. The mana stone directly powered the impetus rune, that fed the modified pool rune, which in turn sent the mana and force to the third rune so it could send the attack back. He didn’t recognize the third rune at all, but he knew the lingua.

“Ok, let’s see the hammer,” Hugo said.

“This one is kind of messy to test. Make sure you look closely. I am only doing this once,” she said. She slowly brought the hammer down on a rock the employee had brought with. As soon as it touched the rock, it splintered into dozens of pieces. Some of those pieces flew up and hit the hammer and were splintered again. In less than a second, rock dust hovered below the hammer’s head.

Hugo wiped dust out of his eyes and said, “Good news and bad news. Bad news is that I can’t help you with the hammer. It uses a lingua I just don’t have access to. Good news is that I can make the shield. I can give you a shield that will stop anyone in their tracks, pretty easy. If you give me a few hours with the shield, I can fully replicate it.”

Master Gabija put the shield and hammer back in the case as she talked, “I would certainly love it if you could give me both, but I will take just the shield. Bring me your shield that stops people in their tracks first, and then I will trust you enough to spend some quality time with Bastion’s Boon.”

“It’s a plan,” Hugo said. He collected his forty-five silver and headed back to his hotel. Along the way, he bought some street food. It was a schnitzel and mushroom skewer. He ate the whole thing before he got a block away and had to turn around and buy two more. They were fantastic.

As he walked closer to the hotel, a human saw him and crossed to the other side of the street. Hugo smirked. It was the human that harassed him earlier. Smacking that rude man across the street had been fun. He was in the mood for more fun.

At the hotel, he walked up to the attendant and said, “Hello Aria, I am going to stay here at least two more nights.” He slid over ten silver and said, “I assume I can keep the same room. I would also like to go to the casino tonight. Where can I buy a dress appropriate for the casino?”

“There are several places nearby that can provide a dress for you, my lady. What type of dress were you thinking of?” Aria said.

“I am not particularly picky about fashion. I just want to look stunning,” Hugo said.

She smiled, “In that case, I know just the place. One moment while I get someone to man the desk.”

A short while later, Aria was personally leading Hugo through the merchant district. Hugo could see that this section of town was slightly different than how most other cities worked. Instead of the housing and production and sales all being separate districts, it looked like people lived above their shops and produced their wares in the same building.

Eventually they walked into a small shop with a big impact. Bolts of fabric covered every wall, vibrant colors that begged to be seen. A small human woman sat behind the counter, sewing.

“Baba, I have a customer for you. She is someone with a sense of style and purpose. She wants to look stunning. Can you help her out today?” Aria said.

The old woman looked up and said, “Can I help? Of course I can. I can do anything. Hurumph. Pick out a fabric and tell me what style you want.”

“Actually, I was hoping you had some recommendations on that front, Baba. I am willing to wear whatever you give me as long as I look stunning. Not sexy, just someone to pay attention to,” Hugo said.

Baba sat up and gave him a genuine smile, “I can make that happen.”