Mira didn't know if she was still drunk or if her lack of sleep was finally catching up with her. The air in her shop always smelled like steel and oil, but now it carried something else too. Something electric. Something that made her instinct twitch.
She leaned against the counter, watching the girl handle the greatsword like it weighed nothing. That sword was supposed to be a joke. Not literally, but close. It was one of those blades meant to be admired, not swung. Too heavy for the average person to lift, let alone swing.
Yet here was a girl who could swing it around like it weighed nothing.
Her shop wasn't meant for walk-ins anymore. Not serious ones, anyway. It was half scrapyard, half museum, full of half-finished projects and blades no one wanted. The kind of place people passed by without noticing unless they were desperate or lost.
The girl hadn't looked lost. She had looked disappointed.
Her friend, the quiet one, was staring at the twin blades Mira had mounted above the till. Their hilts were plain, wrapped in leather worn from age, but the aura around them still hummed faintly. A 'final legacy from their family's teacher' is what her grandfather had told her many years ago when she asked him. And as a legacy, she didn't advertise them nor did she ever plan to sell them.
She had actually expected the pretty boy to storm out of the place in a huff when he was rejected but he was surprisingly calm and graceful about it. Yet her attention was drawn back to the red haired little Miss with the expressionelss face.
Mira squinted at the girl as she slung the greatsword across her back who in turn stared at the man who accompanied her. White hair. Nice coat. Pretty face. Probably one of those rich guys who wanted to show off to his new girlfriend how wealthy his family is.
She crossed her arms. She was not gonna be impressed by him and she planned on making him look like a fool.
"That thing's junk, you know," she said flatly. "Blade's decent but the weight is nonsense. Made it years ago just to see if I could. Not for actual use. And the balance is awful. Ten thousand gold."
Jayden blinked. Cain raised an eyebrow.
He then looked back at Jayden who now had sparkles gleaming in her emerald eyes.
Cain tilted his head a little and turned back. "Sounds a little cheap for what it is."
Mira froze.
The words hit her like a slap and a warm bath at the same time. Her lips parted slightly. She stared at him, caught between offense and flattery, and then snorted. Praising her like that was both unexpected and totally unfair.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, sweetheart," she said, coughing once into her glove to hide the way her mouth twitched. "Price is the price."
Cain reached into his coat and pulled out his card. When he set it down, Mira made a noise in her throat and ducked under the counter.
There was a brief clatter of metal, a loud thunk, and then a sharp cough cough COUGH followed by the scraping sound of something heavy being dragged out.
Jayden stared.
Mira emerged with an antique card reader covered in dust, scratches, and what looked suspiciously like dried blood on the corner.
Mira slammed the old reader on the counter with a grunt and started blowing into the slot like it was a relic from a forgotten era. The machine groaned as she plugged it in, lights flickering like it was waking from a long sleep.
Cain hesitated.
Jayden leaned in slightly, watching with the same intensity she'd given the greatsword.
Mira gave the machine a sharp smack. The screen blinked once. Then again. Finally, a green glow flickered to life.
"Well, I'll be damned," Mira muttered, rubbing her soot-streaked arms. "Still kicking."
Cain slid the card through.
The reader let out a strained beep like it hated being alive. Mira crossed her arms, her breasts threatening to spill out from the tight bandages in the process as they waited. She bit her lip, trying not to show she cared. This was the first time someone was buying anything she had made in months.
The seconds stretched.
Approved.
Mira blinked, then straightened with a small smirk. "Pleasure doing business." She tapped ash from her cigarette and flicked it toward a battered metal tray. "No refunds. No complaints. If the sword breaks your back, that's on you."
Jayden immediately glared at Cain and growled "No biting it!"
Cain gave a faint awkward smile as he did his best to ignore Jayden's remark. "That's more than fair"
As Mira turned to start wrapping the sword, Cain's fingers brushed his chest, feeling a sudden warmth pressing against the necklace hidden beneath his shirt.
It had been quiet since the dungeon. Almost dead. But now the metal was hot. Almost as if it was burning up with rage.
Cain froze for a moment before finding it unbearable. He qucikly pulled the necklace free from beneath his shirt and held it up on the palm of his hand. The metal glinted, catching the dim light in the shop.
Mira's eyes locked onto it almost immediately. Her cigarette trembled between her fingers, and she took a sharp breath. "Where did you get that artifact?" Her voice was low, tense.
Cain's expression hardened. "It's not for sale."
She shook her head vigorously. "I've seen a design like that before. One of the few things left by my family's founder—"
A cold, angry voice echoed suddenly inside Cain's mind, cutting through the air like steel. "Vulcanus Prima. The Hero of the Forge. One of my disciples."
Cain's eyes widened in shock. The voice belonged to Gaius, his mentor from the abyss, the one he had thought lost forever.
Mira's words continued outside his thoughts, but Cain was caught between the weight of the name and the unexpected return of the voice in his mind.