The buildings in the underground market were placed together in a congested way. They all had very different colors and designs, but when joined together, they created a fantastic yet harmonious sight.
Angor walked on a path where different shops stood on both sides. There were too many people that he could not help bumping into their shoulders now and then. It was unimaginable that the town above their heads was peaceful with sleeping residents.
Smith shops, grocery stores, bars… Angor’s eyes felt a bit sore when he finally noticed a tailor shop.
This one was crowded with people as well. Most of the customers were female. Angor squeezed his way inside. Before he could talk to the shopkeeper, he noticed that there were only ladies’ clothes hanging on the walls and inside display cases.
“May I help you with something, Mister?” A young lady with a round face walked to Angor. She was blushing for some reason.
Out of instinct, Angor responded with a gentle smile. He then answered in a careful voice, “Do you only sell women’s clothing here?”
The lady was astonished by the question for a moment. “No, sir. We also have male customers. But our designer mainly makes clothes for young women. If you do request so, you can also place an order.”
A fashion designer? The clothes aren’t made by an alchemist?
“Do you have any wizard robes here?” Angor asked.
“We have the base models here. You can choose a color you like and ask for custom pictures on them. Have you heard of ‘Night Witch’? Her robe was made by our designer. It’s called the Lute of Night.”
Angor did hear about such a character. Night Witch was taken in as an apprentice by ‘Philosopher of Night’ Kaylar thirty years ago, and she was now a level-3 apprentice who was about to break through soon. Sailum once mentioned her, since they had the same mentor. But unlike Sailum, Night Witch received a golden poster from Kaylar.
The young saleswoman found a design paper from a counter and handed it to Angor.
Lute of Night was a violet all-cover robe decorated with layered trimmings. The series of tassels and black diamonds gave the robe a really luxurious look.
But it looked overloaded. There were extra sutures everywhere.
The saleswoman waited patiently as Angor checked the design. A group of witches nearby kept glancing at him and hinting something at the saleswoman, who blushed harder and waved a fist at her friends.
“How do you like it, sir? I did say that our designer prefers clothes for ladies, but he should have no problem making a male one and helping you look cooler.”
“This is nice,” said Angor as he admitted his impression. “But I see too many strings on the robe. Will they affect the effects of runes?”
Or maybe the strings contain runes in them, so they are both pretty and practical?
“Runes?” The saleswoman was taken aback a little. “You mean runes used in alchemy, Mister?”
Angor scratched his hair. He forgot that most alchemists chose to study Synthesis. His previous robe came with a Cleanse rune, so he thought every wizard robe should contain runes, which was probably not the case.
“Well, yes,” Angor admitted his mistake. “Sorry, are these synthesis runes on the robe?”
The saleswoman revealed a stiff smile. “Um, sir, we sell ordinary clothes here. We… don’t have alchemy robes.”
“You don’t?” Angor was surprised. He intentionally avoided shops run by mortals. Besides, the customers were all apprentices!
“An ordinary robe would do. Like the one apprentices received from the resource center,” Angor quickly said.
The girl shook her head again. “We offer design services. I’m afraid we don’t currently have the issued robe you mentioned.”
“Where can I get one?”
“Try to look from the other shop stands, but alchemy robes are usually costly to make. I don’t think many people will sell them. Since they don’t look good, you might find someone who’s willing to part with one.”
Costly? Angor realized that the alchemy level in Brute Cavern might be worse than he expected.
Seeing how Angor looked “disappointed”, the salesgirl added something. “If you can’t find them, you can check out Prome’s Alchemy Shop. Maybe you can find something you need there.”
Prome’s?
Angor already planned to go there. However, rather than buying a robe, he was going there to thank Dave. When thinking about the robe, his instinct told him to look for shops run by women. Why would someone like Prome make clothes?
Angor just realized that he was looking for an ALCHEMY robe, and Prome’s shop was the right place for it.
After leaving the shop, Angor spent some time checking through the stands in the area and did not find anything he wanted. He decided to head for Prome’s Alchemy Shop in the end.
It was almost midnight. As he recalled, Dave mentioned something about closing the shop at 11. Angor tried to hurry up and managed to arrive before then.
The shadows coming from the window suggested there was more than one person in the shop.
In front of the door, Angor heard someone talking inside.
“Fafafafa!” Someone laughed in a really strange way. “You think I can’t do anything to you when Master Prome’s your teacher?”
“So, are you going to sell the sword or not?” Someone else spoke in a sharp voice.
“I told you it’s only for sale next week! And it’s not called a sword!” It was Dave this time.
“We’re in a hurry! Fifteen magic crystals. The price’s good enough for you!” This voice sounded low and deep.
There were voices of four people. Apart from Dave’s, Angor believed he recognized the other voices.
He straightened his bow-tie and pushed the door open.
…
Angor walked tall on firm steps. When he wore his wizard robe, he never paid attention to his looks. Now that he was using Sunders’ clothes, he tried to regain the nobleman image he learned in Padt Manor.
“Angor?” Dave called in surprise.
“Angor??” The sharp voice and deep voice both called.
Dave looked at the combination of a fat man and a pockmarked boy in front of him. They knew Angor too?
Angor nodded to Dave and checked the other people in the shop.
As expected, he knew them all. In a bad way.
Fosah, Laffitte and… Blackjack, in his usual black gentleman attire.
“Fancy seeing you two here, Fosah, Laffitte,” Angor greeted them with a smile.
The pair exchanged a look, then Fosah stepped up and smiled at Angor.
“We weren’t expecting to see you either. And good timing, I always wanted to apologize for last time. I really shouldn’t have done that. Do forgive me, please!”
“???” Angor was quite confused.
What the heck? Aren’t you Hookdick’s lackeys? Maybe you don’t want to fight, but shouldn’t you at least say something offensive? Hookdick’s gonna be disappointed!
Angor glimpsed at Blackjack and realized something. Maybe these two chose another boss to follow?
“That woman, Melaner…” Fosah spoke up again, “I’m really sorry. I was wrong about you. That bitch’s just a cheap slut. My boss told me. She found someone else to snuggle with the next day. An ugly old geezer!”
Angor was unsure where this was heading to. “Oh don’t worry, I’ve already forgotten about it.”
“Did you come to shop too?” Fosah asked in a friendly way. His eyes were shining deviously. He had already agreed with Laffitte that they should maintain a good relationship with Angor. If they could not be friends, at least they should avoid becoming Angor’s enemies.
Angor’s teacher was called the killing machine in the south! Only a fool like Hookdick did not realize it. Maybe wizards did not care about the life and death of their students. But what if Sunders was different? Fosah and Laffitte did cherish their lives. They would not offend Angor for real just because Hookdick asked them to.
Angor shook his head. “I’m just… looking around.”
Fosah was unconvinced, but he did not say anything. He kept a smile on his fat face.
“Oh! Almost forgot. Here, this is our boss, Mister Blackjack!”
Both Fosah and Laffitte showed sincere respect. As Angor believed, they used the exact same attitude when acknowledging Hookdick as their boss.
Angor was really puzzled now. Did these two consider being lackeys as their profession? They changed their boss so soon!
Blackjack humphed and walked to Angor with a really angry look.
Angor was worried that Blackjack had recognized his identity and came looking for a fight.
But in the next second, Blackjack calmed down and began to inspect Angor with a look of approval.
“Fafafa! Such good taste, man!”
Angor remained calm and waited for Blackjack’s further reaction.
“Which shop completed your suit? Tell me. Such a gentlemanly design! It’s almost-”
Everyone waited for him to finish. Almost what?
“Fafafa! I mean, it looks so brilliant!”
Angor felt as if the look of admiration in Blackjack’s eyes was going to materialize in the air soon.
Oh right… Blackjack is an admirer of Sunders.
“Sorry, I don’t know. I received it from someone as a gift,” said Angor. He walked around Blackjack and joined Dave.
Dave quickly whispered something into his ear, “They want to buy your ‘Tang Dao’.”
Tang Dao? Angor looked at the shelf and saw the three oriental weapons he crafted already on display.
Blackjack’s group approached Dave again. Fosah gave Angor another smile and turned to Dave. “So, the sword-”
“It’s called a Tang Dao!”
“Right, Tang Dao, whatever. Our boss gives you fifteen magic crystals for it. It’s our best price. You know, an alchemy weapon without any effect can only sell so much. This thing probably costs ten magic crystals in normal circumstances,” said Fosah with a sigh. “I tell you, you won’t find a better offer. The appearance of Moonfrost Passage raised the prices of weapons a little bit, but trust me, this one won’t go beyond fifteen.”