"I see, in that case, I pick... the one that looks like a machete," said Ax.
"That right there is a falchion, good choice," said the dwarven man.
Ax picked it up and immediately weighed it, gently swinging it, expecting it to be much heavier than what it actually is.
"This is... one-handed, correct?" asked Ax.
"Yes, it is," said the man.
"I recommend buying a one-handed sword. You already have a dagger and a gun; use them alongside your sword," the man continued.
Ax gave him the coins to pay for the sword, only left with two bronze coins in his pocket.
"Compared to the prices I've seen for garments and some electronics, your weapons are surprisingly cheap. How do you even make a profit?" asked Ax.
"Selling weapons is the easy part; even the 'Ranker's Association' sells weapons, not just local blacksmiths. However, we make the most amount of Totas from upgrading the very weapons we sell," answered the man.
"I'll tell you more when you come back... next time," the dwarf says as he visually inspects Ax.
"Next time? Why next time?" asked Ax.
"You'll know; just get going and slay a few more monsters and come back," answered the man.
"Alright, if you say so," said Ax.
"And before you go, here," the man says as he pulls out a leather scabbard for his falchion and a small leather scabbard for his dagger from under the counter, laying it on top.
"Oh, thank you," Ax said as he grabbed the scabbards and attached them around his waist, the dagger and sword both set on the left side of his waist.
"Perfect, you look like an experienced sum—never mind, just go already before I kick you out," said the man, demanding that Ax leave as soon as possible.
"Oh okay, damn, just say you don't want me here," Ax said half-sarcastically.
Ax was prepared, and after he walked back out of the shop, he stood there and thought about what he should do now.
He walked around for a couple of minutes, and he ran into a vendor who sold some fruits he didn't recognize. The vendor himself was an elven man; he was slightly taller than him, and he was staring off into the distance in a random direction when Ax was walking towards him, which he thought was odd.
"Uhm, hey, what are these?" Ax says as he points to a fruit in the shape of an apple, but it was yellow, too yellow and somewhat metallic.
The elf snaps out of it. "Hm? Oh, they are a mixed golden apple. You look new, so just know that these do not rot, and they are bred offshoots of the infamous Iðunn's golden apples. They have some healing properties," explains the man.
"I see." Ax thought about it; he wouldn't need to buy the apples because he always comes out fully intact when he loses a fight in the rooms.
"They are one bronze coin each," the elf added.
"Oh, I see. Then I'll take two," Ax said. After thinking about it, he doesn't have much anyway, and since he's going through the door at one point anyway, he might as well stock up just in case he needs to take a bite.
Ax took the apples and walked away, thinking about how he should get back home.
As Ax made up his mind, the blue door appeared in front of him again. With the apples in hand and the weapons on his side, he went through the door.
He was back home again.
It was 10 pm.
Ax took off his jacket and his scabbards and the gun, kicked them under the bed, and went to lie down and try to sleep. As he was lying down, he went through his phone again, looking at the tracks he had to play and looking up the location the venue was situated at.
He slowly drifted off to sleep; he was drowsy and fell asleep by 12 am.
...
He slowly started to wake up at 8 am, too cozy to even get up from his bed, but he mustered enough strength to sit upright, get up, and walk over to the bathroom.
He brushed his teeth properly for the first time in a while and washed his face with a facewash he didn't touch in a long while.
...
As he walked back out of the bathroom, he grabbed his gig bag, his amp and effects processor, and his phone, and sat down on his bed.
He was using a 30W amplifier and a multi-effects processor his mom gave him years ago as a gift.
But his gig bag, that was the bag that was holding his electric guitar. It was a crimson red guitar with a chrome finish; it was of a classic Gibson-shaped guitar. It had four stickers on its body, each representing the different suits found in a deck of cards.
The Spade, The Heart, The Diamond, and the Club.
He was getting ready to practice some tracks.
...
After two hours of practicing, he took a break. The gig was in five days, but he was ready to play his parts at a moment's notice; he just needed to take it easy, after all.
"This'll be my first proper gig... in like three months, with them at least; I don't want to disappoint them," Ax muttered to himself; he wanted to make up for all the lost time.
Ax put his equipment away properly and walked into the kitchen section of his apartment and went through his fridge, which was now full of groceries, courtesy of Ace.
He grabbed two eggs and some bread slices, fried the eggs sunny side up, and overcooked them just a little to get the crispy texture he missed having, and toasted three slices of bread in butter on the same pan, making it just as crunchy.
He grabbed some tomatoes and cut them up into thin slices. As he put them to the side, he noticed that the bag Ace left still had some stuff he didn't sort into the kitchen; he rummaged through the bag and found some cheese slices.
"Eh, why not," he talked to himself as he grabbed two slices and walked towards the vegetables, fried eggs, and bread.
He grabbed a plate, put a slice of toasted bread on it, lettuce, a fried egg, and a cheese slice, and put another slice of toast on it, then he put a fried egg, some tomato slices, and another cheese slice on top, finishing it with the last slice of toast.
Ax grabbed a seat by the kitchen counter, placed his phone to the side, and finally grabbed the sandwich with both his hands and took a large bite out of this goliath of a sandwich he just made.
Crunch
An audible crunch could be heard as he bit into the sandwich; the cheese melted slightly because of the eggs and toasted bread, the yolks popped in his bite, and the tomatoes and lettuce just added to the flavor.
Ax audibly groaned with the first bite; he hadn't had a proper meal in a while, excluding fast food and the random cup ramen he would find in his cupboard.
As he was eating his breakfast, he went through his phone again, this time finally opening his Redbook messages. He then saw that the 'Presence' group chat was oddly active at this time.
He took a picture of his half-eaten sandwich and sent it to the group chat with the text, "I'm alive, by the way."
"What the hell, man, I'm hungry now.". -Ace
"That's what you focus on? Ax finally remembered his password; also, welcome back, Ax!" -N
"Oh right, welcome back, Ax." -Ace
"Oh wow, his picture finally loaded. What the hell, man? Now I'm hungry too." -N
"EXACTLY! THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING." -Ace
"Great to have you back, Axton Abanish." -Hamz
"He called you by your government name; you're screwed. Nice knowing you." -Ace
"Dibs on his guitar."-N
"I hate all of you."-Ax.
...
Ax put down his plate in the sink, did his dishes, and went back to bed; he had nothing to do for the rest of the day, maybe practice a bit more. He wasn't sure.
But an idea crossed his mind: maybe he should go and test his sword out in the rooms. He then got ready once more, pulled his weapons out from under his bed, attached them to his side, and grabbed one of the golden apples he bought and put it in his hoodie pocket.
It was around 12pm now and he was free the entire day, so might as well try to gain some more Totas incase he needed to buy something else and explore Nexus a bit more.
He stretched, reached for his toes, and stretched his knees and arms.
"Maybe... I should make a stop to Nexus first and actually try to talk this time," he muttered to himself.
So he decided to go to Nexus instead, expecting the blue door to appear in front of him.
But nothing happened, so he focused on it, trying to will it into existence.
Nothing. So he decided to just walk into the rooms and worry about it later.
With a simple thought he summoned the black door in front of him; he walked towards it, grabbed the knob, and turned.
He was fully prepared this time and confident in his ability, in the fact that he can't die anymore.
Little did he know what awaited him.