A thought gave me pause, and I glanced around before approaching one of the vending machines. I scrolled through the items on display to make sure there were no black t-shirts on offer. The Lame Brigade fighter hadn’t lied to me. I did see some nice-looking underwear for one sol, and plain gray pants going for ten sol. It felt like a lot to spend, but I bought them. I wasn’t embarrassed or prudish — Hell, I’d even go naked if I had to, boldly and with a smile on my face. I could even take action naked, no matter the situation — But I needed people to take me seriously. And that was hard to do with my little short shorts peeking out from under my t-shirt.
I got the pants, then gray socks for one sol, and gray sneakers for ten. Things were priced strangely here. Blue, green, and red socks were two sol, and I saw that same one-sol markup on all the clothes and shoes for sale. Was it for the cost of the dye? I bought the cheapest items, although I would’ve sprung for black pants and sneakers if they had them.
I needed a backpack — that was a must. My only option was a small twenty-five liter backpack for fifteen sol. Gray, of course, with criminally narrow, impractical shoulder straps. But I still bought it.
I looked around again, and quickly got changed. The pants had a snug elastic waistband, which could conveniently fit a few sizes above or below my current size. I carefully put my old clothes into the backpack, then slung the straps over my arms. My left arm went right back into the sling — I had to keep babying it. I walked back and forth in front of the trade points, making sure the shoes were comfortable on my feet and the pants weren’t rubbing anywhere. These were important things to be aware of. I would have to break in the shoes before I went anywhere, too, since only an idiot would walk more than a mile in brand new shoes.
I thought about swapping out my conspicuous black t-shirt for a nondescript gray or slightly more expensive dark blue. After all, I had just stabbed someone here. But I decided against it. A piece of glass with a beautiful flower on it was embedded in the murdered man’s heart, and that piece of glass led directly to me. Plus, the dead man had been a member of the gang that followed Johnny the Lion and his faithful... whore?
My next purchase was an obvious one: a club.
A club was simple, yet dangerous in skilled hands. One of the oldest weapons known to man, right up there with a rock. Which one had been preferred by our ancestors — stick or stone — was a question that had yet to be answered, but I was leaning towards the first one. Or was the earliest weapon an unripe fruit picked from a branch and thrown at the head of a rampaging lion under the tree?
Were these memories? It felt like I was remembering... But they weren’t personal memories. Not the slightest personal touch to them — no emotions. My head was just storing academic information, but I didn’t know when or how I learned it. School? College? Some kind of academy?
The club cost me ten sol. I spent four more on two long, sharp metal spikes with square crosspieces. These fit perfectly into special holes at the end of the club. There were four holes in total, but even just two spikes would be enough — for pluxes or for goblins. Hell, a blow from this club on any unprotected body part would even hurt an orc.
I also bought three pairs of thick gray gloves for two sol a pair. I ended up paying five sol instead of six... Some mysterious discount, not listed or shown in any way. Five more sol went towards an awl.
Balance: 6 sol.
I decided that was enough shopping for the time being. I would get a lot for free today. The system was coddling its fighter, gently pinching my chubby goblin cheek — ‘Ooh, look at our brave little plunar xarl killer...’ But the day had only just started, and I didn’t want to drain my account entirely before noon.
