19 Weapons

Alex was pretty sure that if there was a list out there of the strongest talents Awakened could possess, his would be near the top.

He didn't know much about what other talents there were out there, but just pointing out differences between himself and other adventurers and outsiders in the Primordial Expanse allowed him to realise he was very different from them.

All the adventurers of his rank that he had met so far were mediocre at best. Some of them probably had talents at their disposal that gave them an edge over the beasts they take on in missions, but most of them were probably talentless just like Alex was when he first arrived.

Other outsiders like himself weren't much different either. They were just like adventurers other than the fact that there were a higher number of outsiders with talents than without.

The reason for that was obvious though. Most outsiders were dropped into the middle of nowhere and were expected to find a way to survive until their soul core reached E rank.

Outsiders were more likely to survive the harsh wilderness if they had a talent at their disposal, hence the ones without one were just lucky to make it to a safe city like Valentis and would slowly make their way up the ranks until they could make it back to the Federation.

While there was Alex.

He didn't know much about his own talent so far but what he did know would already make it one of the strongest.

Any beast he killed would drop soul orbs equivalent to their rank, absorbing those soul orbs would net him a much higher gain in energy than a beast core of the same rank, not to mention that this energy was much purer.

The cherry on top though was that the energy from these soul orbs increased his strength while energy from beast cores did not, which Alex also suspected was due to the difference in purity between the two.

So to summarise, Alex would grow faster than other Awakened and Adventurers, while simultaneously widening the gap between his strength and theirs due to the purity of his energy being higher.

And that was all Alex knew about his talent so far, for all he knew this could only be the tip of the iceberg!

'[Soulforge] I don't know why the Primordial Expanse blessed me with you, but I sure am glad it did.'

'Maybe I should get myself a weapon now that I have some money…'

Alex left his hotel room after a sleepless night, but he felt as well rested as he could ever be.

He was free to do what he liked now. He didn't have to go around investigating whatever clue he could find about the Sleeper, and he didn't currently have any other active missions.

For the second time since he had entered the Primordial Expanse, he didn't have anything to do.

However he wasn't going to waste his time like this, he was already headed over to the marketplace.

It was finally time for him to obtain his own weapon.

All his fights so far had been him using his environment and his own body to overpower and kill beasts. If he had a weapon at his disposal during those fights then he would have had a much easier time, maybe he wouldn't have left with such serious injuries from fighting the Sleeper.

Of course a weapon would have made no difference against the Galephant though. The level difference was just too wide.

Alex didn't spend too long walking through the marketplace before he found a shop selling weapons of all varieties.

He had already memorised the majority of the streets in and around the outskirts when he was investigating the Sleeper, finding a weapon shop was easy.

The store he decided to enter was called 'Morlock's second hand weapons'

The door jingled with a bell when Alex walked through it. A middle aged man at the counter on the other side of the store perked up when he heard the bell but quickly became disinterested again when he looked at the state of Alex.

'If you can't afford anything don't even bother coming in here, ptui!'

He kept his thoughts to himself while he went back to the newspaper he was reading.

Alex took no notice of the clerk as his eyes were drawn towards the vast amount of weapons spread across the walls and counters of the store. Each one had a little name metal plate beneath them depicting their price and the type of weapon they were.

'Sword, saber, spear, bow, dagger…'

All different types of weapon he had and hadn't heard of could be found here in this little store.

However the prices of each one made him cringe inside a little.

'500 gold or 5 F- rank beast cores'

'1200 gold or 12 F- rank beast cores'

Each one was way out of his price range.

He couldn't even find one that fit in his budget.

"Excuse me, is there any weapons cheaper than these?"

Alex talked to Morlock, the middle aged man behind the counter and probably the owner of the store. 

"The cheapest weapons we have in stock right now go for as low as 1 F rank beast core, are you sure you can afford it?"

Morlock grumbled as he answered Alex.

Alex ignored his tone and continued.

"I can afford that, but what type of weapons are they?"

Morlock pointed to the small shelf in the farthest reach of the store, telling him to go look for himself.

'Natives sure are stuck up for no reason, huh. Though I guess outsiders aren't any different since everyone I've met so far acts like they are superior to the Natives.'

When Alex moved close enough to look at the shelf Morlock pointed to, there were only three weapons that greeted his eyes.

'A dagger, a saber and a bow…'

Alex didn't feel any particular liking towards any of them, they were the weakest and cheapest weapons in the whole shop so he didn't expect much.

He first thought about the bow. He knew nothing about them really. His aim would be shit, to say the least, he'd have to constantly keep spending money buying arrows, and he wouldn't be able to exert his full might by limiting himself to range.

That was a definite no.

Next came the saber.

It was a close range weapon, which he liked. But it was long and heavy, and the handle kept rubbing against his thumb when he picked it up and swung it a few times.

Also a no.

That left the dagger.

It wasn't too big that it would get in the way in a fight, it wasn't too small that it would do little damage either. It was light and nimble so it wouldn't hinder his movements, so he could remain flexible in his fighting style.

'This one will do for now.'