Time to Kill

"I'm just browsing," Fate replied.

The man, whom Fate assumed to be Harry, scowled, his beard rippling as he shook his head. "If ya don't buy something in ten minutes, I'm kicking you out. I'm trying to make a living here."

'Fine by me,' Fate thought, moving to one of the sets of shelves.

This one was chock full of seeds and farming tools, leashes and beds for smaller animals, and even treats for different kinds of animals. If Fate had any idea what kind of Familiar he'd end up with, he might get some of these, but as of right now there was no point. He stepped to the adjacent shelf.

This one had books with various covers from leather to wood or deer skin. Too bad he couldn't read the titles. Maybe he should get a few for when he learns to read?

"What are these books about?" he asked Harry.

"Just read the titles, brat." The store owner took another deep draw of his pipe, blowing the smoke over the carving in his hand. The wood's rough texture vanished, revealing the sleek figure of a raven in flight.

"I can't read," Fate said sheepishly.

"Then why are you interested in the books?"

"Well, I can't read now, but I plan to get lessons."

"You got a crystal ball? If you do, just use its text-to-speech function."

'That's a thing?' Bringing his new crystal ball out of his ring, he pointed it at the books and commanded 'text to speech!'

After providing some Mana, the crystal ball swirled as the clouds within produced sound. Using this, he learned that three of the books were general survival guides for living in the wilderness, four were mental self-help books (one was titled "How to Live Alone and Not Feel Alone"), another five were guides to various imperial cities and towns, and there were also quite a few bestiaries.

These bestiaries were all by the same author, one "Armington Sodsworth," and were split into five volumes: Demons, Forest Life, Cave Life, Mountain Life, and Dragons. They were surprisingly cheap for their thickness, only a hundred Lights for all five. When Fate queried the owner on this, he was told that it was because they were also available for purchase on the Magiweb, a much easier and more accessible format.

Deciding to treat himself, he picked all of them off of the shelves, along with a wilderness survival guide priced at ten Lights. He walked over to the owner with the books bundled in his hands, saying "I'd like to get these."

The bearded man huffed and set his carving on the floor, standing and raising his hands up slowly, palms up. A small wooden counter flowed out of the floor in between him and Fate, and Fate sat the books down on the counter.

The owner tore a chunk of the counter off, the missing piece regrowing as the wood in his hands formed into paper. He then pulled a pen out of his pocket and started tallying up Fate's total. As he worked, Fate peered around at the carving on the ground.

"How much for that?" he asked.

"Hm?" the man looked up from the paper, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"The carving," Fate told him, pointing at the hunk of wood on the floor. "Is it for sale?"

"If ya want it, it's yours," the man said gruffly. "I just toss 'em when I'm done anyway." He flicked his wrist, and the carving levitated up off of the ground, alighting next to the books. "Total's a hundred and ten Lights."

Fate held his hand with the rings over the counter, and a gold coin and ten white coins appeared. The owner broke apart the stack of white coins with his finger, counting each one. With a nod, he held his hand over the books and flicked his wrist upward. Wood flowed over them, thinning and compressing until the books were wrapped neatly in paper, with a convenient handle on each side.

Fate thanked the man and placed the carving and the books in his ring, checking the time on one of the solar-powered clocks on the shelves. He still had about twenty-five minutes to kill.

"Got an idea on how to kill thirty minutes or so?" he asked the Adept.

The man snorted. "Use that crystal ball of yours. That's what kids your age always do. But do it somewhere else."

Fate didn't feel like arguing, so he took his leave. He spotted a bench down the street and took a seat, bringing out his crystal ball.

'I don't even know what to ask it,' he realized. He didn't think too long, quickly settling on "entertain me." This started a video of a man with a sword much too big for him, swinging it around like it was as light as a feather.

The man chopped watermelons as someone off-screen threw them at him, slicing them in half perfectly down the middle without the slightest bit of juice touching him. It was quite entertaining, and Fate ended up watching several more videos of the man doing absurd feats like balancing the sword's tip on the ground and balancing himself on the sword's hilt, dodging tomatoes without falling.

Without him even realizing it, an hour passed. It was only when an advertisement played that he looked up, eyes widening when he saw how much time has passed. He hurried to his feet and speed-walked back to Dreyden's Devilish Deals to get his wand.

When he opened the door, the bell rang again, and Famden came out from the backrooms as tired as before. Fate could only see an expression of minor annoyance on the man's face but still apologized for being late. He picked his way through the junk on the floor and was handed a wooden box.

Opening it confirmed its contents to be his new wand, which pulsed imperceptibly as he sent his Mana into it. At once, Fate felt it channeling his Mana and amplifying it. But judging by Famden's lack of a reaction, it seemed the storekeeper couldn't sense anything.