I peered ahead, I could barely see the A.I.D towering over in the Priemery District. It was tall and sleek. Twisting metal poles of Blackmetal and Whitemetal spiral above the Heartstones. Each shimmered in the light. Although the Shade Heartstone looked as if it was absorbing the light instead. We entered into the gates of the Priemery District and immediately headed towards Midtown. There were a few kids at the tower, placing their hands over each Heartstone. One kid placed their hand over the Gaia Heartstone, it began to glow a bright green color. Gaia Affinity, specifically the Chlori variant. The kid ran back to his parents and told them what had happened.
I looked over at Jenny, who was fidgeting with her fingers.
“What’s wrong?” I ask
“What? Nothing’s wrong, I just- I’m just nervous, I guess,” she answered, “What if it doesn’t work?”
“It can’t hurt to try, right?” I answered.
She looked over at the Heartstones and shook her head.
“Alright,” she settled.
We walked over to the Heartstones and she looked at them. She began to reach her hand out but then hesitated. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“C’mon it’s not that hard,” I said while smiling, “look.”
I hovered my hand over the Shade Heartstone, nothing. I looked at Jenny to make sure she was getting the point. I made a serious face and shook my head “No.” She rolled her eyes. I then waved my hand over the Gale Heartstone and it began to glow bright white. I looked back at her, and made a cheerful face, and shook my head “Yes.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” She grumbled,
As I pulled my hand away though, I saw the Astral Heartstone glow purplish-blue just for a second. I turned to see a little girl behind me, she must’ve had a strong Affinity to make the Heartstone glow from all the way behind me.
Jenny must have finally pulled her wits together, because she was placing her hand over the Shock Heartstone. It didn’t glow, not even a little bit. Then, the Vital Heartstone, it stayed the same as well. She moved to the Gale Heartstone. I held my breath a bit. How lame would it be for 2 people of the same Affinity to be going on the same adventure? I mean, it would be cool to teach her all the moves I know. But no, nothing happened. She moved her hand to the Gaia Heartstone, nope. She looked at the Pyro Heartstone and placed her hand over it. It began to glow bright red. Pyro Affinity!
She gasped loudly.
“Which one is that one?!” She asked excitedly.
“Pyro.” I answered
“Pyro? Like fire?!” She asked
“Yep!” I told her.
She started pumping her fist into the air and laughed.
“That is so cool!” She said, looking down at her hands. “How do I do it?”
“I don’t know how Pyro Psyix works” I admitted, “but… I know who does.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Mrs. Faye.” I answered, “She works at this town’s Variety Shop.”
We began to walk away from the Heartstone tower and towards the Variety Shop, which was very close by.
“What’s a Variety Shop?” Jenny asked as we walked.
“Oh, y’know, weapons, herbs, shields, potions, all types of things really.”
“Oh ok, I guess that makes sense… you guys do fight monsters and stuff… So, there’s only one?” She asked
“One in every district,” I explained, “Mrs. Faye works at all of them.”
“Wh- How?” she asked reasonably.
I shrugged. Nobody really knows, she’s just everywhere. There are tons of conspiracy theories but most people just don’t question it anymore.
“We’re here,” I said, pointing at the sign.
Without hesitation, we walked in and looked around. The shop was big, with red wood trims and blackstone walls. Different shapes and sizes of shelves full of sharp, pristine weapons, mystic potions, and leather backed books full of age and knowledge. The floor was wooden, and the whole building gave off a cozy and mystical atmosphere. Suddenly, a gasp erupted from behind the counter.
“Zeke?” the voice yelled before a loud thud from underneath the counter.
“Ow.” The voice stood up to reveal Mrs. Faye, rubbing her head. Mrs. Faye was a copper-toned lady, with narrow, dark brown eyes and her hair was pure white. She wore a Caster’s Cloak from Vix’s shop with a blue and black sweater underneath with black, baggy pants. And a big, pointy hat, with a big bow that tied around the band. She was old but not too old. Well I mean, she was old, like 570 something viennas old. But her Vital Psyix lets her live longer. Physically, her body has only grown to around 33. Last time I was here anyway. She wears round glasses but she likes to change them out. She also had a familiar, a white cat named Alie.
“Zeke! It is you!” She exclaimed, adjusting her glasses. “Who’s your friend? Are you here to buy? Have you gone on any adventures lately?”
She had a tendency of talking fast when she was excited.
“This is Jennifer,” I said, gesturing towards Jenny, who was waving her hand around again, a bit more meekly this time.
“And yes, We are here to buy. And, we’re getting ready to go on an adventure right now.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jennifer. What are you guys looking for today?”
“Well, we need to find her a weapon. And, maybe I’ll get something too. But also, she just found out her Affinity: Pyro. So, we need some techniques too.” I explained.
“Just now? You look kind of old for someone who just found out their Affinity.” She uttered quietly,
That’s reasonable. Some people get their Affinity checked as soon as they're old enough to walk, or at least as toddlers.
“I’m not from here.” Jenny explained, “I’m new to this whole “Avaryx” thing.”
Mrs. Faye peered at her then put her hands on her cheeks.
“A human? Wow! I’ve seen a few in my lifetime, but I’ve never met one so young. You remind me of a human girl my great great grandfather described in one of his stories.” Mrs. Faye exclaimed
“Great great grandfather?! How old was he?” Jenny asked.
“Oh, 1,890. He was a bit young for a great great grandfather, but he told the most amazing stories about when the humans were still around.”
“1,890!” Jenny shouted, which brought some unhappy glares from the browsing customers. “And you said ‘young?’” she asked in a quieter voice
Jenny turned to me.
“How long do you guys live?” she whispered.
“Oh, no, most Avaryxians don’t live that long. Only Vital Users can. Most of them can live into their 2,000s” I clarified.
“Whoa.” Jenny whispered.
“So, you said you need Pyro instructions right?” Mrs. Faye chimed in.
“Yeah, that would be great.” I responded promptly.
“Well, I don’t have any memorized up here,” Mrs. Faye pointed out, pointing to her head, “ but, I do have a Pyro Source book somewhere around here.”
She looked around for a few seconds and then paused.
“Alie!” she yelled.
Alie, her fluffy white cat, suddenly appeared right on the counter in front of us in a puff of purple, wispy fog.
“Alie, could you find me a Pyro Source book from the inventory, please?” Mrs. Faye asked gently.
Alie meowed in an irritable tone, then instantly disappeared from our sight. Just as quickly, loud clashes and thumps followed by angry hisses and meows echoed from behind Mrs. Faye.
Alie returned with the book in her mouth and an unhappy look on her face. Whatever was back there, it was not pleasant.
“How much?” I asked, reaching for my Quartz.
“10 Quartz,” she said blankly.
I looked up at her with a questioning look.
“Fine, it’s 80, but I can’t let you pay full price,” She admitted.
I promptly placed the 80 Quartz on the counter.
“No, no, I won’t accept this,” She explained.
“If it’s worth 80 Quartz, I’m paying 80 Quartz,” I insisted.
She sighed and then took the payment.
“Zeke, you’re a friend, I’d be more than willing to let you pay less for the things you buy here.” She urged.
“Thanks, but that’s okay,” I replied.
“If you say so... Welp, here you go,” she said, handing over the book to Jennifer. She hooked the book onto her belt and smiled.
“Thank you!” Jenny said.
“So, do you wanna try it out, or find a weapon first?” I asked.
“You just asked me if I want to try magic or a weapon. I’m gonna try the magic.” She answered.
There was that word again, magic.
We walked outside the shop and ran to an open field nearby. Jenny took out the book and excitedly flipped through the pages but I quickly stopped her.
“Whoa, whoa. Try the first page.” I said.
“What? Why?” She asked while flipping to the first page.
“Source book techniques get progressively harder and more dangerous through the pages. The first one is usually the easiest and safest one.” I explained.
“Oh. So this one?” She said, pointing to the first technique.
It was called Ember Flick.
Jenny read through the page and closed the book.
“Okay, I think I got it,” she said.
She handed the book to me and stood back. She closed her eyes, took a breath then held her middle finger and her thumb together. Then, she released a crisp snap.
Absolutely nothing happened. But, she is pretty skillful at snapping. She tried again. Another powerful snap. Nothing again.
“Come on, one more time.” she whispered.
She stood straight. Took a long deep breath, and straightened her glasses. She tightened the muscles in her fingers and snapped as hard as she could. Nothing happened again.
“Come on! What am I doing wrong?!” She exclaimed.
She walked over and I handed her back the book. She opened it back to page 1 and studied it carefully. She held the book open with one hand and held her other hand out. She put her fingers together and snapped.
A bright light filled the pages of the book and it shot out directly onto Jenny’s hand, which transformed into fire. She screamed.
Her entire hand was engulfed in flames. She ran and shook her hand and screamed some more.
“Calm down! Look! Look!” I told her.
She continued to scream, but she stopped running. Then, her screaming quickly subsided. She looked at her burning hand and watched it.
“It- It doesn’t burn.” she said.
She watched it closely and waved her hand around. The fire followed gracefully.
She began to laugh nervously. Then it transitioned into a more gleeful laugh.
“It doesn’t burn! Awesome!” she cheered.
“Wait,” she looked at the book page for a moment and then back at her hand. She then flicked her hand towards the ground and as the fire lept from her hand hitting the ground it exploded and set a small fire to the grass. Then it quickly died out.
We both looked at the singe mark the fire had left and then at each other, then back at the mark.
She exclaimed.
“I did it! I actually did it!” She said, jumping up and down and she looked at her hand again. Her eyes trailed to the book.
“I guess I have to use the book like you said.” she said
“Hey, at least you can do it!” I added.
“Yeah…,” she said, “So, what now? Weapons right?”
“Right! Let’s go.” I said
We quickly ran back into the Variety Shop, Mrs. Faye walked in right behind us.
“So, how’d it go?” She asked curiously.
“It went great! I just learned my first spell!” Jenny said with utmost confidence.
“That’s good to hear! So, about those weapons…” she said
“Right.” I replied
We slowly walked over to the weapons section of the shop. There were tons of things, swords, crossbows, daggers, axes, scythes, fist gauntlets, staffs, bows, maces, and hammers.
We looked at the inventory for a little before Mrs. Faye asked,
“You find anything?”
My eyes wandered from weapon to weapon, each one with its own little quirks. My traveling dagger was fine, but I wanted something better.
My eyes were caught by 2 twin daggers on a gray display.
“What are those?” I asked curiously.
Mrs. Faye looked closely and smiled,
“I thought those might interest you,” she began, “those are Zephyr Daggers. Carved from Windstone, they help Gale Psyix users become more deeply connected with their own affinity. The jagged parts of the blades are said to cut air and create wind pockets.”
I slowly reached down and picked them up. They were light, but swinging it still gave them impact. The hilt was made of a Cicette wood and Cloud wood hybrid. The daggers felt perfect. I flipped them over and saw an emblem that looked familiar. But it wasn’t the Gale emblem. Something different.
“Woah!” Jennifer exclaimed.
I looked over to see her holding a big two-handed axe. White blades with an igneous black handle and hilt. She swung it carefully and got a feel for its weight.
“I like this one,” she said, swinging it gracefully, “it has a lot of power behind it.”
“That is a Welrich Axe. From the Igni District.” Mrs. Faye explained, “They call it, Volcanic Retribution, V.R for short. It’s a very powerful weapon.”
“I bet you say that for all of your weapons.” Jenny said accusingly.
“I’ll be honest, I do tend to exaggerate whenever I sell certain things, but I’m being honest about this one. They forged this axe from the materials found in lava in Mount Crimson, with obsidian used for the hilt. The metals are so rare, even I don’t know where they came from, but whatever it is, it’s strong.”
Jenny flipped the axe in her hands and examined it.
“So, I’m assuming that means it’s really expensive.” she sighed.
I checked the price.
“No, only 60 Quartz.” I said
“How much do we have?” she asked
I counted up the Quartz and came out with a little less than 300.
“More than enough,” I said, “If you want it, we can get it.”
She looked back down, and I could tell she was trying to hide her smile.
“If you insist…” she said dryly.
“Alright, I’ll ring you two up,” Mrs. Faye said quickly.
“The Zephyr Daggers and the Welrich Axe come out to 100 Quartz,” she said.
I handed her the Quartz and she passed us complementary scabbards for the weapons.
We thanked her, said goodbye, and left.
As soon as we stepped outside, Jenny removed her axe from the holster and began to swing it around, more powerfully than when we were inside. She swung a little too close to my head.
“Wa- Watch it!” I blurted out, moving back. I put my hands over my neck.
“I need this, you know!” I explained, gesturing to my head.
“Sorry…” she said meekly with an apprehensive smile.
She carefully placed it back in the scabbard and put her hands in her pockets.
We walked towards the outer gate of the Priemery District.
“So… now what?” she asked.
“Well,” I said, reaching for the map I had packed. “We’ll need to get to a Haven first in order to find out where that Null might be. So, we'll have to travel through the Vulpur Forest to get there.”
“Vulpur, that’s a cool name… Wait, this isn’t the same woods the Ecraz came out of, right?”
“Oh, no, that was the Novias Woods. Completely different place.” I explained, “The Vulpur Forest is much safer.”
We silently walked towards the gate and looked around. I looked at Jenny and she seemed upset. Her eyebrows were furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She sighed.
“Nothing, I just wish I brought my phone. I’d be able to listen to music.”
“Is… Is that like an instrument or something?” I wondered.
“Not really, it’s hard to explain,” she answered.
I pulled out my daggers and examined them again. I looked at the emblem closely. The Gale emblem was a curved sphere of wind gusts, this one had the same thing, except it had circles and triangles within the gusts, and the gusts were shaped differently. It was so familiar, yet so strange. Oh well, I’d figure it out eventually.
I sheathed them and looked back over at Jenny, who was studying the second page of the Source Book. I glanced at the technique.
It was titled, “Worm Fulling”... Oh- Warm Feeling! Heh- I read that wrong.
We crossed an overhang and I realized we had exited the outer gate, straight ahead to the Vulpur Forest
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