Nyx knew she was limiting herself by choosing armoury stores not expressly backed by any cult, but it was a matter of principle. Her measly pocket-full of BD would hardly be a drop in the bucket compared to the near infinite resources of the major cults. Crumbs that would never be noticed even by the average member.

  Anything that would support them, she would abstain.

  She considered thievery. It was an option that not only got her what she wanted — for free — but was actively detrimental to the cults. Even if insubstantially.

  But no. That wasn’t something Nyx could risk. As a first evolution hiding as a no evolution — especially one as demure-looking as herself — not a single cultist would hesitate to hold her up. The cultural reward system and the chance to ingratiate themselves were benefits few passed up when they could do something.

  …Assuming it was a cult they were agreeable with.

  Like with Archei’s stall, her fussiness greatly limited her choices. She’d already gone through two. Which, despite how massive the market under the Biovault archway was, meant she’d cut through half her options.

  In one way, it was good that she had so few stores to go through, considering how impatient she was to strike at the Fleshsmiths. But on the other hand, it also meant she might not find what she wanted.

  Knives were very popular. Many of the independent blade stores seemed to have a horrible proclivity to supply towards that demand, and only that demand. Meaning both the armouries she’d visited would be better labelled as knife vendors.

  The glass front walls of her next option revealed a much more promising sight. Rows upon rows of weapons. From polearms, to rifles, to a single ancient artillery piece that sat behind one window as a centrepiece.

  She strode through the open front doors and immediately hovered towards the shelves of blades. Nobody paid her any attention. She was short, and the store was already busy; neither the owner or those perusing for themselves cared about the teen that — from the average eye — should still be hidden away in a ward. Nyx didn’t complain.

  There were so many different types of weapons here. Both the butterfly blades and rapier stood in front of her, but now that she had to make the choice, she didn’t know which way to go.

  The butterfly blades were a pair of short swords — almost knives — that would be a little longer than the length of her claws when they slid out from her arms and through her fingers.

  Conversely, the rapier was a long yet thin blade with a wide hand-guard. The tip would be deadly, but the length, while sharp, was clearly not intended to be swung. She’d never be able to hide the damage of her claws with this.

  “What do you think?” she asked the one that had always been by her side. “The poking stick, or the decoy?”

  Little God glanced between her, and the weapons she pointed to. “Why bother? You are superior in every way.”

  “Aww… how kind of you.” Nyx rolled her eyes. “But seriously?”

  He didn’t respond immediately, so she stepped forward and picked up the rapier. It was the weapon she was veering towards the most; something that would give her more options in a fight regardless of any observer’s eye. Something she would choose even without her mutations.

  As soon as it was in her hand, she lifted it in a stance, as if ready to strike. Her fingers pressed in tight… and she immediately got the sense that something was off.

  Nyx lowered the weapon before raising the guard to her eye. There, where she had gripped the grooved metal handle, was an impression of her fingers.

  She tugged off her new gloves and brought her hand to the blade itself. Squeezing the blade between two fingers, she watched the metal deform before her very eyes. This wasn’t normal weapons grade alloy. Nyx struggled to believe this was even good enough to be basic steel.

  Pulling back her thumb, she found a single dent in the otherwise unblemished blade length.

  “Weak,” Little God commented over her shoulder, and she couldn’t help but nod.

  She sighed as she put the blade back amongst the rest.

  Of course the one place that looks decent is the one scamming their customers.

  Before she turned to the door, she found her little eyeball glancing the opposite direction. “Why is she trying to sneak up on you?” he asked.

  Nyx spun, and as Little God said, there was a woman slinking up behind her. She appeared surprised and a little disappointed that she’d been noticed, but the expression was gone after a moment.

  “How can I help you?” she asked, as if she wasn’t just acting suspicious. “Looking for your first weapon, I gather?”

  “I am,” Nyx responded briskly. “Say, what are your weapons made of?”

  She grins. “Everything here is forged with carbon picoweave alloy A-nine. Entirely corruption immune and perfect for the self defence of one such as yourself.”

  “Right.” What an obvious lie. “Well, I didn’t find anything interesting, so I’ll be leaving.”

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  Immediately the woman’s grin slipped. She gave Nyx the stink eye, but the teen just raised an eyebrow and stared back as she walked out of the store.

  She is a fool.

  Even if it was only a few steel blades snuck in amongst actually good blades, the day would eventually come where she sold to the wrong person and would find herself as a criminal sacrifice to the affected cult.

  Nyx herself couldn’t actually do anything even if she could prove it; only with the backing of a cult would anyone take her accusations seriously. Not that she wanted to. The last thing she wanted right now was attention.

  Still, even as she left the store no worse off than she went in, she only had one more store to search. If that didn’t have anything, then she would have no other option than to visit one of the cult backed stores. And she didn’t have much hope for the next; from what she’d seen, it was just another knife shop.

  Another sigh escaped her as she trudged through the plaza.

  “They’re a sham, huh?”

  Nyx glanced up to the voice. A rather tall man had fallen in step besides her. With how many people around, she hadn’t cared, but now he’d revealed that he’d been watching her. Why?

  “You’re a good eye. Is that an additive? Quite lucky to get one like that straight out of your naming. Though, you don’t look the type to take on an inspector job, now do you? I’d say you’re goin’ for harbinger. Would explain the rapier, though I’d go for a good ol’ rifle myself.”

  “Do you want something?” Nyx asked, coming to a stop and cutting off the man’s rant. She was incredibly suspicious, and readied herself to run at the first sign of hostility.

  “Ah, yes.” He waved his arm out to the side. “Y’see, I’m like you. I got a good eye too. I find customers myself, rather than letting them never come to me. Name’s Seno?e?ul, by the way. You’re after a rapier, yeah? Or something good for slashing. I’ve got just the thing.”

  The fact that he knew what she was after sent whatever guards she didn’t already have up skyrocketing. If he knew that much, what else did he know? Mind reading was not an ability she’d ever heard of a name granting, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

  Though, if it did exist, she’d be fucked regardless what she did.

  “You have a rapier that’s also made for slashing?” she asked doubtfully. Even if she knew she should leave this suspicious man who’d been watching her, the idea that there was something that would fit her needs so well was hard to pass up.

  “Yep!” Senoeul chirped, before he swung his arm to the side and gestured Nyx to follow. “Got it cheap from a renowned smith. He was gonna melt it down for scraps caus’ he messed up the guard, but it’s an otherwise pristine A-twelve blade.”

  She inspected the man for any falsehoods for a moment before glancing at Little God. “Let me know if anyone tries to ambush me,” she whispered and followed the excitable man.

  Her eyes fell on the man’s right hand; most of it was covered by his long sleeves, but what she could see twitched and convulsed like an electric current constantly ran through it.

  “Ah, don’t mind that.” He slid his sleeve down to cover it when he noticed her gaze. “Just an… injury from before I left the Bodytwisters.”

  When the man led her down a dark alley between a row of shops, Nyx suddenly felt a lot less confident about following him. With how well lit the arch was, she didn’t even think it was possible for there to be a place this dark in the plaza, yet she was proven wrong very quickly.

  The narrow alley devoid of any life was clearly not a safe place to be. Senoeul may have promised exactly what she needed, but it was clear he was leading her somewhere that he could take advantage of her.

  Was he trying to rob her? Sell her off as a sacrifice like the Fleshsmiths’ trafficking ring? Or was it some other twisted reason?

  Nyx hid her hands in the sleeves of her robes and slowly let her claws extend. If he wanted to bring her into an isolated space, then all the better. She could always use another sacrifice.

  Her sense immediately slid over Senoeul’s name, and the number of components matched with the way he’d pronounced his name. He was in his second evolution. Considering he wasn’t a harbinger, Nyx was confident she could take him easily. As long as there were no interruptions, and Little God would warn her if there were any of those.

  Just as her tension rose to its peak, and she was ready to strike out at the man, he flicked a lever and a garage door rolled open. A storehouse revealed itself. Rows upon rows of crates all filled to the brim with random odds and ends. There where dumpsters filled with knives simply tossed on top of one another, and barrels of weapons without any sort of order to them.

  Beyond the weapons, there were clothes, tools, and an entire library worth of tomes stacked in piles along the back wall.

  Senoeul wasted no time diving through the crates, tossing aside all sorts of odd weapons over the floor in his search. “It should be somewhere here,” he murmured.

  “Do you manage all of this yourself?” Nyx asked, her claws sliding back up her arms and the tension suddenly slipping from her shoulders.

  “What?” he glanced to her, then all through the warehouse of goods. “Oh, no. This is mostly the boss’s. He’s been away for a bit, so I’ve been managing it in his stead,” he said. “Ah, here it is!”

  In his left hand, he pulled free a long, slender blade. As he’d stated before, the guard was broken — it would be more apt to say that there wasn’t a guard at all — and it gave the weapon the appearance of being a single piece. Thick at the handle, then gradually growing narrower to the sharp point.

  Except for the missing guard, it was a rather standard looking rapier. Why did he say it was good for slashing?

  “I know what you’re thinking, and yes it can slash. A-twelve metal and beyond, in the hands of the right smith, can incorporate aspects of corruption on top of being resistant to its natural occurrence.”

  Wait, he actually can read minds?

  “Yes, I can do that too.”

  Nyx faltered, and stepped back out into the dark alley before Senoeul burst out in laughter.

  “It seems that was a lucky guess,” he chuckled, grinning all the while. “Here, its easier to understand by trying it out for yourself than listening to my explanation.”

  As she tried to hide how much the idea of a mind reader freaked her, she took the proffered weapon. Immediately, Nyx knew this wasn’t sub-par steel. It fully resisted her full strength grip. She didn’t know if it was strong enough to resist the shearing power of her claws, but it was clearly far beyond what the last store had been trying to sell.

  The lack of guard might be a problem if she ever faced another person, but not in fear of her fingers being sliced off. No, she trusted her chitin. But if someone’s blade struck her hands, it would shatter any concept of them being soft and human. Against beasts and manifestations? The guard would make no difference.

  Following his advice, she swung the blade. Not as any rapier should, but as a standard sword. In motion, it took on a far more curved appearance — like that of a sabre — before it returned to it’s straight shape when she halted the blade.

  Nyx doubted it was her imagination, and when she swung it again, Senoeul enlightened her.

  “A dual spatial state has been inlaid in the weapon. For near all purposes, it will remain a straight rapier. But when you swing like you did, it takes on its more curved nature.”

  While being swung, she found the tip curved more than the rest of the blade. A method to protect the thinner section of the rapier? She jabbed forward, and found not a kink in the blade. It was as straight as it could be.

  Nyx was already taken with it, and by the smirk on Senoeul’s face, he knew it as well. But she still had one more thing to get.

  “You don’t happen to have some self-repairing robes that would fit me, would you?”

  His grin widened. “I think I can sort something for you.”

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