One couldn't help but gawk, it was one thing to see beasts that defied human sense and another for magical creatures that can speak your language to pop up
That was precisely what stood before them, a shadow that bore no facial features whatsoever and only had two hands extending from its body
"I believe introductions are in order?"
Being asked by that person? The leader paused a second before introducing himself
"Ummm, the names Joco"
"Well met Joco, my name is Ephai, a tr-" whom puh!
There was dull sound as the flying axe was grabbed by the shadowy hand mid air, followed by an awkward silence where everyone felt whoever this was before them stare at the leader without eyes, waiting for an explanation
"This is, uhh, a greeting performed by our race?"
The others quickly nodded in agreement, it wasn't a lie either, it was their way to test whether the person was robbable or not, in this case it seemed a civilized discussion was for the best
"How shabby of a greeting it is, the material of the axe is far too ordinary, below that even, as if you grabbed some materials and slapped them together to make this, toy?"
Ephai rudely commented while taking apart the axe, making Joco fiddle about uncomfortably
"Actually that's my weapon and I'd like to have it back, in one piece"
"You call this a weapon, you're in dire need of help then, this thing wouldn't scratch most of this world's dwellers much less be capable of causing damage, I took it for an ornament of sorts"
Everyone already knew that, other than normal beasts they couldn't really use this thing in a fight against the ones that invaded their world, what else could one do though?
"Your in luck friends, I am a trader with a wealth of valuables, you are sure to find something of use in my arsenal"
The gang quickly turned to look at each other in disbelief, was there really such a thing? A trader in this messed up world?
"Where is your shop, or do you carry some of the things with you in that car"
Joco quickly asked on everyone's behalf
"Haha, you jest, I need not do such silly things"
Ephai waved his hands in front of them, everyone stared wide eyed expecting something amazing to happen yet nothing appeared before them, there was however the sound of stabbing that came from their side prompting them to look at where Joco stood
Gulp....
The man gulped nervously feeling cold metal against his throat, if only it was thrown an inch to the right his head would have been lopped off
"How do you like my greeting?"
While everyone took a step back or shook in their boots Joco was forced to answer to his mistakes
"Marvelous execution mister Ephai, perhaps a little too enthusiastic though?"
"Haha, perhaps, well then, tell me how you find my merch"
Shifting his eyes from the shadow to the huge sword lodged in the earth he pulled it out for a good look
It was a rather absurd greatsword, not absurd in its two meter length only but the fact that it had no tip, instead curving at the top to look like a chainsaw
Its weird shape and size aside Joco could feel some weight in his hands, that alone told him the metal was excellent since it required effort to swing even with his high strength, it also seemed extra sharp and durable with how it stabbed into the earth earlier and came out unharmed
"Great sword mister, for how much is it?"
"Depends, what do you have?"
"Well..."
Scratching his head awkwardly Joco couldn't answer, if he told the person that his entire shelter only had some put together supplies wouldn't he be left in dust? Then again he might be able to catch up with how slow the car was and beg for it...
"How about you show me what treasures you've found so far, I just might find something useful"
"That would be great, follow us to the shelter then mister"
Ephai nodded before going after them at his slow speed, this forced the group to venture through the night by the end of the trip but they didn't care much this time around, not with the powerful trader by their side and a mighty greatsword in hand
Just before midnight the group arrived at some rubble filled ground much like most of the land here, the group made their stop here however, knocking on the earth they stood at three times, pausing, then three times again
"Who is there?"
Came a muffled voice from below
"Snow"
"Snow who"
"Snow use, the joke's over"
There was a fed up sigh after that as the earth gave out, collapsing into a stairwell that led under
Joco motioned for Ephai who left the car outside so that they would all go in
It was a very short climb down before they reached a barely lit stuffy underground area
"You gotta change the password, everytime I hear these knock knock jokes I want to hang myself"
Complained an old face as soon as they reached the end before waving those fragile arms causing the earth to seal itself back up
"Forget the cheesy jokes, what made you come back so la- oh my what kind of sword is that"
The woman who was just about to question their late return had her focus quickly drawn to the great sword held by Joco, the thing looked like it could cleave a boulder in two, and it could
"It ain't ours, yet"
Replied Joco while shoving the woman's inspecting hands away
"Oh come now, whatever we have our hands on is ours no? And I have my hands on you now~"
The woman flirted with roaming hands
"Which means~ that you're mine~ and so is that sword! Gimme!"
Already expecting the crazy woman's sneaky poaching Joco readily shoved her grabby hands aside before they snatched the sword, throwing her to the side where she bumped into someone's hard muscles
"Already told you it ain't mine, can't give it to you"
"Then who's is it"
Complained the woman while rubbing her back, man whose body was as hard as rock?
"Mine"
Someone spoke behind her so she turned to see who's so daring not to give the boss's woman face and present the sword yet so no one behind her
"Who spoke?"
"That would be me"
Strange, the voice seemed so close yet there was nobody in sight
It was at that point one of the men moved closer with a torch, illuminating the area before her, even so there remained a patch of darkness in the shape of a featureless human that the torch couldn't disperse
"AHH hubby help! It's a GHOST!"
Jumping into her husband's arms in fright the woman hid her face trying not to look at whatever this thing was
"Haah, sorry mister, my wife has a few loose screws in the head, please don't take offense"
"None taken, she isn't that far off to begin with"
There was no need to reveal that, now even he wanted to jump into someone's arms and hide.....
"Well, shall we proceed to the treasury?"
"Of course mister, I sure hope there is something that is useful there"
The group quickly went toward the back of this sunken apartment building, dim and suffocating as the place may be it was much safer than staying above ground, mind the potential cave in of course
"This is what we've collected so far"
Joco motioned toward the utility closet that barely had anything worth noting despite its already small size
"...."
Ephai turned silent at the sorry sight making things quite awkward for everyone standing around, they knew this much wasn't enough to amount to anything useful, especially since most of it was probably junk that they picked up thinking it looked unique and possibly useful
"Most of the stuff here are of really inferior quality, the only thing that can catch my eye is that little bug, has it turned to stone naturally or was it the doing of one of your men"
Picking up a solidified dead bug that looked too ugly to be a statue he started to inspect it carefully
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "It hardened like that naturally, we thought its body material was quite sturdy and might be worth using to create some armor"
"And?"
"Well, we couldn't break its body after it died and solidified…"
"Hmm, interesting"
While looking through the body carefully once more he noticed something wiggle out of the corner of his eye, which after taking another look at the bottom shelf, turned out to be a ball?
Stretching his hand to pick up the word thing he quickly got interrupted by Joco
"Watch out mister, that thing is a troublesome item we got from opening a very strong monster's belly, its quite the ferocious item since it can actually rip apart any fleshly body it touches, its also quite aggressive in nature"
"Is that so? Then there is nothing to worry about"
Stretching his left hand once more Ephai picked up the ball of intestines that remained still and docile, as if all the ferociousness they spoke of was all but a lie
Joco was just about to ask how he did that amazing feat before remembering the man claimed to be something like a ghost, if that was true then there was indeed no flesh for this thing to lash out about, knowing this made him take a step back involuntarily
"Hmm, what's the origin of this thing again?"
"The belly of a beast, one with fins like that of a fish yet legs of a mammal, its mouth resembling a crocodile, it had no eyes but instead an esca on its head"
"Sounds like a Depths Lure, though it shouldn't be here on land...Hmm strange indeed"
Ephai tilted his head to the side in contemplation, looking between the two items in his hands as if debating which one would be a better bargain, in the end however he shrugged his shoulders as if to give up
"I guess it's fine to give you the sword for these two, even though they are worth minor research value, the bug could lead to some great clues however so Il take the risk"
Joco seemed to flinch at the words, he thought from the way Ephai was debating each item was worth a weapon in exchange, never had he thought it would take both to barely exchange for the sword
"Can I at least see what other items you have in stock?"
"Nothing would suit you better than this"
"But I'm an axe user"
Joco complained, he was most proficient with the axe and it suited his battle style, throwing all that away just because he got a better different type of weapon did not sound appealing
"Suit yourself"
Waving his hand Ephai produced plenty of weapons seemingly from thin air, each more unique than the last, one might find themselves lost for hours just looking at the beautiful and dangerous designs before them
Joco quickly honed in on his needs however, the second he spotted twin axes he threw the sword with the new items and grabbed the two axes
"That counts as two weapons"
"Come now mister, twin axes refer to a singular entity"
"...."
Looking at the stubborn and childish face of the once hunk of a man Ephai chose to give up arguing, it was his intention to give more weapons to begin with
"You know what, it's fine, you owe me one though"
"Sure mister, thank you for the generosity"
Dismissively waving his hands he said his goodbyes before leaving through the passage that the old man opened briefly once more
"....What do you think?"
"Physically strong"
"Mentally strong"
"Can't see through the darkness"
Everyone commented after doing their own little test, the answers pointing to one thing
"Guess that's one more scary bastard living in our world"
Joco commented, very unhappy even though he'd hit the jackpot with this deal
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