Martial Online.

Chapter 19: Crowns

The bell above the door chimed as a result of another customer entering the store.

"Welcome~" A pleasant-looking store clerk welcomed the new customer. She looked beautiful in a black dress and stockings, which made her look lovely.

Ambrose nodded and looked towards the shop counter. 'There is also the bald shopkeeper. Is she his daughter?'

After pondering for a second, he remembered the reason he came here. He walked to the wall with different sword-based weapons. There were several fancy-looking weapons, but seeing the price tag made Ambrose clutch his chest in pain.

He thought he was relatively wealthy with 219 silvers, but after seeing the most expensive weapons, he realized that he was not even close to being rich.

He moved over to the cheapest weapons and took a broadsword from the wall, then tested its weight. It was much heavier than a wooden sword.

'The blade is not very balanced.' Ambrose immediately thought about it, even though he wasn't knowledgeable about swords. However, when he tried holding it with one hand, the blade continued leaning forward.

'I don't like this one. This is the weapon those guys used, but it feels uncomfortable...' He placed the sword back on the wall and looked at the rest of the selections.

'This one is the sword with the shortest blade length.' Ambrose took one sword from the wall and immediately felt a different feeling from the broadsword. This one's blade was shorter and lighter. It was clearly designed to be a one-handed sword.

'This one is called a shortsword. Fitting name.'

Ambrose then glanced at the price tag and nodded. '130 silvers. A reasonable price. I like the weight, and I enjoy how it feels when I hold it in one hand.

'I definitely need to use one-handed swords if I plan on going the dual wielding route.' Ambrose slowly swung it around him and liked it even more.

He knew that it was a rather poor weapon compared to more expensive weapons, but he did like it much more than the wooden sword.

He nodded with a smile and walked to the shop counter.

"Hello, I would like to purchase this weapon." Ambrose placed the sword on the counter.

"Alright." The bald-headed man groggily opened his eyes. When he saw the face on the other side of the counter, his smile grew subconsciously. "Very well. Do you want to purchase two shortswords with a discount? The total price would be 210 silvers."

'Ah?' Ambrose turned silent and caressed his chin. 'That is a massive discount. Indeed, NPCs are treating me differently. However, do I want to spend all my silver? I thought about spending some on food as well...'

The bald shopkeeper waited patiently with a smile on his face.

'I can't be using dual wielding with only one shortsword. I don't want to use a wooden sword as a second weapon. I planned on selling them at first too, but I keep them just in case I happen to lose my shortsword at my death.

'Still, a second shortsword would also help in case I die and lose one of them. It would be a tragedy to take a step backward and be forced to use wooden swords again.

'Yeah, purchasing a second one sounds good...'

Ambrose nodded. "Sure."

"Excellent." The bald shopkeeper clapped and nodded at the beautiful shopkeeper. She went to the wall and brought another shortsword with her.

Ambrose paid the price in full and received the two steel shortswords. He tried holding them with each hand and was having difficulty slashing with both of them simultaneously.

'Yeah, I can't really use dual wielding with my current Strength and Dexterity. I have to increase them next time.'

"Thank you for shopping here at Heat and Iron Weapons. I hope you visit us again." The bald shopkeeper bowed shortly and returned to his seat.

Ambrose nodded and left the weapons store as a much stronger player. He was already an above average player with a steel shortsword. He wanted to go test his current prowess, but staying awake the whole night was catching up to him.

'I need to go to sleep.' He pinched his glabella and let out a yawn.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw players chatting with their friends while enjoying the atmosphere of Amaterasu. They were even occasionally talking with NPCs, treating them like real people.

'It seems I am not the only one who is enjoying this world more than reality.' Ambrose smiled and looked at the bright sky. He felt depressed that he had to leave this world and resented his real-life body for needing sleep.

After sighing loudly, he opened his interface and logged out.

...

"Ugh..." Jesse groaned and rolled on the bed. He slowly removed the VR headset from his head and continued lying down with his face planted on the pillow. He was feeling too tired to move.

"Urgh..." He groaned and forced himself to stand up. He felt the need to go to the bathroom and was even feeling hungry, but he didn't feel like going to eat.

He hopped on his wheelchair and rolled out of his room. The downstairs was quiet, meaning his parents and little sister had already left.

After going to the bathroom and flushing the toilet, Jesse rolled to the sink to wash his face. He turned on the faucet and started washing his face with cold water.

After wiping his head with a towel, Jesse glanced towards the shower. The shower was surrounded by glass walls. It showed his reflection sitting on a wheelchair, looking quite tired.

"Huh." Jesse raised an eyebrow and rubbed his eyes. "I guess I am more tired than I thought."

The reflection showed a fatigued-looking youth with dull blue eyes and messy black hair. He had sickly pale skin, but before, his body was rather skinny, as if he had barely eaten during that week. However, now his body was filled out and looked more healthy.

It was as if he had grown a little bit of muscle without realizing it.

"Ugh." Jesse shook his head and rolled back to his bed. He then laid on the bed, pulled out his phone, and opened the forum.

There were hundreds more posts than before. He didn't read them all and instead started writing a short post.

[Selling the location of Crow Cave]

He then wrote about it being a trial and what it consisted of. He said that it was near Amaterasu, but not the location. He didn't even mention it being in Crow Forest, even though many would be able to find out.

However, finding the location wasn't that easy.

'What price should I put on the information?' Jesse wondered inwardly. He knew that people would pay a lot if he realized his rewards. However, he wasn't certain if everyone received similar prizes, so they might blame him for scamming.

Scamming could result in his account being banned. The forum was using a Martial Online account. Before Martial Online, he didn't have any accounts and could only read posts. However, now that he was making a post, he needed an account.

He was using his Ambrose account because he couldn't make another one.

Therefore, he didn't want others to blame him for scamming.

He also didn't want to reveal his rewards, as players might target him for those rewards.

'Hmm, 50 crowns should be enough, right?' Jesse thought. Crowns were the currency used around the globe. The VR headset cost a total of 400 crowns, and the game cost 60 crowns.

Therefore, 50 crowns sounded reasonable, according to Jesse. He didn't know how much others would be willing to pay for such information, and he didn't want to go overboard.

Jesse posted the forum post and then closed his phone. He lay back on the bed and closed his eyes.

After a sleepless night, he planned on taking a nap.