As we entered the town, the normal hustle and bustle we grew accustomed to back home was even louder here. Food carts and goods venders lined the streets. The air was filled with smells of fresh foods and shouts for fancy items.

I led the way with Valka at my side, Reika and Celeste helped Astra feel safe as we passed by the noisy area. Looking around for a quieter shop, I noticed one just passed all the carts that seemed to be less busy.

"Think we can get what we need there?" I said pointing at the shop. "I’d rather not have our new friend meltdown in the middle of town if I can help it..."

"Only one way to find out," She replied, a grin crossing her face. "I wonder if they sell chains."

Choosing to not engage with that statement I increased our pace, the girls followed tightly. Once we were at the door, I paused for a moment noticing that nobody in town had said or even looked at us funny since we returned.

Looking back toward Valka, I lowered my voice. "Don’t you think this is a bit odd? If she was some tyrant princess, you’d think somebody would recognize her."

Nobody in town had even looked twice at Astra since we arrived. Hell, nobody back home knew what we were talking about either.

"There’s no telling how long she’s been restrained to that dungeon, the history here could have already forgotten her." She let out a more loud and less restrained laugh before quieting herself. "I could ask my Father, I said when we met that he might know more,"

"I’m... good," Laughing nervously at the name drop. "Last thing we need is for your father to come here,"

Without further delay, we headed into the shop. The bell above the door marking our arrival. A few heads turned to look but quickly returned to their own shopping.

Walking up to the front desk, I talked to the shop owner asking for help in finding what we needed. He kindly obliged and before I knew it, the girls were checking out some new digs. Looking down, my own clothes had also seen better days.

Making up my mind on the extra expense, I called to the girls. "I’m going to go grab some stuff for myself, you all okay on your own?"

They all barely changed their attention enough to agree before they went back to shuffling through a pile of clothes.

I found myself strangely drawn to the weapons rack, my spear had been working fine but pumping more mana into such a mundane weapon felt wrong to me. Grabbing a halberd from the rack, I nearly grunted when the weight settled into my hands.

The thing was built from a deep dark steel with a thick reinforced shaft, the axe head broad enough to split through, hopefully bone while the rear hook curved down like it was made to drag monsters off their feet against their will. A beast of a weapon.

Heavy as hell compared to my spear, but solid in a way that immediately felt right. Mana pushed into it without that cheap hollow resistance I’d grown used to, the weapon answering with a faint pressure against my palms like it actually wanted to be used.

I played with it in the shop for a few moments before my companions rejoined me, they were all dressed to the teeth in frilly yet expertly designed clothing. Saying that seeing them all dressed up didn’t cause something inside of me to rise would be a lie.

"Are you all set and ready... you sure these are the right clothes and armor?"

Valka looked down at herself before laughing softly under her breath. The long dark coat she’d picked out hung around her shoulders over fitted leather armor that honestly looked far too expensive for somebody who treated combat like a recreational activity.

"You say that like you know anything about women’s fashion," Valka said.

"I know enough to tell Celeste got lost on the way to a royal banquet," I replied.

Celeste immediately placed both hands on her hips while the silver pieces sewn into her outfit caught the light. "Jealousy is an ugly look on you," she shot back.

"I’m serious, how is any of that practical?" I asked.

"It protects important areas," Celeste answered confidently.

"There’s ribbons," I pointed out.

"And?" she challenged.

I opened my mouth before immediately realizing there was no correct response to that question. Reika quietly looked away while adjusting one of the straps around her waist, clearly trying not to laugh at my suffering.

Compared to the others, she’d chosen something actually sensible. Dark fitted clothing reinforced with leather around the chest and legs, light enough to move in without sacrificing protection.

Honestly, hers probably made the most sense out of the group.

Astra stayed slightly behind them while lightly holding the edge of her sleeve. Compared to everyone else, her outfit almost looked plain. Dark traveling clothes, reinforced boots, a hooded cloak pulled low enough to hide most of her face. Simple.

Still, the longer I looked at her the more obvious it became that the constant tension she’d been carrying around since we escaped the dungeon had eased slightly.

"You look more comfortable at least," I told her.

Her eyes shifted toward me for a moment before lowering again. "It is... quieter like this," Astra replied softly.

Unfortunately Valka heard that immediately.

"Oh? Adrian’s complimenting girls now?" Valka teased.

"Hey I just call it like i see it," I defended myself, letting out a laugh after.

"Mhm," Valka hummed while her grin widened further. "A very caring observation..."

Ignoring her before she could spiral into whatever fresh hell she was about to invent, I shifted the halberd against my shoulder again and instantly regretted it when the extra weight dragged my arm down harder than expected.

The thing handled nothing like my spear, it’s balance sat heavily toward the head, every movement reminding me the weapon was designed to break through things instead of darting around them.

The shop owner noticed me fighting the weapon while he rang up the mountain of clothes the girls had somehow accumulated.

"Not many young adventurers buy those," the shop owner commented with a laugh. "Usually they swing it a few times then remember they enjoy having shoulders that weren’t sore all the time..."

"Starting to see why," I admitted.

"Still..." the shop owner continued while nodding toward the dark steel head resting near my shoulder. "Fine weapon. Steel like that handles monsters better than cheap iron ever will."

That alone was enough to convince me honestly. My old spear had started feeling worse the stronger I got, like every time I pushed mana through it the thing was one bad fight away from splitting apart in my hands mid fight.

This though, this felt like a weapon that could survive what I was becoming.