4. The Spear and the Douche

As soon as Claude laid his eyes on the spear, he recognized its model. It was a Gladiator Spear, also known as a type of javelin or short spear. Something from the Old World, before Systems and the Tangent's. When man was more often pitted against man than Monster.

The spear was jet black and shorter than the stadard spears you see today but the blade was longer-- and thicker. The spear was practical, deadly, and Claude knew it. 

While most people would go for the gaudy spears with the wild attachments and unnecesary add ons, Claude knew better. Claude knew those would be the ones to break or become a hindrance to the user in tight spaces, but this simple short spear wasn't anything like that. This spear was ideal.

"This weapon is made for battle...." He thought to himself in awe.

As he continued to ogle at the masterful creation-- noticing the ridges and weave patterns towards the middle-bottom of the spear that must've been where you held it, he noticed it had writing on it that read; "When you need the dark of night in the light of day. For the devout Follower of Beez, Gaunt."

The message intrigued Claude so he waited until Bergrin was done talking to the Archer and asked, "Excuse me, Bergrin Sir. I was wondering do you know who made this spear?....uh...DuskBringer?"

"Ahhhhh yes, this here DuskBringer was brought in by a new Guild as a gift! They said it would benefit them better if someone else wielded such a weapon, not really sure what that means but its crafted very well. The only issue is the Skill....only certain Classes would be able to use this well made spear to it's fullest potential." He replied with his signature thick scottish accent before turning back to the Archer.

"Hmmmm. Interesting, anyway thanks for letting me know, Sir." Claude replied.

Bergrin's head remained facing the Archer as he replied to him, "No problem, half pint."

Bergrin's verbal jab at Claude's height got a laugh out of the intimidatingly pretty Archer and the rest of the nearby shoppers which infuriated him, but more so just made him kind of sad since he knew he wasn't meant to be a tall bearded beast of a man like Bergrin.

He did his best to let it all roll of his shoulders like rainwater-- deciding to clear his mind by reading up on the spear some more. There wasn't much known about the weapon-- even its makeup was unknown, only being described as a "Cold yet sulferous and dark hybrid metallic alloy." He couldnt find much else and decided to read the last chunk of information written on the sticker plastered to the display case. The Skill.

Weapons were often just that-- barbaric instruments of destruction, sometimes made graceful and other times made more barbaric. But one change caused weapons to go from mediocre at best to powerfully viable in an instant. That change was often known as; a Weapon Skill.

The spear within the glass confines of the display case in front of him had one as mentioned. It's name was both ominous and straight to the point.

DuskBringer Skill, (Night Trail): When DuskBringer is thrown, a trail of darkness follows in its wake that covers the distance the spear travels.

Skill aside, the weapon was alright, boasting a thick defensive length and the shortest range of all the spears in the shop by quite a large margin. The weapon could've even been classified as low tier-- if not for the Skill. It was incredibly odd when considering what kinds of fighters benefited from the dark of shadows.

"Assassins don't use spears. So, who made this and what was the intitial purpose?" He pondered as he read over the Skill again.

After a while, Claude realized he was drooling over the spear for far too long and should get going to the academy before he was late. As he turned away from Bergrin and the display case to leave the Weapon-Smith's, a very tall and well built man who must've been a Hero shoved him out of the way like he was simply a bothersome object instead of an actual person.

"Scoot, pipsqueak." The man said without sparing Claude even a seconds worth of a glance.

The strength in the man's punch was much harder than necessary and sent Claude to the floor with a loud, "THUD!".

He landed near the door that took him out of the Weapon-Smith's. As he looked around from his spot on the floor, more so out of suprise and shock since he didn't expect anyone to come to his aid. He noticed that nobody even reacted to the entire event that just took place. In fact, the pretty and agile framed Archer was still looking at Bergrin while twisting her long curly red locks of hair around like some dumbstruck airhead and the other people in the area continued browsing like brainless sheep.

As a matter of fact, the Hero closest to him-- a young Mage of some sort based on his cloak and scepter, stepped over him to exit the shop. This action caused Claude to shoot to his feet, fists  balled and ready to go at anyone and everyone in the shop. His anger filled eyes landed on Bergrin who wasn't talking to the Archer anymore but instead looking at him with an expression of......respect?

Claude couldn't fathom that someone would feel respect for a guy that was just manhandled all over their shop. So, Claude assumed he was being mocked-- belittled even.

"Damn womanizer Weapon-Smith."

After Claude internally expressed his anger with Bergrin, he left with his dignity at an all time low. But, right before exiting, he heard the man that shoved him say in a rugged and rat-like voice, "I'm here to purchase DuskBringer."