When Caroline, Jason and Garret left the weapons shop, none of them got anything, just like what they’d expected. The old woman who ran the store was very friendly and completely okay with them not purchasing anything - though she insisted on giving them her business card - turned out this store was named “Nameless Sword”, and it was also a supplier for the Grant Academy.

 

“Yeah I wouldn’t advise you to buy your weapons there.” right after they left the store, Garret said with a low voice: “Their weapons are okay, but a bit overpriced - it’s like buying hot dogs in a theme park and popcorns and drinks in the movie theater.”

 

“What kind of weapons does your family make? That old lady seemed genuinely impressed with your family.” Jason asked.

 

“Yeah well, we do a lot of standard issue weapons. And they are selling mostly variants of standard issue weapons. So they might have dealt with us.” Garret said: “I… I don’t really know why she’d recognize me.”

 

“Wait a minute, what is this, you’re humble bragging?” Caroline jokingly backhanded Garret’s arm: “Are you humble bragging? Jason? I think he’s humble bragging.”

 

“Yeah dude, you’re humble bragging.” Jason laughed and put her arm on Garret’s shoulder: “Tell us, how much allowance you get from your family per month? You don’t have to tell us the exact number, just the ballpark.”

 

“Well … I’m not sure I feel comfortable...”

 

“No problem. Maybe another question, how many weapons does your family sell per month? And on average how much does one piece cost?” Caroline also put her arm on Garret’s shoulder and asked with a cunning smile.

 

“Well… on average we sell around ten thousand sets per year, but those are very different sets, ranging from hunting sets to combat sets, it’s kinda hard to come up with an average number for now...”

 

“Woah! ” Jason did some quick math in his head, then patted Garret on his shoulder: “If my math is correct - don’t put too much faith in it - your family’s fucking loaded! ”

 

“Well - I don’t like to talk about my family’s business too much… shall we check out ‘Artistic Elements’? This is a pretty famous chain store, they sell all kinds of art related artifacts and materials, even materials for magical circles and arrays. Why don’t we go in and check it out.”

 

“Yeah. Of course!” Jason smiled, he was just messing with Garret and was not really trying to pry: “And tell me about this store, what do they offer?”

 

“Well, it depends on what kinds of art you want.” Garret exhaled in relief: “If you like drawing or sculpting, it is a pretty neat place to start. I have a sister who really loves sculpting golems and gargoyles, she visits this chain a lot.”

 

“Huh, interesting, never thought the magical underworld also has chain stores.” Caroline followed a very enthusiastic Jason and Garret into the store.

 

“Welcome to ‘Artistic Elements’, what can I help you with?” a short, cute and bubbly girl wearing a cartoonish wizard hat and with her hair braided and stuffed inside the hat.

 

“Hi, I am trying to show my friends around. What products do you have here?” Garret asked, then he turned to Jason: “What are you interested in?”

 

“Umm… animations?”

 

“Cool! We have a lot of things for you. How about an enchanted drawing board you can draw in three dimensions and zooming functionalities?”

 

“I’ve already got one of those. Do you have … clay for sculpting? But reusable and maybe not too expensive?” Jason thought for a while and asked.

 

“Yeah, you’re looking for practice golem clay. We don’t keep those in display, so please wait for me while I bring it out.” the girl nodded and rushed to the back of the store.

 

“Man. I know why artists are almost always starving.” Caroline chuckled: “You just can’t help yourselves.”

 

“Well, I didn’t say I am definitely buying it.” Jason also chuckled: “But yeah, something like that would be pretty great to have.”

 

“I can vouch for the quality of their practice clay - it’s pretty nice, at least that’s what my sister told me. And they give you a manual on how to best use them. If you are indeed interested in sculpting you should try it. ” Garret said: “And the price is quite reasonable as well.”

 

“Tada!” the bubbly girl with a wizard hat came back with a small wooden board and a small lump of light grey clay on it: “This is one of our more cost-efficient versions. It can be reused up to a thousand times, provided you don’t use any final priming spells or materials on it. What do you think? You wanna try with a small clump first?”

 

“Yeah! Yeah!” Jason looked at Caroline then Garret: “How much is it?”

 

“One gold coin for two standard lumps, which is about one liters in total.” 

 

“That’s… not expensive at all. I’ll have two liters.” Jason hesitated for only a second.

 

-------------------------------

 

When Caroline, Jason and Garret finally left the side road and drove back to Creek Avenue, about an hour and a half had already passed. Jason had a bag of clay with him and a thick manual about how to properly use and maintain it, and Caroline got herself a pair of Garret-approved boots, which were said to endure even the most severe climate and had the ability to adjust temperature and exterior color per the wearer’s needs.

 

“Yikes. Neither of us can control ourselves. Let’s just head to the academy now.” weighing the remaining coins in her pouch, Caroline said, then she asked: “Garret, do you know if the Grant Academy has part time jobs for students like bookstore organizer or ceremony receptionist?”

 

“Umm… yes but not those - those are civilian jobs. I guess you can try to apply for some temporary positions in the library or the training ground - but those are pretty hard to get because you can earn credit from those and the competition’s pretty stiff. If you’re good enough in some aspects you can try to be a TA, it’s a lot like the TA in civilian colleges and universities, but there's a requirement on basic knowledge and training.”

 

“So no good temp jobs for us then?”

 

“I could ask around for you. But you shouldn’t need to worry. Everything necessity-wise is free in the academy, including regular meals, normal clothing, housing, basic travels. You only need money for the extra stuff.”

 

“So what’s the extra stuff?”

 

“Things like parties, drinks, game tickets and equipment.”

 

“Don’t tell me you have some kind of ball games where players ride brooms.”

 

“Actually we do, several of them.” Garret sounded a bit embarrassed: “Well, it’s actually a lot of fun. Not that unlike in the movies.”