Eventually he begins nodding and muttering to himself, then he gives his decision.
"Aye, well then, if money and magic aren't an issue, and that's all the affinity you've got, then I think magic weapons are a good idea." (Percivil)
He walks over and grabs a beautiful looking bow from behind the store counter, hidden from view. It looks like a recurve bow.
"This is one of my best magic bow creations. It's got permanent enchantments on it that let yah pour raw magic power into it and convert that into spells that enhance the bow functions. One of them strengthens the bow and its firing power, and another imbues arrows with fire or water element. The strength of both enchantments increases with the magic power added." (Percivil)
Upon hearing that she'll be able to use other affinities, Nina's eyes light up excitedly and she begins inspecting the bow. She turns to me, barely containing her enthusiasm.
"Mizuki…I want to go play with this as soon as possible!" (Nina)
I chuckle aloud, and I can see Percivil smiling proudly, too.
"Well let's finish with your other stuff here first. After that, we can practice using your new equipment before we head to the guild. I have a training spot I'm fond of. I also want to see that new technique that you teased me about recently." (Mizuki)
I can sense her impatience, but she nods politely and turns back to Percivil. Percivil, sensing that we are getting back to business, continues with his next recommendation.
He once again walks behind the counter to where the choice items are apparently stored. This time, he pulls out two matching daggers that are about 30 cm in length each. He unsheathes them and displays the blade to us as he walks back over.
"These daggers have permanent enchantments, kind of like the ones on your bow. The more magic power yah pour in, the stronger the daggers become. The enchantment is straightforward, but I've really perfected how much magic power these can channel. So, unless you're Mizuki, yah don't really have to show restraint! Just in case, though, the blades glow blue when they're saturated with magic power." (Percivil)
He seems quite proud of these daggers, and he's confident they can handle a lot of magic. I'm glad he mentioned the limit indicator, though, because I doubt it can take all Nina's magic.
A smile forms across my face as an idea takes form.
"Hey Percivil, can you hand Nina one of those daggers, please? We can try a little test." (Mizuki)
She probably senses my curiosity, and she takes a dagger from Percivil while looking at me expectantly. I pull out the largest scale fragment of hers that I have from my pack and hand it over to her. She seems to understand my intention, and she smiles mischievously.
"Fufufufu…you only managed to cut through these because you are a monster, Mizuki. There's no way that channeling unrefined magic into a dagger would be able to do that." (Nina)
Percivil seems to be eyeing the scale fragment curiously. I smile at Nina.
"Well, there's only one way to find out. Put your magic power into it until it's at its limit, and then give the dagger a try on the scale fragment." (Mizuki)
Nina snorts, then turns towards the task. She begins looking at the dagger, still wearing a smirk, but after a moment she frowns.
She begins focusing intently on it, then after another moment the blades glow a deep blue color. Percivil's eyes open wide in surprise, and Nina seems surprised as well.
"I owe you an apology, dwarf. It's true that you are exceptionally skilled. I never expected that this item would be able to hold such a large fraction of my magic." (Nina)
Percivil seems flustered now, and keeps glancing at me, with an expression like 'who the hell is she?'.
Nina holds the scale fragment out in front of her, and then tries slashing it down the middle with the dagger. The dagger ends up below the scale, and a faint line can be seen through most of the scale fragment. The dagger cut through it like butter.
Nina looks completely dumbfounded, and Percivil is inspecting the scale fragment again curiously. Percivil's eyes go wide as if realizing something.
"M-M-Mizuki, that ain't an Elder Dragon scale she's holding there, is it? Aye, I've only seen one once, but they're completely different from minor dragon scales. Where the hell did yah get it?" (Percivil)
Before I can answer him, Nina, still in complete shock, begins muttering.
"I…I can't believe it. It cut right through my scale, Mizuki. I barely felt any resistance at all." (Nina)
Percivil, realizing the significance of that, goes pale. He begins looking back and forth between Nina and I frantically. Not able to help myself, I begin laughing uncontrollably. They both shoot me annoyed glares.
After I compose myself, I smile at Percivil.
"Percivil, allow me to officially introduce you to Nedonera, the Elder Dragon of earth. She seems quite impressed that your dagger managed to cut through her scales." (Mizuki)
Looking back at Nina, Percivil seems to break out into a cold sweat. Nina is giving him a very serious expression, then starts to interrogate him.
"Dwa…err, I mean Percivil, are there any more weapons that can do this?" (Nina)
Percivil responds nervously.
"Nah, Miss Nina, I doubt so. Those daggers are a masterpiece of mine. I haven't made anything else that could channel even close to that amount of raw magic into a physical enhancement. Truthfully, even with time I could probably only replicate this effect with daggers. I don't think that this would be possible to implement on a larger weapon like a sword. On top of that, to hit the limit of those daggers should've required at least twenty times more magic power than any human in the guild records has ever possessed." (Percivil)
Ah, so in other words, even if Percivil or someone else could make another full-scale weapon like this, there shouldn't be anyone who could use it at the level Nina just witnessed.
I glance at Nina and that news seems to have calmed her down some. I chuckle lightly at the observation. I hope that Nina has learned to respect weaker creatures a bit more now.
Well then, time to wrap this up!
I clap my hands together enthusiastically, which seems to shake Nina and Percivil from their respective stupors.
"So, Percivil, I think Nina is thoroughly impressed with your work. How much for the bow, the daggers, a weapon belt for the daggers, and a quiver full of arrows for the bow?" (Mizuki)
Percivil seems to finally compose himself and consider my question.
"Aye, sorry Mizuki, but you're taking my best stuff and it's gonna' cost yah! I'd say about 30 golds should cover your tab for those items." (Percivil)
He laughs while stroking his beard again. Somehow, as crazy as that price is, I feel like he isn't charging us as much as he should. I smile at him warmly and collect the gold from my coin purse, and I make sure to throw in a few extra gold coins.
We're finally done with shopping for Nina, and there is about a third of the coin purse left relative to the start of the day. Everyone seems happy, though, so I don't mind.
I hand over the gold to Percivil and thank him again. Nina has already donned all her equipment, and she is practically bouncing with excitement to go try it out. I can sense the anticipation coming off her in waves.
"Mizuki, can we go there now? Can you take us straight there, too? Walking is going to take too long!" (Nina)
I sigh internally, but it's not lacking amusement. I suppose that a dragon would think that walking is slow. She's probably used to flying places. I turn to Percivil.
"Hey, Percivil, do you mind if we use your back room again to leave here and return discreetly. Apparently, Nina is in a hurry." (Mizuki)
I say this in a teasing tone, but Nina seems unbothered. Percivil is quite amused by Nina's childlike behavior and my teasing. Yeah, I guess she's not what he expected of an Elder Dragon, huh?
Percivil nods his approval, so we make our way to the back room. As soon as we're alone, Nina latches onto me with a hug, then kisses me quickly on the cheek and squeals a 'thank you'. After that, I teleport us to the clearing in the forest that's become my training ground.
Time to see what Nina can do.