Keng climbed back into the box and sighed. Bo'ra moved to stand off to the side, looking at him in the mirror as he tilted his head back and forth.
"According to the energy I registered on you while taking your measurements and such, you're very quick and strong right?" Bo'ra asked.
"Yup." Keng nodded. "Does that have to do anything with clothes?"
"That it does." Bo'ra nodded. She snapped her fingers and a beige t-shirt with a small opening near the middle. It was loosely held together by strings. Black pants appeared on his legs and brown boots on his feet. "It allows me to figure out what type of material you'll need to work best with you while you're out on the field. How's this one?"
Keng looked at himself in the mirror and turned around a bit. He nodded and Bo'ra simply nodded and snapped her fingers. The clothes and boots came off and he was back in his boxer briefs.
"Let's try some different looks and see what you want." Bo'ra told him. She snapped her fingers and a thin sweater appeared on him with blue pants and boots. "How about this?"
"Looks nice, too. When I figure out what belt I want for my daggers it'll go well with this one too." Keng mumbled. Bo'ra snapped her fingers and a belt appeared on him.
"How about this?" Bo'ra asked. Keng looked and nodded. Bo'ra and Keng did this for another hour. They cycled through different outfits Bo'ra thought he would look good in. In the end, he stuck to the thin sweater shirts and the t-shirts with strings, no strings and slight variations of that.
The boots stayed the same. Bo'ra had explained to him not many people on Daros wore sneakers like humans did. It was usually boots for the men. The boots were different. Some were shorter while other boot went halfway up his calf.
Keng had decided to stick to a short boot-style. It worked well with his outfits and he didn't feel so constricted with the long boots.
"Alright, that's ten outfits, a week's worth of undergarments, two week's worth of socks and the belt. That'll be 1538 pieces." Bo'ra motioned at Zixin. Zixin pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Bo'ra. Bo'ra took a moment to read it and wrapped the paper up and nodded.
"You'll have to get a backpack for yourself at another store." Bo'ra told Keng. "Zixin was telling the truth when he said you two were on business by order of the Elder. If you need more clothes, don't be afraid to stop by alright?"
"Thanks, Bo'ra." Keng bowed.
"Oh, you don't have to be that polite, dear. I'm glad I could assist you. Do well on your adventures. See you next time." Bo'ra waved.
"Bye, Bo'ra." Zixin smiled. Bo'ra's smile faded as she heard Zixin speak.. She looked at him and glared at him.
"I still want that big favor, Zixin. If you don't do me one soon, I'll find you and stitch your eyes and mouth shut for eternity." Bo'ra gave a warm smile and waves goodbye to the both of them as Keng grabbed his folded clothes and gave Bo'ra a small bow before turning to follow Zixin.
"She's still fiesta as ever." Zixin shook his head as Keng almost ran into the door on the way out.
"Seems like you two have history." Keng pointed out.
"Mmm, something like that. But enough about that, let's find a backpack for you. There's a shop nearby here." Zixin led Keng to a general shop.
"Zixin!" The old Fox Spirit jollily called with a chuckle. "It's been awhile. What're you doing here with this lad?"
"He needs a backpack, old man." Zixin pointed. The old man looked at Keng. Keng wore one of his new outfits. The beige t-shirt with strings and black pants and boots. He had strapped on the belt and naturally started to look at the wares.
"This one seems to have a young soul." The old man observed. He looked at Zixin who was nodding. "He's the one who has his Vessel still running around, right?"
"Correct." Zixin nodded. "Pick a backpack along that wall, Keng." Keng turned around and nodded. He moved to the wall with some backpacks showing and grabbed one of them and started to stuff the clothes in it.
"What do you think, Zixin?" The old man asked. "Will he mature fast enough? He should've definitely matched with his Vessel's energy by now."
"Old man, do not worry about him. That's the least of his concerns." Zixin hushed the general store man. Zixin watched Keng wander over to look at some knick knacks. He had grabbed a key chain of sorts and was twirling it.
"Tell me, Zixin. I can help. You know I am capable of helping." The old man told him. "Did something happen? His Spiritual body is starting to create an actual body. Does he–"
"Shhh." Zixin shushed the old man. He gave the old man a quizzical look. "Something's should be quiet until they're ready to be seen. Keng's form isn't the least of his worries. He has a long journey ahead of him." Zixin pulled out a small black bag and put it in the old man's hand.
"Keng, you can keep that, too." Zixin said as he walked away from the old man. The old man stared at the small black bag in his hand. It was way more than what the kid had bought.
"What does this mean, Zixin?" Keng asked, pointing at the strange symbol on the keychain.
"That's warrior in Fox tongue. Shouldn't you know this?" Zixin ruffles Keng's hair.
"Oh, warrior! I thought it was cake." Keng chuckled.
"Come on. We got maybe thirty minutes to blow. Do you want anything else? I'll buy." Zixin patted Keng and the both of them left the general shop. The old man brushed his chin as his form shimmered.
"He knew it was me from the beginning." The shapeshifter sighed. The old man shifted into a tall man. He had slippery skin and his fingers looked webbed. He had tan skin with spots of blue. His eyes were deep sea blue and he had short brown hair. "I guess I can't play around with the older Foxes. I'll have to figure out a way to play with the kid some other way."
The brunette humanoid opened the coin bag. There were a lot of gold coins in there but a white parchment note stuck out. He pulled it out and read the note. The brunette webbed handed man clicked his tongue and crinkled the paper.
"They all like to play games. Why does the Elder choose like-minded people like him?" He let go of the paper as water began to appear around the man. "Two months. Can we wait that long for our savior?" The water engulfed the man and he disappeared from the shop.
Keng and Zixin found themselves in a weapons shop. Keng perused around and eventually found himself hovering around a large amount of bows and arrows. The bows were different colors and made of different materials.
He found himself hovering his hand around a brown bow with white inscriptions scrawled onto it.
"You like that one?" Zixin asked. Keng looked up and noticed Zixin was right there.
"Yeah." Keng nodded. He pulled the bow off of it's display rack and held it in his left hand. He knew the weapons were magical and they all chimed the same. This bow in particular made him curious. It didn't chime. It sounded like piano chords being played.
"Oh, I see you have a good eye." The owner pointed at the bow. "That one's been overlooked because of the material. You have a good eye, kid."
"It sounds different from the rest." Keng told the owner and Zixin. "Like a piano being played. What is this exactly?" Keng pulled the red bowstring back and held it for a while. The weaponsmith raised his eyebrows as he watched. The bowstring felt strong to Keng as he slowly put it back into place
"It's made from one of the common oaks around here. The white inscriptions are the usual magical enchantments but the bowstring, in particular, is what makes it interesting." The weaponsmith pointed.
"What does it do?" Zixin asked.
"Have you ever fought a Ruby Spider Queen?" The weaponsmith asked.
"No. I've heard horrible stories about those things, though." Zixin answered.
"That string is made from the web of a Ruby Queen. A whole spool of web is needed to make that bowstring. Its magical properties draw a lot of people in, but very few can pull it back."
"What do you mean?" Keng asked. "I just pulled it."
"Of course." The weaponsmith nodded. "You're Jyu'so's disciple, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'll charge the Elder for your purchase if you want the bow. I've been waiting for a long time for the special person to come along and pull that bowstring back."
"What? Really? How much is it?" Zixin asked.
"You couldn't afford it in ten lifetimes, Zixin it's extremely pricey."
"It's just a common bow with a Ruby Queen bowstring. How pricey could it be?"
"10 million."
"Oh my god." Zixin gasped. Keng quickly set the bow back in place and started to look for another one.
"Yeah, let's not–" Keng started to say before the weaponsmith grabbed the bow and placed it in Keng's hands.
"You must take it. I'll even tell the Elder myself if I have to. It's not everyday the bow chooses it's owner. Please, little one, accept the bow."