[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/KZCrkic.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/DtnixpY.png?2[/img]
[b]Location:[/b] Deep Blue Seaside - Limsa Lominscuttle Town
[b]Level:[/b] 1
[b]Experience:[/b] 14/10 ([i]Level up ready[/i])
[b]Word Count:[/b] 952 ([i]+2 EXP[/i])[/center]
Rubick skipped along as he followed the group, even riding his staff like a toy horse, complete with realistic clopping noises and occasional  neighing sound effects. "[color=8dc73f]Giddyup![/color]" he said as he spun around in a circle. This continued even after they reached the Argentum Trade Guild, clip-clopping his way up the ramps, but he stopped as soon as he saw all the goods on display at the Argentum Bazaar. "[color=8dc73f]Let us meet back at the entrance, friends![/color]" Rubick said to the team before running off to browse the various stores. 

Like Nadia, he too felt spoiled by choice, and the little furry Nopon merchants certainly made a big effort to advertise their wares. Rubick was tempted to buy a lot of their wares, but he knew he had to carefully consider what to buy. That vintage wine over here certainly looked interesting, but perhaps that gold necklace shined just pleasantly enough to tempt his wallet open. Truth be told, it almost did, but Rubick knew better than to fall for such tricks. Where Rubick came from, the shopkeepers were under an ancient pact with the gods: personal safety in exchange for high-quality, fairly priced goods and services. Failure to comply with this agreement, buyer or seller, would lead to a never-ending curse inflicted by every single god, known and unknown to the world. Here, these shopkeepers were undoubtedly under no such agreement, so there was no guarantee that what they were selling were what he needed. It was a pity, but these were not items that Rubick needed. 

He continued to browse, but Rubick couldn't find anything that he absolutely needed. He continued to walk and walk, at this point only scanning items before moving on to the next store, then he proceeded to rapidly walk backwards as his eyes locked onto one item in particular. It was a blue eyepiece with a copper frame. It had a faint glow of power surrounding it. Rubick realized what it was at a glance: the Aether Lens. It was an item from his land, he was sure of it. It granted extra energy for the wearer as well as energy regen, which was nice, but the main trait of this artifact was the increased cast range, giving spells and items some extra range to reach their targets. He had been planning to buy it back in the Defense of the Ancients, though he couldn't then b̸̡̌e̸̜̽̈́c̶̦̲̒̓a̵͙̺͌u̴̙͗͑̃ͅs̷̛̼̺̊͊e̸͍̱͑ ̵̥̤̻̍ö̶̬̺͓́͛f̵̡̔̆ ̵̡̛G̶̨͌̓͊â̶̩̮̳̾l̴̫͖̇è̵̫͕̗̾e̷̛͍̦͌͜m̵̻̏̀. Now that it was here, he knew he had to get his hands on it.

And so the haggling began. The shopkeeper asked for a rather exorbitant price, to which Rubick laughed off in response and proceeded to ask for a price that was unreasonably low. Then they began to rapidly fire off prices, each getting higher and lower, respectively, until they finally settled on a price of 1050 gold. Feeling triumphant, Rubick happily attached it over an eyehole on his mask. The moment he did, he could already feel the newfound power surging into him. Satisfied, he left to continue his browsing of the shops.

Along the way, he eventually went over to what was perhaps the most interesting part of the Argentum Bazaar: the Grand Exchange. Making his way through the large crowd and occasionally stepping over a pile of ashes, he went up to the front desk and asked one of the employees what was being sold. As it turned out, literally everything. The only limit was the buyer's knowledge and funds, and of course, if anyone was selling the desired product. Curious, Rubick decided to test that claim. He first began to order three items: the Octarine Core, the Refresher Orb, and his father's prized scepter. To his surprise, all three items were available through the Grand Exchange, though the prices were quite high. It was to be expected; after all, these were high class goods, prized by any who even dabble in the arts of magic. Quickly realizing he couldn't buy any of these items, he decided to settle on something actually in his price range: the Blink Dagger. Although fabled to have been used by the fastest assassin in the world, its blade was actually rather dull. However, its main purpose was not to be used as a weapon. It was actually a magical artifact that instantly transported, or "blinked", its wielder in any direction several feet. His new Aether Lens would compliment it well, as he would be able to travel even farther than normal using it. 

It sounded good on paper, until you realized its main drawback: the wielder must not have taken any direct damage for the last few seconds. Furthermore, after using the Blink Dagger, it would go on a cooldown for several seconds before it could be used again. Still, Rubick could work around those downsides. It was all he needed. 

Rubick tried to set the buying price lower than the default of 1125 gold, but it seemed no one was willing to sell that low. Disappointed, he then set it back to the default price. Immediately, the trade went through, and Rubick received his item. He began twirling the Blink Dagger around his fingers, then pointed in the direction of the entrance. With a [i]poof[/i] of blue particles, Rubick teleported past the crowd around the GE and found himself at the entrance, exactly where he wanted to be. Now that he found what he wanted, he then began to search for his companions. Perhaps they still had something they wanted to buy. Rubick still had some leftover funds, and figured it would be in his best interest to stay in their good graces and help them purchase something they didn't have the funds for.

[hider=Items GET!]
[list]
[*]Aether Lens: Provides a small boost to energy supply and energy regeneration. Increases cast range of Powers and items by a few yards.
[*]Blink Dagger: Although fabled to have been used by the fastest assassin in the world, its blade was actually rather dull. A magical artifact that instantly transported, or "blinked", its wielder in any direction several yards away. The wielder must not have taken any direct damage for the last few seconds to use this effect. Furthermore, after using the Blink Dagger, it would go on a cooldown for several seconds before it could be used again.
[/list]
Starting Money: 5100 (3000 starting + 2100 Peach)
-1050 Aether Lens
-1125 Blink Dagger
Ending Money: 2925
[/hider]