The inside of the shop was filled with bottles of strange-colored sand. Each one of the bottles had multiple colors, but some had many more than others.
“Philly! How are you doing?” Mati asked, and a snug with a small shell on his head turned around from behind his counter.
“Mati, what brings you into my shop? I can see that you are as broke as ever, but who is this strange creature that you have with you? He also looks broke but interesting. Didn’t you tell me your sister looked like this? Is this her kid?” Philly the snail…man, asked.
“I am here to see if you are interested in any Giant Jade Sea Turtle bones? Or teeth?” I asked, and the snail's eyes almost popped out of his head.
“You had to be there to really appreciate it. It was pretty creepy to see, even for me! He ate that crusty old turtle that hunted in these waters,” Mati said, and the slug wiped a greasy hand across his forehead.
Philly looked kind of like a human without legs that was slightly translucent with a shell on his head. He also seemed to have some mucus covering him, but it stayed on him and was not floating around.
“Really, well, I, umm, am not really equipped to go out and harvest that much. I would only be able to buy a few of the smallest bones unless you were also thinking of trading,” Philly explained, and I expected that.
“Sure, give me a minute, and I will get some out,” I said as I opened my system menu and moved over to my inventory.
“Oh boy, Philly! You thought that was crazy before; wait until you see what he does next! You didn’t see the fight, so it might be easy to think this guy is talking crap, but this will be all the proof you need!” Mati cheered as she moved behind me.
Putting her arms around my neck, Mati made my snakes all go haywire, but I was the one that got hit three times. The feeling of her squishy jiggly bits pressing me and her hanging on me was recompense enough for the couple of stinging nips I got.
My snakes felt back about it, but I knew it wasn’t their fault. Mati startled them, and they tried attacking her, but the uncanny avoidance caused them to get me instead.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten your snakes; they are like my sisters, but yours are longer. I forget that they get excited if they don't know you!” Mati laughed and kissed my cheek as I selected some of the smallest bones.
Instantly, there was a large pile of small jade bones on the ground, and I looked up at Philly, but he was gone.
“Where did he go?” I asked.
“I think that he passed out from shock. I can’t really blame him. Philly is a pretty docile type, but he is good at bargaining. This puts him in an awkward position now, though, right, Mr. Philly?” Mati asked, still hanging on to me from behind.
“This is true. I truly believe a salesman should never show his shock to a customer, but you aren’t a normal person, and that is a lot of bones! I hope you don’t expect me to pay you for all of them! I only have about one hundred or so Sand Dollars, but I can trade you for the rest!” Philly offered, but Mati leaned over my shoulder and stabbed a finger at Philly.
“Don’t even think about it, you greasy slug! I know you have over a thousand! Don’t you try to jip us! Zack is going to be buying my poisons, so pay him properly, or you don’t get none!” Mati snapped, almost growling in my ear with teeth bare.
“Hey! No need to call names! I was just testing you. I will give you two thousand for the pile, and four large vials and two small of my Enchant-Sands!” Philly offered again.
“The money is good, but give him four small and four big and one small for me! I shouldn’t have to twist your arm like this, so you are paying for making me work!” Mati declared, and Philly flinched but nodded.
“Fine! These bones are worth that much to me at least,” Philly said and came around to collect them.
“There! Now you can buy us lots of stuff! We don’t even have to go into any more shops! Good thing you had me around!” Mati cheered in my ear, and I got bit again.
“Yes, so thankful every time I get a bite. You know I wouldn’t need this money if I didn’t come here with you, right?” I teased, and Mati pushed off me.
“Maybe, but I am sure you will need money at some point, so this was a good experience, right?” Mati said as she swam around to the front of me.
“Yes, you are right. Now, help me pick out whatever this sand is. How does this stuff eleven work?” I asked.
“Philly makes special sand that casts an enchantment spell when you open the jar. Each of the jars has the spell name on top, so you should be able to figure out what they do. I suggest getting two of the Steel Skins in the big jars and a Detox in the small vials. The rest is up to you,” Mati explained.
I nodded and turned around to start looking around the shop at all the big and small jars. There were many different things, but some names caught my eye as I started to look.
Fire Breather came in a big jar, along with something called sand shackles, and I got the two jars of Stone Skin like Mati had suggested. I got two vials of Detox and one vial called Speed.
The last one that I got, Mati grabbed at the same time, and I gave her a look.
“What do you want with this one?” I asked curiously as I picked up a vial labeled “Sex Driver.”
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