After spending two hours traversing random dungeons, Chrome eventually returned to Lindas. He stretched as he reached the bridge he and Arcadia had spoken at earlier, leaning on the edge and staring at the running water below. Even though he wasn't the kind of person to have a large group of friends, he still felt rather bored by himself. Odd as she was, Arcadia was a good person to quest with.

Chrome opened his menu and looked down at the Col he had amassed. He'd obtained quite a bit over the last few weeks of excessive grinding with Arcadia, more than enough to buy a small house on a lower floor like the one he was on. It would make sense for him to buy a house here in Lindas. He always came to this floor for the blacksmith he used and it was always where he met Arcadia anyway. Having a house would save on constant inn costs as well.

"Why not," he said to himself, standing up straight and stretching. He left the bridge and headed into town. A few minutes later, over half of Chrome's money had been spent on a two bedroom house on the outskirts of Lindas and some basic furniture to decorate it.

"Well, that was easier than expected," he said as he arrived at this new home. It was a quaint little building, made of brick with a small grassy yard and a thatched roof. A wooden fence ran around the perimeter and a stone path ran up the wooden door of the building. Chrome couldn't help but smile as he strode to the door and opened it.

The inside of the building was as simple as the outside with a small entrance hall leading into the entrance room. Of one side of that was the kitchen and off the other was a thin hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathroom. Chrome opened his menu and unequipped his armour, cape and weapon, remaining in his tunic, pants and boots as he walked through his house.

"Alright then… guess I need to decorate the place," he said to himself, opening his inventory.

By the time Chrome finished decorating, he glanced down at the time, it was almost 5pm. "Man that took a while," he groaned, laying down on his new bed. He was honestly surprised that Arcadia hadn't come back online while he'd been furnishing. She had a habit of leaving to do work then coming back an hour or so later when she got bored.

He reached up into the air above him and opened up his equipment screen. It had been a few days since he'd gotten his equipment restored and it's durability to about half. He had some time to kill so he figured he'd go visit the blacksmith if they were open. He re-equipped his cape but opted to leave his pieces of armour and weapon off as he walked through town.

The sun was going down now and a warm orange glow enveloped the virtual world, a gentle breeze swirling through the streets. He reached the familiar smith shop, its large wooden waterwheel turning on the side, a dull creak following each movement.

A small bell jingled as Chrome pushed open the door and walked inside, a warmth engulfing him as he did so. Behind the counter at the far end of the store he spied the familiar pink haired blacksmith in her usual red dress and white apron.

"Well if it isn't Chrome, it's been a few days" she said with a warm smile, leaning on the counter as she recognised her regular customer.

"Hi Liz. Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately levelling with Arcadia and getting ready for the December event," the sword and shield user explained, looking at several newly forged swords on one of the wall shelves.

"That sounds like you two, if I didn't know any better I'd say you two were going out," Lisbeth said with a sly smile. Chrome's eyes went wide and he almost fell into the shelf.

"W-what?! God no!" he exclaimed, turning to face the now laughing blacksmith.

"Man both of you react so well," Lisbeth said with a huge grin. Chrome scowled at the smaller girl who merely covered her mouth with her hands and sniggered. After a few seconds of regaining her composure, Lisbeth spoke again. "So, what brings you here today?"

"I just need my equipment repaired and I was thinking of buying a new sword."

"Well as you can see there I just made a new batch. Feel free to have a look while I go work on your stuff." Chrome nodded and handed over his armour and sword to the pink haired mace user before browsing through her swords.

At first, nothing caught his eye, but his gaze eventually found something on one of the higher shelves. He reached up and grabbed the sword in question, bringing it down. The weapon was housed in a grey sheathe that looked slightly longer than the one for his current sword. The handle and hilt of the weapon were nothing fancy either. The handle was wrapped in a cool, white leather and the hilt was a curved piece of silver steel.

Chrome wasn't sure what about the sword caught his eye but he slowly unsheathed the weapon. His eyes became fixed on the beautiful blade that was revealed as he did so. As he had thought, the deep purple blade was slightly longer than his current weapon. It shone dully in the orange light that filtered through the window, the silver edges more so than the rest.

Chrome was mesmerised by the sword, bringing up the weapon's details to find out more about it. "Amethyst Edge," he muttered to himself, noting its name. It was definitely an improvement over his current sword, boosting his strength by quite a bit. The price made Chrome cringe a little however. He could afford it, but it would cost over half his remaining money.

"Oh well… I can always borrow some extra Col off Arcadia for healing items if I need it," he said with a grin, sheathing the sword and walking over to the checkout. He pressed the small bell and Lisbeth returned from the smithy out back.

"Oh, find something you like?" she asked, glancing down at the sword on the counter.

"Yeah, this Amethyst Edge. It's a nice sword," Chrome said, running his fingertips along the cool sheath.

"I'm glad you like it, I only forged that one this morning. I'm really happy with the way it turned out." Chrome paid for the sword, cringing a little as his money vanished. "Oh, your armour is all done too," Lisbeth said, transferring the equipment back to Chrome and receiving another payment.

"Thanks a lot Liz," he said with a smile, equipping everything once more. His gauntlets and spaulder seemed to have a new sheen to them as he studied them. He glanced down at the new sword on his hip and at the large shield on his left arm. "Well I'm logging off for the day, thanks again!" Chrome called out with a wave as he left the shop and returned to his house.

He had to admit, it felt strange not walking into an inn at the end of his session. He smiled a little and removed his armour and weaponry, laying down on his bed. "See you tomorrow Chrome…," he muttered to himself as his eyes closed.