Free Web NovelChapter 34: Disaster in the Shopping District
The woman behind the counter was older, but not old. She was probably in her fifties and wore marks of time on her body.
"Hello, I’m looking for male explorer clothing. Does this shop carry any?"
"Of course we do. Ta left half of te store is te men’s section and changing rooms are in te back."
Luke and the woman exchanged a pleasant nod before he pushed Valeria to the opposite side of the store and started to scan the racks of clothes.
Explorer clothes weren’t different from active wear, the world just had a different name for the style.
He looked at compression shirts, sweatpants, and shorts. The selection was vast, with almost every piece of clothing coming in every color of the rainbow. Luke grabbed multiple sizes of each style as he shopped.
By the time he reached the changing room, Valeria was holding about 40 different pieces of clothing for him to try on; half her torso was hidden behind the stack.
Luke didn’t make her hold the clothes forever, as when he went into the changing room he brought every item and hung them on the rack inside.
He hated trying on clothes, a hatred created by his mother during back-to-school shopping trips. Honestly, he didn’t even need to put them on, but since his body had changed, Luke didn’t have an accurate size for clothing.
Lucius was slightly muscular before Luke took over his body, but the height was the bigger problem. He had grown multiple inches compared to his original body, and that changed everything about his pant sizing.
Ultimately, he found that he needed to go up three sizes for normal-fitting clothes. Luke came out from behind the curtain, wearing a compression shirt and cuffed joggers. Valeria didn’t move as she watched him bring out the rest of the clothes.
They started moving back to the racks so Luke could pick out clothes in his size. He started sorting through the racks and stands, while Valeria helped and checked some of the racks closer to the front.
Luke couldn’t help but think about the situation for what it was: a shopping date. Technically, it was their second date since getting married. He started to smile, for all of five seconds, until the glass door shattered.
Within a breath, Luke was in front of Valeria, eyes locked on the door.
Screams rang out from the street as a wet slapping sound moved towards him. Its movements were slow, but cautious, like it was checking between the empty rows before taking the next step.
Luke’s mind raced, analyzing everything about the situation. His conclusion wasn’t one he wanted to see realized.
A green foot stepped out from behind a rack, its knife-like ear following suit. Yellow-stained teeth were grinning from underneath its green lips.
Goblin.
He thought about the monster, then his wife behind him. He couldn’t afford to hesitate.
"Frost Spike."
Calmly, he summoned his trusty attack spell and lodged it through the humanoid’s forehead, causing it to lifelessly fall to the ground. Red blood pooled inside the frost that covered its head.
The woman from the front desk came running over, crouching as she moved between the racks of clothes.
"I should have guessed ya were an explorer, since time is of te essence i’ll fill ya in. T’ere is a rift nearby tat appeared a month ago. Although it was F-Rank, nobody seemed ta want ta enter it; even wit te association being a few minutes’ walk away. Anyways, it seems like it finally broke."
She confirmed his suspicion. The only way for rift monsters to appear in the real world was if a rift went uncleared until it broke into the world.
Luke couldn’t waste any time if he wanted to keep Valeria safe.
"Grease."
He didn’t make it into a ball, instead casting it at the front door to keep any intruders from making their way in, like the goblin that tried to enter a few seconds later.
It slipped and fell on its own head. A grotesque crunch came from its body as it slid back into the street, completely limp.
"How long until explorers should arrive?"
"Probably ten minutes at most, tese situations are handled strictly."
Luke weighed his options. On one hand, there were people getting killed in the streets; on the other was a defenseless woman in a wheelchair. He knew which option came first.
"I plan to stay in here and protect my wife. We should use the benches spread around to barricade the doorway."
The woman’s grim expression seemed to lighten as they moved around the store and pushed any furniture in front of the shattered glass door. The barricade consisted of a small couch, three benches, and an empty clothes rack.
Luke checked the rest of the store for any other entrances, finding a back door that he propped closed with a chair.
When his sweep revealed all the entrance points were barricaded, Luke returned to Valeria. She sat quietly, staring at the goblin covered in frost.
I’m sorry.
Her signing was slow, drawn out, and sad. Luke could tell what she was thinking. The goblin brought back the memories of her days as an explorer and also her lack of power.
Even if Luke knew what was happening, he had no idea how to comfort a girl. He glanced at the shopkeeper, hoping that she magically knew sign language and could help him.
She didn’t.
His brain could come up with a strategy to kill a massive spider or defeat a worm the size of an airplane, but he couldn’t understand female emotion.
In a moment of panic and adrenaline, he rested his hand on her head.
Valeria jumped a little before realizing it was Luke and seeming to calm down.
Although he couldn’t see her face, he could feel her body relax.
Then the screams got louder. Luke didn’t wait and ran to the door. Multiple goblins stood around their dead counterpart. They made weird clicking noises to communicate with each other.
After their noisy conversation, Luke could see them set their sights on the barricade.
