Marvel: Merchant Days

A/N: On a slightly related note, I started another Merchant-esque fic, but this time in Danmachi. Our Merchant is a magic connoisseur so that's what he'll be dealing with. There's only one public chapter out and up to Chapter 5 on p@treon.

Just lemme know what you think of it.

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Two days.

That was how long Loki had spent sitting on his stripped throne with Jarnbjorn laying flat on the ground, while staring into nothing in particular.

48 hours he spent introspecting in a way he rarely had ever done. It wasn't anything groundbreaking nor was it some great revisionary. The whole thing was simply a… thought experiment.

Greatly refreshing. He knew a handful of people he could recommend that would benefit from it tremendously.

In the end, after 48 hours, he simply shrugged as he stood from his throne. He hefted Jarnbjorn and frowned at the ridiculous weight of the over glorified axe. Definitely not something he would favor in combat.

He weaved a spell over the axe and disguised it as a plain old walking stick. Loki tapped it on the ground a few times which caused his brows to twitch in irritation at the dry thuds it made. A green shimmer washed over him and disguised his appearance in turn.

He walked down the empty halls of the abandoned castle to the great door at the entrance and pushed it open.

Loki calmly walked out of the small building in a fairly busy street with casual grace as the door slowly closed by itself behind him.

He was neither a huge fan of the city nor its people but he never failed to find something interesting about it. It was like a failed jester; it had an uncanny incompetence that left you amused.

Ignoring the city and its people(not like it was hard to do), Loki made his way to the only place of significance in the city.

He was almost successful in his ignorance and halfway to his destination when he couldn't help but be distracted as the local arachnid swung across buildings with a shout of exhilaration that could only be found in a child. He contemplated shooting the bug down just for that nauseating shriek alone.

Just like that, his otherwise plain morning was marred with that blot of an experience.

He didn't have to deal with the irritation for long – thank Odin's foolishness for that – as he arrived at his destination a few minutes later.

The place looked the same way it did two days ago, except for the slight rearrangements and the six foot pair of ashen wings that hung off the ceiling – it was pretty much the same, all things considered.

"I'm over here! Give me a second, I'll be right with you." Loki heard Isaac's familiar voice, but it wasn't from the direction of the counter but instead from inside the shop, the lounge area to be specific.

He followed the direction the voice came from and found Isaac standing up from a corner of the lounge he had been tucked in with a magnifying head gear on and a green and black stripe gauntlet of some technological make.

"Sir Loki, how delighted am I to see you." Isaac beamed as he took off the head gear and set the device aside. As soon as he did, the centerpiece of the device beeped and flashed red twice, drawing Loki's attention and making Isaac wince.

"That is not a good sound, I fear." Isaac gave a wry smile at Loki's remark.

"No, it is not." Isaac said. As if in defiant response, the device twitched with green sparks and started morphing its shape but Isaac stabbed a small wrench into it and disabled whatever it had tried doing.

"And that is?" Loki asked faintly amused.

"Apparently what happens when a Biomnitrix eats an Allspark." Isaac replied dryly as he left the table and rolled down his sleeves.

"Is that going to be alright?" Pointing at the faintly twitching gauntlet with a wrench, Loki couldn't help but ask.

"It's not doing anything with that in there. I'll fix it later." Isaac waved off his concerns with the assurance of a wrench but Loki had heard weirder so he simply shrugged and accepted it.

Upon their return, he placed the walking stick on top of the counter with a directed smirk as he waited for Isaac to pick it up.

Isaac seemed to understand his intentions and indulged him with a chuckle. The moment his hands touched the stick, the little transfiguration spell that held the axe's form shattered. Loki's pleasant surprise, however, did not end there.

"Oh, wow, now that is a rare find. Jarnbjorn – that is as unique as it can get." Isaac said excitedly and picked up the axe to get a better look at it. "Do you know that this weapon's existence is not even a constant when it comes to Thor? Wow."

Loki watched as Isaac tentatively laid down the axe almost with an appreciative grace. Rarity. Of course, that was what Merchants cared most about, even the dimensional ones it seems.

Jarnbjorn's peculiarity was also a nice fact to know. At the very least, it assured Loki of the weapon's worth. Now it was Isaac's turn to do the same.

Isaac looked at him seriously, which with Merchants either meant they were being honest or they were about to scam you atrociously. Loki waited.

"If I'm being honest with you, Sir Loki, there are some items that don't have monetary values, and that is more the case when it comes to rare artifacts. Of course, I could give you a financial value for it but that would be quite insulting to its identity."

Two objects appeared on both of his hands. "I also will not waste your valuable time on speculations."

Isaac set the Hydra's Heart and the cask containing Dimension Lost, the two items Loki had put on his tab, in front of him.

"The heart of a great divine mythical beast and the Longinus Sacred Gear with dominion over space, my price, in exchange for Jarnbjorn."

Loki looked at Jarnbjorn and surprisingly the twinge of greed he thought he would feel at the loss of the weapon – his property – was completely absent.

—Jarnbjorn: The Dwarven forged axe of Thor, God of Thunder, that the young god had used in the days of his youth before the bestowal of Mjolnir.

Blessed by the blood of Thor, Jarnbjorn is not only a nigh-indestructible weapon but also a stalwart defense that can be used to block any type of attack, even from the desecration of the cosmic. Due to its blessing by blood, Jarnbjorn has grown sharp enough that there is nothing it has met and wasn't able to cut.

*Most descriptive statements are not meant to be literal in every sense. Here comes Jarnbjorn, everyone.

*If only you knew.

"Huh," was the only thing Loki said when he read the item description on the invoice Isaac placed in front of him.

Oh he knew that thing was ridiculously sharp, he had seen Thor swinging it enough times to dread it. Thor – and him as it just turned out – simply thought the Dwarves were kissing up to him with just how sharp and sturdy they made the thing. Reading those words, it made a little more sense why Odin had flipped when Thor had lost it after a very great battle.

Did it change anything? Not really. Before it was a stupidly sharp and sturdy weapon. Now it was a really really stupidly sharp and sturdy weapon. He smiled.

"Where do I sign?"

Isaac laughed, clearly pleased. "That would not be necessary. Your intent is enough."

Without any preamble and a simple nod, Loki took the cask and twisted it open. The purple mist flew out and hung at Loki's eye level, giving him the feeling that it was staring at him. Before he could think anything of it, the mist swarmed and wrapped around him and absorbed itself into his body through his orifices without causing him any discomfort.

—Dimension Lost (High School DxD): A Longinus created by God, capable of destroying the world with a good enough user. Dimension Lost is capable of creating a mist that can act as inviolable barriers or portals that, regardless of distance, transport targets to different locations or to pocket dimensions it creates, allowing the user to teleport themselves and others freely as well as create their own pocket dimensions.

Its dominion is unrivaled when it comes to spaces and barriers, the ultimate Sacred Gear in that regard as claimed by Azazel. The range of the mist depends completely on the bearer. To cover a room or envelope a continent makes no difference to it—only to the bearer's expertise.

He breathed in and with that breath a cascade of emotions took him. He breathed out and clarification took him. This was real. Everything in here was real.

This Sacred Gear was marvelous. As a god who knew his artifacts and magic, Dimension Lost was nothing short of a truly divine artifact. A Balance Breaker, his mind supplied, was something that would even push the limits of the gear past the extent he is able to take it.

He looked at the other item, the heart, and let a smile show on his face.

—Hydra Heart: The stubborn beating heart of a Mythical Hydra. Just like the Hydra, this heart can be used for a lot of things; crafting, enchanting, rituals, an immensely potent magical/alchemical reagent—or just eat it. Consuming this heart grants you the mythical regeneration of the Hydra as well as hydrokinesis, an enhanced physiology, the embrace and blessings of the sea and all bodies of water.

Breathing underwater and understanding marine life becomes second nature. In addition, you possess 9 lives. Every time your heart or head is destroyed, you will almost instantly be restored to the peak of your health with all negative conditions cleansed. Any resurrection effect, Legendary rank and above, can be used to restore a life.

"If you would allow me a word, Sir Loki." He heard Isaac say, and turned to him.

"While there would be absolutely no problem should you choose to consume the heart here, I would advise to instead do it in a large body of water. Preferably in the middle of the sea or the ocean."

Loki's brow rose. "And why is that?"

"Other than the euphoric experience of being the heir of the sea? It comes with a certain configuration that my shop doesn't provide, unless of course you want to buy it."

Now he looked skeptical. "And what is that?"

"Over 200 trillion gallons of water – that is, enough water to completely drown this whole city to the tip – for your body to absorb."

Loki blinked. Slowly, he nodded. That actually made a lot of sense. He looked at Isaac suspiciously. "You have that much water for sale?"

"That and more if you're interested." He wasn't even remotely surprised since he already expected a reply like that.

"Not this time, I'm afraid." As he stored away the case holding the heart with a puff of mist, Isaac pushed two more items towards him: a package containing an outfit and a ring styled in the shape of a snake.

"Complementary gifts for your wonderful business and your continued patronage." Isaac said.

—Sung Jin-Woo's Outfit (Solo Leveling): The ever iconic and stylish all-black outfit of Sung Jin-Woo….before he ascended to the Shadow Monarch. So yeah, this one doesn't possess whatever level of enchantments the latter ones do.

*Hey, at least with these you'll still be one of the most stylish persona in any gathering you put yourself.

*Throw on some visible aura for an improved effect.

Loki could care less about whoever this Shadow Monarch was, and even less about putting on someone else's clothing, but it was free, good looking, and had some wisps of magic on it. It was a complementary gift so he took it with grace.

The ring, other than looking cool, was also a storage ring. His eyes twitched, but again he accepted it with grace.

"Junk 'N Stuff will be awaiting your return. Have a good day, Sir Loki." Isaac said when Loki finally left.

It was only after stepping out of the shop Loki could feel the full sensation of Dimension Lost. Suddenly space felt brittle in a way Loki had never felt it before.

"Good. This is acceptable service." He said to himself. What he needed to do next was apparently to take a bath in the middle of the ocean. "Easy enough."

Purple mist rose about him and then he was gone.

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A man with a pasty pallor held up a conical flask to a pair of crimson red eyes as he dutifully worked away in a chemical lab.

"Looks like Shaw was a failure. At least the test proved something quantifiable."

He put down the flask and walked to the monitors showing strands of coagulating DNA. He observed it for a few seconds before he turned away from it.

"More variables have been identified. More tests will be conducted."

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A/N: For those who might ask why Jarnbjorn is that valuable, well let's just say it has a kill list… And the names of a few Celestials have already been crossed out.

Somehow someway, Thor feels extra threatening whenever he holds that thing.

In other news, Thor gets a designer box that can hold Mjolnir, and Loki gets drip and a storage ring after he bought Dimension Lost. Isaac is not slick.

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