The Elixir Shop
Amos and Kenzo both found an Elixir Shop, and had entered it.
"Good Morning, " Amos walked up to the counter, "I'm looking for some potions to buy."
An old lady, the owner of the shop, then replied, "Good Evening."
Amos scratched his head, "Waw, it's evening already? Doing my daily tasks took up my entire morning."
"Excuse me, sir, do I know you?"
Amos looked at her again, "Well, can't say. I'm not sure I've ever seen you before."
"How unfortunate. Then again, Archeria is a big place after all. But I still remember seeing you before. You were much shorter though."
'Waw, this old lady's nuts?"
"Wait, young man, are you a prince?"
Amos scratched his head again, "Haha, I wish I were one. But no ma'am, I don't get that luxury."
"I can remember you being a prince—with a crown. If I'm not mistaken, you came here a few months ago to buy a Sprint Potion. That was the day I asked you if you had parents, and you said not anymore. And when I asked you where you were going, you said that you were going to a place near Gropsville and live in the mountains by yourself."
"Strange, I can't recall any of that."
"Though I am approaching the end of my days quickly, my memory is still sharp. I can assure you so."
She then fixed her hat, "What are you looking to purchase this time?"
"Hmm, Got any invis potions? And I'd like a potion that allows me to change my appearance as well."
"I have them both."
"Great."
She bent over, and stood with two potions in her hand. Next, she smiled and placed them on the wooden countertop, "That will be five hundred Arichrysos."
"Ohh! I was about to ask if you accept trade offers."
"I do. Let me see what you have to offer..."
Amos took out the watch and the necklace, "I've got these."
"And may I ask where can a young boy like you possibly obtain such jewelry?"
Amos smirked, "Am I not a prince?"
She smiled, "The necklace will be enough."
Amos walked closer and gave the necklace to the old woman. When suddenly, she placed her wrinkled hand atop his hand, and her eyes began to glow.
"What are you doing!?"
"It can't be, " she said.
The old lady then ended her strange act, and bowed her head, "I am greatly sorry. I was simply using your hand to read your past. And I should have known better, " she bent over and took out a bag, "Let me put the potions in a bag for you, they would be safer in it. And I do pray that you venture safely. I hope Merling finds you soon."
"Huh?"
"Here you go, " she gave him the bag, "Have a great day, Amos."
'And OFCOURSE, she KNOWS my name!'
"Same to you, lady, " Amos departed the Elixir Shop.
As he walked through the door, he bumped into a crowd of men, "Watch it, you fool."
"Sorry, " he said as he walked away.
As he walked away, a grimace appeared on his face, "Merling? Who's Merling? She's gotta be nuts. However, she seemed rather friendly."
Kenzo appeared, "Agreed."
Amos continued walking, "Hey, Kenzo. Do you happen to know who this 'Merling' guy is?"
"Well, " Kenzo folded his arms, "Previous MTS users had Merling as their idols because of his skillful way of utilizing magic. He is simply the Greatest Mage of all time."
"Then why would the old lady hope for this 'Merling ' to find me?"
"That I do not understand."
"Yeah, same, " Amos opened the cloth bag and looked into it, "Oh shit, the lady accidentally put the necklace I traded for the potions in the bag."
"She did?"
"Yeah, " Amos turned around, "I'm going to return it to her."
Amos then walked back to the shop, and walked through the door.
"Hey, lady, you—"
Immediately, his eyes widened, and his heart accelerated. To his seemingly sudden surprise, was a ransacked Shop with the floor wet with destroyed potions. Confused, he looked over the counter, and saw the old lady on the floor, "Lady! Are you okay!? What happened!?"
"What always happens just happened, " she replied as she got up.
"Ohh, thank goodness, you're alive."
"Merely."
"Who did this?"
"Right after you left, a few men walked in and started destroying everything."
'Those were the men I passed when I left.'
"Where did they go?"
"They left a little while ago, so they should not have gotten far—"
"Great, " Amos stood, "I'm going after them."
"Do not go! There are too many of them!"
"Relax, lady. You're not talking me into staying, " Amos left the store.
When outside, he started looking around for the group of men, and as he turned right, he saw them walking in that direction. Immediately, he ran after them.
Kenzo was in pursuit, "Amos, don't be impulsive, are you not trying to avoid attention?"
"I am, but we're not in Atridorne yet."
"You fool, we are on the outskirts of the kingdom already. And this group of men can be knights for all we know."
Amos continued running.
When he was merely a few meters away from them, he opened his mouth and shouted, "Hey, stop!" And Upon hearing his voice, the group halted, and faced the source of the sound.
Seeing this, Amos stopped as well.
A man with a crooked nose from the group then asked, "It's you again? What do you want, elf?"
Amos's facial expression transition to pure seriousness, "That old lady, " he walked closer, "It's not the first time you did this, isn't it so?"
The one with the crooked nose walked closer, "Yeah, and you got a problem with that?"
Amos walked up to him, stopped, and looked into his eyes, "So you don't see the problem in bullying an elderly woman without any remorse?"
"Kid, if I were you, I'd back down."
"Yeah, we are grown men."
"Yeah, and we happen to hate the elf race."
A chubby one then commented, "And there's no one around to save you."
Amos eyed them, "Yeah, thanks for talking for me, cow tits. There really is no one around to save you."
The fat one then furrowed his eyebrows aggressively, and said, "That's it, I'm going to pound this little brat."
"I guess I should be afraid, " Amos closed his eyes in a cocky way, "You're light-years away from little. So, there's no dog pound that can accommodate a fleshy one like you."
"Go get him Triston, " said the one with the crooked nose.
As the fat one rushed in, he threw a punch, and Amos promptly dodged it with the [ Instant Dodge ] skill. He wasn't done here though. As the confused fat man found Amos again, he threw another punch. And this time, Amos dashed into him, with his elbow eye level, and crushed the fleshy figure's nose with it.
Instantly, the figure fell to the floor holding his bleeding broken nose.
"Little Bastard, " said the man with the crooked nose.
Amos then eyed him, "I'd stay back If I didn't want an elbow too. But never mind, " Amos smiled, "I don't think your nose can ever be more messed up than it is right now."
Upon hearing this, the man darted towards Amos. And effortlessly, Amos used the [ Instant Dodge ] Skill again, and leaped five meters into the air. Puzzled, the man looked up, and a foot came crashing down on his face with significant force, and at this moment he heard a 'Crack!' sound, and groaned aloud as he fell to the ground.
Next, Amos took his sword from his scabbard, and pointed it at the crooked nose figure, "I warned you, " he said, "Now, not even surgery will suffice to fix that nose of yours."
The other men grew coward of Amos, a mere elf shorter than most of them. One of the coward men then said, "That sword. Justin, do you see that sword the elf's got? It's a samurai sword."
"Are you a knight?" asked one of the men.
"That's none of your business. What I want to know, is why would you bully an elder?"
The crooked nose man then said, "Spare our lives. We were simply following instructions from an Atridorne Knight."
"What knight? And what instructions?"
"Leonard, Lord Leonard told us to make sure there are no witches in the proximity of the kingdom. We were simply obeying commands. After all, he told us that it can increase our chances of becoming actual knights."
"Yeah, please spare us."
"You think noble knights will ever be so cruel? I can't just let you walk away now, can I? You weaklings are going to have to pay for those broken potions."
"Fine, we'll pay, " one of the untouched men handed a bag of Arichrysos, "This is all I have to offer right now. But we'll finish paying her later."
Amos took the bag, "Fine. But if I catch you ever doing anything like this again, " he said, "I'll kill you."
"Okay. We are the ones in wrong. We understand that Leonard didn't tell us to destroy shops, "
Amos then charged up some of his mana, and fired it near them, "Now scramble!"
As he saw the explosion, they all ran away like cowards.
Next, Amos returned the bag of money to the old lady.
"Here you go, " said Amos as he handed the bag to her, "You can also take my watch to help pay for the expenses they caused."
The old woman took it, "Thank you, " her eyes filled with water, "Thank you very much. I was just carrying out my very own skill to earn cash for me and my granddaughter. The world really needs the seven again. Thank you, again."
Amos then replied, "You're welcome, " he approached the door, " and stay safe, I'll pay you another visit some time."
Having said that, Amos departed the shop.
Amos then opened his MTS hovering screen, "I still have the UP from all the missions accumulated. Just in case of trouble, I'm gonna spend them."
[ Statistics ]
Strength: 21 [ Common ] [ + ]
Defence: 4 [ Feeble ] [ + ]
Speed: 20 [ Normal ] [ + ]
Power ( Magical Ability ): 1 [ Poor ] [ + ]
Mana: Infinite [ Rare ]
Skill : 10 [ Poor ] [ + ]
Intelligence: 10 [ Poor ]
[ Available U.P = 87 / 1000 ]
Current LVL: [ 29 / 10,000 ]
Current EXP: [ 6552 / 7000 ]
[ Available U.P = 87 / 1000 ]
Kenzo then said, "Yeah, you should use them lest you get in trouble. And by the way, " he smiled, "You showed those men."
"Yeah, surprisingly, they were weak as hell. And I can clearly see that daily training is paying off."
After tapping the satisfying [+] buttons, Amos smiled happily as he observed his new updated stats,
[ Statistics ]
Strength: 41 [ Common ] [ + ]
Defence: 14 [ Feeble ] [ + ]
Speed: 27 [ Normal ] [ + ]
Power ( Magical Ability ): 1 [ Poor ] [ + ]
Mana: Infinite [ Rare ]
Skill : 60 [ Poor ] [ + ]
Intelligence: 10 [ Poor ]
[ Available U.P = 0 / 1000 ]
Current LVL: [ 29 / 10,000 ]
Current EXP: [ 6552 / 7000 ]
[ Available U.P = 0 / 1000 ]
"20 on Strength, 10 Defense, 7 on Speed, and a whole 50 on skills, which translates to five new skills for me, " he smirked, "And boy, I feel stronger already."