23 | Transmutation and Being a Merchant
The room lent by the Guild Hall uses a spatial magic as well. From outside, it seemed like a four-by-four meter of space.
Though, as the members of Reaper enter, a mansion-like area welcomes their presence. All furnitures are made of wood and Keen unknowingly searches for a fridge.
'Ack. I forgot there is no electricity and technology here.' He scratches his nape without letting the others notice his force of habit.
"Being in a guild is exciting," Jerud smiles, all-teeth.
Elise, on the other hand, is just silent and keeps glancing on Shina.
The mage smiles without turning her head. Obviously, she felt the elf's eyes on her. "You have something to say?"
"I'm waiting for the guild master's orders," she fires back with a frown.
Vi is getting exhausted just seeing the energy of their new members. However, if Keen's explanation yesterday is to be considered at face value, there would still be just the two of them moving on to the journey outside Topsy Town.
The others would then be staying to find out how to extract Release fragments without being automatically injected into one's brain. Elise and Shina would be assigned in this research while Jerud would serve as their guard. There's no telling what a big ruckus it would be if other Transfers would know about their plan.
Vi smiles, feeling a real progress at last. And for another reason she cannot tell anyone.
"Master, are you sure you don't want me to accompany you in your journey?" Shina inquires in a seductive tone.
Keen remains indifferent. The grand mage was able to resist his level one
He walks slowly towards a chair but doesn't sit. He just crosses his arms before his chest while standing beside it. "Nothing will change. You are to train me with
The mage pouts her lips. "I don't wanna go back to that rotten world, though."
Still, she remembers that it was Keen's condition for letting her join the guild. If she finishes her job with Elise quickly, she can go all out in pursuing the guild master. If she can make the elf drop the research altogether, it would significantly lessen the time that she would have to endure being away from Keen's side.
"Let's start," he walks to a room with a golden door knob with Vi and Shina following him.
As soon as the door clicks shut, Elise starts whining about how she is being left behind with nothing to do other than study the different cores that the assassin duo has collected so far.
However, Keen reminded her yesterday that she must still continue with her work to try and save the last of her family. That is something she must achieve no matter what. Before her time in Esprit comes to an end.
"I'm sorry for being childish," Elise sits and presses her hands against her lap.
Jerud nods twice, trying to look like a mature person. "You're finally back to your calm self."
She eyes him with confusion, but he refuses to explain the matter.
On the other hand, Keen and Vi start their training on
"You sure have a lot of confidence in your learning aptitude," Shina smiles while introducing them to two scrolls that contain the
The scroll acts much like a code that is being inserted in the basic skill tree of each Transfer whose default contents are all combat skills.
Being so, it is very difficult to upgrade. The scroll itself for the initial learning is already worth at least a million gold pieces.
"This scroll is basically telling Transfers to acquire as much unnecessary Release fragments before being allowed to learn a non-combat skill," Vi looks at the scroll with eager eyes.
However, having the
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Before the daytime markets start packing up and shifting to night markets in Topsy Town's eastern side, the assassin duo, together with Shina, meets the best three merchants who show obvious impatience towards them.
"Such a rude fellow for wasting our time at such a busy time," whines the one with a ruby red sash and the general appearance Keen can only relate to Arab tradespeople.
"You even picked 'us' three. You must be confident in your merchant skills." The bigger one with a long beard brushes the fox fur over his shoulders with three fingers.
"Let's give them a chance, shall we?" The female merchant covered in brown cloth from head to toe and wearing black sandals winks at her two companions, who quickly nod like tamed animals.
Keen proceeds with his demonstration and takes out two chunks of Lesser Minotaur meat from his inventory and lets the merchants inspect it on a butcher's table.
Long-Beard nods quietly after verifying the meat, then goes on telling how hard to acquire it without destroying the core. He begins praising the red-clad and apologizing for his earlier rudeness.
However, the Red-Sash keeps his pride discreetly, asking how Keen intends to prepare the meat for consumption.
It may be for an instance, but the lady merchant definitely saw a smirk from under the hood of the red-clad, who then takes out a customized meat mallet. She instantly sees the difference in its appearance and materials.
"What is this made up of?" She inquires with eyes narrowing on the tool.
Vi explains by taking out another from her Item Bag. "The mallet itself is made from the minotaur's sledgehammer tip while the small needle-like embossment on one of its two sides is made from the bone lances we got from the bone-throwing imps in the Northern Forest.
"We used
"You can do that by pressing on this trigger here. The minotaur's sledgehammer is known to be capable of crushing even diamond, while the bone lances have high penetration properties. These two can both contribute to reducing the process of tenderizing minotaur meat from a few days to a matter of minutes."
The female merchant laughs while tapping the shoulders of the two other audience. "Who would have thought about using the minotaur's own weapon in tenderizing its own meat? The irony is just too amusing!"
Long-Beard clears his throat and inspects the tool himself, then asks for a demonstration of its effectivity.
Vi demonstrates confidently and within five minutes, the meat has indeed turned to the highest grade of tenderness that the merchants know of.
Even the Long-Beard has become enslaved in the beauty and power of the assassin duo's tool.
"And for the main event," Keen finally speaks and takes out other fancy cooking tools and heads to a makeshift food stand. Shina uses fire magic to light up some wood.
In less than an hour, the red-clad presents three bowls of freshly cooked ramen with minotaur meat, quail eggs, and vegetables for the merchants to consume. The aroma is enough to make them hungry although they have just eaten supper.
"What are these long things in the stock?" Red-Sash has his interest piqued by the noodles.
Keen hands them chopsticks. "Those are called noodles, Sir. I made them from wheat."
The female merchant's eyes are most sparkly with the newly discovered dish. Without saying a word, she tries to eat but struggles in using the chopsticks. "Why use these sticks instead of a spoon and fork?"
And so, Keen's next task is to demonstrate how to properly use chopsticks while eating ramen.
Being too eager, the three merchants easily learn how to use chopsticks. They also evidently enjoy drinking broth directly from the bowl without using a spoon.
"You pass," Red-Sash announces after slurping the last drop of ramen stock, then looks at Keen with eyes that almost resemble gold coins. "And I would like to buy the rights to this delicacy in a restaurant I am planning to put up."
Long-Beard raises his brow and stomps the side of his fist against the table. "No, I'll buy the rights to this ramen dish! I have adventurers and hunters under my command who are capable of getting minotaur meat."
The female merchant raises a hand with a victorious smile. "Well then, I'll buy this wonderful meat mallet and the rights to how the noodle is made."
The two other merchants realize their mistake in bargaining.
Keen laughs softly.
That same day, before the sun even sets in the west, the assassin duo successfully acquires their merchant permit.