Personal interest

Levi was stomped by her question, and tiny beads of sweat gradually settled on his forehead.

'When she puts it like that it really does sound suspicious, but what else can I say, it's not like I can say the truth and risk exposing Blue'

"There's only one reasonable explanation, and it's that you found a very good information source, one that is at least the level of a Lore Master… maybe a high-demon?" She wondered.

"If you really made a deal with a demon, it wouldn't take too long before he forces you to become an Anti-player, or claims your soul for himself, because Lore Masters never give out free knowledge, especially demons,"

"I guess you can consider finding a demon lucky since it's almost impossible, but a word of warning, entering a contract with a demon never ends well, I've heard of warriors who got banished and weren't allowed to log-in even after buying new consoles," 

'Good thing I never entered a contract with a demon but I'm sure I'll receive a similar punishment if Blue was ever discovered' Levi reasoned.

"Well, thank you for everything today, I got a lot of juicy info because of you," Aria commended.

"Then I have a favor to ask, could you avoid trading any information about me?" 

"Oh… you want to remain hidden? Most warriors would kill for this type of chance at fame, but if that is your request then I'll respect it, and in return, you'll do something for me"

"Do something like what?" 

"Let's just call it an open favor," she let out a slight mischievous smile before Leaving, the closest to an actual smile Levi had seen during their time together.

"At least I came out alive," Levi sighed before returning to the shop.

"Sir Owain" Levi's voice echoed as he entered into the backroom to see Sir Owain staring into the bag of gold, with his eyes tainted with the golden hue of greed and a wide scary grin.

"I've never seen so much money in my life," Sir Owain chuckled, before clearing his throat and regaining his composure.

"You did well today warrior, here's your cut" he handed Levi 1400 gold coins

"This is… un-unreal," Levi said, overwhelmed by the amount of coins he had in his hands 

"I think I'm finally ready to be a craftsman," Levi mumbled, as he suddenly realized his lifelong dream.

[Too bad That's never going to happen]

"You don't know that… your words won't stop me from chasing my dreams," he protested with a serious tone.

"Finally I see why I received an apprentice Class, it was so I could become a craftsman, it's exactly what I was born for,"

[All of a sudden your dream is to become a craftsman? As greedy as usual. Well it doesn't matter because your class would never develop to another class because the apprentice Class is a different class from Craftsman, so all you can do is aim to become a better apprentice]

"So my class would remain an apprentice and I would never be able to craft a single item?" Levi asked sounding disappointed.

[Unfortunately so]

'What if I watch Father craft every day, there's no way I wouldn't become a craftsman…' He pondered, unable to control his greedy desires.

"Blue, what's the exchange rate of gold to the real world dollar?"

[1 gold coin would be $1, but after taxes and other fees it reduces to about half of that]

"which means that I made $700?" 

[You still have to deposit it in the bank first before it would reflect in the real world]

"Oh, yeah" Levi glanced at his timer, it was his final 10 minutes online, luckily for him Lowdan had a small bank he could rush to before the timer ran out.

So he did just that, he was so much in a hurry that he didn't notice running right past the hooded figure, Aiden.

"he's still here," Aiden smirked.

"Now how do I convince him to follow me?" Aiden pondered.

"For now I'll just keep an eye on him until those two get back," 

Levi quickly ran to the bank, it was a small building made of bricks, the only one of its kind in Lowdan. He was met by an uninterested, tired-looking man slouching behind the small window at the front of the building.

"I'd like to deposit some money," Levi requested.

"How much?" He asked nonchalantly.

"1800 gold coins," Levi stated. He added some of the gold coins he previously got from the quest in the Badlands.

The young man jolted upright, "1800? No one has that kind…"

Levi tossed all the money on the counter, momentarily sending the young man into a state of shock before he returned to reality.

"Of course, sir," he said with a wide enthusiastic smile.

After a few minutes, he finished attending to him leaving Levi with a receipt that was basically useless. He had walked for a while before he noticed a shadowy figure tailing him. 

Acting swiftly Levi entered the next available alley and waited for the tail to follow him in, before grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the wall.

The tail is revealed to be none other than the head of the Kalzhir Merchant group himself, Tolan.

"There's no need to be scared," Tolan said with a soft tone.

Levi freed his grip "What do you want?" He asked sternly.

"Excuse my rudeness, but I needed to find a way to meet with you privately,"

'Meet with me privately, why would he want to do that? could it be that he plans to attack me, then this might be an ambush…'

Levi quickly surveyed the area for anyone possibly hiding to jump him.

"You don't have to worry warrior, I came on my own" Tolan assured.

"So what do you want from me?" Levi questioned.

"I noticed you have a certain relationship with the craftsman, so I'd like for you to convince him to accept my offer,"

Now that Levi had confirmed it was a peaceful confrontation he became more relaxed and assumed a less cautious stance.

'oh that's what he wants, I'd have loved to help but I know how father is, when he makes up his mind, there's practically nothing I can do to change it'

"I'm sorry but my partner didn't like the idea so there's nothing I can do about it," Levi replied.

"If you do this I'll make sure to reward you handsomely, if he really considers you a partner then he wouldn't take your words lightly," Tolan insisted.

"To be honest I'm also not sure about your offer, so it's best we just end things here,"

"Such a shame," Tolan sighed.

"That means I'm going to have to take things into my own hands," Tolan commented before leaving.

"Take matters into his own hands, was that a threat?"

[How are you expecting me to know? It's not like I can read minds]

"It was a rhetorical question! Why would you even think I was talking to you," Levi yelled.

[Because there's no else other than the two of us and who knows if you really thought I could read minds]

The veins on Levi's forehead bulged slightly, he was just about to come up with a decent reply before he ran out of time and got forcefully logged out, causing his body to pixelate and fade away.