Infamy Has Its Advantages part1

The chubby merchant ignored Atlas's weird expression and continued undaunted to highlight his speech: "Brave Adventurer... Your sacrifice has given my friend and me a tremendous advantage in our business, and I am sure that sooner or later, luck will find you, bringing gifts and riches from everywhere."

"Unexpectedly, I, Trafuram, the Merchant of the South, will be the first to enjoy this privilege. And I will give you one of my precious assets..."

Trafuram raised his arm to the stall and spoke earnestly: "Atlas... what do you want? A lethal saber forged from the portentous and skillful hands of an expert of the South? Or maybe an armor created from the impenetrable carapace of the Poisy, the Scorpion of Sandry?"

The merchant's offer might have seemed very generous, but in Atlas's eyes, those two objects, surrounded only by a purple and gold glow, were equal to junk.

'Old fox... You've talked a lot, but you're only offering me a bunch of useless shit. Damn, bully... Let's see if you'll keep your word if I point to the most precious thing of all your stuff...'

Undoubtedly, the previous situation had bothered the young man quite a bit. Still, when the merchant started talking about a reward, Atlas immediately returned to his true self, a man with insatiable greed.

Since his interlocutor was clearly a shrewd fellow, Atlas didn't waste much time like he would have usually done with other people and pointed his index finger toward the object hanging in the back without uttering a word.

"Brave adventurer... these two objects do not satisfy you?"

Initially, Trafuram was perplexed by the young man's choice, so he offered a valuable artifact from his collection for the second time. Alas, the young man was very insistent, and such a peculiar attitude can't help but confuse and leave the merchant a bit speechless: "Hmm... Atlas... Of all the treasures in my possession, do you really want that old candlestick? I understand that from an aesthetic point of view, it looks like an interesting object, but it's a simple ornament object in the end."

Atlas found it strange that the merchant was still calm despite having requested one of his rarest treasures, but he still nodded decisively to avoid unexpected impediments.

"Ohh... Well..." Trafuram stared at the young man for a long minute as if he was pondering about Something. Still, even after a while, he didn't utter another word and shortly afterward shrugged his shoulders, avoiding wasting any more time with that madman.

"A... As you wish..."

Time was literally money for someone with his profession. In fact, he shouted toward one of his henchmen: "Karuk... bring the candlestick to this... little friend..."

Contrary to what Atlas thought, Trafuram was genuinely baffled by his choice, but as a good merchant, he returned to his post without wasting any more time and restarted shouting his slogan.

Instead, Atlas waited patiently for his precious treasure's arrival with a calm facade.

All happened so fast and in such an absurd way that Atlas realized that he had just obtained one of the most precious objects he had ever come across for free only when he felt that heavy burden in his hands.

'That... what the heck happened? Why does that Trafuram seem so calm?'

The story of the candlestick had probably not yet penetrated the young man's mind. Still, to avoid unpleasant inconveniences, he disappeared from the area after giving the strange merchant an intense look full of doubts.

Both sides considered the other a fool, but who was right and who was wrong?

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Atlas was thrilled to have obtained an incredible treasure for free, but choosing a mere candlestick from all those objects had sparked another wave of degenerate whispers all over the city.

Strange rumors about his questionable preferences spread among the itinerant merchants, who felt indebted to the young man, causing them a great deal of confusion.

At first, they wanted to donate Chaos Stones, weapons, and other riches to that benefactor, but his questionable choice led to a terrible problem.

Everyone thought that if a lowly object like an ornament was enough to show them their sincerity to him, then why not choose Something similar as a gift?

Unfortunately, not everyone had those particular objects with them, so many carpenters and antique dealers in the city suffered a sudden invasion from those ravenous foxes.

In a few hours, the city was again upset, this time by an excessive demand for furniture and other ornamental objects.

The City of the Inflamed Chalice was again the epicenter of a strange chain of events. However, Atlas was unaware of all this because, during all that mess, he was already back at Uncle Beard's house with the intent of identifying that majestic object.

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It didn't take him long to discover the genuine precious part of the objects. Indeed, most of the pieces were junk or at least simple ornaments made with precious wood and metals.

In the end, the authentic artifact was the tiny pendant chained to the upper part of the long candlestick.

Atlas didn't know why such a valuable gem was concealed between a bunch of useless things, but since he had only benefited from it, why bother?

"Mhm... But then, that chubby merchant was not lying. What an unlucky fellow. Fortunately, I can identify the real value of the artifacts... Otherwise, I would have missed this incredible opportunity."

He lacked a necklace, so he hastily divided the artifact from that old scruffy handle and tied it around his neck.

"Well..." Atlas hastily infused his internal energy in the pendant, but even after some time, nothing strange happened.

"This is undoubtedly an artifact... but then why can't I feel anything from it? There isn't even a slight movement of Chaos Energy from its inside. That's too strange..."

Atlas kept looking at the necklace for a bit longer, hoping for a slight change, but nothing happened.

"No... I don't believe it!! The Obsidian Eyes can't deceive me... this is definitely a treasure!"

Unresigned about that situation, Atlas grabbed the necklace in his palm. He thought for a few seconds and then forcibly poured an intense quantity of energy over the gem's surface.

Initially, there was no response, but when he increased the pressure again, a cracking sound blasted out from his palm.

The sound came so suddenly that Atlas couldn't stop the process.