Rick walked up toward the man sitting outside his shop called "Swords and Bullets." It was a middle-aged man wearing a flat cap hat, sitting outside the shop with a book in his hand, which he could immediately tell was a self-help book.
'What is the use of whiling away time reading that', Rick thought, but refrained from saying anything aloud. But the old man really did not look like an expert who could have protected on his own and set up the shop as well.
Seeing Rick approach, the man looked up from the book and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before looking up at him with a polite smile, "Welcome young man, what can I interest you in? These are all high-quality products in here and I tell you they will serve you well."
He grabbed Rick by his shoulder before pulling him closer to the stall.
"You have nice muscles, this bamboo stick is not good enough for a strong lad like you," he continued noticing the staff strapped across RIck's back, he grabbed a sword from the table nearly and handed it to Rick hilt first, "You need a sword or at least a spear."
Rick had dealt with his fair share of pushy salesmen as well and knew better than to take the sword.
"Why don't we discuss the price first," Rick replied carefully. His first objective was to figure out how the bazaar worked.
"Well, this exquisite looking sword is really of the finest quality weapon I have ever crafted. But since you are such a diligent young man, I will only take five gold Cilliacs," the middle-aged man replied with a coy smile.
'Cilliac? Is it some sort of currency here,' Rick wondered. Imposing a currency was quite a hassle because enforcing it required an absolute authority to regulate the market, and this was only possible if everyone recognized someone or something to be able to regulate it. What this meant was that there was already a strong presence in the market which everyone looked up to!
Although this made transactions easier, it would also mean that the prices would be higher.
"What about barter? I would prefer keeping the sales I made kept private," Rick asked with a straight face.
"You are a smart cookie aren't you," the middle-aged man replied in a lowered voice. He reached back behind the counter and grabbed a clipboard, "These are the things I am willing to barter for, you can go through and let me know if you have any of them."
Rick grabbed a hold of the clipboard and saw that there was a list running a couple of pages listing down things from toothpaste and soap to cigarettes, lighters and One-eyed goat mane.
While Rick went through the list, the middle-aged man picked up his book back again, before glancing over to Rick and saying, "You can add that chicken on the list too, I have not had a nice chicken steak since this nightmare began."
Rick creased his brows and narrowed his eyes realizing what the man implied. "You better watch what you say, `people aren't as forgiving as they used to be either."
"Whatever kid," the middle*aged shopkeeper replied without looking up.
Rick went through the list, but there was nothing in it that he had with him, except of course Pip, which he would rather die than give away. But after his bold declaration, it would be rather shameful if he had to walk away with his tail between his legs having nothing worth bartering at all.
"Ahmm..." he cleared his throat aloud to grab the shopkeeper's attention.
"Got any of those things on you?" the shopkeeper asked, looking up from his book.
"Do you have what I want?" Rick replied, avoiding answering his question.
"We have sabers, spears, and machetes as well," the shopkeeper replied, springing up from his chair.
"Do you have any spirit beast core?" Rick asked.
The smile on the shopkeepers face immediately disappeared and an angry frown replaced it, "You think I am here selling beast cores? Why don't you ask me if I see rubber bands and lipsticks, idiot? This is not a place where you will find useless trash like that. Go away if you are just here to waste my time."
Rick was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but shaking his head away he walked away. The old shopkeeper sat back down and muttered under his breath "Stupid book, to hell with calming my mind."
Rick kept walking deeper into the Library-side market soaking in all the tidbits of information he could gather and all the while looking out for any shop selling spirit beast cores.
After walking about for another hour and being chased away from twelve other shops, Rick realized that spirit beast meat was quite a rare delicacy and consuming it could increase even the stats of the diner. It was in such demand that every time there was someone selling spirit beast meat, it would be auctioned at high prices. But its cores were like the chicken's feet, it was inedible and nobody wanted it. Rick almost gave up on finding a beast core, resolving to get it for a cheap price the next time someone came in to sell spirit-beast meat.
Speaking of price, he got a rough idea of the 'Cilliac' currency system as well. There were three types of coins not made of pure metals. The gold, silver and copper Cilliacs. The conversion of each type was at fifty, which meant that fifty copper Cilliacs was worth a Silver Cilliac and fifty Silver Cilliac were worth a Gold Cilliac.
The force behind the Cilliac was no secret either. The Cilliac stood for City Library Currency and was backed by a group that called themselves the 'Celestial Devotees'. However, they were not as pious as they made themselves sound. They had the biggest shop in the market which doubled as a bank. They were the only place you could 'legally' exchange your goods for money while they charged another fee for everytime you used Cilliacs to buy something as well, something they termed as "Convenience Fee".
But they were stronger and larger than any other group in the Library side Market, quelling any thoughts of rebellion. But the real reason there was no mass uprising was that irrespective of all their unscrupulous means, they did not manipulate the prices and made sure there was no counterfeit money circulating around. Apparently, the printing of all the coins was done by one single person who was a rune-craftsman as well. He had inscribed on the coins a unique mark with which the Celestial Devotees could instantly identify a real coin from a fake.
Hearing this RIck immediately realized that the coins must have a mark like the Signet was for the golems that Sol had left behind in his private study!
Rick walked into another shop to try his luck. This shop was built like a house with a door to enter inside and a single word sign outside reading "PHARMACY" in green paint. Rick opened the door and walked inside.
The room inside was built like a courtyard with ample light pouring in from the half-ceiling. There were already two other people inside the place along with another behind the counter he assumed was the shopkeeper. The shop was packed with tablets and vials of modern medicine piled up, Rick immediately lost all hopes of finding any spirit-beast core in there.
"The doctor is out, you can take a seat and wait or come back later," the young man behind the counter spoke.
"No, I am not here for the doctor", Rick replied.
"Oh, then what medication can I get you?" the young man asked,
"I am not here for medicine really," Rick answered, before continuing, expecting full well to be thrown out, "But, would you have any Spirit-Beast cores with you?"
Rick was almost ready to turn back and leave before being assaulted with a flurry of insults, but the reply he got stopped him on his tracks.
"No we don't keep spirit beast cores, but he has them," the young man pointed at one of the patients waiting for the doctor.
As Rick looked at the man, the man looked back at him.
"You are the kid holding up the line," Dale wide eyes seeing the kid alive.
"You are a still alive," Rick exclaimed with relief.
Both of them spoke simultaneously and then broke into smiles.
"Let's talk outside," Rick spoke, in disbelief at his good luck
Dale nods his head before addressing the woman sitting beside him, "Sorry, it will just be a minute."
Both of them walked out together.
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Disocrd: https://discord.gg/8WzJdMU
Pateron: https://bit.ly/2NasJkm
Read more at Royalroad: https://bit.ly/32LoUJ5
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Happy New Year!!
Only once outside did Rick notice Dale's horribly bruised body. With the limp and swollen face, he really presented a sorry state.
"Hi, I am Rick. I am so glad you are alive", Rick started with a broad smile.
But Dale was definitely not in the same mood.
"Leave the niceties for later. I saw you go into the Library as well. How did you come out of that hell-hole without a scratch on you", Dale snapped. He could not understand how the scrawny kid could survive the ordeal without harming even a hair on his head.
Not expecting the aggressive line of questioning, Rick was suddenly at a loss of words. He could not just come out and say that he was the Master of the Library dungeon! Even if Dale thought it to be not believable, there was a probability that he would not get the beast core after his 'hilarious' joke.
Rick wrecked his brain trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. After a sudden moment of inspiration, he replied.
"It was scary in there and everything was happening so fast right from the start. Thankfully I had this in my hand. After I activated it, it was as if suddenly I had disappeared and no one could sense me", Rick started. Reaching into the breast pocket of his overcoat he pulled out the Aura Concealment Artifact.
"What is that thing?" Dale asked eying the bamboo piece on Rick's hand.
"It's an artifact," he answered, "it can conceal your aura completely if you remain stationary while holding it!"
Dale could hardly believe that such an amazing artifact even existed. He too had an artifact on him, but it was nothing as extraordinary as the artifact what the kid had described. But if this was true, it would definitely explain how he could come out unscathed.
"Can I check it?" Dale spoke, reaching out his palm.
"I have only one of these," Rick replied, refusing Dale's request outright and pocketing the Aura Concealment artifact back. If he had to hand it over, his story would immediately fall apart into pieces.
"But I do have a few other talismans that maybe I could interest you in", Rick added.
"Talismans?" Dale asked confused. He knew what artifacts were but had no idea about these talismans!
"They are kind of like artifacts, I could sell it to you for the beast core", Rick replied. He took out a [Noise Scroll] and held it up for Dale to see.
"What is this? It looks like any an ordinary piece of paper with doodles on it", Dale spoke, getting impatient at Rick's antics by the every passing moment.
"I know it looks ordinary, but look at this", Rick insisted.
He touched the rune at the middle of and poured his Mana into it and in a soft voice whispered into the talisman, "What's your name?"
Thinking Rick was referring to him he snapped saying, "What? I didn't hear what you-", but stopped midsentence after Rick tore the talisman into two.
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" a scream resounded from the torn paper.
A lot of people around them stared back at the duo with reproach. But Dale who witnessed the astounding miracle right before his eyes was dumbfounded.
"So, will you be willing to take this in exchange for the beast core?", Rick asked, satisfied with his performance after noticing Dale's bewildered expression.
Dale composed himself before thinking it through and answering Rick with a question of his own, "What's the use of something that just amplifies my voice? It's not of any use at all!"
"I am sure you can put it to some use. Besides, I don't see people queuing up to buy your beast core either," Rick retorted, deicing not to tell Dale about him using the [Noise Scrolls] to take down the Red Fox.
Dale fell silent for a moment before making a decision. He knew that what the kid said was right. After walking around the market with his bruised face, he had figured out that there was no one who willing to buy beast cores. On the other hand, someone or the other would definitely buy the talisman no matter how useless, if for nothing else then out of curiosity.
But the fact that the kid wanted the otherwise useless beast core made Dale more suspicious that maybe he was giving away something precious without knowing its actual value!
But Dale felt this itch in his body that was urging him to sell the beast cores to the lad in front of him. Unknown to both of them, this was Rick's Negotiator Skill acting up!
"Well, how many beast cores do you want?", Dale replied, finally giving in to the urge.
'He has to have more than one!' Rick's heart skipped a beat in excitement but kept a straight face on the outside. He had to make a calculated offer here. Too high the sale might not happen, too low and he might not get what he could actually get.
"I am willing to exchange one of the talismans for three beast cores", Rick made his offer with a straight face, praying with all his might.
After a tense few moments, Dale finally answered, "Okay that sounds fair".
"Here, you can take these three", Dale continued, reaching into his jacket and fishing out three beast cores from his pocket before handing them out to Rick.
"I am Dale," he said, as Rick reached out to take the beast cores.
With a quick nod, Rick grabbed the cores and handed over the [Noise Talisman] swiftly, afraid Dale would change his mind if he took too long.
With the deal done, Rick let out a relaxed smile.
"Oh and take this as well. It's a talisman we can communicate with…" Rick explained to him how the [Word Transmission Scroll]., "See I have the same message here on my talisman..."
Dale inspected the talisman and turning around bid goodbye, "Stay safe kid".
Rick watched Dale walk back in before himself leaving. It was really a profitable encounter for both of them. While Rick was counting his lucky stars having got the beast cores he was searching for, Dale did not feel he had lost out either, having sold off the best cores which were worthless to him.
'Maybe I should set up an auction for the [Noise Scroll]', Dale mused.
---
Inside the Pharmacy Dale inspected the two talismans he now had with him with wonder. Although he did not know how he would use the [Noise Scrolls] yet, but the [Word Transmission Scroll] was an amazing discovery at a time where communication had become so difficult. He had a few found admiration for Rick that he was definitely not ordinary having incorporated the new world's powers into making things like this.
'If I can groom him well, he can definitely become an upright youngster', Dale wondered, finding in Rick his younger self, 'together with others, I will crush the cursed Library!'
He swiftly made his way out of the settlement and reached his cycle parked away. Rick did not wait around. It would already be dark in an hour or two and he wanted to reach back home before sunset and start working on the golem project.
He put Pip in the front basket and started cycling away.
'I should have brought Samira's [Word Communication Scroll] as well,' Rick worried realizing that he did not have it with him.
He took a turn and got onto the empty main road. He had to rush back if there was any scope for him to reach back home on time. But just then, two men wearing white everything walked onto the road and extending their palms signalling Rick to stop.
"Nope," Rick mumbled refusing to stop. He did not want to give in to the whims of people stopping him in the middle of the road. He knew there was nothing good that could come out of it.
But just as he started to speed up after making up his mind to not stop, his front tire started to wobble and he was flung off the cycle and crashed into the red fire-hydrant next to the road, his cycle sliding past him.
Rick scrambled onto his feet and rushed to check on Pip who was still snoring away in the cycle basket when the crash happened. This was too much of a coincidence for him to not associate his accident with the arrival of the two men less than a hundred feet away.
Pip had also been flung off a few feet off the cycle after the impact. Rick immediately reached her. She had no wounds visible on her, but neither did she show any movement, she lay on the grounds without any movement. Only once he picked her up and felt her heartbeat, did he calm down. Pip was just a heavy sleeper!
He put her in his overcoat pocket and immediately checked the cycles, there was an icicle sticking out from the wheel.
This was definitely not an accident. Furious, he looked at the two men who were still standing in the same place. Noticing Rick looking, one of them finally spoke, "Why did you not stop?"
"Just be a good boy leave the bird and run away," the second continued, in a slow matter-of-fact tone.
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Disocrd: https://discord.gg/8WzJdMU
Pateron: https://bit.ly/2NasJkm
Read more at Royalroad: https://bit.ly/32LoUJ5
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