章 5: Proving Myself!
"It's fine." Jake shook his head.
'Nobody believes in me... Not even Sam...' Jake sighed in his mind.
In the end, Samantha still dropped Jake off at the shopping center.
"You sure you want to go by yourself?" Samantha asked one last time.
Jake gave his childhood friend an affirmative nod.
"In this case..." Samantha searched through her front drawers and found a cap.
Stitched onto that cap was an arrow logo.
"If the explorers in there get nasty..." Samantha tossed the cap to Jake like a Frisbee. "Remember to show them the cap."
"You are a member of the Shining Arrow Guild now. So we have a duty to stand up for you."
Grabbing the cap, Jake felt a stream of warmth in his heart.
Lightly shaking his head, Jake chuckled back. "I'm not that weak you know."
"Of course, you have unlimited mana sealed in your arm right?" Samantha flicked her brows.
Jake: ...
If we all forget about those moments, we can still be friends...
"Anyways, don't push yourself, alright?" Samantha's expression became serious. "If you need me, give me a call."
Jake lightly chuckled and shook his head. "Relax. I've got this. You should get some rest too."
Without further hesitation, Jake headed towards the seven-storey shopping center, leaving behind a wave to his childhood friend.
"Hey Jake, remember the registration ceremony at 3PM tomorrow!"
Jake's waving hand turned into a thumbs up.
Perhaps it's the sudden disappearance of Jake's parents; perhaps it's the long lasting friendship; maybe it's due to Jake's 'useless' detector class; Samantha had always been rather protective towards Jake.
'This lifetime, I won't let you down.' Walking towards the entrance, Jake's relaxed gaze gradually became determined.
Samantha watched Jake enter the shopping center before leaving. To an outsider, she probably looked like a concerned parent seeing her child stepping into kindergarten doors.
"Huff..." Samantha took a deep breath and patted her cheeks. Straightening her back, she forced herself to appear energetic.
Taking a look at the timer on her phone, Samantha started the van again.
Entering the mall, Jake sighed.
'Pushing herself to the limit as usual...'
'Now. It's time to prove myself.'
The shopping center was mostly empty at this hour. The interior here looked like any ordinary mall.
Grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, furniture shops...
Outside the magical realms, explorers were just normal people as well.
Without further thoughts, Jake headed towards the center of the shopping center. The main elevator was that way.
Entering the line-up, Jake stood behind a group of explorers. There was about a dozen of them.
These guys all looked like low-level characters in MMORPGS, lacking equipment here and there.
One guy had a breastplate and a dagger. Another had fancy-looking shoes and a staff.
They seemed to be using whatever they've got in drops. Those with equipment were the lucky ones.
Most of the explorers here didn't own any magical items.
However, they all carried a large backpack. Some were fuller than others.
As Jake entered the line-up, these guys just took a glance at Jake. Then they went back to their conversations.
'More friendly than expected.' Jake raised his brows.
After all, just a moment ago, Samantha made it seem as if all explorers were aggressive or something.
'Overly concerned about things as usual.' Jake chuckled and shook his head.
Focusing his mind, Jake quickly glanced over the energy level of these guys.
By instinct, the threat level of these guys were all negligible.
'But then again... according to my instincts, I feel like I can singlehandedly beat all of these guys here... combined.'
This was why Jake trusted logic over instincts.
'Either way, by the looks of it, I don't need to be concerned about my safety.'
As everyone waited for the elevator, Jake listened to the chatter of these explorers.
They were all speaking loudly. It's not like Jake could turn off his ears or anything. So it's not like Jake could choose not to overhear the chatter.
"How's your loot this time?"
"Heyhey, you'll see in a moment. All I can say is tonight's drinks are on me."
...
"Heard the price of Gaswil metal blocks had gone up."
"Yeah... nobody wants to mess with those white-furred apes."
In another direction.
"So. Where's mouse?" An explorer casually asked.
"He didn't make it." Another explorer replied with a blank expression.
"How unfortunate." The first explorer insincerely sighed. "So, interested in exchanging realm information?"
...
'Oh?' Jake subtly raised his brows. There's some interesting information.
"Do you think the guild-master of the Iron Sparrow Guild will come again today."
"Of course. He has been around for a month already."
"Do you know why he's seeking healing talisman?"
"Got to ask the man upstairs for that one."
"Tsk. Offering crafting material free of charge... Just hoping for a successful healing talisman... Doesn't that seem a little desperate."
"Yeah... even big men like an iron-tier guildmasters can be powerless sometimes..."
"No matter how you look at it, he's being played by that artisan."
"Who knows. Maybe he doesn't mind."
Ding~
Following the explorers, Jake entered the spacious elevator. This thing could fit 20 people with ease.
Yet, as the door closed, the explorers became silent.
Jake casually nodded, accepting the situation.
'Looks like I'll have to figure out the rest of the information myself.'
'However, if everything goes smoothly, I won't need this information.'
Ding~
The elevator reached the seventh floor without stopping.
A large entrance hall came into view. The entire room was bathing in a warm golden glow.
A large chandelier was hanging at the center of the room.
The marble floor was spotless. Jake could see the reflection of ceiling lights right off the floor.
At the opposing side of the room, there was a large receptionist counter. By the counter were rows of electronic billboards. They looked like over-sized electronic tablets. All of them displayed a search bar.
Stepping out of the elevator, the explorers were greeted by two rows of beautiful receptionists.
Wearing professional smiles and yellow business dresses, these girls collectively bowed at the guests.
"Welcome to Artisan Tower!"
All in all, Jake felt that there was a hidden message embedded in this room:
'We, Artisan Tower, don't lack money!'
Without the need of guidance, the group of explorers headed to the entrance on the left.
The drops sales were probably processed over there.
Jake wasn't here to sell anything though. Walking up to an over-sized tablet, Jake thought for a moment.
By the looks of it, these were all touch screen?
Jake tapped on the search bar. A keyboard popped up onto the screen.
Staring at the keyboard, Jake didn't know what to type. Maybe Iron Sparrow? That was the key words Jake had overheard.
[ No Results Found ]
Well... Hmm...
Seeing Jake's struggles, Sally Poppins looked around, uncertain of what to do. Nobody else seemed to care.
Sally was just a new receptionist here. Her only job was to stand at that spot for 8 hours a day. When explorers stepped out of that elevator, all she needed to do was bow and greet her guests.
However, Sally felt that she could do more.
Turning her head, she stared at her supervisor. It was a girl in her late twenties. She was sitting behind the receptionist desk, probably doing some personal stuff.
After a moment, the supervisor clearly felt something. Looking up, she met Sally's gaze.
Sally gestured at Jake with her gaze.
The supervisor took another quick glance at Jake.
Wearing a cheap outfit. Probably just a curious high school kid. What kind of purchase power would someone like this have? Impatience flashed by in her gaze. Helping someone like this would be a waste of time.
After carelessly giving a nod towards the new receptionist, the supervisor went back to online shopping. This would turn out to be the biggest regret in her life.
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