Elsewhere in the depths of Tempest City, behind a rusty old shop in the midst of a busy street.
An old man sat in a reclined chair. His eyes snapped shut, letting out quiet snores as drool slipped from the edges of his mouth.
Muttering gibberish in his slumber. "Uh... yes, that’s just a godly artifact... argh, the price..."
As his snores grew louder, a girl burst into the room. She approached the old man and shook him awake, muttering urgently.
"Quick, Grandpa, wake up! There’s soone who wants to buy sothing..."
After a few more tugs, the old man woke with a start. "What... gold... where!" He snapped, before his eyes slowly gained focus.
His gaze settled on the girl before him as his face twisted in irritation.
"Argh! What did I tell you about barging into the middle of my... ditation? What if I was in the middle of a breakthrough?!"
"But you were sleeping!" The girl muttered, fidgeting slightly before shooting back.
Just as the old man’s mouth was about to open to berate the little girl so more, she quickly added,
"The man who wants to buy sothing has a big pouch of gold!"
The rest of his words died in his throat. Alaric’s face lit up instantly, beaming with a smile as he hurriedly rushed forward, petting the girl’s head. His voice trailed behind him.
"Huh? Why didn’t you start with that?"
Seeing his bearing shift so fast, the girl’s eyes widened slightly. Once more surprised at the greed of the old man, she snickered and rushed behind him.
"Greedy old man!"
"What was that again?" Alaric muttered from the other room, his lips twitching slightly.
"Nothing... Grandpa!" The girl hurriedly mumbled, smiling innocently as she walked up to the scrawny old man.
Hmph! Alaric snorted, looking down at the girl. "You’re getting naughty... maybe it’s ti I found you a husband. Did I tell you..."
Before he could finish, he saw the girl’s face visibly redden in embarrassnt as she ran away.
"No... I don’t want to... I want to follow behind Grandpa forever."
Catching a glimpse of her retreating figure, the old man sighed quietly. mories of the past blurred before his eyes in a flash.
The most prominent was one of his distant visits... where he had encountered a little village rampaged by bandits, leaving behind a small girl. From the first ti he saw her, he couldn’t bring himself to leave her behind.
Bringing her with him, ti had passed quickly. Years went by so fast. Until perhaps he ca to see her as a daughter.
But that didn’t matter now. Sighing at her stubbornness, he discarded all those thoughts as he made his way forward. His eyes lit up instantly upon seeing the figure rummaging through his goods.
A middle-aged man with an enchanted robe. A noble? A wealthy noble! His expression brightened at the sight of the pouch on the man’s figure.
Noticing the old man, the green-robed man narrowed his eyes slightly. Inspecting him briefly—a peasant, he thought. At other tis, he wouldn’t have even bothered stopping by, but sothing had caught his attention.
Pointing at a stick of incense, he asked,
"This stick of incense, I want it. How much is it?"
Just as the words slipped from his lips, the scrawny old man chuckled faintly, rubbing his palms as a thoughtful expression covered his face.
"Haha, great noble. I see you have an eye for heavenly treasures. After all, how could a man of your stature not?"
At the words of praise, the green-robed figure nodded slightly. Pride flashed across his eyes.
"Tell more."
Not wasting a mont, Alaric continued, his voice distant.
"This is the Mystical Red Essence Incense. A single whiff when lit instantly floods your brain with insights. If you’re lucky enough, you might even enter a state of enlightennt. I got this from a great adventurer. At first, I didn’t want to sell it and wanted to use it for myself. But alas... I’m an old man. It’s no good for wasting resources that can help talented figures like you."
With every word, the green-robed man’s eyes lit up as if he had struck gold.
"How much is it?" He hurriedly asked. He had to get his hands on it quickly before anyone else could.
"I’ll offer you 500 gold coins!"
Hearing the number, Alaric almost broke into a chuckle. But he restrained himself, a cunning glint flashing across his eyes.
"This is a great treasure. I’ll consider giving it to you for a thousand gold..."
"Deal!" The green-robed figure hurriedly muttered.
Causing Alaric’s face to light up. But just as the green-robed man was about to retrieve his pouch, a voice echoed from the side, causing the old man’s lips to twitch rapidly.
"I don’t know about you, but that looks like a regular stick of incense to ," the voice muttered.
"What do you know about appraising treasure! Only great experts can see the true value..." Alaric snapped, watching the noble hesitate. Before he suddenly paused. That voice. He knew it from sowhere.
Tilting his gaze, his eyes widened upon seeing a familiar black-robed youth going through the displayed items as if he were rummaging through his personal inventory.
"Y-you..." Alaric breathed. "What are you doing..." He muttered unconsciously as a realization dawned at the back of his mind.
He hadn’t sensed the figure’s arrival. More than that, if he hadn’t spoken, he doubted he would have sensed him at all.
If it were any other person, they wouldn’t have thought much about it. But for a person of his power level, that was sothing different entirely.
Ignoring the question entirely, Ulric’s eyes lit up slightly. He picked a slew of potions after appraising them and shalessly stored them in his signet ring while muttering,
"But these on the other hand... they should do."
Watching the dark-robed youth stuffing so of the most valuable items into his ring as the green-robed man slowly walked away, second-guessing the entire purchase, Alaric couldn’t take it anymore. He snapped.
"Wait... stop."
Pausing for a mont, Ulric turned to stare at Alaric before nodding slightly.
"You’re right..." He sputtered. The shaless smile on his face creeping back.
"This is just too ineffective." As his words echoed, his figure blinked out of vision.
Appearing in the rusty shop, he glanced at every item. Before he suddenly snapped his fingers.
Instantly after, tendrils of darkness shot out, grabbing every valuable item and shoving them into his ring.
Watching everything, Alaric yelled, "That’s it!" Unable to hold back as his aura exploded, filling the room for a split second.
But that was all it took as Ulric suddenly turned to appraise the old man. The smile on his face widening. A suspicion he had been harboring for a while confird.
From the aura, it was at least ten tis more concentrated than Thunderblade at his peak. Effectively pushing the old man to middle D-rank? Perhaps even peak C-rank?
Seeing the smile on the dark-robed youth widen at his slip, almost as if he had anticipated it, Alaric’s brows arched slightly in surprise for the first ti.
"I have my ways," Ulric muttered. Besides the interdiate appraisal not working on him, he could feel a similar energy oozing from the old man, similar to Thunderblade despite how hard he tried to hide it. Mana!
"What do you want?" Alaric rubbed his chin, the surprise in his eyes growing.
Having gathered a bit of knowledge, Ulric knew the old man wasn’t from the city. He had only arrived a few years ago. A little odd, since most of the occupants were natives.
But that didn’t matter. He must have acquired a wealth of information in his ventures.
With that in mind, he voiced his answer.
"Everything... I want to know everything you know of the outside world." He already knew a bit of it. But adding so more wouldn’t hurt, given his next part of the plan.
Hearing his answer, Alaric smiled. Muttering slowly beneath his breath,
"Everything? That’s a lot. You’ll have to narrow that slightly. Maybe my adventures... or trading ventures..." He blubbered on before pausing.
"Or maybe the jade royal pendant hanging on your neck."
Before the words fully parted from his lips, Ulric’s smile faded for the first ti since he appeared as his figure vanished, appearing before Alaric as he looked down on him. His crimson eyes lighting up in a faint hue.
"How do you know about that?"
Smiling faintly, Alaric brought a hand to rub the white stubble on his chin. Before smirking.
"Oh, I know a lot of things."
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