Varian and Maria went to the largest blacksmith store in the safezone.
"You're not telling why we should buy this. None of the things on the second zone need stuff like this." Varian walked down the gold-paved streets clicking his tongue at the extravagance.
"It's for safety." Maria was wearing a hoodie and a mask that covered her up completely. Her voice was also altered to sound masculine and old.
"There you go again," Varian crossed his arms.
"Also, stop following me! I'm trying not to attract attention!" Maria stomped on his feet and created some distance between them in the sea of crowds.
Varian looked at her back shuttling through the warriors dressed in different attires, but all attuned to combat—full-body armors, elemental resistance robes, anti-death shields, and of course, plenty of robes.
Even though her look was so shady, she was the 'normal' one here.
On the other hand, with a black tee on white shorts, red sneakers along with several gold chains, Varian looked like he was some rockstar. There were few who dressed as flamboyant and ostentatious as him.
But even they had some weapons in hand or at least maintained a fighting posture. On the other hand, Varian looked like he was walking in an amusement park.
For him, however, it was indeed an amusement park.
He could feel the 'rules' restricting everyone clearly and that gave him enough confidence to let go of his guard.
It's something he hadn't done for a long, long time. Even while resting after a very tough battle, a part of his mind would always be alert and on lookout.
"Man, I love this place," Varian tried out new cuisines, bought interesting little items as souvenirs, and surveyed the best places to show the girls for a tour.
When he finally reached the blacksmith shop, Maria was already done with the shopping and threw him a pair of bracelets.
The dwarf owner who came to send her off looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze, "Young man."
"Yes?"
As he replied, Varian noticed that a few customers in the store also turned to him.
A woman with a 1-feet long neck and a three-feet long tail, looking like a crossover between a man and giraffe, a five-headed man whose three heads were sleeping, one was eating and the other was staring at him. As well as a zombie which had a tunnel in its chest and a wiggling slime woman.
'Holy shit, this is crazy!'
ραΠdαsΝοvεl.cοm The customers and the dwarf owner were having the exact thought.
'Holy shit, this dude is crazy!'
"B-Buy some nice armor, eh?" The dwarf owner said with a sympathetic smile. "I can give you a good discount."
"Oh thank you but I'll pass," Varian said and chased after Maria who was running from him. "Oh wait!"
She ran into a quiet alley and glared at him with fiery eyes. "No! You're standing out too much!"
"Come on, I'm just chilling!" Varian sipped some juice and burped. Then, he nodded appreciatively at the juice. He must buy a few back home. A few thousand would be enough.
Maria walked to him in heavy steps and pushed him against the wall.
"Yes?"
She slammed her hand onto the wall right beside his hand and said. "We just got hunted down by dangerous guys! And you! If you were even a blink late, you'd have been a rotting corpse no! They're watching us, even after this disguise, I can feel their eyes! The moment we step out of the safe zone, they'll hunt us down!"
"I know, I know." Varian nodded.
Maria clenched her fist and the wall started cracking. "Then why the fuck are you so…laid back? You're driving me mad!"
Varian pushed her arm away and slowly walked to a graffiti in the alley, appreciating it with a bright smile. "First time?"
"What?" Maria was on the verge of lashing out.
"Is it the first time you're hunted down by strong enemies bent on killing you and have a very good chance at that?" Varian chuckled.
"I-It's not the first, but…" Maria didn't want to admit it. She defeated a bunch of rank 6s but all those times, her power wasn't sealed and she was either as strong as them or had better abilities.
Not once in her entire life did she fight across rank. Even though her present strength of rank 5 was just a step away from rank 6, she had exactly 0% chance of winning against one.
There's just no way.
Maybe she could use the treasures to mess things up and create a chance, but it'd be foolish to assume the enemies wouldn't have treasures of their own.
'And the tower rejects treasures that mess up the balance. So, there's that.'
"Listen, I've fought enemies who are stronger than me, almost always." Varian smiled lightly as those fights flashed past his mind. "And I've always come out on top."
"That sounds…too unrealistic."
"I know." Varian shrugged before flashing a cheeky smile. "That's why it'd be written into myths one day."
"…I never knew you were this delusional." Maria decided not to argue.
You could convince a rational, persuade an emotional but nothing would work in front of a delusional.
Maria sighed.
"Why so serious?" Varian snapped his fingers and the toy sun flew towards Maria.
She wanted to step back but a sudden change from deep within caused her to halt.
"No way."
"Yes way."
The seal inside her soul was being strengthened by the aura pouring out of the sun.
It should've been impossible for anyone to interfere with the seal, but the treasures he got were the most special in the stock. Varian was given the option to direct the energy of the toy sun anywhere he wished.
"Stop, what are you—"
Maria panicked at the situation and summoned her spear along with golems. As she was about to strike the toy sun, a broken seed appeared in Varian's hand.
The new aura in the seal at her soul was being sucked away. Because the aura was trying to embed itself into the seal, bits and pieces of the seal were also being broken down.
[] Broken Seed: A broken seed. It's still an excellent gatherer of aura. Will improve the aura concentration of a star system and the quality of all things when planted.[]
Since he's the registered owner of the item, he was given full control over its powers. That included 'selecting' a target from which the seed could gather the aura.
The process wasn't as smooth as Varian expected. It's because the aura inside Maria's body resisted the foreign power interfering in her soul. But Maria took a big bet and dispersed all her aura.
With no obstruction, the cycle was now complete.
The toy sun poured aura into the seal which embedded itself into the seal and the broken seed pulled it off, slowly decimating the seal.
Under Maria's utterly dumbfounded gaze, the seal holding her back crumbled into pieces.
Her aura skyrocketed and reached a monstrous height.
She's at the edge of low rank 6, on the verge of reaching mid rank 6 sooner or later. Perhaps as quick as a year.
When Maria came to her senses, all she could do was swear. "W-What the fuck happened?"
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