Chương 22

The Pink Pearl's business didn't seem to be affected by the heavy rain, as customers just kept coming through the main entrance with wet hair and big smiles. Some of them went directly upstairs, but many asked for their favorites–the dishes or otherwise–and enjoyed themselves in the lobby with a drink. Everybody was having a merry time, except for one table. There, a grimacing Ethan, a flustered Pete, and a frowning Rafael sat without paying attention to others.''

I-I mean, he kind of c-chose himself as the leader,'' Pete said.'' And he is doing a damn fine job,'' Rafael stated, visibly offended by Ethan's remark. He shook his head and leaned back again.

''It's your business. I don't even plan to stay in Niamaris or in any free city for too long. But that guy would just take whatever he could from your community and screw you over with a smile at the first opportunity. So just a friendly reminder, make some backup plans and don't get too attached to him.'' Leo Kovacic was the golden boy of the VR, in his late twenties, an ex-kickboxing instructor with sun-kissed wavy hair, a chiseled jawline, and rippling muscles.

He was all smiles and jokes in public, but Ethan knew the guy a bit more personally than the masses. At one of the parties Vince had organized, he'd almost gotten in a fight with Leo. There was a kid who happened to be a hard-core fan of Leo and tried to get close to him with pure adoration and respect. From start to end, Leo kept insulting the kid more and more. And not for the crowd or anything, but for his own amusement. Toward the end of the party, the kid was both awkward and excited about the whole situation.

Ethan couldn't hold up anymore and snapped at Leo. If not for their friends who got involved, it could've ended up pretty bad. Bad for Ethan, that was for sure. After all, assassins weren't the perfect material for brawls. A year later, there was a story about a girl from the countryside. According to her story, Leo promised to date her if she agreed to a gangbang with his friends. True or false, that story went pretty awful.

Although Ethan didn't comment to anybody, he knew that was exactly like something Leo would do.'' In the months we've been here, Leo has worked as much as anyone. He started a mercenary band with our entourage, and now we have even started accepting locals. Once we have enough people at tier 3 and higher, he plans to go to the Mirasatra Kingdom and find more of our people. Even if you don't plan to join us, you shouldn't slander his name,'' Rafael said, trying to keep his composure as he seethed. Another fanboy?

I bet he would've punched me for the blasphemy if not for his early tier-1 cultivation, Ethan thought, not sure whether to feel amusement or pity. In the end, he told what he felt was right. There was no need to push it.

''I'm sorry. I might've said too much, but that was my honest opinion. Anyway, what were you guys up to? You are at the late tier-1, Pete. I bet you have many stories,'' he said, passing a crab-like dish to Pete. He took some with an embarrassed smile.

''Well, I have m-many, but not the kind you're expecting. I was an anthropologist before all this, and now I'm working at a butchery in the slums of a magic world. If I write a story about it, I b-bet it would become a bestseller,'' he said, happy that the subject had changed.

''But I never had to kill a single monster. I found myself near Niamaris and met a party of four. They were so kind as to bring me to the city and even lent me some money so I could buy a cultivation manual. Turns out I was rather talented and advanced quite fast ever since.'' The corner of Ethan's eye started twitching toward the end of the speech.

''So, you just cultivated and became almost tier 2 in what? Half a year? What was your talent?'' he asked with a dry smile.''It's a high grade in lightning. They said it's very close to top grade and that all the powerful families would want to recruit me,'' Pete explained between hiccups as he started to peek at the ladies, likely the effect of alcohol that started to kick in.

''But I just don't see myself f-fighting with my life on the line. I saw how that party of four was fighting kobolds. Even watching from afar, I got frozen and almost pissed my pants. Hence the butchery. I hoped that I would slowly get used to the gore and blood.'' Ethan chuckled wryly.

''Why even bother? You'll be at tier-9 in a decade. Just get some money to buy skills and hole up somewhere to cultivate till you feel ready.''''Oh, it doesn't work like that. I heard that many geniuses get stuck at bottlenecks and need life and death experiences to advance,'' Pete said while blushing at calling himself a genius.

''They said that there were even top-grade talents who died of old age. And the old age here is centuries, if not millennia!'' he added with frustration and gulped his drink. Rafael got up suddenly, looking at Ethan.

''We've already informed you about pretty much everything,'' he said stiffly.

''Whether you come to Niamaris or not is your choice. I have some jobs with the gang tonight, so excuse me.''''What an uptight guy,'' Ethan said to Pete after Rafael left.

''Trash talent, I assume?''''Below average. He is not that bad usually. You somehow made him even more serious,'' Pete said with a chuckle before getting up and switching to Rafael's seat to see the stage more clearly.

''Ah, and he was also a player in God's Fist. And, y-you know… the God in that game was Leo.''''Yeah, I know,'' he agreed with a mocking smile.

''To the mighty God of douchebags.'' He raised his glass, which Pete clinked to his before they drank it. They chatted for more than an hour, and Ethan started to like the big guy. After a few drinks, he completely stopped stuttering and started to make jokes that would crack the musician ladies, who were now sitting with them.''Using [Mana Connection] to send your emotions through mana, so everyone nearby can sense them with their [Mana Sense],'' Ethan repeated what the instrumentalist girl, Leyla, had said.

''Marvelous! Is there any other use for this? In combat, perhaps?'' If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.''It also works the other way,'' Leyla answered.

''I can roughly sense the feelings of others through their mana. Not an immediate use, but I can say it saved my life twice already.'''' That's really impressive, but too bad I don't play any instrument. Do you think any other arts would also be helpful to awaken the skill?'' Ethan asked.'' I guess so… Anything involving emotions and mana should–'' Thump! They both turned their heads to the sound and found that Pete had just headbanged into the table and started to sleep.

Ethan looked at the spooked elf girl Alesha, who was a colleague of Leyla, and chuckled wryly.

''I should've guessed. He drank more than twice as much as I did in an hour. Don't worry, I'll take care of him.''''... Umm, okay then,'' Alesha said hesitantly, looking at Leyla and Ethan meaningfully.

''Leyla, we should go back. Unless you want to stay any longer?'' Leyla glared at her friend for the teasing, shaking her head.

''No, it's getting late. Nice to meet you, Ethan. We play here three days a week; I'll see you around,'' she said, pulling Alesha with her to leave hastily. Ethan didn't delay much and asked for the bill. He sighed in relief when Xena only requested 3 silver coins.''How about a room for my friend?'' he asked, looking at Pete.

''I don't think he needs company.''''A silver would be enough then,'' Xena replied, leaning in with a sultry look.

''How about you? You look like you need company.''''Maybe another time,'' he said, giving her 5 silver coins.

''Take care of him, and when he wakes up, tell him that I will be around Ehrendil for a while.'' After leaving the brothel, Ethan looked for a place to stay. Twenty minutes of wandering brought him to a decent-looking inn. The cost of a single room was only 4 copper for a night. Even though the prices for skills, equipment, and potions were sky-high, food, drinks, and accommodation were quite reasonable in Ehrendil. Entering the room, he sent his armor to his ring and took a quick shower before jumping on the bed.

Right… I need to get some extra clothes. I can't live with leather armor only. His thoughts wandered around everywhere, and he couldn't sleep for another hour. It was very odd to rest in a safe and quiet place after months of battles and tension. The civilization he yearned for had already become foreign to him. It didn't help that his only friends were Ani, who obeyed, and Beet, who stared. I wonder where that lad is. It's been 3 days since I last saw him.

He could get into trouble in the city if I'm not around, he thought and kept staring at the ceiling for the next hour. Perhaps I should've taken Xena's offer. Another thing that was bothering him was his missing friends, or rather, his purpose of finding them. Before coming to this world, he had no idea what to expect, so he decided not to make any plans and observe the conditions first. But the journey hadn't even started when he found himself separated from his friends against his will.

It was this helplessness that made him forge his purpose and use it as fuel to push himself. Deep inside, he always knew it would be like chasing the wind. Organizing his priorities somewhat helped, but he still felt like something else was lacking. After tossing and turning in bed for another half an hour, he got up and sat on the floor to meditate as he did in the wild. When the sun shone through the window, he made breakfast and started venturing toward the library afterward.

Coincidentally, it was right across from the adventurer's guild, another place he wanted to visit, even if only to get an identity badge. When the librarian said that it was a silver coin for a day to outsiders, he also remembered to get citizenship as soon as possible. For the rest of the day, Ethan swam in the sea of knowledge.

'The most poisonous herbs', 'Foundation of the Union', 'Rebellion of the vampires', 'Beasts and their favored elements', 'A journey inside the Mighty Domains', and many more. He took one book after another and flipped the pages like the wind. Once he had about a dozen, he asked Ani to transfer them to him. His time was spent more pondering what he learned than actually reading the books.'' Excuse me. Do you perhaps know someone named Martha?'' the librarian asked abruptly, with a weird look on his face.'' Huh?''

Startled, Ethan saw the middle-aged elf man staring at him with crossed arms.

''No, who is that?'''' A weirdo like you. She read half of the books I have in a few days and even memorized every single word in them.'' Now, that kind of loose mouth would get you a ticket to some noble's basement, Martha. He scowled mentally before answering, ''No way! That's just ridiculous. I'm trying to get a mana skill. My friend said he got a skill called [Mana Read]. It allows him to read written texts with his mana alone,'' he lied with an annoyed and frustrated expression.

The librarian relaxed, throwing him a pitying look.

''Young man, you shouldn't believe everything you hear. If there was a skill like that, I would have gotten it or at least heard of it. Your friends must've made a prank.'' Ethan's eyes got wide.

''But… he read all those signs with his eyes closed!'' he cried and shook his head fervently.

''No! I don't believe you. I'm gonna try anyway.'''' Well, it's your time to waste.'' The librarian snorted lightly and turned back.'' It's more believable than that girl's super memorizing ability!'' he retorted behind his back, turning to his own business with a subtle smile. He only left the library to get some food and stretch his legs. As it was open for 24 hours, he planned to stay for 2 days and get all the info he needed. Though some of the knowledge was easy to understand but hard to process.

One of the things that confused him was that no nation on Azora had the technology or magic for an interstellar journey. Then how did they visit Earth? There were some legends about the Ascended and how they could travel from realm to realm, but that kind of feat seemed impossible for Azora or even the whole lower realm, Elisium. As for the ascension, it was another mystery. All they knew was that at tier 10, the realm kicked out the individual and sent them to a higher realm.

But what kind of realm they were sent to and what happened to them afterward were just guesses and assumptions. Another piece of important information was about the skills. Apparently, the skills made it easier to comprehend the profundity of the elements and even the laws of the world. But they weren't necessary to advance in tiers. As long as one had enough understanding, they could just gather energy, expand their soul, refine their body, and eventually ascend like the others.

Ethan thought that was a topic for top-grade talents. If he couldn't even improve a skill to rank 2, what kind of understanding could he have? Fortunately, he also discovered the location of the dying pocket world, the one that the old man at the skill shop had mentioned. It was called The Primordial Realm. Once upon a time, it was home to the beasts of prehistoric times, but the pocket world had long since become a barren land without any life.

In this last century, it even started to distort with space tears and was left alone to its inevitable extinction. It was also near the Ivory Woodland, but toward the north instead of the northeast. If he kept his pace fast, he could reach there in a month or so. I need to wait a month for my citizenship either way. Better to go check this place out first. Once I leave for Niamaris, who knows when I will return to the Ivory Woodland?