While he was gently tapping on the white counter in front of him, Sif's mind was trembling in rage. Golden Ghost? He knew very well that name. The fact that even a Golden Summoner couldn't put his hand on this Golden Ghost made the youth even more sure that he was sure about his guess.
"Leaf."
Golden Ghost was how they called Leaf in the Belt of Empire. A golden streak, flashing left and right, that nobody could put his hands on. Naturally, it all had to do with his space-time techniques. Techniques that were powered by that overpowered artifact that he had.
Dealing with something like a teleporter wasn't easy, and definitely not something that a gold ranked summoner could do. In fact, there were very few people under the Master Summoner Level that could compete with Leaf. If one wasn't able to lock down space, the blond guy was basically untouchable.
Sif wanted to smash his head on the counter. Ah, he should have killed him when he had the chance. There was no doubt in his mind that the woman that Ivory Tower Fort was looking for was Morgana.
'We arrived less than a month ago and he is already fucking with people stronger than him and putting her in danger…'
Although a part of him wanted to leave everything and run in her rescue, Sif knew that it wouldn't be possible. He wasn't strong enough.
"Goddamit…"
Blue, waiting in silence a few steps behind the youth, mistook the reasons of Sif's evident bad mood. She guessed that it was displeasure caused by the fact that he was forced to wait so much.
Her eyes shined with intelligence, and she walked next to the youth asking him if he wanted her to go ask around for some other place that dealt in beasts.
Sif sighed. In the end, his path and that of Morgana had separated themselves long ago. If he had been stronger he would have surely tried to help her, but now? No, he wouldn't risk his life for a woman.
Turning toward the scarred woman, he nodded. "You know what? Yeah, I think we waited long en- … ah they are finally here"
Suddenly, the hall was filled by the sound of rapid steps coming in Sif's direction. The latter moved his eyes to the origin of the sounds and noticed that the cat-man was hurrying back, followed by an extremely old man.
He literally looked like a bag of bones kept together by a cover of wrinkled flesh. A moving mummy. However, there was a strength that Sif wouldn't dare to ignore deep inside his blue eyes.
'That's not an Initiate, it must be an Adept at least…' The young man didn't even need to use his Willpower to determine the strength of the man. His gaze alone contained a power that was far superior to that of any ordinary Initiate, even a golden ranked one.
The space around him looked different, like if people had to see him using some kind of dirty glass. The more he approached, the more Sif felt a strong pressure pushing on him.
'What a strong Energy Shield'
A white sphere covered in arcane symbols hovered next to the old man's head, moving along with him. Sif immediately recognizes it as a Menagerie, a container for the various familiars bound to the summoner.
"Sir, most of our low-level personnel is… momentarily unavailable…" The cat-man seemed annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. "I'm incredibly sorry for the wait, but I had to wait for someone that could help me identify the bloodline… thankfully, Elder Jinshio was interested in your beast enough to come to evaluate its bloodline himself"
The old sack of bones snorted. "Those kids dare to bring shame to my Iron Gates Kennel for a mere silver beast? mph mph mph… we will see when they come back." Two blue eyes, filled with immense strength examined Sif.
The gaze of the old man seemed able to read all things inside Sif's mind, and easily penetrated his Energy Shield to examine his cultivation base.
"Interesting… a three guardian core, uh? Three bloodshed bats serving as a base… not bad… are you interested in joining my Iron Gates Fort?" asked randomly the old man, with a neutral expression on his old face.
"No, thanks. I'm here for business only" immediately responded Sif, shaking his head and not giving ulterior explanations.
The old man nodded. The youth before him was surely already taken by some other power, but he just wanted to try his luck. One never knew.
"I was told that you have brought us a bloodline that can manipulate soul power… let me see" The little sphere that was hovering around the old man darted forwards, stopping only when it was above the bloodshed bat on the counter.
Sif's Willpower could sense an investigative ripple coming out from the old man's Menagerie. He realized that it should be one equipped with a way to scan and determine with precision the bloodline of a beast.
"Uhmm, interesting…" The old man's eyes shined with a deep light. He kept examining the beast for another couple breaths, before nodding to himself. "Yes, this is something I am interested in. I will buy it from you young man. Here, 65 bronze coins."
Without waiting for Sif to say anything, the man just waved his hand and the little black bat disappeared in a flash of light coming from the sphere. In his place appeared a small purse filled with 65 lucent bronze coins. Then he started walking back from where he went, without even giving a second look to Sif of the cat-man that called him there.
Sif was left counting the bronze coins that he had been given. Sixty-five bronze coins! That was a fortune! He never even dreamed that he would be able to make so much money with the bat.
"I also want to sell this stuff" Said the young man bringing out a bunch of pelts, claws, and teeth that he had picked up in his way to the Fort. The cat-man evaluated the various wares to thirteen bronze shards, which was less than Sif expected, but he still accepted the exchange before leaving.
Coming out from the structure, he sent his willpower to check on the bare-chested man from before and noticed that he was gone. In fact, Sif could barely see any Summoner still roaming the streets of the Market.
'A silver ranked beast is a good way to attract the attention of people…'
Sif started to walk to another place in the market, where Menageries and auxiliary systems were sold. On his way, he noticed a small plaza where people were selling unranked magical weapons.
He took out the black knife that was always with him and decided that it was time to get a price check on the weapon. If he could sell it, even better. Although it was useful, he needed to aim for the stronger Menagerie he could afford.
"I would say 4 bronzes" said the first shop-owner that was presented with the weapon. "However it has no runes on it, so I don't think that anyone would want to pay that much to have it… not interested."
Sif chuckled, moving to another shop. The same thing happens, over and over again.
In the end, the young man had completely given up. It was only a couple of bronzes in the end, it wouldn't change much the type of Menagerie that he could afford. "Oh well, I guess I will keep it…" laughed the young summoner, starting to put away the black blade.
"I want to buy that knife!"
Sif's eyes moved. The one who talked was a young boy wearing ruined golden robes He was sitting between the stands, directly on the ground in front of the shop he just exited from.
'Uh, I didn't remember seeing a peddler when I walked in'
The bald youth was looking with a face filled with anticipation towards the black blade. He then looked at Sif in an honest way. "How much?"
'Oh, it seems that this guy really wants the knife… he should at least try to have some kind of poker face, or give a low price to see if it sticks'
Sif examined the child before him: his golden robe was a sign of the Yellow Temple, but it was old and ruined. Disciples of the Yellow Temple put incredible emphasis on keeping their robes always clean and pristine. Probably this was a young monk that had received only some summary training.
The boy had a couple of miscellaneous things placed on the ground before him. Scanning them, Sif's face darkened. His fingers started to tremble and he felt a profound need to smack the little prick on his bald head.
'What the fuck is this shit?'
On his right side, there were a bunch of silver coins, with a little sign that read "nine bronze coins for a silver one!". That was an incredible conversion rate! The only problem was that those coins were visibly ruined!
The coins used in the Coast were little disc arrays with beast souls inside them. A bronze coin contained a bronze ranked beast's soul, a silver coin a silver ranked beast's soul and so on. If the disc array was ruined, the soul would start to dissipate, making the whole coin worth nothing!
Next, there was was a small red book. Big bold black characters on the cover read " Heavenly Cultivation Method". However, a simple Willpower investigation showed that the thing was nothing more than a handwritten copy of the Song of Honor! Something that could be obtained for a couple of bronze shards everywhere in the land. Plus it was even written in almost unreadable handwriting.
Finally, the little boy was selling a chunk of metal with a sign that read " Top Ranked Menagerie!". But no matter how you looked at it, it was just a shapeless piece of metal.
'This moron is just the worst scammer I ever put my eyes on…' It was a miracle that he hadn't been chased out the market by the other merchants.
Sif hid his disdain for the wares of the young monk, and smiled. "Of course little brother, the cost is 6 bronze coins…"
The young monk lower mouth trembled. His whole body started to tremble uncontrollably like if he had been struck by thunder. He then closed his eyes for a few moments and took a few deep breaths.
His shaking stopped. When he opened them again he was showing the same tranquil honesty of before. He nodded.
"That's a fair price… listen I'm in a very good mood today, so I will be giving you a silver coin instead!" he said grabbing a coin from the pile of ruined silver coins under the astonished gaze of Sif.
This guy… was trying to scam him in such a simple way that Sif was almost impressed. He could even see the honesty that filled his eyes. If he didn't have his willpower to check in detail the condition of that coin, he would have surely doubted his original analysis.
Even if the young man was visibly scamming him, Sif maintained his calm. He simply gave him a strong look. "Do I look like a moron to you?"
The young man crossed his eyebrows. He put his hand under his chin and gave a long "hmmm" sound. Then he shook his head as if he was saying " I guess it can't be helped" and knelt down to pick up his red book.
"You are very good at bargaining, I can only concede and give you also this manual with the strongest cultivation technique in the world" Honestly said the young monk.
Sif felt his head spinning. What strongest cultivation technique in the world? That was only an unreadable version of the Song of Honor!