"Eh? What did you say?"
"I'm going to register for the competition!" exclaimed Astrea with more conviction.
"Wait wait wait! It's too dangerous! They aren't the same as the one you fought outside! Right now they are in their usual state but later, they dope them with miasma and they will power up! They will be more ferocious and stronger! They may even evolve further! Last year, a zombie suddenly became a king tier and killed half of the contestant!"
"Don't worry! My art is especially powerful against such foes! I will easily beat them up! Where is the registration booth!?"
"In the center of the cemetery." said a mysterious voice.
"Jack!"
"Hey, you rascal! How are you doing!?"
Aodh jumped at the guy for a hug. The person was an old man with a long beard. In his hand, he held a lantern made with a large turnip.
"Aodh, who is he?" asked Astrea.
"Ah! Let me introduce you he is Jack of the Lantern. The first maker of the jack o'lanterns. Jack, she is Astrea Elysium, a new teacher."
"Oh! What a beautiful lady! Hey, Aodh, is she going out with someone?" whispered Jack.
"No, but-" "Fantastic!"
"Young lady! Did you know that I managed to fool a devil to not take my soul? Even if it got me banned from the underworld, I'm still proud of it!"
"Did you know, my teacher is surnamed Kalvimani." monotonously said Astrea. It got him so frightened he hid behind a tombstone. He yelled to Aodh.
"Why did you not tell me!?"
"I was about to tell you! You didn't let me finish!"
He turned to Astrea "Sorry about him, he is a little lecherous but not a bad guy deep down. I think..." he said hesitantly.
"Seems like he is afraid of my master."
"Yeah, he almost got purged by him because he boasted too much. I swear, he isn't too bad of a guy... No, he isn't a good guy... but he saved my life."
"It's fine." comforted Astrea.
"H- Hey... Is it safe for me to get out now? She won't kill me, right?" asked Jack as he saw the two of them talk nicely to each other.
"If you don't bother her, she won't."
"Great!" he exclaimed as he jumped out of his hiding. He neared them but kept some distance from Astrea. She could still feel his discomfort so she decided to go away.
"You met up with your friend. I will be going then."
"Yes! Thank you for accompanying me. Good luck with the contest. I'm sure you will win! See you!" he yelled as he waved goodbye at her
She waved back and proceeded to the center of the cemetery. There, she saw a big crowd waiting in line. The prizes sure attracted a lot of people but the danger equals their values. She waited at the end of the line. It took around 45 minutes to be able to register. She received a bracelet to store the crystals.
The contest would only begin at midnight. It was only 10:00 am. She had a lot of time to waste so she decided to go into town to look at the other events.
On the way, she wanted to use the transport platform but they were unusable because of the unstable space and thick miasma. She had fight her way to the city.
When she arrived, there was another queue to enter. She could see at the other end people being inspected to see if they were infected. The miasma could cause one to become a zombie if their bodies were too weak to handle the black fog. Still, it was much quicker as they only had to put a hand on the crystal ball to see if there was a reaction. It would turn black if someone was infected and they would be sent into quarantine to be detoxified.
Astrea remarkably passed the test and could finally get inside. The decoration inside greatly changed since the last time she came here. The sky was dark as the night because of the close contact with the underworld and the miasma. Streets were illuminated by jack o'lanterns which gave soft orange glows in the surrounding. The townsfolk were disguised to entertain the visitors and she could see children knock on doors to ask for candies. The atmosphere was very lively.
She looked around the shops to buy a souvenir for her mother. She would go back to see her this weekend. She looked around and saw in one of the window bookmarks. Her mother loves reading. Their old home was filled with books. However, after the death of her father, they had to move to an apartment and had to sell them to make some money.
She entered the shop, which was a stationery store. There were a lot of people inside as it sold special event article only available today. There were different kinds of papers to make magic scrolls, talismans, paintings...
Astrea headed to the bookmarks. There was also a big variety but one type caught her eyes. It was wooden bookmarks. It was thin and smooth to the touch. Drawn on each of them was a flower or a plant. There were roses, lavender, rosemary, mint, and a lot more. Their distinctive feature was that they gave the scent of the vegetation on it thanks to an enchantment.
She took a bunch of them and bought them. She stayed a little longer in the shop to look at the different papers, pens, and ink. She wanted to make talismans to make yang talismans and gift them to her students. She saw the price for them and they were astronomically expensive. One cost 7 500 drops of anima, converted into credits, it would be a 750 000.
She understood the pain of the students now. On average, a low element attack talisman cost around 10 credits. The pay for the usual exorcism is between 300 and 1 000 credits. They only need to use 2 or 3 talismans and they are done.
A high difficulty can give a reward going in the millions. But in general, they are in groups so the money is split. They often need to use yang talismans to weaken the ghost so instead of the millions, they share hundreds of thousands. Still much better than normal but sometimes, the reward isn't worth it.
If she had known selling yang talismans could bring her this much money, she would have made a living out of it. It's so much easier than to teach some students. But a contract is a contract. She would have to wait for the time to be up to become a full-time talisman maker.
She bought sheets of the highest quality paper and brushes made of soft fur from the fur of a fire rat hair. They gave her a reusable bag with gifts as she spent quite a bit of money. After finishing shopping, she left to eat at a restaurant recommended by the clerk.
It seemed to be very popular as there was a long line. However, she was allowed entry inside as she handed to them a ticket given by the previous shop. They led her to the second floor, which was only reserved for VIPs. Even so, there were quite filled. The decoration was sober and sophisticated. It had the same mysterious atmosphere as the stationery shop.
She was sitting alone on a table. The waiter gave her the menu. There was the usual but the most eye-catching were the event limited dishes. She ordered those and gave back the menu.
As the peak hour neared, the restaurant reached maximum capacity. Even so, the VIP section retained its usual calm. She felt really comfortable as no one bothered her with stares or back talking. Everyone minded their business.