A lean tanned boy and a muscular grown man stepped into a general store. They were Liam and Tarkhan, who had come to Mr Rogers store to bargain and sell the wolf pelt which has landed in Liam's hands.
"Oh, so you've brought your uncle along. Why, is it to threaten me?" The corner of Mr Rogers thin lips arced up as he continued to eye the uncle and nephew duo. He rubbed his chin slowly, as if he was in deep thought about something.
"Did you try to scam me?" Liam coldly asked Mr Rogers. Tarkhan felt a malicious aura being emitted by Liam. He had never felt such an aura appear before from Liam. Maybe the Mystic hunter had given some special gift to Liam too, besides the wolf hide.
"Hehehe... so what if I did? I'm a middleman. I need to earn money too." Mr Rogers scoffed at the aura that Liam had. He was not afraid of boys like him who talked big but were weak in substance.
"This wolf hide is at least worth 20 bronze Deltas! This is a blatant scam!" Before Liam could say anything, Tarkhan immediately spoke up and criticised Mr Rogers. He was angry that he had tried to scam his nephew, as this was like he disrespected Tarkhan himself.
"I'm buying from you. I don't need this wolf hide at all. 5 bronze Deltas." Mr Rogers was a shameless businessman. He did not let up on the pricing, insisting that he would be paying the same as a normal wolf hide.
"You..." Tarkhan was triggered by the condescending tone of Mr Rogers, so he used his bulging muscles to grab him by the neck violently.
"You better give my nephew a good deal, or I will snap your scrawny neck right now!" Tarkhan glowered and threatened Mr Rogers, all the while increasing pressure on him.
"Ok! Ok! I will give him 25 bronze Deltas for it. No less, no more." Mr Rogers desperately spoke out an offer, as Tarkhan's pressure was simply too much. Tarkhan was satisfied with his answer, putting him down.
"You won't get away with this. Mark my words." Mr Rogers coughed a few times, before staring at Tarkhan, who had retreated back to where Liam was standing. He took out 25 bronze Deltas from a drawer, and spilled them on the wooden table.
Liam took the Demonic Wolf's hide and placed it on the wooden table, before collecting the bronze Deltas. He did not notice the killing intent directed at him by Mr Rogers.
After the both of them had settled their dealings with Mr Rogers, Liam and Tarkhan arrogantly moved out of the general shop with giant stomps.
"All of you, come out!" Mr Rogers gritted his teeth from all the indigence he felt, and called out the local ruffians that he controlled. They slowly assembled as his message was spread among them. He had to get back his bronze Deltas that they took from him. No one messed with him and got away without being scarred for life.
"Since the opponent we're facing is Tarkhan, I will personally lead you this time. Let's see how shocked he is once he realises I'm a Mystic." Mr Rogers had a lopsided grin as he led the ruffians with him. Ever since he had killed their leader with one blow, they had always feared and respected him, and had never suffered following his commands.
"Uncle, how much does one kilogram of Milock cost?" Liam asked Tarkhan for more details on the price of Milock. After all, he needed it to develop a Tier-0 amalgamation.
"What do you want with Milock? That material is for those lowly nobles who want to pretend to be rich. It's price is also quite expensive, about 20 silver Deltas per kilogram." Even though Tarkhan was a village chief, he was fairly educated himself and understood many modern things.
"What about Truesilver then? Or Iron Devil Essence?" Liam continued to fire off questions at Tarkhan.
"Truesilver... it costs 50 golden Deltas. I don't know about Iron Devil Essence though... I heard it's used by lofty high level Mystics." Tarkhan replied to Liam after racking his brains for the answers.
"What's the difference between bronze Deltas, silver Deltas and golden Deltas?" Liam slowly fleshed out his knowledge about this world.
"The conversion rate is 100 bronze Deltas to 1 silver Delta, 1000 silver Deltas to 1 golden Delta." Tarkhan was delighted that Liam had developed an interest in studying these sort of knowledge. He had been averse to studying before, but now he had a voracious appetite for knowledge.
Maybe it was because of Liam's encounter with a Mystic. If this was the case, he must really thank that kind Mystic for opening Liam's eyes to the world around him.
While Tarkhan thought of this, he engaged with a lengthy discussion about the goods market and the relationships of states, as they were ruled by individual monarchies.
Tarkhan also informed Liam about the existence of Mystics and the Tempered. Tarkhan himself was an Iron Skin level Tempered, so he possessed a considerable amount of strength. However, until he reached Demon's Way Tier-1, he would always lose to Mystics of the equivalent rank and above.
Just as Tarkhan went into great detail of the various academies nurturing Tempered and Mystics, a bunch of ruffians emerged from the shadows, carrying gleaming daggers, thrusting it towards the both of them.
Not only that, stabs also came from behind them, effectively making sure they would be stabbed at least once. Tarkhan could not believe that someone would attempt to take his life. What really angered him however, was that they targeted Liam too.
"Show yourself, you coward!" Tarkhan saw red as he went into fury mode, taking out the ruffians rapidly with punches. Even though the daggers were laced with weakening poison, no one knew about the true extent of Tarkhan's power. The daggers only left marks on his skin, as if his skin was like hard iron.