After the end of the trade, Merlin had used up all his credits to buy 20 health potions, a Tier 1 staff with the effect of multiplying the power of spells, 2 Tier 1 scrolls, and a fire-type elemental orb.
Merlin had also realised that the restriction placed on the planet by the tutorial period applied to merchants as well, which made all the prices fall by half, allowing him to make such a large purchase.
"Now, for the Deal of Treasures. Let us discuss the terms"
"Tch. Fine"
As the two unknown people, one an alien looking creature, and one a high-school kid, began to discuss the terms for their new deal, the woman came to her sense.
"Everyone, quickly move to the upper floor. Take whatever you can and move. Don not rush, but go quickly. I feel like something fishy is going on here."
These words suddenly brought everyone back to their sense, and although they were all scared, none of them screamed in fear, since they had all been through a lot these past few days, and were more or less immune to strange sights. Sights of people eating each other, sights of people killing each other to survive, sights of people brutally murdering each other to steal resources. Something like an alien having a decent conversation with a human, seemed like one of the more calming things they had seen so far.
Most of the people here were either children of the elderly, and so they moved slowly up the stairs. The woman had noticed that those few trouble makers had also snuck into the crowd, but she couldn't be less bothered with those people. At least they wouldn't harm those within her group.
The most pressing matter was the two in front of her. Although she wanted to question them, as soon as she began to speak, the two stopped talking among themselves and stared at her. An immense pressure exuded from them, which caused her to completely stop moving and talking, frozen in her place.
The two then resumed their talk, which was completely inaudible to her.
After about an hour of discussion, the two finally nodded to each other, and exited the dome. The alien went back into the tear in space, and the young man turned to jump out of the building once more.
"Wait!" she said hesitantly.
As Merlin turned around, he finally took note of the girl who was standing behind him the whole time.
Seeing here face, he was stunned.
"Alice? But if you are here… then who is with the group?"
He mumbled to himself in a tone that would have been imperceptible to a normal human. However, the one standing in front of him was a player like himself, and one who had reached level 1 already. She heard him and was also stunned.
"How do you know me? And…"
'Who are you talking about? Could it be…?' following this train of thought, Alice asked once more before Merlin could answer,
"Have you seen someone who looks exactly like me?"
"Y- Yes." Merlin answered simply
Alice was completely taken aback. The sister Jane Rose, whom she had been searching for almost 3 days, was actually safe.
'But wait, did he just say, 'with the group'? Then, is my little sister living with a man?'
Suddenly, Merlin felt an angry gaze land on him. Noticing it was Alice, he decided to come clean, since this Alice seemed to resemble the Alice he knew a lot more. This Alice seemed brave and strong, and most importantly, also had the player symbol on her.
Although every remaining human could access the system after the tutorial, all the players from the tutorial still had the invisible mark on their heads, which could only be seen by other players. It was a mark of danger which signified that this person was stronger than normal humans since they got an incredible head-start.
Therefore, Merlin realised that the one standing in front of him was the real Alice, and the one with his group was likely an imposter, who must be eliminated as soon as he returned.
"Yes, I was in the police station, and found her unconscious. So I decided to bring her, and all of the injured officers along with me to form a group. I also brought a few more officers along the way. So, will you join my group?"
Alice was so overjoyed to hear the fact that her sister was alive and well, that she agreed to join this man's group just for a chance to see her. Although there was a chance that this man was lying, the fact that he said he found her in the police-station was proof enough that he wasn't lying.
Also, if he wanted to forcibly take her with himself, he could easily do that. She had already realised the difference in strength between the two of them with the glare she had received earlier.
"Alright. Let's go."
With this, Merlin turned around to jump off the building, when he heard another softer "Wait"
"What happened this time?"
"Uhm, I can't jump 10 floors… I would break my legs… and I would be crippled."
"…" Merlin was stumped for words. He had just realised that even though she was a player, no one on this planet grinded levels like him, and so she must be barely at level 1 by now. A jump from such a height would be likely to kill her.
Thinking this far, Merlin grabbed her hand and jumped off the building.