Jennifer stopped the V-6 in a crowded place where throngs of people were busy shopping and spending quality time with their family. Looking at this scene, Jasper remembered the shopping complex he used to go frequently with his family.
Jasper was surprised to find himself in such a place since he was expecting Jennifer to take him to a rather quiet place. In her excitement, Jennifer forgot to inform Jasper where they were headed so he was clueless about where they were and thus tried figuring that out.
Jennifer noticed Jasper moving his head like a chicken searching for something and couldn't help but ask," What happened ,Jasper? You look frantic."
"I wanted to know where we are but I can't find any signboard to inform me ?"
Jennifer had a stunned expression before she realized her mistake and informed Jasper," We are visiting a memorial site."
Jasper had an incredulous expression because it was completely out of his expectation to visit a memorial. He was about to question Jennifer about her choice of choosing a memorial however he suddenly understood the reason.
"A memorial you say. Perhaps this is a memorial to commemorate a very important historical figure of the Arcane World."
"Yes, its one of the memorials belonging to Xavier the Saviour, one of the strongest Magic Users the Arcane World has ever seen. Its speculated that a new race from outer space launched an attack on the Arcane World bringing a calamity to the it. Xavier the Saviour was the strongest Magic User of that era. He stood up to the new race all by himself and fought them heroically and gallantly before sacrificing himself to protect the Arcane World. "
"Wow, that seems to be a person too awesome to be real. He fought an entire race by himself and even managed to accomplish what he had set out do when the odds were never in his favour. I had expected the Arcane World to have a rich and interesting history but this is too cool. I would love to meet him if he was still alive."
"Unfortunately, the sacrifice burst Xavier the Saviour into small parts creating a terrifying explosion to prevent the enemy from advancing forward and also weaken their forces."
Jasper had a disappointed expression after hearing this," Alright, lets get going and see this heroic figure."
The siblings passed the crowded areas before finally being able to see the statue of Xavier the Saviour. The statue was not humongous but the size was visible to anyone standing in the statue's vicinity.
Jasper had one look at the statue and was completely mesmerized by it as were the others gazing at it for the first time. Jennifer had seen the statue a lot of times so she consciously prevented herself from being mesmerized.
After looking at the statue for some time the mesmerized Jasper started imaging Xavier the Saviour when he was alive and healthy. He imagined a heroic figure whose demeanour and confidence would have the ladies fawning over him. The reason for Xavier the Saviour's confidence was not because of his high status but because it was earned from his own efforts after shedding his own blood and sweat.
His hand was holding a sword that was half out of the sheath indicating that Xavier the Saviour was ready for a battle. The statue seemed to depict the scene when Xavier the Saviour was getting ready to fight a battle with an enemy so his eyes were stone cold as if to convey that nothing could stop him from killing his enemy.
Although Jasper was fascinated by the statue this was not the case for everyone present there. There were some adults who were always looking down as if they were not able to lift their heads while most of the kids had burst into tears out of fear for the statue.
This reaction was expected since the aura emitted by the statue was very intimidating and oppressive. People with lower mental fortitude would definitely be affected by it. But Jasper was confused as to how could a non-living thing like a the statue release such aura. Jennifer noticed Jasper's confused expression and decide to clear it.
" This statue was made by a very famous sculpturist of the Arcane World. The sculpturists of the Arcane World have the special ability to evoke an intense emotion in the viewers."
"You mean..."
"After gazing at that statue everybody would have an intense emotion overcome them and their senses. It could be love, excitement, respect, heroism, coldness, darkness, hatred, jealousy,... any emotion you can think of. In reality the emotion you experience are your real emotions you feel after seeing the statue but the sculpturist's ability intensify these emotion for a short period of time consuming you from inside before it disappears. The sculpturist does this so that the world would always marvel his creation and remember them."
"Wow, i had never thought that a simple job like sculpturist could become so powerful after coming in contact with mana. To be able to control people's emotions even for a short period of time is an impressive feat."
"Sculpturist is not a simple job but a work of art that takes a lot of practice and patience. Also, the hard work and time spent on becoming a Grade 1 Sculpturist is insane. It normally took a sculptuist his whole life to become a Grade 1 sculpturist and there were many people who died before accomplishing their dream of becoming one. Its not easy to become a Grade 1 sculpturist and the lower your grade lower is your ability to invoke emotion in other people. The statue of Xavier the saviour in Vestalis City as made by a Grade 1 sculpturist thus has the power to invoke these intense emotions."
Jasper realized that Jennifer respected the hardworking sculptors who dedicated their whole life to a single purpose and was offened when Jasper called sculpturist's job as simple. Those were Jasper's true thoughts on the job of a sculptor however after hearing Jennifer explanation he had change of mind," I am sorry for calling it simple. I realize that I was wrong."
"Its fine as long as you know that you made a mistake. Now forget about that and lets go to the shops outside I will give you 1000 Arcadian currencies for your spending."
"Come on Jennifer, you can do better than that. Why don't you give me about 5,000 Arcadian currencies. From my experience of the Vestalis City i am sure that you hold a very high position. Heck, i bet if i used your name then everybody would give me everything for free."
Jennifer surprisingly had a playful expression," You are welcome to try it, but then i will not be providing you with the 1000 Arcadian currencies and you will have to bear the consequences after returning home."
Jasper had chills running down his spine when he heard Jennifer talk playfully. Perhaps because Jennifer told it in a playful manner it was much more scary than if she had told it in anger. Jasper was so scared that he snatched the 1000 Arcadian currencies and scurried of in his hunt for something remarkable.
While Jennifer sent Jasper out to buy anything he wanted for himself she opened her magic pouch and took out the magic phone again called someone.
Jasper roamed around the shopping plaza and divided the shops into 6 parts namely clothes, food stalls, restaurants, bakery, antique, souvenir. There were many more variety of shops but they were not that important so Jasper did not include them in his categorization.
Now the problem at hand was for Jasper to decide how to spend 1000 Arcadian currencies while enjoy everything he spent it on.
First, Jasper went to a clothes shops and saw a wide array of clothes with unique designs printed on them. Most of these designs were traditional which was prevalent in the Vestalis going by the normal wear of the citizens and the clothes sold in the shops.
The traditional designs ranged from simple art work like drawing to complex designs of flowers. Although there were many clothes that interested Jasper, in the end he decided not to buy any.
After the clothes shops Jasper was attracted to the food stalls setup in front of the shops. There was a large variety of dishes and cuisines being sold in these food stalls.
There was a particular food stall that caught Jasper's interest. The food stall had rows of metal rod hanging upside down with pieces of meat covering it.
The aroma wafting from those pieces of meat was enough to entice anyone to taste them. There were three different varieties of meat hanging and this made Jasper curious about their taste.
Jasper started walking towards the shop deciding to at least try it once. If it turned out below his expectation than he would just leave the stall and search for a new one. In addition, he was beginning to feel hungry.
He arrived in front of the shopkeeper who was selling these pieces of meat and asked politely," What are these small pieces of meat you have hanging here?"
"Good Sir, these are skewers made from the Fire chicken commonly found here. We use different parts of chicken to make three varieties namely meat, liver and skin."
Jasper was new to the Arcane World so he had never heard of the commonly found Fire chicken the shopkeeper was referring to but he could guess from its smell and appearance that he was going to have a blast eating them.
He stooped hesitating and immediately ordered," Wow, alright I would like to order one of every variety you have."
After the shopkeeper heard Jaspers order he smiled warmly," Sure Sir, please wait for sometime as it gets ready."