I again sat down wondering where I could possibly get books, since I didn't believe that even though I was in a village-like place, there was nowhere for me to get books.
After a lot of sitting and thinking, I got up and took a shower before heading out of the house, merely closing the door behind me since there was no need to actually lock it.
I had no plans to walk as much as the first day I arrived but I figured a little exercise might indeed strengthen my body a little more, in a way that would help my cultivation the second I began.
I picked a random direction and began walking forward from there, looking around in slight wonder as I did.
I saw many more people than the first day I arrived but the ones who caught my attention the most were the women.
"How is it that all of them look extremely cute and pretty?" I thought to myself, completely excluding the children of course since I had no business whatsoever looking at them.
"...let's not forget the well endowed aspect,"I thought sending admiring gazes to each of them and losing myself for a second as I did so, especially considering the single piece of clothes each of the tied around their chest, only to recall the completely disadvantageous position I was in, when I noticed how every one sent pitiful looks at me as I passed.
I even went as far as to great a few people, young and old who responded, but who also gave me the feeling that they looked down on me and saw me as someone that was completely beneath their feet.
"Well…this isn't good," I thought even as I continued walking around with the intention of checking out the Mana exchange office Moey mentioned and also to see what else I could find.
By the time I got there, even without the huge signboard stuck to the front of it, with the amount of people queued up there, it was obvious that it was some sort of market that sold something people wanted.
From what I could make out without getting too close, it was a large stall that had about two people attending to the more than fifty and still increasing people on the line.
They each had a big black ball in front of them, which was what I assumed to be the mana exchange ball used in storing the mana they got.
It took about five minutes to attend to someone which was why I knew that the line was bound to move quickly and I would have been tempted to also join the queue if I didn't know that the all mana I had in my body was the bare minimum my body needed.
I was just about to turn around and quickly leave having figured out that I had no business there, when I felt a slightly heavy hand drape itself across my shoulder and inform me of useless information I was already aware of.
"Caen…you have no business here so why are you here?"
Curious to know who this person was, I turned around only to see a slightly familiar face with a huge smile on his face, one I found hard to decipher whether it belonged to a friend or foe.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that with such a confused expression on your face?" He asked even as I continued to stare at him even more, trying to figure out whether he was a real friend or fake friend only to come up short, since all I could glean was the fact that his face looked extremely familiar.
"Well…are you going to answer me or not? I know I'm good to look at but your gaze flatters me the more…" I heard him say, right before I opened my mouth and began to respond.
"Well, I came to check to check out the atmosphere…" I responded, knowing that I could have done so much better the second I was done speaking.
"Really? Aren't you worried that you're going to be taken down and whatever mana that's keeping you alive stolen?"
"But we're in public?" I replied wondering how that would happen with so many people around.
"You're funny. I haven't seen you in about two days and your sense of humor has doubled. Tell me…what's your secret?"
"Stop joking around, the person whose name I've forgotten," I replied hoping that he would also jokingly remind me.
"Wow…who is this? Is this still the same stubborn, serious faced Caen who I warned not to follow Canita into the forest? But still…it's good that you're safe and sound. Yesterday, she went around broadcasting the fact that she not only stole every last bit of mana you had but she also stole your soul power, but seeing you now, it's obvious that she lied,"
"Of course she lied, person whose name I can't remember," I said repeating myself again knowing that of he wouldn't jokingly say his name then he was bound to angrily spit it out and I felt pretty proud when I heard him do exactly what I wanted.
"Daerk…Daerk, a joke is only meant to be used once. You still have a long way to go," the boy called Daerk said even as he began walking with his hands still over my shoulder, slightly leading me to walk forward at the same pace he did.
He was slightly shorter than me but he was bigger compared to my tall and lanky statue, but he didn't seem to mind the strain on his left arm as he left his arm around my shoulders as he walked and talked.
"So what's the plan? Where are we going?" And I couldn't help but shake my head at his absurd question considering the fact that a minute ago we were both headed in completely different directions.
"I'm looking for magic books," I replied, choosing that exact moment to use my new friend to the best of my ability.