The group arrived at the World Tower in Sheffield after a relatively short time.
"I will enter the tower market. Find a place where we can sit," Aaron said to Pule. Upon hearing this, Pule nodded in agreement and led the group to find a suitable spot. After all, if Aaron was going to confront a Chimera creator, he needed to be prepared.
After the group left, Aaron began approaching the tower with swift but firm steps. He could keenly feel the serious gazes turning towards him with each step he took. Every second, someone would turn to look at him, groups of people would converse about him, and they would all be astonished.
After a brief period, Aaron entered the market segment of the tower and felt a sense of seclusion. As he entered the tower market, an apparition appeared before him. It was the Tower Merchant.
Tower Merchants were apparitions that facilitated the exchange of items from the worlds within the tower. No one knew how powerful they were, but there was one thing they all knew: if you had the required currency or points, you could buy anything from them, even death itself.
"Greetings! I am Merchant Elise. How may I assist you today, sir?" said Elise, the merchant apparition.
"Do you have any metal or ore that can conduct or radiate high-level heat?" Aaron asked the woman.
As Aaron posed this question, he looked at the talisman next to the woman's waist, aiming to determine her level. Just like hunters had ranks, all professions and unconventional structures, including merchants, also had levels. For example, the "Constellation Piece Alshain" was almost an SS-level power, although lowering her guard had led to her demise. In this way, the level or rank of merchants and similar professions could be determined by the talismans they wore on the right side of their clothing.
These talismans were divided into six ranks:
White: Rank 1 (merchants who sold basic items such as food, water, small weapons, and some trap tools and first aid supplies)
Blue: Rank 2 (merchants who sold intermediate-level weapons and enhancement food)
Green: Rank 3 (merchants who sold intermediate-high level weapons and metals useful for blacksmiths)
Red: Rank 4 (merchants who sold high-level weapons, notable enhancements, poisons, and various potions [including ice accumulation and fire accumulation])
Purple: Rank 5 (merchants who sold specific abilities)
Black: Rank 6 (merchants who had the potential to sell elixirs of such high level that they could revive the dead, these merchants could travel between dimensions and explore the dimensions they desired if they wished to leave the tower)
Aaron looked at the talisman on the woman's waist and, luckily, it shimmered in a not-so-bright but green hue. This indicated that she was almost at Rank 3.
"Ah... well, sir, I have some cold steel from the world of martial arts. It may not be a great heat conductor, but the steel itself is highly combustible and durable," the woman said to Aaron.
Upon hearing these words, Aaron's eyes widened like fortune-telling stones, and he thought to himself, "A Rank 3 merchant has cold steel? What kind of logic is this? What does she have in her possession with such powerful steel!"
"I'll take it! How much?" Aaron said aloud, filled with excitement.
"It was really difficult to obtain, and I only have 4 kilograms, but judging by your enthusiasm, I can offer it to you at a lower price," she replied.
"If it's not more expensive than 100,000 unit points, I'll buy it," Aaron said, making the first offer.
"100,000 unit points? That's a significant amount! With that much unit points, I can definitely advance to Rank 3! But it's quite high in the market, I can't lie," the woman thought, and then spoke, "100,000 unit points is more than the market value for 4 kilograms. I can give it to you for 40,000."
Upon hearing this, Aaron was quite surprised. He had offered this amount of gold to help raise the woman's rank, but she was so honest and innocent that she didn't accept it.
At that moment, Aaron felt an inclination to engage in a relationship with this woman. It was called a buyer-seller relationship. This relationship was bound by a contract. If the merchant and the buyer exchanged a drop of their blood and let it fall into a spatial dimension, their relationship would be completed, and the merchant could never make a sale to anyone else in their lifetime. However, the buyer would be obligated to assist in raising the merchant's rank.
Based on what Aaron could gather from this, he had great respect for this woman. Then, in a voice that wasn't too low, he said, "You seem to be an honest merchant. How about making a contract with me?"
"A contract?" the Merchant said. Countless thoughts ran through her mind. It was unimaginable to her that a young person could possess such a large sum of money, just three months after the events began in this world. How much power must this young man possess? How many monsters had he killed, how many dungeons had he cleared, and how many items had he sold?
"Yes, exactly. I heard that Merchants can make sales relationship contracts, right?" Aaron said, smiling kindly.
"Yes, we can, but may I ask where you obtained this information?" Elise asked, approaching Aaron with a hint of skepticism.
"The one who sponsored me, gave me this information. She explained to me that it would be useful for my work, including the tasks involved in the contract and the obligations of the seller. The only missing piece was finding a merchant," Aaron replied.
"I understand. If it's not a problem, may I know the name of the Goddess who sponsored you?" Elise asked politely.
"Nyx," Aaron replied without hesitation.
The eyelids of the merchant who heard this name, Nyx, were now wide open, and her astonishment overpowered her composure.
"Nyx? Did you say Nyx?" she said, trying to maintain her calm.
"Yes, exactly, Nyx," Aaron replied, smiling sweetly.
"Such a young person? Goddess Nyx has never chosen someone so young before. Could he be lying?" The merchant thought, regaining her composure, and continued speaking, "I'm not entirely sure if you're telling the truth, sir. Can you show me any proof?"
"Of course," Aaron said, smiling, and activated his Goddess's Aura ability. Normally, it would be impossible to activate such a high-level ability in a dimension of this caliber, but just like the dimension itself was of high level, the ability granted by Nyx was also of high level. When it was said to be high, it wasn't in terms of rank, but rather, it was truly elevated. The ability was so noble and audacious that Gods, Goddesses, and similar creatures could recognize that it belonged to Nyx and prepare themselves for what would follow. That's how respected Nyx was as a being.
When Aaron activated the ability, the dimension, shimmering with different colors, suddenly plunged into darkness, and Aaron's presence expanded.
"What is this? Is it just an ability? How can an ability worship its user? How much importance does the Goddess place on it?" The merchant pondered, looking at Aaron's growing figure.
"Is this person... another God?" she thought, and then spoke, "I accept. If you're willing to accept someone like me, who hasn't even reached Rank 3, I'm truly ready to dedicate my life to you, young sir," the merchant said seriously, but with a beautiful innocence, approaching Aaron.
"So pure, how sweet," Aaron thought, and spoke, "You are not inferior. If you're going to be my associate, never say that about yourself again. Look at yourself once more. A merchant who hasn't even reached Rank 3 has a total of 4 kilograms of Cold Steel. Do you think you're inferior? No, you're one of the best merchants I've seen so far," Aaron said with the purest thoughts in his heart, and he was completely serious. It seemed that the system had changed once again, as it should give credit where credit was due.
Merchants could travel between dimensions, realities, and universes. They were such noble beings that even High Demons, Gods, Goddesses, Monsters, and similar creatures would engage in transactions with them.
The reason the world was fortunate was because of this. The Creator God had taken pity on one of the planets He had carefully created and granted the system and many other features to this world, just like the Merchants.
"Thank you, young sir," the merchant said, and suddenly, a giant piece of paper appeared in the middle of the void, with a length and size almost as tall as Aaron, measuring around 1.80 meters.
"You want...?" Aaron said, surprised, of course. He didn't expect the process of making a contract to be this easy.
"Yes, please, let's make the contract. There is no need to change anything in the contract; it is perfect as it is," the merchant said.
This time, Aaron was the one who was surprised because the offering party, who can only change one thing in the contract, while the receiving party has the right to rewrite the entire contract according to their heart's desires, not wanting to make any changes to the contract surprised him greatly. This woman... was she overly innocent?
"Are you sure you don't want to make any changes or add anything new?" Aaron asked calmly, and upon hearing this question, the woman simply nodded her head in agreement without even opening her mouth. Seeing this, Aaron continued speaking.
"In that case, the offering party will begin reading the contract out loud," he said. "1. If the offering party is a merchant, they must provide a lifelong 20% discount to the receiving party. 2. If the offering party is a customer, they must provide 80% assistance in the development of the receiving party and act as their guardian. 3. The contract is lifelong, and neither the merchant nor the customer can sell to other customers or make purchases from other merchants for any purpose. 4. In accordance with the contract, the merchant must come to any place where a dimensional field may form if the customer requests. 5. In accordance with the contract, if the customer acquires an item, the merchant must buy it at a higher price or sell it at a lower price, depending on the merchant's needs. 6. If the merchant or customer desires, the contract can be terminated with an extremely high amount. For this, the permission of the Twelve High Gods and Goddesses is required."
"So, is there anything you want to change?" Aaron asked again.
"No, I would be honored to make a contract with you," the merchant said, smiling.
"Very well, let's drop our blood then. Do you know how the contract is formed?" Aaron asked.
"Of course. After we drip our blood, we say our full names out loud, and the contract is completed," the merchant replied.
"Good, then I'll be the offering party," Aaron said, and immediately after his words, he took out a knife from his inventory, made a small cut in his palm, and let his blood drip onto the contract. Then he shouted, "Aaron Light Corbyn! The offering party. I swear on my honor, my name, and most importantly, my life, to help Merchant Elise."
Right after that, the merchant began to do the exact same thing. She took out a knife from her pocket, made a small cut in her palm, and let her blood drip onto the contract. Then she shouted, "Elise Pest! The receiving party. I swear on my honor, my name, and most importantly, my life, to help Customer Aaron."
At that moment, Aaron's eyes widened in surprise, and the reason was quite simple—the merchant's name.