'With his trait and class, he is born to be a natural information broker,' he inwardly mused with anticipation. 'I think I found what I'm looking for.'
There's a saying "you can find gold in trash" and that quote applied here, defying all expectations.
Who would have thought that the man he was seeking was not in any extravagant hotels or fancy shops on the streets, but in a small, dimly lit narrow alley?
Sidius carefully analyzed the man before him, taking note of his growth limit and age, which led him to a conclusion– the skinny man probably suffers because in more than ten years his rank just increase in one realm.
This realization sparked an idea in Sidius' mind.
'I can try to recruit him.'
As he approached the hooded figure, Sidius could clearly feel that the man was paying attention on him ever since he arrived in the alley.
Cough.
"Can I buy some information?" Sidius suddenly asked, crouching down to meet the man at eye level. An unpleasant stench filled his nostrils, emanating from the unkempt figure before him.
The dim light cast shadows on their faces that creates an aura of secrecy and intrigue.
"This is not the black market kid," Pliero answered, still eating the dry bread. Not even bothering to look at him.
"Eh? If I'm not wrong..." Sidius moved his index finger to his chin, imitating a thinking gesture, "You're an information broker, right mister? Pliero Foris isn't it?" he added, smiling at the man.
For a split second, a flicker of shock flashed in Pliero's eyes, but he quickly masked it and assumed the role of a nobody.
"You must be mistaken. I'm Tony Musketeer, just a beggar," he replied, attempting to deceive. "I'm quite famous here, are you not from here?"
'Nice try, mister,' Sidius thought, seeing through the charade.
Rule number one of information broker is not to reveal your actual information.
Rule number two is act like a nobody.
Sidius decided not to play along with him any longer; he wanted to get straight to the point.
"E rank for more than 5 years and with a photographic memory," he stated, handing Pliero a piece of paper with his contact information.
Sidius purposely mentioned "more than 5 years" because he deduced that Pliero could still be an F rank for 4 years at most with that level of potential.
"I can see the the revenge in your eyes, you are probably abandoned or betrayed because I experienced it myself," he continued, trying to connect with the man on a deeper level.
'It's true, I even experienced it twice because of the memories of Den Grimar.'
"I don't have any idea what you are saying..." Pliero responded with a confused look, still trying to feign ignorance. "Could it be that you are crazy?"
"HaHAHAHAHaHaHAHA!"
Sidius couldn't help but laugh out loud, thoroughly satisfied by the man's attempts to deceive him.
However, Pliero trembled in fear at the sight of the young man's laughter.
"I'm always like that, mister," Sidius replied, meeting Pliero's gaze with intense eyes and then quickly averting his own.
He didn't want to scare the man to the bones with the overwhelming bloodlust he had acquired from his memories of Den Grimar and his experiences as 014.
With that split second, Pliero had given up on denying his true identity.
"Kid, you are just an F rank. You can't give me my revenge," he responded with a gloomy face. "You can have your paper back," he added, not wanting to get the paper from Sidius' hand.
However, Sidius shook his head.
"You will need that mister. You can try dig my information... not that you can find anything," Sidius smiled. "Contact me if you're satisfied with me being your boss," he added before standing up and walking away from Pliero.
Rule number three of being an information broker, you need to have a strong boss.
Since Pliero is born natural information broker, Sidius was confident that he will contact him after he issued a challenge.
'See? I didn't blackmail anyone. Everyone I deal with is benefiting from the deal just like Pliero. He can have his revenge, and I can get a talented chosen to be in my mercenary group.'
'I need eight people, and I already found one,' he thought to himself.
Back again to strolling, Sidius arrived on a street where manuals of mystical arts are lined up on the ground, being sold by different merchants.
As he browse through the manuals, he noticed that all of them were tier 1, and on the last section of manuals, one in particular caught his attention.
[Tam Step (Tier 1)]
[Mastering this skill can increase movement and make one comoflauge in the shadow.]
The mystical art seemed ordinary but because of Sidius' nature of double checking, he used 'Inspect'.
[First part of a Tier 9 movement mystical art— Takaful Shadow.]
Sidius was surprised when he saw the line of text that popped up, to the point that he even began doubting his own luck.
'I noticed that since System fused with me, I got more lucky or this is the destiny playing with me for unforseen event? No matter what, It's a good thing for now.'
An incomplete tier 1 mystical art from a complete tier 9 was better than a complete tier 1 mystical art because it have a part of profoundess of the mystical art it originated from.
Sidius walked towards the merchant selling the manuals. He first asked the prices of other manuals before asking about the Tam step.
This was a tactic, as once the merchant saw that you were interested in what they're selling, they would often increased the price.
Sidius knew not to show excitement when buying something that has no fixed price.
The merchant offered him 20,000 star coins but in the end he brought it for 15,000 star coins.
After the transaction, Sidius immediately headed back to his apartment.
He opened the manual and sat in a lotus position to comprehend the text. This is his first mystical art and will be a powerful card in his future battles.