Atlas was already outside the village when that creature arrived right in front of the young man's stall.
"Argh... Boy... I hear you sell fragments of weapons and armor. Argh... I want them all..."
Unlike Atlas, the creature was much more direct with his words, and his attitude was not very friendly.
In fact, the young cultivator replied harshly, looking at him with a somewhat annoyed look, "Old dwarf... you're too late. Go away!"
No one could blame him for his brusque words. After all, the old dwarf's tone sounded more like an order than a request.
Hearing the youth's response, the bearded creature became enraged and unleashed his worst side...
The dwarf's legs were short, but his muscles' destructive power was frightening.
With a kick, the table, and consequently all the objects on it, fell to the ground, hurling the young man away.
With a bound, the enraged dwarf planted his heavy boots on the young man's abdomen and bowed his head, letting his thick, dirty beard rub against the hapless man's face.
"Speak... Tell me who robbed me!"
An intense stench of wine assailed the poor boy's nostrils and intoxicated by that smell, he began to describe Atlas's appearance without the slightest thought.
The dwarf had caused much commotion along the village's main street and attracted the attention of the guards and citizens who knew the old fool very well.
Even though they knew the dwarf's identity, the town guards cautiously approached the disaster area, but someone acted much faster and resolutely struck the dwarf's hard head.
"You idiot! You're drunk again... look at the mess you've made."
A stick struck the old dwarf's forehead twice, slightly shaking the tiny, angry beast.
The dwarf covered his forehead with his calloused hands and shouted toward the woman: "Argh!!! Damn... you old fool, stop it! Why are you hitting me?"
"Why am I hitting you?" The woman shouted angrily, then struck the same spot with more force.
"You idiot! Look below you!"
The dwarf looked down and opened his eyes wide in shock, "Shit... I did it again..."
Embarrassed by the unfortunate situation, the dwarf quickly got off the young man's chest and apologized to the hapless adventurer, leaving A bag full of stones near him as compensation.
"Hehe... I'm sorry... these should suffice as compensation... Let's pretend that nothing happened... Hehe..."
The woman's powerful blows had brought the dwarf to his senses. Indeed, without the wine fumes clouding his mind, the old dwarf had become entirely different, leaving the young cultivator speechless.
Seeing the guards approaching them, the bearded creature sighed bitterly and fled the scene of disaster like a thief, leaving behind a few words for the woman.
"Ohi... Old River, I leave the matter in your graceful hands..."
Surprisingly, the woman who had calmed the little beast was Grandma River, the owner of the Martial Cultivation Shop. And it was clear from the dwarf's tone that the two knew each other very well...
"Bloody hell..."
Seeing that fool run away like a criminal, Grandma River could do nothing but shake her head: "It's truly a miracle that Atlas didn't get this bad side of him..."
The dwarf had gone, leaving the young man with minor injuries. To avoid further trouble, the woman placed her staff on the young man's forehead and uttered a few indistinctive words.
Soon, a glow of purest light covered the young man, and the wounds on his body vanished in a few moments.
Overwhelmed by the portentous effectiveness of the healing power, the young man did not even realize that the woman had suddenly vanished, leaving him alone amid the debris of the shattered road...
|||
Atlas had noticed the commotion coming from the center of the village, but he did not follow the curious crowd and instead found a secluded place to experience the potential of his old friend.
The pickaxe was always at his side, and he rarely deposited it in his space artifact, so he pulled the handle from the hook and inserted the companion's metallic head inside the basket.
"Hmm... Nihilir told me to do something like this and then release the internal energy in the weapon."
Atlas followed Nihilir's explanation, but nothing happened.
"Hmm... He told me that I could use even fragments of weapons, and they still have some residual power, so... why is it not working? Should I buy some intact weapons instead?"
Disappointed by the failed result, Atlas grasped his companion's handle and tried to pull it out, but suddenly, he felt the energy inside his body bubbling up. A frightening amount of Chaos Energy flowed through his body at an alarming speed in a few moments.
"Damn... If it continues this fast, I may lose consciousness..."
During that time, some fragments vanished into thin air. Evidently, Astra was absorbing their residual power voraciously.
Alas, realizing that the Chaos Energy was almost exhausted, Atlas pulled the pickaxe out of the basket and quickly consumed a couple of Chaos Stones.
It took him a while to recover, so the young man opened his eyes only when he could feel the abundant energy inside his core.
Devouring shards in that way was madness. So, Atlas pulled three of them out of the basket, each wrapped in a different colored glow.
His goal was clear.
Atlas wanted to understand what his limit was. After all, it was clear that he did not have enough power to clean the basket like that.
The first fragment, the one without a colored glow, consumed a tiny amount of power. The cost was so small as to be irrelevant.
The situation with the second, the one shrouded in a blue glow, was completely different. In fact, it took a tenth of the energy in the core to consume that small fragment.
Finally, the third, the one shrouded in a golden glow. This small piece was a completely different story.
"Mhm?!... dam... mn... it!"
As soon as Astra and the fragment touched, Atlas felt his mind rapidly drifting away. Exhaustion assailed his frail body, and his voice became dangerously distorted.
He had never experienced such a peculiar phenomenon, yet he had read of it and could not help but swiftly release his grip and let his companion fall to the ground.
"Huu..."
He was so exhausted that his knees couldn't hold him up anymore.