The next few days went by without anything important happening. Her learning slowed down a bit because of the amount of traffic they had gotten each day, but by her judgement tomorrow or the day after that, she will be able to start reading the book on mysticism.
Also, her excitement only grew each day, since she only needed one more ingredient for the ritual.
As Veronica was about to start working Suze handed her a paper and said, "Today you will need to go and get a few items from the black market. You will be going alone, since Sofie has other things to take care of... Oh, and take these!"
In Suze's hand about 20 ten gelt note appeared. Veronica just stared at her hand speechlessly, then with her own which was constantly shaking, she took the money and put it away.
With a light chuckle Suze said, "Oh, don't worry that much. You will get used to moving around with so much money. Anyway, I gave you a lot more than needed, just in case you would happen to find the other main ingredient... Or accidently buy like 10 ethereal items at ten percent of their market value."
They both laughed a bit, then Veronica grabbed a bag and went to the nearby public carriage stop.
She waited for ten minutes before the carriage arrived, but as she was about to get on the driver said, "Sorry miss, we are full."
A bit confused Veronica looked to her left where surely enough the whole carriage was packed. The driver had an apologetic smile on his face as the carriage drove away. With a sigh she stood in the carriage stop for a few moments, then began walking.
Of course she didn't plan on walking to the market, but it was no use to wait around for an unfixed public carriage. To her luck it only took a few minutes before a carriage was about to pass her, so quickly she motioned for the driver and got on.
It would take a bit longer for her to arrive this way, but it was much better than waiting for an hour. She sat down in one of the few empty seats, and while looking out the window Veronica eavesdropped on a few conversations.
"...There are even more protesters now. It seems like the situation won't going to be better anytime soon." Said a younger man in a cheap suit to his friend who sat next to him.
"Yeah, seems like it... Do you think we should leave the city? I mean the protest haven't really gone violent yet, but who knows how long that will last!" The other sounded a lot more distressed and even fearful.
"Relax, it won't go that far. The police has full control over the situation. I'm sure the city council and the mayor will soon make a few new laws and increase the living standard's of the factory workers..." Suddenly someone else cut into their not so silent conversation.
"It's not just factory workers now. I heard that even the harbor workers and most of the other very low income workers are out there protesting... Seems like the Dirt District finally had enough of being kept in the dirt." Next, a middle aged woman chimed in.
"Yes, also there are women protesting too. They want to be able to have the same wage as men." A few men on the carriage looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea.
In the Free Cities women made about eighty percent as much as men, with no additional benefits or sick days. Also they were discriminated against since by most managers' opinion 'Their working moral is a lot worse than men's'. The funny thing is even female managers made the same discrimination.
Currently the only truly gender equal society was the Dracon Empire up north, or the Islands, but those were too unique to be comparable. The irony didn't escape Veronica, this was another not so free element of the Free Cities.
The carriage rumbled on and at some point the people began debating what the new working conditions should be. Mostly everyone agreed that the current situation is inhumane, but a few didn't think that the Dirt District should disappear...
They just wanted people to be lower than them, which was a horribly disgusting idea in Veronica's opinion. Luckily she didn't have to listen to a bunch of idiots talking about things they didn't understand. In a few moments she had gotten off the carriage and approached the Market Square's entrance.
The market was way more packed, than either of the previous two times, but that made sense since today was saturday. This crowd would only increase by tomorrow.
Veronica basically had to fight her way through the masses of people, but eventually she reached her desired location. A crappy ancient bar named – Black and White Tavern. After staring at it for a few seconds she walked right in.
The composition was the exact same as the other time. There were similar people sitting around the bar, pretending to be drinking. The only main difference was that this time a woman stood as a bartender.
Nobody seemed to pay any attention to Veronica as she walked to the counter, but she felt the various different glances from the other 'patrons'. Without caring about them, she went near the counter, then whispered to the woman, "Mix black and white and you get gray, the ugliest color."
The woman just tilted her head a bit, then stared at Veronica like she was an idiot. After a few seconds of silence Veronica was starting to get embarrassed.
'What? Suze told me this was the phrase that I should be using... Did I make a mistake, or remember it wrong... Dammit, did I just make a fool of myself?!'
While she was closing in on a mental break down, every single person near the bar burst out laughing. At that point it become clear to her, these people were making fun of her.
"C'mon, stop playing with her." Said one of the guards between laughs.
"Yeah, she was close to crying. Just let her inside..." Said another.
The woman pressed the button and mumbled a 'sorry', which didn't feel sincere at all. With a large blush on her face and an angry demeanor Veronica went down the stairs and into the black market.
She spent the next hour slowly gathering every ingredient on her list, never failing to acknowledge after every purchase, how horribly expensive ethereal materials were.
Eventually she found herself walking through the ethereal ingredients section. She still had around 150 gelt to spend on the Choking Vine Body, if she found someone selling it.
Her eyes passed through every ingredient. They all had small tags which showed their name and price. As time went by she was nearing the last few stalls, there was no sign of the ingredient she was looking for.
But it seemed like this was her lucky day. At one of the last stalls there was a large rope-like plant on display, and the tag on the display case read, 'Choking Vine Body – Price: 175 gelt.'
'Dammit! Of course it's more than I have... Okay, don't panic or show too much interest... Let's try bargaining, maybe I can get it for at least a bit less!'
With her hope not fully gone, Veronica looked through the other ingredients, then after taking a deep breath she spoke to the shopkeeper. The man was in his late 50s, his demeanor seemed quite friendly and he even had a small smile on his wrinkly face as she talked to him.
"Excuse me." She said with a similar smile.
"Yes miss. Did you find something interesting in my humble shop?" She tried her hardest not to make an angry face.
'Humble shop?! You have nearly four thousand gelt worth of ingredients on your display!... That could buy you the smallest noble rank in the Dracon Empire!... Humble shop my ass...'
Instead of saying anything like that, she forced her smile to turn a bit brighter.
"Yes, actually. I see you have a few ingredients that I would like, but sadly don't have enough money for all of them... Hmm... I think I want to buy the Choking Vine Body, you are selling, but this doesn't seem to be in the best condition. It certainly doesn't worth 175 gelt... How about 90 gelt?"
The man's smile didn't change at all, as he slowly shook his head.
"Sorry miss, no can't do. This ingredient is quite rare, it belongs to one of the rarest paths, which makes it much more expensive... I can get it down to 165 gelt, but no less!"
The man seemed determined about his pricing, but Veronica wouldn't give up a great opportunity like this.
"Oh, I know exactly which path does it belong to. I also know that probably nobody will buy it since that path is hunted by most orthodox churches! 100 gelt and I take it!"
The man was a bit surprised. He didn't expect Veronica to now about the Dancer path. After a few seconds of contemplation, the men seemed to agree with her at least a bit.
"You are kind of correct on that one. I had been trying to sell this for a while now... You know what, I can bring it down to 150 gelt... How does that sound?"
'I have the money... But I could get it lower... Well, it wouldn't hurt to try at least!'
"Okay, 125 gelt my last offer!" Said Veronica. The man seemed to seriously contemplate this offer and eventually with a not too satisfied sigh he said, "Fine... I get it boxed in a moment..."
After he put it into a material box, she quickly payed for it, then started walking towards the exit. Suddenly, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a man approaching her fast.
Swiftly she began hurrying towards the exit, since she recognized the man... It was that creep Drunk McLean again!
She reached the stairs long before McLean could've caught up, but she still went faster than usual. She wasn't in a hurry from fear or anything, but from pure excitement!
Finally she had all the materials to become an ascended!