Leron and I engaged in a bit of small talk regarding the city, with most of the focus being on what I thought of it. I gave my honest opinion regarding that—I loved it.
I'd always been fond of fantasy and the many races that were often present in such stories or games. So, being in a city where you could find them in abundance was something I was thrilled about.
As he and I conversed, someone was supposedly bringing over the so-called Moker. The name felt weird to me, but who was I to judge?
Eventually, the person arrived—and they turned out to be none other than the female elf who had pissed herself in fear.
"Oh, come on…" I muttered, exasperated. The second meeting happened much sooner than I had hoped it would.
Surprisingly, she exhibited no signs of shame or embarrassment as she gracefully walked over to me and handed me the device. Then, she bowed lightly before leaving the room.
I could've sworn I caught Leron holding himself back from laughing as I stared at the door she had exited through, a mix of puzzled and dazed.
"Your granddaughter has quite a strong mind," I remarked after a while.
"Why, thank you," Leron responded somewhat oddly.
I swear, it feels like I'm missing something crucial.
"In any case, do put the device on," Leron instructed warmly.
Taking a moment to examine the device, I saw that it really was nothing more than a wristwatch. It looked like Leron's and was a somewhat big one. Kind of reminded me of a particular device in a game I had played. Said game's setting was a post-nuclear war one.
Man… I'm already missing playing my games. Maybe I should materialize some consoles later?
The idea cemented itself in my mind. Though, for that moment, I put it to the side as I equipped the device and tightened the strap.
A moment passed before a loud beep was emitted, and the screen turned a bright red.
"Oh, my bad," Leron spoke up helpfully. "I forgot to mention that that specific model only works on humans."
The fuck? Is he implying I'm not one or something?
Following that, Leron stood up from the sofa and walked over to the desk at the end of the room. He then slid open a drawer and grabbed something from within it.
It was another Moker, though dissimilar in appearance to both of the ones I had seen already.
Leron walked over to me before offering the device. "Here."
I took it from his hand before switching the one I had equipped with it. This time, three light beeps were emitted as the screen flashed a few colors before a logo was displayed.
The logo was that of a shark with a toothy grin. Under it, there was text that read: Sharx Industries.
Deciding against asking any questions for now, I waited for the device to boot up, which only took around five seconds at most.
The first thing I noticed was my name written at the top left, and at the center of the screen was my balance: 0 Ker.
There were a few buttons at the bottom that were as follows: Send, Receive, Transaction History, and Lock.
The interface was pretty intuitive and responsive, given how smoothly and quickly it responded to me tapping the "Transaction History" button.
Then, I realized something. Why the fuck is my name on it already?
My head snapped up in Leron's direction, only for my eyes to widen at a sudden realization: He was gone.
"Leron?" I called out but got no response.
After waiting for a few seconds, I felt my head throb in frustration as I muttered out, "You've got to be fucking kidding me…"
"It appears that Master has been ghosted," a voice spoke in my mind.
"You don't say? Haven't you been awfully quiet?"
"Was I supposed to say something?"
"No."
I lightly snickered at the image of Sylvie deadpanning in my head.
The small interaction improved my mood a bit. "Any idea how he disappeared?"
Sylvie took a moment before responding, "I'm unable to determine how it was done."
Well, yeah. Her sensors are pretty much my own... for the most part.
With that said, I got up from the sofa and walked out of the office. Didn't have much of a reason to stay and I wasn't all that curious about snooping around. Though, given the circumstances, I genuinely considered it simply out of spite.
I don't know why Leron suddenly vanished on me, but I swear I will give him a piece of my mind the next time we're face to face. Fucking asshole.
And that was how my experience in the City Center came to an end. I already knew it wouldn't be my last one.
A few minutes later, I found myself standing outside of the building. The night was a bit chilly and breezy.
"Now what…" I muttered.
"Master could gain money."
"Right. Then I could use it to find myself a place to stay for the night and the nights following it."
I thought about it for a moment before deciding to head toward the local market—one of the many places I came to know about as a result of conversing with Leron.
According to Leron, the hottest items over there were Night Crystals, which were pretty rocks you'd find inside of the grotesque creatures known as Nightmares.
Can't believe I wasted potentially two of them…
While the puppy didn't have one, after all, I DID burn its carcass to cinders and failed to see one, the other two could've potentially had one.
If only I had seen it even once, I could have attempted to materialize a few for easy money.
"Wait…" I realized something—all I needed to do was see one in the market. Even if I didn't, I could sell other stuff anyway.
Excited at the prospect of easily getting rich, I was about to materialize a car but then stopped myself at the last moment.
I almost fucked up... I better be more cautious about how I use my power here.
Leron's warm smile kept on appearing in my head, and it bothered me to no end. That fucker was as suspicious to me as I must've appeared to him. Until I had a clearer idea about how things were in this world, I was going to play it a bit more cautiously. I'd already had enough idiotic moments.
"So… Sylvie, got any bright ideas about how I can quickly move around without materializing a whole-ass car?"
"Master could try the potion of swiftness mentioned back in the warehouse."
Oh, yeah. I could do that.
Unlike a giant fucking car, a potion was much easier to create discreetly, as all I had to do was dig into my pocket and pretend that I got it out of there.
Upon creating the potion, I quickly gulped down its contents before immediately dashing off… and ultimately running face-first into a wall, after which my vision went dark, as did my consciousness.