Chapter 9: The Slum (2)
My eyes lit up when I read the explanation of the art. I smiled broadly. But since others wasn't able to see the screen, they thought I was grinning while staring blankly at the wall. I coughed and put on a serious face and said in a firm tone.
"This looks fine enough. I will buy it for 1000 BS as I previously said. Deal or not?"
Just as Edward was going to agree with my deal, his mom asked cautiously.
"Mister, can ask why you think that old tome is worthy of 1000 BS?"
"I don't think this is any of your business miss. Are you fine with the price or not?"
I decided to hide the fact that it was an (S)-rank martial art. Speaking the facts would not do any good for any of us.
His mother seemed to be hesitant. 1000 BS was a huge amount of money for a family who lived in a slum. However, the mother was clever. She deduced that this book was valuable for some reason she didn't know and that the book may be more valuable than 1000 BS. The young man had said he wasn't from a noble house so she thought it would be fine to try to negotiate.
"How can we know if it worths more than 1000 BS. What if you are lying to us? Maybe we should attempt to sell it at the market or an auction and see how precious it is."
She had good reasoning but she had missed a crucial point.
"You can try. But I don't think this plan would work as you imagined."
"What do you mean?"
"The book you possess is a (C)-rank martial art. This means as soon as you expose the book to the public, you will be targeted by almost every noble. Do you think you can protect you and your child from those greedy nobles. Your best choice is to sell it to me."
If she attempted to sell the book at the market, all nobles' attention would be drawn to her. They may even go as far as to threaten her to seize the martial art forcefully. And she wouldn't be able to do anything since she was only a poor and weak woman living in the slum.
When they heard it was a (C)-rank martial art, they were shocked. Although people living in slums didn't know so much about awakeners, they knew what a martial art was since they were really rare. Yet they didn't know much about how much martial art worth. So they weren't able to figure out I was offering a really low price compared to its actual value.
'If I had told them the fact that it was a (S)-Rank martial art, they would have probably had a minor heart attack.'
The mother sighed heavily. He was right. She couldn't just go and sell this book without getting into a troublesome situation. She eventually agreed to my offer since there was no other way.
"Okay. I accept your offer."
"Great."
I gave the kid 1000 BS and took the martial art. I flashed a bitter smile. An (S)-rank martial art would worth billions of BS, and I couldn't afford to pay that much.
Fortunately, I had many ways to quickly earn money.
I left the house without looking back. My business with this family was done. I decided to leave this place as soon as possible.
I was walking towards the station. But I stopped in my tracks when I noticed something was wrong. It was dead silent.
'Hm...'
'Where are those all those people from before?'
My face stiffened when I heard a rough voice behind me.
"Hey kid, are you lost? If you are looking for the station, we can take you to there!"
I glanced at my back, there were two men with wooden bats in their hands. Their attitudes were opposite to their intentions to 'help' me. They leisurely approached me with a smirk on their faces. Realizing what's gonna happen next, I got nervous.
Even though they were unawakened, I had no experience. The last time I had fought was in the middle school. Even a (G)-rank awakener is two times stronger than a normal human. And I was an (F-)-rank awakener.
One of the men stood before me and said in an irritated tone.
"Are you deaf or what? Do you not hear me?"
Finding the situation quite ridiculous, a grin crept across my face subconsciously. Seeing me grinning, they were annoyed. All of a sudden the man before me tried to throw me a punch on the face. Thanks to my (F-)-rank perception, I was able to dodge it before it connected with my face.
Seeing how I dodged his punch, he became more annoyed. I stepped backwards to gain some distance.
"You can't just run away kid! But if you want to leave this place so much, how about you give your mon-"
"Who is leaving? I was just warming up, you know."
I said with a smirk to provoke them. The men ran towards me with bats in their hands. One of them swung the bat vertically, I stepped left to dodge it. But just as I balanced myself, the other one's punch struck my stomach. I took a few steps back in pain.
"Ugh..."
Even if they weren't awakeners, fighting against two people was harder than I thought. I constantly dodged as they swung their bats. But I knew, I had to end this as soon as possible since my stamina wasn't the best.
I moved back a little and concentrated on my palm. Unable to understand what I was doing, the men halted their steps for a moment before once attacking at me again. However, suddenly, a fireball appeared on my palm which startled the men.
I took advantage of the opportunity and threw the fire ball at one of them. The fireball hit the man in chest and an explosion resounded throughout the valley. He was thrown back with a great force and fall on the ground, causing him to lose consciousness.
'What? How is he so weak!? How can he lose consciousness after being hit by a fireball?'
I found the answer when I examined them a little more. They had fallen weak from malnutrition just like the mother. I couldn't help but face palming at the absurdity of the situation.
Seeing what happened to his so called brother, the other man charged at me and fiercely swung his bat. However, he soon became frustrated as none of his swings connected with my body.
"Play time is up!"
I hit the man on the stomach with all the strength I had left. It was for revenge. The man stumbled backwards. Not letting him catch his breath, I hit him with an uppercut to the chin. He let out a groan and fell to the ground on his butt. His playful eyes were now filled with fear of being hunted. He looked up only to meet the gaze of a pair of indifference grey eyes.
He had never felt this way in his life. He felt as if he was an ignorant sheep who would be hunted by the wolf before him. But before he could utter a word, his sight turned black.
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