“Now all that’s left is to exchange these herbs for money.”
Running back to the entrance of Grassy Mountains, Kyril made sure to stay vigilant of the group of boys. Only when Kyril arrived at the entrance and entered back into the town did Kyril relax.
“Perhaps they left earlier. If I encountered them I might have lost all the herbs I picked up,” said Kyril. He remembered how in the past there were some incidences where Alek and his group would bully Kyril and take his herbs.
Though as Kyril said this to himself, he didn't notice that several of the twelve boys were standing looking at him from afar.
“He's back! Quick! Go tell Alek! He’s heading for the store!” one of the boys shouted amongst themselves.
Kyril did not notice the actions of the boys and just continued hurrying towards the shop he would usually exchange the herbs with.
The store Kyril was headed for was a nameless store that would never have stalls outside. Kyril found it weird for such a store to exist. If this was earth, then there would have been no doubt that the store would have already been closed due to a lack of awareness from the people, but surprisingly in Town Vale, the store was still quite popular. And the reason why came from the owner of the place.
Upon arriving at the front door of the shop, just as Kyril was about to knock, an oddly sweet mature voice called out to him.
“Come in.”
“Cultivation sure is amazing…” Kyril thought to himself as he opened the door. Kyril remembered how Practitioners were able to sense someone’s presence from far away. But given Kyril’s constitution, Kyril could only admire it.
In front of Kyril an old hunched back woman was sitting behind a plain wooden counter.
“You're quite late today,” the old hunched back woman said with a voice barely audible to the ears, yet this voice contained a very sweet tone to it.
The voice of the old hunched back lady stunned Kyril.
“For an old lady to have such a sweet voice, it's really unexpected. Only by experiencing it can one believe a woman like her would have such a voice.”
Quickly regaining himself Kyril replied back respectfully, “I encountered some problems along the way which caused me to arrive late.”
This old hunched back woman seemed ordinary on the outside, but after being a regular customer for some time, Kyril knew that she was anything but ordinary. She was able to sense things that others could not and despite being old and having a hunchback, her movement was swift and nimble, like a monkey.
To the previous Kyril, apart from Airyn, this old hunched back woman was a person he respected because unlike the other townsfolk, this woman treated him like a normal person. She showed no signs of pity or hate towards him.
“Mmm… Was it Alek?” the old hunched back woman questioned.
“You knew?”
“He exchanged thirty two herbs for about twenty copper coins earlier. Since he’s never picked herbs before and there’s also some conflicts between you two, I was naturally able to guess.”
“Twenty copper coins… that’s enough for roughly five days worth of food…” thought Kyril. But he quickly dispelled this thought, he was not the type of person to fawn over someone else’s belongings.
In the Hundred Sky World, copper coins were the lowest value of coins available. One thousand copper coins is the equivalent of one silver coin. To Kyril, if he was able to obtain a silver coin, then it would be enough for him to survive for several months without working. If one had one thousand silver coins, then it could be exchanged for a gold coin. Gold coins were a symbol of wealth in Vale Town, but this was only what he heard from others since he had never seen one himself. If Kyril had a even a single gold coin, then he would be able to spend the rest of his life without working. Of course, after being reborn, Kyril did not have that sort of lifestyle in mind. All he wanted was to accomplish his goal of understanding the Universe! There was also a coin called ‘Platinum Coin,’ but Kyril did not even try to imagine it right now. It was too far from his reach. He could only dream of having it.
Seeing Kyril becoming silent, the old hunched back woman asked him another question, “How’s your wound? You’ve healed pretty fast if you’re now able to run around to pick herbs. Usually people with low cultivation have to rest for two weeks before returning to their peak state, never mind a person who can’t cultivate.”
Kyril looked at the woman for a while and then began placing the herbs on the counter as he replied dryly, “I… I don’t know how my wound has healed this fast either. Right now, the wound has already closed. I just need to make sure I don’t apply too much force on it for now.”
Kyril made sure to hide any details that could lead to suspicion. If people knew about his rebirth, who knows what could happen? People might even think that Kyril might have a legendary treasure which would cause nations to fight over or he cultivated a mysterious technique which would attract endless numbers of Practitioners.
Perhaps due to the old hunchback woman’s questioning, Kyril’s actions subconsciously quickened. He picked the five herbs from the metal pail and placed it on the counter.
“How much can I exchange for this?”
The old hunched back woman picked up the herbs and inspected them carefully.
“...Usually this would only be enough for three or four copper coins, but since you’re still recovering I’ll give you six copper coins,” the old hunched back woman said.
Hearing this, Kyril was slightly surprised. Even with his experience from his past life, Kyril had never met a person so generous to a person who was generally hated by everyone else.
“Is she not afraid that people might turn on her?” thought Kyril.
Humans, in nature, were people who became easily influenced by the majority. If the majority favoured someone, then other people would also favour that person. It was the same with hating someone.
“Thank you very much.”
Kyril bowed and expressed his thanks. Although Kyril seemed like a beggar on the outside, he still maintained his manners.
When the old hunched back woman saw the actions of Kyril, she was slightly startled and gave a contemplative look at Kyril, her brows slightly furrowed.
Under this look, Kyril became confused and as soon as the old hunched back woman saw this, her face relaxed back to its original tranquil state and she let out a sigh.
“Haa… You seem like a completely different person,” smiled the woman.
Kyril froze for a bit before managing to smile back at her, “Perhaps it’s because I’ve nearly experienced death…”
After saying that, Kyril took his leave.
“It seems that he’s matured…” thought the old woman. Somehow, this caused her to feel relieved and happy at the same time.
…
Under the night sky, several boys could be seen running across the street. The boy leading them had creases all over his forehead and eyes filled with fury.
“You’re saying that cripple managed to gather herbs? Impossible! How can that cripple gather any herbs, we already picked all the herbs within one hundred metres!”
“Alek, I’m not lying! We really did see him heading off to exchange the herbs for money!”
The sky was now dark, painted with black and blue colours. And spread all over the night sky, tiny dots of sparkling stars glowed like fireflies.
“Alek, there he is! And look! He’s holding copper coins in his hand!”
Just as Kyril was about to walk away from the old hunched back woman’s store, the several boys who were running started shouting loudly. This caused the residents of the nearby houses to fling their door open, ready to shout at whoever was causing the ruckus. However when they saw who it was that was shouting, they immediately shut their mouths.
“Hmph!”
Alek sneered at the angry residents and just continued running.
“If it wasn’t for that man’s son, this Alek kid wouldn’t have the guts to act like this!”
Some of the residents let out disgruntled voices and shut their doors.
Soon enough, Alek and his group in front of Kyril. There was a brief moment of silence between the two sides. Kyril just stood their with an expressionless face and an aura of tranquility like still water. On the other hand, Alek looked at Kyril with flaming eyes.
“You… Did you pick up any herbs?” Alek said with a twitching face.
Kyril still retained his calm and said, “Yeah, I picked them up here and there.”
Hearing such a nonchalant reply, Alek’s whole face creased to the point that he looked just like an old man.
“This cripple actually humiliated me and now he speaks to me as if I’m some sort of ant!”
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“Bastard! Do you think humiliating me comes for free!?”
Kyril let out a mischievous smile and said, “Humiliate you? Since when did I humiliate you? Tell me, what is it that I did that caused myself to unintentionally humiliate you?”
Towards Alek, Kyril felt like it was a waste to bother arguing with a mere twelve year old. His old mindset didn't allow it.
“Let's see… if he doesn't accept that it's his fault for being humiliated, then I'll just continue playing with him.”
“How? You were the one who-”
“Stop brother.”
Just then, a hand was placed on Alek’s shoulder and then a person from behind walked to the side of Alek.
“Brother Silas.”
“Brother Alek, don't speak anymore.”
“This cripple is trying to get Alek to admit his own fault. If Alek talks anymore, he’ll just humiliate himself even more…”
Silas turned to face Kyril with an air of arrogance, “You cripple. Hand over the coins and we'll let you go. You've made us waste quite a bit of our time.”
“All I did was pick up some herbs. I don't recall wasting your time.” Kyril said while smiling. Like Alek, Silas was also the other person who forced the previous Kyril into suicide.
“It seems that I'll have to play with you too.”
Unlike Alek, Silas appeared rather calm at Kyril's nonchalant reply, but underneath his skin, fury was coursing through his veins.
“It seems like you don't understand. We couldn't find any herbs in the Grassy Mountains because of you.”
“Changing the story huh…” Kyril inwardly snickered to himself.
“Because of me?If I recall correctly, no one owns the Grassy Mountains so if you couldn't find any herbs, is the person to blame not yourself for your lack of ability?” Kyril laughed.
“You-”
Unable to withstand it anymore, Alek pulled Silas back and stepped forward, shooting his finger outwards to point at Kyril.
“You piece of trash! Do I have to smack your head for you to remember! You clearly…”
“Alek stop!” Silas hurriedly called out quietly as he tried pulling Alek back, but he was too late. Alek had suddenly became quiet and after a few breaths of time his face began twisting with his eyes locked on Kyril.
“Ah… Looks like he realised.”
“You bastard!!”
Veins popped up on Alek's forehead and his eyes turned a shade of red.
“Whoa… A twelve year old child has actually managed to form a vein on his forehead from anger? This is amusing…”
Kyril began laughing inside, but on the outside he still showed calmness.
However, this laugh didn't last long. Shortly after Alek began cursing, he launched towards Kyril with open palms.
“If you're not going to hand over the coins, then don't blame me for taking them!” Alek shouted.
Around Alek’s hands, the air started warping.
sou!
Suddenly, Alek's body disappeared from sight and after not even a second, he reappeared like light at arms length from Kyril.
In response to this, Kyril's pupils shrunk. He tried to jump back, but with his crippled body, his body was just too slow. Even though Kyril's mind could react to it, Kyril's body couldn't.
Alek drew his palms to his waist and then pushed forward with a force that appeared to contain the weight of a small mountain. The warped air around his hands began condensing within his palms until it glowed softly with a white light.
But before Alek's palms made contact with Kyril's body, a reverberating sound entered everyone's ears.
“Audacious! You dare to rob a person in front of my store!”
Boom!
The door behind Kyril crashed open and an overbearing pressure flew out the door causing Alek to be blown back while the other boys took several steps backwards before collapsing to their knees. The onlookers who came out of their houses and were watching the events unfold further away also felt the pressure and had to exert their utmost effort just to keep standing. Only Kyril remained standing in the same spot.
“Who!” Silas shouted out while looking into the store.
“Who? Scram before I make you!”
Walking out the store, the old hunched back woman appeared into view. The onlookers and the several boys all narrowed their eyes at this sight. Everything became dead silent. If a needle were to drop on the ground, it would be heard by everyone present.
One of the onlookers whispered, “Who would have thought that this old woman was actually very powerful…”
Although it was a whisper, everyone present heard it. Surprise covered their eyes. The only people that showed did not show surprise were the Alek and Silas along with the several other boys behind them. Instead, dread filled their eyes.
“I said scram!”
A threatening voice came out the old hunched back woman's mouth.
Not daring to hesitate any longer, the group of boys ran away, and in the distance, Alek shouted, “I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Hmph! Just you try it!” shouted back the old woman, causing Alek’s face to turn white.
“Who really is this woman? And why is she protecting someone like that cripple…?”
“Her background is so mysterious. No one even knows where she came from.”
“Yeah… Apparently she came from another village, but there's not a single village near here!”
The onlookers broke into discussion, but when the old hunched back woman began to move, their mouths quickly shut.
The old hunched back woman approached Kyril and gave him a conflicting look as she held onto both of Kyril's shoulders. Due to her hunched back, she was a little smaller compared to Kyril who had a height of about one and a half metres.
“Kyril, are you hurt anywhere?”
Kyril looked at the old hunched back woman's face and replied, “No. Thank you for helping me, miss”
Hearing this, the old hunched back woman relaxed her face.
“Stop with the miss, just call me Zalea.”
“Then… Grandma Zalea” Kyril said with face that was turning red.
“Calling someone who's younger than my actual age Grandma. It's quite… weird,” thought Kyril, “It appears that I still have to adapt to being a twelve year old.” Kyril continued.
“Just Zalea is fine. I'm not actually as old as I look haha…” laughed the the old hunched back woman. In her eyes a wisp of sadness flashed by.
The onlookers were dumbfounded.
“Not as old as she looks!? She's clearly as old as my Grandma!” someone from the onlookers shouted. However as soon as he realised what he said, he immediately turned pale.
“Idiot she’s heard you…” someone else said.
But as if she never heard what was being said, Zalea still looked at Kyril.
With a serious tone she said, “I know that you might be a cripple, but as you've experienced earlier, you will not be able to survive in this world if you don't have power.”
Zalea paused for a bit and then continued, “Perhaps in the future you may be able to find a way to cultivate, but it doesn't have to be cultivation, however, you need some sort of power to protect yourself. This is the importance of power!”
- END -
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