“Sheree.” The only girl in the group introduced herself. The tips of her sun-kissed hair grazed her shoulders, sharp contours of her bony body shaded the dimples and the indents, and her collarbones dug craters in her skin.

“Trask.” The guy with short-cropped hair nodded and took his seat. His baggy clothes rested on him with a large fold at the waistline, and a hairless pinkish burn scar on his right forearm contrasted his fair skin.

“Mize.” The last man also named himself and took a seat across Kiev. Short stature, spiked hair, wheatish complexion, and too many accessories dangled on him.

“Ewan.” Ewan introduced himself and greeted all three.

Kiev rested his gaze on the door for a few breaths then heaved a sigh. “Please excuse me for a minute,” he said and walked out of the room.

The rest chitchatted and munched on the snacks after the brief introduction, and moments later, he walked in with another young man, an apologetic smile plastered on his face. He looked practiced with the curl of his lips; the plight must be a regular occurrence.

“This is my brother, Avis,” Kiev said and introduced the young man who hung his head down, staring at his feet. He was half a head shorter than Kiev, and with his different facial make and raven hair that matched Ewan’s, the resemblance between the brothers fell short.

Avis?

It was an uncommon name for a man, so it stuck with Ewan. Avis, it was the same name as the man he bought the spells from on the hub—the one who sold him the spell . He might or not be the same person though… just the meekness matched all too well. But regardless, even if he was the one Ewan met in the hub, it didn’t change anything and wouldn’t have any effect on their trade meet. That was what he was here for, not to reconnect.

“Shall we start the meet then?” Sheree asked, looking at the other three then at Kiev and Avis.

“Let’s.” Kiev nodded and had Avis sit beside him.

The wave of spirit and the Anima fluctuations around all these people put them at about the peak of Step-0, the Soul-Awakening stage. This was a trade meet between equals, so the chances of any mishaps were low, especially with the Governor’s grandsons sitting with them.

“Do you want to start off, Ewan?” Kiev looked at Ewan and asked.

“Sure,” Ewan said.

He opened the flap of the leather saddlebag hanging from his shoulder and took out some potions. Before confirming the rarity or the commonness of storage artifacts, he refrained from exposing his claw-ring. Without his initiation, it looked like a common accessory. It felt a bit off on Ewan, but it matched Mize’s style well, as his several glimpses of approval confirmed.

“Anima Potions of Level-8 and 9. These are of fire and ice element,” he said. These people might have Astylinds of other elements, but since Ewan could only sense these two Anima around them because of his own limitation, he went with the safer bet. “I would like to exchange these with some class-A materials, earth or mystic element preferably.”

“You should be preparing for Varos right?” Trask said with a laugh. “You must know the situation with the mystic element in the hub. It’s better to go for something feasible.”

“Just trying my luck,” Ewan said and shrugged. His hopes weren’t high, but Trask’s comment dashed even the last of it.

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“I have this block of Fragile Silver. It’s not class-A but should be enough to trade for one of your potions,” Sheree said and took out a fist-sized ore from a small money leather pouch with threaded top.

“Sorry, it doesn’t match my requirements.” Ewan shook his head. The disappointment aside, the fluctuations around that pouch confirmed his doubts—that was a storage artifact. Since no one showed any shock or surprise towards it, the rarity of such items must not be high. At least everyone in this group must possess one.

Sheree nodded and took the ore back in the pouch.

“I have this unknown material here; it should be of the earth element. I’m not sure about its exact details but the purity is class-A. Do you want to trade?” Trask asked. He took out a bag of powder-like white sand from his leather pouch and thudded it on the table, rattling the dishes under its weight—the amount was enough to cast Varos for two people at least.

Ewan frowned. His gave him no results. He looked towards Kiev, and he shook his head. Others too looked lost on the item’s identity.

“I can confirm it is of the earth element, but it’s not in my database,” Kiev said.

“I can confirm that too,” Mize said.

“What do you want for it?” Ewan asked. If the price was right, he could gamble with this unknown sand.

“Two Level-9 potions, fire element,” Trask said.

Ewan looked at the bag, weighing the value of potions against its unknown possibilities. Even though he had and could splurge with the high-level potions, he couldn’t make it obvious to the others.

“How about one Level-9 and one Level-8 potion?”

Trask tapped his fingers on his arms and stared through the table, his lips puckered. “Fine, okay, I’ll trade,” he said.

Ewan slid the potion vials across and took the bag from him, keeping it in the saddlebag.

“I’ll go next,” Sheree said and took out a wooden box with an argent core nested in its velour insides, contrasting the purple of the velvety cloth. She glanced at Kiev. “It’s quite old and has lost almost all its soul essence, but I believe it’ll be valuable to anyone in need.”

Ewan’s heart skipped a beat when he gandered at the mystic-element core. The size, the quality, the Anima fluctuations, they all pointed towards one fact—this was a core from a Step-1 creature, either Astylind or a Staron.

Mize laughed and shook his head. “Are you showing off or are you overestimating us?”

Sheree sighed. “Neither,” she said. “I’m in urgent need for high-level antidotes that can work against Step-1 Astylinds’ poison. Else I wouldn’t have taken it out.” She glimpsed Kiev again.

“Stop peeking at me,” Kiev said. “I can't help you with this. Gramps made it very clear; he doesn’t want anyone disturbing him right now. It’s better if you give the hub a try.”

Sheree deflated on his words.

“I have some antidotes. It won't kill the poison of that level, but it may slowdown the spread and suppress it. Do you want to trade?” Ewan asked.

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Status: Healthy

Step-0 [8th Awakening]

Name: Ewan Ayres

Species: Human

Vitality: 1.9

Spirit: 16.9

Anima: [Fire – 16.9 | Ice – 16.9 | Blood – 16.9]

Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]

Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [8th Awakening]

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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-B]

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Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-B]

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Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-C]

Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].

Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.

Novas: 6

Crelith: 4596