One by one, and all at once, information about all kinds of strange and exotic things kept pouring into his head, making Alnea involuntarily pinch his brows in consternation. He knew that it was not going to thaw the ‘swelling’ in his head, but he could not help. Just the fact that he was not frowning was already a testament of how much pain he could tolerate. Some things though, could not be overcome by just bearing pain.
The sheer amount of information that had been stuffed into his head… Just sorting through the names of all the things he could exchange for—one thousand two hundred and ninety six in total— was going to take more than a moment or two, not to mention sifting through all the details of those things. Especially considering that quite a few of those things were weird, with no sense to them. Like the Black Lizard’s Saliva. Or the Empty Winds.
One of those things was an addictive poison that could only be used to pleasure himself, while the other was sealed jar containing air from the Age of Gods. Were these things really worth as much as things that could increase his Spirit Power, or even increase his comprehension?
Even if he did not consider those weird things, there were also a few things that could only be used in conjunction with the Martial Styles, Arcanas, or the Glyphs of the city. Unless he planned to exchange for the Martial Styles corresponding to those resources, exchanging for those resources would be a waste. And yet, he could not completely disregard those resources unless he read the introduction of their corresponding Martial Styles.
However, the most pressing problem about these resources was not their effects, or restrictions, but their side effects. Stagnation in growth of Spirit Power, weaking of comprehension, decrease in strength, loss in fertility… There were so many weird side effects listed in the information in his head, that Alnea did not dare to exchange for any resource without sorting all the information in his head.
“…I think I kind of understand why Alnea gave you the memory crystal earlier,” Cecilia said with an annoyed frown on her face, as she tried to soothe the dumb cat in her arms. It was, after all, a Fortune Devouring Cat. Even when its chosen partner had not shown any signs of discomfort, it could still feel the tension in the arms that were holding it in the air.
“Do you think I would have given her the crystal if I had thought that it would hurt her for even a moment?”
“Don’t worry,” Yuri said, putting on her smile to hide her headache. “The headache will go away on its own, like it did last night. And the memory crystal I used a while ago had information about only six mansions. It did not hurt much. Besides, bearing some headache every once in a while will not have too much of an impact. Rather, it will help us temper our will.”
“…So, what are we going to do about the resources?”
“…There are so many things that I cannot understand.”
“…It’s not just you, even I cannot understand most of those resources listed in the information. Maybe Yuri—
“I am not omnipotent,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “I can figure out the effects of most of the resources from their descriptions, but I would just be guessing. And even then, I still cannot understand a few of the resources.”
“…I thought that learning the language of the city would be enough for us to acquaint ourselves with the city, but it looks like I was wrong… Should we ask for Tia’s help?”
“…She is a bit too enthusiastic about us.”
“What about Martha?”
“…Her reaction towards you is a bit more normal, but I do not like her attitude.”
“What should we do then?” Alnea said, scratching his head in confusion. “If we keep second guessing everyone, then we will never be able to trust anyone.”
“Who said we have to trust anyone?”
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“Master—
“Big sis Nyssa only asked us to interact with other Wanderers, and make some friends, if possible. Trusting them… Do you really think we can trust the Wanderers in the city?”
“…Maybe,” Alnea said. “As long as we can ensure a common ground for interests…”
“And how exactly are we going to do that?”
“But we need to learn more about the city—
“If you kids are not going to exchange anything, then go talk somewhere else, and let me sleep,” said the man resting behind the counter, still refusing to pick up his head.
“…Let’s take this discussion to our new mansion.”
“…I am not averse to that idea.”
“…There is still something that we need to do first though,” Alnea said, glancing towards the counter of the three libraries.
“…You are not planning on using more memory crystals, right?”
“Not right away,” Alnea said. “But we do need to have a catalogue of the three libraries to better plan how to exchange our tokens.”
“…I knew that nothing good would ever come out of your mouth,” Cecilia grumbled, but still followed behind him and Yuri to collect three more memory crystals. Surprisingly, the three libraries all had a queue in front of their counters. Though, on second thought, the queue was quite reasonable, in a sense.
After all, other than the Martial Styles, Arcanas, and Glyphs unique to the city, Wanderers could exchange for everything else in the libraries of the city with just their Blood Coins. And though Blood Coins were precious, nothing was more precious to Wanderers than their own strength. If they could find something in the city that could help them in their Wanderings, and increase their strength, then any amount of Blood Coins spent would be worth it.
Besides, earning tokens might be rare in the city, but it was not unheard of. There were still a few people, strong and determined people, who would win some tokens every now and then, most of whom would rather waste their tokens in exploring the secrets of the city, than exchange their tokens for some defective resources with heavy constraints, and side effects.
Thankfully, the Wanderers coming to the libraries had already decided what they were going to exchange for before coming to the counters, so despite the long queues, it did not take long for Alnea and the girls to exchange for the catalogue of the three libraries. In the form of memory crystals, of course. Three for each. And when the Wanderers manning the counters saw how Alnea and the girls had stuffed the memory crystals in their pouches, they were kind enough to remind him of the restrictions of the memory crystals.
“Make sure to use the memory crystals within twelve hours, or we will not be responsible when the crystals disintegrate on their own.”
“The memory crystals are so unstable?”
“It is not about stability of the memory crystals. In the first place, memory crystals are made to last for only twelve hours.”
“…We did not hear any such warnings when we bought the language spars.”
“There is a reason why language spars are black in colour, and why these memory crystals are red,” the man said. “They are different, both in the way they are made, and their usage. I don’t know the exact details either… In any case, I have reminded you. Make sure to use the memory crystals within twelve hours, or you will be responsible for all the consequences.”
It looked like their charm would not work on every Wanderer employed by the city, Alnea thought, as they made their way out of the Blood Hall. Surrounded by swathes of other Wanderers, of course, with an even larger crowd of Wanderers waiting for them outside of the Blood Hall. Some of them had envious look on their face, while some of were snickering in schadenfreude. Most of them though, were looking at Alnea and the girls with kind smile. And yet, they were the ones who were making Alnea feel the most uncomfortable. Being stared at by so many people, all eager to get their hands on him…
The only good news in the whole situation was that the Wanderers were all keeping their distance from him. It was as if they were all waiting for something else. Something that Alnea did not know about, and had no intention of knowing either. He just wished to get away from those Wanderers as soon as possible.
Thankfully, the mansion that he had reserved was not too far from the Blood Hall. And Yuri was not deterred by the crowd gathering around them. Rather, it was her fearless steps that forced the surrounding Wanderers to get out of their way. That, and the ferocious hiss of the black cat, that had jumped down from Cecilia’s arms at some point, and was hissing at the Wanderers, waiting for them to make a mistake. Just one hint of hostility, and…
The expression on their faces, as they scrambled away from the cat, not even bothering with their usual practice of staying at least two to three metres away from each other, was enough to show how much they feared the cat. Apparently, these Wanderers had already heard of the deeds of the Shadow Prowling Cat. Taking down Wanderers on the verge of advancing to the Advanced Stage with just one swipe of its paws…
In the end, those Wanderers could only follow behind Alnea, as Yuri led them through the maze of the Lost City, turning just three corners before stopping in front of a two storeyed mansion.