“We meet again, Wanderer Martha,” Yuri said, with Cecilia and Alnea nodding along to show their respects to the Wanderer standing behind the counter in front of them. Even if they did not like her, as a Wanderer who had tried to help them, even if in her own way, she deserved their respect.

“You three…” Martha said, glancing at Vestia and Zain standing next to them with a solemn face. “Are they your new companions?”

“…We are here to register our team.”

“It looks like you did not listen to what I said,” Martha said, focussing her gaze more on Yuri and Cecilia. “I hope you are ready to accept the consequences of your decisions.”

“We always have been.”

“…Let us get this over with then,” Martha said, resuming the annoyed look on her face. “Give me your Blood Cards.”

Everyone except Zain handed their Blood Cards to Martha.

“What about him?”

“He is on probation for now.”

“…At least you are not completely hopeless.”

“…Does she have a grudge against you?” Vestia whispered to Alnea. With how close they were to the True Wanderer though, she could still hear everything they were saying. Even if she really did have a grudge against him, could he say the truth in front of the True Wanderer?

“…She is a bit hard spoken, but she means no harm… At least not to Yuri and Lia.”

“Have you decided on any name for your team?” Martha said to Yuri, trying to ignore Alnea and Vestia whispering to each other.

“Star Seekers,” Yuri said. “People who chase after Stars, Seeking the ones belonging to them.”

“Star Seekers… Not a bad name.”

“Alnea was the one who came up with it.”

“…It is a little childish, but it is fine,” Martha said, placing their Blood Cards on the black box in front of her one by one, while fiddling with the box, updating their new information.

“…Thank you for your compliment, Wanderer Martha.”

“I was not complementing you… Forget it. I am done,” Martha said, handing their Blood Cards back to them. “If there is nothing else you want from me, then you can leave.”

“Sorry for disturbing you, Wanderer Martha,” Yuri said, nodding at the woman. “And thank you for help.”

After they left Martha’s counter, and began walking towards the Martial Style Library, Zain finally could not stop himself.

“What is her problem?” Zain said. “I have never seen any guard of the city looking at me like that… Is she also jealous of me?”

…Probably because his eyes were always on the top of his head… If only the stinky mouth could come out of his own world, he would see that almost everyone looked at him with a face marred with irritation.

“She did sound a little biased,” Vestia said with a frown. “And the way she looked at you… Are you sure that she does have a grudge against you?”

“She is just a little paranoid… On second thought, she might really hold a grudge against me. After we said to her last time…”

“Are you blaming us?” Cecilia said with a snort.

“Why would I blame you?” Alnea said. “She is just a True Wanderer anyway. If we offend her, then we offend her. It is not as if she can make a move against us.”

“…Although the rules of the city will restrict her from taking action against you, offending Wanderers stronger than you is never a wise move,” Vestia said solemnly. “Not to mention what she can do once she leaves the city, even within the city, she just needs to play some tricks to make our lives miserable.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“I know those things too, but what can I do if she comes looking to trouble us on her own?”

“…Why would she find trouble with you for no reason?”

“…I guess she does have a reason, even if a far fetched one,” Alnea said. “She does not want me to get close to Cecilia and Yuri. Apparently, I remind her of the mistakes she made when she first came to the Lost City.”

“Such a ridiculous reason…”

“Do Wanderers really need a reason to trouble someone they do not like?”

“…Great words,” Zain said, nodding at Alnea in satisfaction. “As expected of someone who is almost half as talented as me. But do not worry. Since I am also a Star Seeker—

“Temporary Star Seeker.”

“—I will not let the evil Wanderer harm you.”

“…The only thing I am worrying about is when are you going to shut up.”

“I know at least hundreds of ways of how other Wanderers can ambush us in the Black Desert.”

“…Is that really something to be proud of?”

“As long as I am here, no one can succeed in ambushing us.”

“…I would rather not have anyone ambushing us in the first place.”

“Do you think that is possible with him by our side?”

“…These ignorant fools, burning in the flames of jealousy…”

“…Probably not.”

“…We should prepare a bit more before taking the Black Desert Trials.”

“…Let me tell you about the first time that I…”

Constantly fighting against his urges, Alnea finally made it to the counter of the Martial Style Library with his teammates. It was a small counter, probably about the same size as the counter of the Medal Redemption. But unlike the latter, which usually did not have many visitors, the Martial Style Library had a few people coming to exchange for Martial Styles every now and then.

Normal Martial Styles, of course. Although they had teased Zain about Martial Styles, what he had said was not wrong. Blood Martial Styles were not something that normal Wanderers could afford. Not to mention that learning and mastering new Martial Styles was not easy either. Unless they were talented enough to earn Martial Style Medals, and were planning to focus on the path of Warriors, exchanging for Blood Martial Styles would not make any sense. But that was common sense. And none of his friends liked conforming to common sense.

“It is you three again,” the Wanderer standing behind the counter said. “I gave you the memory crystal just yesterday, and you have decided on the Martial Styles you are going to exchange already?”

“…With the Blood Coins we have, there are not many Martial Styles that we can exchange for.”

“You should try saving up then,” the red robed man said. “I am not trying to be nosy here, but you should not waste your Blood Coins like this.”

“…We will,” Alnea said. “But we think that the Martial Styles we are going to exchange will be worth it.”

“…It is your choice,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders. “Who is coming first then?”

“It does not matter who goes first,” Cecilia said, but took a step ahead of him and Yuri anyway. “By the way, we are not wasting our Blood Coins.”

“…If you are not going to exchange Martial Styles, then—

“Why? Is it necessary to spend our Blood Coins to get Martial Styles? Are there no Martial Styles which can be exchanged by other means?”

“…Are you talking about the Blood Martial Styles?” the Wanderer said, becoming even more hesitant than before. “They are indeed good Martial Styles, but it is very hard to grasp their essence. Are you sure that you want to exchange for the Blood Martial Styles of the Lost City?”

“We are sure.”

“…Which one do you want then?”

“Which one?” Cecilia said, feigning ignorance on her face, as she fished for nine Martial Style Medals in the pouch hanging by her waist, before putting them all on the counter. “Do we still have to choose?”

The Wanderer froze for a few moments, glancing at the Martial Style Medals on the table, while taking deep breaths to regain his composure.

“…I almost forgot. You are the kids who have become famous recently.”

“…I would not say that we are famous,” Cecilia said, trying her best to not bush, or show her embarrassment. “And we are also not kids either.”

“…My apologies,” the Wanderer said, withdrawing the solemn expression on his face for an amused smile. “We do not get too many Wanderers of your age in the city, so I subconsciously took you as the kids in my clan.”

“…It is alright as long as you treat us as Wanderers,” Yuri added from the side.

“I will,” the Wanderer said, before turning back towards Cecilia. “About the Martial Styles, I am assuming that you want all nine of the Blood Martial Styles of the Lost City?”

“That’s right.”

“Give me a moment then,” the Wanderer said, putting away all nine Martial Style Medals on the counter in the cupboard behind her back, before taking out a bunch of white crystals—nine to be exact. He then placed the crystals into the groove on the black box one by one, urging the box to fill them up with the memory of Martial Styles, turning them all red in the process.

“You already know how memory crystals work… By the way, just like the crystals that I gave you yesterday, these memory crystals will also dissipate in a day. Make sure to use them up in time. Or you will be spending your Warrior Medals in vain.”

“…I understand.”

“Alright, who is up next?”

Before Alnea could say anything, Yuri took out exactly nine Martial Style Medals from her bag, and placed them on the counter.