Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 688: Stocking Up

“They probed our souls with some sort of treasure,” Vilari muttered a few moments after the trio had left the balcony. “I wasn’t able to block it out.”“They did?” Zac exclaimed. “I didn’t notice anything.”

“Young master’s soul is strong, but you ultimately aren’t a Soul Cultivator,” Vilari said with a slight smile.

“What’s your take on the situation?” Zac asked.

“Her soul was stable throughout. I think she was mostly truthful in her words,” Vilari slowly said. “The large one was threatening, but it would be the small one you would have to worry about. I sensed wild fluctuations in his soul every time you were disrespectful to the Draugr.”

“A real mess,” Zac sighed. “Well, no point in staying here. Are you feeling better?”

“Much better, thank you,” Vilari nodded.

“Alright, let's go,” Zac grunted as he stood up. "The place Catheya is putting us up in doesn't sound too bad."

The two left the incensary a moment later and found a subdued Nala waiting outside. He needed to consider his next step, and he had Nala take them to the high-quality hotel on a disk partly owned by Clan Sharva'Zi. There was no point in avoiding that place now that he had already been spotted, and it truly was a luxurious place.

The hotel was actually a vast forest, where each room was a mansion surrounded by wilderness. The forests were not the deathly and seemingly haunted forestry of the Dead Zone back on Earth either, but rather beautiful trees with silvery leaves and white trunks. There were also similarly-colored bushes that made up some of the undergrowth, and they grew what looked like metallic pinecones which sounded like chimes when they were rustled by the wind.

They didn't have to slog through the forest, but an attendant rather handed them unique teleportation tokens that took them to a small square outside the walled courtyard leading to his mansion. He sent the attendant away after having him provide Nala with a token as well. He sent Nala away as well, though asked her to come back in twelve hours before he and Vilari went inside the mansion.

Catheya suddenly appearing had put him a bit on the spot even if he had prepared a bit beforehand. He had been forced to make some decisions quickly, but he felt things worked out for the best. The deal she offered was really fair as far as he could tell. Catheya's party would get the first three Life-Death Pearls they found as payment for providing the path and method to push away the restriction of the Twilight Ocean.

After the first three, the group would draw lots and then distribute the following pearls thereafter. Furthermore, the group would consist of 8 members at most. Seeing as there were up to 100 pearls to gather, which usually grew in the same area according to Catheya, he might get his hands on more than ten Life-Death Pearls. These kinds of items generally lost their efficacy after a few uses, so it would probably be more than enough for him.

Still, the mission would mean traveling with both Catheya and strangers for months. Not only were there risks of betrayal, but also of his real identity being exposed. It didn't look like Catheya managed to find anything out during their meeting, but that didn't mean she bought his spiel hook, line, and sinker.

Thankfully, they had only come to a verbal agreement, and Zac would only have to sign a proper contract before getting the VIP-skill.

Before then, he needed to figure out his plan. One of the main goals for this trip had been to find some basic methods and treasures for himself and the Einherjar. The second goal was to

“I am partaking in the Twilight Ascent and wanted to see if your store has some items that could be of use,” Zac said.

“Our stock definitely can’t match that of the grand establishments of the Heartlands, but it is at the level of a Kingdom’s medium-tier establishments, housing up to Peak D-Graded pills and compounds thanks to a certain patronage,” Yilian smiled, clearly with some pride.

Zac slightly nodded, actually a bit surprised. To boast a stock that could match a B-grade Kingdom's mid-tier Pill House was quite a statement for a shop in a remote sector like this. Zac had already asked Nala to make sure, but the Sector housing the Twilight Harbor, the Zervereth Sector, was just C-Grade. It seemed a lot more powerful than Zecia, but it was ultimately just a slightly more bustling frontier sector.

Zac doubted the Zethaya Clan would dare to make such a proclamation and compare itself to stores in a B-Grade Human Empire, and it made him look at the inventory crystal with even greater enthusiasm. Of course, he tried to play it cool at the surface as he scanned the endless rows of products.

“Perhaps you could make some suggestions,” Zac eventually said after a few minutes. “I am bringing a few followers, so I need a few sets of Healing, Soul-mending, soldier pills, and perhaps berserking pills. Top quality, of course.”

Zac obviously wasn’t bringing any followers, but would a vaunted pure-blood Draugr hailing from a proper Kingdom need to buy his pills in a store here? Wouldn’t his clan provide? So, he rather made a fib about followers. He needed a large number of pills in either case since there was no telling when he would get access to buy items for his undead side after leaving the Twilight Harbor anyways.

“The Twilight Ascent is a Heaven-controlled event, and the E-Grade Ascent has a limit of quasi D-Grade pills,” the clerk said. “Our top pill line is called the Dawn-series, and it is available both as Peak E-Grade pill and quasi D-Grade. The line has everything you require, except berserking pills. We currently sell special kits at discounted prices if the young master is interested.”

Zac blankly looked at the attendant for a few seconds, trying to hide his confusion. Quasi D-grade? What the hell was that?