"What?!" Talon blurted out unconsciously when he heard the number. It imdiately struck his mind where he least expected it. "A few million kiloters in depth? That's ridiculous."
"It is pretty deep. Usually, Aetherial Lakes go deep enough to reach the core of the planet. In this planet's case, it's a few million kiloters down to the core, so it goes that deep. The amount of water in such a seamless lake is unfathomable." She replied with an impressed look on her face.
Even though Acrypha was knowledgeable about this phenonon, she still finds it fascinating to talk about. These lakes are the perfect example of 'Don't judge a book by its cover'. They looked small, almost like puddles of water. But, their depth and history were simply unfathomable.
"Wow…" Staring back at the Lake, the light in Talon's eyes changed. At first, he didn't think much of them, but now he understood how terrifying these lakes are. "But, if soone falls here, or if soone puts their hand in it, wouldn't it be a problem?"
"Hmm, not really. Aetheris-imbued water doesn't get dirty even if you try to pollute it. Aetheris naturally purifies it and disintegrates all harmful substances in it. As for drowning. Well, most people can't drown in it because they have Aetheris in their bodies which makes them float in it automatically. That doesn't an that you cannot drown though, as it all depends on you." She explained.
"Hmm, very convenient to know."
'If I end up in a sea of this water in the future, at least I won't have to worry about drowning if nothing attacks . My title Sea Hunter would also help greatly.' He thought to himself as he finally took a handful of water and drank from it.
"Mmm, delicious." He murmured with a satisfied look on his face. This was by far the freshest water he had ever drunk by a far margin. It felt so pleasurable going down his throat and it rejuvenated his Aetheris even more.
"Here, drink so too." Saying that, he extended his hand for Acrypha to try it.
"Is that really fine?"
"Of course, oh wait, my bad! Haha, you can drink on your own." He said with a laugh as he was about to pull his arm. "My hand might be dir-"
Before he could even finish the sentence, Acrypha grabbed his arm and pulled it toward her before she put her lips on the palm of his hand. She used her other hand to put a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
Talon watched that happen with slightly widened eyes. He didn't think Acrypha would actually drink from his hand and for so reason, it appeared very sensual in his eyes. Such a one of a kind beauty was using his hand to drink water, it was weirdly a pleasant feeling to experience.
Eventually, Acrypha pulled herself away as she licked her beautiful, red lips. "Mm, not bad." She said with a smile.
"..." Talon blinked silently as he looked at her.
"What?"
"... Nothing." He replied as he turned away and pretended as if nothing happened. He didn't want her to tease him seeing him blush. "Ehem, in any case, let's continue moving. I don't have much ti left for exploration so I have to go back."
There were a few hours left before he needed to go back to the inn and et up with Emino. After recently discovering that he could coat his hands with Azure Flas and even coat his weapons with them, he was eager to practice this new discovery. It was such a ga-changer for him that he can't simply ignore it.
If he could master such a technique, not only was his attack power going to evolve to a whole new level, he also would be able to face enemies way stronger than him. He already can do that with his base stats, so imagining the change this buff could do on him was mouth-watering.
With that, Talon jumped on top of the building and started heading back to the inn. He wanted to find a quiet area where he could train without worrying about soone bothering him.
As he was moving from one building to another, Talon's eyes fell on sothing eye-catching. "Hmm?"
Halting on top of a building, he approached the edge and looked down with a confused expression. 'What was that feeling?' He asked himself confusedly.
A few seconds ago, as he was jumping, his senses caught a weird sensation of sothing close by. He couldn't wrap his head around what it was, but he was certain he felt it. Standing there, he extended his senses farther than before and focused on them.
Much to his expectation, he located that source again. It was a very prominent yet faint cluster of Aetheris in one single place. In such a vast city, this place stood out like a sore thumb because of how odd it was.
"Do you feel that, Acrypha?" He asked his companion.
"Of course. This is certainly interesting." She replied.
Looking around him with his piercing eyes, he easily found the place. In a small corner of a dark alley, there was a small, old building that was seemingly inconspicuous at first glance but was carrying such an interesting thing about it.
'A shop?' Talon raised an eyebrow.
From the old, barely hanging sign on top of the door, he read 'rit's Emporium' in crude handwriting. The entire place looked shady and weird. But, that didn't push Talon away, in fact, it made him even more curious about this Emporium. Conveniently enough, the door had the sign 'Open', hanging on it so it was as attractive to Talon as it could be to go there.
"Sigh, I want to go and practice. But, I really can't let such an interesting place go, can I?" He murmured as he shook his head.
Acrypha stared at him silently which made Talon shrug. "You know , Acrypha."
"Yeah, that's why I didn't say anything." She replied.
Hearing that his companion wasn't against it, it helped Talon make up his mind completely. With that, he jumped down from the building and started walking toward the small shop.
Since it was in the corner of a small alley, no one was there to see him and it made the general atmosphere around the place gloomy and weird. In the alley, he saw small rats moving through piles of garbage and a few puddles of dirty water here and there.
'Interesting place…' He thought to himself.
Eventually, he reached the door. He noticed so light inside through the foggy window which ant that it was indeed open for custors. So, with that in mind, he pushed the door and walked inside. A rusty bell made weak jiggling sounds as the door opened.
What he saw inside made him stop for a second. The shop was dark, as expected. It had a few candles hanging on the wall here and there for so light but it only made the place seem even darker.
The walls were charcoal black, perhaps made out of special stone or simply so dirty it changed color. On his right and left, long shelves of dark wood were placed ssily. Each shelf was filled with countless items, old and new.
Each item had so kind of aura to it, as they were all either foreign artifacts, weapons, or other items that Talon couldn't recognize. On the opposite side of the shop was a small counter where he saw soone sitting. It was seemingly a male, a younger one at that.
From the first look, Talon could guess that he wasn't any older than 15, if not younger. He was seemingly sleeping with his head resting on his hand. He had ssy black hair that covered his forehead and eyes and shabby clothes that made him seem holess. However, apart from that, the boy was as eye-catching as he could be.
Even without sensing anything from him, Talon could tell that he wasn't normal.
After a while, he approached the counter with careful steps. But, that didn't seem to wake the boy up. So, Talon opted for a more deliberate approach.
"Ehem, ehem!!" Coughing loudly, Talon tried to catch the boy's attention. However, that didn't seem to work too.
'What a deep sleeper!' Talon sighed as he spoke. "Excuse ! Is this shop open?"
No response still.
"Hey, you! Snap out of it?!"
Still no reply.
"Wake up, you idiot!!"
"I am already awake, goddammit! Stop screaming!"
At that mont, the boy suddenly opened his eyes as he yelled back in an annoyed tone. Talon stared at him with a surprised look.
"Do you not understand the signs? I was pretending not to hear you!" The boy yelled again.
"I thought you were asleep."
"Nobody can stay asleep with you being in the sa room. You couldn't be any louder, my friend!" The boy retorted as he rolled his eyes.
'This little shit…' Talon was on the verge of snapping at the boy but then decided to calm down and take a deep breath. As obnoxious as this boy was, it was their first ti eting so he had to be the mature one.
"I saw the sign that says 'Open' on the door so I thought you were working. Who can guess that you didn't want any custors?"
"Tsk, tsk, you do not get it, my friend. That sign is just for courtesy. It's there the entire day, every day. The truth is, I do not want any custors." The boy shrugged as he stepped down from his
'What kind of dumb logic is that?! Why do you have an open shop if you don't want any custors?' Talon blinked as he tried to understand what the boy just said.
"Anyway, since you are here and since I'm awake, I might as well give you an exception. Welco to rit's Emporium, I am the owner, rit. The greatest rchant in every dinsion." He said as he extended his hand to Talon.
A//N: Any kind of support would be much appreciated, thanks for reading.
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