Aiden wished to grow stronger more than anything else at the mont. However, he couldn't figure out how to raise his stats from within the system.
Aiden spent the better half of the next day walking around the city and gathering information about everything — the Cross Family, Desires, and the Seekers Guild.
In the end, he found himself sitting with a street vendor grilling sothing called Sunscale Skewers. It was grilled sunscale lizard at, dried citrus peels, pepperoil glaze, and fireseed dust.
Those were all things that Aiden had never tasted before, but the crunch and seasoning made him eat half a dozen of the skewers. The chef was a middle-aged man with tanned skin called Gabriel.
"You want to use my grill?" Gabriel asked while using a toothpick. "I don't let anyone use it. It's like offering your wife, ya know?"
"Do you even have a wife?"
"I don't, but that's the point," Gabriel said. "No grill!"
"Then, can you grill this for ?" Aiden pulled out a slab of at from his bag, which he had bought for a copper coin. Gabriel shook his head but froze as he spotted the at.
"That's so fine at," Gabriel said as he rubbed his chin. "The color… texture… and scent are all exquisite. Where did you find this?"
"The finest Yorn in all the land," Aiden said with a smile. Yorns were what people called cow-like creatures in this world. "Just try it."
Gabriel was skeptical but obliged. He began by crisscrossing the at with a sharp knife and then pouring a strange amber liquid.
"What's that?"
"at Eater," Gabriel said with a grin. "It's a plant extract that digests at. If used in the right dilution while cooking, it makes for an excellent fiber breaker."
"You know what fibers are?" Aiden asked with surprise.
"Of course I do," Gabriel said with a raised brow. "I was a seeker once, boy. I had to learn how my body works from the inside out!"
"Then, tell about how I can get stronger," Aiden requested. Gabriel glanced at him and resud grilling. The aroma filled the street, attracting so hungry custors.
After selling so of the at, the custors were gone, and Aiden remained alone with Gabriel. The at between them didn't distract Aiden from asking again.
"I want to know how I can get stronger," Aiden said. "My body is weak."
"That's because you don't have a clue about what controls this world, kiddo," Gabriel said. He picked a piece of at and devoured it with a satisfied grin. "Good at!"
"What controls this world?" Aiden asked with furrowed brows.
"I'll explain the basics, but you have to give the rest of this at," Gabriel said with a grin. "It will be my new trademark."
"Fine, you can have it," Aiden said with a sigh, not really regretting it since he had containers of this at. "Just explain how I can get stronger."
"Getting stronger is all about taming desires," Gabriel explained with a smile. "Rift, Bond, Void, and Rise are the four desires that manifested into our world. From them co other desires, or their combination produces more. Lust can be a Bond desire, and greed could be a Rise desire."
"What does that have to do with growing stronger?"
"There are manifestations of these desires, and people call them abilities, skills, or even powers. The na doesn't matter, but the essence is otherworldly abilities to rewrite reality."
"Like controlling fire," Aiden said, rembering Borin.
"Precisely," Gabriel said. "And others. Each of these abilities needs to be connected to a desire, depending on their kind. So abilities can be connected to more than one, but those are rare."
"And these abilities are the only ways to make ourselves stronger?"
"The abilities themselves grow, and you grow with them," Gabriel said as he pointed at Aiden's chest. "If you bind a power to your physique, then it would evolve alongside that power."
"…I get it now," Aiden muttered with a frown. "If I want to grow stronger, I have to do so through these abilities."
"Be careful, lad," Gabriel warned. "Each rank allows for only one ability for each of the four desires. Make your choice wisely, or you might end up as a cook like ."
"And how would I ascend to higher ranks?" Aiden asked.
"You must reach the threshold of your current rank, both in abilities and body," Gabriel explained. "Only then can you evolve into sothing greater than a human — a seeker of perfection."
"What do you an both in abilities and body?" Aiden asked. "I thought the two of them were the sa?"
"You have to harness the power that cos from your ability," Gabriel said as he finished the at and placed down the bowl. "Otherwise, you would simply see everyone firing their abilities."
Aiden couldn't understand, but he doubted a vendor could explain things more clearly. He needed soone to teach him these things — and as soon as possible.
He considered the Guild Master, who had asked to be his master. However, Aiden rembered how beautiful she was and decided against the hassle of being hated by her admirers.
Gabriel closed his stall for the day, and Aiden found himself traveling around the city again. For the entire day, he had been spreading rumors through drunken n about one of the noble families smuggling items through the docks.
Aiden chose the docks, which were on a giant river cutting through the city, because he could watch the situation from afar. He made sure that the rumor specified that the smuggling would occur as soon as the sun was down.
In order to check for any activity on the docks, Aiden spent most of his money on a pair of binoculars to view from afar. He found the highest building and hid on the roof.
And then, he waited for sothing to happen.
A few hours passed, and Aiden could not see anything out of the ordinary on the docks. He was sure that the rumors had spread enough for soone to arrive, or even the knights of the city to investigate, but there was nothing.
"I guess that proves it," Aiden said.
"Proves what?" a voice asked from behind him, and Aiden turned toward Raymond with a smile. "Why did you change our eting spot?"
"Because… I wanted to save your life."
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