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"Oh…this is so good stuff you have Uncle! Where did these ca from?"
Raven's eyes shone as he saw the crates that Marco was unloading earlier. One the said crates were full of marvelously marbled cut of ats which carries a faint sweet scent through his nose, there's also a wide variety of seafood, vegetables and fruits. In just one glance, he was able to tell that these aren't the normal goods that Marco usually had. This isn't to say that Marco's previous stock weren't of quality, in fact the reason why he cos here is precisely because of that. But the ones he had today are a bit special.
"Hahaha! They're better right? This old man sure knows where these stuff ca from!" Marco boasted. "Actually, it was the recent gossips that allowed to secure this…"
"Gossips?" Raven was intrigued.
"Oh? I'm assuming you haven't hear huh? Very well…" Marco sat down and passed an apple to Raven, he also gestured him to sit down with him.
"Few days ago, my wife told that she heard so bestial screech on a distant mountains, not too far from here, apparently she heard it when she was on the way to one of my suppliers. Of course you can't expect to believe that now right? We might be in the Outer Area of the kingdom but there are knights literally garrisoned nearby! If there really are beasts here, then they should've dealt with it already!"
"But lo and behold, she wasn't the only one who heard those bestial screeches. Many people started talking about that and it spread like locust, specially here on the market since most of the talkative people go here. Of course, soone raised this to the knights and they investigated the area. And surprisingly, there really are so beasts in there!"
"Oh!?" Raven raised his brow in surprise, he never heard this story before.
"They said it was ants. I didn't believe it at first so I check it out with my wife, and holy shit they weren't lying. But these ants aren't the normal ones, they're big! Big I say! And an too! Very an!" Marco was really into his story telling at this point.
"I saw a knight fighting one of those. It had large maw, nacingly large fangs, can spew out acid that could erode steel. The common ones are like the size of a regular horse carriage, but they're fast as well. The knight who was fighting it can't even handle it and called for reinforcents. But of course that wasn't the only the reason why I was there. Of course, I have to see them goods you know? And this my friend, is product that I t by chance. I proposed a deal with them and they happily agreed."
"Ants huh…" Raven pondered for a bit, there is a knowing smile in his face as his curiosity was piqued. He then whispered the words: "New playground for …"
"What did you say?" Marco heard Raven's mumbling but it was a bit inaudible so he had to ask.
"Nothing…" Raven smiled and stood up, he then started picking supplies for their daily consumption. "I'll take these Uncle."
Marco laughed as he saw the enormous amount of food that Raven picked, which was a good 50% of his entire stocks, he briefly rembered the first ti that Raven did this and he rembered not being able to speak for quite soti after that. Now he could just laugh it off since he was used to it. Marco also gave him a discount since he was buying in bulk, he didn't need to do it, but this was a sign of goodwill from a supplier to the consur, Marco already saw Raven as his patron and thus he did this. Of course Raven won't say no towards it. After the calculations were over, Raven placed the supplies on his spatial ring and said goodbye to the old man.
***
"Holy shit bro!"
Back in the stone house, Raven and his crew are on the table, feasting on the recent acquisitions of Raven. Paul exclaid and was almost move to tears.
"It'sh sho hood!" He exclaid once more while his mouth was full.
The rest agreed to his claims but unlike him, they just silently devoured the food in front of them. The boys had long since ignored using utensils and stuffed their mouths using their bare hands. The girls were a bit more refined, they were using utensils to also continuously devour food. The person who probably has the smallest appetite here would be Anne. Since she could 'only' eat at least five servings of food and she does it slowly.
After eating, loud burps from the guys echoed across the room without causing the feel any remorse.
"Those were so good stuff there Avi! Where did you get it?" Ellen asked after they eat.
"Oh that? It's from the sa guy where I usually get food from, apparently there are so rare specins that ca out of nowhere, just behind the mountains not too far away from the market. So ants showed up, the army killed so and he bought the carcass, and the rest should be common sense for you." Raven explained while holding a glass of water.
"Ants? You an we just ate ants!?" Ellen exclaid which caused the rest to look towards Raven as well.
"Yep!" Raven said non chalantly, "They're good right?"
"Honestly…yeah." Ellen said in a bewildered sigh. She was finding it hard to accept the fact that Raven just fed them ants but she was already digesting it, and it was really good along with Raven's culinary skills so there's nothing much to say.
"Wait, wait, wait…" Anne chid in, "You said 'so ants showed up, the army killed so'. Why does the army needed to kill ants?"
"Cause they aren't regular ants. Their queen probably awoken the bloodline of a Lord Ant, I'm not sure, I have to see for myself to confirm it." Raven replied after drinking a glass of water.
"Lord Ants? If I rember that correctly, then a regular ant of that kind should be the size of a hill then. Records said that they are unusually aggressive and tough to deal with." Mark said.
What Mark said was actually incomplete. The sizes of the regular Lord Ants are not 'should be' but 'at least' the size of a hill. The more stronger ants are much bigger than that not to ntion the queen herself is at least the size of an entire mountain. And it isn't unusual for Lord Ants to be aggressive, in fact they are actually supposed to be aggressive since they are natural born predators. The Worker Ants often hunt deers, elephants, tigers, lions, bears, hippos, boars, and many more to being back to the colony. The Soldier Ants hunts demonic beasts for the colony and most of the tis, they are the ones who are tasked to search for the Queen Ant's personal food. The Queen's diet should be monitored and healthy so that she will lay healthy eggs. This will continue until there is enough ants to constantly expand the colony.
"Yep, that's the one. But again I'm not exactly sure. The dealer said that the ants he saw were at the size of normal horse carriage. If that's the case, then their bloodlines mustn't be that pure. But then again I have to see it for myself."
There is an unusual excitent on Raven's voice, which were naturally captured by his friends. They watched as he took out a mortar along with so herbs and seeds. He then started grinding them onto a paste.
"Wait, you an you truly are going?" Paul similarly asked.
"Yep." Raven replied non chalantly once more. Collective sighs were heard across the room, it was like saying that they were sohow expecting him to say that. These people were together for months now, Raven is such an enigmatic person that they beca numb about the decisions he make on the the fly.
"What are those for then?" Paul asked once more.
"Disguise. It's a paste that will change my appearance and my bone structure, once I apply this, not even my dad would be able to recognize ."
This was another shocker, they never heard of any pastes that could do that. If this thing made it out on public then it will surely cause a huge stir, but it's Raven that was doing it so it should exist, and precisely because it's him, then he naturally won't do anything reckless like selling the formula for money.
After a couple of minutes, Raven finished the process. He then used his hands to apply the paste all over his body. Monts later, his figure started changing. His hair beca slightly longer, his eyes changed colors, his beca taller and even grew a beard. The transformation was over before his friends realized that he was actually transforming right before their very eyes.
"Ho. Ho. Hmm…" Raven spoke and noticed that even his voice beca deeper, he smiled and looked towards his friends.
"You guys wanna co?"
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