Chapter 295: Perusing the Library (1/2)

”Aren't you the same?” Zac smiled. ”I heard you went out hunting during the night? Isn’t Billy with you?”

“With you gaining so many levels I can’t relax,” she said with some annoyance, though Zac knew she didn’t really mean it. “Besides, it seems the beasts are getting more aggressive.”

“Billy won’t be joining us today. He heard we were going to the library and decided to sleep in. Did you know he can cultivate while sleeping?” she then added as she looked inside the cultivation chamber with a slightly confused look.

Zac guessed she sensed the odd mixture of attuned energies inside since they hadn't completely dissipated, and he hurriedly closed the door behind him. It was only after he got out he had time to digest what she said. Zac didn't know how to respond to something like that, he had never heard of anything like it. Billy was truly one of a kind.

“Is that even possible?” Zac said.

“Apparently,” Thea said with a shrug. “Between you and me, I think Billy might have some special constitution or bloodline. Even I could see his huge form when he smashed the array back in the hunt.”

Zac agreed with Thea’s guess, remembering Billy’s golden blood and the ancient aura he emitted in his titanic form. Bloodlines and special constitutions were things that Zac still was a bit confused about though. Could one just gain them willy-nilly?

“Give me a second to change,” Zac said and hurried to the bathroom.

He felt a bit silly wearing the golden robes from Tyrbat back on Earth. It was one thing back on Port Atwood since he was usually alone cultivating or battling, but it was different here. He took a quick shower and put on his new Spirit Tool robes instead.

The clothes adjusted to fit him perfectly, and they felt extremely luxuriant. After checking himself in the mirror he had to say that he looked a lot better in the tasteful battle robes compared to the gaudy defensive suit the Medhin Royals seemed to prefer.

Zac even considered growing out the stubble on his head to a longer hairstyle like Yrial, but in the end decided against it before he got out. Thea gave him a once-over with her eyes, her brows rising slightly when she saw the intricate fractals drawn in red and blue.

”Looks nice. I still have the things I owe you, but space here is a bit cramped,” she said and led him out toward a garden out back.

The two kept making some small talk while they walked until they reached a secluded garden behind the huge mansion. The moment they arrived Thea immediately summoned a small mountain of treasures, but he was a bit curious to note that they seemed to have been sorted.

”Truth be told we went through the items, but I promise that not a single thing is missing. I oversaw everything,” Thea said before she looked over at a few crates. ”There are a few things we would like to purchase from you that we found in this pile.”

”Port Atwood is always happy to oblige in some trade, provided the price is right,” Calrin’s voice suddenly could be heard across the garden.

Zac almost jumped straight into the air in shock, since the voice had come straight out of nowhere. He quickly looked around to find Calrin standing just a few meters away. He saw Zac's shocked face and gave a small bow.

”I smelled treasure,” the Sky Gnome said as he walked over to the pile that Thea had indicated. ”I wonder what Miss Marshall would use in exchange for these treasures? You should know that Port Atwood currently lacks nothing apart from exotic treasures.”

”What are you doing here?” Thea said as she looked down at Calrin as he started rummaging through the things they wanted to keep.

”It appears our business interests have met a snag here in Westfort, so I had some free time to help out my good friend,” Calrin pointedly said. ”Now these are some valuable items, no wonder your force would want to buy them.”

Some annoyance started to appear on Thea's face, and she turned toward Zac. However, business was business so Zac only shrugged with a small smile as he let the two battle the out. He trusted Calrin's discerning eye. The gnome would neither let a real treasure slip through his fingers nor take a loss on the items he was ready to sell off.

In the end, Calrin staunchly refused the sale of two large crates of herbs, but he was ready to haggle for the rest. Zac didn't recognize those plants at all, but they weren't bad since they emitted pretty dense energies. As for the rest, it was sold for 124 million Nexus Coins that would be paid in three installments. At this point, Zac made sure that the money would go to him rather than the insatiable little gnome since this deal did not go through the Thayer Consortia.

The price itself seemed somewhat low, but it came with some strings attached. It appeared that the Business Venture that Starlight backed was also aiming to set up a branch in Westfort, and the Marshall Clan was happy to have the two businesses duke it out and provide better benefits.

Calrin managed to get a three-month head-start through this deal, barring the Flowing Moon Corporation from doing business at all during that period. Three months wasn't too much, but it was also a critical period on Earth. Large wars would take place, and Thayer Consortia would be able to unload its enormous stockpiles of equipment to the Marshalls and their allies.

Calrin’s original intention was for commercial monopoly though, just like he enjoyed in Port Atwood, but that was staunchly refused by Thea. Zac found that she was almost a completely different person when it came to business, and she gave the little sky gnome quite the workout.

Zac was also interested to see that Thea had no problems deciding these things on the spot, meaning that she might enjoy a similar status as himself in the clan. Zac let others handle most issues, but he always had the final say. Zac had assumed that Henry was calling all the shots since the family seemed to run like in the old world, but perhaps that wasn’t completely the case.

After they were done with the negotiations Calrin dragged him to the side.

“That’s a good one. Finding a wife with a talent for management will allow a man to adventure with peace of mind,” Calrin said with a satisfied nod.

“Great,” Zac sighed with a roll of his eyes. “What were those herbs you kept?”

“They are called [Cosmic Bloodroot] and are used to improve one's constitution. Together with the [Aetherbloom] we attained from New Washington and a few other ingredients we will be able to make extremely potent Medicine Baths to move constitutions toward D-Grade,” the Gnome Excitedly said.

Zac whistled in surprise. That was something that Port Atwood currently lacked. It wouldn’t be long before both himself and a handful of the Demons reached E-Grade, and having this would motivate them to contribute even harder.

After saying goodbye to Calrin he rejoined Thea as they walked toward the enormous seashell. Now that it wasn’t pitch-black outside he could see that it was a deep blue and shimmered like it was inlaid with crystals all along the surface.