Chapter 188 - A Different Set
A loud series of laughs erupted from the gem collector's shop. Connor was telling Isabelle what just commenced in the market and Isabelle and Kian were laughing at the story.
After Elliot's last words, Prius surprisingly retracted himself from the fight that was about to begin if they didn't stopped bickering. He surprisingly became calm and started to cite the article in the law that states that Adventurers can stop street fights.
"So your aura was the one that almost shook the shop, huh?" Isabelle placed her hands on her waist, narrowing her eyes at Elliot who was three inches shorter than she was.
"I thought it would get even stronger even. Good thing you controlled it," Kian said. "I waited for you to actually burst out, thinking there's another enemy. And I was ready to run outside the shop and help you in case a fight was going on."
"You do make a lot of enemies," Isabelle tilted her head and pouted. "Why is that?"
Elliot shrugged, "I actually don't know. And to think that I never actually thought of the reason before. But anyway, I'm here for you to check on something."
"Is it a gem?" Isabelle excitedly asked, grinning as she waited for Elliot to pull the item out from his Inventory. The grin was immediately wiped off from her face when the boy shook his head. "Oh."
"I'm here for a gem!" Connor excitedly raised his hands. "Kian, would you please take me to where the Ember Hearts are?"
"Are you sure? That'll cost you," Kian chuckled. "Ember Hearts are rare, as much as any other Heart."
"How much is their range?" Connor asked, gulping as he saw the confident smirk plastered on Kian's face.
"Let me show you to them first," Kian slung his arm around Connor's neck, leading the boy away from Elliot and Isabelle.
"So, what is it that you wanted to ask me?" Isabelle turned to Elliot.
"I want you to ask you about the Terran Royaly Series," Elliot said. "What does it actually do? And I thought they are for Adventurers who have the crafting subclass?"
"Yes, why?" Isabelle asked. "Is your system broken or something?"
"I don't get how it works," Elliot said. "Why would it boost my stats instead of decreasing the time for crafting or enhancing the quality of the item to be crafted?"
"But it does," Isabelle said. "What do you mean boost the stats?"
"I-It does not boost the stats?" Elliot asked in a stutter.
Isabelle slowly shook her head. "No, Elliot. Why is yours doing that?"
"I also don't know," Elliot replied with a sigh. "Perhaps it's because I'm a combatant and not a crafter?"
"But how does a combatant gain a crafter's unique feature though? Also, you are able to craft small things, and even Pull from Palace beasts. You're a crafter in that aspect."
"Is there any case that someone is a hybrid?" Elliot mumbled, trying to use a whisper-like voice to avoid being heard.
"I'm old in this field but I have never seen one," Isabelle said, making a cross with her arms to exaggerate. "Like, never."
Elliot felt defeated. He even looked defeated. The only thing he could connect to something that someone already knew and his cheat system was gone. His version was different.
"I have a book in my library," Isabelle said. "It's about the history and the function of the Terran Royalty Series. There're instructions there on how to maximize everything. Try checking it if the features have similarities to yours."
"Maybe I'll learn something from the history too, right?" Elliot asked. "Maybe I could find something there, an answer to why my own Terran Royalty Series has another set of boost."
"Okay, follow me," Isabelle turned and walked deeper into her shop. In the corner, left from he door, was a small library. The tall shelves of gems were towering over the stack of books in the area.
There embelished books with gems on them, making it obvious that they're about gems, were stacked neatly. Isabelle must've used up all her shelves for her gems tha she seemed to neglect the books with shelves.
They were on the floor, sorted with their color and contents. There was also a small desk and a chair behind it, Elliot assuming it was the reading area where Isabelle would read her books.
After all, being a collector and a crafter herself, Isabelle needed a lot of knowledge. She needed to know which gems are valuable and which are trash, which gems she should keep, and which ones she could sell.
"I love this spot like any other spot in my shop," Isabelle said. "This is where I learned and crafted my very first gem holder."
"That's nice," Elliot said with a smile on his lips. He could see Isabelle being busy rummaging around the piles and piles of books, reading a lot and absorbing as much information as she could.
"Now, where is that book?" Isabelle tilted her head and looked around. "In the miscellaneous, and in… here it is!"
"That was quick," Elliot commented that made the woman snort.
"You read this. If there's anything useful you could find, keep it, if not, bring it back, okay?" Isabelle said.
"Okay," Elliot smiled, stopping himself from wrapping his arms around the woman.
He suddenly felt sentimental. The words he said to his trainees shook him. He didn't make it this far without the help of these people. They guided him to the right path, keeping him away from walking to a bad turn that could put his life in danger.
"Thank you," Elliot smiled, placing the book in his Inventory and opening his arms. "Can I get a hug?"
"You silly boy, of course you can," Isabelle opened her arms and gave Elliot a warm hug.
Even when he was hugging his friends in a daily basis, Isabelle's hug felt different. It felt more of a motherly warmth that Elliot had been craving for years.
The bell of the door opened and a woman came in. Elliot broke loose from the hug and walked to the shelf that hid them from the doorway. His face brightened after seeing that it was Alice.
"Hey," Alice greeted. "You're here."
"Y-Yeah," Elliot said, scratching the back of his head as he felt his cheeks flush.
"Our little boy's a grown man," Connor dramatically said as he and Kian watched Elliot and Alice greet each other. "And finally too, he had no love interests ever since he was born."
"That's sad," Kian snickered. "He's too puny to date though. Maybe he could grow up a bit?"
"He's past that age," Connor deadpanned. "Thanks for this though. I will Asborb this once I get home."
"Remember what I told you," Kian said and Connor nodded.
"Of course," the blonde boy said with a smirk.. "We will win this Championship."