81 The Genes Skill Store (Part 2)
Undecided about which skill he should choose, Luke was tempted by two in specific, the price of each was only 100 silver coins.
“Will you read this one again, please?” The half-wolf asked Nathalia, handing her the small parchment, which had a purple band locking it and a tag hanging from it.
Written in cursive handwriting was the description of Gene’s Skill that occluded within the parchment:
<strong>[Skill Name:</strong> <Sirkelig>
<strong>Level:</strong> Uncommon.
<strong>Description:</strong> A ten-foot circle is created on the ground. This circle provides a 10% boost to the user’s critical hits and decreases 50% of all Status of the Supernatural Creature within the circle.
<strong>Price:</strong> 100 silver coins.<strong>]</strong>
“Hey, old man! Why is this uncommon skill so cheap?” Luke inquired the simple man who served Alexis at the counter.
The man looked in his direction curiously and, like a good merchant, recognized the scroll just by seeing the label and the purple bow on the scroll.
“Ah! The man who sold me this skill was suspicious and sold it for a very low price! Since he didn’t give me many details of how he got it, I decided to sell it for the same price I bought it, so I wouldn’t get in trouble!”
‘So, if he was suspicious, he may well have lied about what the skill does too.’ Luke cogitated on the possibility. “You do refunds!!!?”
“No! It’s at your own risk!” Like everything else in the adventurer’s course, buying and selling Gene Skills is also a high risk. There are no ways to know what is inside a scroll until you open it, so consumers and sellers need to trust each other.
“Would you like me to reread the other skill?” Nathalia inquired, realizing that the half-wolf was quite engaged. ‘He looks so cute when he acts like that…’ she said to herself, watching Luke act elated as he analyzed the skills.
“Yes, please.”
<strong>[Skill Name:</strong> <Connect>
<strong>Level:</strong> Uncommon.
<strong>Description:</strong> Provides a significant damage increase for each hit of a combo of up to eight hits.
<strong>Price:</strong> 100 silver coins.<strong>]</strong>
“That one looks pretty good.” Alexis praised, approaching after finishing transferring the skills.
“You’re right, but I don’t think that skill suits Luke’s fighting style very well,” Nathalia answered her.
“Really? To me, it seems like it matches perfectly.”
“No, no… Luke is a stealth warrior who finishes off most monsters with a single blow, plus he’s very good at dodging.”
The Elf’s description was going on the opposite side of what the half-dragon witnessed in the two battles alongside Luke. Against the first demon, Luke fought bravely as a decoy, who captured the demon’s attention with ease until Alexis was ready for the seal.
And in the second battle occurred the exact same way at the beginning. Although she did not see how the fight between Luke and the second demon ended, she knew that it was not stealthily because of the several wounds the receptacle had in the region of its abdomen.
“You’re right.” The half-wolf said to Nathalia. “I have always trained to fight stealthily and have great limitations when I have to face an opponent head-on.”
The half-dragon analyzed the flashes of memory she remembered of Luke’s battles for a while. “So, you’re a Rogue, but you basically improvise a warrior class when you have to?” She inquired Luke.
“What’s a rogue?” He asked, not understanding what she meant.
“Rogue is the role of a person of stealth skills, who can carefully analyze and discover patterns of monsters and Bosses.”
Bringing his hand to his chin, Luke pondered for a while. He felt that the girl’s classification somehow fits him.
“That’s exactly what he does when he lets me fight! However, when a strong monster appears, he puts himself in danger without hesitation.” The Elf exclaimed excitedly.
“Here’s your money, young lady.” The store owner said from the counter, catching Alexis’ attention.
As she approached, she saw nine gold coins in the man’s fistful. She took a tiny disappointed amount, thanked him, and walked back to Nathalia and Luke.
As soon as she approached, Luke got out and walked over to the counter. “Which of the two did he choose?” The half-dragon asked Nathalia.
“He chose the <Sirkelig>. Apparently, he wants to be ready if we face other supernatural creatures. Like ghosts and demons.”
Luke was upset that no cheap skills sounded interesting to complement, but he was glad he found something to help him when the demon came back for revenge.
“I’ll want to buy that skill, please.” He said to the merchant, placing a purple bow scroll on the table.
“All right, it’s 100 silver coins.” The man asked, surprised that Luke was willing to buy that skill.
Since he didn’t have the exact amount, Luke gave him one gold coin and waited for the man to return with the change; however, he couldn’t bear to wait any longer.
‘I can open it, no? I already paid.’ He thought literally seconds before opening the parchment.
[Skill <Sirkelig> learned.]
The voice resonated in the half-wolf’s mind, and he felt pleasure hearing it. Every time he remembered that he got stronger, that voice was present, so it was undoubtedly always comforting to listen to it.
After Luke received his change, he left the store, closely followed by Nathalia and Alexis.
For some reason unknown to Luke, the half-dragon began to glare at him as they walked to the post office as if she wanted to talk to him, but whenever he glanced back, she immediately stopped looking.
Disregarding any possibility that he had offended her in some way, Luke didn’t care much and just deduced that the woman was wary of his presence.
When they finally arrived at the post office, which was close to the outskirts of the Guild, the half-wolf noticed that the area was busier than on previous days.
Among many buzzing conversations, Luke realized that the subject of many of them was the same.
“A partner of mine died… I need to know what happened! He was an experienced archer. How could he have died if he was outside the Dungeon!!!?”
“I know, ma’am. I understand you completely, I just need you to calm down.” The old Guild receptionist tried to calm down a tall, muscular woman causing a ruckus at the Dungeon door.
Behind the old man’s skinny body was a sign. On it was written:
[The Guild and Dungeon are closed until further notice. A formal pronouncement will be made at sunrise tomorrow].