Leon’s dark eyes sparkled as he came to a stop in front of the stall. The stall owner had already noticed him and seeing the awe that was in his eyes, she chose not to disturb him yet, but instead, give him a moment to appreciate what he was looking at.
As usual, Nedra tagged along, and when she saw what Leon was fixated on, she laughed. Leon was eyeing a black windbreaker with a high collar.
“How much for this?” Leon finally snapped out of his daze and turned to look at the stall owner. The old lady had a warm smile on her face as she came over to hold the windbreaker in her hands.
“Well, young man, it certainly is not cheap. Hold it yourself.” She said. She did not give a clear price, but passed the windbreaker over to Leon. When he held it with his own hands, his eyes went round. The texture of the cloth was so smooth and surprisingly thick, yet light. Seeing this, the old lady continued speaking.
“This windbreaker is made out of Night Deer fur. That is a B rank beast, to be clear, which means it is not easy to hunt. Sadly, no one who has come across it today believes me and thinks I want to scam them of their money… Stupid brats.” She shook her head. “The selling price for this one is twelve silver coins.” She eventually said.
“Cough-!” Leon choked on his saliva when he heard that. It was too absurd! Twelve silvers for just this? It was almost daylight robbery in his eyes! One health recovery potion was a single silver from the shop where they had bought their potions. He could get twelve more potions with the money for this!
Seeing Leon’s hesitant expression, the old lady sighed and shook her head. Another lost customer. She turned around to return to her seat when Leon’s hesitant voice reached her ears.
“I’ll buy it!” Leon said. His eyes were shaky, and his fist trembled a bit, but he held firm.
“That’s wonderful!” The old lady clapped her hands and brought over the windbreaker with a wide grin. “I promise you will not regret this purchase.” She added as he handed her the twelve silver coins.
After that, Leon returned to Green Gate feeling much poorer than when he had left a couple of hours ago. When they got to their room, Leon pulled off the robe he was wearing and put on the new windbreaker he had just bought.
The moment the soft fabric of the windbreaker touched his skin, a shudder went through him, and his eyes snapped wide open as a small screen popped up in front of him.
[You have put on Night Cloak! +20 Agility.]
“What?” Leon was stunned.
“Hmm? What is it?” Nedra asked.
“This… this windbreaker just gave me an additional 20 points in Agility,” Leon mumbled, raising his arm to look at the dark material of the windbreaker. Nedra was surprised, and held her chin in thought, her white brows coming together in thought.
“I can not remember ever hearing of something similar from my former master. Maybe we should ask Curtis.” She shrugged after a minute spent on fruitless thought.
“Sure, but tomorrow. I need to finish the book on water magic.” Leon agreed and pulled off the windbreaker. He put it in the wardrobe and sat down on the bed with the journal on water magic in his hands.
Hours passed, and morning soon arrived, but Leon did not leave his room. Instead, he poured his mind onto the book and absorbed as much knowledge as he could from the book.
[+1 Intelligence]
[+1 Intelligence]
[+1 Intelligence]
…
[You have gained Normal’s Legacy!]
[You have acquired a new skill: Apprentice Water Magic!]
Leon snapped open his eyes as they glowed with magical power. All the information contained within the journal was assimilated with his mind through a mysterious means he did not understand, but that did not matter at the moment.
Unrelenting waves of mana assaulted Leon’s mind, and his eyes began to glow with a bright light. Waves of ethereal power that resembled actual waves of water spun around the room, getting Nedra’s attention. The white-haired girl snapped to attention and rushed over to Leon’s side.
“Leon? Leon, what’s going on?” She poked and shook him, but he remained in a trance-like state.
‘There’s only one more way.’ She thought and sat down cross-legged beside Leon, folding her hands in her lap, and closing her eyes. Then she concentrated, focusing on the mental link that she shared with Leon. At once, she felt her perception warp as her mind was taken to a whole other plane.
When Nedra’s vision stabilized, she found herself standing in the middle of a dark sea. Black water extended outwards in every direction. Looking around, she immediately found a very conspicuous landmark in this strange place.
‘This is… Leon’s mental space?’ She thought as she looked at the massive, swirling pillar that was made of a pitch black substance. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the black pillar closely resembled the same material that made up Leon’s bones!
Whoosh!
A pillar of dark water suddenly gushed up into the air, alarming Nedra.
“Leon!” She exclaimed, as she suddenly saw Leon’s body being lifted up into the sky by the pillar of water. His black bones glistened in the dark light that shone throughout his mental space. His body floated above the pillar of dark water, his bones being constantly washed by the waves of water that made up the whirlpool.
A blue glow suddenly flowed through the pillar of water, rising up to the top where Leon was levitating. It washed over him, and Nedra felt a strange pulse of information pass through her own mind.
“This is…!” Her eyes were wide as knowledge, both theoretical, and practical, flowed into her mind.
[You have acquired a new skill: Apprentice Water Magic!]