Chapter 24: The Hidden Cost [Bonus chapter]

Chapter 24: The Hidden Cost [Bonus chapter]

A cold sweat slowly want down Alister's face. 15,000 Union Credits? That was a small fortune, especially for a new awakened like him.

He had managed to scrape together a 27,000 from selling the loot he'd gotten from the dungeon raid, plus the left over the headmaster gave him he had somewhere around 51,000.

But he would soon have to go visit Miyu and pay all sorts of bills, not to consider the fact he might not be going to the dungeon for a while because of the system's new quest.

So he couldn't just part away with such a larg sum like that.

"Uh, that's..."

He stammered, his voice barely a whisper.

"A little more than I was expecting."

Sarah's smile faded slightly, a look of understanding appearing in her eyes. Dealing with new awakeneds often meant encountering financial limitations.

"Well,"

She said, her voice softer now,

"We do offer a payment plan option, with a small down payment and interest accrued over a set period. Would you be interested in hearing about that?"

Alister's heart pounded. A payment plan was tempting, but the thought of debt hanging over his head was unappealing. He took a look at the sleek gloves and the unassuming pouch, their allure was undeniable.

They might be the key to maintaining his secret and slightly amplifying his connection with Cinder.

"Maybe not a full payment plan,"

He replied, his voice gaining a touch of confidence.

"But is there any way I can... negotiate the price?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow, a mischievous look lingering in her eyes. Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

"Negotiate? Now that's something you don't hear every day. But tell you what."

She leaned in conspiratorially, her voice dropping to a low murmur.

"These items are quite rare, and I wouldn't want them to sit gathering dust on the shelf. How about this? If you can answer a trivia question about reptilian summons correctly, I'll give you a 10% discount."

His next destination was within the same massive Union building – the Summoner's Association. Here, awakened individuals could register their summons, hone their skills, and participate in various challenges to test their abilities.

As he made his way trough the bustling corridors, with all sort of sounds filled his ears. Booming laughter mingled with excited chatter and the occasional roar of a summoned creatures.

He weaved his way through the throngs of people, their attire reflecting the diverse range of summoning specialties.

'Most if them look like scouting summons.'

Alister thought that depending on the size of a summoned monster, their roles could vary, just like the way awakeners had tanks and damage dealers. Summoned monsters could also take on such roles on the battlefield.

Suddenly, whispers reached Alister's ears. He caught sounds of small conversation that caused him to be a bit surprised.

"Did you hear? That guy over there... he's theone who cleared the A-rank dungeon?"

"Yeah, apparently he has an SSS-rank talent!"

"An SSS-rank? Isn't that also called god rank? That's unheard of!"

"Yeah, I heard he was a genius from one of the five major academics."

"Some say he was super talented but became a summoner."

"Shame."

"Then wait! How did he clear an A rank Dungeon if he's a summoner?"

"Some say he's probably got some kind of god rank summon already!"

"Then wait why is he doing here?"

"We'll find out soon enough, I bet. He's probably heading towards the summoning practice area right now."

Alister looked around a little, not enough to make things too obvious, 'This must be the uproar that Union officer was talking about.'

'Now that I think about it, I never got his name.'

'Well it doesn't matter, I'm actually pretty suprised one of the major guilds haven't attempted to scout me yet.'

He smiled slightly, thinking futher, 'That will probably all change after I get Cinder registered.'