Chapter 20 Ravenwood's Shop

Leaving the shop, Aiden continued thinking about the weird reaction the dwarf was having when Maelis was talking to him, he found it weird. But as long as it didn't affect him negatively, he didn't care all that much.

After exchanging the core obtained from the boss monster, he had 1000 Credits to buy a dagger and maybe some light armor, to have some protection.

"Ready? Let's go to Ravenwood's shop," said Maelis, her attitude, once again, being positive and not aggressive at all.

She seemed to be the sweetest person that could exist but Aiden knew that wasn't the case anymore. He knows that he needs to be careful around her, not wanting to get on her bad side.

Those worries from Aiden were useless since Maelis only wanted to help him to recruit him into her family, but that was not information he knew about.

"Sure, I'll follow you," responded Aiden, as he showed the way in front of him and followed her tracks.

While going to the Ravenwood's shop, Maelis was telling Aiden what he should avoid when inside that shop.

"Aiden when we arrive there, just keep in mind that I won't be able to do the same thing as with the dwarf. The Ravenwood family is too powerful for someone like me to rival them," said Maelis, dead serious.

·ƈθm "Can I know what family, you're part of? Honestly, at some point I thought you were part of a founding family," asked Aiden, wanting to learn more about her background.

"I am part of a medium-level family called Everheart, and maybe I shouldn't tell you but I am the matriarch of that family," said Maelis, finally revealing her identity to Aiden.

"A matriarch is only on the seventh trial? Wa-Wait you're a matriarch of a family, how?" asked Aiden, confused.

"Well, I'm actually older than I seem, so don't get fooled by my appearance. And, no I'm actually a lot stronger than someone on the seventh trial. I am currently on the 26th trial of the Otherworld, which is one of the highest numbers of trials reached by a medium-level family."

"Wait, so you lied to me earlier? Why?"

"Yeah, I lied to you but it's not for any bad reasons, don't worry. The answer I gave about helping you is true and wasn't a lie. But, I can't tell you much more about why I'm helping you." said Maelis, keeping some elements of mystery about her from Aiden.

"And, the medium-level families, how do they compare to the founding families?" asked wanting to know more about the difference in strength between the families.

"Well, it's kinda complicated, just keep in mind that we are inferior to them and by a large margin at them because of all the special techniques they have decided to keep to themselves."

"What type of techniques have they developed over the years?"

"Well, each family has its strength and weaknesses, and all of them have different techniques which not many know nothing about. Even me, I don't even know their techniques, they are kept secret at all costs," said Maelis, emphasizing the fact that no one knows about them except a select few.

"So, even someone with your power doesn't know much about the founding families," murmured Aiden, thinking out loud.

"Now, that you know a little more about me, I want to tell you to be careful and to not show any hostility inside their shop or we would probably have some difficulty getting out of there alive."

"Alright, I won't take any chances I will let you do the talking. I'll just pick the dagger I want and I'll let you deal with them. Is that good for you?"

"Sure that works," said Maelis, happy that he wasn't someone that would be stubborn about things like this.

The more she learned about Aiden, the more she was captivated by him. She was sure that he would be the perfect choice as a new recruit for her family.

A few minutes later, as they were advancing in the streets that contained a lot of people, Aiden could see many types of shops, some of them looked abandoned while others were at the cutting edge of technology with people entering and exiting.

The UOS (Underground Otherworld Shop) was truly a one of kind place being able to welcome that many awakeners at the same time without any problem whatsoever.

After looking at the shops while walking, they finally arrived at Ravenwood's shop. It was splendid, it didn't look anything like the other stores. It was one big tower that seemed to be big enough to welcome at least 10000 people at the same time but the weird thing was that you could only see the tower once close enough to the store.

After entering the store, Aiden and Maelis were in one big circular hallway with weapons behind clear glass on both sides. All the people on this floor seemed to be completely silent, which was weird.

Deciding to expect the weapons behind the clear glass, Aiden was shocked at the price, the weapon he was currently looking at cost 100 000 Credits. He looked at another one and it was 75 000 Credits, how the hell would he be able to buy anything in here?

Seeing this, he decided to silently ask Maelis how he would be able to buy anything here, didn't she say that they had all types of prices?

"Hmm... I can't buy those weapons, I told you, I only have the 1000 Credits we just traded," whispered Aiden in her ear, not wanting to disrupt the people surrounding them.

"Don't worry those aren't the weapons we will buy, follow me. We need to go up," said Maelis as she pointed up and started going toward the stairs.

They were circular stairs and Aiden couldn't even see where those stairs were going.

"We have to climb for how much time?" asked Aiden, exasperated when seeing the number of steps he would need to take.

"Not long, don't worry," said Maelis, completely lying to him.

The climb would be a long and excruciating one.

***

Author's Note:

If I hit 100 powerstones before the end of the week I will drop one bonus chapter, might be two if I have time :)

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