The Psychic Trade

Chapter 8: The Psychic Trade

My mother strolled through the village with me strapped in a harness on her back as we walked closer to a small hut a little away. When we finally got there my mother entered without announcing ourselves, she acted like she owned the place. Maybe she did.

As we entered, my mother sat down in front of the fire pit and poured herself whatever was being made in the pot. Mind you, the resident of this humble abode was an elderly man sitting right in front of us. At least I assume he was elderly, he had far more wrinkles than his brethren and he was sporting quite the belly. He kind of reminded me of an elderly buddha.

"Sadbkd, cnkahbc. Jcdncakj?"

Oh, she's not speaking the same language. I definitely can't afford a new language skill either. Maybe I should go to sleep then? Well I was until some ugly kid decided to poke me. Hey, mom! I thought you were the boss here, why are you letting people mess with me? Show them how cool you are.

I was saying that, but mother just looked behind her briefly because i kept smacking her shoulder. She looked at the kid and as i thought she was going to go ham on him she just smiled a little and continued talking to the elder. 

Wait, was she not the boss? 

"Aunt Sam isn't our boss? She's Aunt Sam"

"Khdfksfd?" Ah I think the elder just asked the kid a question. 

"Asdn, cajaj aasn. Jddn…"

These conversations are annoying… wait did this kid just speak our language? 

"Yes?"

Oh I see. WAIT, are you talking to me?

"Yeah." The kid responded by nodding his head while looking at me.

Um, could you not tell people that I can talk?

"Hmm? Ok." Eventually the elder looked back at the child and threw a glance his way. I guess he was curious as to why this child was talking to a baby in such a weird way. Even my mother was starting to find it odd. I think she finds me weird.

"Gopo, khbcd." The kid looked back at the elder after hearing what he said and left. I guess the old man was getting fed up?

The two begin to talk again, but without any interruptions. Once they finished up, mother got up after having another cup of whatever she was drinking and walked out. 

When we stepped into the sunlight what greeted us were several barrels stacked atop each other, there were about 24 in total. I was about to question how these scrawny creatures could lift such things but I noticed that one of them had his hand to the air and a barrel was levitating where his hands were at. 

So this is real magic? I kinda figured this was a thing after seeing that my favorite aunt was a dragon but this is clear proof magic really exists in this world.

'That's not magic.'

'Ahh! Pilfer!'

'Who? I am Gopo.' Gopo? I looked around and I saw the kid walking up to me with something in his hands. I was about to ask what it was when he put it around my neck. It was a necklace, it had a few animal teeth on it and something that looked like a small dream catcher on it. I thanked the kid, but he just stared at me blankly.

I guess it didn't go through? Either way, my mother looks at it for a second I guess, deeming it safe. She just goes through life like that doesn't she? Not a care in the world. Either way, the boy walks away and my mother walks over to the barrels. 

She goes over to them and attaches a few scrolls on them and whatever that did seemed to work because a single portal opened next to it and the same guy who from earlier slowly moved all the barrels through. I don't know what happened but it was really cool.

Mother was about to walk through the portal when she remembered her main objective. She still had to give the elder the portal ring. We were about to head back to the hut when the earlier boy came back.

"The elder said to save the trip, and handing it to me is fine." 

What the? How did the elder know what we were about to do? I asked the boy again in my head but he didn't even look my way. I thought it was odd but before I could say anything my mother just did what he said and gave him the ring.

All and all this was the weirdest moment in my life. My mother walked through the portal and when we got to the other side they were already being unloaded with absolute care by a group of workers. They're pretty attentive over a few barrels of… wine? What are they exactly? 

My mother is walking right next to them, and I'm close enough to touch them so that's exactly what I do. Touch. Poof. Poof? Why poof? What happened to the barrel I just touched? It's like it disintegrated on me. Fortunately it was the one on the top otherwise a lot of barrels would fall and break.

I looked around me and the entire courtyard full of workers were staring at me in fear and they all had pale faces. Even my mother looked at me slightly shocked. Although only slightly, it was like she almost expected it.

"Continue what you were doing." 

Really? You just saw me turn something to ash and you're just walking away like it's no big deal? Even I'm shocked! This woman is way too level headed. 

No really, what was that?! 

'Hmm? Oh you finally figured it out. Oh dang, you got yourself some psychic bombs.' While we were heading to my room I finally got a message from my long lost enemy.

'What do you mean psychic bomb?! I thought that was wine!'

'Why would a baby try to steal wine? Dang kid, you're way more hardcore than I am. First you steal weapons of mass destruction from your own mother, now you want to throw a party for it?'

Weapons? I stole weapons? Oh my god.

'What kind of weapons did I steal? And where are they now?'

'They are all in your shop storage right now. If you click the sell button I would be willing to buy them off you, or you could trade them for items.' 

After hearing that I quickly look in my demon shop and notice a storage tab. What he said was correct. I could sell them to him… but it also says, [Listed Customer] and [Trade.] Does that mean I can trade with other people? It does, doesn't it, and Pilfer is trying to monopolize the market knowing him. Then again, it's not like a baby has many customers in the first place and a god would technically be the best person to trade with.

I'll complain later, for now let's see what he has for sale…

It looks like the same thing he's always had. It doesn't really change much. Where did he get those language skills anyway? Hmm. 

Blood Amethyst, a necklace that can make someone look more like a certain race (requirements: blood of the fallen race.) that's a bit morbid but ok. 

Next one is the Devil Mask. It can devour the souls of the person who wears it and can be hidden in the shadows. (sentient mask.) Why do you have this? How is this useful?

Ok what about eggs and stuff. This is the egg of a Tyrant Dragon, it's known to eat its tamers… Well at least I have a warning on these things. 

I'm seeing the words blood curtailing seagull so I'm going to skip eggs… Wait, didn't I already buy a few eggs I bought 2 months ago? You know what, those are sealed up for the time being. Let's leave them in storage.

Ok, what about skills? There has to be something valuable right…? Right? 

Ok, last one or I'm giving up completely on Pilfer. Rare skill, Sleep lvl 1, can cause others to get sleepy. (restriction: 1. Must be a magic super and 2. Lower level skill requires skin contact.)

Huh, this isn't that bad, 'Pilf What can it do at higher levels?'

'1. Don't ever call me Pilf ever again or I will send evil spirits to curse you and 2. That depends, every mage is different and it could either make everyone in a certain radius feel exhausted or fall into a deep coma. It could also help you invade other people's dreams. It is a rare skill afterall, if you get it to lvl 10 it should evolve into whatever suits you or you could forcibly mold it yourself.'

For some weird reason I keep hearing who cares, just buy it! In the back of my head, but it does sound tempting.

'But I should definitely return the bombs back to my mother…'

'Nah don't do that, it didn't even seem like she cared all that much. Besides, you haven't had the proper mastery to control that ability of yours. You could just as well accidently drop a massive bomb on your whole city or bigger!'

Bigger? I didn't think of that, if I resummon the barrel it could very well be five or ten feet in the air and they seemed pretty fragile from how those workers were treating it.

'Ok, I'm sold. I'll buy it.' I quickly press the trade button hoping to try the skill out until I finally just realize something. 'How many psychic bombs did I have?'

'Enough to buy 5 more normal skills and the mana veins to… You know, become a super. Don't worry I'll send you a bottle of wine as a complimentary gift for being a BIG spender. On the house for the little thief.'

I couldn't help but sigh and regret my impulsive behavior. Dammit.