Moral Lesson

[Name: Vayu

Age: 12

Spirit Vein: Purple (Upgrade Requirement: 5,000,000)

Cultivation: Spiritual Dweller— 8 (Upgrade Requirement: 23,000)

Technique: Devouring Serpent Technique (Heaven-Unique)(Special Traits: Devour— 1, Assimilation— 1)(Upgrade Requirement: —)

]

'Boy! What's with that speed! And what's with that spirit requirement? Even I only need 29,000 for a breakthrough to rank 3 of Spiritual Enhancement!' Trilok wanted to smack the grinning Vayu.

"You'll really allow me to buy a cultivation technique and a skill?!" He shouted, but he didn't have a grace of a genius. Like Trilok, of course.

'Gracefully' cleaning the spit and crumbs of food latched on his mouth, Trilok growled and glared at Vayu, making the boy shut up and quickly eat his food.

"Boss, the market is already filled with... glum," Kol whispered.

"If the situation remains the same, it won't be long before the prices rise," she added with a sigh but her quickly moving hands depicted that she didn't care too much about it, at least, not now.

"It's not that bad. Noland and I are the only alchemists of the community aside from those good-for-nothing brewers who'll just mix herbs in your water. With the two of us controlling the purchases of the herbs and Roa using his authority to settle the stores that have good relations with us, the shift in price would only make a difference if the... supply line of various herbs from other regions starts to thin out.

Since these are extraordinary circumstances. Aside from the clauses to keep our terms and conditions a secret, the rest will be suspended. Of course, given that the situation only worsens."

Trilok waited for the two to finish up before they closed the store and left for the port.

Major community ships are divided into four sections. The living quarters. The port. The command central. And the Talisman Engine.

Where these four sections are built or how they are built is usually different from Ship to ship. For instance, the Trade Ship marked with an Ark's guild had the living quarters divided into four levels. The markets were, of course, included in this criteria. The Command Central, on the other hand, was built above the deck. The Port and the Talisman Engine, meanwhile, were close to the bottom.

The Silent Community Ship was built on the old architectural design. The large deck was the living quarters with various stores and places of entertainment built up. The Talisman Engine was built within the structure of the ship as its core. The command central was literally Jolly's place of stay. And the port was built near the stern of the ship.

The Port was always surrounded by stalls set up to quickly sell off the raw materials. Sellers from 'neighboring' ships come to sell a few goods here, too, and then return to their communities by the evening.

"Hey, Patty, what's with the sale?" Trilok stopped and looked over at the wooden stall with a frame marked with all sorts of discount offers but most of them were crossed off. Meanwhile, damp, yellowed cloth covered the desk of the stall with a grey-haired middle-aged woman sitting behind with an exhausted expression. She wore a green scarf over her head and got a red, dirty apron to cover her curvier front.

"If it isn't Trilok," the woman named Patty smiled, albeit, tiredly.

"Kol must have filled your ears about that pirate business, didn't she? Well, my son heard about it, too, and has been pestering me to return quickly!" She sighed.

Patty was one such seller from the community ship behind the Silent Community.

"Then what about your work? Smack the kid and he'll be quiet soon enough," Trilok smirked, making Vayu and Kol feel their heart clench.

"Hehe, being a single parent ain't no joke, Trilok. How about you pity an old gal like me, sweep the stock, and be my prince charming?" She inquired with a flirtatious wink.

"Well... I'd say that the word 'old' and 'gal' doesn't sound suitable. On the other hand, Old and the word Hag is a match made in heaven," Trilok rubbed his chin.

Patty had quite the open reputation. Given that she has a son on the other ship but also her own needs, Trilok could empathize with Patty's need to be away from her home while working. She didn't want to risk hurting her boy with her actions.

'As much as I admire her... none of her stuff is of any use to me,' Trilok gazed at the neatly chopped and sliced fishes on the stall while Patty shivered with rage.

"Hey, shouldn't your community ship be crossing pearl reef by now?" Trilok inquired.

"I'd buy as many cold attributed coral crystals from you. My guy isn't being too honest so this will be the perfect kick in the nut for him," he smiled.

"It'd take me a week to gather those... sigh, I suppose I can do that. And you better think about my offer. Everyone 'round here knows that Mama Patty got the best jugs!"

Kol covered Vayu's dazed eyes and glared at the middle-aged woman viciously. Meanwhile, Trilok shrugged and moved on, "Ask Noland. He keeps on harping about not having a mother. Maybe he'll appreciate the offer."

Patty fell in a daze.

'Damnit! I could have offered Noland, too... who would have thought the weird pervert has mama issues. And he just passed by a few minutes ago...' She sighed in defeat. Thinking of her son, her expression couldn't help but turn warm, 'He better be studying. When I return, I'll test him... hehe, I hope he doesn't get them answers wrong or else...' Patty shivered. Clearly, she had some strange issues, too.

---

"Ah, here it is!" Trilok looked to his left and found a shop built closer to the port guidance and reception. That's where Jeli had her job.

"Brother, after this, can I go find Jeli?" Vayu inquired.

"Focus on what's in front of you first," Trilok knocked on Vayu's head while Kol finally finished chatting with one of their suppliers and returned quickly.

"What did he say?" Trilok inquired idly. He had, of course made a few pleasantries with almost all the sellers on the way here. But he left the major negotiations with Kol while he explained about the shop they stood in front of to Vayu.

"He said that the market's not going to shift any time soon. Anyway, it looks like the Chiefs of various communities have collectively issued statements to the local vendors that Ark is taking the situation seriously. It looks like we'll receive a letter about this later in the evening, too."

"Well... that's shit," Trilok shook his head and read the sign of the shop.

-Moral Lessons-

'You enter the shop, pick something stupid, it will be a lesson. You get ripped off by the owner, it will be a lesson. You fall for the owner's tricks and end up giving him 4536 coins... it will be another lesson. What's the moral? The Owner is a crackhead with little credibility and amazing strength.'

Trilok recalled his 'lessons' from the shop.

"You'll enter first," Trilok looked at Vayu.

"Oh, ok!" Vayu chuckled and quickly opened the wooden door to the store with such a beautiful name.

*Pff*

A bucket of chalk fell over his head upside-down.

"First moral of today's lesson: Always knock before you enter! Kekekeke!"

Trilok and Kol smirked as they stopped near the entrance of the store.

"We're coming in, Galf!" They both shouted and a raspy chuckled echoed again, making the pedestrians behind the duo walking and observing the market scowl in anger and embarrassment as they recalled their fall at this shop, too.

"Come in, quick! Two richest youths in my shop at the same time!"