30: The Merchant (4)

"So what do you want to know?"

The moment the merchant asked that question, Corey eyes shined and this time, he had the look of a hunter looking at it's prey.

"First question. How much is the actual price of the questions I asked previously?"

Corey asked and the merchant had a look of reluctance and pain.

He wanted to lie but he felt his head throb in pain which was a warning from the Universal System for trying to breach the contract.

With a reluctant tone he spoke.

"1 bronze coin."

"Hmm?"

Corey had a look of confusion hearing the merchant's reply.

He thought he heard it wrong

No

He must have heard it wrong.

Corey thought, while also thinking of him having to clean his ears one of this days.

Not hearing properly could have very terrible effects.

Just as Corey was deluding himself about what he heard, the merchant spoke softly.

"I said everything was one bronze coin."

"…"

Corey looked at the merchant with the blankest of looks and spoke slowly and calmly.

" So the price for the information about tiers was 1 bronze coin."

"You actually asked two questions so it was… tw- two bronze coins."

The merchant tried to defend himself but when he saw Corey's gaze become colder, he gulped and kept quiet.

Corey looked at the merchant with an extremely cold gaze before he spoke.

"From now on. I ask what I want and you just give me answers. You can lie by the way, I'm curious about what would happen to you if you breach the contract."

And without waiting for the merchant to reply, Corey continued.

"Explain fully how somebody becomes Tier 1 and what are tiers?"

Corey said and the merchant instinctively replied.

"That's two bronze coins."

Corey's eyes became colder and with a cold and threatening tone, he spoke.

" Did you forget what I said?

I ask

You give me my answer.

Nothing more, nothing less."

The merchant gritted his teeth in anger hearing and seeing Corey's cold tone and look.

He was a fucking tier 5 being but just because of the rules of the Universal System, he could not cause a single harm to any inhabitants of the planet unless they threatened his life.

If not because of the contract by the Universal System, he would have slapped Corey past his ancestors.

He was such an infuriating bastard especially when Corey was just a bloody non-awakened with below average talent in mana.

Just as the merchant was seething and cursing Corey and his ancestors. He heard Corey speak.

"Since you're not replying me. I can leave and tell everybody that you're a fraud without suffering the consequences."

The merchant saw Corey turn around and with panic, he quickly held him back.

"Stop, stop, stop. Alright I'll speak. Just don't ruin my fucking business!"

Corey turned back and looked at the merchant indifferently without saying a word while folding his arms.

The merchant cleared his throat then spoke.

"I was not lying when I said to become tier 1, you need to reach level 100. The thing is after reaching level 100, you would have to undergo a test to reach tier 1 in an evolution center.

I also said that you would gain a class after reaching tier 1. The Universal System would give you a class based on the things you have done before reaching level 100.

It would also give you a class based on the skills, talents or even items you have.

The better your achievements, skills or items you have and made, the better the classes the Universal System would give you.

There's still more but if I told you everything about Tiers we would spend the entire day here."

The merchant finished speaking while having a pained expression and also wailing internally.

'I made a loss. A very big loss!

Information this much I would normally sell for twenty bronze coins but because of this bastard! I only sold it for one!!

My precious contribution points!!'

Corey unperturbed by the murderous stare the merchant was giving him pondered for a few seconds before he asked another question with an indifferent expression.

"Is there an evolution center here in the academy?"

The merchant blinked hearing the question and was silent for a few seconds before the pain he felt in his head forced him to speak.

"There is none."

Corey's indifferent expression broke and he had an expression of shock hearing the merchant's reply.

"What do you mean none?

How can there not be an evolution center here in the academy especially when there is a monster that's probably stronger than tier 1 at the academy gates?

How do we now leave the academy?!"

Corey shouted with an expression of disbelief.

At first he didn't want to ask if there was an evolution center in the academy since he believed that there should be one especially when there was an extremely powerful monster at the academy gates.

But hearing there was none made Corey curse

Just what sort of fucked up situation were they in?!

Meanwhile the merchant seeing Corey's agitated smiled with glee and shrugged indifferently.

"I don't know how you're meant to leave the academy and it's not my problem.

The academy is not the only place like this. There are various places facing the same issue."

The merchant said while gloating in his heart.

'Karma's a bitch fool.'

While the merchant was laughing madly in his heart, Corey spoke.

"Then how do we get to tier 1?"

The merchant tilted his head and had a 'confused' expression. He replied with a smile.

"You go to an evolution center and take the test-"

Bang!

"Are you a bastard?"

Corey slammed the merchant's stall with his fist and spoke with an extremely cold tone.

The merchant chuckled. Feeling in control, he spread out his arms and spoke.

"Don't get angry at me young boy. I didn't cause any of this. I-"

"Answer the damn question. How do we now get to Tier 1 and don't you dare play tricks on me or I'm walking away for real."

Corey threatened and the merchant seeing his gaze filled anger and coldness made him realize that Corey would definitely do as he said.

Realizing this, he spoke.

"When you reach level 100. The Universal System will show you a map where various evolution centers are located. So you can choose to go there but there is no evolution center here at all.

So I don't know how you would reach tier 1 in the academy and like I said, it's not my problem."

Corey looked at the merchant for a few seconds before he exhaled softly then inhaled. He straightened his back, folded his back then with an indifferent expression, he spoke.

"What is the use of the Brand of Universal System?"

The merchant seeing him with an indifferent expression laughed.

"Why are you having that face now. Are you trying to be in control?"

He laughed once again but Corey just kept quiet and kept on looking at him indifferently.

A few seconds later, the merchant had to stop his laugh because of the growing pain in his head.

He grunted, then spoke with annoyance.

"The brand determines your level of authority and status. There are some things you cannot know or get unless your brand level is high enough.

The color of your brand determines the level of your authority and status.

It uses the colors of the rainbow per level, which means, red for level 1, orange for level 2, yellow for level 3, green for level 4 and so on.

Some levels of brands also come with some special features."

Corey spent a few seconds in silence before he asked another question.

"Is the brand visible to everybody? Also the translucent screen of a person's status window, can everybody see it if the person left it open?"

"…"

The merchant blinked with slight surprise and confusion.

"Uhm… Everybody that has the same level of brand can see each other's brand but cannot see the brand of somebody with a higher level of brand.

As for the status window question. As long as the person has a brand level higher than level 1, others would not be able to see it as long as they're not an expert."

Corey nodded slightly then asked another question.

"How does one increase their brand level?"

"Increase your tier or complete missions that the Universal System might give you."

The merchant replied then his eyes moved towards Corey's right hand, but seeing a glove on both his hands, he retracted his eyes.

'His should just be a level 1 brand.'

The merchant thought, dismissing his curiosity about Corey's brand level.

Corey saw the merchant's eyes go to his right hand and realized that the merchant tried to see the color of his brand.

He didn't know what would happen if the merchant realized that he had a level 2 brand at his level, but he felt that it would lead to unwanted consequences.

'Thank God I got the gloves.'

Corey thought then asked his next question.

"I see 'unranked' in front of my level. What does that mean?"

"Oh. It's because you've not reached Level 50. Level 50 is where you become awakened and can finally feel mana and your body starts to passively absorb mana… That is, if you've not absorbed it previously."

The merchant said and Corey paused for a few seconds.

"So my mana stat would no longer be 0?" Corey asked.

"Yes, it wouldn't be zero but to control the mana actively and use skills that require mana, you would need an intelligence of at least 300 or a talent that will grant you a very high talent in mana control."

The merchant replied but his last words had a mocking and disdainful tone to it.

He didn't believe that Corey would have an intelligence stat of 300 since for that to happen, Corey would have to invest at least 95% of his free attribute points to intelligence and from what the merchant has seen, Corey definitely did not do that.

Oblivious to the merchant's thoughts, Corey was silent for a longer period of time before he spoke, asking another question.

"What is an unranked skill?"

"I don't know and I don't care."

Corey frowned and observed the merchant for a few seconds but seeing no negative reactions from him made him to realize that he said the truth.

"Why is it that after absorbing the fourth soul stone of a normal Smiley, I didn't gain anymore bonus attribute point." Corey asked.

"So that your soul would be pure and you would not turn into one of them, at least that's what they told me." The merchant shrugged then continued.

"You can not gain anymore bonus attribute point after absorbing the fourth same type of specie. Also, the higher the level difference between your level and the level of the creature that you kill, the more bonus attribute points you gain."

The merchant said and Corey nodded slightly.

'Seems my decision to not absorb those soul stones was right.'

Corey thought then another thought popped into his head.

"Wait, so does that mean that somebody who is let's say born from a powerful family could just keep on absorbing soul stones of different species?

Won't their stats increase indefinitely?"

Corey asked and the merchant looked surprised, then he chuckled.

"Yes that would happen but everybody has a stat limit for each tier. So no matter how much soul stones somebody absorbs, they would eventually reach their limit for that tier though that limit depends on their genes, body, talent and a lot of other stuffs."

Corey released a soft breath of relief hearing that because if there was no limit then everything would be fucked up and unfair.

"Alright, I have just one more question after my next question."

Corey said and the merchant nodded, signaling for Corey to get on with it.

"What are the grades of equipment and do skills have grades also?"

"The grades of equipment are the same as the color of the rainbow. Red, Orange, Yellow and so on. Each grade has a specific name but it's only when you have a grade three brand that it'll show.

As for the skills, the Universal System would not put any grade beside it unless it's at least a legendary grade skill.

I don't know why but it's like the Universal System disdains to grade skills below legendary.

As for what's after legendary, it's mythic, immortal, ancient then divine grade.

I don't know if there's something after divine grade but I highly doubt it.

So what's your last question?"

The merchant asked and Corey asked the question that has been on his mind ever since he left the dormitory.

"I entered a building where whenever I open a door in the building, it would lead to a different environment with different monsters.

It did not only happen when I opened one door but several doors.

Explain to me what happened."

Corey asked and the merchant blinked.

"The number of coins I'm owing you cannot pay for this information."

The merchant not wanting to take a true loss, refused to give the information.

"Give me the information first then I'll pay."

Corey said and the merchant just sighed with a frustrated tone.

"Fine… The building you entered is what people call a dungeon. It has other names but people mainly call it a dungeon.

It's in a way, a place of Fortune and also death.

The monsters inside cannot leave until the Universal System decides to remove the barrier that prevents them from leaving.

Also if a monster enters the dungeon from the outside, it would not be able to leave the dungeon until the barrier is removed.

Why I said it's a place of fortune is because sometimes you can gain powerful items, treasures, skills and sometimes legacies. It all depends on luck and if you can survive.

Also not everyone can enter every dungeon, there are some dungeons where there are specific requirements to who can enter.

And that's all I can tell you about the dungeon. You're owing me one gold coin for that information. Make sure you pay in one month at most or suffer the consequences."

The merchant said stunning Corey.

"One gold coin?" Corey asked to be sure he heard right.

"One gold coin." The merchant nodded with a solemn look.

'If you don't pay you'll see if you don't become my servant for life.' The Merchant thought.

"Don't worry I'll pay." Corey took in a deep breath as he spoke.

Although he did not have a gold coin yet. He believed he could get one in a month.

"Oh, if you enter one of the dungeons in this academy and you find a golden blood, please bring it to me and you won't have to pay the gold coin. I will even reward you handsomely if you do. Oh and make sure you don't consume it, you'll die if you do."

Just as Corey was about to ask what the merchant meant, his phone rang.

Ring Ring

Ring Ring

Corey removed his phone from his pocket and looked at it with a curious expression, he thought it was his sister that called but surprisingly, it was Kyle.

He picked the call then spoke.

"Yo. What's up?"

"Are you level 50 yet?" Kyle asked, getting straight to the point.

Corey's mouth twitched.

'At least greet back you bastard.' Corey thought then replied.

"I'm almost there. I'm level 40 right now." Corey said.

"That's good. Me and the group are leaving in three days. Will you follow?"

Kyle asked and Corey seeing nothing wrong with that accepted.

"Sure why not." Corey said.

"Good. I'll be waiting." Kyle said then ended the call causing Corey to twitch his lips once again.

'Bastard.'

He looked at the merchant and saw that he had a slightly surprised expression, he didn't know the reason for that but he didn't care. He needed a few things from the merchant.

"I want to buy some things."

Corey said while his mind spun on how to mainly leave the school, not knowing that he had to survive the plan of his so called friend Kyle first.

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[A/N: Sorry for the late upload guys.

I was just not feeling alright when I wrote this chapter.

Also, sorry if you don't enjoy this chapter. Like I said. I was not just feeling alright while writing this chapter.

I need a very long sleep and I hope I can get it.

Have a great day/night

Also drop those POWER STONES PEOPLE. We're only TWO power stones away to get ONE bonus chapter.]