Chapter 29: Cell Mates 3

The expression on Allen Stryka's face turned serious. He was a little hesitant to ask the question that was bothering him the most.

In the end, he decided to try and know the answer. He inquired,

"Do you know someone who is called Gurim?"

"You mean the green-haired person that issued our arrest?"

The person on the other side of the wall named Nolan asked in return. Thankfully he was still willing to give a response.

Allen nodded on his side of the wall. Although the other person may not see his actions, he did not mind still doing so. He then replied,

"Yes. You know him?"

"Not really."

The answer that the young man received made him wince though. Why did he have his hopes up anyway? This was the headache-inducing person he was talking to!

Allen was about to give up on the prospect and carry on with his plans for the evening. But then the low-cost cowboy resumed speaking.

He was probably just taking a pause to increase the dramatic effect. He added,

"But if I am to guess, I'd say he belonged to that place."

"What are you talking about exactly?"

Allen could even swear that he heard a *dun, dun, dun, dun* sound effect somewhere.

Nonetheless he could not deny the fact that he had gotten curious. Thus, he asked for further details.

The person with blue streaks on his haired seemed to be grinning triumphantly. He was probably quite pleased that his little theatrics had garnered its intended reaction.

He then answered in cool and mysterious manner,

"Ha, worry not. Since he's the one behind your arrest, then you will surely meet him again."

Allen would have wanted to ask why the other person became so cryptic. But he chose not to since he agreed with the idea.

He would just have to make preparations for whatever was about to come his way.

Now that most of his immediate concerns had been somewhat answered, it was now the time to follow his plans for the rest of the evening. Thus he tried wrap their conversation up.

He called out to the other person,

"How much do I owe you for the information you have given?"

"How much?"

Nolan asked in return though. He was probably raising an eyebrow on his side of the wall. He then continued,

"Don't sweat it. We're cell mates now anyway."

"Cell mates…"

Allen blurted out. He had actually heard 'soul mates' the first time around. Which had creeped him out. That was why he repeated the words.

Fortunately, he blurted out the correct one.

Nonetheless he could not believe that he was hearing such a thing. The 'don't sweat it' part not the 'cell mates' just to be clear.

He looked around his cell to find any clues if he was still in Nosales or not. He even glanced beyond the jail bars. There were around five rows of cells in this floor of the building. Each row was made up of two cells facing each other.

If his counting was correct, he was probably at the tenth cell. So was the thing he just experienced could be considered as a 'miracle in cell number 10'?

Anyway, his fancy musings were interrupted when Nolan called him out. The latter was probably worried when the young man had fallen silent for a while.

The low-cost cowboy asked in a concerned tone,

"Is that how you were tricked in hunting mutated beasts for food?"

"Pretty much."

Allen admitted reluctantly. He wanted to explain this circumstance further. But he doubted if the other person would change the image he had formed on his head about the young man anyway.

True enough, the low-cost cowboy commented bluntly. He said,

"Mate, you've been ripped off."

"Well, I do get to fight Tier 1 mutated beasts so the battle experience is all mine anyway."

People often said that there were many levels of coping up with an embarrassing mistake.  Some would get angry to avoid facing the facts. And some would try to not think of it all.

There would also be those who would try to deny the facts as much as he could.

And that was what Allen was currently doing. He was trying to come up with an excuse to justify his actions. A way out to deny the fact that he was fooled.

However, Nolan seemed to be unconcerned of such a pitiful act. He instead asked a different matter. He inquired,

"You hunt Tier 1s on your own?"

"Yes. Why?"

Allen was thankful that the other person had changed the topic. That was why he answered readily.

Little did he know, that the question would only highlight his failure further.

"Then you should have gotten more!"

Nolan exclaimed. He seemed to be distressed that the young man was duped. He continued,

"Do you even know how much a Tier 1 beast costs?"

Allen was quite eager to prove that the other person was wrong. He tried to answer the question using what he had learned from the green-haired information broker. He estimated,

"Around a hundred grams of spirit crystals if the essential parts are intact."

"That's about right."

The young man was relieved when he heard this. His hopes that he had not been working for nothing was growing stronger.

Unfortunately the low-cost cowboy was far from over. He added,

"If you're hunting a beast with a team that is. If alone, you would receive more since the cost for organizing a party is nil."

The permit to hunt a mutated beast around the areas surrounding the city was regulated. Apparently, you would have to pay more if you wanted to mobilize a group of ability-users. Each member had to pay for insurance of some sort after all.

"Well I did get some information about the various aspects around the city."

Allen tried to reason out. Deep inside his heart, he already knew that he was simply struggling pointlessly. But refused to give in. He was quite stubborn after all.

Thus he grasped at the last straw available to him.

To be honest here a little, he was not really that disturbed that he missed his chance to earn more spirit crystals. But he had to be real here.

The more he could have earned from his previous hunting contracts, the more funds he should have gathered. With more purchasing power, he could resume his journey earlier.

He was supposed to be travelling under a time limit. But yet here he was, apparently wasting his days for pointless reasons.

And this had hurt his ego more than he could admit.

Thankfully Nolan had pulled him out of his depressing thoughts. The person with blue streaks on his hair called out,

"Tell me what you have learned so far. I'll point out which are lies and which are not."

"You sure?"

"Of course!"

Allen was quite touched when the other person replied decisively. But then the low-cost cowboy immediately added,

"I am an original resident of Nosales. I cannot let your experience on this city be all about getting tricked and fooled."

Allen was wounded by the snarky comment about being fooled. But he had learned to simply accept the pain of his mistakes.

May this become his strength for the future.

He then started sharing what he had learned from Gurim. Thankfully, most of the information he had received as payment was indeed legit.

The rest were details that not even Nolan was sure. So they could not confirm the validity of those.

They had chatted for around an hour and half. If his estimation was correct, it was probably ten in the evening by now.

I'm late for my routine but at least I have learned a lot.

Allen thought anxiously. He was eager to start his cultivation technique as soon as possible.

If he were to face whatever Gurim was planning, he would have to increase his current power even if it was just a little. And gathering elemental energies would definitely help at this.

Hence he tried to give a lousy excuse to the person on the other side of the wall. He scratched his head,

"I would like to have a rest for now."

"It's fine. I have something to think of over here anyway."

Nolan had surprisingly agreed. This had made Allen feel guilty. Nonetheless he decided to push through the path he had chosen.

"I see. Good night."

"Good night, mate."

Allen curtsied as he ended the conversation. He then fixed his posture as he seated on the floor. He closed his eyes and began concentrating.

The rest of the evening had passed without any issues. The young man tried to redirect all of the elemental energies he gathered together with the soul energy he received from his previous hunt.

His aim was to hasten the development of his third skill. Since he was currently facing an unknown situation, it would be better to have as many tricks on his sleeve as possible.

So close!

Allen cursed when he finished his cultivation for the evening. If he could just carry on for a few more minutes, maybe he could finally succeed.

However he chose not to.

He could already feel the ominous energy coming from the mutated sun. This meant that it was already sunrise. Pushing himself any further would only harm his soul energy core.

He decided to stand up and stretch his muscles. He then performed the exercising routine that he developed for confined spaces.

Well, since the cell was a little larger than the rented room he had before, he could actually do more.

"Oh, rise and shine, mate."

"Good morning too."

Nolan hailed from his cell and the young man greeted back. The former had probably noticed the movements of his neighbor and thus called him out.

"You're doing some muscle training?"

"Yes. How about you?"

"Ha, might as well do so."

Allen was impressed that the other person could tell what he was doing. He then heard some movements on the other side of the wall. The person on the other side of the wall was probably performing some push-ups.

And hence the two started the new day together.