Chapter 16: No Sales in Nosales 1

Nosales.

This used to be a town located in the southern border of the province of Shinan. But after the apocalypse, the neighboring towns had allied together and had increased the size of this place. It was now big enough to be considered a city.

Allen Stryka used to pass through this place whenever he travelled to the Capital. But that was before the Sun mutated. And he was riding the bus back then.

Currently, he was standing in a line of people who was in queue to enter the aforementioned city. He had spent two days of traveling to reach this area.

He was actually intrigued. Throughout his time with Boss Mo and the others, they had walked for hundreds of kilometers for more than a month.

And yet he was still in the same province where his hometown was located. But now that he thought about it, perhaps they were travelling in circles all along.

"Well what matters is that I'm at the southern border now."

Allen thought to himself in consolation. Once he got pass this city, he would be exiting Shinan anyway. He would still have to traverse two more provinces before he could reach the Capital though.

So why not just bypass this city and go straight to the next province?

Allen would have loved to do that. But it was not that simple. He had actually spent another day scouting around the perimeter of the city. With the use of his [Life Detection] skill, he was able to observe the city guards. He had also noticed that they were closely watching over the border for some reason.

When evening arrived, Allen used the elemental energy accumulation technique to increase the detection range of his second skill. He noticed that beyond the effective area of the city were nests of mutated beasts. They seemed to be guarding their territories closely as well.

The young man suspected that in order to leave the province, he would have to gain permission of passing through a territory. Whether it was from the humans or the mutated beasts.

Thus Allen decided to try the human side first. He needed to gather further information about the other settlements anyway. He also fancied on trying out whichever items or supplies the city had to offer.

But that was easier said than done.

"Five grams of spirit crystals to gain entry."

The city guard on duty stated. He was wearing a military-like uniform together with a strict yet bored face. Two other guards were blocking the entrance behind his back. They were each holding a spear of some sort that they crossed together to form a blockade.

Allen was confused upon hearing the statement. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked,

"Spirit crystals?"

"You don't have any? Move away! Nosales is not a place for peasants."

The strict city guard exclaimed. Perhaps he had reckoned that someone who had no idea of what he was talking about would not possess that same item. And he was definitely right.

Allen was pushed away from the queue. The man that was behind him sneered. He then pulled out a small satchel and handed it to the city guard.

The young man wanted to take a glance of what was inside the small satchel. But the strict city guard seemed to have noticed his intent. The latter glared. He was probably saying something like 'get lost!' in his mind.

Allen walked away. He then reached out to the end of the moving queue. He approached the man near the end of the line. He asked,

"Brother, what exactly are spirit crystals?"

"Oh, ho-ho, that information will cost five grams of spirit crystals."

Allen was taken aback. The man had actually asked for a compensation for answering such a question. The former decided to negotiate. Perhaps he could tap into the good Samaritan inside the man in line. He said,

"Can't you just help out a brother in need?"

"Can't you just let me gain entry in peace?"

The young man winced. On his defense, he never encountered such an item called 'spirit crystal' before. Kinshin had lived off with bartering items with the other residents during the lockdown. Well this was as far as he was aware of anyway.

He did have an idea that the so-called 'spirit crystals' were some sort of currency. Whether it was being used only in the city or throughout the other settlements as well was something he was not sure of.

However this kind of information could be obtained by having a slight amount of common sense. There was no way such simple logic would require a price similar to gaining an entry to the city.

He considered revising his question. He then tried asking the other people in the line on where to find this kind of currency. But all the replies that he received were people asking for five grams of the said currency as payment. There were even some who asked for seven grams!

"How come people here are so stingy?"

Allen wondered. Money had always been an issue for humanity even before the apocalypse. And it seemed to have worsened after the phenomenon occurred.

He was now considering the possibility of passing through the beast territory instead. But he dismissed the idea. For all he knew, those beasts would require some form of payment as well. At least here, he could still talk with the residents. Albeit he did have to gain the proper means.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the strict city guard exclaimed once again.

"Five grams! Move if you don't have any!"

"Modar."

"Huh?"

The strict city guard seemed confused. He was probably raising an eyebrow to question the person that was in front of him.

Allen moved away from the line. He tried to get a clearer view of the city entrance. He saw that the person in front of the guard was a little girl.

She was probably around 150 centimeters in height. She was wearing a hoodie jacket that was definitely two sizes larger than her. Her lilac-colored hair was probably long as some were sticking out of her hoodie.

She sighed,

"Explanation: The vaccine brand I acquired was Modar."

"…"

"…"

"That is a very good brand young miss."

The strict city guard commented. He had been speechless for a few seconds. He seemed to be unprepared to tackle someone who speaks on such a weird manner.

"Exasperation: A demonstration is apparently needed here."

Snap!

The curious girl snapped her fingers. The ground around her began to shake. The city guards in front of her had most likely felt the shockwave as well.

"An ability-user!"

"What? Amazing!"

"Earth element? Interesting."

The onlookers had commented. They had witnessed the event after all. Allen was also impressed with what he saw. He had sensed the manifestation of the earth element with the help of his [Life Detection]. He had understood how the ability actually worked. He smiled wryly,

"She even held back."

It was easy to unleash an ability. But it required excellent skills to control the effects of one's ability without causing any damage to property or to any person.

The strict city guard was taken aback with what he experienced. But he regained his bearing after a few seconds.  He fixed his posture and cleared his throat. This also affected the two guards behind him. He informed the girl,

"Young miss, ability-users are welcome in the city of Nosales. You can enter the city free of charge."

"Umu."

The girl in a hoodie nodded. She did not stand on ceremony any further. She entered the city without looking back.

The queue then resumed after the spectacle. Allen was standing away from the line though. He was still considering his options.

He could easily gain entrance by showing his ability. But he would rather not if he had the choice.

The bald bandit leader had mentioned before that the number of ability-users in the province were about one in every one thousand. And now the city of Nosales gladly welcomed this kind of people. They would even allow them to enter the city freely. That would mean that the place was in dire need of gathering individuals who had this trait.

Whatever the reason may be, it was probably not that good as someone might think.

However the alternative was not that easy to do as well. First of all, Allen had to collect these so-called 'spirit crystals'. Five grams of them to be precise. But the question here was how to obtain such a commodity.

After a few minutes, the young man gritted his teeth. He took a step forward. He then walked up to the strict city guard. The latter noticed the approaching person. He gestured the two guards behind him to prepare their weapons.

"You again? Nosales has no place for peasants! Get lost or else!"

The strict city guard gave a warning. He seemed to be in a foul mood. The people in the line seemed to be sneering on the other hand.

"Relax, brother. I'm an ability-user too."

Allen clenched his right fist. A small amount of fire element erupted from his fist.

"A-another one!"

One of the city guards holding a spear exclaimed. The young man nodded his head in confirmation. He was confident that the guards would no longer be hostile to him.

But then,

"Tch! Show-off."

"Bah! Just get this over with."

"What are you expecting? An applause?"

The peanut gallery gave their harsh comments. They were clicking their tongues for some reason. The others were even swearing.

The strict city guard also had the same opinion. He glared at the young man. He exclaimed,

"You should have said so in the first place. Move! You're wasting everyone else's time!"

Allen was dumbfounded. A couple of questions formed in his mind.

What was with this difference in treatment? Was it because the little girl before have the earth element? Or was it the height? The hoodie? Or the gender? What was up with these double standards?

"Move!"

"A-alright, geez…"

The young man was startled when the strict city guard called him out once again. The former walked forward hurriedly. He scratched the back of his head. He also ignored the booing crowd.

Was this the price for gaining entrance in Nosales?

Allen was not sure. He could not even tell what to expect inside this place anymore. One thing was sure though:

There was nothing free in this city.