Union

"I saw the Cores of the Undead earlier. Sell them to me!" The Normie King said moments after they left the Adventurer Hall.

Zayn's plan had failed miserably, which was partially his fault. He could accept his mistake and go on but he would have to leave the town as quickly as possible if he wanted to avoid getting caught and letting Philip's guards take revenge on him.

'No…they expect me to run away…'

Pinching his nose bridge to digest the things that had happened while simultaneously trying to figure out what would be the most efficient way to become stronger without getting hunted by both monsters and Blessed had him so engrossed in thoughts that Zayn didn't even hear the Normie King.

"Oi…kiddo…little troublemaker!!"

The Normie King was almost shouting into Zayn's ear when the young Normie finally recalled that he was not all alone.

Zayn turned to look at the Normie King, his head tilted in confusion.

"What?"

"I…you really are frustrating, but I guess you know that right?" The Normie King responded, his smile showing signs of crumbling as he repeated, "I told you to sell me the Corse of the Undead!"

Zayn looked at the wrinkled face of the Normie King for a few seconds before he nodded his head.

He could tell that the idiots from the Adventurer Alliance wouldn't be of any help to him, especially since they discriminated much more than the young merchant he met before entering the Alliance Hall.

'Normies have it really hard…I expected it to be bad, but this is really frustrating. Should I just draw a fake tattoo or something like that on my arm to avoid trouble?'

Zayn smiled lightly and he discarded that thought after a while. A tattoo wouldn't really change things because one could tell the difference between a Stigma and a tattoo at a glance.

He retrieved the Cores of the Undead from his backpack once they were far enough from the Alliance Hall and showed them to the Normie King. However, the Normie King didn't even glance at them.

"I will give you 12 copper coins for each Core of the Undead," He said nonchalantly before unexpectedly throwing an offer at him.

"Are you interested in the Normie Union? It's much smaller than the Adventurer Alliance but we fight harder, are loyal, and help each other a lot! You won't encounter situations like today either!"

However, Zayn just shook his head.

"Forget about that. I don't want to be dragged into any more trouble."

He felt that his words were a little bit ironic given that he was a trouble magnet but he didn't really feel comfortable joining in some sort of Union that could also be labeled as a rebellion of the Blessed society. By joining such an organization, he might actually end up getting pursued all over the human territory by all kinds of Clans, Nobles, and Adventurers.

That would be a hassle, something he would rather avoid, especially when the invitation came from a stranger. Zayn was grateful for the Normie King's help but there were limits to his gratefulness.

"But your price for the Cores of the Undead is pretty good. I can sell you the 20 Cores and get more…no scratch the last part!"

Zayn changed the topic in an obvious way, which revealed his obvious skepticism and wariness when dealing with the Normie King whom he had met hardly minutes ago. So blindly trusting the Normie Union was out of question. He didn't know either of them and wouldn't fall for the 'rescue'-scheme.

The Normie King looked a little bit suspicious to Zayn, who kept observing the old man the whole time. He handed the old man his makeshift bag where the Cores of the Undead had been safely stored.

However, the Normie King waved his hand as he released some soul particles. The moment they came in touch with the Cores of the Undead they turned into more golden particles that swirled toward the bracelet on the Normie King's right wrist.

"A storage Artifact!"

Zayn's eyes widened and it was too late for him to act as if he was disinterested in everything and everyone.

The Normie King smiled at his reaction and he ruffled through Zayn's black hair.

"You don't have to force yourself to act mature. Just give your best and the results will follow suit!" He lectured Zayn, who stared blankly at the Normie King as he gave him three silver coins.

"This is a tip for your hard work in the Goblin Cave. I recommend you not to enter it again while you're that weak!"

When Zayn heard the Normie King's suggestion, he snatched the silver coins and stepped back. While his left hand moved to the pouch where he stored the silver coins, his right hand moved subconsciously to his sword's hilt.

'He wasn't in the Adventurer Hall when I told the staff about the Goblin Cave…'

"I know where you got the Cores of the Undead from. There is no need to look at me like that."

Zayn ignored the Normie King's comment and continued to squint his eyes as he stared at him in suspicion.

The Normie King's strength was not something Zayn could gauge properly, but he easily broke the wrist of the Bulky Blessed. The bulky Blessed was certainly strong enough to fight a bunch of ordinary Skeletons who didn't even possess a single Soulring, meaning that the Normie King should have even less problems!

"So why are you giving me so much money if you can get a lot more Cores of the Undead just by going over to the Goblin Cave yourself?" Zayn finally asked, not sure what to think about the Normie King and his generosity alongwith the course of events from the last few days.

He had his suspicion but that was not enough to say something for sure.

"I got interested in you when you approached the Adventurer Hall. You're pretty young but you walked into the Adventurer Hall with confidence," The Normie King revealed in all honesty, "However, I only bothered to talk with you because I saw the Soulblade you created around your shortsword with the use of your soul particles when you cut through Phillip Cerk's wrist!"

"It's only obvious that I chose to help you after seeing this. After all, it's rare to see a fellow Normie who is talented enough to manifest soul particles outside the body at such a young age. The way you controlled the soul particles was also very precise and you don't even possess a single Soulring. That is truly remarkable!"

When the Normie King finished, he noticed that Zayn was looking at him with a blank expression.

"Soulblade, what is that?" Zayn blurted out, tilting his head.

The Normie King could only stare at Zayn and he blanked out for a moment before he started to laugh out loud. The situation was simply too amusing to not laugh.

'He doesn't even know what he did there? That's going to be funny!'

It took him a minute or two to finish laughing. The situation was simply too enjoyable for the old man. He cleared his throat when he was done laughing and retrieved a business card from his storage Artifact.

"I don't have any ill intentions, but you might not believe me if I were to continue bothering you. Just know that if you need help, you can go to one of our hideouts and ask for help. Just say that Mikhael is your friend!" The Normie King explained while handing over the business card.

Zayn retrieved it but he didn't look at it. Instead, his attention was drawn to the eyes of the Normie King as they began to flicker lightly. The Normie King tensed up for a moment before he took a deep breath.

"I will take my leave now. We will meet again in the near future. Never give up and become stronger!" He said all of a sudden before he ruffled through Zayn's hair once again.

When the Normie King was done he disappeared in a gust of wind, leaving behind a baffled young Normie.

"Why did he leave in such a hurry?" Zayn wondered at the abrupt exit and sudden disappearance of the old man. The Normie King had come to his rescue, quickly made a deal, and left him with the bizarre silver-colored business card that had unique ruby-colored engravings on it.

"Did he even realize that he didn't tell me where to find the hideouts?"