undercurrents

After speaking with the guild master Amir was being shown around the guild by the Finral's secretary Tabbatha. A middle-aged woman with blonde hair, black eyes, and glasses. 

The guild itself was massive with 5 stories all having different functions. The bar downstairs was the original building before they expanded. The second floor served as an area where one could look at the map of outside the city that had the locations of the different magic beasts in the forest with their varying strengths you could also look for quests that would pay you if completed.

The (3rd) third floor was where they processed magic beast after bringing them in. This part of the guild was much bigger than the guild itself as they had a formations master alter the space in the area to enlarge it.

The 4th floor was a resident area that housed members of the guild if they chose to live in the guild. it had 15 rooms but only 4 were living on the floor. this was also where Finral's office was.

The 5th floor was of limits to everyone in the guild and no one knew what was up there.

Amir smiled and thanked Tabbatha for the tour and left the guild and headed to explore the city.

As he walked around, he still felt amazed by how many people was teeming in the city it was shocking as he never seen more than a few hundred people in his life.

He watched as the people walked about and vibrant air the city gave as they haggled and tried to sell him all manner of products.

It was truly a sight to see in his eyes.

After exploring for a bit more he made it to the central part of the city where he came upon the massive structure that caught his eye at from when he saw the city from the view of the mountain

'This thing is enormous!' he thought

It was as if a gigantic cylinder made of blue was reaching into the sky as it was almost touching the clouds.

Amir had heard of these buildings before in stories from his mother as a child. 

'So, this is what a magic tower looks like.' he thought with a look of shock staring at the tower

Magic were large cylindrical structures created by powerful mages, believed to house their most potent spell techniques and extensive research. It was considered unwise to attack a mage within their tower, as they were at their peak of power and preparedness in this environment. 

In essence it was just to show off how cool they were.

A sweet voice suddenly spoke beside him "Is this your first time seeing a magic tower?"

Startled by the voice he turned to see who it was.

A girl with black hair and light complexion she was taller than amir as she was 5'9 while he was only 5'6 and appeared to be a bit older.

"Well yes, it is my first time seeing one it's just as great as the stories say." Amir replied

The girl had a bright expression and gave amir a big smile.

"It's the home of our lord Marquis Aron," she said with awe and respect

'So, the marquis is a mage, he must be as powerful as the old man said if he has a magic tower.' Amir thought

He knew that magic towers were the symbol of a strong mage and that it had the mage's most precious research and artifacts. He often fantasized of being a mage and flying through the air while fighting dragons with the flick of his wrist.

"So this must be your first time coming to the city right." she asked

"Yes, I just arrived in the city not long ago."

Amir had no idea why this blissfully cheerful girl came up to him but didn't mind the interaction.

"I'm actually looking for a magic technique store around here. Do you know where I can find one?" He asked

The girl wasn't surprised to see that a child would want to check out the magic technique store as every child around his age dreamed of becoming a mage or martial arts master.

"Not far away, on the left, is a shop known as Big Jack's." she said smiling sweetly

"Thanks" he said as he started to walk away

She grabbed onto Amir's arm as he was walking away "Won't you tell me your name before you go."

The girl was being pushy to a stranger she had just met, and Amir felt as if she wanted something more than his name.

'She wants my name? I guess that any normal person would give their name after meeting someone.'

He had no intention of giving this girl his name as it felt as if she was trying too hard but he wanted to see what she wanted with him.

"I feel bad for not introducing myself; please feel free to call me Mike," amir said with a slight smile

The girl flashed a smile once she heard his name.

"Mike is a great name, you can call me Ivy.

After exchanging names, he left and headed in the direction of the store.

Amir was eager to buy a technique so he could finally increase his power as he had a way to gain lots of stat points and gain more strength but he really wanted to practice some spells. He soon arrived at the shop ivy spoke about.

The shop had nothing that made it stand out except for the words Jack's marked in red above the shop entrance.The place reeked of pork and wine as soon as I walked in. Amir could see beer glasses all over the shop floor. He soon came upon a big belly man laying behind the counter of the shop.

A man with a patchy beard and unkept hair laid on the floor passed out.

Amir figured out that the smell of wine and pig was coming from him as it gave off such a aura it felt like it had a will of its own.

'He smells like he hasn't had a shower in days.' 

Amir wasn't bothered by the smell at all as he lived and smell far worse from his time in Luton village. Amir decides to kick a couple of the bottles of wines on the floor to wake the sleeping man.

"Urgh... what I don't have the rest of the money you bastards" the man said groggily

Soon the man eyes came into focus as he saw a young boy standing above him. He could tell this was a child with money perhaps the son of a wealthy merchant.

He was wearing all black, but its design was very unique compared to what ordinary commoners wore and the material of the clothes had to be of the highest quality he had ever seen in his life.

He quickly stood up shaking off all of last nights depression and donned a smile that made him appeared to have been the happiest man alive.

"Well how may I help you today young master." he said with a big grin

Amir wonder if this man had just was unwell mentally as he kept smiling at him like he was a piece of me and he had been starving for days.

"I'm here to buy a magic technique and I heard you sold them at this shop."

"You've come to the right place young master you can find some of the finest martial techniques in the city here." He said quickly entering the backroom of the shop

Amir was a little confused by the way the shopkeeper spoke to him with such high regard.

'Does he think I come from wealthy family perhaps, if so then this only works in my favour.' He said with a smirk

After a few minutes, Jack came out of the backroom with multiple scrolls in his hand all in pristine bright colors. They appeared to have been in good condition which was surprising after seeing the state the shop was currently in.

Jack laid multiple different scrolls in front of Amir and told him to look through them all to find the one that he liked the most, after looking through all the scrolls he decided to choose 4 techniques and asked for the rest to be sent back.

While magic techniques are powerful they are only a small part of a much larger Art that some mages use. Magic Arts are the true form of strength for any mage as the power that come from a mastered art is devastating.

Amir knew he had no way off getting a Magic Art right now after talking with Alex even the lowest-ranked martial art would never be sold. Most martial arts are closely guarded secrets as they are hoarded by noble families and powerful cultivators all over the empire.

The techniques that Amir where buying are small parts of a Magic Art that was either sold for money by the person who created it or found by adventures who didn't take it for themselves.

Amir picked scrolls that he thought would help him best get stronger now and help him in dangerous situations in the future. Looking at the 4 scrolls in of him he felt his greed rising slightly after reading them all.

'If he could have all 4 that would be best, but he needed to buy other supplies after he finish up here.' he said with a sigh

Putting back two of the scrolls he called for Jack who came running out like a puppy who hadn't seen its owner all day.

"So you've made your decision young master wonderful," he said with glee

"What's the price for these 2?" he said holding them in his hands

A slight smile started protruding on Jack's face as if he had just roped in the cattle to the slaughterhouse.

"See as they are only a low & medium grade the prices will be on the lower side I would estimate the price to about 200,000 EST." he said expressionless

Amir tried his best to hide the shock after hearing the prices. He had no clue what the normal prices were for such things but he knew that the man had to be lying to him as he could tell from the beginning looked to be a shark who had smelled blood

"Is it that the young master is unable to pay the price if so we would have to find another way out."

Amir did nothing but stare at jack with a look of contempt.

Jack was surprised that he didn't get a bigger reaction after driving up the price and indirectly insulting his families wealth. He felt a little uneasy after feeling the look Amir was sending his way.

"The price can be cut in half this time in the promise you'll become a valued member of this shop." He said with a smile

He then took out a piece of paper with a magic sigil in the middle handing it to Amir.

'So he wanted to force me into a magic contract with him so I would have to buy my techniques from his store.' 

Taking the contract from him he read the contents.

Signing this contract will make you a vip customer and all the stores best martial techniques will become available to you 

All be purchases will be cut by 30%

This contract will be in effect for 1 year after which the magic holding this contract will vanish

After signing this contract, you will no longer be allowed to buy from other magic technique shops for the duration 

If this rule is broken you will experience intense pain that will not stop until you return the other purchase or the contract is nullified.

Amir finished reading the contract and had a strong feeling to smack the man in front of him for showing this crazy ass contract.

'Experience intense pain for a year if I buy from another store is he crazy!' Amir thought

Amir tried his best to rationalize the situation.

'Its not the worse contract in the world at the very least and I need these two techniques if I want to get stronger, it's not like I plan on buying any more techniques for now.'

'I think I can make this work he seems to think am from a wealthy family so that might come in handy down the line later.'

Amir stopped his inner monologue and decided to sign the contract by biting his finger and letting a speck of blood hit the page which made it light up blue.

Delighted by the quick decision made he wasted no time before also signing the contract.

"hehe.. I got this kid to sign my contract ill start making money again and can finally get away from those bastards and the hell out of the piece of shit city." he said smiling as he looked at Amir.

Amir opened his magic ring releasing 1 large bag filled with Est which Jack was practically drooling over.

He then released two pieces of white paper from his magic ring and gave it to him.

Taking them from Jack Amir tore the papers which led to a load of information entering his brain as he watched the two scrolls disappear.

Amir stumbled back slightly as he processed all the information that he was receiving about the techniques.

Amir looked up in the ceiling he had the biggest smile showing all his teeth he looked like a villain.

'I definitely made the right choice with these two techniques I can definitely start closing the gap.' 

Amir soon left the shop leaving jack who had completely forgotten him as he was busy paying attention to his new money.

He set out for the opposite side of town in an effort to familiarize himself with the city's.

Viewing all the different parts of the city and enjoying the new sites that constantly surprised him at how magic was used in such interesting ways.

He also had another reason for walking all over the city.

Stopping at a vendor stall in the street he bought a crape which he bit into, and the flavor was unlike anything he ever experienced. He loved eating delicious food and it became one of his favorite past times

A tingly feeling came over him as he was eating his crape which made him stop eating.

'I wonder when these retards are going to stop following me, they're ruining my food.' he said with a scowl