Death... and me

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Going back to the present, Red and Rean had arrived in front of a store. It was quite small compared to the ones found in this city. Not to mention that it looked old and worn-down.

Red looked at it and couldn't help but ask, "Is it here?"

At this moment, Rean couldn't help but get nervous. For him, walking in the middle of Watisan City wasn't nearly as dangerous as this place. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath as he nodded, saying, "Yeah. It's here."

Rean then opened the store's door and made his way inside. There were quite a few old items for sale inside, but nothing of high quality. Rean ignored that as he looked at the counter where an old Zasfin rested on the chair.

Once Rean approached, the old Zasfin opened his eyes before smiling, saying, "Oh, we have a customer." He then slowly got up as he asked, "What can I help you with? We don't have anything incredible, but I can guarantee that all the items here can do what they're supposed to."

Rean then took a deep breath before shaking his head. Soon after, he took a token from his bag and passed it to the old Zasfin. As soon as the Zasfin saw that token, his smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed. A very serious expression soon appeared on his face as he looked at Rean from head to toe. "Do I know you?"

Rean shook his head, responding, "No, but your old lady should definitely know about me." Rean paused for a moment as he gathered the courage to say the next words. "Tell her that 'White Calamity' is here."

The old Zasfin didn't know what that meant, but he knew who Rean was talking about. He then grabbed Rean's token right after, telling him, "Wait here. It might take some time before she arrives." The old Zasfin then disappeared at the back of the store. From the same place, a little Zasfin boy came out and sat on the chair to take care of business while the old man was out. He only glanced at Rean for a moment before putting his attention on something else.

Red, who was on Rean's shoulder all this time, couldn't help but ask through a Spiritual Sense Message, 'In the end, just who is it that you wish to meet? I've asked you many times so far, but you always dodged the question.'

Rean smiled in response. 'There's no point telling you if she doesn't come out. In fact, there's a very high chance that my identity will be exposed, and the two of us will die here.'

'What?! You didn't say anything about dying!' Red was obviously taken aback.

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response, telling him, 'What are you complaining about? Don't forget that we could have killed you back then, so why would you care whether you die now or not?'

Red's mouth twitched after hearing that. He knew that Rean was talking the truth. 'Hmph! If I see things go out of control, I'll leave you behind and disappear from here. Don't blame me for that.'

Rean nodded, saying, 'Don't worry, I'll also make a run for it if the situation calls for it.'

Rean waited in the room for a few hours with no sign of the old Zasfin returning. However, no one appeared to try and attack him either, which was already very good news. In his mind, if his identity had been leaked to the Soul Rulers, this store would have been surrounded a very long time ago.

Without much to do, he started to look around and see if there was anything he wanted.

'Hmm...?'

It was then that he found a small purple pot thrown in a corner. It wasn't really being displayed, just piled up with other things that looked of no value. Rean couldn't help but grab it and look inside, just to see that it was empty. However...

'Weird... I definitely can feel some kind of power coming from this little pot. It's somewhat similar to Life Force, but...not exactly.' Rean was puzzled by that and decided to take it with him. That being said, he brought the pot to the counter where the Zasfin boy was playing. "Say, how much does this pot cost?"

The boy looked at it for a moment before he turned around to grab a book on the shelf. After going through a few pages, he finally found what he was looking for. "It's 200 Rank Two Spirit Stones."

"So cheap..." Rean couldn't help but wonder if they couldn't see that this pot had something different in it. Nevertheless, it wasn't as if he knew anything about the item either. Well, one must understand that 100 Rank Two Spirit Stones was cheap for someone like Rean, but not everyone in the world. "Here, there are twenty Rank Three Spirit Stones in this bag. I believe the exchange rate is still 1 to 10, right?"

The boy checked the bag and nodded, saying, "It is...although I don't think someone would give Rank Three Spirit Stones instead of Rank Two. In any case, our deal is done, so you can't take it back."

Rean smiled and placed the pot away. That price meant nothing for him, after all. 'Still, why is she taking this long? The Soul Rulers' headquarters shouldn't be this far away.'

It was then that a voice came from behind the store, saying, "I can't believe that you really dared to show your face here again. Can you give one good reason for me to not skin you alive right now?"

As the female voice came out, a beautiful woman made her way into the store. On her side, one could see the old Zasfin that had left the shop following her.

Rean couldn't help but become nervous again as he bowed to the woman, saying, "Long time no see, Lady Sevinia."

Sevinia Haphel, Ophele's mother and the leader of the Hafel Clan, one of the biggest clans within the Soul Rulers organization. She was also the one who arranged for Rean to not be put in the Bloodline Trial Control Formation like Roan. Instead, Rean was left in the clan to help Palaris and Ophele with the development of formations.