Chapter 18: Dimensional Merchants 1
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Hiding in a bush while thinking about many things, Artlan covered his mouth with his hand. Everyone was holding their breaths and heard footsteps from far away.
Junhyuk felt anxious. The noise from the footsteps was loud, at least ten people. He guessed one of them had to be a hero like Artlan.
Junhyuk held his breath and picked up his two-handed sword.
Artlan went over to him and whispered in his ear:
"Vera will start, and, when I attack, put a protective force field around me."
Junhyuk did not answer and, instead, nodded his head.
Vera looked at them in their eyes and said:
"They are within range."
"Wait a little bit more."
Artlan looked at the minions.
"When Vera starts, you will make a wall. The enemy cannot break through."
Those minions had experienced a battle and had changed. Their eyes were beaming, and they acknowledged the order by nodding. Artlan gave a sign, and Vera extended her hands.
On top of her hands, five fireballs appeared. The fireballs flew through the bush and exploded in the the enemy's frontline. Vera ran forward and shouted:
"Attack!"
As Vera shouted, the minions followed her. Junhyuk tried to follow the minions who all had their shields up, but Artlan stopped him.
Artlan shook his head. He meant to say it was not the time, yet. Junhyuk waited, holding on to his sword. The minions screamed and died in front of him.
Sarang could not move forward and was sitting next to Junhyuk. Artlan looked at her and said:
"Use your magic on that tall guy. Aim for his head. It won't be effective, but you will draw his attention."
Junhyuk's expression hardened. Drawing a hero's attention meant death. He did not have time to say anything, however, because Artlan ran ahead.
Junhyuk followed him with all his might. In the area where the reed bushes ended, Artlan jumped to engage the werewolf that was attacking Vera.
The werewolf broke through Vera's magic and moved forward. It had already been hurt by the magic, but was preparing an attack using its claws.
The claws were three feet long, and the werewolf targeted Artlan as he landed.
Suddenly, an ivory-colored light force field protected Artlan.
Clang!
The werewolf's claws bounced off, and Artlan's saber slashed the werewolf's leg. It bled profusely, and Artlan's saber moved quickly.
Slash, slash!
The werewolf vomited blood, stepped back and his eyes turned red.
Hoooowl!
Strangely, it howled in the middle of a battle, but, because of that howl, everyone froze.
The minions who were making the barricade became stiff, and the opposing minions used their axes on the shields and aimed for the minions' necks.
Artlan was swinging his saber against the werewolf with a lot of force, but the red-eyed werewolf did not fall easily.
The werewolf was healing quickly, and Artlan's expression soured. Soon, ten seconds would pass. It didn't look like he could kill the werewolf within that time frame.
Artlan moved back, lowered his body and shouted:
"Vera!"
As the werewolf chased Artlan, a fire wall appeared in front of it. The werewolf slashed at it with his claws and was able to cut through. The fire did not keep the werewolf from trying to move forward. It was running on its four legs and getting closer as the force field around Artlan started disappearing.
The force field had bothered the werewolf, but it was now disappearing, and the werewolf meant to finish off Artlan. Suddenly, an energy bolt hit the werewolf's face.
Phump!
It was hit with an energy bolt, but the destructive force was so small that the werewolf ignored it and attacked. However, it had stopped for a moment, and that made a big difference.
Artlan took a big step and swung his saber. The werewolf jumped, and if it hadn't jumped, it would have been sliced through his waist.
Still, Artlan's attack had been decisive. The saber cut both of the werewolf's legs. The werewolf staggered, and Artlan threw his saber.
Thuck!
Even in that situation, the werewolf parried the saber using its arms, but, as the werewolf blocked the saber, Vera's fireballs hit it.
Boom!
The werewolf was hit on its chest and fell. Artlan took his saber and cut the werewolf's neck. The werewolf's head fell on the ground, and Artlan picked it up. The werewolf looked at Artlan with its red eyes and Artlan said, smiling:
"Warren, go in peace."
"You won't get away with this."
After the werewolf spoke, the head disappeared slowly. Artlan looked at the disappearing head when Vera said:
"Don't waste time!"
Artlan looked at the remaining opposing minions.
"Only the weak remain."
Artlan smiled and looked scary. The opposing minions became stiff, and Junhyuk showed up like a shadow and began to cut their heads.
"He wants the money," Artlan said while laughing.
Vera was no longer angry. She went over to Sarang and said:
"Aim for their heads. Your energy bolt cannot penetrate armors, yet."
She had hit the head of the werewolf without inflicting any wound, so she knew how small her power was. Then, she hit a minion running toward Junhyuk with her energy bolt.
Thuck!
A hero could survive that energy bolt, but the minion dropped dead. The minion's head burst open, and Sarang stiffened. Vera put her arm around her shoulder and said:
"They are not human, so don't feel guilty."
Sarang felt better after hearing that from Vera. They were trying to kill her, and they had green skin. They weren't human.
Sarang used her energy bolt again.
---
The fallen minions disappeared and left gold coins behind. They dropped one coin each. Junhyuk picked up ten coins and looked at Sarang.
She had killed three minions.
In the beginning, there had been fifteen minions, and Junhyuk took care of ten of them, Sarang killed three minions, and the remaining two were struck down by Vera's magic.
"Pick them up," Junhyuk told her.
He could not pick up coins left by minions killed by another person. She went over, picked up her three gold coins and asked:
"Where can I use them?"
"When you meet a dimensional merchant."
She knew some things, but she wanted a more detailed explanation. Sarang tried to ask Junhyuk again, and he told her calmly:
"We are going to where they are, so you can see for yourself."
"OK."
Artlan picked up the things left behind by Warren. He looked at a necklace with a jewel stuck to it and tossed it to Vera.
Vera took it and grinned.
"It doesn't look pretty," he said.
"Yeah, it's ugly enough to make me cry," she replied.
Artlan looked at his group and said:
"We will go to the dimensional merchants and we will rest there."
"Yes," they answered.
Junhyuk looked at the remaining survivors. During the battle that just took place, many people were frozen by Warren's howl. Only six of the fifteen minions survived. There was no guarantee that the remaining minions would survive another battle.
Junhyuk looked at Sarang. It was a relief that Vera would always accompany her. Artlan had taught him without true effort, and he had to survived fatal situations on his own. After the battles, Artlan would explain what happened.
However, Vera was different. Vera explained the things that Sarang was curious about and enabled her to use her magic more efficiently.
Sarang had forgotten about the minions she killed and concentrated on what Vera had to say.
In the beginning, Junhyuk also got all explanations from Vera. He could understand Vera and Artlan had different personalities.
They moved quickly through a road in the forest. They had trapped their enemies, but other enemies might still trap them. They had to move fast to avoid any dangerous situations.
They walked for a long time. The forest road ended, and they saw a huge mirror. The mirror reflected the forest. If they didn't know better, they would have thought it was a part of the forest, and not a portal to the dimensional merchants.
Artlan stood in front of the mirror.
"Let's go in."
Artlan went in first, and the minions held their breaths. Vera pushed Junhyuk's back.
"You first."
"OK."
Junhyuk took a deep breath and stepped toward the mirror. He felt really tired when he arrived at that place for the first time. It was like breaking through the surface of water, only the other side was a different world.
When he went there for the first time, his expectations were high, but, as soon as he entered, his excitement was gone.
There was a worn out store with a man who looked like a yeti. The yeti was wearing glasses. He was the merchant, and his name was Bebe.
The yeti was talking to Artlan, and Artlan said as Junhyuk entered:
'Bebe, show him your wares."
Bebe looked at Junhyuk. Since he was a yeti, he was thirteen feet tall and had really big eyes. His eyes shone like obsidian, and he looked at Junhyuk.
"You are a novice. Did you earn some gold coins?"
Junhyuk placed his gold coins on the table. He put down twenty-nine gold coins, and Bebe stared at him.
"Do you want to buy candy? You could buy candy for that price."
Artlan laughed.
"Stop playing."
Bebe fixed his glasses and pushed a small plate forward.
"Put your hand on it."
Junhyuk put his hand on it, and a number appeared: 1230G. Bebe looked at the number.
"For a novice, you have a lot of money," Bebe said as he pulled out some books from his chest. "But there isn't much you can buy with it."
Bebe opened a book. On the pages, the things that he could buy from the dimensional merchant appeared.
The descriptions were in languages he couldn't understand, so he looked at Artlan. Artlan shrugged.
Bebe pointed to a pill and said:
"If you take this pill you will be able understand every language used here. The price is 100G."
"Isn't it too expensive?"
"If you don't like it, then don't buy it."
Bebe looked confident. Junhyuk looked at Artlan, who said calmly:
"Take the pill. It's not that expensive."
He needed to kill one hundred minions to earn 100G. Artlan was saying that it wasn't that expensive.
Junhyuk worried for a moment and asked.
"Earth alone has thousands of languages. How many languages are there in here?"
Bebe smiled. The yeti gave him the creeps with his smile because he was so big, but the yeti's eyes were also big, so he did not scare him that much.
"It's not that expensive. All dimensions have tens of thousands of languages. If you take this pill, you will be able to read, write, speak and understand all of them. It's only 100G."
Junhyuk sighed. If he could read, write and speak all languages on Earth, it was worth the 100G.
Junhyuk nodded, and Bebe pushed the plate toward him.
"Put your hand on it."
As he put his hand on it, the number decreased from 1230G to 1130G. Bebe placed the pill on Junhyuk's hand.
"Take it."
Junhyuk stared calmly at the pill on his hand. It was worth the lives of one hundred minions. He closed his eyes and swallowed the pill.