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Chapter 452: Trade - Markets and Multiverses
🕑 Added 2025-10-09 00:16:59 +0000 UTCThrough my spatial sight, I could see the warriors of both herds of towns eye each other with suspicion. The distance between each herd was large enough that arrows and spells would struggle to reach the other side - at least, in other worlds. However, in this world, where the System could grant people unknown abilities, I wasn’t so sure. I could see how tense both sides were. There wasn’t a single warrior from either side that didn’t have their hands near their weapons. A single bad move might cause conflict to erupt like wildfire and consume everyone here.
A moment later, something caught my eye. I manipulated the angle of my void sight a few more times, and then scratched my cheek in surprise. Near the front of the other side’s warriors, I saw two men clutching large, black apparatuses made of an unknown metal. They looked like crossbows, but I could see strange inscriptions nearly covering both of them. They emitted a mixture of binding and alteration essence, but the emphasis on binding essence was much heavier. They were probably nearly 80% binding essence.
I shared the image with Felix.
<Do you think this is some kind of enchantment?> I asked.
<Very likely. It feels kind of similar to a few items I’ve made when creating items compatible with the Market’s System,> said Felix. <In fact, those items might be able to connect with our item slots, if I’m not mistaken. Interesting.>
<Any idea what they do?>
<It’s too far away to see, even through your spatial sight,> said Felix. <But it does look like they’re using them kind of like telescopes? So I’m guessing there is some kind of vision enhancement spell there. I’m also willing to bet that they have a bunch of range enhancing enchantments tacked on. We might be in effective range of those crossbows. If the other side attacks, be ready to open some portals and send the bolts back towards the other side. That should catch them off-guard and help turn the tides.>
I nodded, and made extra sure to pay attention to the two men with enhanced crossbows.
A moment later, I saw seven people dismount from our side’s villages. One person left every town. I took a moment to scan their faces, and realized that they were the leaders of every town. They had raised their hands slightly above their heads, and their open palms were pointed directly at the other side’s migratory beasts.
There was a ripple from the other herd of wandering towns, before twelve men moved out of their towns to meet our own leaders. They had adopted the exact same posture as our leaders.
I scratched my cheek in thought. Was this some kind of well-known gesture in this world? It did seem to be well recognized - I could see the tense shoulders of both sides relax slightly after they saw the other side’s palms. Since everyone’s hands were well above their heads, it also made it hard to conceal or draw weapons.
I relaxed. Not completely - it was always possible for something to go wrong. Still, I was pretty sure both sides at least wanted to engage in peaceful trade. As long as neither party tried to backstab the other, this might end without bloodshed.
The nineteen leaders made their way into the center of the clearing we had stopped in. Then, nearly in unison, they sat down and relaxed their hands. They began to talk.
I wished that I could hear what they were saying. I tried to read their lips, but all I could get was a few vague words here and there. My familiarity with this language just hadn’t finished developing yet - after all, I wasn’t even three yet. I also hadn’t practiced lip-reading very often during our previous life, so the lip-reading skills Old Mo had taught me had grown very rusty over the centuries. Still, I was pretty sure I could see a few of the leaders mouth the word ‘trade’ multiple times, as well as the word ‘spark’.
<What do you think they’re discussing?> I asked. <Sallia, Anise? Do either of you have better lip-reading skills than I do?>
<I’m not good enough with this language yet. I keep trying to interpret the words using the language from last world, and then realizing nothing makes sense. It’s very annoying.> said Sallia.
<I’m also lost,> said Anise.
<Well, hopefully, they’re discussing how to get me a crafting spark?> said Felix. <Realistically, they’re probably discussing trading sparks. I’m pretty sure you at least saw those two words correctly. Embers produce way more sparks than a town can plausibly consume - the real issue is diversity. So I don’t think trading sparks for sparks should be too difficult, as long as both sides have something the other wants. If one side doesn’t have anything valuable, things could become more complicated, but… ah, it looks like they finished discussing spark trading. Both sides look like they’re in a better mood than before, so it should have come to a decent resolution. I think I just saw one of them mention ‘iron’ too, so perhaps they’re now discussing other forms of trade?>
<I hope so. Felix is the only one of us who hasn’t gotten a Spark yet,> said Anise. <I was the last one to wake up, but I’m already level 1 in [Fire Mage]. If Felix can’t get a spark now, he might fall behind.>
<We’re all behind Miria,> said Sallia, with a twinge of amusement in her voice. <Miria is already level 8, after all.>
<I doubt it’ll be long before you catch up,> I said. <Combat seems much more efficient at gathering levels than training, so once we’re old enough to participate openly in combat, your levels will shoot forward as fast as a train.>
<I think - oh, it looks like they’re done,> said Felix, interrupting his previous thought. I paid more attention to the figures debating trade and prices in my spatial sight, and confirmed that the leaders of the towns were standing up. Both sides walked back towards their respective herds of towns, and then started distributing instructions to their subordinates. I saw a few townsfolk dash off towards the building where I knew we stored unusual and valuable materials, while a few others started to spread through the village. Several of them started to round up townsfolk that I didn’t recognize… and a moment later, Felix also started sharing images via communication bracelet.
In Felix’s vision, I saw one of the town warriors knock on the door. After Felix’s parents opened it, the man gave Felix’s parents and Felix a grin.
“Felix, are you still interested in acquiring a crafting class?” asked the warrior.
Felix fervently nodded.
“You’re in luck! We’ve arranged a trade with the town we encountered. They seem to be peaceful, although you should keep an eye out for treachery. We have two options - [Blacksmith] or [Woodcarver]. Which one do you want more?”
Felix sent a wave of joy through the bracelet.
<Which one are you planning to take?> Sallia asked.
<[Wood Carver], obviously,> said Felix. <It fits our needs for the splinter so well that I would be silly not to take it. Normally, I think I’d prefer [Blacksmith], but both interest me, so I might as well take the immediately useful one. I want to see what this world can offer me to help turn that splinter of the universal tree into a great item.>
Felix informed the warrior of his decision, and the warrior led Felix and his parents to a group of other townsfolk. I used my spatial sight to keep an eye on Felix as the soldier led Felix and the other townsfolk to the other side’s ember, just in case they tried anything shady. Fortunately, neither side tried to double cross the other. The process of Felix acquiring a spark looked remarkably similar to the process I had gone through when acquiring a spark - with the only major difference being that the other town’s [Priest] handled the process, instead of our town’s [Priest]. Meanwhile, both herds of towns delivered several rounds of resources to each other. Both sides kept their weapons ready and their guard up during the trading process, but nothing happened.
Twelve hours later, our two embers sprang back to life. I could still see that both embers wanted to consume each other, but they seemed helpless to actually start a fight if the humans following them didn’t do anything. The two embers gave up, and started to drift apart again. I saw several warriors remain tense until the other ember finally disappeared… and then I grinned.
No conflict had broken out. More importantly, Felix finally had his spark.
Everything had turned out for the best, at least this time.
Author’s Note:
Join my Discord! (I’m at least sometimes active there, while I admit that I don’t generally check the comments section. I’m not very active anywhere, though - writers are antisocial people, okay!)
Comments
FallenRock
This post isn't in the MaM collection FYI!
