Chapter 48: Rumors of the Past
The inspiration came unexpectedly. Small and fragile, like every great eureka.
The only thing he was sure of was that it was there.
Gabriel remained seated on the chair in his apartment. He stared at the open conversation with Noel.
There was no reply, and it probably wouldn’t come anytime soon.
Even so, something inside him slowly settled into place. He remembered the Patron’s words about resilience and his role.
That stubborn human capacity to keep moving forward even when the world insisted on collapsing.
Maybe he couldn’t help Noel. He didn’t have the strength to bring Kael back.
But he could still move forward. And that was enough for now.
He activated the neural helmet and the interface appeared before his eyes.
Then the world began to disappear.
***
When he opened his eyes again, Bersáic was still there.
Firm and extremely solemn.
The northern wind swept through the cobblestone streets as the first activities of the day began.
It was a very different city from those that constantly appeared in the forums. It had no impressive avenues or markets overflowing with riches.
It possessed another kind of beauty.
An austere detail that went unnoticed.
Those aspects were not unfamiliar to him. Austerity was often born out of necessity.
And the walls proved that point.
Beyond them stretched an immense world, full of dangers and opportunities.
*The Heaven Above All* was absurdly vast.
The beginner cities barely represented a small fraction of the known lands.
There were entire regions that remained unexplored, with mountains stretching into infinity.
And Bersáic was just a small piece within all of that.
But Gabriel had no intention of wasting opportunities. That was exactly what he was looking for.
He opened the interface. Several notifications were still waiting.
Most were irrelevant.
But one immediately caught his attention, shining among his personal messages.
They all belonged to Bella.
Gabriel stared at the screen for several seconds and seriously considered ignoring them.
Then he saw the last message.
"I have an opportunity!"
He finally replied.
"What happened?"
He sent the message and closed the window. If Bella wanted to talk, she would do so later.
Now he had more important matters.
***
His time passed with almost mechanical efficiency.
Gabriel visited different commercial areas of Bersáic. His pockets felt particularly empty that day.
He sold materials obtained from the Forbidden Cemetery. Bones, corpse herbs, alchemical minerals, and special components extracted from the creatures.
The prices were lower than in other cities. Something he had expected beforehand.
Even so, he managed to gather a respectable sum, to his relief.
Every coin ended up in the same bag.
The bag intended to recover the silver that thieving official had stolen from him. And, eventually, to multiply it.
While making transactions, he took the opportunity to gather information. Especially about one specific matter.
Blood Crystals.
He needed to find them—his class evolution depended on them. The problem was that no one seemed willing to talk.
Information was usually coated in gold.
Some merchants simply denied knowing anything about it.
Some didn’t even hide their contempt when they saw his worn clothes.
Gabriel began to notice a pattern. The more he asked, the more rejection he encountered.
After the seventh shop, he began to suspect it wasn’t a coincidence. After the tenth, he was certain.
It was extremely hidden information.
He ended up walking away from another useless conversation while the vendor was practically trying to scam him.
Gabriel left the establishment without responding.
His expression remained calm.
Until he found a different shop. It was small and modest, almost hidden among the weathered walls. A sign hung over the entrance.
OPEN.
With crooked letters.
One of them even seemed about to fall off.
But the smell of herbs escaped from inside.
When Gabriel entered, a rusty bell rang above the door, but no one appeared.
He looked around.
Several shelves lined the walls, with bottles, dried herbs, roots, and strange powders.
It wasn’t an impressive shop, but it had a unique spirit of authenticity.
From the back came the sounds of grinding. Something was being pounded.
"Excuse me?" Gabriel called.
After his words, silence followed.
And finally an old man appeared.
He had disheveled hair, stained clothes, and an expression that suggested he hated all humans who could speak.
He observed Gabriel for a second.
"Five minutes." Then he disappeared again.
He wasn’t in a hurry, so he decided to wait.
***
As the minutes passed, he began to examine the products.
Many were unknown to him. That alone was extremely interesting.
He picked up a small vial containing a dark blue liquid.
He leaned in slightly to observe it better.
"If you touch it, you pay for it!"
The voice came from behind him.
Gabriel immediately released the vial. As if he had never touched it.
A vein began to throb on the old man’s forehead.
"You’re lucky I was joking."
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
"Of course."
"Or you really would have to pay for it."
"Naturally."
The old man seemed disappointed for some reason.
Gabriel seized the opportunity to ask.
"I’m looking for information."
"What a shame."
"About a rare object."
"Even worse!" the old man replied.
Gabriel ignored him.
"They are crystals... Blood Crystals."
Only then did he notice he had captured a brief flash of interest.
"Don’t try to buy something you don’t even know what it is," the old man replied stubbornly.
"I know quite well what it is," Gabriel tried to argue, but was interrupted without a chance.
"Then you have some kind of mental problem."
It had slowly become a difficult conversation to sustain.
He was about to mention another topic, but before doing so he threw out one last question.
"Have you heard of them?"
For a fraction of a second something happened in the old man’s eyes.
And it disappeared immediately.
"Very strange questions. What kind of crystals are those?"
"So you do know them."
"I have sixty years of experience. Don’t try to play games with me."
Gabriel continued watching him and the old man watched him back.
Neither looked away, until the old man advanced. He moved much faster than someone his age should be capable of.
A hand gripped Gabriel’s coat with force.
He pulled him just a few centimeters closer and his voice dropped to a whisper.
"Young man... Those are stories from the past. I don’t know where you heard such absurd matters, but you’re wasting your time."
Gabriel remained motionless.
He wasn’t afraid, but he was genuinely surprised.
That reaction was exactly what he had been looking for. Confirmation.
They existed and certain individuals recognized them.
The old man released him at that moment.
"I understand."
He didn’t try to insist, because it would probably only cause the man to close up completely.
He had already obtained something much more valuable: a clue.
He began to head toward the exit and then something unexpected happened.
"That ring is an extraordinary piece of work."
The voice came from behind him. The old man was pointing at one of his hands.
Gabriel looked down.
The Jester’s Ring.
"This one?"
The old man observed the piece with attention.
"Its outstanding craftsmanship. I know it."
The old man narrowed his eyes.
"Where did you get it?"
Gabriel didn’t respond immediately.
At that instant a notification appeared before him. And his expression froze for a second.
____________
[Special Quest Detected]
[Rumors of the Past]
[Description: An old alchemist has recognized an object related to a fundamental clue]
Do you wish to investigate?
______________
Gabriel observed the window.
Feeling the weight of his ring on his finger, it was a memory and today, it opened a completely unknown path.
