The sun shone from the east like usual in the morning, illuminating the little village hidden in the Khunu ranges with its beautiful golden rays.
This was a little village filled with men and women working basic occupations, with children running around and playing to their hearts content.
Compared to places like Bowling Town, the Mist Village had an even lower concentration of mystic warriors. The only presence of mystic warriors in the small village was the Temple of Blackfire.
There was a basic government governing the village, but the Priests of the Temple of Blackfire were the real leaders of the Mist Village.
In the evening, the sun slowly set after turning red. And as the sun receded, this was when the village welcomed an outsider.
The children playing at the village edge were the ones who saw him first.
His short red hair that blended with the glow of the receding sun was the first thing that they saw, then they stopped playing and looked. Following the red hair was the dull face of a warrior who seemed to have seen the world's end.
Dressed in black leather armor, a pair of black shades, and a pair of black leather boots, this red-haired warrior was riding a huge Spider.
Once the children saw him, they observed him for a bit and without saying a word, they packed all their toys before sprinting inside the village.
The children's reactions alerted the elders. They saw the red-haired warrior but they had no reaction whatsoever as they allowed him into the village.
On his Dark Mist Spider, Rex moved casually through the village while observing his surroundings. Just 4 minutes after he started moving in, he noticed black clad warriors following him in the dark but he acted like he was unaware.
Rex stopped at a tavern with a sign that read- Happy Drunkards.
"Grey, stay here and wait for me, don't cause any trouble".
Rex said before entering the tavern as Grey settled outside the tavern. Rex could keep Grey inside the Coffin of the Ancients but as their relationship grew, he slowly grew used to leaving him to his own devices.
Once Rex entered the tavern, he was exposed to a rowdy atmosphere filled with a lot of noise with music playing in the background.
He ignored the crowd and located one of the free chairs available.
"What drink do you want foreigner?" A young boy soon came to ask him.
"A bottle of black Beer is enough".
Rex turned but soon turned back as the boy did not leave. He looked down and saw the boy's outstretched arm. "Huh?
"Payment before service".
"Oh…"
"If you don't have our currency, you can pay with other materials".
"Oh…, what about this?" Rex soon brought a dagger that he used during his days in Obedin City army, it was no mystic dagger but it was of good quality.
On seeing the dagger, the boy's eyes shone as he grinned. "Deal!"
Once the beer was served, Rex took hold of it as he sipped while minding his business. He focused on his business but his ears were as active as antennas.
"F*ck, the inflation these days is damn f*cked up man".
"I can't even get me self a bottle of beer anymore".
"Even Old Grob recently inflated his prices, me can't even shine me hunting daggers, that damn old man!"
Rex listened as the drunkards in the tavern blabbered on about different topics. From what he could hear, they mostly dwelt on the issue of inflation and the old man called Old Grob.
By now, Rex already noticed that though most of them were drunkards, they were all combat proficient and were probably hunters.
Also, he already noticed the real job of the middle-aged bartender.
By around the time that night slowly crept in, Rex stood up and approached the bartender. "I want information".
The rough gray-haired bartender adjusted his pirate hat as he looked at his new customer carefully. "Payment before service".
Clang!
Rex dropped another dagger.
"A foreigner I see". The bartender picked the dagger and carefully kept it before turning to face Rex with a smile. "Specifics".
"I want to erect a stall to sell some rare goods and I need a place to stay for the night, also give me every information about Old Grob".
After saying this, Rex leaned in slightly and whispered. "Tell me everything about the Temple of Blackfire".
Once Rex said the last line, the bartender's eyebrows rose then he stretched his hands. Rex sighed before dropping another dagger, the bartender smiled.
Without saying a word, the bartender bent and brought a paper from under his table. "Every information that you need is here. When you're ready, meet Mary and tell her that I sent you, she'll help you open a stall".
Rex took the paper, nodded at the bartender and left the tavern.
On getting outside, Rex was not surprised to see Grey gone. The freaking Dark Mist Spider probably already entered the nearest forest to hunt for food.
Once Rex left the tavern, he walked casually around the village observing everywhere and when he was done, he easily evaded his stalkers.
Rex casually entered another rowdy tavern, this time a high-tier one where the privileged class of people in the village visited. In here, he spent only 2 minutes before coming back with a pocket full with Mist Credits.
Mist credits was the currency of the mist village as they were not under the rule of any shelter, they were a lone village in the wild.
Once Rex left the tavern, his system lit up a notification.
[You have learned a new skill: Steal!]
[You have earned a title: Thief!]
[When engaging in theft, you have a +20% chance of success.]
With the mist credits that Rex got, he was able to hire an inn where he slept for the night. Before sleeping, Rex made sure to draw his objectives of the next few days after going through the information that he bought in the paper.
Once he was done, he burnt the paper and slept.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶