"Nice doing business with you, Mr. Tarkan. Until we meet again," Aron said, extending his hand for a handshake toward Tarkan.
Tarkan nodded but ignored the hand Aron had stretched out again. He didn't know what talent Aron possessed, and for all he knew, his ability might need physical touch to activate, just like how he used Revert.
Tarkan did not underestimate the man at all.
He was sure he had felt their killing intent earlier, and he wasn't going to let his guard down. Even though Tarkan had the timer to reverse time, he didn't want to rely on it for everything. He always believed prevention was better than cure.
Aron awkwardly withdrew his hand and scratched his head.
His men had brought the ten pigs Tarkan had sold in exchange for information on the Second Dimension. They lined them up in front of Aron.
Aron crouched down, touching them one after the other. Every time he did, the ring on his hand glowed faintly, and the pig body would disappear moments after.
Tarkan was amazed by it. He guessed the ring was some kind of spatial artifact. And glancing at the group's hands, no one else had it except Aron which means it wasn't cheap either.
After he was done storing the pigs, he turned toward Tarkan.
"Mr. Tarkan, we are Machinaries, and we can do almost anything at the right price. We can help you get to the settlement without any mishaps," Aron said with a smile, but his face made the smile look like something from a nightmare.
"No thanks," Tarkan said, his expression unchanged.
Bip
"Take this as a token of our friendship. And do contact me if you need anything. It will be done by us, as long as the price is right," Aron said, to which Tarkan only nodded as if he understood.
"We would be on our way then," Aron said before he and his men began to walk out of the pig village.
After they had moved a good distance from Tarkan, Aron's men started bombarding him with questions.
"Aron, that isn't what we planned."
He shook his head without even stopping to look at his men.
"Do you know why I've survived so long in this line of work?" Aron finally said, looking at one of his men, who frantically shook his head in response.
"It's because I know when to go, and when to draw back."
"Did you guys forget what happened to Destro?" Aron said, looking around at his men.
sssss
The men began to draw cold breaths, some with fear on their faces.
Aron, seeing their reactions, nodded his head in content.
"And if my guess is correct, he could become one of our biggest clients."
"But you weren't supposed to slap me that hard though," one of the men said, looking at Aron with a wronged expression.
--
After confirming that they had really left, Tarkan couldn't help releasing a breath of relief.
He was sure that Aron was stronger than him. It wasn't that he was afraid of Aron, but he knew he wouldn't be able to escape from him and his group while protecting someone else.
If it really came down to it, Tarkan would leave Rose without a second thought. He wasn't going to risk his life for someone he had just met today.
"Tarkan, don't you think it would be much better if we had followed them?" Rose said to Tarkan in a meek voice.
"No one is stopping you. You can follow them if you want," Tarkan replied, not the least bit bothered.
"Th-That's not..."
"You are not my responsibility. No need to explain to me, you can do whatever you like," Tarkan cut her off mid-sentence.
Since Tarkan had found the information he was looking for, he decided to go back to Tharn and read the data he had traded from Aron.
Tarkan activated his mark ready to leave the dimension, which glowed for a moment but dimmed back down, not activating or teleporting him out of the dimension.
Huh?
This wasn't right, Tarkan thought. He was sure he had already gone past the cooldown time for teleporting out of the dimension.
The girl, who had seen Tarkan trying to teleport out, also tried. But the result was the same as Tarkan's.
Maybe it was different for the Second Dimension. Tarkan wasn't sure. But since he couldn't teleport out, he decided to study what he got from Aron to better understand his situation.
Tarkan brought out the material he had traded for with Aron, which was titled Comprehensive Beginner Knowledge of the Second Dimension.
After a while, Tarkan had a weary smile on his face. Now he understood why people needed a sponsor or had to ascend to a higher world before they entered the Second Dimension.
At first, he thought it was because the dimension dumped new entrants anywhere and had them overpowered and killed by creatures. But now, he realized how wrong he was.
Even if a newbie managed to enter the Second Dimension, they would need a lot of resources that could only be gotten through strength, which they couldn't acquire.
The setting of the Second Dimension was so messed up that, in his own words, coming to the Second Dimension without any support was utter and complete suicide.
He couldn't help feeling like the system itself was a complete scam.
And after finishing the guide, he now understood what the new unlock that had been confusing him was meant for.
--
Time Manual (Level 1)
> Absorption – Extract energy while meditating according to the manual. (Timer can be used for faster absorption.)
--
His face lit up with joy as he reread the notification for the Absorption Manual.
...
..
.
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