Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

Chapter 122: The Store

"Let's take a look…" Raze muttered as if she was simply talking to herself.

Within the Bazaar, the air was filled with the calls of vendors and the scent of a hundred different wares, from exotic spices to practical gear.

It felt quite exciting just being here. It was completely different from her everyday life in the Fiend Continent. Because of that, Raze truly had some urge to converse with other humans like her.

Anyway, she entered the Bazaar and was welcomed by various food and drinks that could be saved in a shelter for a very long time, like canned goods and noodles, and some of them even seemed like MREs of the military.

She recognized these MREs since she had an uncle in the military abroad who would sometimes send these packs for her.

She took a quick look at their price and noticed that a single MRE had a 5 Points bid on it.

It wasn't too high or low, so there might be someone else who would bid on this specific MRE. Anyway, she also noticed that there was a timer showing that it only had 1 hour and 34 minutes left before the last bidder could win this MRE.

This method of winning an item was completely different from the Grand Auction Hall…

"Mhmm… I think like this method more." She muttered to herself, as she would surely have a better chance of obtaining items with this method.

Raze then excitedly meandered through the stalls, her eyes scanning the goods on display.

The bazaar was a treasure trove of the unusual and the mundane, each item holding the promise of utility or mystery.

Raze's left hand rested on her right hand's tattoo, the touch of it both a comfort and a reminder of her purpose here.

"I know… I'm looking for your food as well." Raze whispered. Unfortunately, finding food for her baby dragon was not easy.

Luckily, it wasn't only food that caught Roan's interest.

As she passed a humble peddler's stand, a curious sensation prickled at her skin. Her dragon tattoo, usually inert and merely decorative, began to thrum with a strange warmth.

'Roan? Did you find something?'

She paused for a moment, and then, her gaze was drawn to a simple wooden necklace hanging amongst trinkets and baubles. It was unremarkable, carved from plain wood and strung on a leather cord, yet it called to her.

"Oh? Did you find something? Hehe… You felt something, right?" The peddler asked, his eyes twinkling with hidden knowledge.

"All my items here are special. Not anyone would see their value. Only the fated ones! Right, you're looking at this necklace… It's been with me for ages, waiting for the right one."

The peddler said like a normal scammer. Raze truly felt suspicious of how this peddler acted, but since Roan was telling her to take it, she certainly had no other choice.

Furthermore, she noticed that no one was bidding on this item as well.

Raze reached out, her fingers brushing against the wood. The warmth intensified, spreading up her arm. "How much do you think should I take this?" She inquired, her voice steady despite the oddity of the situation.

"Ahem… The market is huge, and you might forget this item, especially once you see other items and start bidding on them. I suggest that you put a high price, like 50 Points… That way, even if you forget to check on it again, you have a high chance of winning it." The peddler replied, a sly smile playing on his lips.

"Right… If I bid low, I have to check this again before 2 hours and place another bid if someone placed a higher bid." Raze nodded slowly as what the peddler said certainly made a lot of sense.

However, she wouldn't just blindly follow the man's suggestion.

Raze opened her BidLink Communicator and linked it with the peddler's catalog, and soon, she placed her bid on her selected item.

She placed 15 points on it!

"Ah…" The peddler was struck speechless after seeing Raze's bid. It was a lot lower than he expected!

'Did I get too greedy? No, maybe this girl is just too poor.' The peddler could only think of this as he smiled at his customer.

"This is good as well. It's really up to you." The peddler said as he shifted the position of the wooden necklace to be in front of the items he was selling.

It was as if he was telling the other bidders that this wooden necklace was important and that they should bid on it as well!

Of course, Raze easily understood what the peddler wanted to happen. However, it was his store and she couldn't tell him how he should position his wares.

Anyway, Raze could only sigh as she stood up and left. The Bazaar was indeed huge, and she had plenty of things to see.

Thankfully, there was food being sold that didn't require two hours to be claimed!

Just a single point could give her a healthy meal, including drinks! It was unfortunate that you could only purchase these once and couldn't buy many of them to bring them to the Fiend Continent.

As Raze was walking, she noticed several other Survivors looking at a specific building.

"Mhmm?"

Raze's curiosity was piqued as she approached the grand edifice that stood out amidst the makeshift stalls and mats of the bazaar.

Indeed! The building was an anomaly here—a two-story structure with an air of luxury that seemed almost out of place in the ambiance of the marketplace.

The facade was adorned with intricate carvings that depicted scenes of barter and trade, hinting at the building's purpose.

As she stepped through the ornate double doors, a bell chimed softly, announcing her arrival.

Cling~ Cling~ Cling~

Inside, the store was a cavern of wonders. Items of all kinds lined the shelves and display cases, from practical survival gear to relics of the old world that seemed to whisper of ancient times.

'Ohh… This place also smells good.' Raze commented in her mind.

The air was filled with the scent of old leather and polished wood, and a soft, golden light bathed everything in a warm glow.

At the counter, a well-dressed proprietor with a keen eye appraised each customer, buying and selling with a shrewdness that spoke of years in the trade.

'This place looks like a premium store or something…'

Raze watched as a few Survivors argue at the set of binoculars, their voices never rising above a congenial murmur yet carrying an undercurrent of firmness.

The two Survivors didn't want to pay too much for the binoculars they found, so they could only try to convince the other to give up at a certain price point.

Anyway, Raze already knew that something like this could happen if the two bidders of same items met.

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Because of that, Raze simply ignored them and wandered the aisles, her dragon tattoo occasionally warming slightly as she passed certain items—a sign that there was more to some of these trinkets than met the eye.

'I know… All of them are special, Roan… However, I'm not rich!' She said to the baby dragon.

She then paused before a glass case containing a wooden ring.

Raze couldn't help but recall the wooden necklace a while ago!

The design was closely similar to this ring! Both of them were simple, yet they held a presence that drew her in.

"Ah, I see you have an eye for the unique…" One of the store managers said, appearing beside her.

"This piece is quite incredible… I heard it had mysterious powers. Only the fated one can truly appreciate their value. Right, I also heard from the owner that it should be a set of equipment. Yes, it's said they're linked, part of a set that grants the wearer protection against something... Well, I can't really say since I'm not the fated one.

But the effect could even be better than that." The manager said as he tried to make the item more interesting.

Thankfully, he saw how Raze's eyes lit up after hearing his sales talk.

Just like that, Raze's interest deepened.

"How much do you think this one would sell?" She asked, her gaze locked on the wooden ring. Since there are no other bids again, she had no idea how many Points she should place on this one.

"I think that you may want to start at a lower price… How about 100 Points? It is very low, but it will ensure that the other bidders don't think that this might be very special and fight for it randomly just to mess with the original bidder." He replied with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

'Again with this smile…' Raze thought as she shook her head. There was no way she would fall on such an obvious trick to make the customer pay more for useless items!

After some thought, Raze placed a 10 Points bid and witnessed the manager's shocked expression.