I Can Copy Curses

Chapter 85. Aethelgard City - 2

As Orion and the other kids heard Vance, their faces turned ugly.

Orion also frowned. He couldn't imagine living here for all his life.

Most importantly, he felt that this place was more dangerous than he thought it would be if what Vance said were true.

'First, I need to know what's happening here before I can decide anything!'

Thinking of that, he turned to face Vance, his face solemn.

"Did nobody ever leave this place?" He asked, his eyes narrowing at Vance. "Tell me what's going on in this place. Why did the pirates kidnap us and bring us here? What do they want? Tell me everything you know."

"Alright, I will tell you," Vance said as he looked at the serious expression on Orion's face. "But not here; I will tell you on the way to your living area; let's go."

Orion nodded as he turned to look at all the others behind him.

"Let's go," Victor said to him as well as to the others, taking the lead in following Vance and Flyn.

Orion signaled to Famir and Ryfin, as they also followed behind Vance.

At the end, the other kids, who were hesitating about what to do, also walked behind Orion and the others. They didn't know what's best for them, but they felt relief in following the majority.

As they started walking in a certain direction, Vance started his explanation.

"This place is called Aethelgard City, and if I am not wrong, you guys must have seen the huge mountain when you came here, right?" He said this, looking at them.

Everyone nodded at him, confirming him.

"This place is just below that big mountain," he said. "As for what they want from us? I suppose it's mana stones and mana crystals found at this mountain."

"You mean we are used as slaves here?" Orion asked, his face turned black.

"No, not slaves, but like a worker without freedom!" Vance shook his head as he

explained. "It's like this-the more mana crystals or mana stones you provide, the better your living conditions will get. Also, with these mana stones, you can buy anything in this place as long as you have the right amount."

"Anything?" Orion asked, his eyes shining.

"Yeah, anything as long as it's available," Vance confirmed as he looked at Orion suspiciously. "You want something from here?"

Orion didn't hide anything; he told him what he wanted, for he felt that it didn't matter if anyone knew about this.

"I wonder if they have mutagens and a monster core here," he said. "Some of us here really need these."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Haha, then you are in luck." Vance laughed lightly. "The caves inside the mountain where we mine are full of monsters. You can just go there and kill those monsters and get their cores and mutagens."

Orion nodded. He felt that if he could upgrade his rank to the iron rank, then with all his curses, his strength should be equal to that of the silver rank. At that time, he would think about escaping this place.

'I can just escape by hiding in the other dimension, but...'

He understood that escaping this place would be easy for him using his curse, Dimensional Dissonance. However, if he did that, he would regret leaving behind Famir and Ryfin. Also, now that he knew he could improve his strength here, he was determined not to let go of that opportunity easily. So, in either case, he would have to stay here for a while until he upgraded his strength.

At that moment, they happened to pass through a very crowded area in Aethelgard City. Orion saw that the streets of this area were lined with various stalls. Some sold weapons, others armor, and still others offered items he didn't recognize. There was no shortage of such stalls in the area. He even spotted stalls selling mutagens, with boards clearly labeled "Mutagens" at the top.

People of various ages roamed the streets, many stopping by the weapon and armor stalls while others browsed clothing and other items. The bustling atmosphere contrasted sharply with the eerie quiet he had observed earlier.

Overall, this area was bustling with all kinds of people.

Vance saw through the curiousness of the kids after seeing such busy streets full of people. So, he told them some things about it.

"This part of the city is called Market Street," he said, looking at the streets full of people. "It's where you can exchange all the mana stones and crystals with anything to your liking.

Everyone nodded at Vance's explanation.

As they walked past Market Street, they appeared in an area full of houses lined besides each other and some at the top of each other.

After coming to this area, Orion's attention was immediately attracted by the biggest building in the far distance.

It looked like a royal palace, standing tall and isolated, with no other buildings in its vicinity. Four fortress-like brown pillars surrounded a central dome-shaped structure, atop which an illuminating sun was positioned. The grand architecture exuded an air of majesty and solitude.

It looked majestic and grand compared to all the small buildings that appeared to have

been built here in a hurry.

"That, my friend, is something you shouldn't pay attention to," Vance warned them about that building.

"Why?" Orion asked.

"That's the place where General Dray lives," he said as a little dread appeared on his face. "It's said that nobody has ever returned after stepping ten miles around his quarter. We don't know if it's only a rumor or if there are some truths behind it, but we tend to stay away from General Dray's quarter as much as we can. So, ignore that area as if it doesn't exist; it's for your own benefits."

Everyone nodded with a grim expression on their faces.

At that moment, Vance pointed at a row of buildings.

"You see those buildings over there?" He said this, looking at them. "Just choose any from that area, but remember this: it's only free for the first week of your stay here. After that period of time, you will have to pay hundred mana crystals each week to continue to stay here; otherwise, you will immediately get kicked out of these houses." Orion saw that these buildings appeared to be the same circular-shaped building he had been seeing since coming to planet Sadola.

'So, we have to pay a hundred mana crystals just to stay here. He thought.

"Alright, just choose any of the buildings you want to live in," Vance said as he looked at them. "Tomorrow morning, I will come and show you the mining area where we usually mine to get our hands on the mana crystals or the mana stones."

After that, he told them some other basic things and left with Elyn, who hadn't spoken the entire time.

"Alright, let's go and choose a building," Lisa said as she excitedly began to look at each

building thoroughly.

Orion didn't waste any time on that. To him, all these buildings appeared to be the same, so he just chose a building.

"I will see you guys tomorrow," he said as he looked at Famir and Ryfin before he walked towards the house he chose.

As he neared the door of the house, it suddenly opened itself. Orion liked that and stepped inside the house as the door behind him closed down.