Chapter 10

It's not my fault! Two updates in a row! There will be at least one more update tonight! It really wasn't my fault yesterday!

First update!

Actually, Cook's thoughts were very simple: with the same amount of money, every bit saved is a bit earned. After all, his entire fortune was just one gold coin and ten silver coins. Cook still wanted to buy a pretty dress for his sister, a pair of gloves for his father, a good kitchen knife for his mother, and a frying pan. A set of linen clothes for his sister would cost about 5 to 6 silver coins, the deer skin gloves his father needed would cost about 7 silver coins, the kitchen knife for his mother would cost 3 silver coins, and the frying pan would cost 2 silver coins. Therefore, Cook had to be very careful with his purchases.

"Here!" Without hesitation, Cook handed the middle-aged stall owner 85 silver coins, then pointed to a black box. Actually, all the dozen or so boxes here were black.

"Ah!" Naris sighed inwardly, because he could sense a faint magical fluctuation from one of the boxes, clearly indicating a magic beast egg. The box Cook pointed to, however, had no magical fluctuation at all. This was only because Naris had been through the trials of war, which made his senses so sensitive.

"Ha ha, 85 silver coins, customer, take it well." The middle-aged stall owner laughed heartily when he saw where Cook pointed. Inside was a small, spotted stone the size of a thumb. These things were actually picked up by the magic apprentice from the trash bin of the Mage Guild, as he was responsible for that area. Of course, all the valuable items had already been sold by the middle-aged man, leaving only some useless but oddly shaped items. However, since he didn't know what these things were, he couldn't sell them at his stall, so he came up with this method to sell them.

"Uh!" Cook was also surprised, feeling the stone in his hand, which could be called beautiful. Cook clearly heard a faint cry from inside the stone: "Water! Water! Water!" It was intermittent.

Cook was stunned and put the beautiful stone into his inner pocket, then left silently. The middle-aged stall owner proudly put the silver coins into his money bag and called out to Cook, "Little guy, take care, come back again, and I'll give you a 5 silver coin discount next time!"

"Cook, it's okay, it's just 85 silver coins. Actually, your..." Naris patted Cook's shoulder to comfort him.

"Hehe, Uncle Naris, I'm not that foolish. Let's go see what's inside." Cook was moved by Naris's concern, as he could sense Naris's sincerity.

"What?" Naris was confused. It was just a stone, what else could there be? But seeing that Cook had already walked away, he had no choice but to follow.

Cook took out his water flask, pulled out the cork, and took out the beautiful stone, then slowly rinsed it with water. Naris, standing beside him, shook his head, "Cook, don't wash it, it's just... uh!"

Then something surprising happened. The stone, as the water flowed over it, began to soften. A part of it started to move, and soon a furry mouth appeared. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful stone in Cook's palm turned into a small, furry spider, the size of a pinky finger. This little thing was clearly just hatched, constantly testing the surroundings with its legs, and its small eyes were fixed on Cook.

"Hungry!" Cook clearly heard the little thing say. Cook knew this was his talent, something Naris and the others didn't know. Because Cook knew that the sound waves emitted by all animals were different, and the spider's voice was inaudible to Naris as a human.

"Cook, let's go. This little thing has no magical fluctuation, it's just an ordinary insect," Naris said after a long moment of shock.

"Okay, Uncle Naris." Cook smiled and followed Naris with the little thing.

"Hehe, call me Brother Naris, it sounds more intimate," Naris said with a smile.

"Brother Naris!" Cook didn't hesitate, knowing that they would be fighting together in the future, and it was more suitable to call each other brothers.

"Good, Brother Cook, I'll give you a gift later, I promise you'll like it," Naris responded generously.

"Thank you, Brother Naris." Cook continued to communicate with the little thing. There was no choice, as the little thing could only understand simple words and could only say simple words. Fortunately, due to Cook's talent, the sounds he made were inaudible to Naris, only the little thing could hear them.

"Eat! Hungry! Eat! Hungry!" The little thing kept repeating these two phrases. Now it was perched on Cook's collar, and if you didn't look closely, you might think it was a patch.

"Okay! Eat!" Cook had to respond, and at the same time, he recalled the spider's diet in his mind. However, he was a bit at a loss because spiders eat insects, and where would he find insects in the city?

"Cook, where are you going?" Naris grabbed Cook, thinking he was heading to a general store.

"To buy a frying pan, Mom has wanted one for a long time," Cook turned and replied.

"Hehe, I guessed as much, but you don't need to go there. Let's go to the black market, where you can find anything, though the sources may not be entirely legitimate." Naris led Cook into a tavern but didn't sit down, instead walking to the back while explaining.

"Black market!" Cook soon discovered that the so-called black market was just a row of stalls on two small streets, not in any hidden place. However, there were some large men on both sides of the small streets, clearly the staff.

"Here, adventurers sell all kinds of things. Look at the household items, clothes, weapons, and equipment. Although they are all second-hand, they are very cheap and clearly priced," Naris explained with a smile.

Cook looked around and found it to be true. Frying pans and kitchen knives were one silver coin each, and gloves were two silver coins. Cook quickly calculated the money he had left, 25 silver coins, which was enough to buy many things.

"Even clothes?" As Cook walked and bought things, he found a frying pan, a kitchen knife, a machete, two pairs of gloves (one for his father and one for his mother, both made of deer skin), and two pairs of calf leather boots, spending a total of 8 silver coins on the gloves, 2 silver coins on the machete (which required better iron and was twice the size of a kitchen knife), and 12 silver coins on the boots, leaving him with 13 silver coins. What surprised him was that there were even clothes for sale here.

"Hehe, you can find anything here," Naris said with a smile. Cook walked straight to a stall selling second-hand clothes and chose a set of leather clothes for his sister. Although they were a bit old, they only cost 4 silver coins. Cook considered that leather clothes were more durable and had better insulation.

"Eat! Eat!" However, just as Cook was paying, the little thing on his collar suddenly jumped down and pounced on a bag at the neighboring stall.

"Hey! Kid, watch your pet." What surprised Cook was that the little thing was stopped by a large hand, moving so fast that even Naris squinted. The hand was wearing a dusty glove.