The merchant sighed. "It's a shame that such a good piece is being wasted like this."
Ryu smiled coldly but said nothing. Now that he was slowly coming into contact with more and more powerful beasts, his Shrine Plane knowledge was starting to become useful again. He was too used to strong beasts with great bloodlines, so he knew too little about their weaker counterparts. But when it came to beasts with great potential like the Diamond Back Ape, even if he didn't know as much as a Beast Master would, he still had quite a few tidbits of useful information.
The reason the merchant was lamenting this sale was because the true strength of this soft armor wouldn't appear unless its owner could catalyze the hair filaments it was woven from to react. Essentially, one needed to bathe the soft armor in oppressively hot flames in battle. If one could do this, the soft armor would harden into a complex crystalline structure, boosting its defensive abilities by over ten times.
The Diamond Back Ape was named as such not because it had a rock attached to its back. Its so-called 'tortoise-like' shell was actually a dense patch of hair that protected its vulnerable spine. When it was agitated with enough heat, it would become the 103rd hardest material in existence, Flame Crystal.
Of course, Ryu had no intention of explaining to the merchant that he was more than qualified to reach this standard.
"Sell me those robes as well." Ryu said casually. "All three of them."
Ryu pointed out a rack of black robes with silver embroidery hidden in its inner working. Looking down at his haggard and shirtless self, it really was too unsightly for a Scion of the Tatsuya Clan, he needed to change. These robes didn't have defensive properties as good as the Diamond Back Soft Armor, but the silver embroidery was a specialty of the Spiritual Seamstress profession.
A good Spiritual Seamstress would be able to make clothes an extension of one's meridians, using special techniques to etch paths of qi into clothing. These clothes could not only change their size to fit their owner, but they could provide a small boost to fighting ability. Though, that boost was often negligible.
This set of three robes provided a negligible boost, but Ryu was more interested in their resilience. After binding to clothes creating by a good Spiritual Seamstress, the clothing would gain the attributes of its owner, thus making it resistant to techniques or elements its owner might use. It was a good option for Ryu who was tired of his clothes bursting apart on him.
"These are Sixth Order Spiritual Robes. Even if they aren't as valuable as they soft armor, they're still expensive. A thousand Higher Mortal Qi Stones each."
This so-called Sixth Order meant that these clothes should be able to survive a battle between Connecting Heaven Realm experts, assuming its owner also had this level of strength.
Ryu didn't bargain and left the exchange to Tae without a care in the world.
"Since when were bumpkins allowed into the Armament Guild Bazaar? Guards! Escort him out, his appearance is unsightly."
A familiar voice rang in Ryu's ears, but it was far gloomier than the last time he heard it. He didn't bother to turn around. With the stone monuments having been up for a while now, there were without a doubt quite a few disappointed trial takers. For these trash to find someone to vent their anger on was normal.
But, even Ryu couldn't help but find that it was amusing that this person calling him a bumpkin had been beaten into the ground by him just half a year prior. Wasn't he embarrassing himself more this way?
To make matters worse, he was trying to command Armament Guild Guards? Did he accidentally hit this Basteel Clan young master too hard on the head back then?
A well-dressed man by Tharon's side laughed. "Tharon, do you really need to take out your anger on an innocent passerby just because your performance was so trash? It's no wonder you lost your First Heir position to your younger brother. Even the Basteel Clan known for their fiery temperaments decided they'd be run into the ground if they were led by you."
"You must have been hit a bit too hard all those months ago." Another young man laughed. "Trying to command Armament Guild Guards? Distrusting the vetting process of the Armament Guild? He could be covered in shit and it still wouldn't be your turn to tell the Armament Guild who they can and can't allow in. Use your head for once and maybe you wouldn't lose so badly all the time."
In truth, to onlookers who gazed over curiously, Ryu really did seem unsightly. And, because he had taken a backseat to the transaction between Tae and the merchant, it seemed he was watching on while someone else bought something he could never afford. No one's first thought would ever be that the beautiful back view of Tae was actually in the process of running an errand for this haggard young man.
Tharon clenched his fists. The two who had just spoken were the First Heirs to the Xie and Vinn Clan, two Clans that shared equal status with his Basteel Clan and the Zu Clan. Of course, there was also the silent First Heir of the Croft Clan lagging behind them.
Their statuses had once been equal, but after Tharon lost so much face for the Basteel Clan and had the Bloodied Steed they had so much hope in become subservient to another, his status plummeted. In the end, his younger brother who had become an Herbologist at a young age took his place. It was rare for the Basteel Clan to birth someone so intelligent and charismatic, so the elders decided that maybe the younger Basteel might have a better chance of leading them past the plateau their Clan had been stuck on for the past several millennia.
As these young men were taunting and jeering back and forth, a shocking scene occurred.
The beautiful back view of Tae turned around, revealing a visage they all recognized.
Tharon's gaze lit up. "Fairy Tae -!"
Unfortunately, his words were caught in his throat as and his face darkened as he watched the fairy in his heart take a stack of four neatly folded armors and spiritual clothing, only to hand them to the very same country bumpkin he had tried to have kicked out only to be ignored.
To make matters worse, he suddenly felt that the so-called bumpkin was too familiar. For some reason, despite only being ten or so meters away, he couldn't make out Ryu's exact figure. And, even though he could plainly feel that Ryu's hair was fluttering, he couldn't make out its color either. It was as though everything about him was covered in a veil his senses couldn't pierce through.
He suddenly remembered that the last time he had this feeling… Was six months ago…
It was then that Ryu finally turned around.