Chapter 489: The Warp Gate [Part 2]
Northern and his crew were required to stand at the center of the gate: a golden pillar that arched over them, with a piece of the same crystal in the center of the arc.
They waited a little bit for the whole mechanism to start. Northern could hear a soft whirring sound that slowly built up, but all of a sudden there was a crack in the build-up, then it slowly dropped.
At that point, Northern figured, 'Oh shit... there's a problem.'
And he feared that the source of that problem would most likely be him.
A couple of seconds later, the whirring sound started building up again, then the same thing happened. There was a crack, and the build-up began to drop.
The official approached them, politely saying, "We would like to test the functionality of the gateway on other travelers to figure out if the problem is with the travelers or the gateways."
Her tone was pleasing to listen to; the level of humility in her tone would make anyone be very calm and sensible with her.
"Does this happen usually?" Shin inquired, looking at her inquisitively.
"It's not uncommon to experience faults in the gateway every now and then, but the problem is that the gateway seems to be experiencing some kind of overload. This usually happens when the gateway is trying to transfer a large number of souls."
Shin folded his arms with a serious look at the lady, "And how many is a large number?"
"A thousand."
Shin went silent for a second, then retorted, "Okay, there's definitely a problem. It's fine, you can check-"
"There'll be no need for that."
Shin looked at his son, raising a brow.
Northern continued, "I kind of know the reason why that is happening."
He looked specifically at the lady and asked, "Do you guys have one for a larger capacity?"
The lady hesitated for a moment with skepticism playing on her face before she responded. "Yes sir. There definitely is a larger capacity gateway; however, it is used for military purposes, or for extremely important travelers, such as Paragons and Ascendants."
Northern nodded his head, "I understand. How much do I have to pay to use the other one?"
The lady hesitated again, this time looking at Northern from head to toe.
He was wearing a casual shirt alongside black pants and knee-level boots, which he received from the border.
She politely said to him, "Sir, it will cost a lot of money."
"How much?"
"Three thousand Credis."
'Three thousand Credis, that is three hundred thousand Talii,' Northern juggled his memory.
The commonly accepted currencies in the Central Plains were:
Talies (plural: Talii), which was the base currency of the world, small bronze coins, used for day-to-day transactions.
Credi (plural: Credis), mid-tier currency which is made of silver representing higher status or wealth.
Orens (plural: orens), these are gold coins, which are used for high market transactions and can be found amidst several merchants.
Cryst (Plural: Crysts), these are modernized paper money backed by a combination of precious materials and some form of magical essence.
1 Credi= 100 Talii
1 Orens 50 Credis (or 5000 Talii)
1 Cryst = 100 Orens (or 5000 Credis, or 500,000 Talii).
Hence the reason why three thousand Credis was 300,000 Talii, which is quite a lot of money.
Enough for a peasant to buy a house, a farm and start a family, feeding them for at least a year.
A middle-class house costs a thousand Credis. Which is an estate, with a five-room mansion and a nice garden compound.
So, yes, it was pretty expensive.
Northern sighed; he was in a lot of trouble now.
Shin looked at him, worried. He still could not comprehend why Northern was asking to use a much larger one.
But he didn't question what Northern was doing. By now, he had figured out that there were tons of things he didn't know about his son. Including the tremendous strength he was hiding.
"We have a total of three hundred, ninety-six thousand Talii. So it's still affordable." Shin said with a calm voice.
The lady exchanged her eyes between the two of them, looking at them like they were insane. "I'm sorry, but shouldn't that money serve you a better purpose? I'm sure it's just a slight malfunction. It will work as soon as it's tested with the next batch of travelers."
Northern shook his head and directed his gaze at her, "Test it as much as you want. You'd still keep having the same issue."
The lady had an extremely confused look on her face. She was trying to be very considerate
and reasonable, but it seemed these peasants weren't having it.
Then a thought broke into her mind, making her eyes widen. Her mouth opened as she realized what she could be missing.
"I'm very sorry for not recognizing a Paragon!"
"Eh?"
Not only Northern, but all the crew exclaimed. A Paragon? Where?
"I'm sorry, there seems to be a mistake. None of us here is a Paragon." Shin cleared the air.
Immediately, the girl stood back with a puzzled frown.
"Then an Ascendant?" she inquired.
Shin looked at the rest; they all shook their heads. Then he responded, "No."
The lady looked at Northern, "I'm sorry sir. Is it okay for me to ask what rank you are?"
Northern indifferently answered, "I am a Master."
"How old sir?"
"Sixteen."
'Sixteen and a Master? That's insanely impossible,' the thought cause her eyes to widen.
She was meaning to confirm what rank he is, for him to speak like he was a thousand souls
walking in one body.
But she had ended up being taken by shock that she forgot her initial reason.
A sixteen-year-old Master in the Central Plains has never been heard of!
"Please, can we proceed?" Northern bothered.
The lady broke out of her shock; at this point, she was just mentally tired. She shrugged.
"If it's what you want, then there is no problem."
Shin brought out the pack of coins, selected ninety-six coins from it and handed the rest to
the lady.
The lady bowed as she received and took one last glance at Northern, who was expressionless.
She faced Shin and the rest of the crew.
"Then you all can proceed to the center of the gateway."
Shin and the rest of them did as she said, while she walked away with Northern.
After a while, the whirring began its build-up again; this time, however, there was no drop.
The build-up continued till the crystal in the center arc began to glow brightly, eventually, a
formula circle on the ground appeared with a blue glow as the crystal. Then a light enveloped them, instantly warping them to South Drywall.