After the merchant caravan was saved by Elena's team, they were put under investigation, everyone that survived the ordeal was forced to share their experiences with the council members of Sal Village through Mind Path.
The council members found nothing, just an inexplicable attack from a pack of Skrucks. Now that Sal Village had sacrificed many of their soldiers and a Mind Shifter to save what remained of the caravan, Cafoori Village owed a big favour to Sal Village, they sent another set of caravans to Sal Village for trading and promised large discounts for the people and the village.
It was Day 177, a day after Memor's interrogation. The village square was filled with stalls and tents that sold items from foods, equipment, accessories, and Artifacts. The streets were filled with crowds of people, women, children, farmers, herders, and Mnemonists.
Memor walked through the packed paths trying to make out the place his uncle told him to find. The sun was high in the sky, shining onto the heads of the passerbyers and onto Memor's long dark hair.
He had come to the rave with Luni, but he made an excuse and left him for a while. Naturally Luni wouldn't leave him alone with a simple excuse, so Memor had to tell the truth."Uncle Ceres wants me to sell something for him here."
Hearing his response, Luni turned around and left, only leaving a location for Memor to find him when he was done.
What'd you do to him to scare him that much?
'...'
Currently Memor was in a side route of the sale, a myriad of colored tents lined the road offering many different items for purchase, Memor could hear the loud ravings of hawkers.
Where is this bell that Ceres spoke of? Looking at the supporting beams of the tents, Memor searched for a golden bell that was supposedly hung where Memor could sell the item entrusted to him by Uncle Ceres.
Is it that one? Memor gaze fell on a golden bell hung at a red tent's supporting beam who sold weapons. The stall's tent flaps were fully drawn open allowing anyone to see inside but not enter as the entrance was blocked with a wooden table holding many swords, axes, hammers, and bows.
Memor walked past the red tent and squeezed himself through the opening under the bell which was an alley way of sorts between two tents. He proceeded forward, slowly the brightness of the sun was covered by a red shade sail. Reaching the end of the small alley way, there was a fairly sized opening veiled in a much more opaque black shade cloth, hooded individuals sat around, some playing cards in a circle, some enjoying a drink of beer with another, some polishing their weapons.
When Memor walked in, all eyes came upon him, a silence settled into the alleyway, only the hustle and bustle of the outside crowds echoed in the distance. One of the hooded men laughed at the absurdity of the situation, a young boy dressed in a plain tunic, strolling into an alley filled with people that may or may not kill him. After his laughter quieted out, he asked in a voice tinged with a smile."Boy, what brings you here today. You lost your mother in the crowd."
The people chuckled in the alleyway, neither loud nor quiet, as if they didn't want to be found out by the citizens outside.
"I'm here as a customer." Memor said tersely, taking out a pouch strapped to the inside of his pants adjacent to the pouch of Bayel flowers. Then he threw it to the man who made the joke who sat right in front of Memor.
Catching the bundle, the hood man unfastened its rope and looked inside, his face was hidden in the hood's shadows, but Memor could tell that he was taken aback from what he saw. The man reached into the pouch and took out what looked like a broken piece of glass, though at a second glance, one could tell its peculiarity.
The glass fragment didn't reflect anything on its surface, it looked like it had a world of its own inside, with every passing second the image it showed would change, from a grass land, to a forest, to an inside of a rustic home, then a large more refined home.
The hooded man then inspected the Memory Fragment in his hand, twirling it between his fingers from time to time, then he asked skeptically."Where'd you get this?"
Memor replied with a straight face."Why some many questions. You want it or not?"
The hooded man pondered for a bit, then he placed the Memory Fragment back into the pouch and pocketed it in his loose dark pants, not saying a word while staring at Memor.
So that's what he plans on doing, huh? Memor let out an audible sigh and said."I'm but a messenger, as you can see I'm a mere human."
He reached out a hand, and in the next moment, the space above his hand rippled, a dagger appeared."We don't want to bring trouble…but, I will not get blatantly robbed."
The hooded man took in a deep breath."5 Gold Crits."
The man knew he couldn't steal from a person with any sort of backing in the village. They have come to Sal Village as underground dealers, keeping whatever is sold and bought under the sheets, but with the previous attack from the Skrucks, they owed big favors to Sal Village, any trouble caused by them would likely be repaid with their heads.
That's a lot of money. Just then, the voice of Uncle Ceres resounded in his head.
'15 Gold Crits. This is no ordinary Memory Fragment.'
"15 Gold Crits, no more no less." Memor stated.
The hooded men all chuckled at his ridiculous proposal in a pent up manner. The hooded man argued."The standard price of a Memory Fragment is 5 Gold, considering what we are doing here I should have paid less for this."
Memor retorted,"it's no ordinary Memory Fragment."
The man snicker at his justification."Then tell me boy, what's so special about this Memory Fragment."
Now what? I need to know more for us to get a good price on it.
'...'
I can't do anything without knowledge. Memor stood there in silence awkwardly, but the hooded individuals knew what he was doing. To them, the young man must have a person speaking to them in their head, it's impossible for a normal person to transfer any memories to another, but the opposite is possible, by having ideas in one's head a Learner could transfer their thoughts to another person. They knew, chances are someone was listening in on the conversion and didn't want to reveal themselves.
'This Memory Fragment's Unique Fragment Ability is a rare one, it allows the user to undermine any attack or state the user receives.'
Memor spoke after his long period of silence."This Memory Fragment's Unique Fragment Ability is a rare one, it allows the user to undermine any attack or state the user receives."
The hooded man chuckled through his speech."And how can I trust you."
'Take out your hand Memor.'
Memor brought out his hand with retorting, in the next second the space atop his hand rippled and a Memory Fragment landed on it? No it wasn't a Memory Fragment, it looked different, having the same shape and glassy feel of one, but the image inside the fragment was singular, unchanging.
The hooded man tilted his head in confusion, offering a hand for Memor to place the fragment on. Memor gave the fragment to the hooded man and watched in silence. The rest of the hooded men stopped what they were doing with all their attention on what was in the hooded man's hand.
In the next moment the fragment disappeared from his hand, fading into nothing. The hooded man stared in a stupor, but it didn't look like confusion, rather he looked occupied with something else in his mind.
One of the individuals in the alleyway who was playing cards whispered in a barely audible sound."I heard some Grade 2 Mnemonists can turn memories into physical fragments."
"What? Is that true?"
"I saw another person do that before."
"Is it a Unique Fragment Ability or just a Fragment Ability?"
The alleyway bursted into murmurs, debating the events they've just witnessed, as Memor stood in silence waiting for the hooded man to break out of his stupor.
In a minute or so, the hooded man moved again, without saying a word, he took out a pouch from his pockets, counted the amount of Gold Crits, then threw it to Memor.
Memor weighed the bag in his hand, before he could even start counting, a voice in his head told him it was the right amount.
He smiled at the group of men and left. As Memor made his way through the tight alleyway he had a question in his mind.
Where did you get the Memory Fragment, Uncle Ceres.
'...'
Memor expected to be met with silence so he didn't push it, surprising in the next moment Uncle Ceres said in his mind.
'Elena's corpse.'