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The Professional Market...
There's one in every district. They're usually located close to the heart of every district and also occupy a lot of space. The appearance of the professional market cannot be mistaken, as no matter how backwards or advanced districts were, the theme of the market was universal.
At every available entrance of the market, there will always be a huge sign that says, 'Welcome to the Professional Market.'
And on the other side of that signboardwere the words, 'Thanks for visiting the Professional Market; we hope to see you again.'
What differentiated the professional market from the rest of the district was the style of its buildings, like stalls, official stores, etc. Every single piece looked modern.
It's like arriving in a new world with the sci-fi theme. The buildings were tall, sleek, and shiny; the roads were neat; and there were bright neon signs and holographic imaging everywhere. Even the commercials were eye-catching.
And again, this was regardless of the prosperity of the district. The district could be dilapidated and almost barren; it could also be primitive, like it's stuck in the Stone Age, yet if it's a district, there will be a professional market in it, and it will always look like this.
This whole place is run by an AI system. If TJ recalls his lessons correctly, then the one at District 13 was called Sandy. System messages appear everywhere; some contain descriptions of items, others tell the name of the store, are used as a signboard, etc.
Obviously, being near to the heart of every district and offering a variety of goods, anybody could expect that the market will always be populated. Sometimes, it could even be the most active location in an entire district simply because everything that a pro would need could be found here.
The Professional Market was founded by the Lifestyle Guild. Markets like this used to be built near the guild and served as an opportunity for the guild members to sell their products or trade with others. This has turned into a tradition, and over time, the market's popularity boomed, and it became difficult for the guild members to keep running it on their own; therefore, they began asking the government of each district for help in exchange for favors or by increasing their tax settlement.
Eventually, it has to be moved closer to the heart of each district so that it can be monitored and kept safe. There is, after all, a lot of money circulating in this market.
TJ has never been a fan of crowds. He doesn't like being forced to shove his body in between other bodies to get where he needs to be. That said, he doesn't hate it to the point that he'd be crippled at the sight of it. He dislikes it, but not to the point that he can't live with it.
With a deep frown on his face, which looked like an annoyed or irate expression to others, TJ weeded through the crowd just to get to his destination.
'I should've come during weekdays instead. It's less populated during those.' He grumbled inwardly as he squeezed himself out of the crowd.
Alas, he's already here and was already deep into the sea of people; it's a little too late to go back now.
He's here for one thing, and that is to buy skills. His destination was the skill store, obviously, and to his luck, that store is also one of the most populated places in the market.
After struggling to get there, TJ sighed in relief once he was in the store. Now, he just needs to fall in line and wait for his turn to buy.
The line was long, as expected. He could even see some pros in their combat gear waiting in the same line as him. Their faces varied from impatience to total indifference.
Had there been an option for a delivery instead, TJ would've gladly chosen that instead of coming here in person. He wouldn't have minded paying extra for delivery fees just so that he didn't have to enter the sea of crowds and wait in line.
Alas, he's buying a skill. Not food or other less sensitive resources that could be delivered at a moment's notice.
Even though skills could be bought at stores like this, the government won't just readily unload every skill book known to man and divide it among every skill store. There are strict rules for this, ones that had to be followed to keep the peace within districts.
Buying them in person was one such rule. Whether it's for a gift or for personal use, skills had to be bought in person. And there is also a limit to the skills one can buy at once. This is to prevent hoarders from making the market unstable.
Obviously, not all skills are available in these stores. Only novice-to-expert-ranked skills could be bought here; as for the skills and spells above expert rank, they're either available somewhere else or could only be hunted from certain monsters in dungeons.
Of course, there are special cases. But that's not important right now.
It took two hours of waiting in line before it was finally his turn. When asked, TJ said that he wanted to buy a total of three items, a skill and two spells: [Mana Control], [Detection], and [Barrier].
All of these skills were novice-ranked spells—simple and easy to use.
His purchase didn't cause any surprises or even make the store clerk bat an eye. Even more so when the clerk discovered that TJ was still 16, she probably thought that he was one of the freshly awakened casters who are now expanding their skillsets.
This misunderstanding works great for him since TJ didn't really feel like explaining himself.
The purchase proceeded smoothly. The total cost ended up being 100,000 geos: 25,000 for the Mana Control skill and Detection spell and 50,000 for the Barrier spell.
Why was the Barrier Spell double the price of his other purchase? Well, it's because the Barrier Spell could be considered a life-saving spell. A well-timed Barrier cast has saved millions of lives throughout history; that's the logic behind its price tag.
That said, everything he bought was expensive. One must know that, in TJ's case, 10,000 geos was enough to cover his living expenses for an entire month; this includes rent, bills, and food.
25,000 went to two and a half months' worth of his monthly living expenses, and all of it for skills that still needed to be trained and upgraded. And this was generally the price range of other novice skills as well.
If it wasn't for TJ receiving a monetary donation for them late Sr. Maxwell wouldn't even bother with these skills for now. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to purchase them.
TJ could've gone to Lily instead. She would be more than happy to let him borrow the multiple-use skill books her family has, and she won't even charge him a penny.
But TJ wasn't so selfish or opportunistic as to do something like that. Especially knowing that Lily wouldn't even hesitate to give him more if given the chance.
He owed her and her family so much over the years already; he didn't want to impose any more than he should have.
After buying the skills, he was taken to the testing site to try them out. Due to the nature of the skills he bought, he didn't display anything flashy or awesome. Even the barrier spell looked rather boring when used by a novice like him. But TJ was more than alright with this. He didn't want to attract too much attention anyway.
With his business here concluded, TJ had to face the dreaded sea of crowds again. Pursing his lips, he boldly stepped out of the building and began squeezing himself out of the crowd.
Thump!!
"Oof! Come on, kid! Watch where you're going."
TJ didn't mean it. It's just that the flow of the crowd was so strong that he got swept by it and caused him to hit another person.
He was about to apologize to the man, but he froze upon looking at him.
The face of the man he crashed into was pale under the hood, his cold and indifferent eyes gleamed with a very faint sanguine light, and the man's fangs were slightly longer than most people's.
"The fuck are you looking at?" The man aggressively asked.
"U-uh, sorry. I didn't mean to stare. And I'm sorry for crashing into you; there are just too many people."
TJ's heart thundered on his chest, threatening to burst. However, he kept his words as clear and concise as they could be, doing his best to be less suspicious.
"Tch. Whatever." The man, fortunately, didn't seem to notice. He started walking away after saying this.
As TJ watched the man blend into the crowd and disappear from his sight, TJ couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
'Safe,' he muttered inwardly before charging to the crowd again, hoping to make his way out of the market as fast as he could.
As he did so, he couldn't help but recall the man's face.
'...that red smear on his lips, it smelled like dried blood.'
'But that couldn't be, right? It's probably just a lipstick.'