Aaron was utterly exhausted after the theft and chaos, longing for sleep, but the fear of the Mistress of Head invading his mind kept him from even considering closing his eyes.
He called the system and asked, "Why am I getting so sleepy?!"
The system replied in its monotone voice, "The mist in the city is denser than usual. Be warned, this is no ordinary mist, it drifts in from the realm of dreams."
He asked for the cure but was only told to stay awake.
"I should've kept some mushrooms," he muttered, recalling how he'd handed all his items to the girl after losing access to the system upon entering the mist world.
Now, he regrets it.
Earlier, while gathering information, he discovered that he had been teleported to the southern sector of Crescitlok.
Its ruler was Opelia, the Wretched Beauty.
Under her rule, the citizens of the southern sector were forbidden to possess a beautiful face, for if she ever learned someone was more beautiful than her, their fate would be worse than death. To enforce this, she possessed a magic mirror that could reveal the most beautiful woman in the southern sector.
For that, he considered himself lucky in that regard, as he might be the ugliest in the southern sector.
He had also noticed that the people of the mist village were constantly in need of some kind of pills. They often lined up for them, sold by a merchant in the dark caravan, pulled by horses that looked eerily human. These horses had human-like faces with scars deliberately placed to make them appear ugly.
Aaron initially thought the scars were placed on them to ensure they wouldn't offend Opelia with their beauty. But no matter how much he thought about it, he realized the scars weren't really necessary, the human face ultimately belonged to a horse, so they weren't even competing with her to begin with.
Since it wasn't an urgent matter, he pushed the thought aside and strolled toward a gathering he spotted, where he learned about a Mage with rituals that could make people handsome. For obvious reasons, people feared him, because in this place, beauty was a curse.
And now that the scroll turned out to be a dud, Aaron's effort was useless. He initially thought of selling the artifact to a merchant at a lower price, hoping to buy a weapon from him. But his plan completely fell apart, as the scroll turned out to be nothing more than a diary and journal.
"What were those pills, really?!" Aaron muttered to himself.
"I better figure this out!" He jolted himself awake by slapping his cheeks, since pinching no longer worked. The force made him stumble, but he pressed on toward the long line stretching across the plaza. He found a spot behind a man with an unnaturally large chin.
He couldn't help but notice that many residents of the mist looked severely malnourished, with some having swollen or enlarged body parts like tumors. A flicker of fear crept in at the thought of catching it himself. But when he asked the system, it assured him that the mist wasn't the cause of the cancerous cell growth—it was the lack of sleep.
The line inched forward.
An old man with an enlarged chin turned slightly toward Aaron.
"You look haggard! Haven't had a pill? My guess—days. Or maybe weeks?" He shook his head, seemingly satisfied with his own answer, his chin swinging and occasionally brushing his lips and nose.
Aaron altered his voice so the man wouldn't remember it, speaking in a deep, hoarse tone. "Two days, to be exact."
"Hehehe... that's not bad. You're weak then—want to trade your fine clothes?"
Aaron wore a dark suit with silver and grey lining around his cuffs. The residents' clothing was much simpler, usually made from single-colored garments. Rarely did they wear anything with more than one color, and most were dressed in grey or white. Even the old man in front of him wore nothing more than a single piece of fabric—a sheet.
Aaron stayed silent, waiting in line for his turn.
The old man sneered as he turned away, and soon it was Aaron's turn.
Facing the merchant, he noticed for the first time that the man's clothes were far more regal, with symbols etched onto the sleeves—the same ones he had seen on the scroll, someone's journal.
'Royal Ernest language…' he thought.
Before the merchant could catch his unusual expression, he quickly asked, "Do you sell weapons here?"
The merchant's face was mostly hidden behind a glass veil that wasn't very clear. You could make out the basic features, but it was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. As soon as he spoke, however, a masculine voice emerged, and he clasped his hands together with a warm smile. "Yes sir, we do."
He turned toward a chest adorned with regal and royal symbols, unlike Ernest's—its designs were more curved and twisted, almost like a dance of symbols. Inside lay a sword.
"Kundali, a weapon forged in heaven, could cut through a person's fate, ending their life before their time."
It was a sword adorned with ornamental gems on its hilt, appearing more like a decorative prop than a weapon meant for war or battle.
Aaron doubted the weapon's usefulness to him and quietly summoned the system in his mind.
A blue screen appeared, revealing additional information.
[Item type: One-handed Sword]
[Kundali: A heavenly sword belonging to Aradhya, a woman who was close to achieving godhood before she fell from the grace of the Suns. Soon, she returned to the human she once was. Laying down her weapon, it was passed down through her lineage, in the hope that one day her descendants might earn another chance at the godhood once promised to them.]
[Class: Discrimination]
[Abilities: Dawn of Sunfire, Annihilating Burn, Supernova, Blaze of Eternal Light, Samasara Worth.]
[Dawn of Sunfire: A fireball that can produce the heat of the sun's core. Single use per day.]
[Annihilating Burn: A burn that lasts until the target's very existence is erased from the world. Chances of activation is less than 1%]
[Supernova: Heat Energy that can obliterated a realm. Required Suns grace.]
[Blaze of Eternal Light: Temporarily create a new sun. Duration: 2 minutes.]
[Samasara Worth: Drift in and out of the endless cycle of life and death. Duration: 0.2 seconds]
[Requirement: Only a women can wield this weapon]
[Owner: None]
'What good is that to me anyway?!' Aaron nearly lost his calm expression.