Ning sat in the front of the card where the driver's seat was. The cart itself was full of fish and was very smelly, so he was forced to sit in front, even though it was a tight fit with 3 of them there.
The path to the city took 3 hours with the cart and horses, and the path went through normal grasslands and small forests, so there wasn't much for Ning to do.
He held a small circular disc no more than an inch wide in diameter. It looked like a small, flat pebble one would throw to skip in the river. Except, this small thing was made up of cloudy white energy.
It was like someone had encased air into a small class disc.
"I see," Ning said as he looked at the thing in his hand against the sky. "So this is an Essence coin. This is the currency of this land, huh?"
"Not just this land," the fisherman to his right said. "Of all lands. This is the only currency available of course."
Ning nodded.
"Of course, this isn't the only Essence coin available," the man to his left said. "This is the Air Essence coin. They are the most widely available Essence coin because of how easy it is to find Air Essence. It is everywhere in the surrounding."
The other man nodded. "Air Essence is the most widely made and found Essence coin. The one above that would be the Earth Essence coins. Then it would be the Water Essence coins, and finally the Fire Essence coins," the man said.
"I see," Ning said. "Is there a reason why the Fire is above Water? Is it because of how abundant water is?"
"Yes," the man said.
"What about places where water isn't available?" Ning asked. "Would they still hold Water Essence in the same regard as Fire Essence?"
"Oh, the value of the coins depends on the area you are in. This close to the ocean, the Water Essence doesn't hold as much value as the fire, which is why it ranks lower. But in other places, it would obviously hold higher," the man said.
Ning nodded. "So, are these 4 essences the only ones with coins for them?" he asked.
The two fishermen looked at each other and hesitated a little. "We've heard of other types of Essence coins, but we've never seen them so we're not sure," they said.
"I see," Ning said. 'Well, I will find out eventually.'
He continued learning more about the Essence coins and how they were made. He was surprised to hear that the coins were actually made by humans themselves. It was not like Spirit stones or Mana cores that one could find somewhere naturally.
The two fishermen did not have any idea how they could be made, but apparently, they were created by humans, which was why the four primary elements had the most amount of coins for it.
Since many people were used to the elements, they were the ones who would make the coins easily, allowing them to spread throughout the world.
Ning wondered how they were made and couldn't help but look forward to it. Learning new things he didn't just know was a different experience he hadn't experienced in a very long time after all.
The cart arrived close to the city and Ning could already see the change in people's clothes from the fishermen to the normal people here.
Ning looked at his own clothes and found that he was not so different from theirs either. At a glance, it looked like he was from here, even though the clothes didn't exactly match the style of this place.
A while later, they entered Frailheart city which was just past a small river with a wooden bridge on top.
Many people either walked or rode on carriages, carts, or simply horses.
Ning looked at the architecture, which looked somehow very old and modern at the same time. The design itself was old, almost medieval in style, but the technique used to make the houses, and the craftsmanship behind it was very advanced.
The cart stopped outside of a moderately big butcher's shop that sold all types of meat, apparently including beasts of up to 5-Sense Improvement realm.
Ning got off and looked at the two fishermen. "Is this where your business is?" he asked.
"Yes, we will sell our fish here, and after buying some grains, we will return," they said.
"I see," Ning said as he looked around. "Thank you for bringing me here and for taking care of me for the last two days."
"Haha, it is what we must do," the two fishermen said. "Right, don't forget your sword."
"Ah, yes," Ning said and brought the sword from the back. The sword was wrapped in some loose clothes. They had tried wrapping it tightly, but the clothes kept getting cut open.
He wrapped the sword around his waist and nodded to himself. "I will be leaving now," Ning said. "If I manage to find my way home, I will try and come back to visit you all."
"Do come. You will be welcome anytime," the fishermen said.
Ning nodded one last time and left.
Even though he had said those words, he knew he would never return to these fishermen ever again. There was no reason for him too. He would continue from here on, traveling the rest of the world, so coming here was not something he was really planning on doing.
However, he was still grateful for them, and for that, he had already helped these people. While he wasn't going to use the system for himself in his travels, it didn't stop him from helping these people.
Ning had left them a very good technique to absorb Essence that would improve their speed and talent by a lot. Ning himself had no idea what sort of technique it was, except that it had something to do with Water Essence, which was abundant that close to the ocean.
"Alright then, where should I go next?"
