"Alright people, gather around and give me what you have. I will pay you for it now," the man said as he set up a table in front of everyone.
"Mister, here are 10 pots I made this time. They are the best of the best," a man walked up holding a bunch of pots.
"Here I have 10 bags of dates that I grew myself," a woman walked up.
"My mommy made these shawls. There are 5 of these," a very young child walked up holding a bunch of clothes.
Many people crowded around him, making him feel a little uncomfortable. "People, please. Your time will come. Let's do it one by one," the man said.
"You with the 10 pots. Would you sell them to me for 15 coins?" the man asked.
"Yes, yes," the man with the pots said and immediately handed over the 10 pots. As soon as the entertainer took the 10 pots, they disappeared all of a sudden, making the crowd a little surprised.
"Next, you with the dates. Hmm, the city folk really do love dates. Let's see, 40 coins for them all," the man asked.
"40 coins? Absolutely!" the woman felt ecstatic when she heard how much she would earn.
"Great, here are your coins," the man said as he handed over the 40 coins and took the dates. As soon as he did, once more all 10 bags of dates disappeared immediately.
The people cried out in surprise as they didn't understand how it happened at all.
"Who's next? Oh yes, you little man. What did you say you have?" the man said as he squatted down to the boy's level.
"My mommy made these shawls," the little boy said.
"And where's your mommy?" the man asked.
"There," the boy pointed to a woman in the crowd.
The woman walked forward and explained, "he saw us doing this last time too and got very excited when he learned you were coming today. He kept saying that he wanted to be the one to sell these shawls I made."
"Oh," the man turned to look at the young boy, "you want to sell these shawls by yourself?" he asked.
"Yes?" the boy answered meekly.
"Fantastic. Come on then, let me see the shawls," the man said.
The boy happily handed over the shawls and the man looked at it very carefully. "How about I give you 5 coins for these shawls. Are you okay with that?" the man asked.
"Yes?" the boy almost answered when his mother patted him and told him to say no. "No, I want 10 coins," the boy said.
"10 coins? Why?" the man asked.
"My mommy worked very hard for those shawls," the young boy said confidently.
"Ooh, you run a very hard bargain, sir. Very well, 10 coins it is then," the man said.
The boy immediately started smiling when he heard that. "Really?" he asked.
"Of course, and since you have been such a great customer, I will give you 1 coin more too. Here are 11 coins. Go give them to your mommy," the man said.
The boy happily went up to his mother and handed her the money. The man then went on to deal with the remaining people who had all brought something with them.
Ning wanted to go up and ask him a few questions on multiple instances, but the man never stopped buying stuff, so he had to wait.
Once he was done, Ning thought he had the chance when he now started to sell stuff. Ning had to once more wait for an hour or so before the man was done selling everything.
"How'd you guys like the story?" the man asked the young kids from the village as he finished wrapping up his 'shop'.
"Eh? It was okay, I guess," one of the kids said.
"Okay? Only okay? But you guys cheered so much," the man said with a shocked expression.
"It's because of the magic you do. We are all here to watch the magic, not the story," the kids said.
"Tsk. Get away from here you little brats. It's not magic, it's Aether arts. How many times do I have to tell you?" the man asked.
"What's the difference? It's basically the same," the kids said and walked away. The man mumbled something underneath his breath saying how magic was fake, and Aether arts were real, but no one was there to hear him.
Except for Ning.
"Hi," Ning said as he walked up to the man.
"Sorry, I'm all done selling for today. I don— Oh, it's you," the man said.
"Huh? You know me?" Ning was a little surprised.
"What? Of course not. It's just that you stand out a lot. I've never seen dresses like that before and your untanned skin stands out a lot in the desert, you know," the man said.
"Ah, right. Sorry, you're not from around here right? Do you happen to have a means for going to the city? I'm in need of some form of transportation myself," Ning said.
"Transportation? Yeah, that's just 2 mountains away from here," the man said. "Why do you not know that?"
"My apologies. I came from far away and don't really know the world a lot," Ning explained.
"Far away?" the man looked at him up and down. "You don't look like you're someone from the other side."
"The… Other side?" Ning asked curiously.
"The other side? The end of the continent? The Republic of Embers?" the man asked.
"Ah, that place. No, I'm not from there," Ning explained.
"Then?" the man asked.
"Uhh, it's a little hard to explain. Let's just say I came from around where the Peak of Afterlife is," Ning said.
"Woah, you came from the very south, huh?" the man asked. "What are you doing here then?"
"Oh, I was just roaming around for now. I was hoping you could help me get to this city you talked about not long ago," Ning asked.
"The city of Beginnings?" the man asked. "Sure, I don't mind at all.. You can tag along."
