Pride Online

Chapter 597 - 5 Hell Stages Part I

Creak~~!

It was the sound of the stone door being opened. The hot wind blew out and hit their faces.

“Finally.”

“Yes, finally.”

“We’re here at last.”

All three of them sounded tired.

Their exhaustion was made all the more apparent by their dirty bodies full of dirt and dust. They were all wounded from the fight that they had not experienced themselves for a while now. Even though it was not the first, they could not seem to get used to the wounds!

“I hope they have what it’s worth for us to risk our lives here.”

Manoch said while drinking his potion. Mek looked around and tried to search for the shop, but the darkness was making it harder.

Not so long after that, after the clouds moved away from the moon, the moonlight seeped through the rocks. The scenery that they saw made them smile.

“Is that the secret shop?”

“I think so.”

Hearing Sarunya say that, the boys looked at each other and muttered to themselves.

“How’s that a secret?”

It was a small one-story house, no bigger than two hundred square meters. It was built-in to the stone wall. There were no trees or living things around it. The ground was scarce and dry. However, there were signs saying ‘The secret shop’s this way’ along the path.

What was even more amazing was a huge sign on top of the house that said, “You’re here at the secret shop of the Ancestor’s Grave!”

“It feels like I’m at the landmark of a town,” Manoch said sarcastically.

“It’s no use putting signs here, morons. Why don’t you put it up front?” Mek complained and stepped forward.

“This is my first time at the secret shop. At least, my source is reliable, right?”

Sarunya smiled sweetly at Manoch. The man did not know what to say, so he just shrugged and smiled back at her. Of course, that did not escape Mek. The navigator with sharp eyes now grinned happily.

They opened the door to the shop. It was a worn-out wooden door without a lock. What a way to keep secrets.

Inside the shop, there were lamps on the wall that illuminated the place with their dim lights. However, the very first thing that hit them was the foul smells that were hurting their nose.

“What the hell is this smell?” Manoch covered his nose with his shirt sleeves.

“It smells like dragon’s shit, but worse. I can also smell the Sprast alcohol. Eww~! And the gun power from Eridor tree.”

“And why are you a dog now, Mek? Cover your nose or you’ll be cursed with ‘dizzy’.”

“You’re right.”

Mek had to take out his handkerchief and cover his nose with it, unlike Manoch and Sarunya who were used to the smells because they needed this stuff when they crafted items. All item crafters had fallen victim to the smells. They knew that the more you exhaled it, the worse.

They looked around. It was a small room with four shelves leaning against the walls. They even had items on the floors and hanging on display, each tagged with a barcode. It was truly consumer-friendly.

“Hey, isn’t this the sulfire ore used to craft weapons?”

Mek ran towards a glowing item that rested on the shelf.

“Woah! It’s genuine. This ore only drops from high-level monsters. I can’t believe they sell it!”

“Ah, is that the Memphis sword?!” Sarunya said and ran to the sword hanging on the wall. “Good grief! It’s an A-level sword that’s suitable for merchants. I’ve been searching for it for a long time. If I get this here, I’d finally be able to crack the crafting method off it!”

Both of them grabbed what caught their eye and inspected it as if to look for flaws, which was impossible since this shop only sold stuff in excellent condition.

Meanwhile, Manoch looked around to search for something. He already saw that there were a lot of mithril ores that could be used for fixing the ship in the box over there. He thought that they must have had a lot more of them in stock. Looking to the left, he found so many kinds of potions from the lowest to the highest level. He looked at the weapon corner where Sarunya was. The weapons and armors were all high-level. There was also a catalog book for them to look for more items that were not up on the display. At the miscellaneous corner, where Mek was looking thoroughly at each item with his magnifying glass, he saw that there were ores that could be used for crafting weapons, armors, and accessories.

“It’s like a convenience store.”

Manoch muttered softly and walked to the counter at the back of the shop.

It was strange. There was everything they looked for here, except the owner.

He, then, noticed the golden bell like what they had in hotels. He pouted a little and hit it softly.

Ding!

A ringing voice sounded, but it was only silence that answered it. Manoch scoffed.

“Hey, Ae, where are you going?”

Mek asked because he saw that his best friend was about to jump over the counter.

“Rest assured. I’m just exploring it.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

The boy nodded and jumped across the wooden counter. He looked around cautiously and walked past the counter area to the backroom. It was a stock room as he expected. The foul smell was even worse in here and he needed to cover his nose tighter.

“This is shit!”

Manoch swore. He admired the owner so much since he or she must be very strong to be able to withstand the smell. Or maybe the owner’s sense of smell had already been destroyed from the first day!

“Hello, anyone here?”

He tried calling out. Silence and the wooden boxes full of items were still his best friend.

“Damn it. Is this a haunted shop or something?”

Zzzz~~

And just before he walked back out, the snore he heard made him freeze. His eyes glanced back. He raised his eyebrow as he thought about what he had just heard.

“Was it just my imagination?” He muttered.

Zzzz~~

Nope, not at all. It was clearly a snore. The merchant frowned tightly before he decided to part the red sea of boxes to the inner part of the room.

And right there where the only one open item box was, Manoch leaned forward and looked into it. He saw a small something inside. It was maybe no more than fifty-centimeter tall. There was a lot of yellow hay that was put there as a soft bed. The little guy had a green skin color with a long sticking face. It was obvious that the guy was...

“A frog?” Manoch frowned.

Yes, it was a frog. It was a frog dressed like a merchant. Manoch let out a long sigh.

“This is the owner, then?” He sighed.

At that moment, a bug flew to the frog and landed on his face. Either it was the body fragrance of the frog or the smell of this room that lured the bug in, as soon as it stepped on the frog’s face, the long tongue whipped out of his wide mouth and grabbed the bug. The bug was dragged into his mouth and was swallowed without even being chewed.

The boy looked at it with a disgusted face. He massaged his temples.

Then, Manoch breathed in.

“Hey! We want to buy something~~!!”