23 - Secret Informant

Alex seemed to have accepted asking someone for information, which was surprising, considering that he probably didn't have to.

'Is he trying to get more information… but didn't he want to explore by himself? There are so many things about him that are so weird… at least Ava isn't complicated.'

Lucian softly glanced at her, and he had to admit that it would make things a lot simpler if Alex was that easy to manipulate.

'If only I convinced him to join that family… who knows what they're going to throw our way?'

It was clear that such a powerful family had a lot of influence, and it could make things complicated very fast. There was no doubt about that part.

The three of them now started to look around the pub in search of someone who didn't look crazy in the head… They also didn't want someone who had lost the ability to move or looked extremely hurt.

'Let's see if anyone has a little bit of talent around here…'

Lucian analyzed many Status, but all of them were truly unimpressive. Their stats were still a little higher than Lucian's… However, none of them had a Special Skill. Well, from what Lucian had seen.

"Is there someone here who isn't crazy?" Lucian asked the bartender.

He had tried to find someone who looked somewhat normal, but everyone in this bar had completely lost it from the looks of it. The last option was to ask the bartender if he knew someone.

"Heh, as you probably noticed, …not the easiest task to find someone normal on the first floor. But I do know someone though she's pricey. Do you guys have any remaining points from the Tutorial?"

Lucian looked at Alex since he remembered that he still owned around 29,000 Points. If there were someone who had money still it was him.

However, it was still good information to know that the currency here was still based on Points.

'Though, the items sold here are probably a lot more expensive than in the Tutorial Point Shop…'

"How much is she asking?" Alex asked bluntly.

He wasn't one to care about manners, and he showed it again without the slightest remorse.

"One thousand points…"

The barman looked at their faces and, seeing how there was no reaction… he wasn't sure what to think about it.

Could they pay her, or did they not have any money? 

The barman was almost sure that they couldn't since they hadn't gotten the opportunity of being recruited by a family. However, there was no telling with Alex's blunt face, he wasn't letting any information through he was very serious.

"Yeah, that's fine. Where can we find her?"

'Why is he saying that so casually?!'

Even if the barman didn't understand everything, he nodded and took a few steps to his right and let them in behind the bar. He quickly guided them to the back store, where they went downstairs into what seemed to be a secret room.

"You'll find her in there."

'Why is everything so complicated? Is she really important or what?'

Lucian wasn't sure if he had understood everything correctly since they only wanted information. So, why was there an informant in a secret inside a pub?

It could even create a lot of misunderstandings since the more time Lucian thought about it…, the more he realized that maybe this place was controlled by an organization or something similar.

*Click*

*Click*

'Uh… what's that sound?'

For some reason, those footsteps sounded extremely familiar. However, when Lucian looked back, the only thing he managed to see was Ava. There was no one else with them.

'Weird, I was almost sure that I had heard something…'

Lucian kept those thoughts to the back of his head, and slowly continued walking down.

'Maybe I dreamt about it, I can't hear the noise anymore…'

Lucian found it weird. However, what could he do? There really was no one behind them.

They opened the ominous black door that was at the bottom of those stairs and entered quickly. It was extremely dark inside the room, and it was probably made on purpose since the informant probably wanted to keep her identity secret.

"Hello, what can I do for you today?"

The three of them didn't answer right away as they sat down on the opposite side of the table that she was on. After making sitting down, they finally answered.

"We are looking for some information on how to find the first floor trial and… more importantly, what it is."

There was only silence for the moment, with a slight humming noise in the room. It seemed that the informant was thinking about what she could tell them.

"...Before I answer anything, I need payment. For the information requested, only 500 points should be necessary."

'Oh… nice, it's cheaper. Well, not like it's my money either way.'

Still, there was one slight problem. Lucian, Ava, or Alex had no idea how to make the payment.

Was there some strange method with the system? Just what is it?

However, all doubts were cleansed when Alex received a message to give the payment. It was weird, but it seemed the informant already knew Alex was the one with money in this room, as he was the one who received that message.

While no one knew what happened, the informant suddenly became very talkative about what they had asked.

"The first trial is found at the end of the street that we are currently on. At the end of it, you will be able to find a big portal that will guide you inside the first trial."

All of them nodded right away. Lucian wondered about when Alex had paid, but he couldn't bother to know about it right now.

"What about the content of the first trial? What is it about?"

For the first time since they had entered, Lucian was able to see a glimpse of the figure who spoke.

Her smile shone through the darkness.

"What if I said that it's a game that involves a lot of trickery and manipulation…"