Chapter 284 (1/2)

Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Blending In

“This is the fifth outfit already Is all of this necessary?” I groaned, stepping out offor h-end clothing boutique as well as customers

“Kid, do you knolist? I’ this because the old coot asked me for a favor,” the bespectacled old woman that Alaric had introduced as Odile snapped

Her heels clacked on the tile floors as she strode behind h…” Odile turned her sharp gaze to the ‘audience’ watching us excitedly “It seeh since my employees also found the need to offer their professional advice”

The uniformed ean chuckling nervously before a blonde-haired clerk spoke up “All the guests are here as well, Mada out for the me toward the set ofas she pushed me onto the platform

‘A once quadra-elemental Lance, noith the physique and abilities of an asura, has becoly ‘Oh, how the et you a nice flower barrette that really highlights your purple is let out a cackle ‘I’d rock it’

“Your shoulders look narrohen you’re tense like that! We’re going for confidence!” Odile huffed as she coers “Great Vritra, I don’t see what you have to be ashamed about with your face and body”

There was a disturbing chorus of agree attention to ree that Odile had quite a sense of style that I wasn’t opposed to

I looked at ht-fitting armor I had picked up from the Relictombs, Odile had fitted me in a white dress shi+rt tucked into a pair of black slacks Rather than wearing a tie or vest, she had me put on a black sweater underneath a dark blue coat As the final touch, Odile put on what she called a collar bar that accentedon about

I liked it It was a bit more…modern than I had expected—this outfit could easily be so rainbow goose like so as it allowed me to blend in, there wasn’t really more I could ask for

“He’s a rather whiny boy, but I knew you’d want to get your hands on him,” Alaric chimed The old drunk had also washed up, tried into a co the curtains to block out the audience that had formed, much to their displeasure

“I just wish you would’ve told e capture artifact,” Odile said with a sigh She snapped out of her daze and stuck a finger at Alaric “That doesn’t change the fact that I did you a favor, you old drunk! Don’t you dare try to change that”

Alaric raised his hands—one of which was still holding onto a bottle of ru of the sort, ?” I asked, exasperated “How’re you going to handle the hangover after all of the alcohol you’ve drunk so far?”

“You can’t get a hangover if you’re always drunk,” he said sagely, tapping his teer

I openedwhile Alaric stared atme to refute his point My words just ca the literal pile of clothes that Odile had chosen forit to the front counter to pay, I was met with a confused clerk

“Your clothes have already been paid for by Mada my clothes

“Oh” I looked at the amount of outfits that were strewn across the counter “This is a lot of clothes I’d feelway It’s an invest fro beside Alaric, towardand I wanted to be a part of it”

“Let’s go, Grey Before she tries to rip rumpily

Alaric and I were back out on the busy streets where the sun was beginning to set A courier would be delivering our new clothes to the inn, which only left us with one last stop for the day

“Listen up,besidedistrict “If we’re going to get you an ascender’s badge as soon as possible without having you affiliated with any sort of institution, here’s e have to do…”

The old drunk proceeded to explain his plan Basically, Alaric would pose as ic and survival skills ever sincea e and had been thoroughly trained, he would be the one to vouch for me in order to take the assessment

I raised a brow “So anyone can just vouch for you in order to take the assessment?”

“Don’t be silly It’s because your uncle is a retired ascender himself that he’s qualified to vouch for you,” Alaric said with a cheeky grin “Unfortunately, passing the assessh”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll have to participate in—and survive—one ascent by tagging along with an experienced party,” he explained “Only then will you get an ascender’s badge Thankfully there’s an Ascension Chaht here in Ara to visit since you’re here”

I shookto the Relictoiven me memories of the four ruins within the Relictoet to I had already visited one of them, and while I didn’t have an exact map of where the rest of these ruins were, I knew they weren’t in Aramoor City

“As both your uncle and your partner in cri?” he questioned, staring at aze of his While he still looked drunk, Alaric looked much more reliable now that he’d cleaned hi for ruins within the Relictombs They weren’t in the Relictombs here”

“You really aren’t fro closer as alked “I’m sure you’ve noticed this by now from the last time you were inside, but the Relictombs don’t have a conventional structure that you can travel through You’ve heard of siht?”

“I have,” I replied, theone to me still fresh in my mind

“Most of the deaths within the Relictombs happened before the development of the siether at the sa hands, you would most likely be transported to different zones” Alaric let out a sigh before continuing “You say you’re looking for these ‘ruins’ within a specific zone, but the truth is, it doesn’t really matter where you enter the Relictombs, since you never knohere you’ll end up”

I had a feeling this was the case but I had hoped that entrances in different areas would lead to different parts of the Relictombs

“So I just have to blindly wander around the Relicto for by chance?”

Alaric took another sip of his ru “Some say that the Relictoes”

Ancient es, or ‘djinn’, as the entity that had left me with the keystone referred to himself I wouldn’t be surprised if the Relictombs did have a mind of its own, but it still didn’t help me in my case I hated how so much was still outside of my control

I rubbed my temples “Fine It doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice”

“Good” Alaric pattedyou are, but remember that, while trained, you definitely should try and at least act like you’re having a hard tiht not be a bad idea to accumulate experience with other parties if you really don’t want to draw attention to yourself”

‘You should just ‘suis chinoring my companion Trider’s surprise when I mentioned it came to mind

“Very,” Alaric answered as he weaved deftly through the crowded street filled with pedestrians “The Relictombs are much too unpredictable even today, e have so many records of different zones It’s why experienced sentries are as ies”