Keys To The Gate 6 Deciding On A Path

A month later, he went to Twilling street. He had been introduced in the chat group, and hence was familiar with the sellers now. His aim was to look at the wares the stall owners had and see if his system identified anything interesting.

His visit seemed to have been disappointing as he visited several stalls and didn't really find anything interesting that caught the system's eye. Eventually, ended up at a gem stone seller. The gem stone seller displayed an array of stones saying they had mild healing or energy properties, but these weren't too useful to Tristan.

"These don't seem to be useful to me." Tristan admitted to the seller. "Forget it. I need to go back and prepare for my exams."

The gem seller's eyes lit up. "Oh silly me. Right, I have a few gems that raise the mental state a little bit if you hold it. They are a bit more expensive though."

The gem seller brought out a tray of five stones and Tristan gently touched each one of them. He didn't show any expression.

"Oh, these stones do seem to have a slight chilling effect on my scalp when I am touching them." Tristan said. "Will this really help with studying?"

The gem seller nodded. "Yes, they should help. I won't try to cheat you, I'll charge you 10,000 dollars for one stone."

Tristan raised his eye. "Lady... I am a student, you really expect me to spend 10,000 dollars on a stone? It certainly seems cooling, but I can use an air conditioner to get a similar effect."

The gem seller coughed. "Well... 8,000 then? Okay.. forget it 7000, final offer!" She changed her tune when she saw Tristan frowning.

Tristan struggled for a bit, before taking out 7000 dollars out to pay for one of the stones which he picked up and put into his pocket. He had received a million dollars as compensation from the government, so 7000 wasn't really a whole lot for him.

Returning home, Tristan finally let go of his blank look and excitement shone on his face. He really managed to find a treasure. Holding the stone in his hand again, a text appeared within his vision.

[Spirit Amber]
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[Absorb? Y/N]

Without hesitating, Tristan yelled in his mind. "Absorb!"

Soon the stone melted and merged with his hand and from his hand a terrifying chilling liquid spread within his body, circulating through his blood and entering his cells. Tristan felt rejuvenated and his mind felt like it had opened up. His eyesight became keener and his other senses became a little sharper as well. He felt refreshed. Once the effect subsided, he pulled up his status.

[Race: Human]

[Evolution: None]

[Progress: 24%]

The Spirit Amber gave him 14% progress which was more than the silky bead. Tristan could feel the difference in his body. With this he had confirmed his path of growth. He needed to find objects that the system identified, treasures, to absorb and increase his progress.

Tristan decided to take up one more mission before the high school finals from the Vast Expanse. He thought of purchasing some treasure the guild to potentially absorb. For that he needed credits.

Mission Level 1

A painting at the Coastal City museum has been displaying a mysterious behavior, scaring museum staff. The Government has failed in investigating the situation and the museum has contacted the Vast Expanse.

Task: Investigate the nature of the Painting.

Reward: 10 credits + Bonus Credits depending on performance.

Tristan picked up this mission because it didn't seem dangerous and it was also something that made him curious. A painting displaying bizarre behavior?

Looking up information on the painting, he realized that the painting was somewhat infamous for its peculiar displaying nature. The painting would only be up for display every other day and there were mysteries that someone would move the painting every second day to a secret place. However, the museum claimed they moved the painting daily according to the last wishes of the painter. The painter too, was unknown, the son of a former curator of the museum.

Tristan went to the museum on the weekend. At the reception he asked to meet the curator. The receptionist looked at the young man in front of her, surprised. The curator wished to meet this young man?

The curator soon came out and looked at the young man. "You are here for..."

Tristan smiled. "I believe you've delegated a task?" The curator's eyes widened. "I had set the task a couple of years ago. I didn't expect after the previous failure to find a clue, I'd have another investigator, please follow me."

Tristan nodded and followed. The old curator led him through an exhibition to a specific display of a painting. It was a painting of two divergent roads, one well paved and the other a simple rough trail. The name of the painting was labelled below. 'Deciding on a Path'.

The old curator sighed. "This painting, it was painted by the son of a predecessor of mine. He rarely painted, but when he did it was beautiful like this. His name was Roran. Not much is known about him. This painting, it is almost like it is cursed. The painting has always been on display at this very position. It is one of our museum's flags.h.i.+p painting.

10 years ago, the painting had disappeared for the first time. Since then... the painting has always been reappearing here every other day. No one knows what happens to the painting when it disappears. We are afraid that the painting might perhaps be haunted." The curator sighed.

Tristan was in deep thought. The mystery behind this painting was indeed very puzzling. "Is there any reason why the painting began displaying the anomalous behavior 10 years ago? Are you sure it didn't do that before 10 years?" He asked.

The curator shook his head. "It was a normal painting. The only thing special about it was according to the wishes of the creator, it was to always be on display here only."

Tristan asked if he could observe the painting. After the curator agreed, he put on a pair of surgical gloves before he touched the painting. When he came into contact with the painting, a trace of shock appeared on his face. Tristan withdrew his touch and fell into deep thought after discovering what he had.

The moment he had touched the painting, the system had displayed some information. Tristan was only gambling on the system helping and surprisingly the system did help. But what he read shocked him.

[Trace of Thrice Evolved Innate Talent Imbued Painting]

[Talent: Location Binding]

[Absorb? Y/N]

Thrice evolved innate talent! It meant that the painter had actually evolved thrice? Wasn't that the known peak of human evolution limits? And it was a s.p.a.ce talent as well. Location Binding... Tristan thought of the supposed wishes of the painter. Roran had wished that the painting would forever be on display here, which probably meant he had bound the painting to this location.

Yet the painting began disappearing 10 years ago. When Tristan thought about it, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Perhaps... the painting isn't disappearing at all. Instead... the painting is actually appearing here!" Tristan suddenly guessed.