Prime Originator

As soon as Leon stepped inside the tailor store and glanced at the items on display, his expression was placid. There was neither surprise nor disappointment. The sartorial fashion was as he had expected. 

The Darkmoon Tribe's garments were all made from materials that can only be gained from demonic beast carcasses. Namely, they are bones, leather, fur, feathers, and scales. 

If there was one thing he had to point out about this store, it was not quite the tailor store he was expecting. It was more suited to be called a light-armor store. 

There was no such thing as garments made solely for the sake of covering oneself. Everything was created with the word 'protection' in mind, whether it be for defensive purposes or simply to keep your body warm from the cold.

"Welcome to the best tailor store in town, esteemed customers. Here, we have—Ah, Big Brother Goldenrod! Welcome, welcome. Are you here to buy the leather guards you've been eyeing?" 

A naive young voice greeted them from behind the counter with enthusiasm.

"Little Bone? I'm not the one shopping today." Goldenrod shook his head before walking over and ruffle the little boy's head. "I see you are already old enough to be helping out with the store. Where is your grandpa?"

Leon shifted his gaze over and studied the little boy, who appeared to be roughly 9 years of age. The little boy was still normal and did not have an excessively large muscle build like what he had seen from every adult warrior in the tribe.

"Grandpa is working on his next piece of equipment in the workshop at the back." Little Bone answered simply before curiously asking, "If Big Brother Goldenrod is not the one shopping, then is it this… brother here?"

Goldenrod was not given time to answer, before Little Bone's eyes lit up and followed up with another question, "Brother, which great family are you from! How do you grow so quickly?"

The little boy had mistaken Leon for another child who had yet to take the Rite of Baptism and bath in the Black Pool to formerly begin warrior training.

Goldenrod smiled wryly and corrected the child's thinking with a shake of his head, "Little Bone, this person here is a Great Warrior. You should address him respectably as Big Brother Leonhardt."

"Ah? Really??? You are not lying to me, Big Brother Goldenrod?" Little Bone doubted.

"Why would I lie to you? Quickly go fetch your grandpa for me, alright?" 

"Hmm, alright." 

Little Bone had his doubts, but he was easily convinced since an adult had told him so. 

After a cute little nod, Little Bone hopped down from the tall stool behind the counter and ran off to call his grandpa in the back.

"Isn't this place supposed to be the top store in town? There is no one watching over the store except a little kid. Are they not afraid of someone stealing their goods?" Leon casually asked, seeing how absent the store has become.

"Steal their goods? Hahaha, Brother Leonhardt sure knows how to joke. No one dares to steal from a Shaman. You must know that Shamans enjoy a very lofty status. To offend a Shaman is to offend the entire tribe. No one would be stupid enough to do that." Goldenrod laughed before adding, "Why not take this time to see if there's something that catches your eye?"

A Shaman running a tailor store? Leon found this strange. 

"Alright, I'll do just that." 

Leon gave Goldenrod a sidelong glance before inspecting the items on display with a more serious gaze. 

He did not know much about Shamans, but he had at least recognized that Shamans were people with some knowledge in runes. Surely, a store run by an Old Shaman would have unordinary items for sale.

'These items are all enchanted with runes! Hm? Some of these items even have Tier 5 runic enchantments!' 

Leon's eyes glimmered with interest after making this discovery. Studying these Tier 5 runic enchantments would benefit him surely.

The runes were well hidden in the interior of the garments. It was due to this that Leon had not noticed them until he scanned with his divine sense.

"How much is this leather chest piece?" Leon casually asked Goldenrod as he pointed at the leather armor with Tier 4 runic enchantments.

"That would be 5,000 Dark Crystals, young man. Are you planning to buy it?" An aged voice answered in Goldenrod's stead as an old man could soon be seen walking over with Little Bone following behind him.

"Venerable Shaman." Goldenrod greeted respectfully.

"En." 

The Old Shaman acknowledged his greeting with a nod.

"5,000 Dark Crystals, huh?" Leon quietly mused while he subtly studied the old man, who might be one of the so-called 'Shamans.'

The old man appeared to be roughly 80 years of age, but his body was still vigorous and perfectly healthy without suffering a single ailment, or at least that was all Leon could see for now from his diagnosis with his sense of sight and smell.

His brows were furrowed slightly.

Since he did not know how valuable Dark Crystals were, he turned to Goldenrod and asked, "Is 5,000 Dark Crystals a lot?"

"Very much so! At my current level, it would take 3 years of earnings to gather that much!" Goldenrod answered seriously. 

"Oh," Leon replied casually, but he soon glared at Goldenrod. 

"Since it is so expensive here, why did you bring me to this place? Did I not tell you I was flat broke, or did you not listen to what I said?" 

"I was—"

"Are you saying that you can't afford it, young man?" The Old Shaman frowned at once after hearing the words Leon said to Goldenrod.

What he hated was people interrupting his work and wasting his time. Looking at the two's attire, he could tell that Goldenrod did not carry many Dark Crystals while Leon basically had nothing. 

"Don't tell me you are planning to trade your Soul Weapon for this piece of equipment? Although I am more than happy to accept, I do not think you are stupid enough to make that sort of trade, right?" The Old Shaman continued to press. 

A Tier 4 Soul Weapon was much more valuable than a piece of Tier 4 equipment. 

Leon's frown deepened at the trouble Goldenrod had brought him. He did think about using his medical skills to trade, but only if the other party was gravely ill or had someone close to them that was gravely ill.

Looking at the Old Shaman, this person was perfectly healthy. In fact, he could not be healthier! 

Also, he could not just casually ask, "Do you have any important person dying?" That was like cursing the person's family. It would totally offend the party if it were not the case at all!

He should have inquired from Goldenrod beforehand, but now it was not the appropriate time to ask.

'It seems I would have to look for an alternative method.' Leon mused as he quickly pondered for an answer. He had more than just medical skills. 

However, his thoughts were interrupted after Goldenrod said, "Venerable Shaman, calm your anger! This person is a doctor and might be able to help cure your son!"

"Is that true, Big Brother Goldenrod? Can Big Brother Leonhardt really cure my papa?" Little Bone asked with a hopeful gaze.

"I hope you are telling the truth! You must know that the consequences of lying to me are very severe!" The Old Shaman said profoundly but did not refute Goldenrod's claims.

He had his doubts, but no one was stupid enough to fool a Shaman. A Shaman's wrath was not something anyone in the tribe could bear.

"Very well, follow me. If you can truly cure my son, forget about the leather chest armor. You can pick as many items as you want!"

As the Old Shaman guided them to his home in the back, Leon turned to Goldenrod and curiously asked with amazement, "When did you figure out I was a doctor?"

He had to re-evaluate this person. He was not as stupid as he had made himself to be.

"When you fixed my arm, Brother Leonhardt. You did it some easily and casually like you were well-practiced in it."

"I doubt it was just based on that alone, though, right?" 

"En, Brother Leonhardt lives a vagabond life and a Great Warrior, but your body has no scars at all. I was able to guess that you must be very skillful in medicine, or at least be a Shaman with some special healing powers."

Leon gave himself a quick self-inspection and nodded, "I see."

He had been too careless and neglected this point, but this was not actually a bad thing. In fact, it was a good thing. 

The survival rate of a lone vagabond was abysmal. But if Leon is a Shaman with healing powers, it would make perfect sense to them why he could survive in the Infertile Plains for so long by himself.

'If Goldenrod were able to see this much, I'm sure the tribal chief and the others would have guessed this much too.. I'm sure this also played a part in their zealous and friendly treatment towards me.'