The Broken Halo

"How did you get to Vashar City from the Wildlands? What’s your story?"

Mira remained silent for a while, then she released a deep sigh.

"It’s a long story... a story I don’t really want to go deep into."

Simon nodded slightly.

"If you don’t want to talk about it, then you don’t have to."

Mira’s eyes flickered with a little bit of surprise.

She thought Simon was going to insist that she told him her story, but he didn’t.

In fact, from his expression, it looked like he couldn’t care less.

And the truth is that Simon didn’t actually care about what Mira went through after leaving the tribe.

From what he could see, she was a merchant. Her and her companions were either average merchants or low level merchants.

Not only were they weak, the clothes and items they wore were nothing noteworthy.

Though, he was curious about something.

"Are you guys part of a merchant company?"

Mira blinked, then she shook her head.

"No. We’re not. Though, we have the desire to start up our merchant company if we have enough resources."

Simon raised a brow in slight surprise, and he could not help but look at Mira in a new light.

’Very few individuals would be able to do what she has done, especially in the demon realm. She’s most likely not rich and she most likely does not have powerful connections, but to reach this point after living nearly her entire life in a backwater and declining tribe like the Duskfang Tribe is nothing short of amazing.’

’Back then, very few demons knew of hell stones. Infernal shards and infernal crystals were enough for many demons to lose their minds.’

Simon nodded slightly in response to her words.

"Not bad at all."

She blinked, not knowing what to say for a moment.

However, when she glanced at Akaza and Sonya, her eyes flashed and she looked back at Simon.

"Why are you going to Velmora City... if I may ask."

Simon glanced at Devia, Orven, and Brukk. Then he shifted his gaze back to Mira.

"Well, Vashar City is too small and has nothing to offer us. Velmora City is better than Vashar and should have more opportunities to get stronger."

The expressions of Mira, Devia, Orven, and Brukk became strange when they heard his words.

Although Simon was right when he said that Velmora is better than Vashar, Vashar City was also a city of opportunities to demons like them.

There were some artifacts and items that they could get for cheap in Vashar but if they went to cities like Velmora, they would spend double or triple the money to get those items.

However, Mira and her companions also understood why Simon said what he said.

What they considered as opportunities and valuable but cheap artifacts and items, Simon, Akaza, and Sonya considered those opportunities, artifacts, and items as trash.

And why wouldn’t they?

They had lived in the Shadowgrave Clan which was one of the six main clans. The resources and opportunities they had access to was incomparable.

The atmosphere became strange once again, and Akaza and Sonya had bored expressions.

Sonya was beginning to doze off seeing that Simon and Mira’s conversation was boring and nothing much.

Both of them were keeping things to themselves, and Sonya already knew the things Simon told Mira, so she was bored and was on the verge of falling asleep.

Her arms were folded and her head bopped, causing Simon to glance at her with an amused look.

Meanwhile, Akaza decided to cultivate.

Mira glanced at Akaza and Sonya for a few seconds before she looked back at Simon and spoke.

"Have you heard of rock gambling before?"

Simon raised a brow.

"Rock gambling?"

Mira nodded.

"Yes. It has become quite popular recently in Velmora City."

Simon stared at her silently, waiting for her to continue.

Mira understood his gaze, so she continued.

"It is not exactly gambling with ordinary rocks. The rocks are actually shells. They form around items that stay for a long time in places with extremely dense demonic energy."

Simon raised a brow slightly.

"Shells?"

"Yes." Mira nodded. "You should know about hell holes, right?"

Simon nodded slightly.

It was a strange question to ask since hell holes were known by almost every demon in the demon realm.

And that was the problem.

Mira and Simon were from a place that knew nothing about hell stones, talk less of hell holes.

Mira asked to be sure that Simon was not ignorant like majority of the demons she lived with in the Duskfang Tribe.

Simon knew this, so he didn’t mind that she asked him such an obvious question.

Mira continued after seeing Simon nod.

"Hell holes are massive concentrations of demonic energy, and because of that, strange things happen inside them."

"If an artifact, bone, ore, weapon, storage ring, or any other item remains in such a place for a long time, the demonic energy around it can slowly harden and form a shell around it."

She paused for a moment before adding,

"But hell holes are not the only places where these shells can form. Ancient battlefields, collapsed and abandoned mines, ruins, underground caves, inheritance grounds, and so on."

Simon tapped his finger lightly on his arm.

"So nobody knows what is inside?"

Mira nodded.

"Exactly. The shell blocks most senses. Some of them even block appraisal artifacts and abilities. You can only judge from the size, weight, texture, colour, sound, and the faint energy leaking from the shell."

"It’s a very strange process that many demon scholars have tried figuring how these shells are formed exactly and what are the specific requirements, cause many believe that a dense concentration of demonic energy is not enough for these shells to be formed around those items."

Simon looked outside the window for a second before looking back at her.

His eyes flickered with a little bit of interest.

"And what can be inside?"

"Anything." Mira replied.

Her expression became a little serious.

"It can be trash. It can be a useless bone, a broken blade, dead insects, rotten materials, or an empty shell. But it can also contain artifacts, rune plates, incomplete or complete inheritances, old maps, battle techniques, demonic beast materials, rare ores, or even a storage ring left behind by a powerful demon."

Akaza had an interested expression when they heard Mira’s words.

Even Sonya opened her eyes slightly, but she closed them again after a second.

Simon remained silent.

Mira looked at him and continued.

"There was a rumor that a demon in Velmora City opened one of these shells and found an incomplete inheritance left behind by a Demon Lord."

"Seriously?" Simon asked.

Mira smiled wryly.

"Most likely. But even if the story is exaggerated, such things have happened before. A poor demon can buy a cheap shell and become rich in one day. A rich demon can also buy expensive shells and lose everything in one day."

Simon looked at her for a few seconds.

"So it is still gambling."

Mira nodded.

"It is. That’s why most demons call it rock gambling. But the proper merchants call them demonic shells or abyss shells. Some places call them sealed stones."

Simon leaned back slightly and remained silent.

After a few seconds, Simon’s lips curled slightly, then he looked outside the window as the carriage continued moving.

"Rock gambling huh..."

His sky-blue eyes flickered slightly beneath his hood.

"Interesting."