Rebirth: The Shadow Of Greed

... Rat laughed as he returned back to the tentage at the side, grabbing a woman so drugged up she wouldn't know the sky from the ground.

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Z snuck back into the house with no incidence, he cleaned up and proceeded to sleep on his bed, after the incident tonight, he kept part of his mind active and on guard against any form of attack.

A large silhouette could be seen beside his bed as the towering figure approached him closer and closer.

Upon instinct, Z reacted and grabbed the hand of the silhouette before using his psychic manifest to hoist him up entirely.

"Boss... Do we have to do this every time? It's time for breakfast."

Odrunn had long since been used to Z's uncanny reflexes and he doesn't even feel like there is any need to be surprised anymore.

Z sat up as he let Odrunn down slowly. He looked at the time and it was 7 am.

"What are we doing to be doing so early? It feels like nothing is even open."

Z asked while retrieving a new set of black clothes to put on.

"Soli says... She wants to bring us to the market and around A city. Since it's her home and the place she's most familiar with, she wants us to experience everything before going back to the academy."

Odrunn explained before hurrying Z to head downstairs.

Walking into the large dining room, Z noticed that the table had already been laid out for them to enjoy their breakfast. It wasn't a particularly hearty breakfast, but the fact that there was bread on the table proved that Soli's family was indeed well to do. With the current state of affairs and the food supply dwindling and famine everywhere only those with a large number of credits can buy food that comes from wheat.

Odrunn sat down on the table and picked up the bread roll in front of him, he picked up the butter knife and looked at the tub of butter in front of him and put down the knife and started to dip the entire roll of bread in butter.

"Do you not know how to use a knife?"

Soli asked while looking at Odrunn stuffing himself with his face.

"I'm sorry, the bread tastes the best this way when I was younger... "

Odrunn trailed off, continuing to eat his bread. Z was nonchalant about the whole situation, he picked up a piece of bread, looked at how Soli was eating it and promptly followed. He split it in half and used the butter knife to smear some butter over it. Upon putting it into his mouth, he felt the oily butter permeate on his tongue, he started to chew the bread, the crunchy crust of the bread gave a different consistency to the soft white insides.

Z's eyes widened as he savored the piece of bread, it was nothing like the nutrition bars he was used to having nor was it like the wild game he had hunted. There was a complexity to the flavor and it was something that he had never experienced in his life, both past and present.

Z quickly repeated the process and put another piece in his mouth. Soli who was sitting on the other side of the table smiled sweetly as she looked at Z enjoying himself with the bread.

"You know, if you like, we could bring some with us so we can eat it if we're hungry."

Z tilted his head up and nodded, his eyes still affixed to the beautiful carb-rich bread that is in his hands.

After the hearty breakfast, Z wiped his mouth as Soli asked her servants to prepare a bag to bring the bread out. She had the whole day planned for them and was ready to show them a good time.

Soli brought them to a huge building first and within it lay racks and racks of Artefacts. Odrunn's eyes lit up, it was like bringing a kid to the candy shop. He ran over to a bunch of artefacts and put it close to his face examining every inch of it.

"Soli, Boss! this is the toughboot mach 2, it is said that used by a strength augment manifester kicking a brick wall, even if the wall breaks or the manifester breaks, the boots will still be intact. Not to mention it has retractable reinforced spikes for manifesters to hold their ground if they need to. Look at its exquisite design, the beautiful detailing, isn't it amazing? "

Soli smiled to see Odrunn enjoying himself as he picked up every artefact and started to dish out explanations. Even the shop assistant was at a loss of words, they even felt that he was stealing their jobs.

Z started looking around the shop, to him, everything seemed a bit lacking to the Artefacts of the future. As he was just about to turn around, something caught his eyes which made him do a double-take.

A set of 8 triangles forming a hexagon on the table. It was black and made entirely of metal. It wasn't very big, just about 50cm in diameter, per piece it wasn't very thick just 2cm. Z walked forward touching the metal piece, a voice resounded from the back.

"Sir, you have a good eye! These are the pieces of 8, they are a set of Artefacts that have been used a long time ago. Look at the metallic sheen, their hardness is also exquisite. You look like a man with good taste, so I'll sell it to you, a thousand apiece."

"That seems interesting, 8000 seems like a very steep price and I don't think I can afford to spend 8000 on an artefact."

Z replied matter of factly to the assistant that approached him.

"Sir, you have got to be kidding me, your clothes you're wearing cost at least 2000 credits per piece and you're telling me you can't afford 8000, your sense of humor is great."