Mikhail's expression slowly returned to normal. He put the book down and casually asked.
"What is this book about?"
The old man with his keen senses noticed Mikhail's interest in the book that he was trying to hide.
He leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk beside the items.
"This is a book of the old era." He said in an exasperated tone. "A book which contains the language of the Frenedic Empire."
Mikhail doubtfully looked at the old man before he picked up the book again and flipped through the pages.
Like the old man said, it was a book that had a translation of the Old Frenedic language into the modern one.
'….Is this really authentic?'
From what Mikhail remembered, the Frenedic Empire was one of the oldest empires made by the mutual collaboration of the human, elven, vampire and dragon races.
It was the earliest empire and was mostly forgotten in the river of time.
Mikhail glanced up at the old man and asked. "How much for it?"
The old man, seemingly waiting for the question, rubbed his hands. "A thousand Telen."
Mikhail put the book down, turned on his heels and began to walk away.
The old man immediately panicked. "Hey! Don't go!" He yelled. "I will give you a special discount!!"
'You will just try to scam me!'
Mikhail cursed in his heart and didn't look back. There was no way of checking the authenticity of the book, and he had no need for the Frenedic language anyway.
'…Though, I wonder why my luck led me to the book?'
He pondered the question without slowing down his steps.
"Alright! 500!!"
The old man yelled behind him but Mikhail ignored him.
"Fine! Just between me and you!!" The old man yelled, gritting his teeth. "100 Telen!!"
Mikhail stopped and turned around with a sly smile on his face. "That's pretty good."
"Humph!" The old man snorted and picked up the book. "Take it before I change my mind!!"
Mikhail paid him and took the book.
As he walked through the streets of the black market, he looked at the book suspiciously.
'What made it react to my mana?'
Mikhail gave the book another close look and on closer inspection he noticed the odd texture of the pages.
'It seems like they are made from goatskin…'
Mikhail had come in contact with such books before so he was quite confident in his judgement.
'But they were used long ago…if this book is really old then why is it translated in the modern language and not in the old languages?'
The modern language of Aegon was only gotten popular in last decade or so.
The old languages referred to the languages that were used by other races such as Elvish or Gothic.
He put the matter of the book aside and looked around for something else.
Though after walking around for a while, he didn't find anything interesting.
'I should come back here once I reach Apprentice rank. Perhaps my luck enhancement will work better.'
He nodded to himself and walked towards the exit.
---
After about twenty minutes of waiting at the exit, Mikhail saw Daniel walk towards him with a bag full of items in his hand.
He smiled, glancing at Mikhail's hand. "Did you find something?"
Mikhail raised the book and nodded. "Yeah, just a book."
Daniel didn't ask for anything else and led him out of the old network of tunnels.
Mikhail squinted his eyes as he looked towards the sky where the sun shone brightly.
'I feel much better here than in that damn underground.'
Mikhail mused as he glanced at Daniel who was guiding him towards the closest bus stop.
Once they reached the crowded area, Daniel said softly. "Have you ever seen a priest give a blessing after someone died?"
Mikhail blinked before he shook his head. "I rarely visit graveyards or attend any funerals."
Daniel nodded his head as a bus arrived that would pass through 38th Street.
They got inside the bus and found seats in the middle.
"It is a defence mechanism." Daniel said in a soft tone. "They use blessings as a disguise to perform a ritual to guide the souls of the deceased."
Mikhail, who wasn't someone much interested in religion, frowned in response.
"A ritual?" He asked.
"They do it so the soul doesn't have any lingering attachment with the living and turn into an evil spirit." He spoke, looking at Mikhail.
"Though there was once a time when the three gods weren't established. During that time the occurrence of spirits was as common as zombies."
'….Are you saying that the flesh becomes the zombie and the soul becomes the evil spirit?'
Mikhail nodded his head and asked. "So, that's why the three churches created rituals?"
Much to his surprise, Daniel shook his head in response.
"The three churches did not create rituals but learned them from the vampires."
'The fuck are you saying!?'
Mikhail quickly looked around him and only let out a sigh of relief when he noticed no one was listening.
If someone complained about what Daniel said then the church might execute them!
Daniel noticed the panic in Mikhail's face and chuckled.
"What I am saying is true." He spoke with utmost confidence.
"During our war with the vampires we learned how vampires used rituals to collect souls and use them against humans to kill them.
Humans later captured a few vampires and learned how to use rituals. By making some adjustments they created new ones which could be used as exorcism.
One of the reasons why humans are so full of faith and accept the church's teachings was because they could use 'Blessings.'"
Daniel emphasised the word blessing with a smile on his face.
Mikhail blankly looked at him, though he couldn't help but feel inclined to believe what he said.
'The most frightening thing about humanity is that we learn and adapt quickly.'
Daniel didn't say anything else for the rest of the trip and silently leaned back in his seat.
They reached their destination and walked out of the bus and towards their building.
Once they reached the building, Daniel paused outside and looked at Mikhail.
"If you wish to learn about rituals and exorcism…." He said with a small smile on his face.
"….Then meet me at the entrance of the Nero Middle School of Arts at six in the evening."
Without waiting for a reply, Daniel walked inside, leaving Mikhail behind.
'….Fuck me.'
Mikhail really didn't like dealing with ghosts.