“Hehehe!”

Malcolm couldn’t help chuckling when he saw a certain white-haired ranker approach him. He rubbed his palms together before adding up.

“It’s always a pleasure to see my most cherished customer get back to me. Come. I’ll put up a sign before we discuss business.”

Malcolm said and activated the array system under the shop’s ground. All the items he had on display disappeared. The shopkeeper and the customer who came to visit him would buy or sell unique things, which might or might not be what he wanted to be seen dealing in. So he put a close sign on the shop before allowing him to talk.

Eren smiled bitterly when Malcolm gave him special treatment. But he also couldn’t blame the guy. The items he sold him belonged to two dead rankers who were exceptional in their own right. The belongings they carried had fetched him a high price.

At this point, Malcolm and he had developed a symbiotic relationship. He was like a drug dealer he knew on a personal level.

“I’m here to get my Hex armor set.”

Eren replied nonchalantly. Malcolm looked at him suspiciously before commenting.

“Boy, you do know that I don’t believe in handing over my mercs for free or on loan, right?”

Eren chuckled before answering his question with a question of his own.

“How about me buying the whole thing upfront? Do you believe in hard cash or Nah?”

Malcolm snorted his nose before commenting.

“You are as shady as me, if not more. Show me the money first. Then we can talk.”

Eren sighed before raising his hand in front of him. He took out all the Mana Quartz he had on him at the time before taking it back and taking the sweep in his hand. The mana quartz appeared and disappeared within a fraction of a second. But that was all Malcolm needed anyway.

He rubbed his palms over his bald head before flashing the most generous smile.

“Hehe. I knew you were solid, boy. I was just yanking your chains a bit.”

This time, it was Eren’s turn to show displeasure. But Malcolm ignored his facial expressions and continued.

“Let me take care of what you need right away. Hehe! I’m sure you’d be pleased.”

Malcolm said and activated his array once again, making the entire Bear armor set appear between them. The armor set was kept on a stand that displayed the set perfectly.

“Everything’s been taken care of?”

Eren asked, looking at the set carefully. Malcolm patted his chest hard before replying in an assuring voice.

“I made no compromises when it came to handlining the set. Everything you asked for and everything you didn’t know how to ask for. This gear is ready for you and all your shady adventures.”

Eren had stress lines on his forehead when he heard Malcolm treat him like some killer who was out for killing and plundering people. It didn’t help that he suddenly had so much money on him. In the end, he decided to bind the gear and test it himself.

Eren followed Malcolm’s instructions in binding the bear armor set. It disappeared right after he bound it. There appeared to be a small bear tattoo on his left chest.

Hex gear did not have to be stored inside the I-Rune or worn manually. It would bind with the user’s mana signature. Upon activation, the gear can get absorbed by the user’s body in the form of a tattoo.

The user can then make the gear set appear on him anytime he wants by activating the tattoo. They could also retract it within a fraction of a second, making it ideal to be used during the right situations.

Eren took a long breath before activating the tattoo. In the next moment, he was wearing the same gear set in its entirety.

“This… this is surprisingly lightweight for how it looks!”

Eren commented after getting the feel of the bear set. He was wearing a complete armor set at this point so he was expecting it to weigh him down. However, the gear was relatively lightweight for its looks.

Malcolm laughed when he heard Eren’s response. He tapped his fingers on his bald head before commenting.

“Of course, my boy. I made them add a lightweight rune inscription on each of its parts. It decreased its defense just a bit. But the trade-off is worth it.

I also made it compatible with you. Try your spells while you are at it.”

Malcolm suggested and Eren followed. He activated his Blitz Steps to see how much of a moveability the armor was going to hamper.

Eren moved quickly within the confines of the empty shop and discovered the results to be more than satisfactory. He just needed to test the gear’s defensive properties.

Malcolm knew what Eren was thinking. So he conjured a mini fireball on his right palm. The shopkeeper was an Awakened ranker but still had access to Rank 1 mana. The fireball he conjured could be cast by someone proficient in the fire element, who was in the last stage of Meta rank.

Malcolm didn’t worry about the safety of his shop and threw the fireball toward Eren before he had a chance to say yes or no. This was his wild idea of testing the armor on a live target.

In the next moment, Eren was hit by the fireball spell before he was able to dodge it. As a result, he was thrown to the opposite side of the shop’s wall.

The runes on the wall lit up and negated Eren’s impact force. But that didn’t stop Eren from feeling the pain he was feeling in his chest.

Eren flashed a cunning smile when he realized what just happened, despite the slight discomfort he was feeling at the moment. He was basically immune to any normal attacks in the Meta rank as long as he had the armor on.

Eren and Malcolm both started laughing after looking at each other seriously for quite some time. It seemed that they both were happy with the deal they were about to strike with each other.

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