Chapter 12 - Scarlet Flame Rose!
Walking down to the second floor Dante heard an interesting discussion
"Have you heard? A Scarlett flame rose has been discovered and apparently, it will fully bloom sometime in the near future "Said a skinny man
"What, no way one can\'t be found so easily and anyway how would you know," said one man in suspicion
"What would you know" responded the skinny man in scorn
"The leader of the fire wolf mercenaries is gathering a group of people to go and retrieve the Scarlett flame rose"
"He even put up a recruitment notice you can go up and try to sign up if you think you\'re good enough to make the cut"
Seeing that excitement of surrounding people, Dante\'s curiosity couldn\'t be held back so he approached them
"Excuse me but, what is this so-called \'Scarlet Flame Rose\' " asked Dante curiously
"Huh, you don\'t know ?" Asked the skinny man in shock
"When certain areas have a high concentration of spirit energy there is a chance that rare natural treasures will be born."
"Natural treasures? what kind of purpose would you use these \'natural treasures for\' "asked Dante
"Well they can be used in many ways," said the skinny man
"But the most common way is to break through bottlenecks in the same realm. Why do you think the flame wolf mercenaries are in such a frenzy, The leader of the mercenary group needs the Scarlett flower to break through to the 8th layer of the Martial Novice realm!"
Hearing this, a light flashed across Dante\'s eyes. These natural treasures seemed to have elemental properties and should be an easy way for him to gain energy points in this world
But the one thing left that Dante needed before he could start planning on retrieving the treasure was the location of the Scarlett flame rose and what time it will bloom and there seemed to be a man that had a strange amount of information on this right in front of him.
"You wouldn\'t have any information as to where this natural treasure would be right?" Dante asked
The skinny man looked left and right before turning his head towards Dante "if you want information it\'s gonna have to cost you" as he spoke he showed a toothy grin showing off his murky yellow teeth."
"In addition, it\'s not suitable to give details here. By the way, the names Phil, If you are really interested in the details you can follow me. It\'s not convenient to speak around here you see" he said indicating to the people around
after leaving the in Dante followed the skinny man to the alleyway near the store
"so what\'s the price ?" asked Dante wasting no time
"Well… this is a well kept secret and I\'m risking a lot telling you this and…"
"Stop wasting my time Phil, What\'s the price?" Said Dante cutting him off
"Well seeing as you are in such a hurry and you\'re a first time customer.. how about I cut you a deal, 30 Gold coins"
Just as Phil finished speaking Dante chucked a bag of gold coins at him nonchalantly leaving him stunned at Dante\'s extravagance
After a few seconds Phil fumbled around and handed Dante a map as he spoke flatteringly "Honourable young noble . The location you\'re looking for is here" he spoke pointing to a marked x "in addition the flower will bloom in exactly three days but I urge you to be careful the flame wolf mercenaries. They aren\'t stupid, they should know their secrets have been leaked and will most certainly have a plan to secrete the retrieving the Scarlett Flame Rose"
Seeing this extra information, Dante knew a sneak attack and stealing the treasure was not an option hearing how on guard these mercenaries were.
If Dante wanted to steal the natural treasure it would have to be a frontal assault, almost a raid. So preparing correctly would be essential.
While Dante was thinking to himself Phill spoke again "if you need any extra information you can find me at White Cloud Inn, just tell the guy at the counter that Phil sent you."
After saying that Phil walked away looking back and forth to make. Sure he wasn\'t being followed
Meanwhile, Dante was devising a plan to snatch the natural treasure as he walked home. This Scarlett flame rose was an essential way to gain some Energy Points and increase his strength so it was obvious that he had to get it no matter what. But there was a big problem, he was just too weak!
Dante had only started cultivating for a few days no matter how strong his abilities were and the fact he was able to skip levels it would be extremely difficult to fight a 6th layer martial Novice realm cultivator not to mention the fact that since it is a mercenary group other warriors would be part of the team. Another fact that couldn\'t be ignored was the fact other people would be having the exact same thought as him.
.....
By the time Dante arrived home, it was already dark outside and the bright moon hung out in the night sky illuminating the night sky. Dante put all his thoughts about the Scarlett Flame Rose aside and brought out his new spirit weapon.
As the Longsword was unsheathed a cold sheen appeared on the sword signing in the darkness of his room. Dante was entranced by the sword, only strengthening his assumptions that there was something special about the sword.
He could feel it in his body. The sword seemed to be calling out to him, almost begging for him to feed it his blood