Almighty Summoner System

Ban did his best to hide the nervousness he was feeling. Although it was not confirmed, there is a high chance that him being unable to awaken was one of the reasons for the sudden Beast Tide. 

He put the matter at the back of his head for now. Just like what Joana said, if being a 'freak' was really the reason, he can't do anything about it anymore and it's not that he wanted it anyway. 

However, he did make a promise to himself that he should at least help defend the city with all his might when the time comes. Although his current strength was still negligible compared to those at the Multi Realm, he thought that he could do just fine fighting opponents at the Singular Realm. 

"I thought that 'freaks' would only appear once every thousand years?" George asked. As someone who works as a carriage driver, he had access to rumors all day round. Although it was not his intention, he just could not help but eavesdrop on the conversations of his passengers, especially if they were talking about things that were foreign to him the day before. 

"That's obviously a lie. I don't know who spread such rumors, but you should be aware that every time a 'freak' appears, the city would always resort to violence, kicking the 'freak' out of the city and in the worst case, disposing of them instantly." Joana said. 

George was surprised upon knowing the harsh truth about being a 'freak'. Although he knew that being a 'freak' will be discriminated against and scorn by the citizens, he never thought that it was to this extent. 

After all, he never saw one and he also hasn't heard of one 'freak' appearing in his seventeen years of existence. That is also the reason why he believed that they only appeared once every thousand years.

Ban's knowledge about being a 'freak' was being updated constantly in every word that Joana let out. Although he doesn't need it now as he was no longer a 'freak', he still decided to etch the knowledge into his mind. 

Carmen could only listen to their conversation as she stared silently at her friend, Joana. However, she stayed silent in the end. 

After a moment of silence, it was Carmen who spoke this time. "Well, the new version I came up with was actually just a strengthened version of the old one. I also increased their volume to avoid what happened before where it was not enough to last a few hours. This time, I can guarantee that it could last at least twenty hours before its effect weakens." 

"Well, they already took my previous recipe anyways so my new recipe this time might not sell well. However, with the addition of the Red Hermit Termite eyes, I can completely create a new version out of it. If we can only spread it before around a building, we will be able to apply this new version to our skin, and hence creating an effect where the Beasts might hesitate to attack us, allowing us the opportunity to strike back with less worry."

There was a glint of excitement at the corner of Carmen's eyes as she talked about the new version's effects. However, Joana's next words cut her excitement as she also just realized that matters.

"How do you know that it works just like what you describe? Did you test it already?" 

  "Well… no. It's only a recipe, and I still haven't made the new actual version. After all, I didn't have any Red Hermit Termite eyes before. But, how about it? Do you wanna try it after I'm done?" 

"Sure, but it's not for free. Issue a Quest so that it will be recorded in my Adventurers Badge, I've been sitting at Gold Rank for too long, maybe it's already time that I rank up again!" Joana said. 

"Ha, keep on dreaming that you can reach the Diamond Rank. Reach the first requirement first." Carmen jokingly said. 

"Lameee!" Joana replied as if feeling down. 

George raised another question after that. It was about why Carmen was showing her recipe to them quite openly. Carmen just shrugged her shoulders and stated that it's only the recipe and not the method of how to make it.

Anyways, after their short conversation about the Beast Repellent Powder and the 'freak', Ban thought that it was already time for him to leave.

When he was about to bid farewell, Joana suddenly recalled something she should have told earlier. "Oh right, Mr. Leon, before I forget, I'll tell you where you can find the habitat of the Boney Porcupines so that you can collect their White Spikes yourself." 

She then turned towards Carmen and said, "Carmen, can you give me a map of Eagle City and its neighboring Beast-Filled places?"

Carmen nodded her head and took a scroll above a closet full of messy glass vials. She then spread it directly above the table full of recipe papers for everyone to see. 

"Thank you!" Joana went close to the map and observed it for a bit. 

She then beckons for Ban to come over before she points at a certain place on the southern part of the map. 

"You can find the habitat of the Boney Porcupines around this area here. Just like the Beast-Filled Forest Lagom, this place is also full of Beasts. However, instead of it being a place full of dense trees, it was instead a place full of yellow sands, hence where its name came from- Yellow Desert!" 

Ban observed the map carefully, trying to etch every bit of information inside his brain. However, he soon gave up a moment later as he thought he could not memorize it in the blink of an eye, unlike how he could fully understand a Beast's information the moment the System injects the knowledge into his brain.

He has the coins, ao he thought that he should just try and buy this map or something similar first. 

"How much for this map?"