The path was much gloomier than the other two.
Unlike them, the path to the "slums" wasn't renovated, nor were there buildings on both sides of the road.
Grey didn't care. He wasn't here for sightseeing.
He had left Viola's kitchen to search for more answers in the slums. He needed that money to enter the academy easily.
He checked the notification panel once again:
[The new taste wasn't acquired.]
[To acquire a new taste, the user must have the Art of Cooking.]
This was a new kind of notification he hadn't seen before. But it helped him understand his Art of Creation better.
First of all, unlike the Art of Iron, he didn't receive the Art of Cooking, even though he had completed the steps before acquiring it.
He didn't know what those steps were, but today was the first time he had received this notification, even though he had eaten food many times after acquiring the Art of Creation.
This meant that something had changed today. And it was the fact that he had completed the step of "acquiring information" about cooking.
Maybe there was only one step before one could learn the Art of Cooking. Or maybe the second (or even third) steps were easy, like cooking something or tasting different tastes.
But, he was definitely ready to learn the Art of Cooking if someone with the Art transferred it to him, or his Art of Creation had acquired it like the Art of Iron.
Now, he learned that the Art of Creation didn't work like that. Otherwise, he could learn an unlimited number of Arts.
But he didn't know if this was because the Art of Iron was under the cumulative Art of Source or for some other reason.
What he did know was that he needed more research on the topic.
In the meantime, he realized that he had been going for a long time, but he still couldn't see anything.
The village center was behind and to the left, but he couldn't see the center or the monument anymore.
He didn't stop, though. He continued until he started seeing some kind of forest on the right side.
Even though it was a forest, most of the trees were cut down, but there weren't new ones planted in their place.
Also, the stamps of the cut-down trees weren't rooted out, creating an ugly scenery.
This should be new. Otherwise, they couldn't live here for more than 200 years.
Viola had told him that the slums had been here for more than 200 years. They were probably using the forest as a source for their houses, for heat in the winter, or for making tools.
But if they were to treat the forest this way, the trees would be gone by now. He knew since he was taught by Talas to always give back twice as much as he took.
The path continued through the forest. The trees were similar to the ones he cut back when Grey was in his village. Since the two villages weren't that far apart, this wasn't surprising.
What surprised him, though, were the houses.
When he went through the forest for half an hour, he arrived on the other side of the forest. If this were the length of the forest, the slums were doomed since it was too small.
All the houses were made of wood. They seemed damaged and old.
So, Grey immediately activated his Art of Wood to see if the houses were dangerous. If he were to tap the weakest point, the whole house would come down.
But, to his surprise, there were only white rings at some points, meaning that unless he used his axe repeatedly at the same point, the houses would stay strong for a long time.
He was surprised to see that. Even though no one in his own village or in Mila lived in wooden houses, Grey was familiar with them. He had tried to make his own house before when he was a lumberjack.
It wasn't to leave his own house or anything, it was to stay close to the wood-cutting area. But no matter how hard he tried, the houses he made weren't even close to being this sturdy.
I probably can't make something like that even with my Art...
At that point, seven middle-aged men, with wooden bats and random things in their hands, approached Grey.
"Who are you?" the burly man in the front asked.
"I am sorry to intrude. My name is Grey. I am not here to cause trouble. I came to research something."
"Research something? Do you think it is enough for us to let you in? Don't you know the rules in this village?"
"I think he is a tourist or something. The festival must be around this time," another man intervened.
"Yes, I am a tourist. And a pickpocket stole my money. I am just checking for any clues," Grey admitted. If the story was true, the fight was inevitable anyway.
"Huh? Do you think we stole your money? It seems like your family didn't teach you manners!"
"Ah, I am sorry if that is what you thought. But, no, I don't think it was you. I am just checking for clues."
"Isn't it the same thing? No one here would steal anything. So, go back where you came from."
Grey wondered what kind of slum this was. The houses only seemed to be in a bad shape. And the middle-aged men in front of him were all muscled. It wasn't possible to be this healthy without a good amount of food.
Are they stealing others' food?
He decided not to be prejudiced, though. "If what you said is true, why are you trying to send me back? You shouldn't have anything to hide."
Of course, he didn't receive what he wanted.
"Shut up. Leave, or we will make you."
I don't think these guys will calm down and talk about it.
Grey slowly reached into his backpack.
There were two things there.
One was his trustworthy axe that had accompanied him for all these years.
And the second one was the new sword Kaiden forged using black iron and parts of Mark's sword.
He chose the letter.
This would be the first time he used a sword against real humans. He knew it was another inevitable thing in this world.
Still, he didn't want to hurry. If they weren't especially hard, Grey wouldn't kill today.
But if they were...
He took out the sword, put it on his waist, and slowly took the sword out of its sheath.
The blueish edge shone under the afternoon sun while the white handle gave the implication of royalty.
Grey looked at the faces of the men standing in front of him.
They didn't look especially scared, but their faces changed after seeing the sword.
This world was dangerous. Someone with an Art related to swords could cut through hundreds of normal people with their sword.
Could Grey be one of them?