The To-do List

Tracing Talisman

Raizel watched the boy who stood in the door way with a smile on his face, "Mister Raizel."

He almost sighed, this boy, Wren had been visiting for two days. He had ignored the boy for the most part of it but the boy seemed not to be fazed by it. He did not get angry or irritated. How troublesome.

Wren hesitated at the door, even though he loved visiting the mysterious shop keeper, he did not want to trouble him.

"I am not disturbing you, am I." He made sure to ask again. The man ignored him focusing on reading a book. Silence means acquiescence, so Wren entered inside.

His eyes went through the talismans displayed; Mister Raizel has not crafted any new one. He sat down, closed his eyes and breathed in before he began to cultivate.

The spiritual energy in the shop was not the greatest but something about it made cultivating easier to Wren.

He could not afford noise-cancelling headsets. The shop was really quiet and he noticed he could meditate better. Once he earns some money he would tell Mister Raizel to craft a noise cancelling talisman for him.

Raizel closed the book, he had gone through three novels and was sure he could understand what a fortuitous encounter means. It all had to do with rarity and power, the technique must be really rare and extremely powerful. He had a lot of techniques like that in store.

Next, the place and person mattered. He must be desperate and dejected enough like the world have forsaken him. His eyes wandered to the boy that was cultivating on a seat next to the door; it seems like he lacked this part.

He could sense people approaching his store and sat upright, trying to maintain a calm and inviting presence.

Tonia was getting angry at her husband's delaying.

"Hurry up, we have already decided to buy the talisman, working slower than normal is not going to help."

Tonia was a slim, attractive woman who had a handsome husband and a beautiful child. Her husband earned quite a sizable amount at the Public Bureau. Theirs have been a very happy family until… Tonia clenched Nina's little hands even tighter.

Tommy caught up with her and held Nina's hands while looking around suspiciously.

"This place….."

Tonia nodded. This place was typical of the dark alleyways where terrible things happen in movies. Gathering strength from the law that cultivators are forbidden from killing mundane, she moved forward.

They opened the door to the store.

Outside was hot and sunny but inside the store was cool and refreshing, it had a characteristic silence that made them relax. For the first time in a while, Tonia let go of her daughter's hands.

It was a small shop, there were three seats for customers, a young boy was sitting cross-legged on one. Cases of talismans on display occupied most of the store.

There was a counter where a young man sat, his eyes fixed on them. He was a cultivator; a powerful one, she knew.

"Welcome. What would you like to buy?" Raizel asked calmly.

The man Tommy, stepped forward with a document, passing it to Raizel.

"This is a permission for a tracing talisman. Do you have one here?" He looked around trying to recognize the talisman hanging around but failed.

"A tracing talisman?" Raizel looked at the document with curiosity. Was it because the tracing talisman was too intrusive or because they were a mundane family?