"We haven't had many customers recently. Ever since that new mall opened up nearby, everyone has been doing their shopping there. The only people who still come here are some of my dad's friends."

Julian was standing behind Luke at the back door of his dad's shop. Luke opened the door and turned the lights on.

Inside was a long hall that went up to the front of the store with a few doors on each side.

"This one here is my room, and that door over there is my dad's. He's at the front right now getting ready to close up for the day."

Julian followed Luke to the front of the store. Luke's dad was tinkering with what looked like the hilt of a sword.

"Hey dad, this is Julian. He just saved me from a bunch of jerks, so I thought I'd let him pick something out for himself. Is that okay?"

"Sure. A friend of Luke's is a friend of mine. My name is Isaac Benning. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Issac reached his hand out for a shake with a smile. Julian shook his hand and smiled back.

"Go ahead and pick out whatever you want. I might not make the flashiest mediums, but the quality is top tier!"

Isaac scratched his nose with a grin.

"Actually, I already know what I want. Do you happen to have a box of paper talismans?"

Isaac thought for a second and then walked over to the back corner. He returned holding a rectangular box made out of stained birch wood.

"Are you sure you want these? These are just some old paper talismans from when I first opened the shop. No one has ever wanted them, so I assumed that they were useless."

Julian took the box and opened it up. Inside were about 100 blank paper talismans.

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"I'm positive. This will work perfectly with my ability."

He had a huge grin on his face looking at his new talismans.

"If I may ask, what is your ability? You only used a strong martial skill earlier, so I assumed that it wasn't good for combat."

Luke was slightly confused about why Julian wanted old pieces of paper.

"My ability allows me to infuse my aura into a paper medium."

"That's it? I don't understand what these small pieces of paper could do for you."

Isaac was scratching his head trying to understand what the talismans were for.

"It'll be easier if I just show you. Do you happen to have a brush and some ink?"

Isaac brought Julian a small container of ink and a brush.

Julian took out one talisman and wrote a command on it. He stuck the talisman on his chest and infused his aura into it. A second later, Julian's entire body disappeared.

"What the hell?"

Luke and Isaac were shocked. One second Julian was standing right in front of them, and the next he was gone.

"Don't worry. I'm still here. I'm just invisible."

"How did you do that?"

Julian removed the talisman from his chest and he reappeared.

"By writing a command onto these talismans, I can infuse my aura into them to make them carry out the order. There are some limitations, but that's the gist of what I can do."

Julian smiled and placed the talisman back into the box.

"I would like to make a request of you if you wouldn't mind?"

Isaac looked at Julian and smiled.

"Whatever it is, just let me know! I'm sure I can get it done."

"If it wouldn't be any trouble, could you make some more of these talismans for me? After I write a command and infuse my aura, it becomes permanent. I can reuse talismans, but I can't change the command."

Issac grinned and flexed his right arm.

"Piece of cake. They're pretty easy to make with my ability. All I need are the raw materials."

"That's great! How much will it cost?"

Isaac gave a smirk and held up his hand.

"How about we make a little deal instead of using credits? Luke mentioned that you used a martial skill. Instead of paying me with credits, how about you teach my boy here how to fend for himself? That way I won't have to give away any more free items. What do ya say?"

Julian was a little surprised. He figured he would have to save up for a while to buy more talismans, but Isaac was really going to make some for him as long as he taught Luke a martial skill.

"Sure. Everyone should learn a martial skill to enhance their ability."

Luke looked a little concerned.

"Are you sure about this? I've never been very good at fighting."

Julian gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure those bullies don't mess with you anymore."

"Then it's settled then! I'll have them done by this time next week. You can stop by to pick them up at any time. Take care of my boy!"

Isaac gave a laugh and retired to his room for the night.

"I appreciate this, Julian. I can't say how well I'm going to fare, but I'll try my best."

"You'll do fine, man. I'll text you after our exam tomorrow."

After exchanging numbers with Luke, Julian returned to his apartment. He got to work on preparing a few talismans for the exam.

'If I recall correctly, the exam is going to consist of 3 stages. The first being a written exam, the second being the 1v1 combat exam, and the third stage is a squad battle.'

The first two stages didn't really bother Julian that much. He was mainly pondering on the third stage. The squad battle split the students into teams of 5. They would get paired with a captain of the imperium and work together to eliminate the other squads. The captains couldn't participate in the battle, but they were to advise the students on strategy and teamwork.

'Last time I did this I got put on the worst team, and our captain couldn't even be bothered to show up.'

Julian finished up his preparations with a look of determination on his face.

"This time I'll win for sure. With or without a captain."