As Audry gazed at the smiling Mars, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. Kit could sense that she knew they were in for a challenge with this client. Her cautious expression towards Mars was evident. Not only Audry, but Kit also had a strange look on his face. Had Mars been aiming for the silver membership all along? He could only wait and see what Mars had planned next.
Audry quickly regained her composure and put on a pleasant smile once again. "Is there anything else you would like to trade, good sir?" she asked.
Kit couldn't help but be amused as Flinder's, who had been sitting quietly until now, stared at Mars in fascination. The young boy seemed to be completely engrossed in every movement of Mars'. Meanwhile, Mars leaned back lazily, resting his elbows on his legs. "I think you will be interested in this next item, Audry," he said with a wide grin that almost made his eyes disappear. "Kit, could you please show Audry the remaining crystal?"
Kit shivered at the sweetness in Mars' voice but still obliged with his request and placed one tiny stone onto the coffee table. Audry gasped and any trace of annoyance vanished from her face, replaced by pure delight in her eyes. However, Flinder's furrowed his brow in confusion. "What is that?" he asked.
With shaking hands, Audry reached for the crystal. "This is a Blood soul crystal," she explained. "It is a rare item highly sought after in the field of alchemy." Suddenly, it dawned on Kit why Mars had brought them to this specific shop to sell their items instead of a regular jewellery store. The man was a genius when it came to negotiations! Kit was grateful to have left the transactions up to Mars; he was confident they would walk out of this shop as happy men.
His prediction proved to be true when the silver disk displayed the price of the crystal: 45 gold crowns! An explosion of delight erupted inside Kit and he couldn't contain his excitement, bursting into joyous laughter. He felt like his face was going to split from his wide smile. Meanwhile, Mars remained composed and merely tilted his head in thought before turning to Audry. "If I have 10 of these crystals, what would be the price?" he asked.
Audry didn't respond verbally; instead, she simply tapped on the disk, as if waiting for Mars to continue with negotiations. The price rose to 47 gold crowns. Mars maintained his smile but tapped his finger on the table. "Price for 100, please," he stated.
Audry's eyes widened at this request and she tapped on the disk once again. This time, the price only increased by 500 silver. Placing a finger on his chin, Mars appeared to be deep in thought. "If that is your final offer, then I'm afraid we will need to take our business elsewhere," he said politely as he stood up and motioned for Kit and Peaches to follow.
"Wait!" Audry exclaimed, clearly taken aback by Mars' decisiveness. Panic was evident in her expression as she begged Mars to stay. He looked down at the petite woman and spoke calmly. "I will give you one more chance to offer a fair price, but this time we won't play any games, okay?"
Audry nodded frantically and gestured for Mars to take a seat once again. All this back-and-forth had put Kit on edge; he just wanted to know how much money they were going to make! As everyone settled back into their seats, Audry took a deep breath before speaking again. "May I ask how many Blood soul crystals you have? That way I can give you the best price possible."
“1,974.” Stated Mars in a monotone voice.
Flinder, who had been watching the show with excitement, let out a whistle. Audry didn't even scold him for his outburst this time.
Kit couldn't help but feel sorry for Audry as she sat there speechless. It was obvious that she never expected them to have so many Blood soul crystals. Kit began to suspect that these crystals must be rare outside of the dungeon.
His suspicions were confirmed by Audry's next words. “H-how did you manage to obtain so many? These are exceptionally rare.” She quickly apologised for her bluntness. “I apologise for my question, I was just taken aback. We usually only receive 100 of these per year.”
Audry composed herself and put on a professional smile before tapping on the disk again. “Our final offer is 60 gold crowns per crystal, including the 3% increase.”
Kit held his breath, waiting for Mars' reply. “That is acceptable, Audry.” Mars then turned to Kit. “You can give her the Blood soul crystals now.” With trembling hands, Kit placed all the crystals on the table.
When the transaction was complete, Mars had a satisfied smile while holding a coin purse. Kit quickly calculated their earnings and realised they had made a total of 196 platinum and 800 gold crowns - split between the nine of them who went into the dungeon, that equaled to 32 platinum and 800 gold each!
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Kit was in shock at the amount of money they had earned. In real currency, it would be equivalent to $32,800 - enough to cover 10 months of his shared bills at home or five months if he covered all expenses for himself and Kat.
Feeling overwhelmed with joy, Kit looked over at Mars and Peaches and saw the same elation on their faces. He felt grateful for their friendship and vowed to never let them down again. They had not only been there for him in the game, but also in real life.
Kit wiped away his happy tears and managed to compose himself enough to leave the store. Audry followed them to the door and waved goodbye.
Once she was out of sight, Kit couldn't contain his excitement any longer and jumped onto Mars' back. “Haha, we did it!” He made sure not to shout too loud on the street, not wanting to attract potential robbers.
“We certainly did!” echoed Mars and Peaches.
“Let's celebrate!” exclaimed Mars.
“How should we celebrate?” asked Peaches. Kit was curious about how they would celebrate, so he hopped off Mars' back and eagerly looked at him.
Mars chuckled, “I don't know about you two, but I want to try one of those three or four-star restaurants. And we can drink until we drop!”
Kit's heart skipped a beat at the thought - Mars' idea was fantastic! “Count me in!” he shrieked with excitement, earning laughter from his friends in return.
Peaches laughed along with Mars and chimed in, "Me too."
"Alright, then let's ask for directions," Mars said as he stopped an elderly man with fiery red hair passing by. "Excuse me, could you tell us where to find a three or four-star restaurant?"
The man kindly replied, "Ah, you must be new to Regal Mist. There are plenty of those scattered all over the city, but if you head to Bakers Street, the whole road is lined with restaurants. And that's where all the famous ones are."
Mars got the directions and the trio excitedly set off towards Bakers Street, anticipating a delicious meal.
When they reached the beginning of the street, Kit's jaw dropped open in amazement. He had expected a small side street, not a bustling main road with towering skyscrapers! Every storefront was adorned with twinkling lights and decorations.
Kit couldn't contain his excitement and his whole body trembled. He wanted to explore every single store on the street! But before he could take a step, Mars gave him a knowing look and said, "Before you get distracted, take your share of the money." Mars transferred his portion to Kit.
"Thanks, Mars!" Kit felt like a wealthy man for the first time in his life. He couldn't wait to log out and share the good news with Kat. But first, he was determined to enter some of these shops. He dragged Mars and Peaches towards the entrance of the first shop.
Three bright stars shone under the name "Sweet Treats". The windows were frosted so Kit couldn't see inside from where he stood. But he saw a steady stream of people walking in, so he knew something amazing must be waiting inside.
Without hesitation, Kit pushed open the door and his eyes widened at the sight before him. A burst of colorful flashes met his gaze. Different shades of color burst into his retinas from every direction.
The entire shop was filled with candy! From the floor to the ceiling, every built-in shelf was overflowing with a variety of treats. Ladders on tracks decorated the store, allowing eager shoppers to reach any product they desired.
Kit felt like he was on a sugar high just from looking at the room. How had they come up with so many different types of candy? Didn't Iris say that most chefs only create ten to fifteen signature dishes in their lifetime? This store had already surpassed that limit within seconds.
But then again, there's always an exception to the rule. After all, Kit himself already boasted a fair few recipes. He stopped pondering the conundrum and walked over to the closest wall. Upon closer inspection of the candies, he noticed that each panel held the same type of treat, but each shelf featured a different color.
With excitement coursing through his veins, Kit quickly examined a blue star-shaped candy.
[Star blue gummy delight]
Quality level: Excellent
Quality bonus: + 100 to all stats.
A bit sized chewy treat.
Temporary Skill: Gummy projectiles, shoot gummy balls at your enemy.
Active for 1 hour.
Kit sucked in a breath between his teeth, this a temporary skill! Kit's excitement grew as he scanned the shop; he had a feeling he was about to find out how far behind his skills were compared to others.
But instead of being discouraged, Kit's motivation skyrocketed! With a newfound frenzy, Kit dashed around the room, using his identify skill on anything his eyes landed on.
Every item seemed to have either a temporary skill or a high addition to stats. The deeper he went into the store, the more his eyes lit up.
As he approached the back of the room, his excitement reached its peak. Standing before the back wall, Kit's heart pounded with anticipation. Each and every item was displayed in individual glass cases!
As Kit took a trembling step forward, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Something was preventing him from moving any further.
Kit cautiously reached out his hand towards the invisible barrier, but it met a solid surface instead. He furrowed his brows in confusion. Suddenly, he heard a sound to his right and turned to see a young woman with a mischievous glint in her eyes staring at him. "Is this your first time here?" she asked.
As Kit thought back on his actions since entering the store, he felt his cheeks start to flush. He must have looked ridiculous rushing around like that. "Uh, yes," he replied.
"I can tell you really like my shop. Would you like to take a look at the items on these shelves?" the woman said, motioning to the wall that currently blocked his path.
Kit nodded eagerly. "Yes, please!" The woman laughed gently and waved her hand at the wall.
"I'll come with you and answer any questions you may have about my creations," she said with delight at Kit's enthusiasm.
With the barrier now gone, Kit's whole body trembled with excitement. He couldn't wait to see what kind of stats these restricted items had.