“What are you doing with all this!?” Tavia didn’t mean anything by it. It was out of pure shock that she blurted the question out.

Vaela had led her to a nondescript building just off the boardwalk, but the interior was one large storage room. It was filled with rows of shelves, with neatly arranged items occupying almost all the space on them.

It was a supermarket of artifacts at a level she hadn’t seen before, even in Lumina. However, a closer look indicated that most of these artifacts were worth little.

Tavia didn’t have the best sense of detecting mana, but it was hard not to realize how little of it they emanated. Even then, of the few artifacts of her preferred element, the mana she sensed was so small that it could only help Trainees or Initiates at the very early stage.

“May I ask what your Class is?” Vaela asked with hesitation. “You know Cal, so it doesn’t really matter, but I’m not supposed to say unless you are part of the external Initiates.”

“External Initiates?”

“Initiates that are outside the core guild.”

Tavia made a sound that indicated her understanding. She said, “Technically, I am part of the core guild, but for all intents and purposes, I have nothing to do with it.”

Vaela looked confused at what Tavia meant but reluctantly accepted the explanation. “The guild does not give external Initiates enough allowance to survive without scrounging for extra guildmarks.”

Tavia nodded slowly. She hadn’t thought much about the living conditions of these external initiates, nor did she understand why the guild did not give them enough allowance.

However, it surprised her that they stayed in the territory. While there was an information lockdown, it was far less effective on the territory's borders, like where Mariner’s Rest was located.

As bad as the guild supposedly treated them, it was still apparently better than attempting to risk leaving it.

“I am sorry to hear that,” Tavia did nothing but extend her pity. While she knew Cal might have the funds to alleviate this issue, she was nowhere near the position. Plus, she doubted even Cal would be free enough with his money to do such a thing.

Tavia has some vague ideas about employing these external initiates for a more sustainable solution, but once again, this needed Cal’s input. He was the one who had a farm, not her. However, she would bring this up to him.

Tavia had felt intense annoyance toward Vaela when she saw her talking to Cal so freely, but the annoyance disappeared immediately after she realized just how disinterested Cal was.

The annoyance was replaced with the shock that someone with an interface had been reduced to act like the simplest of merchants. If the guild didn’t want to use them to their full potential, there is no reason that Cal and Tavia couldn’t.

Even the Frostguard Domain would put them to more use, though they would be brutal about it. Still, they would never let anyone with an interface starve. Her idiotic friends likely had this idea when they went to that hell on a fool’s hope.

Her mood fell as she was reminded of them.

Tavia wished they could be more like Oleg. Cal’s friend enjoyed his life as a mortal and lived it up, while her friends risked their lives to gain an interface.

It infuriated her that they put her in an unwinnable position. Ever since she found out about their decision, she frequently thought of leaving them to their fates. They were adults and knew the risks, but she knew her anger and worry heavily influenced her thoughts.

It wasn’t that they were just her friends—though she would like to believe she would take the same action if that were the case. Tavia owed them a debt she could never repay. They had saved her from certain death and brought her to the Celestial Order.

She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t try her best to save them.

“It is nobody’s fault but ours, Tavia,” Vaela brought her attention back to the present. “We failed in getting into the core guild, so we must make do with what we have. Anyway, is there anything that interests you here? You’re free to select what you need.”

“Let me take a closer look,” Tavia smiled in thanks before walking down the rows.

She was looking for something specific. She had little trouble letting loose with the fire element, but the issue came when she tried to let her mana out in a trickle. Even her most controlled release resulted in a burst of destructive flame, no matter what spell she tried to cast.

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Tavia knew she was asking for too much in a place like this. Artifacts like those did exist, but they quickly burnt out from having to suppress the fire element. The few that lasted for more than just a few months were priced so high that it was out of her reach.

Still, she carefully studied every artifact placed on the shelves. There was a brooch that looked promising, but it was already near the end of its life. She estimated that she might have been able to get two or three more uses before it crumbled.

Unfortunately, this was the case with almost every single one that was of any interest to her. Tavia had already given up and was just looking through the rest of the artifacts to avoid wounding Vaela’s pride.

It wouldn’t be a good look to quickly dismiss what she and the other external initiates had painstakingly gathered over a long period.

Tavia was on the last row when she noticed an artifact that looked like a combination of a glove and a bracer. She picked it up when she felt its compatibility with the fire element. Her hand fit surprisingly well in the artifact, and more importantly, she didn’t feel it was on its last legs.

The bracer didn’t have the exact function she sought in an artifact, but it would help solve one of her deficiencies. She was looking to find a way to release her mana in small quantities to prevent self-damage when engaged in close combat.

Tavia stepped away from the shelves to link to the artifact. She allowed her mana to connect to it and let it have a steady stream that it could draw from whenever she used it.

“Vaela, I'll need to step outside for a second. It shouldn’t be a problem for me to control it, but it’s worth being overly careful whenever fire is involved.”

“Of course,” Vaela agreed with a smile.

They headed outside, getting some attention from the townsfolk.

Tavia activated the artifact. She felt a sharp draw on her mana before it quickly tapered down. However, that was enough for the artifact to gain blades made out of fire that extended between the knuckles on the glove.

It wasn’t a fire that lazily flicked in the air. Instead, they were a short, condensed four-inch fire blade that almost looked solid. The only thing that hinted it wasn't was the subtle shifts at the edges of the fire blades.

The blades didn’t lose their form even when she moved her hand around to test it.

“Pardon me,” Tavia muttered as she eyed the ground. It was the toughest material that she could test the fire blades on.

Vaela didn’t get the chance to respond when Tavia immediately punched the ground.

A small plume of dust was kicked up from the impact.

Only a few of the townsfolk had given them any attention when they left the building, but with Tavia’s sudden violence against the innocent street, everyone who had a view of Tavia was now looking right at her.

“Tavia!” Vaela hissed before turning to the townsfolk. She had a strained smile as she said, “My apologies. My fellow guild member was a little too excited to test our new artifact.”

Tavia was vaguely aware that Vaela was trying to excuse her actions, but all her focus was on the glove.

She had felt the fire blades sink into the street like butter. The street was only made of simple stone, but it could be used as a base to understand the intensity of the fire blades. She pulled her fist back and saw four clean holes in the street, created by the four fire blades on the glove.

This was just a bonus on top.

Tavia intended to study how the artifact sipped on her mana and try to replicate it so she could do it naturally.

In the meantime, it would be all the better if the artifact had enough capability to be used effectively.

“How much?” Tavia asked.

Vaela looked away from the townsfolk, who were slowly returning to their businesses. She stared at Tavia's glove and said, “Eight gold?”

Tavia prevented herself from looking amused. This was the first time the seller had told her a price in the form of a question. The artifact would cost well over two guildmarks in Lumina. She was tempted to just agree, but then she realized she was no Cal. She was poor—very poor.

“That’s a little out of my budget,” Tavia said regretfully. “If I could get this for five gold, then I would be very grateful to you.”

“… Please give me a moment,” Vaela said before reentering the building, leaving Tavia staring at her.

She shrugged before looking back down to the glove. It still had the fire blades extending from between the knuckles. With the maintenance nearly negligible, it was a real contender to simply act as a deterrent.

Maybe that’s a stretch. I can’t see any serious threat that would be held back by this. Still, it would keep the minor annoyances away so I wouldn’t have to waste my time.

She deactivated the artifact when Vaela returned soon after with an apologetic face. “I’m really sorry, Tavia. The lowest I can go is seven gold. I’m not trying to make too much money off you, but I can’t sell for breakeven or loss.”

Tavia sighed before taking out the seven gold Vaela asked for and handed it over. “It’s a more than fair price. I was just hoping to save some money. I’m sure you understand.”

Vaela nodded as she pocketed the money. “Is there anything else that caught your interest?”

“No, this is all,” Tavia shook her head. “Let’s return. Cal must be wondering why we’re taking so long.”

As Tavia made small talk on their way to the boardwalk, she found the girl somewhat... limited. Vaela only had a drive to survive, without any thought of looking for a way out. She was fine with her current situation, though not happy.

Such an attitude was repulsive to someone like Cal.

Tavia didn’t know what it said about her since she felt much more at ease after that. She swiftly pushed that thought away and focused on her anticipation on returning to the bazaar.

She hoped the hint she gave Cal by leaving him at the bazaar was enough. Shopping was only part of the reason she wanted to come here. The main reason was to get to know Cal better as they toured the town.

The issue was that Cal simply watched as she went from stall to stall and then abandoned her to talk to somebody else. She did appreciate that it led to her finding the glove, but it would’ve been nice if Cal had included her when he spoke with Vaela at the start.

Then again, it hasn’t escaped my attention that Cal is as dense as a rock. I might need to tell him things directly to give him a chance to understand.

They reached the boardwalk, but Tavia didn’t see Cal anywhere in the bazaar.

Vaela saw Tavia’s expression turn ugly. “Maybe Cal went to search for us?”

Tavia knew that Cal was an Apprentice. If he was searching for them, he would find them.

No, that man went off on his merry way to do whatever caught his interest.

“Maybe,” Tavia said with a strained smile. “I’ll look through the bazaar to amuse myself while I wait.”