Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 133. The Six Prizes.
“It’s not really all that interesting though,” Laien said with a laugh and to begin with, crouched down and slightly extended his right hand. His interspatial ring lit up a bit and released a fairly big amount of greyish mist, which half a second later turned into two large and sturdy leather sacks. “The first two are more or less the same, the bundles of Living Steel and precious metals,” he said and untied one of the sacks, displaying the insides to everyone.
On the very top laid a sturdy wooden box the size of two fists, whereas below it the pure ore glittered. Having seen the peculiar mixture in the past, Laien had quickly recognized it as the optimal mix required to smelt the famous Mountain God’s Steel that his own spear was made from. However, the amount of Garkan Steel and Cold Steel ore in here was around thirty times higher than what had been needed to forge his spear. In retrospect, he had paid Zaniear two hundred crystal coins for the ore for Duaran to use, but he now knew that the actual market price was higher, reaching up to five hundred crystal coins for one large weapons’ worth of supply.
Thus, it wasn’t hard for him to calculate the worth of each of those large leather sacks, which was approximately twenty-five to thirty thousand crystal coins. Why did he judge it to be so this much and not any less, though? It was because the amount of Living Steel those wooden cases contained was well enough for three large weapons to be made. Although he had gotten his hands on one chunk of Living Steel for one thousand crystal coins, he had later learned from his elder brother, from Rudford, that the market price for a single chunk of Living Steel could reach up to five thousand crystal coins in the large auction houses that dared to openly sell a large number of valuables.
As such, he judged that one sack was worth between twenty-five and thirty thousand crystal, platinum or diamond coins. The reason he didn’t simply settle with the thirty thousand as a number in his head was that most often, items couldn’t be sold for their highest possible price unless one had a lot of luck or a lot of time on his hands. The variable of five thousand seemed reasonable enough to him, so he settled with it.
“Good stuff,” Julien nodded in approval. If he had been given an option to choose rewards, then almost regardless of whatever the remaining items were, he would have gone for those two sacks. For practitioners, the advantage of owning a superior weapon or a top-quality piece of armor was almost invaluable, as it definitely would improve their chances of survival.
“It’s really is good stuff,” Jasmine agreed with a nod. “However, they already have great weapons and their fighting style just doesn’t fit with having large chunks of armor. I could see Laien getting armguards, but that’s about it,” she elaborated with a calm smile. She could see why Yin wasn’t interested in this particular reward as the disadvantages of putting on anything heavy would far exceed any benefits such pieces of armor could bring him as a lightning-element practitioner.
On the other hand, she could also understand the resigned look of envy those two lower-ranked guards had in their eyes. The likes of Richt, Jugal, and Victoria surely possessed their own Living Steel Weapons or treasures equal to or better than them, but no matter how rich the Ruishi Federation was, they wouldn’t equip the medium-level martial masters with weapons worth over five thousand platinum coins, which didn’t even include the smithing costs that would certainly double the amount of expenditure in an instant. After all, it wasn’t that easy to get the prideful northern Master Smiths to forge anything for anyone even from their own folk, not to mention the outsiders.
“Mm, what else do you have?” Mikaela asked a brief moment after Jasmine finished speaking. He appeared not to be too interested in those two sacks and he really wasn’t. He did understand their worth very well, but since he had lived while lacking nothing since as far as he could remember, he couldn’t get excited about Living Steel. He had two Living Steel swords and one spear in his own interspatial ring, so seeing more of the same wasn’t too exciting.
“Not much,” Laien said with a chuckle. First, he put the two sacks away, stood up and raised his hand. then took out a relatively small pouch. He used a little bit of spiritual energy to unfold it, revealing a few dozen pieces of astonishingly clear and beautiful emerald inside it. The precious emerald came in all kinds of shapes and it was obvious that it had all been processed by a skilled craftsman before. Although this precious gemstone wasn’t useful to practitioners at all, it was still exceedingly dazzling in its beauty and thus was worth quite a penny. In terms of worth, this little pouch was actually more precious than one of the large bag-like pouches with Living Steel and ore, its value approaching forty thousand platinum coins and perhaps even more than that.
“Wow, that looks great!” Mikaela said excitedly and walked a few steps closer, then fiddled with the emeralds within the pouch with his fingers, taking a look at all of them. “They’re shining in the sun,” he mentioned with a clear smile, though a second later, he seemed to have realized something as he looked Laien in the eye and asked wryly, “You got them because they’re just like Yin’s eyes, right?”
The question startled not only Laien but also everybody else. However, what surprised those who knew Laien well enough was that instead of admitting that Mikaela was right in a straightforward manner, he ended up looking frustrated, his cheeks flushing with a light shade of red. Moreover, Yin also appeared to be equally embarrassed even though all that had been said were a few playful words on Mikaela’s part. Yet, how could have any one of them known that just in the morning, Laien and Yin confessed to each other on the spur of the moment?
Since Mikaela took the two of them off-guard, the thoughts of theirs wandered towards those moments on their own. It would take them some time to get used to those memories and to the slightly different mood that came to exist between them, but for the time being, there was no way they wouldn’t be fidgety and embarrassed about it.
“You’re both blushing so much,” Mikaela laughed in amusement, but he didn’t think too much of Laien and Yin’s overreaction. He was simply happy enough to have gotten an interesting reaction out of them and couldn’t be bothered to read too deep into the reasons behind it.
On the contrary, the likes of Raphael and Jasmine, in short those who knew about the kind of relationship the two boys shared, were not only amused but also intrigued. Yes, they knew that it was possible to get Laien and Yin to act embarrassed, but as far as they were concerned, this little bit of a comment shouldn’t have had gotten such a reaction from them. They couldn’t help but wonder, did something curious happen? Raphael, in particular, was wondering if he shouldn’t try and pester those two later on about what they had been doing when he was in the other room with Mikaela.
Finally, those who didn’t have much of an inkling yet were pretty dismissive about Laien and Yin’s reaction as they took it as a result of being teased. Never would have Elder Samuel imagined that behind the innocent teasing of Mikaela’s, there existed a whole realm of very much real events.
Still, after a moment of feeling too embarrassed to respond, Laien breathed out helplessly and smiled at Mikaela. “You’ve got me, I have nothing to defend myself with,” he said with a laugh, then glanced to the side and exchanged a look with Yin. Be it with or without their spiritual bond, by this point the two of them were able to communicate through a mere glance, without needing to say any needless words. Thus, the two of them blushed a little more again, but on the other hand, they grew calmer.
“Hmm.” The corner of Mikaela’s lips curved upwards as the look on his face grew into a curious one. He might not have been intrigued at first, but now there was no way he wasn’t going to ask! However, he did have enough sense to postpone his questioning for later and instead pursued the original subject. “You’ve got three more, so hurry up and show them! Please?” he requested, though only towards the end he realized that he probably sounded a bit pushy, so he quickly changed his approach to a more polite one.
“Sure,” Laien said with a helpless laugh and stored the pouch with emeralds back into his interspatial ring. He hesitated for a second, then chuckled weakly and took out the unusually big black diamond which caught his eye when he had been browsing Elder Samuel’s ring with prizes. The black diamond was smaller than his clenched first would be, but not by much. Just like the emeralds, it was already processed and looked marvelous. As for its worth, it could be easily compared to the entire pouch of emeralds. If a connoisseur who came to like it was found, then the price could as well go up by another thirty or forty percent, up to sixty thousand platinum coins or more.
“Another gemstone,” Raphael said with a laugh. “Don’t tell me you’ve taken more of them too?” he asked suspiciously and when he saw Laien’s glance wander somewhere sideways, he could only laugh. There were bound to be other precious items Laien could have taken judging by the worth of what he had shown them so far, but it looked like Laien was only interested in things he personally found likable.
“Wait a second, don’t tell me the only reason he wasn’t as dispassionate about it as Yin is because he just found some stuff he likes, not because he’s excited to get his hands on the items themselves?” he wondered silently, but something was telling him that he was spot on. Additionally, the sigh of a red diamond that Laien showed them next convinced him of this theory further. As it seemed, neither Laien nor Yin were in the need of anything in particular, so Laien ended up choosing the items akin to picking souvenirs at a market stall. Had the onlookers also realized that, then considering how much those items were actually worth they would undoubtedly feel quite awkward indeed, just like Raphael was feeling at this very moment.
“So, what’s the last thing?” Mikaela inquired, having gotten his fill of looking at the two large and unique gemstones. “Don’t tell me it’s another one?” he asked with a smirk. He thought that the emeralds, the black diamond, and the red diamond were all great, but it would be a bit boring if four of the six things Laien could have taken for himself proved to be gemstones.
“Nah.” Laien shook his head with a smile. He exchanged the red diamond for the sixth item in an instant, revealing a light blue pine-cone-like crystal, with the only difference from a real pine-cone being that its foundation was wider and sturdier, covering the entirety of the palm of his hand.
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“Isn’t that another gemstone?” Mikaela asked with a little frown. Was Laien making fun of him? Although he didn’t recognize this gemstone and it appeared almost ‘dirty’ within, he was quite sure it was a gemstone after all.
“It’s not,” Raphael replied with a laugh before Laien could. “Mika, that thing is an impure water elemental stone and a ridiculously large one at that,” he explained briefly. This kind of a treasure wasn’t all that great, but he could see why Laien opted to take it for himself.
“Huh?” Mikaela raised his eyebrows, then returned his gaze to the so-called ‘impure elemental stone’. “If it’s impure, there’s something wrong with it, no? Why did you pick this thing and what can it do?’ he asked while looking at Laien with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.
“Hah,” Laien chuckled a little. “You really do like asking many questions at once,” he pointed out wryly but still explained right afterwards. “An impure elemental stone leaks energy far quicker than a normal elemental stone. If it’s filled to the brim with the water-element energy it becomes highly unstable, not to mention that at this size even an expert at the fifth Realm of Heroes would have trouble filling it up all at once. Anyway, it’s not that useful in battle.”
“But, it’s useful for something else,” he said with a grin. “Try pouring in your spiritual energy into it. I’d do it myself, but I didn’t recover enough yet,” he requested with a laugh, thinking that it would be easier to show Mikaela what he meant than to explain it.
“Sure?” Mikaela tilted his head slightly, then raised his hand and put it gently on top of the light blue crystal. He did as Laien told him to and poured his spiritual energy into it. At first, he was surprised to discover how strange it felt to have this thing absorb the spiritual energy he was letting out. It was as if it was all sinking into a sponge. However, his expression only turned into a really surprised one when he realized that the crystal was beginning to shine with stronger and stronger light! He didn’t notice at first because of the strong sun, but now that poured in about thirty percent of his spiritual energy, the pale-blue radiance became quite apparent.
“Yup, that’s it,” Laien said with an amused laugh and gestured Mikaela to stop pouring his spiritual energy into the crystal. “Isn’t it nice? The world’s most pricey table lamp! Once filled up decently well it will let out stable blue light for eight to ten hours. It’s possible to make the light brighter if you force your spiritual energy to accumulate in the middle, but it will also be depleted faster then,” he explained with a smile. This impure elemental stone was likely worth around ten thousand platinum coins and still had its uses in large-scale battles, but to him, it was the perfect source of light.
Mikaela appeared to be startled by Laien’s words, but he laughed soon enough. “It really is a convenient lamp, at least for when you aren’t too tired to use it,” he said with a playful grin. Out of all the items Laien had shown them, he probably liked Emeralds the best because of the reaction he had gotten out of Laien and Yin, but in of itself, this impure elemental stone was the most curious one. He even started considering to ask his father for one too as he could already see how convenient it would be to have a simple and non-flammable lamp like this one at hand.
However, in contrast to Mikaela, most of the onlookers were feeling quite helpless. Be it Richt and his two subordinates, the three youths from the Fortress-City of Lugna, General Julien or Great General Victoria, they all wondered who in their sane mind would spend ten thousand platinum coins for a lamp? Wasn’t there something else that Laien could have taken and been better off overall? If they were given the same opportunity, they wouldn’t have wasted it like it! Yet, as it wasn’t them who were receiving the prize, they could only keep those thoughts to themselves.
“I must say,” Elder Samuel spoke up with a laugh. “Your choices surprised me quite a bit. I thought you’d pick some of the martial manuals or magic tomes I’ve included. I didn’t think you’d take those gemstones and the impure elemental stone,” he said with a half-relieved and half-pained smile. Objectively speaking, the things Laien took weren’t as precious as the other items in the long run, but at the moment, with the exception of the impure elemental stone, they were the most expensive out of the hundred plus items he had given Laien and Yin to choose from.
If he made a quick calculation, then Laien had just taken around two hundred thousand platinum coins worth of items. He didn’t regret agreeing to this deal, but that was only because of how much those two impressed him in the process. Had he been told in the early morning that he would spend two hundred thousand coins on his offer, he would have likely reconsidered making it in the first place.
“True, I was surprised too,” Elder Simon agreed with a nod. “However, if he’s happy with it, isn’t it all good?” he asked with a self-satisfied smile, then gave Elder Samuel a meaningful look. The outcome was definitely good, but seeing this junior of his being robbed in the daylight was satisfying in itself.
“It is, it is,” Elder Samuel said with a helpless laugh. How could he not be able to tell that Elder Simon was bound to poke at him for getting outsmarted by two kids, what resulted in him giving out a huge amount of non-liquid resources to them? Yet, he didn’t mind it at all. As long as he could rope Laien and Yin in tighter, it would be all more than worth it.
“Laien,” Mikaela turned back around after a brief moment of silence, seeing it as a good opportunity to mention what he wanted to do. “Do you think we could fight for a bit after you rest some?” he requested with a very hopeful look on his face. Technically, he could ask Raphael or one of those guards to spar with him or he could even request his father to do so, but he was sure that he would be able to perform the best and show the most of his abilities only against Laien. Their fighting styles were very different, but they supplemented each other very well. There was also his trust in Laien as far as guiding him in case he made a mistake went, so he really wanted to spar with him and no one else now that he had an opportunity to show off before his father.
“Give me an hour and a half.” Laien appeared to have understood Mikaela’s intentions and thoughts as he replied with a smile. Elder Samuel should still have around three hours of free time for their sake, so even though he couldn’t recover more than thirty to forty percent of his strength within an hour and a half, he judged that it would be just the right amount of time. In the end, he could simply aid himself with his bountiful insights in the spar with Mikaela to compensate for the lower reservoir of energy he would have. However, he probably wouldn’t need to do even that as the difference in strength between him and Mikaela remained a gigantic one despite Mikaela’s incredible progress.
After all, no matter how heaven-defying Mikaela’s talent was, he himself wasn’t too shabby either and he had been giving his best to train for a long time. There was simply no way that four days of training would be enough to bridge the gap between them in any significant way, though he couldn’t deny that this gap had indeed shrunk a lot thanks to Mikaela’s talent and commitment.
“Thanks!” Mikaela exclaimed energetically right after Laien agreed to his request. He was so happy and excited that he didn’t think much and jumped a step forward and hugged Laien in thanks, then had his hair tousled by Laien, what altogether caused Elder Samuel’s eyes to open wider. He had heard that the relationship between his youngest son and Laien was very good, but the more he saw today the more amazed he became. It truly was rare for Mikaela to act this way towards anyone!
Other people might not be aware of it given how mischievous and carefree Mikaela appeared, but Elder Samuel knew how picky the kid was about his friends. If he didn’t like someone, he would make it very clear and even if he did like the person, he wouldn’t open before him or her all that easily. In all those years, Elder Samuel knew that it seemed Mikaela had many friends his age with whom he often hung out with, but in Elder Samuel’s opinion, Mikaela saw only Raphael as his true friend. That is, until Mikaela met Laien, with whom he obviously was getting along extremely well.
“If I could,” Elder Simon spoke up with a warm smile as he looked at the heartwarming interaction between Elder Samuel’s son and Laien. “I suggest we seat ourselves in the shadow of the rocks and have a lunch. Unless someone else would like to spar before we do?” he inquired and looked around to check. He suspected that no one would be eager to have a go at it after the spectacle Laien, Yin, and Reian had shown them, but he felt the need to confirm so anyway. And by the looks of it, his suspicion was right as no one spoke up nor looked like he was about to do so.
“Right, I’ve brought something nice for you guys,” Elder Samuel mentioned with a smile. “I’ve heard you like these, but is it true?” he inquired and produced two bottles of wine, which the three of Laien, Yin, and Raphael instantly recognized as their new favorites as of late, the cherry-flavored Le Grande and grape-flavored Mon Amor. In particular, it was the duo of Laien and Yin who were the most excited as they couldn’t wait to get some free taste of the delicious wines.
“No need to answer me.” Elder Samuel chortled. The excited looks on the faces of those three youths were more than enough for a clear answer. “Let’s go and sit down, I bet you can’t wait,” he said and laughed openly, then headed towards the shadow provided by the high masses of rocky mountains. He was in an exceptionally good mood at the moment, so he couldn’t help himself and kept grinning as he walked. The arrival of Arslan and his company a week ago was the best thing that could have happened both to him as a person and to the country as a whole.
This opinion of Elder Samuel’s proceeded to be reinforced during the lunch as he mainly talked with the five youths, including Arslan, and watched how Mikaela interacted with his new group of friends. He was further convinced that having Mikaela and Raphael come here a few days ago was a great choice, but unlike originally, he stopped caring as much about the benefits of befriending talented youths and came to feel genuinely happy for Mikaela who looked to have found another good friend.
The time passed very quickly and soon, Laien and Mikaela headed fifty meters away from the carpets and furs everyone was sitting on. Everybody was looking forward to seeing how Mikaela would do, but only the whole group of youths present and the four guards who had seen Mikaela spar with Laien were aware of the extent of the surprise that Mikaela had cooked up for the rest of them.
Little to be said, the show which ensued lived up to the expectations of those who knew what was going to happen and did absolutely blew out of their minds those who didn’t expect anything relatively similar to occur. Out of those who were shocked, it was undoubtedly Elder Samuel who couldn’t find words to describe the level of shock he was under.
In the very first instant, the fact that Mikaela employed both water and ice magic at once, both of which were exponentially more powerful than he remembered Mikaela’s water-element magic to be. His mouth opened when he sensed that the aura of the Secret Arts, of the Aspects, within Mikaela’s spiritual energy was significantly stronger too! However, it was only when Mikaela started exchanging blows with Laien and displayed his wild and extremely-offensively-oriented Water Flow Sword Art that he lost the last bits of cool upon which he had been hanging upon.
This ridiculous level of progress, those sharp attacks of Mikaela’s, all the insights which he seemed to have mastered out of nowhere… and to top it off, Elder Samuel could tell that Mikaela’s sword arts were changing and getting more polished even now as he sparred with Laien, who had just improved his own spear arts by a level! It even looked like Laien’s skills were getting better as the two of them exchanged blows, too! Those scenes were so unbelievable to Elder Samuel that he wondered if Mikaela hadn’t been hiding his skills just like Raphael had, but as he recalled how Mikaela had repeatedly mentioned to him that he wanted to show him what he learned from Laien, he could only discard those suspicions.
“This kind of an improvement,” Elder Samuel muttered in utter shock as he watched the two youths spar. “Is Mikaela’s talent beyond that of Raphael’s? How come it only revealed itself now? It can’t be… is it because of Laien?” he questioned in his mind, no longer knowing what he was supposed to think about anything. He was so astonished that he couldn’t even bring himself to think about the future benefits and alike. Instead, he continued to watch the spar with wide eyes and with his mouth slightly open, his mind completely blank and devoid of any coherent thoughts.