After meeting her across the street, Henry was dragged back to his house by his sister; she had an angry look on her face and refused to answer him the entire way back.
Henry sat down on the couch in his living room and lowered his head as he didn't have the courage to face his furious sister.
-" Why didn't you open the store today? What happened to you?" With anger in her voice, Makayla spoke.
- "I was busy with something, and I didn't realize how quickly time passed, so I forgot about the store." Henry avoided Makayla's eyes because he found it impossible to meet hers when she was furious.
-" Busy with something? Did you go hunt treasures again? How are we going to pay the bills if you keep doing this? Sigh, I'll leave the Magic Academy to help you at the store." Makayla's voice rose initially, but as she spoke about leaving the Magic Academy, it fell.
Henry was heartbroken because he knew Makayla liked the Magic Academy; she too had troubles there, but her experiences there were far better compared to Henry's.
-"You know that you don't have to do this, right? I only forgot about the store because something happened today." Henry quickly attempted to persuade Makayla to reconsider leaving the school. "You should think about your future; everyone says you're talented and will become an excellent battlemage."
- "Did you happen to be at the mountain that collapsed?" Makayla was curious about what made Henry late so she questioned him to confirm her suspicions.
"Yes, I did not injure myself there, but I was also unable to come back in time. I was supposed to return yesterday."
-"I understand, but I still think that I should drop out." Makayla's eyes were filled with sadness; she initially thought that her brother's absence was suspicious; while stubborn and sometimes quite naive, he was never the one to shy away from his responsibilities; she even despised the fact that he had been left to bear the brunt of their financial difficulties since their parents' death.
-"But why? Don't you like there?" Henry was taken aback by his sister's persistence in dropping out.
"We can't afford to pay for the Academy, right? I received a notice from the administration saying that my tuition was late for two semesters and that if the money is not received by the next month, I will be expelled."
Henry was taken aback; he had expected this to happen, but he didn't think that it would happen so fast. Henry took a deep breath and smiled; if he had received this news the day before, he would have panicked, but now things were different. He now had thirteen swords in addition to the system. He even had already planned to sell the low-grade ones to make some money.
-"Of course, we have the money, you don't need to worry about that anymore. I found some treasures when I was in the mountain this time." Henry rushed to console his sister since, as his only relative, he despised seeing her sad.
Makayla, had tears in her eyes as she pondered leaving the Magic Academy. -" Is this true? You're not going to take out another loan to pay for my school, right?"
-"Who in their right mind would give me another loan? Everyone knows I'm already broke." As his sister calmed down, Henry patted her on the head.
-" But we have a lot of debt, even if you found a treasure can it really pay it all? Besides that, it's better if we can save money, my tuition costs way too much."
-" Like I said you don't have to worry so much, I didn't just find a treasure, I found thirteen of them. After such a long time, my luck has finally turned around." Henry gave his sister a thumbs-up; he wanted to show her the swords he had obtained, but he couldn't explain to her where he kept the weapons. "I've already sold the treasures; all I need now is to go get the money. The store's owner asked me to go there at noon." Henry hastily planned a reason to leave his house; as he still needed to buy the treasures to unlock his system.
-"Aren't you afraid of this shop owner scamming you? Why did you leave the treasures there?" Makayla believed her brother's statement since Henry was not the kind to lie, especially to her.
-" Don't worry, don't worry, this shop's got a great reputation, and they are quite big, they won't scam someone."
After eventually soothing Makayla and showering, Henry left for the city center, where most of the shops that dealt with treasures were located. He was anxious since he expected his swords to sell for a high price since magical objects, magical weapons especially, were usually in high demand.
Henry quickly arrived at the magical artifacts district and came to a halt in front of a large shop. The guards in front of the shop stared at him menacingly, making Henry even more nervous.
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He gulped and walked into the store. He hurried up to the counter and spoke with the attendant. - "Hello, I want to sell some items." As soon as Henry spoke, the attendant glanced at him strangely and requested him to wait.
After a while, a slim and elegant man emerged from the chamber behind the counter and locked eyes with Henry, Henry could feel the displeasure in the man's eyes.
- "Another one? Sigh. Guards scare away this con artist."
Henry felt someone grab his collar and drag him out of the store. As Henry was thrown into the middle of the street by the guard he could hear the slim man scolding him. -" Tsk, go away, who gave you the confidence in trying to scam the shop of Lord Marcius?"
Henry was perplexed; he didn't believe he had done anything wrong, so he got up and brushed the dust off his jeans before going to the business right next to the one where he was kicked out.
The slender man was surprised when he saw Henry get up and walk to the next store. "How brazen! are you still attempting to scam someone?"
Henry ignored the man and continued on his way to the shop next door. The guards from the second shop stiffened as he approached, seeing how the man coming their way had already been thrown out of one shop.
They were about to stop him when a fat man walked out of the shop. He'd heard the commotion and gone outside to see what was going on.
As the man walked out of the business, the security guards straightened up. All it took for the guard to quickly start explaining what had transpired was for the overweight man to give him one look. -"This young man was thrown out of Sir Marcius's shop because their manager said that he was a con artist."
The overweight man gave a short nod to the guard and turned to Henry. He scowled as he stared at the young man's clothes. – "Do you want to sell an artifact? Is it possible for you to reveal it to me?"
Henry had the impression that the man was judging him based on his appearance, but he didn't mind because the man had at least requested him to show what he was selling. -"Sure, it's fine if I take my sword in the middle of the street?"
-"Don't worry, it'll only be a quick presentation."
A crowd was forming around the two shops; it wasn't uncommon for someone to try their luck at swindling a large artifact store, but a person being thrown out of one and immediately heading to another next door was unusual.
With his eyes shining, the slim man was watching Henry and Jonathan, the fat man, chat; he wanted to see Jonathan kick out the scammer as well, yet to his surprise, an old, rusted blade materialized in the hands of the young man. As soon as he spotted the sword, the slim man blinked rapidly. He sensed a glimmer of magical power within it.
With a smug smile, Henry noticed that some of the bystanders were surprised, so he decided to activate the sword and show off a little more. As he triggered it, Henry's sword began to glow with a blue light.
The skinny man was already remorseful for kicking out the young man, but his surprise intensified when he spotted the sword's rising aura. -" Don't tell me that this is actually a sword of the arcane element?" The slender man began walking towards Henry, determined to buy the sword at any cost.
When Jonathan saw Rick, the manager of the shop where the man had just been kicked out, coming their way, he jolted out of his stupor and gave Rick a mocking grin as he looked at him. - "Such a magnificent sword you've discovered; why don't we go inside and talk about the details?" Jonathan snatched Henry's hands and dragged him into his store.
Henry was quickly led to a large room inside the shop. The fat man sat in front of him with gleaming eyes as he glanced at the sword. Henry didn't feel very comfortable so he tried to start the negotiation. -"Are you interested in my treasure?"
-"Of course, I'm interested." Jonathan was startled out of his daze by Henry's question. " May I examine the sword?"
Henry handed the sword to Jonathan, who took it in his hands right away. He gripped the sword tightly and caressed the blade with his fingers. As soon as Jonathan touched the blade, he gasped. -" Human Realm Fifth Level treasure, the arcane element more than compensates for the low grade"
Henry was astonished, he already expected the sword to sell for a high price because all magical swords were precious, however, based on how the man was acting, his sword was even better than he had originally assumed.
Henry intended to ask the system if treasures of the arcane element were rare, but he didn't want to talk to the system as Jonathan was in the room with him; however, Henry was surprised when the system responded to his thoughts.
--'Arcane Natural Treasures are the rarest in this plane.' Henry mentally nodded as he realized he could communicate with the system using his thoughts.
-' What do you mean natural treasures?' Henry thought that communicating with the system in this manner was far easier.
-'Natural Treasures are items that are naturally created by the world, and because crafted treasures are made with a combination of natural treasures, some of the crafted treasures with rare elements are even more unique.'
Henry agreed mentally; what the system said made sense, but he still had some doubts. -'Do natural treasures also have rankings?'
-' Natural Treasures do not have a realm like crafted treasures, but they are still classified in the same manner as crafted treasures by the system, the higher the energy level of a natural treasure, the higher its realm.'
When Henry finished speaking with the system, Jonathan had just put down his sword. - "I will give you 300 gold coins in payment for this weapon." Jonathan fixed his gaze on Henry with solemnity.
-" 300 GOLD COINS?!" Henry was startled because he had not expected to be able to sell this sword for such a high price.
-"If you think the price is too cheap, 350 will be the price." Jonathan assumed that Henry didn't like the price, so he instantly raised it. He was desperate to get his hands on the sword, whatever the cost was.
The Whitelock family owned this business, and because this family specialized in arcane arts, obtaining a suitable weapon for the family members was a difficult endeavor. Jonathan had finally been presented with an opportunity, and he didn't want it to pass him by.
As soon as Henry heard the price, he gulped. - "350 is acceptable; are you interested in more of them?"
-" I'm glad that you accepted my offer, know that you won't be disappointed by the price in the future as I'm even paying a premium on the ------" Jonathan was so pleased with the deal's success that he missed Henry's query at first. -" More of them? Don't tell me that you still have swords to sell?" Jonathan was alarmed and leaped from his chair.
-"Oh yes, I still have three left, They're all low grade, just like this one." Henry swiftly retrieved three low-grade swords from his inventory and put them on the table.
- "Of course, I want them all!" Jonathan felt as if his eyes were deceiving him; discovering one of those swords was already a rare case; who would have guessed he'd have the chance to buy four? -" Felix, hurry up and fetch me 1500 gold coins!" Jonathan promptly ordered his assistant to bring him money.
Henry felt quite happy with his dealings with Jonathan, it looked like he would even receive a bonus of 100 gold. As he wanted to make connections he decided to buy the things he needed for the system awakening here. -" I would like to buy some treasures too. If possible I would like ten of your second level Human realm treasures, the cheapest ones of course."
- "The cheapest?" Henry's request astounded Jonathan, but as soon as his assistant arrived with the money, he directed him to bring ten Ever-Glowing stones.
Henry insisted on paying, but Jonathan refused. He claimed that the stones were a bonus for doing business with them and that he had even prepared a carriage for Henry because leaving by the front door could be risky once he displayed his treasure in the streets.
After Henry left the room, a shadow emerged from Jonathan's feet and spoke with a hoarse voice. -" Should we put him under surveillance?"
– "It isn't necessary. If he isn't an expert, someone close to him is." Jonathan was serious as he examined the swords. "I'm still not sure how he got the swords out, because he didn't have a spatial ring on his finger."
The shadow sighed as he didn't notice this minor detail, and he shook his head, thinking that he still had a long way to go as a spy.
-"It would be preferable if we could establish a friendship with him for the time being." Jonathan hurled himself onto the couch while clutching the sword. After handing those swords to Abel, the Whitelock family's leader, his yearly bonus would be rather large this year.