"Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!" Chris snapped his head to come face to face with his boss. Oh crap, he thought. I started daydreaming again! Mr. Taber shook his head in annoyance. "What am I gonna do with you, Charles?"

The 16-year-old winced at his first name. His boss only ever called him that when he was incredibly nervous. Something was off. "What's wrong, uncle?"

Mr. Taber sighed heavily. "We have a noble coming in today to pick up a shipment of enchanted silver rings. However, the store is a mess and if they're not satisfied with the product, they could ruin us with a single word. They're that influential!" Chris took a step back. This had been the family business for almost 30 years -- it couldn't end just like that!

"It'll be alright, uncle. We'll make a good impression!" Mr. Taber looked into his nephew's eyes which had been filled with determination. "That's right, bud. We can do this... but no slacking off!"

For the next few hours they mopped the floors, dusted the entire store twice, and pushed out all of their most expensive items. Chris had just finished placing the last piece of enchanted wares that they had when he heard the sound of claws on cobblestone approaching. He stiffened. Only nobles with N-class and higher wizards in their immediate family were permitted to own trazos. Exactly how powerful are these customers?

The bell rang when the door swung open. A girl about his age pranced into the store and immediately began looking around in the jewelry section. A woman, presumably her mother, walked in elegantly and began to go to the back of the shop to where his uncle was. "Sorry about Avedara. She's been stressed lately, so I invited her to come with me." Mr. Taber laughed heartily. "Oh, it's no problem at all Mrs. Orghae. Let her have a look around! We might have something that she likes."

Immediately, Chris froze. Orghae? he thought. As in the Q-class wizard Brunus Orghae? He shuddered at the thought. If such a powerful noble liked the shop, the family business would boom! They could afford to hire a more experienced enchanter to make more expensive and powerful merchandise, they could afford to deliver to their customers, hell, they could even take family vacations! However, if even one thing was wrong, his uncle was right -- they'd be out of business immediately. Chris walked the aisle to see if everything was in place. His uncle was right. It had to be perfect.

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Apart from the chatter between the Lady Orghae and his uncle, the store seemed eerily quiet. Hadn't the Lady brought in her daughter as well? After a little snooping around the store, he caught her staring enthralled at a pair of jewel-laden earrings. Tend to the customer... don't screw this up! With his best smile, Chris walked up to Avedara. "Do you find those interesting, ma'am?"

The girl visibly jumped at the sound of his voice, turning around so fast she whipped his face with her hair. Trying his best not to sputter her hair out of his mouth, he looked at her with the most relaxed smile he could muster. Avedara's face turned beet red. Chris suddenly began to panic. Oh crap. Did I offend her? Quickly trying to save himself, he explained the product to her. "Are you interesting in purchasing them, ma'am?"

With her face quickly returning to its original color, the noble regained her composure. Assuming a powerful pose, she turned her chin up and said, "I do, in fact, like them. However, 1 platinum coin is still very expensive for me at the moment. Thank you very much." As she began to walk away, Chris scowled behind her back. He hated snobbish nobles, especially those who believed that they were better than those who didn't have the stroke of luck being born in their caste. He could faintly hear his uncle talking to someone, specifically hearing the words "Chris" and "Touchless".

Chris cringed. Although he wouldn't let anyone know it, he was incredibly insecure about his lack of magical abilities. At the age of 10, children of Gilaria have their mana level evaluated to see if they have the Touch. As soon as Chris had placed his hand on a crystal ball that was used for this procedure, it flashed black repeatedly. He was quickly rushed to the nearest hospital with no idea what was going on, only to find out after dozens of tests that he had a mana capacity of 12. The average mana level of a peasant was around 400. Mana levels that low could be fatal, as mana was what gave every living thing life. A mana level of 0 means death.

Twisting his bracelet, he silently wished his uncle wouldn't share his status as a Touchless so openly. The object of his nervousness was an orichalcum circlet which glowed green, indicating it was a mana-enhancer. 500 mana -- that's what it increased his maximum capacitance by. With the ornament, he was able to cast maybe a single spell safely, but it was still incredibly risky.

He saw that Lady Orghae was outside by the carriage and Avedara was about to exit the store. As she headed for the exit, he called out to her. "Have a good day, ma'am!" Halfway out the door, she stopped, turning to face him. Her eyes narrowed and it was clear she had a tic in her jaw. Without a word, she strode out the door and into her carriage.

Great. Another pro-Touch.

Will it ever end?