8 Special Ability Enhancements (1/2)
Chapter 8: Special Ability Enhancements
The old man brushed his fingers through his sparse hair. ”Look around by yourself. Items on the left side of my shop are personally acquired from the countryside. On the right are heirlooms that have been passed down for generations.” He bowed his head and started to examine the tiny object in his hand again.
The old man wore white gloves and held a soft gold pocket-watch. The back of the watch was open and he seemed to be studying the gears and mechanics of the watch itself.
Garen first glanced around the entire shop and then began to browse in detail from left to right.
A long rectangular oil painting hung on the far left wall and depicted a white castle under siege. There were a handful of armored warriors who were pushing towards the castle bearing a red banner. The catapults were constantly flinging giant rocks as oil spilled down the castle walls. Bloody corpses were everywhere.
Below the oil painting was a circular dark gold metal sheet. It was half a meter wide and a smiling human face bulged out in the center.
”What is this?” Garen touched the metal sheet. The material was hard and the surface had a rough texture similar to copper paper.
The old man standing under the bookshelf looked up. ”This is the Totem of the Sun God owned by the Crimson tribe from 300 years ago. It’s a very valuable object. Every time the tribe plundered new gold, the wizard of the tribe would paint the metal disc with molten gold. Other than the human face in the middle, everywhere else has been painted over countless times with gold and brass. If you are interested, I can sell it to you for cheap at $35,000.” The old man took off his glasses and rubbed the lenses with a soft cloth as he continued, ”Not a lot of people know the value of these objects anymore. A few decades ago, when antiques were the trend, I could have sold that for hundreds of thousands.”
”Totem of the Sun God…” The corner of Garen’s lips twitched. He knew without looking that this was fake. Not only did the lack of response from his special ability signal this, there was also the fact that if the totem really was worth that much and was really made out of gold, then there was no way it would be displayed here waiting to be sold. If it was actually a huge piece of gold plated metal, any jeweler would be willing to buy it for $100,000. Although the shop owner even gave him a ”deal” for $35,000… the total amount of cash he had on hand was only $20.
On his left, he saw a tall redwood table. On top was a burgundy emblem, a transparent wine bottle, and a silver cup.
Garen gently touched each of the three items. When he touched the burgundy emblem, the Potential Meter at the bottom of his vision jumped.
”Hmm?! There’s something up with this!” He quietly turned his body until his back was facing the old man. The skin on his face tensed.
He picked up the burgundy emblem and inspected it carefully.
The emblem was in the shape of a cross. The cross was burgundy with gold laurels wrapped around its edges. Garen found that in the dead center of the cross, there was a tiny patch of black paint the size and shape of a fingernail with the letter P carved on it.
He could feel the powerful concentrated cold qi inside the emblem. Compared to the black pearl and Felicity’s Halo of Tragedy, this one felt many times more powerful. For some reason, however, he could not entirely absorb this energy from the emblem. There was only a thin thread of energy between the emblem and him, with Potential being slowly squeezed out like toothpaste.
”Before, I could easily and instantly absorb all the potential from the objects I found. How come this time it’s going so slowly? At this rate, if I want to fully consume this energy, I would have to stay here for days.” A trace of excitement and disbelief flashed across Garen’s eyes.
”That’s $6,000,” the bespectacled old man said in a deadpan voice while standing to Garen’s right side.
”$6,000…” Garen frowned.
The old man was wearing all black. Looking at the emblem, he said in a low tone, ”I acquired this Bronze Cross Emblem from a veteran family. You sure have good eyes for picking this one out. Out of all the stuff I acquired, this emblem is the most exquisite. It came from the Republic of Mengdiya over 150 years ago. At that time, the Republic of Mengdiya was so powerful that all other countries lived in fear of it. They were able to establish hundreds of colonies throughout the world and half of the land now occupied by the Yalu Confederation was also colonized by them. This emblem was one of the products left from that period of time. I believe it was a reward given to a level two military commander.”
”I’ll look around a bit more… I’m not in a rush.” Garen wanted to suppress his desire to purchase it. He knew that if he could absorb all the potential out of the emblem, then he would be able to add more than two points to his Abilities. Unfortunately, he had no money…
The weekly allowance he received was only $20. The difference between that amount and $6,000 was astronomical.
The old man noticed how reluctant Garen was about giving it up. ”I had a soldier coming in last time who wanted to buy it off me, but he didn’t bring enough cash. If you really want it kid, take this opportunity and get it before he comes back.”
Garen’s face twitched. ”I‘ll look at some other stuff first.”
”Alright, up to you.” The old man smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum.
Garen peeked at the old man. ”This guy… he obviously noticed that I wanted to buy it and so made up a story to push me over the edge. However, I should be careful. Perhaps there really is someone who has their eye on this. But no rush, if I’m lucky, I can find something else in this shop and absorb potential from it as well.”
He became more determined and began to browse through everything from the tables to walls. Very soon, he had touched every single item in the shop.
Sadly, the remaining items were regular objects and only the emblem had potential.
After a while, he again returned to the round table and picked up the cross-shaped burgundy emblem. He examined it for more than half an hour.
”I don’t have enough money on me at the moment. Do you think you can reserve it for me for now? I will return to buy it later.” Garen raised his head and looked in the old man’s direction.
The old man had long since returned to the bookshelf. He was wiping the dust off his antiques with a soft white cloth. When he heard Garen’s request, he turned his head with a grin. ”Of course I can. However, I cannot reserve it for long. The story I told you may seem like a sales tactic, but someone really does want to buy it. There are only three weeks left until he comes back.”
”Three weeks…” Garen frowned, ”Alright. I will try my best to get the money. What’s the lowest price you can give me?”
”Since you are a student, I will discount the price and only ask for $5000. That is the lowest and final offer,” the old man said as he adjusted his glasses.
”I will not bargain with you now, but we will talk about it later.” Garen didn’t say anything more. He gave the emblem a final glance and placed it back on the table. Then, he walked before the old man. ”My name is Garen. May I ask what your name is?”
”Call me Old Man Gregor. What do you want to ask? I warn you though, I don’t answer sensitive questions for free.”
”I wanted to ask where you purchased this emblem from?” Garen asked with a frown.
The old man recollected his memories, ”I can tell you the answer, but…” He extended his arm with a smile.
Garen watched speechlessly as the old man opened his hand. He took out a $10 bill and put it in the skinny chicken-like hand.
”Cheap…” the old man muttered as he took the money. ”I got it from an old abandoned castle in a town more than 60 miles away from Huaishan City. The original owner of the castle was a viscount, but his successive generations were feeble. Nowadays, the highest title in the family is knight. Nobody has been able to maintain the castle for years. As a result, everything in the castle has been bought and sold – it’s practically empty now. If the castle was in a better condition and a better location, it would’ve been bought off a long time ago. The castle’s name… I think it was called Silversilk Castle.”