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nIt was already seven in the morning and Wallace had already prepared himself to visit the site where the examinations will be held.

nHe had only slept for three hours but his body was not affected whatsoever due to the enhancements he had taken before.

nSince Wallace arrived in the city when it was dark, he was only able to appreciate the beauty and grandness of the capital city now.

nAlso, he was trying to limit his Divine Sense as much as he could to avoid any unexpected circumstances.

nThe Dolu Capital was four times larger than the Tanza City. He can also feel the powerful barrier that was not only covering the great wall surrounding the city but also covers the sky like a dome.

nHe had rented a room at the nearest hotel in the southern part of the city. Just by traveling from there, he had already felt the abundant presence of Battle Mages and a few Adept Mages.

nThese individuals weren't easily found in Tanza City and as for their Red Star Town, there were only three Battle Mages and above aside from his parents that can be seen around. They were also quite old already at that but here, he can find young Battle Mages in the late twenties in the streets.

nHe remembered Clarence, the announcer and young Battle Mage that was giving post-fight analysis during the TMAC, was originally from this Capital City. Clarence should only be in the early twenties so he was still quite remarkable.

nAs he planned to directly proceed on the examination site, he saw a very popular Mana Artifacts Shop.

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"New Era's Magic Shop

"

nIt was a shop that has branches in all of the cities within the country. It was the leading store for pieces of equipment, weapons, and Mana Artifacts. There were even some branches outside the country.

nUnlike the Secret Shop where Wallace was frequently purchasing materials, this shop has the main focus of selling already made products. They were either made by their own Magic Engineers or being entrusted by other Magicians.

nHe believed that there were also some cases where they conduct an auction for some rare artifacts or materials that were only available on the members of the store.

nThe Secret Shop, on the other hand mostly dealt with online transactions related to raw materials, ingredients, and equipment parts. Of course, they were still selling Mana Artifacts, but those were common artifacts compared to what this New Era's Magic Shop could offer.

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"Hello, sir. Please, come in. We have the latest products of Lacus Minerva.

"

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"Lacus Minerva?

"

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"Yes! We only have limited stocks of her Blazing Thunder Ring so please grab this opportunity. We will give you a matching wristwatch if you purchase today, sir.

" Said by the beautiful sales lady just outside the large store. She was also handing out pamphlets to all passers-by just a moment ago.

nIt seems that there was a reason why they can maintain being the top Mana Artifacts Store in the country, even though they dominate the field of selling high-quality Mana Artifacts, they weren't stopping in their thorough marketing strategy. Wallace actually believed that even without any advertisements from them, this store would always be visited by most Magicians due to their amazing reputation.

nAnyway, he only has a few leftovers in his bank account so he probably won't be able to afford a Mana Artifact suitable to his needs. At most, he can probably purchase some Grade C Mana Artifacts on his money. Unfortunately, he no longer required low-level artifacts. Probably, he will only need such equipment if he wanted to be in disguise with someone and act as a weak magician, but he wasn't doing that.

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"Err... I'll look around. But I might not purchase anything.

" Wallace honestly said.

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"Oh... Of course, that would be fine. You can just go ahead and enter the shop, sir.

" The beautiful lady said amusingly. Anyway, she made a way for Wallace to pass. She didn't come in together since he wasn't purchasing a product anyway and was only going to window-shop. She continued inviting other passers-by as she had forgotten Wallace.

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"Hello, sir. May I ask what you're looking for?

" Another sales lady approached Wallace after seeing him enter alone. They didn't miss the chance to offer their help.

nWallace was only admiring the grand shop that looks so magical from how the place was decorated before he was interrupted by the store representative offering help.

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"Ahh.. I'm only here to look around.

" Wallace said smilingly. This made the saleslady back out. They wouldn't earn any incentive to a customer that was not buying anything anyway. But due to hospitality, she still reminded Wallace.

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"Of course, sir. Take your time. If you have any questions, feel free to look for me in this section.

" The lady said before approaching another customer who had just entered.

nWallace then had a peaceful time admiring the materials on the first floor of the shop.

nProbably due to their attempt to attract customers. There was a considerable number of amazing Mana Artifacts displayed near the counter of the ground floor.

nWallace checked one of the five notable Mana Artifacts on this floor.

nThe first was a Stealth Cloak. It was made by the same company that created the Archon Series, the Vector Organization. Their products mostly had some inclinations towards hunting or assassination. This latest Stealth Cloak that was combined with high-tech equipment and magic was one of their best sellers but has limited supply due to unique materials that were required.

nThe second was a Sea Saint's Tear. It was a deep blue pearl with the size of an infant's fist. The pearl was a very rare material that can only be found at the deepest part of the Alba Seas. The uniqueness of this artifact was that it possesses the capability to triple the strength and power of any water elemental spells. And as per its description, it has powerful healing effects as well.

nThe third artifact that caught his attention was the Energy Bow. It was a majestic bow that draws Mana from the user and uses it as an arrow. It has a very interesting method to draw mana from the magician. The weapon was using a special stone to store the user's mana to amplify and convert it to a pure and sharp arrow form once the string was pulled. Its uniqueness can be seen in its description that the direction of the arrow that was released by the user can be controlled as long as it is within 300 meters of the bow. It was like a homing missile itself.

nThe fourth artifact was a dozen pieces of throwing knives called Ethereal Feathers. Throwing knives are commonly made of a single piece of steel or other material, without 'handles', unlike other types of knives. The Ethereal Feather knife has two sections, the

"blade

" which is the sharpened half of the knife, and the

"grip

" which is not sharpened.

nThe fifth artifact was the one made by Lacus Minerva, Blazing Thunder Ring.

nAs he was about to inspect it further, he then noticed a young teen with blonde hair coming down from the 2nd floor. From the way he was treated by the employees and how the young boy greeted them, he doesn't seem to be a customer of the place. He was quite young probably about 13 or 14 years old. Wallace had also realized that outside was a black car waiting for the boy as they soon left to go somewhere.

n'If I recall, there's a membership system in this store and only Bronze Members can go to the 2nd level of the building. As for the Silver Members, they can go up to the 3rd level and for the Gold Members, they can visit all the floor available.'

nThe New Era's Magic Shop all had the same rules across the whole country. They always have at least 5 or higher floors depending on the city they were located at.

nSince this is the Capital City, there were 11 branches of this store with 9 levels and as for its 12th Store or also the main branch of this grand Magic Shop, it had 25 floors.

nCurrently, Wallace was only in one of the branches of the southern part of the city.

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"Well... It's almost time. I should move as well.

" Wallace mumbled as he went outside the building and hailed a taxi to immediately arrive at the examination site.

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"Ahh... I should probably buy my own car and get a driver.

" Wallace muttered silently. He was still underage so he still couldn't get a license for himself.

nAt the very least, it wouldn't be a problem if he employed a personal driver soon. He might be needing it as well whenever he fully started his business.

nAlthough his Void Phase was convenient for traveling, he must try to minimize its usage and only use it if really necessary just in case he needed to surprise someone, either his enemies or allies.

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