Ning was surprised to find that the weapons that were sold in the King’s Gem were all fancy-looking. They seemed to hold style, for something whose substance was the main point of owning it.

There were curved blades with ridged edges that made them look fancy. Spears with twisted handles. Axes that looked as if it had been an artifact taken straight out of a world full of Qi or Mana.

There was armor with faces of wolves and lions and other beasts on its front. There were shields with complex designs on the front that looked like sigils or insignia. Everything had a touch of art to it, that was completely unnecessary for the items to be used. ‘So they decided to stand themselves out by using art to draw in customers, huh?’ Ning thought to himself. But there was something else that concerned him.

Unless he was wrong, he could see that the prices of everything had been higher. Higher than what he was used to seeing back in Byron’s store at least. By 20% or more at that.

“Can I help you with anything, sir?” a person came up to Ning. Ning looked to the side and saw a man in his early 20s standing next to him, wearing the white and gold of the King’s Gem. He was a staff member.

“Hi,” Ning said. “I’m just looking around. You don’t have to bother with me.”

“It’s alright, I’m not bothered,” the young man said. “Do you have in mind what you want? We have everything you could want. There are more in our warehouse if you’re looking to buy some cheaper ones. Or we can custom—”

“No, I’m not here to buy,” Ning said quickly. “I’m simply here for to see how much these weapons are sold for here.”

The young man looked half confused and half surprised. “Can I ask what you are going to do with this?” he asked.

“Open my own business,” Ning said with a smile. “This could be considered scouting my competition, I suppose. Is this not allowed here?”

“I… don’t know,” the boy said with a frown. “This sort of thing doesn’t happen here.” He considered if he should be sending Ning out or if he should be calling a higher-up. They would know what to do.

“Oh,” Ning said. “Anyway, my daughter is entering the institute soon, so I needed something to do for the time being. I decided to open a store like this. Although I doubt mine will be this big.”

“My best wishes to you daughter,” the young man said without thinking before pausing. He looked at Ning again, his face full of youth. The young man thought for a moment as to what he had just heard.

‘His daughter?’ he thought. He wasn’t sure how that could be possible. But that was not something he should be concerned about right now. “I assume you are a merchant,” the man asked. He knew not to judge a man by the clothes they wore.

Besides, if he was here to scout, he would do so in clothes that didn’t make him truly stand out.

“Merchant? No, not me,” Ning said. “I’m a Converter. That’s why I wanted to start my store.”

“Oh!” the man said in surprise before quickly lowering his voice. He looked to the side and dragged Ning toward the side. After looking around to see if anyone was paying attention, he spoke in a low voice.

“You would be better off joining one of the four stores as their Converter then,” the young man said. “The work is slightly harder, but the pay is not bad. Opening your own store… I’m afraid these four beasts will devour you.”

Ning looked at the young man with curious eyes. “Four beasts?” he asked. “Four stores I presume. Care to tell me what they are?”

“The King’s Gem, the Sun’s Love, Ember’s Tear, and Knight’s Gear,” the young man said. “They have a monopoly on the market. I would suggest you don’t try to open one since you’ll never get better than them.”

“Oh,” Ning said with a surprise. He wasn’t surprised that there was a monopoly. That sort of thing would be normal anywhere. He was surprised that the young man was helping him.

“What’s your name, if I may ask?”

The young man looked surprised but spoke in the end. “Darrel Brown,” he said.

“Darrel,” Ning said, landing a hand on his shoulders. “If you ever find yourself in need of a better or less constricting job, find me. I’ll give you one.” action

The man frowned. “Are you not listening to me?” the young man asked. “Many have tried what you have, and all have failed.

“All are not me,” Ning said walking forward with the young man in tow. “Does your shop buy weapons? Or appraise them at least?”

“We have an appraiser in the back. Do you have a weapon to sell?” the young man asked.

Ning pulled out a blade he had been making on his way to the city, a blade of gold and white. A Light blade, one that shined brighter than most others. The young man wondered how much light he packed into this blade. He could tell Ning’s Essence rank was still low, but this seemed better than what he should have been able to make.

The amount of light in the blade seemed nonsensical. And the young man would be correct. The amount of Essence Ning had put into the blade had not just come from a single core of an Essence sense rank individual, but one from 8 different such cores. That too while constantly absorbing Essence on top of it.

Even an Essence Manifestation realm Converter would have to force his all to make such a thing. That made the blade he made quite precious.

Ning moved the blade slowly in front of him, soft light trailing behind each stroke. “I want to find out what a blade like this would be worth,” he said. “That’s possible, isn’t it?”