During the next morning, Veera Oxar and a man that seemed to be in his early thirties disembarked from a bus at a bus station within London and proceeded to walk towards their destination. Veera's long, black hair was caught up in a pony-tail, she wore a pair of well-fitting blue jeans pants and a long-sleeved, blue cotton blouse along with a pair of flat female footwear.
The man that walked beside her had pale skin, seemed to be of Chinese descent, had shiny, black hair and dark eyes; he wore a short-sleeved, buttoned up Hawaiian shirt, a pair of plain, white shorts that reached down to his knees, and a pair of white and orange colored running shoes. The man soon complained:
"Veera, you said that your father's friend was a rank 3 Magician, right? Rank 3 Magicians ought to be well-off. Why couldn't he come to pick us up using a car?"
Veera continued to expressionlessly walk along while she answered her companion's question:
"Where did you hear that all rank 3 Magicians were well-off, John? Pops told me that Nick had only been a licensed Magician for a few months, which means that he is probably not even established yet in his profession. Besides, he already agreed to give me some advice so asking him to pick us up would probably have been a reckless move on pops' part."
John Rebel still softly grumbled:
"You say that but then why didn't your father buy you a car or had one of your relatives drive us?"
Veera started to become annoyed with John and so she snapped at him:
"Why do you complain so much? Isn't it great already that my father got you admitted into Richter Order Academy along with me even though you already have a license but no money?"
John recoiled in response to Veera's frankness and replied:
"Your father just wants me to act as your attendant while you study in London. Honestly, I worked for a private company my whole career and they were the ones who got me licensed so I am at least grateful for being given the opportunity to attend a magical academy. I can probably use the opportunity to join the Ministry of Magic after I graduate, same as you, right?"
Veera scoffed, saying:
"No, not the same as me. You want to join the Ministry of Magic to enjoy government perks while I want to join the military like pops. It's completely different."
John rolled his eyes at Veera and muttered:
"If you say so, miss patriot. Also, who would not want to enjoy government perks? Did you not notice all the benefits that your father receives even though he is only rank 2 and almost qualified to retire from the military? Man, if I could just get a piece of that action."
Veera glared at John in response to him mentioning her father's benefits, which caused John to shut his mouth. Veera knew that in addition to the salary that her father received, he also obtained other benefits on the side but she chose to believe that they were all from above-board work and arrangements. She knew that was a naive thought process but she did not care.
(The Military's salary is relatively low, so how else should pops make ends meet if he doesn't make private arrangements?)
John awkwardly changed the subject a few minutes later by saying:
"Anyway...you are still planning to specialize in phantom path, right? Let me warn you, phantom path is an obscure path that is not widely practised, so you might have trouble finding resources to support your cultivation; also, finding a rank 3 phantom path inheritance or getting a hold of rank 3 methods of that path sounds like a dream. You might want to seriously consider changing your specialization into a more common path. That is, unless your father has the resources to burn in order to get you a rank 3 phantom path inheritance."
Veera creased her brows, thinking:
(I already know all that but I am not willing to give up on phantom path. I spent nearly two decades practising it, not to mention that the rank 2 phantom path inheritance that I possess was left behind by my mother...)
Veera replied to John's suggestion using a cold tone:
"I am going to study phantom path no matter what."
John sighed in response to Veera's stubbornness but in the end, her cultivation was not his problem and he also had his own worries about his star path cultivation:
(I have very little money saved up and if not for Keller, I would not even be able to afford attending Richter Order Academy. During my time at the academy, I need to obtain a rank 3 star path inheritance and ascend to rank 3 myself. That is when my life will really change for the better.)
Veera and John proceeded to walk towards their destination in silence but the environment itself was noisy because their current location was within a shopping district within London that was busy even at this time of day, which was close to 10 am.
Soon, Veera and John approached a commercial property that had a large building situated on it and so she said:
"So this is The Realm Exploration Company. My research last night indicates that it is newly formed. I wonder why Nick would choose to work here since as a rank 3 Magician, he could easily get himself recruited by a large, established company or even the military and receive a decent rank."
John muttered in response to Veera's words:
"He must be touched in the head."
Veera glared at John and said:
"You better behave yourself while we interact with Nick or he might kill you."
John's expression became serious in response to Veera's words and he stopped talking. John did not need to be reminded; even his old company had at least one rank 3 Magician and the owners basically walked on egg shells around her even though they paid her salary. John knew the situation clearly:
(Rank 3 Magicians are not to be trifled with, at least not by a rank 2 Magician.)
Veera and John walked up to the property's metal gates and Veera spoke to the security guard stationed at the guard post at the right side of the gates:
"Hello, my name is Veera Oxar. I am here to meet with Nick Capitol. He should be expecting me."
After hearing Veera's words, the security guard opened the gates using its automatic mechanism, just wide enough for the two to walk inside. Using magic to gain access was always an option but most companies had magic security systems that would identify intruding Magicians, so bypassing the gates using their magic powers was ill-advised. Once the two entered through the gates, the security guard wordlessly pointed towards the entrance of the building, where two more security guards were stationed.
Veera and John took the hint and walked twenty meters up to the glass entrance of the large building. After Veera identified herself, the male security guard on her left took out a hand radio and spoke into it. Neither Veera nor John could hear what was being said by the security guard or what was being said through the hand radio. After a minute of speaking, the security guard on the left guided Veera and John through the automatic glass door and then led them into the elevator on the ground floor.
Following that, the security guard took them to the fourth floor, where he led them into one of the floor's conference rooms. When Veera and John entered, Veera saw Nick sitting at a long oval table, where two men wearing dress suits sat opposite to him, while Nick himself worked on going through two piles of documents positioned in front of him. Veera noticed that the man wearing an all-black suit and sitting to Nick's right was of Chinese descent and the other man that was wearing an all-grey suit and sitting to Nick's left was of Indian descent.
Nick looked up from the documents the moment that the three people walked into the conference room and after signaling the security guard with a nod, the security guard left the conference room. The two men that were sitting in front of Nick turned around in order to take a look at the new comers and following that, Nick introduced them:
"Sai, Kurt, this is Veera and John, soon to be students of Richter Order Academy. Veera and John, this is Sai and Kurt, The Realm Exploration Company's corporate lawyer and accountant, respectively. I'm in the middle of signing a few documents, so I will need you two to take a seat at the end of the table and wait."
Sai and Kurt nodded at the two and turned to face Nick again, following which, Nick went back to going through and signing the documents while Veera and John sat at the end of the oval table farthest from the conference room's entrance. Veera and John awkwardly remained silent while Nick conducted his business. John looked at Veera and his expression implied:
"What is going on?"
Veera looked back at him using an expression that implied:
"How would I know, John? Just wait for Nick to finish."
Half an hour later, Nick finished signing the documents and dismissed Sai and Kurt. Following that, Nick finally swerved his office chair towards Veera and John before speaking while maintaining his usual indifferent expression:
"It has been a long time, Veera. You look very grown. Welcome, Mr. John."
Nick recognized John from a drunken episode that the latter had a few years ago but Nick did not intend to mention it. Nick continued:
"Let's get things started with a little background about where you are. This building is the current base of operations for The Realm Exploration Company, a relatively new company that generates revenue by selling resources that it obtains from other realms. I, Nick Capitol, am its rank 3 founder and CEO."
Both Veera's and John's eyelids jumped when they heard the latter part of Nick's explanation. Veera had no idea that Nick's background was so deep that he could own such a business. John just didn't expect that they came here to meet a rank 3 tycoon. As a former employee of an inter-realm mining company, he knew how hard resource collection within other realms was. Not only was the capital requirement great in order to obtain, store, process and sell those resources but the company would also need adequate magical strength in order to explore realms in search of resources in the first place. Veera soon spoke:
"I did not expect this, Nick. Pops never mentioned that you came from a wealthy background."
John kept silent at this time while Nick shook his head and replied:
"I don't come from a wealthy background. I started this company on the backend of struggling and I am still struggling. Don't be fooled by the large, clean building."
Veera's and John's expressions eased after hearing that but they were still skeptical. Nick moved on:
"Veera, your father tells me that you and John will be attending Richter Order Academy soon. He wanted me to give you some advice. Although I don't know if I am necessarily qualified to do so, I will try my best."
Veera and John nodded silently in response to Nick's words and so Nick continued:
"If you want to become a rank 3 Magician, no matter what path that you specialize in, you are going to have to work at developing magical skills and methods unique to yourself. The more suited to you that your methods are, the better you will do and the faster you will grow but the only way to achieve that is to have a large stockpile of useful information about your chosen path within your head. That comes through religious studying and practice. That's all the advice that I really have."
John blurted out without thinking after Nick spoke:
"That's it?"
Veera glared at John, following which, Nick shrugged his shoulders and replied:
"There are no shortcuts to results and I have no schemes that I can give you. While luck can at times play a big role during your cultivation, where you end up is mostly related to your direct efforts, your grind and that involves a lot of pain and sacrifice. Do you understand?"
Veera opened her mouth, then closed it before opening it again to answer:
"Yeah...I think I do."
Upon receiving Veera's confirmation, Nick was about to speak further but he received a call from Hank Turner, his sales manager, on his smartphone. Nick indicated that he needed some time to answer the call by raising his left index finger before accepting the call:
"What do we have, Hank?"
Hank explained:
"I just had a sample of the magic materials that you brought back from Humble Desert appraised at the Richter Order Academy Great Appraisals branch. The materials are apparently of the strength path and are a rank 3 material called, load stone. It is a magic material formed due to 'strength' being concentrated within an area and can be used to enhance magic equipment and weapons. It is a well sought after material but has almost no supply. Also, strength path materials are generally not very commonly sold on the market, anyway. We can probably sell a tonne of the load stones for £5,000,000 at least but I'll work on trying to increase the price when I sell it."
Nick replied to Hank:
"Good work."
Nick then hung up the phone, acting like he did not find out that he would be generating about £100,000,000,000 in revenue within the near future. Before he could speak with Veera and John again, Nick got another call, this time from Riley, his head of supply management. Nick accepted the call:
"What happening, Riley?"
Riley answered in a matter of fact manner:
"A representative from Delaware Smithworks will be arriving at our company in five minutes to speak with you about the magic tool that you want to create. While they don't necessarily specialize in soul path magic tools, they are a well-regarded company because of their fine craftsmanship and effectiveness. A representative from the Raging Blades Company will also arrive within the hour to showcase some swords that you may be interested in based on what you told me yesterday. This company may not have such a good reputation but that is only because many of its workers are fanatics. They make weaponry that even members of the royal family use."
Nick clenched his left fist and slightly hit it against the table in excitement, saying:
"You did good Riley. Do me a favor and bring up the representatives to the first conference room on the fourth floor when they arrive. You can stay while I meet with each of them if you want...no, it's better that you watch while I interact with them."
Riley replied:
"Understood, Nick."
Riley hung up the phone and Nick placed his focus back on Veera and John. The latter two did not know what Nick's calls were about but they felt that he did seem like a CEO with important matters to attend to. Nick said to them:
"I can talk until I'm blue in the face, but you won't really learn what's what until you've been thrown into the furnace, so for now, just look forward to studying at the academy. Anyway, I'm going to be doing some deals soon, so if you want to see a rank 3 Magician furthering his cultivation, just sit beside me and quietly watch."
Veera and John felt strange hearing that Nick wanted them to watch him do business but since Nick was clearly a productive Magician, they did not attempt to argue or rebut him. Veera then moved to sit on the office chair to Nick's immediate right and following that, John sat on the office chair to Veera's immediate right. The two rank 2 Magicians remained silent while Nick summoned his laptop from his space band and seemed to do some research.
Eight minutes later, two people entered the room; one was Riley and the other was a woman that wore an orange magician's robe and who emanated the faint metal path aura of a rank 3 Magician. The latter woman had a head full of long, flowing red hair, a white but tanned complexion, green eyes, a high nose bridge and a cheerful expression. Riley introduced the woman, ignoring the two people that she had never seen before:
"Nick, this is Bianca Daneel, tool designer of Delaware Smithworks. Bianca, this is Nick Capitol, CEO of The Realm Exploration Company."
Bianca greeted Nick using a cheerful tone:
"Ha. So you are the one in charge of this joint. It is great to meet you, Nick. Riley here tells me that you want a soul path support magic tool created? Is that the case?"
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and spoke with a matching tone:
"That is exactly the case. I even have the magic beast carcass that I want you to use as the main material."
Bianca smiled grew broader and she replied:
"Let me see it then."
Nick cast Neptune and disappeared amidst a flash of blue magic power, then reappeared in the same manner instantly, one meter to the left of Bianca and Riley. Everyone's eyes soon ended up on Nick. Veera's heart palpitated in response to finally sensing Nick's rank 3 magic power; she desperately wanted the same kind of power for herself but did not let it show. Nick proceeded to summon the intact carcass of the strongest rank 3 terra that he had fought within Humble Desert, from his newer space band.
The carcass ended up on the floor, to Nick's right. It was the size of a mature hippo and still radiated a faint rank 3 aura, seeming fresh. Bianca clapped both her callused hands once and proceeded to inspect the carcass. Veera and John wore shocked expressions, not believing that they were actually this close to the carcass of a rank 3 magic beast.
They both knew how feared magic beasts at rank 3 and higher were because of their extremely strong bodies, human like intelligence and magic power. Despite all those advantages granted to rank 3 magic beasts, here was one lying dead in front of them. John asked internally:
(Did Nick kill that magic beast himself?)
Veera reasoned internally:
(Although this rank 3 magic beast is relatively small, size doesn't necessarily connote power. Magicians rarely try to fight rank 3 magic beasts within Forgotten Peril because the magic beasts will ignore them so long as the Magicians don't cause too great a disturbance to their habitat. I wonder how difficult it was to kill a rank 3, soul path magic beast. What were its attributes? What was its power like?)
Neither Veera nor John dared to ask their questions openly, so they remained silent. Riley on the other hand, raised her right eyebrow and said:
"This is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen."
Nick spoke in response to her words:
"Sure...but it was really a pain in the ass to kill; doing so took me three weeks. Show the dead a little respect."
Riley was stumped, wondering if Nick was serious or not. Bianca soon laughed out loud and spoke to Nick after having inspected the carcass using her methods:
"How did you kill such a powerful terra without ruining its body?"
Nick answered simply:
"I used a magic formation that I designed to trap it and destroy its soul. That is why the carcass is still intact."
Bianca put on a thoughtful expression for a few moments and then focused on Nick before speaking:
"Well, this is a great material to use to make a support tool. Terras aren't one of the strongest species but they are tough and their soul path power can be hard to deal with. You said that you spent three weeks killing this terra by yourself, right? Even if it was with a magic formation, that's impressive. I personally would not attempt to fight this terra alone. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this terra stronger than the rank 3 initial stage standard?"
Nick nodded his head once in confirmation, saying:
"Right, this terra was extremely powerful, which is why I did not fight it directly and why I took such a long time to kill it."
Bianca nodded her head a few times, showing great interest in what Nick had to say. She then asked:
"What kind of magic tool were you looking to have created?"
Nick replied immediately:
"Considering the power that I witnessed from the terras, something that involves restricting the soul is fine."
Bianca thought for a while before replying:
"That would be an appropriate effect for a magic tool created from this magic beast but such a magic tool would likely have a higher chance of being successfully forged if I had this terra's soul as well as its carcass."
After hearing Bianca's words, Nick effortlessly summoned twenty rank 3 terra souls from his newer space band; they were basket-ball-sized, white glowing orbs that lightly floated in front of Nick. Nick had retrieved the soul of every rank 3 terra that he killed except the soul of the last rank 3 terra, whose carcass was laid on the floor.
Bianca jumped once in excitement in response to seeing the souls. She asked:
"Are these what I think they are?"
Nick answered without a change in his expression:
"These are twenty authentic souls obtained from defeating rank 3 terras. Will this help in creating the magic tool?"
Bianca was ecstatic; she looked Nick over again and thought:
(Who have thought that this strange looking young man would be strong enough to kill over twenty rank 3 terras. I wonder if he did so by himself. No...that doesn't matter. Although the original soul of the carcass would have been great to have, twenty souls from creatures of the same species and rank will help me create a divine tool.)
Bianca laughed heartily before saying:
"These will help me greatly in forging a magic tool that will gain me a promotion."
Nick replied dryly:
"...Good for you. How much would it cost to commission the forging of such a magic tool?"
Bianca's expression and disposition became serious at this time and she remained silent for about a minute. Riley, Veera and John also wondered how much creating a magic tool using the clearly valuable materials would cost? They knew that buying magic tools on the market was expensive but having one custom made for you would likely be impossible for many rank 3 Magicians, who were not from wealthy families.
After a minute of thinking, Bianca held up all five of her right hand's fingers and answered Nick's question:
"I'll forge you a great magic tool for the reasonable price of 5 vatas. All cash must be paid up front before work can begin."
Riley opened both her eyes wide when she heard the price; she blurted out without thinking:
"That price is ludicrous. That's the equivalent of £500,000,000,000. Do you know what you are asking?"
Bianca ignored Riley, not expecting a non-magician to understand why the price was so high but she suspected that Nick would understand without an explanation. True to Bianca's expectations, Nick waved his right hand before replying:
"Deal. Just take the terra carcass and the souls and do your work. Riley will tell you where to send your invoice before the money will be paid."
Bianca's serious expression broke into a smile, feeling that Nick had suddenly become ten times more handsome than before. She quickly stored the terra carcass and the twenty terra souls into her own space band before leaving the conference room with Riley in tow. John looked at Veera with frightened eyes, wanting to ask:
"Who the hell is this guy?"
Veera expressionlessly shrugged her shoulders, muttering:
"I don't know much about him, John."
After Bianca left, Nick cast Neptune again and disappeared amidst a flash of blue magic power, then immediately reappeared in the same manner, sitting in his office chair. At that time, Nick received another call from Hank; he accepted the call, saying:
"What's going on, Hank?"
Hank spoke plainly:
"I've researched the terra carcasses that you mentioned and how they could be sold on the market. At rank 2, if packaged right, I could probably sell them for a minimum of £120,000 each. They are relatively common rank 2, soul path magic beasts within Humble Desert and other realms, after all."
The profits from selling the rank 2 carcasses would evidently not be a lot, judging by Nick's standards, but he knew that every penny was useful in moving him towards his goals. Nick replied:
"I'll dump the carcasses into the ground floor's storage area for you to get your hands on later. Just work with Carl to have them appropriately processed and packaged for sale."
Hank replied:
"No problem. Again, I'll need to get each carcass officially appraised so that we can get the best price."
Nick sighed and then said:
"Our appraisal fees are going to make the people of Great Appraisals laugh in their sleep. Do what you need to do."
Nick hung up the phone and focused on Veera and John before asking:
"Did you two learn anything?"
Veera answered almost immediately:
"...I learnt that it's great to be rich."
John silently nodded his head to show his agreement with Veera. Nick shook his head and said:
"If you two knew how much risks I had to take in order to make that money and how quickly it goes out the door, your thoughts would be different."
Veera and John understood Nick's words but thought that he was exaggerating the requirement for a rank 3 Magician to make the kind of money that Nick just committed to spending. Nick remained silent while doing additional research on his laptop. Ten minutes later, Riley entered the conference room again with a tall man of eastern European descent in tow.
The tall man was a little over six feet in height, had a pale white complexion, seemed to be in his late thirties, had short, grey hair, dark eyes, bushy eyebrows and a scar on his lower lip; he wore a grey and blue magician's robe along with a pair of combat boots. Riley introduced the man:
"Nick, this is Roderick Pixel, a weapon smith at the Raging Blades Company. Roderick, this is Nick Capitol, CEO of The Realm Exploration Company. Roderick is here to showcase some swords that you might like, Nick."
Nick remained sitting in his chair and replied:
"Great to meet you, Mr. Roderick. Please show me what you have."
Roderick kept a solemn expression and waved his hand, following which, fifteen swords were summoned from his space band and floated in midair with their blades pointing to the floor. Roderick's body emitted the faint rank 3 aura of sword path and this made Nick a little nervous, but he did not let it show:
(A rank 3 Sword Magician? I better keep a careful eye on this man's movements or I might end up decapitated the next moment.)
Roderick spoke confidently at this time:
"I was told that you were interested in apprentice grade swords made of dragon materials that were either of the soul path, space path or blade path. While swords made of dragon materials are powerful, let me remind you that they are not necessarily the best and such a specific requirement has limited your choices to these fifteen swords that you see here. If these do not suit you, I have swords made from other species of magic beasts or magic materials."
Nick felt that he didn't need to consider swords made from other species of magic beasts or magic materials if the swords made from draconic materials were good. He reasoned:
(My Dragon's Advantage talent gives me a decent relation to dragons and I am a deep seeker dragon Warlock. Although I might be taking dragon related power too seriously, I don't care. I still remember the dragon that flew over my grandaunt's house when I was in high school. Just looking at it filled me with awe. I want swords and other magic tools made from dragons! I think that will be an interesting theme for me. As for whether they are the best kinds of swords or not, only my own skill truly determines what is best. If I can use such a sword to cut through a mountain, who would dare say that my sword was inferior to others of the same grade.)
Nick replied while maintaining his usual indifference:
"I will be satisfied so long as the swords made of dragon materials are strong enough. Just tell me what you have available."
Roderick nodded his head once and began introducing each of the fifteen swords, one by one:
"This is an advanced, apprentice grade, blade path sword called, Swift Grit. It is mainly made from the claws of a rank 3 hundred dragon."
"This is an intermediate, apprentice grade, soul path sword called, Nether Wave. It is mainly made using the soul of a rank 3 dread dragon as well as rank 3 scar metal."
"This is the intermediate, apprentice grade, space path sword called, Straight Orbit. It is mainly made from the teeth of a rank 3 far dragon and the rank 3 material, diamond glass."
...
Roderick introduced the name, grade and main materials of each sword. Nick had his laptop on and used it to do his own research on the materials and dragons that Roderick mentioned while he spoke. When Roderick stopped speaking, Nick signaled for Roderick to give him a few minutes to narrow down his choices. Roderick could guess what Nick was doing, so he patiently waited, thinking:
(Selling magic swords is actually very difficult because they are not exactly suited for the person buying them and so the Magician has to satisfy himself that he is not wasting money on a weapon that he cannot use properly. No one that the Raging Blades Company sells weapons to is a fool, so of course this man will spend time doing his own research before he makes a purchase. I just have to make sure that I get the best price possible for my creations.)
After forty minutes of research, Nick narrowed down his interest to two of the swords, saying:
"Tell me more about the soul path sword, Stoic Grave, and the blade path sword, Hard Marvel."
Roderick nodded his head, stored thirteen of the fifteen swords back into his space band and brought the remaining two swords closer together. The sword, Stoic Grave, had a 0.6 meter, double-edged blade that had the appearance of dull-grey, opaque glass and that was also about two inches in width; the sword had a completely black, metal hilt. The sword, Hard Marvel, had a 0.6 meter, double-edged blade that had the appearance of obsidian-black colored metal and that was also about two inches in width; the sword had a hilt made of a kind of bronze colored metal that had black mesh fabric embedded into its grip.
Roderick began expounding on the qualities of each sword:
"Stock Grave is an intermediate, apprentice grade, soul path sword that is mainly made from the bones that surrounded the heart of a rank 3, soul path grudge dragon as well as that very dragon's soul. That particular grudge dragon was a bit stronger than the standard of a rank 3 initial stage Magician and required three such Magicians to kill it. The sword has a passive ability that has a decent chance of causing direct harm to the soul of any living being that it cuts."
Nick nodded his head in approval after Roderick finished speaking, saying:
"I like that one. What are the details of the other sword?"
Roderick continued:
"Hard Marvel is an intermediate, apprentice grade, blade path sword that is mainly made from the sharp armor spikes of a rank 3, blade path bold-end dragon; the sword is also infused with the rank 3 blade path material, solid coal. The bold-end dragon has an extremely hard but flexible exterior armor and the rank 3 middle stage Magician that killed it had to battle with it for four days and four nights before it went down. The sword has a passive ability that increases its hardness and strength during battle for every wound that it makes on an opponent; the enhancement to those attributes lasts about four hours after its last cut. Even I, the creator, am unsure of the how hard or strong the sword can become over time but I guarantee its quality."
Nick nodded his head in approval once again, saying:
"That is another good sword. I like it too."
Nick had his reasons for singling out these two swords:
(The rank 3 grudge dragon matures at rank 5 but is infamous for being difficult to kill even when being hunted at rank 5 by rank 6 Hero Magicians because each of its attacks seriously harms the soul. The rank 3 bold-end dragon matures at rank 6 and its body parts are extremely durable and highly priced; its rank 6 body parts are even used by militaries to make armors and insulation for mega-fortresses and weapons of mass destruction, respectively. Both these magic beasts' parts are great main materials for weapons. As for why I chose intermediate grade swords over the advanced grade swords that Roderick has...a weapon's strength is not determined by whether it is intermediate grade or advanced grade. Intermediate grade only indicates that the weapon has only passive abilities while advanced grade indicates that the weapon has active abilities; the effectiveness of the weapons depends on the Magician. That is, assuming that the materials that the weapons are made from are of similar rank and quality and with these two swords, that seems to be the case. I don't need fancy active abilities that are not suited for me and that are inferior to the effects of my own spells, anyway.)
Nick leaned forward in his office chair and asked:
"How much for Stoic Grave?"
Roderick answered without hesitation:
"I'll let it go for 2 vatas."
Nick did not even appear to think before making a decision:
"I'll take it."
A bead of sweat ran down both John's and Veera's faces, each thinking:
(How much money does Nick have to burn?)
Roderick's solemn expression eased and just as he was about to store Hard Marvel, Nick asked:
"How much for Hard Marvel?"
Roderick stopped his actions and his expression eased even more. Riley's face remained calm but internally, she was cursing Nick:
(What the hell are you doing, idiot? Why would you spend so much money on swords? Hmph! If this company goes bankrupt because of these willful purchases, you only have yourself to blame.)
Roderick thought for a few seconds before speaking a price:
"I will let it go for 4 vatas?"
John heard the latter figure and blurted out without thinking:
"Aren't those swords of the same quality? How can you double the price for Hard Marvel?"
Roderick ignored John's outburst and did not answer him but Nick patiently explained:
"Hard Marvel is a blade path sword, which makes it more valuable for killing than Stoic Grave. Also, the bold-end dragon, whose body parts make up the sword is a living, breathing nightmare even when compared to the grudge dragon. Although the materials used to make each sword are about the same quality, one magic beast is much harder to deal with and has greater potential than the other. Because of these reasons, Hard Marvel naturally has a higher price that Stoic Grave."
Roderick looked at Nick with respect in his gaze after he heard him explain so accurately. He figured that Nick must have a great interest in swords and that pleased him:
(Customers like this are the beast to make deals with. They don't argue because they know the value of the weapons once they are given the details.)
Nick turned his focus away from John after setting the record straight and spoke to Roderick with no change in his expression:
"I will take Hard Marvel too, however, I will need about a month to make payment. When can I have the swords?"
Since Nick was taking two valuable swords off his hands, Roderick did not dare to delay his explanation. It did not bother him that Nick was not going to pay immediately because the latter was buying the swords through The Realm Exploration Company and there were iron clad laws that almost guaranteed that Nick's company would have to pay or bear some heavy consequences. Also, the Raging Blades Company could always repossess the swords if Nick's company did not make payment; one rank 3 initial stage Magician was not difficult to deal with. Roderick answered:
"I will need a day to declare the sale to the Ministry of Magic as well as to do my final checks on the swords for your benefit. I will have them delivered in the morning on the day after tomorrow."
Nick internally sighed, thinking:
(This is the annoying part about buying weapons on the market. The weapons' information has to be declared to the Ministry of Magic. This would not be the case if I had just found the weapon or manufactured it myself. The ministry does this to prevent dangerous weapons from being freely sold by the more influential organizations to troublesome characters. The negative of this set up, however, is that government officials will know what kind of heat I am packing. My honorary title of corporal that I received from the military, isn't of much use here since I am not buying the weapon from a government office. After this purchase, I will only be left with about 4 vatas to support the company with during the next two months.)
Nick stood up and spoke:
"Thank you for coming Roderick. I think that will be all. Riley will escort you back to the ground floor."
Roderick stored both Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel into his space band before leaving with Riley. After Roderick left, Nick slumped down into his office chair while all sorts of doubts crept into his mind:
(Did you really just spend 6 vatas on swords. You really fucked up this time!)
(Man, you were doing so good. Why did you have to go and screw things up?)
(Ha! Those two swords are probably going to end up like Silent Ark. What will you be left with, then?)
...
Nick rubbed his furrowed brows and temple and breathed in and out deeply in order to slowly bring his thoughts back into positive alignment. Veera and John remained silent after seeing Nick's currently stressed state. After ten minutes, Nick's thoughts normalized and he turned his attention to Veera and John, saying:
"After seeing all that, do you two now understand how difficult it is to make progress as a Magician and things will only get harder from here for me. Use your time at Richter Order Academy to improve yourselves properly. Don't take shortcuts and you better have more meaningful reasons for what you do than, 'I think this will be cool.' or 'This involves the most money.'. The latter reason will likely lead to your defeat faster than fighting with magic beasts."
Veera and John silently nodded their heads in acceptance of Nick's words. Nick continued:
"I have to get back to my cultivation so you two should leave, now."
Following his words, Nick stored his laptop into his older space band and signaled that he would escort the two out of the building. Veera and John took the hint and got up out of their chairs in order to follow Nick to the ground floor entrance. Nick led them through the automatic, glass door; the time was around 4 pm. Nick said to Veera:
"Tell your father that I did my best."
Veera smiled and replied:
"Thank you, Nick. I will come visit you again when I graduate."
John also thanked Nick using a polite bow. Nick then went back inside the building, out of sight of Veera and John. They both then walked towards the property gates and when they finally left the property, John said to Veera:
"I don't care what Nick says. I want his life. Being the boss of a company that can spend billions of pounds is my new dream."
Veera smiled at John, but remembering the stress and pain subtly evident on Nick's face after the Sword Magician left the conference room, Veera asked with uncertainty in her tone:
"Is that what succeeding at your profession looks like?"
**************************************************************
Nick went to the ground floor storage area and dumped the rank 2 terra carcasses there as well as the carcass of the rank 3 crow magic beast, so that Hank and Carl could process and package them promptly. Nick was not worried about them spoiling since magic beast carcasses did not spoil quickly even when not frozen. He would make sure that a proper, ice path storage area for carcasses was built in the future, though.
Nick then proceeded to go to the third basement floor and spent the rest of the day and the next day meditating. He stopped on the morning of the day after that, after being notified by Riley via phone that his two swords had been delivered. Nick had Riley bring the swords down to his workspace and within minutes, she walked off the elevator, nervously holding the two sheathed swords while thinking:
(I am basically holding £600,000,000,000 in my hands.)
Nick took the swords from Riley and thanked her before dismissing her. After Riley left via the elevator, Nick took a proper look at his swords. Both swords were kept in a black scaled sheath, the only visible difference being their hilts; Stoic Grave's hilt was made of black metal and had a dual-pointed, straight-edged guard while Hard Marvel had a bronze colored metal hilt that had a four-pointed, curved guard.
Nick unsheathed Stoic Grave first and slid his right hand across the surface of the sword's glass like blade. He then did the same thing to Hard Marvel's more metallic blade. Nick sheathed the swords again after two hours of getting familiar with them. He stored the two swords into his older space band after that.
Nick then took out his tablet computer and began using it to design a new magic formation. The symbols that Nick drew on the screen using his fingers were of the D-Soul mystical language. Nick internally resolved:
(Next, I need to figure out how to deal with Dean Xavier Gecko's tampering of my soul...)