Chapter 6 - A Youth and an Old Man

"Want to test it?"

Seeing the youth in front of him ask him with such a very confident appearance, the old man is taken aback slightly. He didn't even see a slight glint of hesitation.

"Hmmm~ Alright son. Show me!"

The old man decided to match the youth's vigor with his words. He can't help but to anticipate the youth's results.

"Take a look at th-!"

Just as Greus is about to show his moves to the old man in front of him, he suddenly stopped his movements.

Of course the old man noticed this change and speaks.

"What's wrong son?"

"Ahhh! No-nothing. I just remembered something that's all."

"Then please carry on son."

Hearing the words of the old man, Greus pauses for a while as if thinking how to respond.

"Ha ha ha! I just remembered that I can't manifest my mana right now..."

Hearing those words the old man just laughed. He thinks that the youth is just teasing him.

"Hahahahaha! Please don't tease this old man. Come! Don't be shy son."

Greus sees the old man looking at him with an expectant expression. A helpless file forms on his face.

"I-I'm not joking around! I'm telling the truth!"

Greus spoke with a serious expression.

Now that the youth repeated confirms that he's not joking with a serious expression, the old man reevaluated the situation. The old man thought that something is up, but he didn't voice it out.

"That's truly unfortunate son. However, would you mind if you tell me the degree you can do it? Surely you have done it in the past right?"

The old man asked with a smile. Then normally placed one hand inside his pocket. Fortunately, there are no other customers, so he lets the youth take his time.

A short time has passed and Greus finally spoke.

"I can form a mana ball and increase and decrease its size quite easily."

"Hohh~~ Quite easily you say... That puts you on about 5 son."

"...And reshape the mana to whichever form I want."

"Hohh~~ So something like 6.5 then."

"...And do those things on both hands simultaneously."

Seeing the old man with a shocked expression, Greus just smiled and continued.

"...And I can also manifest mana other than my hands."

The old man just stared at Greus with a look of disbelief.

"Is that all son?"

"Yes, that's all."

"..."

The old man fell silent. At first he was shocked because the youth said he could do it in both hands, which would put him in about 8, which means that the youth in front of him is anything but ordinary.

However, that is only a rough estimation, because he can't directly see the degree of control the youth possesses. So the actual might be much lower or much higher.

The thing the old man is really bewildered about is that the youth can manifest mana in other parts of his body. Now that is an impossibility! That degree of mana control defies common sense.

"..."

Then after a moment of silence, the old man laughs so loud all of a sudden.

Greus was bamboozled of the spectacle in front of him. It is a sudden change of mood! Seeing an old man in front of him laughing so hard to the point that the old man's face turn to red, he didn't know how to react.

After some time, the old man's spectacle slowly comes to a close. Seeing the youth looking at him with a dumbfounded expression, he clears his throat and arranged his posture.

"Sorry for that son. It's just that it's the funniest joke I've heard these days."

"Hahahahaha! What if it's not?"

"Then your magic talent grade can't be placed anywhere on the 1-10 scale son."

Greus was shocked hearing those words. He thought that his grade would be 8 above but to think that this old man would say that 10 isn't even enough, he really didn't expect that.

"Having a purple mana makes me this strong!?"

Of course Greus didn't say that out loud.

"Anyways son, you came here to buy some low tier magic scrolls right?"

"Yes."

"If your that talented then why only buy low tier magic scrolls son?"

The old man asks with a smile on his face.

"M-my budget is only limited to low tier magic scrolls."

Greus hurriedly said.

"Fair enough son."

The old man replied with a convinced expression.

"Then I recommend that you come back tomorrow son."

"Why?"

"The low tier magic scrolls are currently short in stock, your spell choices will be limited son."

"It's fine! I don't have that much money to buy multiple scrolls anyway."

"Listen son, even if the spells are in the same tier, there are some that's just more useful than the others. I'll also give you a discount if you buy tomorrow."

Hearing those words, there are now no reasons for Greus to refuse except if he's stubborn. Fortunately, he's not.

"Alright then."

"Good! Good!"

The old man nods with satisfaction.

Seeing the youth waving at him before turning away, the old man also raises his hand and waves.

Greus takes one more look on the displays before going out.

"Take care son!"

Hearing the old man's words before he opens the door, Greus turns around and bowed his head slightly before opening the door.

Now that he's outside, Greus gives himself a pat on the back.

Initially, he was too impulsive, he almost revealed his purple mana by manifesting it in front of the old man.

Good thing Greus remembers before it's too late and backed down. However, he has no chance to gauge his strength after doing that, so he thought of another way.

Fortunately, the old man asked for a description. Seizing this chance, he decided to tell the old man the truth, which is a success because he got a good input which says that his grade is not in the scale.

"He won't believe it anyway."

Greus is confident of that fact, such is a reason for him confidently telling the old man of his capability. Of course, the old man would still have thoughts if this is all true and might probe even further, but seeing the old man's reaction Greus concluded that the old man really viewed it as a joke and is not hung up about it.

Then Greus sees that there's nothing he can do here anymore.

It's too bad that his plan is delayed, but if its only for a day then it is fine. Also, a discount and a wider variety of selection can only do good to him, so he has no room for any complaints.

"I should just go home and play with my mana again then."

Greus muttered to himself then headed back to the orphanage.

...

In a certain magical shop in Seia, an old man is sitting on a chair behind the counter.

The old man can be seen staring at a small black crystal ball that he holds in front of him.

"Hahahaha! For sure right now he's thinking that I believe he was joking."

The old man said while still looking on the small black crystal ball he's holding.

"Such an abnormal mana control, would it really be possible? Unless this thing is broken..."

The old man then injects his mana in the crystal ball.

"I am a woman."

The crystal ball then sends a small zap to his fingers.

"As expected, this artifact is in good shape."

The old man then looks up, his eyes seems to be looking on what is beyond his shop's roof.

"Seems like you produced another terrifying individual..."

After a while, the old man then looks down with an expression that can't be read.

"It must be fate for us to meet. I shall help that youth as much as I can."

The old man then slowly stand up.

"Better start making his low tier magic scrolls."

Muttering that to himself, the old man then closed his shop, and went to the backroom to do his work.