A lovely meeting

‚This one looks nice', Tristan thought to himself, as he was looking at a small shop. It was a jewellery in the richer parts of Durakles.

He went inside. There were small and big crystals and jewels of all sorts.

One in particular looked very attracting to him. It was inside a glass cage, like all of the other gems. An idea formed in his mind.

„Excuse me, sir?", he heard a voice.

A petite girl was standing at a counter in the corner of the room. She looked about 10 years of age.

„Is there anything I can do for you?", she asked shyly.

„Yes, you see, I like collecting expensive gems, this one seems interesting.", Tristan answered.

„Well, it's 87 gold coins. Surely that's not a problem?", the girl said.

„Yes, no of course it's not. Anyway, I have been ripped off in the past. Mind if I look at it from a closer view? You can't tell the fake ones from the real ones these days.", Tristan tried to comfort the girl with a little laugh, gaining her trust.

„I guess that wouldn't be so bad.", she said.

She opened the glass cage with some kind of spell and took the game out of its cushion.

Tristan put it close to his eye and acted like he was inspecting it.

A smile formed on his face. The girl was looking at him, expectantly.

‚Does she want something from me?', Tristan asked himself.

„Is everything alright?", he asked with a fake worried look.

The girl realised that she was staring and quickly looked away.

„No-no sorry!", she said and tried to cover a little blush.

This was the exact outcome Tristan hoped for. He created an exact copy of the gem with his [Creation] skill, though it was not the same value. If one were to inspect it, you would notice that it was made of something plastic-like.

The girl however didn't know this.

„I think I'll pass.", Tristan eventually said and put the fake back onto the cushion.

„Oh, okay. Maybe change your mind some day and come back soon!", the girl said.

With the real gem in his pocket, Tristan left the store.

Walking down the street, he threw up the gem and catches it a few times, before putting it back into his pocket.

Not knowing what to do, he wandered around the city for a while, until something entered his field of vision.

A little shining object was laying on the ground.

A silver coin, covered in mud was laying in a little puddle.

Thinking about his creation-scam, he walked towards it.

‚I can get rich with this!', he thought.

He picked up the coin and cleaned it, before focusing on it.

He didn't make actual silver, like before, he made a plastic-like substance with the form and shape of the coin.

Soon, he had over 50 silver coins.

‚Thinking about it, I still have no idea what to do with this. I think I'll just head back to the fort for now.', he then thought to himself.

Shortly before he reached the gates, a group of young men came towards him.

„You there! That's a nice sword you got there. Mind letting me see it?", the one in the middle asked.

„Yes, I do mind.", Tristan replied and continued his walk towards the entrance gate of the fort.

„Hey! Don't ignore me like that. Do you know who I am?!", the man once again asked.

„Nah, don't think so.", Tristan replied, still without looking.

Suddenly, he felt a grip on his back.

That bastard really was trying to take his sword away!

He turned around, so quickly, it was only a blurred motion.

In an instant, he was facing the man. He was very young. Maybe about 20 or so. He wore noble clothes, and the people behind him did too.

He gave the boy a push, with just enough force to make him trip.

„You! How dare you?! Just wait until my father hears about this!", the boy said and got up from the floor.

Tristan turned around, went to the gate and got his guest license.

The boy was following him the whole time.

When he saw the guest license, he started shouting,

„Guards! Guards! Do not let this boy inside! He is evil! He tried to kill me!".

But the guards already let Tristan through.

When they heard the young mana shouting, they immediately turned around and chased after Tristan, who smiled and teleported to his room.

-

Later that day, Tristan was called to the dining table. He and Cameron were eating with the family of the duke, because they were special guests.

He was lead down the hallway by a maid of the duke.

Just before he entered the dining hall, a voice sounded behind him.

„It's you! Come here!", the voice said.

‚Oh boy...', Tristan thought, after recognising the voice as the one from the young man from.

He turned around and looked at the young noble, who appeared to be the son of the duke.

Next to him was none other than the duke himself.

Before looking confused at Tristan and then his son, he said,

„That's Tristan. He is a new student of Cameron. And he is also the chosen one for the sword."

When his son heard that, he stayed silent at first.

„Well, hello Tristan. This is my son James. You seem to have met before.", the duke said.

„Yes, we had an encounter of sorts.", Tristan said.

The duke just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He went ahead and the three got to the dining table, where Cameron was waiting.

„So, it's time to introduce my family.", the duke said.