Im A Little Tired

Mr. Wraht thinks for a moment. "Under normal industry prices, it would be worth around 10 or so Mid grade Chaos Stones…"

Lin Ke's eyes widen. "Really? Here, have the sketch." He immediately hands the sketch to Mr. Wraht.

"H-hang on, Sir Lin Ke. That price is the normal selling price of a painting… however, this is not a painting. It is quite rare for a sketch to reach such a high level, that is why it should be able to fetch an even higher price. Plus, there is an auction that is starting in around 2 hours. If you wish to sell it in the auction, it may fetch an even higher bidding price."

Hearing that, Lin Ke feels as if a giant pie had dropped out of the sky and right into his lap. WIthout any hesitation, he immediately nods. "Alright then, let's do that! I'll leave the details to you, Mr. Wraht!"

Mr. Wraht nods, "Alright then. There isn't much time before the auction begins, I will go add this to the list of items immediately!" WIth that said, Mr. Wraht bows to the two siblings, Lia and extends a nod to Abraham before leaving the room.

For a moment, silence reigned as the 5 of them stood awkwardly in the room.

Sensing the odd atmosphere, Mr. Mast cheerfully began to lighten the mood. "Haha, Lin Ke, was it? You're pretty good! How long have you been an artist? Who was your teacher? Where are you from?"

Lin Ke doesn't know where to start answering from. "Ehhh… well, I started when I was about 7 or 8… I didn't really have a teacher and… well, I'm just from some random village. You've probably never heard of it."

"Woowww! 7 or 8? And how old are you now?" Mr. Mast asks.

"I'm 17 this year." Lin Ke replies.

Mr. Mast's eyes widened. "SEVENTEEN? Genius! This is what a true genius looks like!!" Then, a thought occurred to him. If this kid named Lin Ke was on par with a B-class artist at 17… he could perhaps… have a chance of winning THAT.

The more Mr. Mast thought of it, the better the idea became. Slowly, he began to nod his head. "That's right! What a great idea! Now I just need to convince him!"

"Listen, Lin Ke, I have a favor to ask of you…" Mr. Mast began. His expression had changed from one that was carefree and smiling to a more serious expression.

"Mr. Mast, please speak. If I can, I will try my best to accomplish it." Lin Ke said politely. He sensed that there was something different about what he was about to say.

Hearing that, Mr. Mast smiles. "It's not that difficult. All I want is for you to represent our country in the Annual International Grand Tournament's Art competition."

Lin Ke blinks, completely unaware of what that International Grand Tournament was.

"Errr. What's the Annual International Grand Arts Exchange?" Lin Ke asks.

"... Have you really never heard of the International Grand Arts Exchange?" Mr. Mast asks, quite surprised. "Everyone knows about it!"

Lin Ke shakes his head.

"Well, the International Grand Arts Exchange is a competition jointly held by the four countries. Each time, there are many different geniuses who convene at one place to compete against each other. Our country is always ranked near the bottom. For the past 5 years, a single country has won the championship every time, and that country is our neighbors, the Mistfall Kingdom." Mr. Mast explains.

Lin Ke scratches his head. He had no clue what the different countries of this land were, and, to be honest, he didn't even know what country he was in right now! However, there was no way Lin Ke could tell Mr. Mast that. Instead, he nods along as if he understands.

"Ahh… Could you give me some time to think about it? Also, I'm not really from this country so…" Lin Ke admits.

Mr. Mast raises a brow. "You're not from this country? Oh, hmm… That does pose a problem… I'll go ask someone about the details. Alright, Lin Ke, feel free to consider it, alright? I'll ask you again later at the auction!"

With that, Mr. Mast leaves with his brother. Lin Ke shakes his head. There was no way he could participate in the tournament, even if he wanted to. He and Lia were still being chased by that Serxe guy. How could they possibly participate in such a large tournament that was bound to attract a ton of attention?

Now, the only ones left in the room were Lin Ke, Lia, and Abraham. Once Mr. Mast left, Abraham immediately walked up to Lin Ke and scratched his head.

"Ahh, brother Lin Ke, my bad for saying those things about you. I was too rash and didn't pay attention to the facts in front of my eyes. I apologize for that." Abraham says.

Lin Ke waves his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal!"

Hearing that, Abraham smiles. "Alright then, I will leave first then. I still have some things I need to get done here. See you later!" With that, Abraham also left.

Lin Ke smiles as he watches Abraham leave. To be honest, Lin Ke really couldn't get mad at Abraham. While at first he was kind of annoying, he was also extremely passionate about his profession, which Lin Ke respected. Also, Lin Ke practically robbed the man of his life's savings, how could Lin Ke stay mad at him? That wouldn't be very nice of him.

"Wow Lin Ke! When did you already reach B-class???" Lia exclaimed in delight. "You're improving so fast!"

"Hehehe…" Lin Ke grins. "I just got lucky I guess… however, you're still much better than me. Sorry for getting us off track, wanna continue looking around?"

Lia nods. "Sure."

Strolling out of the empty white room, they step back out into the noisy marketplace. Close by was a long set of staircases leading upwards, with an attendant blocking the path. Lia began walking towards that.

"Hey Lily? Are you alright?" Lin Ke asks in his head as he follows Lia. Lily hasn't spoken much for the past few hours, and was significantly more quiet. It wasn't like her at all…

"Hm? What do you mean? I'm just a little tired…" Lily replies. Her voice did sound tired.

"Oh… Well, get some rest then… Hope you get better soon…" Lin Ke says, not knowing how to comfort a system. "Oh yeah, what are the four countries that you were talking about before?"

"Mmm? Can you ask Lia about that? I need to take a small break…" Lily replies with a yawn.

Lin Ke is slightly skeptical, but chooses to do as Lily said. As Lin Ke turns to Lia, Lily breathes out a sigh in frustration.

'Maybe I should take a nap…' She thought to herself. 'Who knew that little rat's soul thread was so hard to seal…'