Crown

"Yes, I can make that possible. How many bombs will you need, young master?" Wynn spoke respectfully. he was clearly on guard after my little acting performance but could you blame the man?

Nobles, most of the time, are problematic and unreasonable people. He probably didn't fear me much but feared the problems I could bring.

"As many as you can possibly make in five days," I replied.

Seeing as I'd 'calmed down,' he seemed to relax and spoke again.

"Hm. I won't be able to give you an exact number, but if I work day and night and close the shop, I should be able to get around 100 bombs. Each bomb costs at least 10 silver, but with your discount, the total should be 7 gold."

"Here's 7 gold upfront. If you make more, I'll pay more. I'll be back in five days."

I smiled as I paid. Why? Because that barely even hurt my pockets, I was rich! When I first went through my wallet, Amit had 150 gold coins in his coinbag alone. 150 gold coins were enough for a town as small as Tintor to function for a month!

I left the shop feeling very happy.

Once again, being a young master is so very nice.

I walked deeper into the heart of the city until I saw a large building with a sign that read "Mage's Guild." The sign was powered by aether lights.

I took a step into the building and immediately felt the difference in the aether in the air. It was like walking from a hot, sunny day into a room with a very cold air conditioner.

The inside of the building wasn't as fancy as I'd imagined. There was a decent number of people—some drinking, some talking, and others looking at the job board.

The Mage's Guild was a branch of the Adventurer's Guild, but strictly for mages. It also doubled as a shop for mages.

The Adventurer's Guild held a lot more power than most people thought in this world, especially with all the races having formed an alliance.

They had bases in nearly every town across all kingdoms and were even contracted to help in the war effort from time to time.

I looked around until I saw a doorway with a sign that read "Shop."

I moved toward it, but then I overheard an interesting conversation.

"Damn it, why can no one here appraise this crown? I went through hell and back to steal this thing from a Zelk camp not too far north of here," a voice grumbled. I turned my head to see a man dressed in some type of ninja clothing. I almost laughed at how ridiculous it looked. He was talking with a group of people, drinking, who seemed to be his friends.

In the ninja's hands was a crown—or rather, it would be better to call it a halo. It was gray in color, thin like a halo, but with little spikes adorning it.

Something about the crown drew me in. I needed it now. I wanted it, and I would have it. I started walking toward the group, but then I heard something that snapped me out of my trance.

"Those bastards seemed like they really needed this thing, so I waited until most of the nocturnal bastards fell asleep, then used my [True Stealth] and swiped it."

I was shocked by what he said. This random NPC had [True Stealth]?! True Stealth was a skill that a boss with very annoying mechanics had in the game. It was an extremely useful skill, and not only that—it seemed he, the idiot ninja was the reason the Zelk were invading this town.

This had to be the artifact the Zelk were after. I'd bet my beloved phone that this had something to do with Amit's bloodline awakening.

I mean, the damn thing was literally drawing me in! My guess is the original Amit had somehow met this shady ninja or maybe even found the crown at a pawn shop, and it awakened him somehow.

As I looked at the crown, I felt a tug in my mind, beckoning me to claim it. This time, I wasn't able to snap out of it, not even thinking about the side effects of the awakening Amit had to deal with.

I walked up to the rogue and asked, "How much for the crown? It seems interesting."

Even while speaking, I couldn't take my eyes off the crown it was beautiful and it needed a king like me to wear it!

He peered at me suspiciously and said, "10 gold. Not selling it for any less." It seemed like he was expecting me to just walk off, but I wasn't in the mood for that.

I grabbed 10 gold coins out of my sack, threw them at him, and grabbed the crown.

"HE—"

I didn't listen to him. I immediately started laughing as I placed the crown on my head and… nothing happened. Well, something did happen—the trance lifted—and I looked around to see everyone staring at me like I was a maniac.

I quickly turned around and left toward the shop and no one tried to stop me. Was I embarrassed? No! It just got really hot for some reason. The crown stayed on my head, completely forgotten about.

******

Walking outside the mages guilds door I felt a sense of happiness and embarrassment I mean I had finished everything I wanted to do today.

I had bought five spells and some aether recovery potions. It cost me 3 gold. But what the hell just happened with the crown?

Why did I go ballistic and buy it? I

should have stayed far away from it. I should have taken the crown off but the second I let my mind wander down that lane of thinking.

A sense of wrongness welled up inside me. What was I thinking? I couldn't take off the crown.

And was it just me, or was the crown vibrating? I shook off the thought and walked back to where I hid my aethercycle.