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Path to Prosperity - B2 Chapter 60
🕑 Added 2024-10-09 10:00:08 +0000 UTCThe following days were chaotic. Percy ignored the royal family’s suggestion to focus on the greater market first – they told him to create Master Artifacts and sell them for several times his cost. While that was a valid suggestion that would earn him a fortune, Percy took a different path. His grandfather had given him a great fortune, concealed as the ‘accumulated pocket change’, which he accessed right away.
After bringing Bert, Louis, and Sabrina to the palace.
“Hello, everyone,” Percy waved happily at them as they entered the palace but winced when he saw their expressions of terror and confusion. “Please, don’t look at me like that.”
“Boss? You are…” Bert stammered, which wasn’t much better than the trio's expressions.
“That is a very long story. But long story short…I’m the crown prince. Yes, the same one who’s supposed to be dead. Surprise! I’m not dead and was just…lost.” Percy tried to lighten the mood by talking about it in a nonchalant way, but his attempt failed miserably.
“You are…the crown prince?” Louis asked the color of his face drained.
“Apparently,” Percy shrugged before ruffling through his hair, “That means I can openly beat up everyone who tries hurting you or your sister.”
He winked at Sabrina, who walked over to him to hug Percy tightly.
“Noooo!” A familiar, high-pitched voice rang out from behind, and Percy knew right away who was rushing their way.
He turned around and held onto Sabrina. The young Demi flinched once but held onto Percy nonetheless.
“Good Morning, Sophia. These are my friends. Bert, over there, is an uprising blacksmith. He might be a little bit on the bigger side, but he is a little softie. You will like him a lot,” Percy ruffled through his sister’s hair once she reached them. The princess squealed but was momentarily distracted from the sight unfolding before her, “And here we have Louis and Sabrina. Louis has been protecting my shop, and Sabrina is very good at organizing. They are very nice. I hope you can treat them like you want others to treat you.”
Sophia looked at Percy for a moment and nodded slowly. Her servants – numbering in the two-digit – stood behind her in silence. It looked like one of them, an elderly maid, had something to say when her eyes fell upon the Demis, but she knew better than to speak up.
“So…I need to be their friend if I want them to be my friends?” Sophia tilted, “And I need to hug them if I want to be hugged!”
The princess reached Sabrina and embraced her before her servants could step forward. The elderly maid would have been fast enough, but Percy glared at her, momentarily stunning the woman.
“I am unsure if everyone wants to be hugged or touched before you introduce yourself. You have to take one step at a time to get to know those you want to befriend,” Percy lectured Sophia, but he didn’t pull her away. Sabrina was slightly stunned, but the tears twinkling in her eyes were a clear statement.
Maybe Sabrina needed this hug more than anything.
Percy smiled at them, but little did he know that this incident would lead his shop manager to leave him behind to become Sophia’s main maid, protector, and best friend.
“Why did you bring us here…your…excellency?” Louis struggled to ask. His mind was filled with questions, and his entire being overflowed with complex emotions.
Percy heard footsteps from behind and smiled. The other had arrived.
“I wanted to introduce Bert to the royal family’s blacksmith. He is a Grandmaster Blacksmith and very good at his job. Unfortunately, he is very busy, and it took me quite a while to convince my parents to free up his schedule. If nothing goes wrong, Bert can study under him a few hours a week,” Percy said, pointing at a smaller man with a long beard. He was musculous and looked just like you’d expect a Dwarf to look. That made sense. After all, the Grandmaster Blacksmith of the royal family was a Dwarf to begin with.
“G’day lad,” The Dwarf’s hand crashed onto Percy’s back before he looked at Bert’s hulking figure, “You brought me a big one. I hope he’s as tough as he looks.”
“He sure is. Don’t you worry about that,” Percy smiled through the pain and turned to the two women who’d arrived alongside the Dwarf. One of the women was skinny and wore ordinary clothes. Nobody would think of her as a powerful gifted, let alone as the Minister of Finances. She didn’t have much of a presence, and the most impressive thing about her was probably the glasses made with runic enchantments.
“This is the Minister of Finances. To be fair, I’m not sure if this is a perfect pick, but my parents told me I should attend her lessons and bring my shop manager with me if she wants to,” He looked at Sabrina, “If you want to, you can join the lessons. If not…you can always play with Sophia. I think she would like that too.”
“Play with me!” Sophia immediately squealed, but Sabrina was a little hesitant. Was it fine for her, a Demi-Human, to play with the princess? What if something happened?
“It’s fine. You don’t have to, but I can tell you want to play. There is no need to hesitate,” Percy encouraged Sabrina after seeing her excitedly twitching fur ears.
“That makes it easier for me,” the Minister of Finances said with a smile that was no smile. It looked more like the Devil was grimacing through her. That was scary, to say the least, “It’s going to be hard. You’re already older than most of my students have ever been. I won’t go easy on you though. You either succeed, or I will watch you crumble, crown prince!”
Percy smiled in response. A challenge was exactly what he wanted.
“I’m glad we’re on the same wavelength,” Percy responded.
The second woman stepped forward. She wore armor, but even that didn’t hide the muscles exposed by the few spots unguarded by her light leather armor. The runic armor was of excellent craft, yet Percy was more interested the woman.
“A Weaponmaster. My parents didn’t exaggerate when they spoke highly of you,” Percy hinted at a bow, but the woman only raised an eyebrow.
“Are you going to study under me as well? This will be difficult. I can already sense some pressure from you. Your presence is as sharp as a well-made sword. But there is something ferocious mixed into it,” She said without formalities, but Percy shook his head.
“I might join some lessons, but I hope you can train Louis. He is stronger than the norm and hard-working. I’m vouching for him. If you need something to train him, come to me. I’m his sponsor.”
Percy was ready to prepare Ego-enhanced Monster Cards for the trio, but he wanted them to study first. Monster Cards were great to convey knowledge if they had Augmentations like [Blade Mastery], but he hoped for more from the trio. They should learn the basics before acquiring additional knowledge from Augmentations. After all, they might replace their Monster Cards in the future, which will then retrieve the knowledge implanted by the Augmentations. That would be… problematic, wouldn’t it?
“Lad, there’s ya weapons,” The Dwarf retrieved a few objects from his pockets and threw them in Percy’s direction.
Spatial pockets? That’s not too bad. He has some style!
The items were a long yet light longsword and a pair of handy axes. The axes weren’t enchanted, but their presence couldn’t be underestimated. They were bloody red, made from a material Percy had never seen before, and glimmered crimson. The longer Percy looked at the axes, the more it looked like they were made from liquid metal.
The edges weren’t as sharp as the Syreablade's, but they were still deadly sharp, perfect for Erik.
Percy accepted the axes with a smile and eyed the broadsword, “I don’t want to sound rude or spoiled, but are you certain this will handle my friend’s power? He destroyed countless Artifacts, and if I want to enchant them with perfectly adjusted runic enchantments….”
“Lad, don’t ya worry. This is Levianit. As long as ya don’t mess up the enchantments, ya friend won’t break this lil precious one!” The Dwarf was overflowing with confidence. That was good. If he was confident in his work, it had to be extraordinary.
[Bloodriver Axes – Perfect Quality/Pair – 262,749 Prosperity]
[Levianit Blade – Perfect Quality – 352,921 Prosperity]
The Bloodriver Axes and Levianit Blades could be considered extraordinary even among unenchanted Master Armaments. They were forged by a Grandmaster Blacksmith’s unique tempering technique with exotic material that should fit perfectly to Erik and Tarlek’s Egos. That being said, all that was missing were the suitable runic enchantments.
That was something Percy would have to complete soon. It would cost a small fortune, but Percy was fine with that. It would be worth it if his gifts could help the brothers survive a near-death situation.
“Thank you,” Percy bowed politely to the Dwarf, who waved his hand dismissively.
“Yer parents forced me, so there is no need for any pleasantries. As long as yer tall friend is as good as your parents promised, I will be happy!”
Now, it was time for Bert to sweat profusely. The Dwarf didn’t want to waste more precious time and gestured to Bert to follow him. Bert looked at Percy like a beaten dog, but Percy merely smiled.
“You told me you want to grow stronger. That’s your opportunity,” Percy pointed in the Dwarf’s direction. Bert looked a little longer at Percy but resigned and nodded. Percy was correct. This was an opportunity. Determination filled his eyes, replacing Bert’s hesitation, “You are right.”
Bert and the Dwarf left and it didn’t take long before Sophia pulled Sabrina away. The Knightsguard/Weaponmaster of the royal palace ushered Louis to follow her after a moment, leaving Percy alone with the Minister of Finances.
“We should follow their lead,” She said, “You have a lot to learn.”
