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Path to Prosperity - B2 Chapter 27
🕑 Added 2024-08-27 10:00:07 +0000 UTCThe first thing Percy did in the morning was to search the shopping alley. He devised a few interesting plans but most required him to look like an esteemed noble or a wealthy Gifted.
That was how he ended up in one of the more prestigious tailor shops minutes after they opened. The master tailor accepted only customers if one of his returning customers vouched for them. Percy didn’t want to debate with the master tailor, but he was also unwilling to leave and search for another shop. Purchasing a few sets of clothes from a master tailor, someone who customized dresses, suits, and ‘casual’ clothes for the nobility, was exactly what Percy needed.
“Can Melissa Reeze or her father vouch for me? I can leave and get them if you want–...” Percy offered lightheartedly, observing as the color in the tailor master’s face drained.
“You are acquainted with the duke and his daughter?” The master tailor asked slowly while trying to regain composure, but Percy’s nonchalant smile didn’t help.
If anything, the master tailor’s expression worsened as he lost against his creative mind. He imagined the worst and quickly covered his shellshocked expression with a business smile.
“How may I help you, sir?”
I am sorry about that. All I want are some clothes.
**
Percy left the tailor shop after one hour. The master tailor measured his sizes to customize the sets of clothes Percy had requested before telling him to leave him alone for a while. Percy couldn’t tell how long the master tailor would need to customize the masterpieces, but he wasn’t in a rush.
What next? I need new swords for Hyean, leather armor for myself, and a bunch of materials. Buying a building is probably out of the question with my fortune – in the capital at least – but I should have no problem renting a small shop in a decent location. That leaves the supply of goods and…a storage device.
His stomach grumbled, reminding him of another important task.
I also need some good food!
Satisfying his stomach was, by far, the easiest task. Percy entered the first bakery he found and purchased a bag full of pastry, bread, and some other stuff he had never seen before. The unknown stuff was delicious and very sweet, but Percy couldn’t understand why there was a hole in them.
Why in the seven hells would you put a hole in my sweets?! I paid the full price, so I want everything!
He grumbled inwardly but hummed on the outside as he savored the delicious little rings. Filling his stomach was an ordeal, especially for his poor wallet, but Percy enjoyed eating more than anything. He enjoyed every little moment of it and was sad when the bag was empty.
“Should I come back here tomorrow?” Percy mumbled, the corner of his lips curling upward at the thought.
We will see about that. I should shop now!
He had been busy eating for a while now but didn’t waste any time and entered a nearby shop. The shop wasn’t big and looked lackluster compared to Erdwin’s shop in Raewood. That was something Percy never expected from the capital.
But then again, Erdwin’s shop had been large and filled with treasures. The sneaky merchant had displayed Monster Cards as well. Percy had been window shopping for a while when he walked through the shopping alley, but he rarely saw as many Monster Cards displayed as Erdwin had.
“Is Erdwin actually a big shot?” Percy asked in silence as he moved through the shop until he found what he was looking for.
A spatial ring.
“I’d recommend you to purchase a spatial pouch or one of those bracelets if you want some decent pocket space for your first spatial device, lad. Spatial rings might be of greater quality and are more stable than other storage devices, but you cannot store much in them,” An unfamiliar voice rang out beside Percy.
His head flicked left, and he saw a middle-aged man, the shop owner, smiling at him.
“So, spatial rings have a smaller pocket space, but they’re more expensive than the spatial pouches and bracelets. Why is that?”
The merchant smiled and pointed at the nearest pouches. Some of them were clearly used. The leather from one was on the verge of tearing apart, while the runic enchantments on the remaining used pouches were dimmer than the runic enchantments on the spatial rings.
“Runic pouches are known to be unstable. No matter what runic enchantment you engrave on a pouch, you will wear it out with every use of the enchantment. Pouches made of high quality last a little longer, but you shouldn’t expect a spatial pouch to last longer than half a cycle. Their runic enchantments are always active, draining the pouch’s durability slowly but steadily.”
He pointed at the bracelets and shrugged, “Runic bracelets are solid and very stable. That is if you can engrave a runic enchantment on its surface. Runic bracelets are difficult to enchant because most bracelets have to look aesthetically pleasing as well. It would be easier to weld a large metal plate around your arm and engrave a few runic enchantments on it, but nobody would purchase something like that. No. Let me take that back. Some Adventurers would purchase such runic plates, but the demand is too little to increase the supply.”
“Last but not least, rings can be enchanted more easily. They’re solid and in one piece, which makes everything a little bit easier. The only issue with spatial rings is that they’re too stable to contain large pocket dimensions. Runic rings require stability. The instant the stability within runic rings is lost, they will shatter. Therefore, it is commonly known that runic rings with large pocket spaces are forged by the greatest artisans using the most valuable materials.”
Percy nodded slowly.
“That’s why they’re more expensive.”
He picked one of the spatial rings while smiling at the merchant.
“Do you have some high-quality rings which have not yet been enchanted?” Percy asked, noticing the merchant’s expression too late, “I…eh…I want to gift this ring to someone, but she is not Gifted. So…”
The merchant raised his hands and waved dismissively, “Calm down, lad. There is no need to explain anything to me. I have various promise rings to sell. As for the small spatial ring. It will be a valuable purchase if you don’t need large pocket dimensions to store much. The ring will last decades before it starts deteriorating.”
Percy smiled and spent another thirty minutes with the merchant before he left the shop, one gold coin and 50 silver poorer. The instant he stepped out of the shop, he used [Consume] on Prosperity while checking the interfaces of his newest purchases.
Spatial Ring(Lesser)
Average Quality
7019 Prosperity
[Pocket Dimension], ~[Expanded Space]~, ~[Protect]~, ~[Mana Storage]~
The spatial ring was priced at one gold coin, but Percy purchased it for 80 silver coins after negotiating for a while. He made sure the shop owner would give him a nice price for the set of rings he’d purchased. The remaining 70 silver coins were spent on the three other rings he’d purchased.
The first ring was an ordinary ring made from Silvron. It looked beautiful with its calmingly silvery tone but had the worst energy conductivity among the rings he’d purchased. But that was fine. Percy bought it as an experiment.
Still, Percy checked the Lesser Spatial Ring’s interface before paying attention to the unenchanted rings.
I…cannot upgrade the Pocket Dimension. There is a red tinge mixed into the silverish-golden hue. Does that mean I ‘could’ theoretically upgrade it, but the spatial ring would shatter from the instability? Is that also why a red tinge is in the [Expanded Space] runic enchantment? Theoretically, I could unseal the runic enchantment and engrave it on the ring, but it would shatter. That is good to know.
Interestingly enough, Percy could add the [Protect] enchantment to the Lesser Spatial Ring, but he was unwilling to waste his precious Prosperity to play around. He did not have many Prosperity points left and probably had to use them on the three unenchanted rings.
If one of them had one or multiple nice enchantments. Maybe even a larger Pocket Dimension enchantment? That would be great.
“Let’s see what magic I can cast with my Ego!”
