"Student Noah, your talent is truly impressive," Yamamoto said simply, pausing for a second to evaluate Noah before continuing. "Your student shows remarkable development, Tanaka-san."
"He’s exceeded my every expectation, which brings us to why you’re here today," Tanaka replied with obvious pride.
Master Yamamoto studied Noah with a calculating gaze. "Tell me, young man. How do you feel about testing your abilities against opponents beyond this dojo’s walls?"
Noah raised an eyebrow, sensing something significant approaching. "What kind of testing?"
"A tournament, but not the public competitions you might expect," Tanaka explained.
Master Yamamoto stepped forward, his expression growing more serious. "We’re talking about a private tournament. Invitation only. The kind of event where extraordinary talent meets extraordinary people."
Noah paused for a second, evaluating the man in front of him carefully. The master’s bearing suggested someone connected to martial arts circles far beyond anything he’d previously encountered.
A private tournament with extraordinary people. It seems like Earth isn’t as...normal as I thought it was. It might have some hidden masters, although I doubt it’s anything above the apprentice rank at best.
Then he nodded after making his decision. He wanted to see what this tournament was about, and it would undoubtedly be beneficial for advancing his swordsmanship skills further.
"Alright, I accept," Noah declared without hesitation.
Whatever this tournament involves, it represents an opportunity to test my abilities against serious opponents.
Master Yamamoto nodded with obvious satisfaction, his expression suggesting he’d expected exactly that response. "Anyone with a true passion for swordsmanship would accept such an offer. Your enthusiasm confirms our assessment of your character."
"You don’t have to worry about preparation details for now. When the tournament begins in about a few days, I will personally come to the dojo to find you. Then we will travel together to the area." Yamamoto explained.
Noah nodded casually, not thinking too deeply about the implications of such personalised attention from someone who was clearly a significant figure in martial arts circles.
A week from now. Perfect timing.
In his mind, Noah calculated his likely progression over the next seven days. With his current advancement rate and training schedule, his swordsmanship would most likely reach apprentice rank by tournament time.
Level 10 swordsmanship means apprentice rank. That should provide a solid foundation for whatever competition awaits.
After they concluded their discussion, Noah took advantage of the dojo’s facilities to clean up properly. The shower washed away the sweat from intensive sparring while giving him time to simply relax.
He changed into fresh clothes from his gym bag, feeling refreshed and ready for the evening’s remaining obligations.
As he prepared to leave the dojo, Noah remembered his dinner commitment. Aunt Mei had invited him for a family meal, and after the day’s excitement, spending time with relatives sounded like exactly the kind of normalcy he needed.
Family dinner. A chance to decompress and act like a regular person for a few hours.
He made his way to his GT-R, the sports car providing comfortable transportation as he drove through the city toward his aunt’s house.
After enjoying some time with his aunt, Ethan, and Uncle Smith, Noah headed home feeling refreshed from normal family interaction.
Tomorrow, he would be picking up his dad from the hospital. A moment he’d been anticipating since witnessing the miraculous effects of the bread in his shop.
Finally bringing Dad home healthy. That alone makes everything worthwhile.
The next day, Noah woke up to the familiar chime of his system’s daily notifications.
[Daily Income rewarded!]
[$165,000 & Tier 5 Wind Orb]
The wind orb materialised in his storage ring, bringing his total collection to four of the legendary artefacts.
Four Tier 5 wind orbs. I think it’s overkill at this point; I might have to switch back to dollars. I really want to get the idle room already.
Noah checked his status, curious to see how Lola’s night shift had performed, and was amazed by what he discovered.
Daily Revenue: $295,000 (or equivalent)
Current Assets: $577,640.21
Attributes: Strength: 30, Vitality: 20, Intelligence: 20, Agility: 30
Skills: Swordsmanship(Level 8), Mana Control (Level 7), Aura (Level 7), Wind Manipulation (Level 6), Body Tempering (Level 5), Surviving on Ramen (Level 3), Cooking (Level 2), Programming (Level 2), Gaming (Level 2), Finance (Level 2)
His shop points had increased by a whopping 2,400 points during the time he slept! Furthermore, his monetary assets had increased by $285,000, which included his daily income of $165,000 plus additional sales revenue.
Lola really worked hard during the night. These numbers are incredible.
Production Rate: 4 Iced teas every hour
Production Rate: 8 Loaves every hour
Checking his auto-makers revealed the scope of Lola’s successful night shift. She had nearly sold the entire iced tea inventory—68 bottles completely depleted during her shift.
Even more impressively, she had sold 144 loaves of bread, representing an extraordinary sales volume that exceeded anything he’d achieved during daytime operations.
144 bread sales in one night. That’s incredible productivity.
The massive sales numbers made perfect sense when Noah considered recent developments. His new fame as a viscount, combined with the public trial’s revelation of his role in exposing the conspiracy, had generated enormous public interest in his mysterious shop.
Furthermore, the increased production rate also played a massive role.
Word was spreading throughout the kingdom about the modest store that sold powerful magical enhancement items, and day by day, more people were learning about his nighttime operating hours.
Feeling excellent about how the day was beginning, Noah got up from his bed and made his way to the shower. The warm water helped him fully wake up while he planned his schedule around the important hospital visit.
After cleaning up, he decided to share a quick breakfast with Lola before picking up his father. A meal of bread and iced tea would provide both sustenance and an opportunity to thank her for the exceptional work she’d done overnight.
He arrived at the shop to find Lola looking satisfied during her productive shift. Her ruby eyes brightened as she spotted him appearing.
"Good morning," she greeted with obvious pleasure at seeing him. "I hope you don’t mind, but I got a bit aggressive with sales last night. Hehe~"
Noah laughed as he retrieved breakfast items from his restocked inventory. "Aggressive is an understatement. You sold almost everything we had in stock."
They shared the magical breakfast for about ten minutes, the enhanced bread and iced tea providing perfect nutrition while they discussed the night’s remarkable success.
"The customers kept coming," Lola explained between bites. "Word has definitely spread about your shop. Many people specifically asked about the ’viscount’s magical store.’"
Noah nodded, listening to her relaying the things that had happened during the day.
He glanced at the stock and realised there was enough for the representative of Elara and Valeria when they arrive soon.
"Make sure there is enough for them when they arrive. Like before, twenty-four of each for both of them. Also, tell them that the stock has increased for the bread. They can double their purchasing power for the bread only, the iced tea remains the same."
He allowed them to purchase more bread because it had a higher production rate, meaning he would still have some to sell to citizens. As for the iced tea, it had a slower production rate, hence he decided to keep half the stock for the citizens since there was more traffic now.
After eating, he excused himself and returned back to earth. Ready to take his father out of the hospital.