Elara walked closer to collect her purchases when suddenly the glass bottles vanished in front of Noah.
Noah's eyes widened in shock. One moment, ten glass bottles sat on his counter.
The next? It was empty air.
Is that... the rumoured storage ring? I've never seen her use it before.
"Your Highness, was that a storage ring?"
She nodded with a mischievous grin. "Do you want one?"
Noah's head bobbed like an overexcited chicken. "How much?"
"They're quite expensive..."
Her pause stretched dramatically.
"But I'll give it to you for free."
"Free? Why?" Noah's business instincts screamed suspicion. "You always buy my items. I've never given you anything for free."
Her smile widened dangerously. "Not everyone's a cheapskate. Besides, consider it a friendship gift."
A simple black ring appeared in her palm.
It had a matte finish and no decorative carvings. It was utterly unremarkable except for its magical function of storage.
Noah slipped it onto his finger, waiting for some kind of mystical sensations or magical awareness.
He concentrated harder, trying to probe the ring's interior.
"Sigh...You... you can't access the ring without probing into it using your mana."
"Really?" Genuine surprise colored her voice.
I just lost my mysterious shopkeeper aura. I should've acted nonchalant.
"Think of mana like... breathing," she began, settling onto the counter's edge. "You don't think about breathing normally, but you can control it consciously."
Noah closed his eyes, trying to feel something beyond his normal senses.
"Mana flows around us constantly. Imagine it as invisible water, surrounding your body."
"Feel for the current."
Minutes passed. Noah felt absolutely nothing except growing embarrassment.
"Try this. Imagine your breath has colour. When you exhale, see it glowing softly around your hands."
Glowing breath. Right. What colour, blue? red?
Noah's concentration wavered between focus and frustration.
"Don't force it," Elara coached.
"Mana responds to gentle awareness, not brute effort. Like... like trying to remember a happy memory you can't quite recall."
Something flickered. Not vision exactly, but a strange tingling sensation in his fingertips.
The feeling vanished immediately.
"I felt something! For like half a second!"
The process repeated.
Noah kept having fleeting contact before losing and restarting again. But with each attempt, he lasted slightly longer than the last.
Finally, Noah opened his eyes with a gasp.
[You have learned the new skill: Mana Control Lvl.1]
Finally! I can finally feel the mana around me. Soon I will be able to throw fireballs and perhaps fly?
"I've troubled you too much," Noah said, guilt replacing his feeling of achievement.
"I enjoyed it." Elara shook her head. "I'll come another time. Maybe we can continue then?"
"That would be great. Thank you."
As she moved toward the door, Noah called out, "Wait!"
He hurried to the shelves, selecting a golden loaf. "Here, you can have this. I know it's not much, but it's what I have."
Elara's eyes immediately fixated on the more expensive section. "I'm quite thirsty..." She gazed longingly at the remaining iced tea bottles.
This princess is as subtle in her request as a brick to the face.
"I'm feeling quite thirsty too. There's a water vendor over there."
Noah's thick skin activated fully.
"Why don't we go have some together?"
The princess's mouth twitched dangerously before she burst into laughter.
"You're absolutely shameless."
"Alright, let's go get some water then." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "But you're buying."
That's fair enough, princess. Water's cheaper than ten-gold-coin tea after all.
As they headed toward the vendor, Noah couldn't help but grin. He'd gained a new skill.
Daily Revenue: $1,300
Current Assets: $12,700.42
Attributes: Strength: 4, Vitality: 4, Intelligence: 7, Agility: 3
Skills: Swordsmanship(Level 1), Mana Control (Level 1), Programming (Level 2), Finance (Level 1), Surviving on Ramen (Level 3)
"Thank you for the lesson," Noah said finally after taking a sip of the water.
"Thank you for the entertainment."
"Tomorrow, my guard will collect the usual order."
She departed with royal grace, leaving Noah alone with his thoughts. The afternoon sun slanted lower, creating shadows across the plaza.
Since I'm already out...I should collect the billboard from Henrik's carpentry stall.
He'd completely forgotten after the incident with Kip.
Hope he actually finished it.
Henrik looked up from his current project.
"Ah, it's you again." Sawdust coated the man's beard like snow. "Your sign's ready. I had almost thought that you would not come back today, I was about to leave soon."
Relief flooded through Noah. "Oh, it's good that you didn't, perfect timing."
Henrik disappeared behind his workbench, emerging with a rectangular wooden board. With some simple yet elegant black writing.
It looks professional and legitimate. Exactly what I needed.
"Beautiful work." Noah examined the clean lines and precise lettering. "This should draw more customers."
"About that..." Henrik's expression grew curious. "Had three people ask about healing bread today."
Noah's pulse quickened. Word spreads fast in this city.
"Really? What did they ask about specifically?"
"Just asking around, following rumours." Henrik wiped sawdust from his hands. "I told them I'd heard the same stories."
"They wanted to know the price."
Here we go. The moment of truth.
"What did you tell them?"
"What I heard from you. Three gold coins per loaf."
Noah braced himself. "And their reaction?"
Henrik's mouth twisted into something between sympathy and resignation. "They said nothing. Just walked away quietly."
"Not everyone has three gold coins in this city," the carpenter continued, his tone matter-of-fact rather than judgmental.
"How many people can actually afford that price?" Noah asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.
Henrik shrugged. "Nobles, merchants, adventurers. Maybe a few dozen families in the entire city."
Noah stared at the sign in his hands.
He thanked Henrik and headed back to his shop.