Anna quickly recovered from her sudden realization that her family might not exactly take her carefree attitude with the same passiveness as they did once upon a time.

  The circumstances had changed, and it was likely that the family she knew was merely playing a role. Such a possibility became more prominent when she considered the fact that her grandfather, or whoever delivered her sword, did so knowing what it would do to the people still in the building.

  Wait. Why did I always blame the sword itself for the deaths? In the moment it seemed obvious that the sword was the cause, especially because of how sharp the air became after I grabbed the sword. But now that I think about it, the air only changed after I grabbed it.

  Anna stopped walking, and Alex stopped beside her. He would’ve asked her what was going on, but she had her thinking face. Alex smiled, looked at her and waited in silence as she processed whatever she needed to process.

  The sword could’ve killed everyone on arrival, like an aoe that just happened when the sword appeared. But now that I see how my family can be. Anna glanced at the homunculi that were all around. I can easily imagine them doing worse things. Not necessarily the people I know, but my family in general. There’s also what they did to that kid. No, that—

  “Stop,” Alex said firmly.

  “Huh?” Anna said, looking at Alex with clear confusion in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Are we there? Do you need me for something?”

  “What? No! What are you talking about,” Alex answered, a bit flustered.

  “Then why did you interrupt me? I was getting somewhere.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Alex said. “You were doing that thing where you overthink everything and if you can’t find an answer to something, you start to imagine more and more things that can explain it. And let me remind you, that your little spirals, have never helped you.”

  Anna blinked repeatedly, stunned by Alex’s words. “Oh… Where are we?”

  “I actually have no idea,” Alex answered. “I mean, I know where we are, but it’s completely different to how it was yesterday, right?”

  “Completely,” Anna answered, absentmindedly.

  The streets of the tournament grounds that had been completely empty when Alex first arrived, or that had only been crowded like a park with nothing to do like when Anna and Stella walked around, were now completely different.

  Everybody had seen the attendants begin to prepare their various shops the previous day, but going from that to how it was now was a complete surprise to Anna and Alex.

  The architecture of most stores followed an old eastern style, wooden and it’s various byproducts like shoji doors with paper filling. But that wasn’t all. Some stores edged more toward modern styles, and even to the future, all while keeping very clear eastern influences.

  “They weren’t like this yesterday, were they?” Alex asked, visibly confused as he glanced around. “I know we were in the arena all day yesterday, but… where did some of these materials even come from? This is not the same place that we were in yesterday.”

  “You know what?” Anna asked.

  “What?”

  “Just take it as it is. This feels like one of those things that just is, and if we ask the attendants, they won’t know why we’re asking, because to them, something like this,” Anna gestured broadly, “is probably a normal thing.”

  Alex paused briefly, considering Anna’s words. “You’re probably right,” he said, agreeing with her. “It’s just that—No! You’re right! Let’s just find a weapon store and get this over with. Maybe get something to eat.”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  The pair walked without any real guidance, merely taking in the view. They saw restaurants, weapon and artifact shops, clothing stores that had martial arts robes, clothing stores that had more modern clothes, stores with a mix of both. There were even stores that from a simple glance, the pair could tell that they couldn’t afford anything.

  “Those are probably reserved for later,” Alex commented, turning away.

  “Look, they even say that only semi-finalists are allowed inside,” Anna said, pointing at a sign on one of the stores.

  “Not to brag, but this is probably the first time in my life that I have ever felt like I needed money… I don’t like it,” Alex said, shaking his head.

  “You know, ever since this all started, I always forget that you were rich.”

  “I wasn’t—”

  “You were Alex, you were,” Anna said, cutting him off. “And the more you say something like that, the more people dislike you.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Alex scoffed. “Where are we right now?”

  “…Oh, look, a weapon store,” Anna said, avoiding the topic.

  Anna, completely ignoring Alex’s comment on her own family’s wealth, hurried toward the nearest weapon shop that she saw.

  The store’s exterior differed little from what a normal store would look like in the 21st century. Brick construction, and a glass window from which to show off the merchandise. Yet, again, there were small eastern influences, like the sliding shoji door.

  Alex, more than willing to let her get away with her brazen avoidance, just followed in silence behind her.

  Once inside, the pair wasn’t surprised to find more of what they had expected, considering the store’s exterior. There were shelves upon shelves of various weapons. Some where behind lock and key, signaling their higher value, while some were tossed in bins.

  From the interior arrangement, it was clear that the weapons were the main focus, but there were also some small artifacts near the counter. They were being sold like candy in a convenience store. And to top it all off, visually cheap and unimportant books were in a magazine stand.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  ““Cultivation Manual for Beginners, 45th Edition By Lamel Ashvelty—What kind of book has an author take over half the cover?” Anna asked, facing the store clerk, who up until this point, had had their backs turned to them, as they fiddled with something behind the counter.

  “Excuse me?” the clerk asked, turning to face the pair.

  To the surprise of both, the clerk was not an attendant. They were, for all accounts and purposes, another human being. The pair had not expected that to be the case and were visibly stunned for a second.

  “Yes?” the clerk asked, demanding the pair’s attention.

  “Ah, sorry,” Anna apologized. “Right. What is this exactly and why does the name of the author take over most of the cover?”

  The clerk squinted a bit, mostly out of reflex Anna guessed, since she could tell that the clerk was at least E rank like her, if not higher.

  “Those are nothing but cheap cultivation manuals, books about learning magic, and some cheap skill books are also thrown in there. You know, to really make it look full.”

  Anna looked at Alex, and she could tell that like her, he was also stunned by the clerk’s honesty.

  “Why did you tell us that?” Alex asked, cautious of his words. “I don’t think you’re supposed to tell your customers that some of your products are cheap.”

  “I didn’t tell you that some of our products are cheap,” the clerk answered. “I told her. You just happened to be close enough to listen.”

  “And why did you tell me?” Anna asked.

  “You should already know,” the clerk said cryptically, but rapidly explained. “It’s because you are part of the main branch of the family. If I were to sell you anything, and you were to, in any way perceive that I did so in bad faith, I would die without even knowing it.”

  “You would?”

  “Yes,” the clerk answered, undisturbed by his own words.

  “Why doesn’t that seem to affect you?” Anna asked.

  “Because that is simply how things are in your family. What is or isn’t a crime is decided by your whims,” the clerk said with a smile. “I hear, that sometime earlier today, one of the three chosen, your family, ordered the death of a restaurant owner who delivered them an unsatisfying dish.”

  Anna’s eyes widened when she heard what the clerk said, as did Alex’s. But Alex guessed that what Anna was feeling was worse. An unwelcome surprise that was amplified upon learning more about what kind of family she belonged to.

  Anna’s head shot toward Alex. “I’m the young master!”

  “I know mount tai,” Alex responded, only to be met with a powerful blow to his side.

  “I’m being serious,” Anna pleaded. “Did you not just hear the same thing I did? A family member of mine casually ordered the death of another person just because they didn’t like their food!”

  “I heard, but I don’t think we should be having this conversation here,” Alex said, trying to calm Anna down. “Let’s just get your sword and go somewhere else.”

  Anna suddenly calmed down, realizing the truth in Alex’s words.

  “You’re right,” she said. Then she turned to the clerk. “What is the best sword you have?”

  Anna guessed that if by their mere words they could get someone killed, then by her mere words she could get the store clerk to save her the trouble of searching the store manually. If this worked, than she wouldn’t have to go sword by sword, inspecting each and every one of them.

  “That one,” the clerk said, pointing toward a sword that casually hung by the door, like an ornament.

  Anna walked toward it.

  “Why is it just there? Couldn’t it have been more obviously placed?” Alex asked, genuinely curious. “You know, bringing attention to it.”

  “The family has certain rules, and this is one of them,” the clerk answered. “Let me be clear, this isn’t something specific to this tournament. It’s something that all of the family’s stores do.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s probably as a sort of test for the customers—or in this—family members,” Anna answered, sword in hand. “Something about being able to recognize things and how that would also count as a trial, or something along those lines.” She turned to the clerk. “Right?”

  The clerk only nodded.

  Anna brought her attention back to the sword in her hands and used Inspect on it. The blade was entirely charcoal black, it had one edge and was completely straight.

  A chokuto, Anna thought.

  Blade of 87 folds.

  Rank E

  Sword created by folding a special alloy a total of 87 times. The strength and durability of the blade are nearing the limits of their grade. This sharp increase in the blade’s resilience comes at the expense of its sharpness.

  “How much?” Anna asked.

  “4 points,” the clerk answered.

  Anna winced at the price. For their victory, Alex and Anna had earned 3 points each. After asking around, they quickly pieced together the reward structure: a win was worth 3 points, while merely participating in a match granted 1 point. Even Stella, despite her loss, had managed to earn a single point.

  “We’ll take it,” Alex answered without hesitation. “But before that. I have a question, and please, if you don’t want to answer, consider that she’ll ask the same question to make sure that you answer.”

  “Ok. Ask ahead,” the clerk said, uninterested.

  “Is the sword upgradeable—No, wait.” Alex pondered the question in his mind. “How upgradeable are weapons in general? And if the answer is different for each weapon, then, how upgradeable is that sword?” he asked, pointing at the sword in Anna’s hands.

  “The answer changes for each weapon, but not by much,” the clerk began. “You can upgrade a wooden stick to limits you can’t even imagine. But it all comes down to cost.”

  Alex waited for the clerk to continue, but he didn’t, and before he could ask a question, Anna beat him to it.

  “What do you mean by costs?” she asked.

  “I won’t go into specifics because it is clear that you still have some time to get to this point, but when you wish to upgrade a weapon, you need to make up for its deficiencies. For example, that blade, unless you wanted to do something specific with it, wouldn’t require that many resources to upgrade if you only enhanced its existing properties.”

  “What properties?” Anna asked.

  “This enters into the specifics that I don’t think you need to know yet,” the clerk said, not answering.

  “It feels like half an answer,” Alex commented.

  “It is what it is,” the clerk said dismissively.

  “Ok. That seems like everything we’ll get from you,” Alex said, remembering something else. “One final question.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “You are an actual individual person, right? Why are you here?” Alex asked, finally asking the question that he was desperate to know the answer to.

  The clerk appeared to be stunned at the question, but quickly answered.

  “Family quest. To be specific, her family sends a quest to the branches, they send their own version of the quest to their branches, and it basically gets passed down until eventually a quest that somehow fulfills the original one reaches a family like mine.”

  The pair mulled over the answer. Considering what they knew about their own settlement, they could easily imagine how a system like the one that the clerk described could come to be.

  “Thank you,” Alex said, sincerely.

  “Yeah, thank you,” Anna also said.

  The pair approached the counter and paid for the sword, which Anna swiftly put into her storage.

  “What’s your name?” Anna asked.

  “Not allowed,” the clerk answered, flatly.

  Anna only nodded and yanked Alex by the arm, ready to leave the store. When they were only a few steps from the door, the clerk called out once more.

  “Remember, the stores are just like any other. What might be expensive in an armor shop, might be worthless in a jewelry store.”

  The pair paused, considered the clerk’s words and left after giving their thanks.

  “All in all, I think that this was a great shopping experience, don’t you think?” Alex said, turning to Anna.

  “Yeah,” she answered, halfheartedly.

  “Come on, we got a lot from that clerk,” Alex began. “We got you a replacement weapon, we learned a bit more about your family. And most important of all, we finally answered the upgrade question.”

  “A question whose answer doesn’t apply to us because neither of us uses weapons,” Anna pointed out.

  “Yes, but what about artifacts?”

  “Can we eat first?”

  “Yes, come on,” Alex said, taking the lead.

  ----------

  “Ms. Flame, I did not expect your visit,” Robert said, a small smile on his face. “That was quite a match yesterday and just let me say, you really sent a message. But I also can’t imagine such a display of power leaving you perfectly fine. I personally thought that you were still recovering.”

  Stella ignored Robert’s opening remarks and simply walked toward the small circular table he was sitting at. He wasn’t alone. To his left, he had a woman with a ponytail, to his right he had a young Asian man who was holding a katana, and on the couches behind the table, were three other people.

  “Let’s talk,” Stella said, confidently.

  If you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see, characters or plot points that you're curious about, please let me know in the comments. And if you can, please drop a rating or review, good or bad, I want to know how I'm doing and your feedback is the best indicator.

  Once again, thank you for reading!