Chapter 47: A Good Investment
After chatting with Luke for a bit longer, reassuring him that he didn’t have to worry even if they didn’t get any more customers for the next few days, Arthur headed back to his room.
He lay down on his bed, his thumb brushing against the edge of his bracelet as he closed his eyes and muttered the word ’Zenith’.
The world around him instantly seemed to tip. The bed beneath him disappeared, as if it had been yanked away, and everything around him went dark.
...And then a series of sensations assaulted him all at once.
Light, noise, and the familiar flurry of motion.
Arthur found himself back in the alley at the heart of the city, not far from the Golden Oak auction house.
The alley itself was relatively isolated, yet Arthur could still hear the endless noise coming from the main street.
Everything was still the same.
With just a thought, Arthur brought up his status window.
[Name: Arthur Shaw]
[Age: 19]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Mage]
[Title: Child of the Elements (Unique), Goblin Slayer]
[Level: 7]
[HP: 160 / 160]
[Mana: 230 / 230]
[Strength: 14+]
[Intelligence: 17+]
[Wisdom: 16+]
[Agility: 13+]
[Vitality: 8+]
[Elemental Affinity: Fire (Minor), Water (Minor)]
[Skills: Water Arrow]
[Unassigned Stat Points: 2]
He looked at his stats after his most recent level-up and, as always, pressed the plus signs next to his Strength and Agility. He’d already decided to go down this path until he was done with the tutorial, so there was no point backing out right now.
After a moment, he dismissed the floating panel and turned in the direction of the city gates.
There were still about twenty minutes or so until he was supposed to meet up with John, so there was still plenty of time.
So Arthur just stood there a moment, weighing his options.
"A thousand elemental stones..."
It wasn’t a small amount by any means. In fact, it was the bulk of what he had right now, and just a day ago, such a sum could have been exchanged for a hundred thousand US dollars, which could alleviate a lot of his worries.
But as much as Arthur wanted to hoard everything until he’d gathered all six thousand stones, he understood that wasn’t a practical choice.
The disadvantages were too obvious.
What he was about to do was no different from buying insurance back on Earth... but there was no other choice.
So he had no choice but to grit his teeth and take the punch to the gut.
...
The smithy’s heat rolled into his face once more as Arthur stepped through the door.
The dwarf sat in front of his anvil as always, his hammer rising and falling in a steady rhythm that didn’t hurry for anyone or anything. The metal on it glowed with a dull orange color, each strike throwing a scatter of sparks that died quickly against the stone. It looked like he was almost done with whatever he was crafting.
"Back already, kid?" the dwarf called without missing a beat.
Arthur stared at the man, and after a moment, he said,
"I need a storage bag." Since he’d decided on it, he might as well get it done in one go.
The hammer stopped mid-swing. The dwarf set it aside and finally looked up, his gray eyes sparkling under the light of the flames.
"Good choice," he said, the corners of his mouth curving up.
He then ducked behind the counter, rummaging through his things, and came up with a plain leather pouch, almost identical to the one Arthur had seen the first time he’d come here with John.
If it sat in a pile with a dozen others, you probably wouldn’t be able to pick it out.
The dwarf placed it on the counter and stretched out a hand as he said,
"You know the price, right? One thousand base stones. No haggling."
Then he pointed at the pouch and continued,
"Also, remember that this item is [Soulbound], meaning you’re the only one who can access it. But thanks to that, even if you die, anything you’ve stored inside stays intact. Trust me, kid, it’s a good investment. You’ll thank me later."
Arthur hesitated for a moment before nodding. So he untied the pouches at his belt and poured out the stones onto the counter.
Red and blue light skittered across the polished wood, occasionally mixed with something else, a few stones that sparkled with green and white.
He counted everything out in tens and twenties as he sorted them across the counter, intentionally picking out the stones that were neither water nor fire. The dwarf watched with the same patience as always. He didn’t seem to care that Arthur was picking out certain stones.
Well, why would he?
A base elemental stone was the same to everyone, regardless of its nature. Only alchemists cared about the elements themselves, and the kid in front of him definitely wasn’t one. He probably thought those stones were more valuable than others.
In the blink of an eye, Arthur had the amount arranged neatly on the counter, prompting the dwarf to nod in satisfaction.
The man counted the stones mentally before sweeping everything into his own storage bag.
Then he tossed the leather pouch to Arthur with a grin.
[Storage Bag (Minor) detected.]
[Bind to user?]
[Yes / No]