A day before his field training, Arthur opened the store to find multiple reviews and requests for resupply. The runic cards he placed, at an astonishingly cheap price, were all sold out.
He created two cards. The Heal Cards which were the more popular ones and the Detection Cards which were the less expensive ones.
Even though the Heal Rune wasn't that instantaneous, the fact that it doubled the natural healing of the body was indisputable. Stamina was the stat that governed regeneration and healing. Doubling that amount of healing for awakeners was something only high-tier potions could achieve.
For normal humans, this card wasn't that helpful. For awakeners, this card was crucial for survival. Arthur priced it at 10 Jerano points and they were sold out instantly.
Since he was creating the Heal-I card and not the powerful Heal-III, he didn't need any extra materials to inscribe. As for the Heal-III, it used mana to accelerate healing. This meant that it needed to be combined with a powerful agent to work.
As he walked toward the Runic Department, he heard a group of students chatting among themselves. He strained his ears when he heard them talk about a virtual store.
"Did they resupply yet?"
"No, it's still empty. Damn it, I should've paid more attention since the field training is starting soon."
"Have you read the article? It said that this store has just started working, so it should be resupplying soon. It's also verified by the Runes Department. I'm guessing a family specialized in runes is finally entering the arena."
"I don't know any family specialized in healing runes, that's usually the expertise of..."
The students walked away, leaving Arthur with an inflated ego. He opened the community to read the article about his store.
"Hidden gems indeed."
This was the articles' title, making it quite the clickbait. There were many views on it and a lot of people commented that the prices were either a publicity stunt or a madman giving away his possessions.
From this single set of cards, he had made 130 Jerano Points in a few days. He walked toward the Runic Department and dropped off the box at the inspection office. These were the new cards that would be listed in the virtual store.
He went toward the logistic department and took the package upstairs. As before, he met Yuvan Perli like last time. Yuvan welcomed him into the lab before showing Arthur a card.
"One of the inspectors in the Runic Department bought this because he was amazed at the runic lines," Yuvan said with genuine interest.
As Arthur looked at the card, it was too familiar. Whoever that inspector was, he had bought one of the cards after he did his job. Arthur didn't care who bought it, but he didn't want to be transferred from logistic to research as that would take away his time and energy.
"What's special about it?" Arthur asked, acting oblivious.
"The lines are so finely made. This person is either a genius or a grandmaster. You can see that there aren't any excessive lines, this is the most basic form of the rune."
"Can't you find him?" Arthur asked with apprehension. However, Yuvan shook his head.
"The college is very strict regarding these matters. Many times, people were targeted because of the items they sold. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see this person appear in Jerano." Yuvan's words made Arthur leave the lab with relief.
Since his identity shouldn't be an issue, he wouldn't hold back. As he went to the library after he was done working, Arthur's bracelet buzzed.
His items were approved by the agency. As he was about to sell them, Arthur saw the many reviews demanding a supply and thought of an idea.
Arthur removed the instant selling option from his items. This would make them last longer, thus increasing his popularity. It would also bring him more money, even if it wasn't by a large margin.
He took out another book about teleportation circles and began reading it. With his perception, his reading and comprehension speed was a lot faster than it was for him before.
As he was reading, words appeared in front of him. As soon as he saw them, Arthur grinned.
[A Rune has evolved. Teleport-III: Teleport anywhere in the surrounding space in a ten-kilometer radius.]
Again, he tripled the distance he can cross using his rune. A trip that would have taken him an hour before would now take him twenty minutes.
"H-Hello."
Someone walked up to him and said nervously. As Arthur turned to them, he saw Ellen with her small frame and doll-like face. She was hugging a book that was almost as wide as she was.
"I don't think talking to me is a good idea," Arthur said, concerned that she would be bullied again because of their interaction.
"I know, but I'm going to be your assistant..."
"What assistant?" Arthur was shocked.
"There was a task in Kera as an investigator's assistant," Ellen said and hurried to explain. "I'm from there, so I wanted to visit my family..."
It then clicked that Ellen would obviously choose their hometown as well. However, he didn't know there was another task for an assistant.
"Do you really need to go now?" Arthur tried to persuade her otherwise. "Associating yourself with me right now isn't ideal, you should know that."
"I know we aren't friends," Ellen said blankly, making Arthur stop talking. "Yet, I need to visit my family."
'Has she heard my conversation with Arlo?' Arthur looked at her silently and nodded. 'She must be trying to visit her mother.'
Ellen excused herself and left Arthur alone in the library. He sighed in the realization that this trip wasn't going to be as smooth as he hoped it would be. Even though he doubted Ellen would hinder him, he still preferred traveling alone.
He returned his book and went toward the city. On the way, he received a notification that his bidding auction has ended. He made 200 this time instead of 130, this was the limit of what people considered as a good bargain.
With this, he had 330 for his gear. He went toward Woodrock street and entered the biggest armory in it. It was a place called Invincibility, a brand that made top-tier armor.
As he walked in, Arthur was fascinated by the different array of armor inside. Light, heavy, partial, chainmail, and all sorts of designs that would enhance different aspects of fighting.
"Welcome to Invincibility, how can I help you?"
"I'm looking for light and durable armor. The best you have."
"The bests are priced at 1000, they include a multitude of runes that would enhance your combat and lifestyle in the wilderness or dungeons."
"Mm," Arthur looked around. "No, I want a rune-less armor."
"Follow me then, sir." The attendant was respectful given Arthur's status as an Explorer student. He guided him toward a section of armor that had no runes inscribed on them.
The armors were all light and shiny. They were thin but also looked very durable. As Arthur looked around, he was captivated by the armor on the back.
It was a light armor with a breastplate, pauldrons, armguards, cuisses, and greaves. It was matt black with no light reflecting off its surface.
"How about this one?" Arthur asked as he felt the mana stick to it. The attendant followed his gaze before shaking his head.
"This armor is a deformed product." The attendant looked wary of Arthur's status as a student. "It was created from compressed cores after they were drained, giving it durability and light-weightiness. However, it's impossible to inscribe this item because of the magical properties it has."
The more that he introduced, the more that Arthur felt challenged. If there was an item that can't be inscribed by normal means, didn't that make it tailored for him?
"I'll take it," Arthur said without hesitation. The attendant was shocked and tried to convince him otherwise, but Arthur was ready to pay for it.
"Sir, you can return it if it's not to your liking." The attendant resigned in the end and sold it to Arthur. It was priced at 300 points but Arthur didn't care.
He took the armor and headed back toward his room. Lilo complained when Arthur woke it up to construct a barrier but did it anyway.
Arthur took another one of the materials he had obtained from the competition. It was an ancient tree's branch with six leaves that were called Gallak's Leaves. They were full of mana and were perfect for Arthur to use for his amplification artifacts.
He took out the pieces of the armor and started inscribing Strength and Agility runes. This time, as he used the leaves instead of the cores, the process was more difficult.
The ethereal core grew unstable as Arthur tried to maintain it. It threatened to explode but he used whatever means he could to maintain it.
Sweat poured down his face as Arthur placed the core on the pauldron. The runic lines started seeping into the armor until they covered it in dark green engravings.
By the end of it, Arthur's face was tired. The process was more delicate than he had imagined because of the armor's mana affinity. When he was done, he watched with fascination as the rune grew stronger.
This Strength-III should give him 20 points, but Arthur got a 25 increase when he used it. The magical property of the armor and the high-end materials allowed it to give a tremendous boost in stats.
It was only two hours before he had to leave that Arthur finished his inscriptions. He wore the armor as he saw the changes in his stats.