“Let’s have some tea when you are free, okay?”
“Sure.”
“It’s a promise, right?”
“Okay.”
The pretty girl smiled before returning to her group of friends, who were all giggling as they threw Ethan side-long glances.
Chloe, who was right beside his cousin, wasn’t too pleased with this outcome, but she didn’t say anything and simply pouted.
When Ethan had forced Lily to surrender in their duel, almost every student in the academy looked down on him for using such a disgusting spell.
The ladies even made sure to cover their noses whenever they walked past him, silently shouting at him that he smelled bad.
Of course, not everyone reacted this way, including the lady who had invited Ethan to an afternoon tea party with her friends.
Since the handsome teenager wanted to get along with his schoolmates, he decided to accept their invitation in order to form good connections with them.
Henry had drilled into his head that you never know what could happen in the future.
The Head Prefect added that having connections with wizard families was better than having no one to lean on when things start to get troublesome.
Since Ethan idolized Henry, he took his advice seriously and didn’t reject those who wished to become his friends.
“What’s wrong, Chloe?” Ethan asked after seeing the annoyed look on his cousin’s face.
“Nothing,” Chloe replied. “Let’s just hurry and go to the Academy’s Treasury that’s open to the public. You might find something there that will help you in our first mission.”
“Okay.” Ethan nodded before holding her hand, which caught Chloe by surprise.
However, she didn’t resist or make any effort to pry Ethan’s hand away from her. The two walked in this manner until they reached their destination.
Brynhildr Academy had two Treasuries.
One of them housed priceless magical treasures which were locked away somewhere within the academy grounds.
The other one was the treasury that was open to the public, which motivated students to do their best in order to save up enough Merit Points to buy the items that were on display.
With over 50 Thousand Merit Points under his belt, Ethan had enough resources to buy one or two magical artifacts in the treasury that would boost his chances of completing their Field Mission with ease.
Ethan and Chloe formed a team together and registered as a Duo.
Truth be told, after the tournament ended, many approached Ethan to invite him to their party for the Field Missions.
However, Ethan turned them down and said that he was already at a party with his cousin, Chloe.
But even though he already told them this, some of them insisted that he should consider their offer if he found Chloe lacking and unable to complete their mission together.
Ethan brushed off these side remarks, and even remembered the people who looked down on his cousin. He had no intention of joining the group of people, who only wanted him due to his popularity, which he had gained after Dud Manor became the Champion of the Clash of Manors.
When he was still powerless and had no prospects in the academy, no one else but Chloe helped him overcome the doubts in his heart. He would not allow others to look down on her, even if they didn’t succeed in their mission. 𝞸𝔳𝑙xt.𝒸𝞸𝓜
For him, having someone he trusted to look after his back was a good thing. He preferred to have his cousin by his side than some random snake who could bite his back when he least expected it.
“Wow! There are so many magical artifacts here,” Chloe couldn’t help but stare in amazement at the number of artifacts that were on display.
She was like a little girl who had come to the Toy Store for the first time in her life.
Ethan couldn’t help but smile after seeing Chloe like this, but he had to admit that even he didn’t expect that the Treasury would be this amazing.
There were also other students browsing the items that were on display as if they were window shopping. When they noticed Ethan’s presence, all of them looked at him with envy because they knew that he had enough Merit Points to buy a few things in the treasury.
Ethan ignored their envious gazes and looked in the direction of the Sword Section, where several magical swords were on display.
Even though he didn’t know how to use a sword, he still felt drawn to them, perhaps influenced by the stories he had read about Knights fighting against Dragons and evil monsters that tried to invade their lands.
However, after glancing at the Merit Points needed to purchase them, the handsome teenager almost choked on his own saliva.
“This sword needs 40,000 Merit Points,” Ethan muttered. “That one needs 45,000.”
The more he looked at the Sword Section, the more he felt that he was extremely lucky for being able to be awarded with 50,000 Merit Points after winning the tournament.
Some of the swords even cost 80,000 Merit Points and above, which made the corner of Ethan’s lips twitch.
He had a feeling that even if he stayed in the academy for a year, he wouldn’t have enough Merit Points to purchase the most expensive sword that was on display.
After seeing everything in the Sword Section, he moved towards the Armor Section.
There, he found armors that caught his interest, but just like the Sword Section, they all had high prices, making Ethan feel as if his 50,000 Merit Points were nothing to be happy about.
After feeling like a poor person, he noticed Chloe staring intently at one of the displays in the Accessory Section.
Feeling curious about what his cousin was looking at, Ethan snuck up behind her and took a peek.
Chloe was looking at a pair of rings made of Mithril that was emanating a faint light.
It had a unique design that looked very pleasant to the eyes.
‘It’s no wonder she is staring at it intently,’ Ethan thought with a smile as he read the information about the ring that was on display.
———————
< Guardian Rings >
— These rings come in pairs and have a passive ability to cure their owners if they are poisoned.
Take note that it couldn’t completely cure all poisons, but it will allow their owners to resist its effects for a period of time, giving them time to get an antidote to fully cure it.
— These rings also allow their owners to communicate as long as they are within a thousand meters of each other. The communication ability will lose its effectiveness once one of the ring holders goes out of range.
— These rings also protect their owners from the effects of Miasma or similar elements for the duration of two hours. This ability can be used once a day.
— These rings can cast the spell Lux Aeterna three times a day.
— These rings can also be used to cast a barrier that can protect its owner from offensive spells that are as strong as a Fireball Spell. Any spell that is above that category will shatter the barrier instantly.
This ability can be used once a day.
———————
After reading the information about the rings, Ethan thought that it was a very useful accessory.
‘Twenty Thousand Merit Points,’ Ethan mused. ‘For its effects, I think the price is worth it. Also, it comes in pairs, which is a good thing.’
After making sure that the rings would be very useful to him, Ethan lightly tapped Chloe’s shoulder, causing the young beauty to jump up in shock.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Chloe complained as she pressed her right hand over her chest, in an effort to calm herself down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Ethan replied apologetically. “As an apology, how about I buy that ring for you?”
“Huh?” Chloe blinked once then twice because she thought that she misheard her cousin.
“I said, as an apology, I will buy that ring for you,” Ethan repeated before catching the attention of one of the staff that was tasked to handle transactions in the treasury. “I would like to purchase these Guardian Rings, please.”
“Certainly,” the lady who seemed to be in her early thirties replied with a smile. “That will be Twenty Thousand Merit Points.”
Ethan nodded and pressed his hand over a crystal ball. A moment later, the number 20,000 appeared, and the staff confirmed that the merit points had been transformed.
“Here are the Guardian Rings,” the lady said with a smile as she presented Ethan with an ornate box that contained the Guardian Rings. “Thank you for your purchase.”
Ethan casually opened the box and took one of the rings inside it.
He then slid the Guardian Ring onto Chloe’s Ring finger, who seemed to be still in a daze.
“Done,” Ethan said before looking up to look at her cousin, whose gaze was fixed on the ring on his hand.
A few minutes later, a blush appeared on Chloe’s face before she thanked Ethan for his gift.
“Here. As my way of thanking you, allow me to help you wear the other ring,” Chloe stated.
Without even waiting for Ethan’s reply, she took the ring from the box and slid it onto Ethan’s ring finger. When both rings were both worn by their owners, both of them glowed faintly, making the two teenagers shudder.
They couldn’t understand what just happened, but they immediately sensed some sort of connection with each other.
As if wanting to experiment, Ethan decided to try one of the features of the ring right away.
‘Hello, testing. Can you hear me?’ Ethan asked as he tried to talk to Chloe mentally.
‘I-I can hear you!’ Chloe replied. ‘Is this one of the effects of the ring?’
‘It seems like it.’
‘Incredible.’
Chloe felt genuinely happy because she felt somewhat closer to Ethan due to the unique abilities of the Guardian Rings.
While the young lady was being immersed in happiness, Ethan began looking at the Spear Section of the Treasury.
A Spear and a Pitchfork might be different from each other, but both can be used in the same way when it comes to fighting.
Although his Moulding Ball was good, he felt that it was good to find another weapon that would be better than the one he currently had.
But, just as he was browsing the Spear Section, he couldn’t help but feel that something was calling out to him at the corner of the room.
Ethan followed this nagging feeling and came to another section of the Treasury where the sign, “Defective Goods. Buy at your own risk!” could be seen.
It was a collection of magical artifacts that were damaged during its creation, making them unable to meet the requirements of their creator.
However, even though they were flawed, their makers believed that some people could still use them.
There was a famous saying that “Another man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.” With this principle in mind, their creators donated these flawed creations to Brynhildr Magic Academy, hoping that some of the students would be able to make use of them.
Ethan’s gaze landed on what seemed to be a trident, which was made with some kind of dark blue metal.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he felt as if the Trident was calling out to him from the pile of “flawed creations” that the students in Brynhildr Academy ignored due to how random their effects were.
—————
Announcement Regarding Your Donations in my Patre0n Account.
Since I was unable to do my part in updating the page, I will be refunding all Tiers that you had paid for from July – September. Things happened IRL, like my collaborator who injured her wrist and was unable to continue writing Kingdom Building Done Right.
I don’t want to abuse your support, so I decided to stop updating the page because I don’t want you guys to spend money on something that doesn’t give you equivalent exchange.
If you still want to donate after I refunded you, I will accept it gratefully. Once again thanks for your love and continuous support of me and my stories.