Shopping

Reading the letter, Auric was very happy and excited to go to the festival for the first time since coming to this world. It had been 10 years, and the only places he had visited were his home and school. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere and was never taken to parties, unlike Luna. She had said he would be an embarrassment, not that it mattered, but it was still peaceful not going to parties and putting on fake smiles.

Lumina had given an invitation attached to the letter. The town she lived in was Winding Grove.

Wait... Winding Grove? Wasn't it in ruins? In the novel, when Dave and his friends went on an adventure, they camped in that town and said it was destroyed by magical beasts who went on a rampage a few years ago because of an unknown cause...

Auric realized that he should warn them about it in advance. He didn't know when the rampage would take place, but first, he had to get permission. But how would he get it?

"Hey bro, what do I do?" he asked the system.

"Maybe you should talk with Elysia first and plead with her to talk to Avalon on your behalf," the system replied.

"Okay, that makes sense. If I go, I don't think that bastard of a father will give the permission," Auric said.

He went to Elysia and talked to her about it.

"So you want to go to Winding Grove?" Elysia asked.

"Yes," Auric replied.

"Hm... so it's the time of the festival, huh? I once visited it with your mother," Elysia said.

"Okay," Auric's response made Elysia awkward. She didn't know why Auric was behaving like that with her. Maybe she had an idea, but she still couldn't figure out why Auric behaved so mature but also childish.

"Huffff... okay, I get it. I will talk to him," Elysia sighed and agreed.

Elysia went to Avalon to talk about it and left Auric alone in the room.

Now Auric just had to wait. But Auric had an uneasy feeling well up inside him.

I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling...

Not thinking about it much, he went to his room to make some preparations about the journey if he got permission.

"Hey system, is there any time difference between the inventory and real-time?" Auric asked.

"Yes, there is. The time difference is that time is relatively slower in that space in relation to the real time. Exactly, it's 100 times slower. As the inventory function is leveled up, time will be much slower," the system replied.

"Okay," Auric said.

"Hmm, I should get some emergency rations." Auric thought.

Auric had gotten a spatial ring on his 10th birthday from Elysia, so he used it as the perfect cover for his inventory. He didn't know what would happen if he lost the ring or if it was robbed. Who knows? So why take the risk? And the slow time function in the inventory is even better.

Auric called a maid to his room and ordered her to make some energy-filled snacks in big portions, which caused the maid to be somewhat shocked but still did as she was told.

Later Elysia brought the news that Avalon had given Auric permission to attend the festival, and she left happily, hoping that Auric would find some adventurous happiness after years of living a mundane life.

However, Auric's mood was completely different from Elysia's. He felt suspicious of Avalon. He knew that the Avalon he was familiar with would not give permission to him so easily. There had to be some kind of scheme behind it.

Despite his suspicions, Auric realized that this opportunity was too big to pass up. He had an artifact near the town he had been targeting for a while, and he needed to let his guard down.

So, he went to the market with his butler and indulged in a shopping spree. He had saved up quite a large sum of money, given that he had never used the allowance given to him by Elysia. She had offered more, but it was a large sum that scared Auric – 5 silver coins per month, to be exact. He had already saved up more 3 white gold coins in 10 years.

In Arcanum, the currency system is as follows:

*White gold coins: the highest monetary value and rarest metal, used for the most valuable transactions and reserved for the wealthiest individuals.

*Gold coins: the second-highest value and still quite rare, used for high-value transactions and typically held by the upper class.

*Silver coins: the third-highest value and commonly used for mid-range transactions, such as purchasing goods and services.

*Bronze coins: the fourth-highest value and used for smaller transactions, such as buying food and drinks.

*Copper coins: the lowest value and most commonly used for small transactions, such as buying cheap goods or services.

The exchange rates between these coins could be:

*1 white gold coin = 10 gold coins = 100 silver coins = 1,000 bronze coins = 10,000 copper coins

*1 gold coin = 10 silver coins = 100 bronze coins = 1,000 copper coins

*1 silver coin = 10 bronze coins = 100 copper coins

In rough US dollar equivalent terms:

1 white gold coin = $10,000 1 gold coin = $1,000 1 silver coin = $100 1 bronze coin = $10 1 copper coin = $1

Three white gold coins were quite the sum for Auric. He had never seen so much money at once in his previous life, and it scared him a lot. So much that he couldn't sleep, thinking he would be robbed and killed if someone found out that such a small, powerless kid had so much money. So, he bought the wallet function from the system, which kept it safe and told him the exact amount he had on him and did calculations for him. It was quite useful eh?

As Auric explored the new world's marketplace, he was overwhelmed by its diversity and uniqueness, far beyond what he could have imagined through reading and imagining. The vivid colors, the strange smells, and the curious creatures around him stirred his emotions, and he felt a sense of stupor that he could not explain.

After he broke free from his trance, he decided to head towards the food market area, driven by his curiosity about the local cuisine. Once there, he was amazed by the different kinds of food available, ranging from unfamiliar meats to fast food stalls. Back in his mansion, he always had healthy food, which he enjoyed, but being from Earth, he craved something different, and the variety of the stalls thrilled him.

He visited several shops, trying out different foods and buying more than he needed, storing them all in his spatial ring. The butler accompanied him, feeling nervous about the possibility of Auric getting food poisoning, as he had never seen him behave this way before. As a result, he took Auric to a different area of the market to explore.

Auric realized that he had lost his cool and felt embarrassed about his behavior. Still, he shrugged it off, knowing that nothing could be done about it.

Next, he visited the main market, where he could find all sorts of materials, clothes, weapons, armor, and emergency rations. As this place was of great importance for adventurers, it was filled with them, from different races and tribes. Seeing the beautiful girls dressed in small clothes and armor made Auric's heart beat faster, and his face turned somewhat red. This was not something common on Earth, so it was thrilling and strange for him. The butler giggled at his embarrassed expression and asked where he wanted to go next.

"Let's go to a clothes store first," Auric said.

The butler led him to a clothes store, where he bought some clothes, mattresses, sleeping bags, and other essentials. Then, they went to a weapons store, recommended by the butler's friend, who was the owner.

As they entered the store, the owner, Golrum, recognized the butler and greeted him warmly. Auric felt a little out of place, but Golrum soon turned to him and introduced himself.

"Welcome to Golrum's store. Huh, is that you, Stan?"

"It's really me, Golrum. How are you?" the butler, Stan, replied.

"I'm fine, brother. How come you're here?"

"Well, my young master came to buy a weapon today," Stan explained.

Golrum apologized for not greeting Auric earlier and asked what kind of weapon he wanted.

"Hm, can I have a look first?" Auric asked.

"Of course, please do so," Golrum replied, and Auric began browsing the weapons.

The weapons were of all kinds - staves, swords, bows and arrows, wands, daggers, axes, and hammers. Auric was surprised to see whips as a weapon and wondered who used them and why they seemed naughty. Leaving that aside, he struggled to choose what to take as all the weapons looked good.

"Hmm... with my small stature, a shortsword or dagger would be most suitable. I think I'll go with the shortsword."

He made his way to the swords section and carefully selected a well-crafted shortsword with the aid of the system's appraisal.

[Weapon: Normal Shortsword

Description: A common shortsword forged by an everyday blacksmith

Durability: 10/10]

"It's quite ordinary," he thought, "but it will suffice for now. After all, I won't be using it forever."

As he walked towards the daggers, he was taken aback by what he found.

"Just what the hell is this doing here!?"