Unexpected Conflict

The appraiser grabbed the ice bow from the table, and just like with the staff, he grabbed a magnifying glass enhanced with the [Appraise] spell and began inspecting every centimeter of it.

It took him much more than with the staff, instead of a minute, he spent around five just inspecting and mumbling, "Hm~"; "Interesting~"; "Ohoh~".

After that, the appraiser put the bow on the table and smiled at Stark, "Our association is willing to exchange this bow for around 150,000 rher coins."

At first, Stark was ecstatic as he was gonna be able to pay off many things he needed in his journey, and maybe rent an actual appartment instead of that expensive hotel he was in.

Such an amount would guarantee some people to live comfortably for many months, yet for a classifier, this was a sum that would disappear as soon as he wanted to buy better equipment, skill scrolls or items.

Yet, somehow, Stark felt a hunch, and decided to activate his [Perception] skill to check out the bow.

…

[Item:] Ice Bow

[Type:] Bow

[Class:] Archer

[Tier:] Rare

[Required Level:] 20

[Quality:] Good

[Attributes:] +30 speed, +20 Stamina

[Special Perks:] While using this bow, arrows have a 5% chance to freeze enemies

[Price:] 180,000

…

A new category had appeared all of a sudden, one that wasn't available for even the staff, maybe it was because his skill felt that it was unfair and showed him the actual fair price.

"Are you trying to scam me?" Stark looked at the man with a deep menacing stare, grabbing the bow from the table, "This bow should be worth at least 180,000 rher coins."

"Yes but…" the man suddenly explained to Stark that even though what he was saying was right, the association still need a marge to profit from the items that were bought.

'…' Stark looked at him for a few seconds as he explained, "I want 165,000 rher coins."

"Very well," the appraiser gave up and agreed to the amount before grabbing the bow and putting it beside him, "You would be a great businessman sir, are you maybe interesting in joining us-"

"I'd rather not," Stark immediately answered.

"Very well, then please register your name in the association's data base and we will proceed with the payment in the shortest of times," the man gave Stark a tablet, and so he did as he was told.

Soon after, Stark was allowed to leave the reception room and found himself yet again in the lobby of the 'Classifiers Trading Association', there were still hundreds of people walking around, and several hallways leading to different sections of the giant building.

[Market Section]

A sign next to it explained: "Where people can buy/sell/trade items with the help of a middle-man from the association, it can range from armor, weapons, items and equipment."

[Gambling Section]

'Gambling? Seriously?' Stark had experience in his past life, and he sure as hell wasn't taking that chance in here either.

[Party Formation Section]

'Self explanatory I guess…'

After scouring the area for another 30 minutes, Stark decided it was time to leave, plus a notification on his phone alerted him to a deposit of 218,000 rher coins into his account, bringing a sense of satisfaction to him.

Exiting the bustling 'Classifiers Trading Association', he emerged onto the crowded streets, now even more packed due to the "busy hour" rush.

'Classifier' was probably the most dangerous job in this world as you could probably start your day thinking you would gather material inside a dungeon, and never come out of it, so that's why many just enjoyed their life of luxury.

Stark made his way into a nearby clothing shop. Despite his eccentric taste in fashion, he purchased four sets of decent shirts and pants to replace his now dirtied middle-school uniform, he obviously put them inside the [Spatial Inventory].

'I guess that's it for today,' he was satisfied, and while navigating the streets of the giant trading district, which went on for kilometers upon kilometers, Stark decided to open his phone and look out for information.

[Domination Trial] was what he typed in the search bar, but even after many minutes of searching, absolutely no information came out, it was either it was censored, or that no one had ever talked about it online.

'…' this put Stark in a bad situation, after all he had five days before the first domination trial, and having no information with such a thing was suicide.

He didn't know how hard it would be, but even his status panel had told him that he would 'suffer'.

"Ah~ this is gonna be difficult-" not seeing where he was walking because of his focus in his search, Stark bumped into someone, managing to balance himself not to fall.

He instinctively looked up, and once he did, he saw a giant man, at least 195cm tall, muscles all over his arms, legs and body, as well as red hair and a beard; there were two women gripping his arms, their breasts pushed against him.

"Can you not see where you are going, kid?" the man spoke, looking down on Stark.

"Oh, i'm sorry I wasn't watching-" Stark was the type to not seek unwanted problems, so he just apologized and began moving on.

But of course, annoying people will always be annoying.

"You think you can get away after that?" the man replied, driven by the thought of his pride being hurt and to impress the women in his arms.

"Yes, I think I can," Stark looked back, he had already apologized, and if someone wanted to cause problems, he sure as hell was gonna retort.

At this point, many people in the streets stopped to look at whatever was happening: it wasn't that rare for two classifiers to disagree and duel, most of the times it would break into a fight that would be recorded and sent all over the internet, the winner of course being praised.

"Let's settle this the 'adult' way, kid," the tall man laughed, and the two girls that were holding his arms stepped back, a circle had now formed around them, many other classifiers holding their phones, filming the scene.

'What the fuck is happening?' Stark, a neutral expression on his face, wondered, he was just walking minding his own business, yet somehow it had turned out like this in less than a minute.

And suddenly… a crimson panel appeared in front of Stark, one he had already seen before.

[Duel Request: Aaron]

[Type: Deathless]

[Y/N]

'…' Stark smirked, 'I'm going to destroy that guy.'