Appraisal Stone II

Chapter 11: Appraisal Stone II

At the moment we were all just standing there a little confused, I guess even for them this isn't normal. 

"Amelia, I thought he said he would only train his own children, not ours. Why would he change his mind now? The last person he ever trained was our brother."

"I don't know, he must find some potential in the boy. Besides, it's not like any of us have had any kids before him right?"

Why would the king choose to not teach his own grandchildren? Isn't he worried about a successor? Then again he does look abnormally youthful. His lifespan must be way higher than ours. 

"You haven't heard? Joshua just had twins, I haven't seen them yet but I heard from Lord Father they're both girls."

"Is that why he doesn't train them? No, if that were the case he wouldn't train us. So maybe father see's something we don't." 

"The idea that he would extend any form of special privilege to anyone that isn't first of kin is a bit surprising." Amelia was looking my way with curious eyes, almost like she wanted to pry me open.

"I want to use the Appraisal Stone."

This again? That's not good, from the sound of things I think this stone will be able to reveal a lot of my secrets, but by how much will it show?

I look back at my shop to see if pilfer is selling any items or skills I can use to cover anything up when I notice something. In the section that shows the names of all the people I can trade with I see two new names.

[-Pilfer

-King Grove

-Dredan]

This third name was mentioned earlier before Pilf got beat up. I still haven't heard from him since then but the king said he was still alive so if that's the case why hasn't he contacted me. Funnily enough the demon heart says it was sent by Dredan not Pilf. So hopefully Dredan can help.

For now I look over at the two new names and check out what they have. I click on the king's name and only find one section saying [BUY] it looks like he doesn't have anything to sell to me. Stingy bastard.

I now go back to the main menu and click on Dredan. I've heard stories about him before and apparently most of the island worships him and the king. I want to say it's weird that they would make a human equal to a god but knowing what I know now, I guess it's possible.

I click on his name and immediately I'm bombarded with several categories and items. This heavily reminds me of an online shopping app. There were more books than I could possibly count but the weird part is that I keep seeing modern vehicles too, some of which are military grade. I thought we were in a fantasy world. How can somebody get a 1969 Buick skylark, heck even a giant helicarrier? 

Where do you find these?! I click on the helicarrier and see that he's selling it for 5 million Red gold coins. What the heck is that and where can I get them? What about this blimp? Maybe I can buy that… Wait wait wait, I need to stay focused. 

While I was distracted by all the shiny things I didn't notice that we were uncomfortably close to the place where the Appraisal Stone is located.

I need to buy the skill fast, I look through the skill list browsing through hundreds of skills. Some of which are listed as normal, true, ultimate and unique but unfortunately I have to be specific here. I look through it again and finally I see it.

[HIDE STATUS LVL 1] 

The perfect skill for me. I pray to Dredan hoping he would trade it for my Black Star Silver and then I click it. There it is, listed as [TRADE FOR: Black Star Sliver] Awsome! I immediately purchased it hoping that level one was enough, and just in time too because I saw Samantha and Amelia about to talk to the old man from earlier

"Elder, we'll be using the appraisal stone. With or without your permission."

The old man looked slightly panicked seeing the two sisters force their way through the large double doors and he could only sigh and sit back down on the side.

I was honestly hoping he would help or try to argue just a little bit but what can you do when two muscle princesses come hurtling their way through you.

Well Samantha isn't actually ripped, definitely nothing like Amelia thats for sure.

The next minute we walked into the large auditorium with only one thing inside of it. It's a giant stone that's been given a smooth clean cut right in the middle. I don't know where the top half is but it looks like the bottom half is sunken into sand for some reason.

Samantha places me on top of the cold hard rock and patiently waits. When all of a sudden I hear something.

[DING: HIDE STATUS LVL 2]

[DING: HIDE STATUS LVL 3]

[DING: HIDE STATUS LVL 4]

I was hoping it would be more than that but it seems like that was as far as it would go. I sat there waiting to see what would happen when I see another status screen but this time both the sisters can see it too.

"Age: 10 months old. Name: Jessup Grove. Skills: None… but what's this? Demon shop, he's not possessed. If he were, we would be able to tell, maybe it's an innate ability. I've heard that can happen sometimes." Holy crap! It didn't hide the most important skill here! I wanted to keep that hidden.

"Other than that, everything looks normal. Is this why Lord Father wants to train him? It's a good thing we chose to do this alone, otherwise people would probably label him a demon child and that would no doubt cause a stir."

"But an innate ability huh? Demon shop sounds like a trade related ability. Can he trade things with demons? How?"

"I think I know. I saw him earlier touch the psychic bombs I was supposed to deliver to Lord Father. When I looked back, it looked like they just disintegrated into ash. It scared the crap out of the workers but it might have some restrictions"

How are they figuring things out so quickly? They really are that bastard's daughters, they are way too perceptive. I'm going to have to bump up my acting skills and act more like a baby aren't I?

"So how can we use this to our advantage? Can we buy things from his shop? What about people? When he grows older he might be able to 'buy' soldiers from anywhere in the world" 

I didnt even think of that. I'm not sure if I can do that but at the very least I can buy and sell things like eggs so why not cattle or people?

While I was thinking that, "Oh? I just got a message on my status screen."

"So did I." What? How does that work? I looked back at my own status screen while they were distracted and I confirmed they too were listed on there as well. 

"Oh hey, I can sell some of my skills. Are they gone for good if I do that?"

"Let me try something." Samantha pulled off a ring on her finger and closed her eyes for a second then poof the ring was gone. Leaving nothing but a little bit of ash in the air. No wonder people were scared back then. I was going to look into my shop but I thought it was best if I looked oblivious.

"Hmm, he didn't seem to notice anything so maybe he's not conscious of it. Let me try a useless skill."

Once again I refuse to look! I must stay focused. Chew on my fingers if I have too. Do not engage, pretend to be a baby.

"Still nothing, and I have it on sale but nothing is happening. I still have my skill, maybe it's just a copy I'm selling. For now I'll keep it as is until he's older."

"We've figured out what we need, but I wonder how Lord Father figured it out. Did Jessup's skill show itself to him too?I guess it doesn't matter, this doesn't really change much right now. Let's go, it's been a long day."

I guess the matter is settled, but there's something else they missed. It looks like I gained a new skill. It's called, [BOLSTER LVL 6] it's a true skill and the second one I have, but I assume it's the real deal. The second thing I gained is that I'm officially a super. A mage at that, now I can practice my Sleep Skill whenever I can.

After a while of talking, Samantha parted ways with her sister and we both headed to my room first. She lays me down and I give her one last look and notice a single tear in her eye. Today has been an emotional day for her, that man was never my real father but he was definitely her real husband, and now he's dead.

It was her father who did it. Yet she still shows so much respect and loyalty to him. I can tell by the way she still calls him Lord Father even when he isn't in the room.

I wish I could help her or soothe her in any way but I can't. I can't help but feel the exhaustion hit me like a brick and I quietly go to sleep.

A few hours after waking up I checked to see what skill Amelia was selling. It was [LOVE MAKING LVL 1]. There is something wrong with that woman but I'll admit, I think I'm sold. I'll buy it when I'm older.

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Meanwhile somewhere far away hidden in a library reading a book, sat a man immersing himself in a book from one of earth's many timelines called 'War and Peace.' When suddenly he got a notification that Jessup had bought his 'Hide Status' scroll. He looked at the notification after hearing the boy's prayer, and he knew he had to say yes to a trade.

"I might have a hoarding problem." Deep down he was glad someone was willing to buy his old junk and collectibles he'd gotten over the years from his friend, but also upset he was getting more junk out of it.

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