Chapter 19: Talking to an Expert on the Subject.

Walking through different shelves, Franz really had no idea what to do or where he should start, he arrived at the museum with the purpose of researching, however, his knowledge was limited to crime films and board games of terrible quality.

- Fragment of an ancient ruin, fragment of the sword of the knight of the flame, mysterious artifact –

With no idea where to start, Franz had begun to read the description, history, and find of each object that looked interesting.

Some had descriptions a little clearer than others, but it did not help much, the description of these objects was still ambiguous, there were still many things that were unknown about humanity's past and therefore everything related to it was a mystery.

- Anything in particular that you are interested in young man? –

Franz turned to his side, just to look at an older man, he was wearing simple clothes that you could take anywhere, but it made him look pleasing to the eye, in fact, the air of wisdom emanated from the man, who, ultimately, seemed that the wind could take him away as time seemed to have already taken its toll.

- I'm looking for something related to Qi – Franz said.

The man took his time while muttering Qi, over and over again, Franz was patient and waited for the man to finish thinking and speak again.

- Come with me young man, I think I know what might interest you, you know, it's rare for someone to be interested in the history of humanity –

- No, no, it's mere curiosity why I'm here - Franz said embarrassed by the old man's praise.

- Well, that curiosity brought you here, most of them don't even care to come and take a look - said the man who looked around the museum, Franz followed his gaze and realized that there were only a few people in the museum, most likely he would have fingers left over if he counted them.

- We have arrived young - said the man who had stopped in front of one of the museum's display cases.

In it there was nothing but the figure of a star and a crescent moon carved in wood, the figure looked rough, as if it had been made by a child or by someone who was learning to carve and time had already taken its toll, the figure had many cracks in it, it looked like it was going to be torn to pieces if someone touched it.

However, there was something special about the figure, Franz remembered that time when his gaze fell on the top of the tower of dawn, at the top of it, a stream of mysterious energy ran through the tower in a barely perceptible way, drawing Franz towards it.

At first Franz thought it was a common thing in the tower, however, the taxi driver looked confused when he told him about the mysterious energy, which could well mean that it was something that only he could see.

The situation now seemed to prove him right on such a matter, but it was still necessary to find out whether it was the work of his eyes or something else.

- It's not that it's broken, it was done that way intentionally, it is said that Qi is the vitality and energy of the gods that was once granted to humans by the beliefs of their peers - said the man who thought that Franz was disappointed by the appearance of the relic.

Franz looked at him curiously, waiting for the man to continue talking and when he saw that he looked interested in his explanation, he continued talking a little more excitedly this time.

- There is an old myth that says that people of yesteryear needed relics and people's beliefs to be able to practice what is called Qi, people's beliefs shaped Qi and it could be absorbed by whoever possessed people's beliefs -

"Basically like a religion," Franz said, now more curious about the relic in front of his eyes.

- That's right, people who wanted to practice Qi needed to create a religion if they wanted to cultivate Qi, or so is what we know at the moment, this particular relic belongs to the fragmented star, according to our greatest researchers, this relic belonged to someone who promoted free will among people, according to ancient writings, The ideal of this mysterious person was that everyone was free to choose their own destiny, hence their name; Fragmented star and why the relic looks like it's worn out –

- They are not cracks, they are different paths - Franz said feeling enlightened by the man's explanation.

The man nodded, after researching about the relic, he had also thought the same thing.

-There's more? Franz asked.

The man thought about it for a moment and said – With this relic we are done for the moment, however, there is still another rather interesting relic -

The man took Franz to a place that was far away from the rest, in fact, the section where the man took him, looked neglected and a little abandoned.

When we arrived at the place there was an enclosed space with several curtains that obstructed the view of what was behind.

- Give me just a moment young man - said the man who began to remove all the curtains, after a few seconds, he had finished, showing a beautiful painting behind the curtains.

- This painting is called "the serenity of a god" –

The painting showed a man lying on the grass, the appearance of the man was quite simple and common, the clothes he was wearing looked worn and the only outstanding thing was the calm look he had, he looked serene and seemed to bring calm to whoever saw it, however, that was it, if someone looked at the painting in a thrift store they most likely would not give it a second look.

However, for Franz it was different, the energy of before, also fluctuated on this painting, but it was even stronger, to the point where Franz felt his eyes burn a little.

- I see that you can also see how special this painting is - The man said and continued talking - This painting was found during an expedition to some ancient ruins, in them everything was ruined and destroyed by the passage of time, but curiously this painting was well preserved -

- On the painting there was a note that said the name of the painting and something else, if I remember correctly it was... - The man took a while to remember, but finally he said – Oh, I remember, it said the following "To an old friend, I hope that in your next life you can find the calm that you didn't find in this life" –

Franz somehow felt that he had already heard that phrase, in a way it even brought a certain melancholy and calm to his heart, making some of his doubts and problems disappear suddenly.

The man put the curtains back up to cover the painting and as he did so he said to Franz – In a month there will be an auction in case you are interested in acquiring any of these relics –

- Why are they going to auction them? – Franz said without realizing that he looked angry.

The man with his back to him did not notice it and replied while letting out a sigh full of sadness – The governor of the city was sending resources to keep the museum in use, however, Since the museum does not bring any profit, the governor has decided to stop sending resources and with the theft of a large part of our ancient relics, There's no way he's going to give us a second chance, so the owner of the museum has been forced to sell everything in the museum, hear out there that he has too much debt –

The man finished putting up the curtain that covered the painting and gave Franz two cards, the first had a striking border along with an address and the name of the museum, the other was quite simple, it only had an address and the name of an establishment that Franz did not know.

- The first card indicates the address where the auction will be held, although I must warn you that the lowest price will not be less than 600 thousand credits, the other has the address of an establishment I own in case you are interested in learning more about relics and about the ancient era of humanity - The man slapped Franz and left without first saying - It is rare to see a young man who takes an interest in the ancient era and its relics –

Franz thanked him and went home, but not before promising the man who would visit him as soon as he could, he had learned some interesting things today, but most importantly he must find a way to earn enough money to buy both ancient relics.

Thinking about it, it actually had many forms, it was time to make the most of his mysterious ability.

- Hi Franz, do you need anything? Alek asked, because it was strange for Franz to call him.

- Hi Alek, do you have contact with Ron, your friend the alchemist - Franz asked.

- If why?, do you need me to pass on their contact to you? – Alek asked confused.

- That would be great - Franz said while smiling, if everything went according to his plan, those two ancient relics would be his in a month.

Author's note: How about dear readers, I wanted to inform you that this week I will be busy with some issues and probably the next week too, I will still be uploading chapters, but it will only be one daily instead of the two or three chapters that I usually publish.

I also plan to polish my scripts a little more and do some research to make this novel more interesting and digestible for anyone.

As always, thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you a story and if you have any suggestions or advice that will help me grow, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you all very much!