by Daman
“Tch, big brother is so lame… ”
Roran complained, glooming over the incident in the morning when Calron refused to tell him about how he was creating these God Tiles.
*knock - knock*
The sound of someone knocking on the door caught the attention of the three, and soon, a voice followed behind it.
“Sir, when does the Azure Pavilion open?”
“Please wait for an hour, and the pavilion will be open then.”
Calron replied without opening the door, and resumed his task. This was the third time that someone had knocked on the door since they arrived in the morning, inquiring about when the shop would open.
“Ellie, how does this look?”
Calron requested for the young girl’s advice, as he showed her the finished board with the shop’s name.
Calron had engraved ‘The Azure Pavilion’ with his lightning, and then painted the hollow dents with a deep shade of blue. With the contrast against the black wood, the shade of blue was quite eye-catching and exquisite.
“I like it, but it needs some design. Add one flower there, one there, and put two in the corners there. Do you have any other colors besides the blue?”
Ellie sat down next to Calron and pointed at various locations on the board where she wanted the flowers to be.
“Hmm… ”
Calron mused, instantly regretting asking the opinion of the little girl.
“Let me find the paint for you, Master!”
Ellie got up with elated excitement and she went over to the basket of tools that Calron had brought with him to search for more paint.
Calron let out a defeated sigh, and stared at Ellie’s cheerful back, hoping that she would drop the idea of adding flowers to his shop’s name board.
“I think that it’s a pretty good idea, it will make the customers feel more comfortable.”
A deep voice sounded out next to Calron, startling him out of his reverie. He did not know how or where the stranger had entered the shop, as all the doors and windows were closed. Moreover, even his Divine Perception was too slow in at sensing the stranger’s presence.
A thick killing intent surrounded Calron, as he looked up at the towering old man standing next to him.
Chapter 36 – Patriarch Of The Raizel Clan
“I suggest that you do not make a single move.”
A grave voice sounded out from behind the tall old man, as Roran held a purple dagger against the stranger’s throat.
Ellie scurried off to the corner of the room, and she looked with worry at Calron and Roran.
“Who are you?”
Calron asked icily, as he slowly stood up from the floor and looked into the old man’s face. Even while standing, both Calron and Roran appeared to be a head shorter than the intruder.
The old man had a full head of grey-white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His pale blue irises exuded a sense of ancient wisdom, but there was also a trace of mischievousness hidden in those eyes.
“You’re scaring the young one over there, so calm down. I am just here to talk.”
The old man placatingly held up his arms with a slight smile on his bearded face. His eyes twinkled with mirth as he observed the two boys and their reaction to his presence.
“You either talk now, or I will beat it out of you.”
Calron stated threateningly, continuing to glare at the old man.
“Oya? You will beat a frail old man like me? Tch, your parents must have not taught you well… ”
The old man chuckled with amusement, seeming to be not at all panicked at the dagger still pressed to his neck.
Calron’s eyes darkened at the mention of his parents, and in a blink, he appeared directly in front of the old man. A flash of dark light exploded in the room, as Calron summoned his dark bow and swiftly equipped it with a golden arrow.
“Do not insult my parents again, or I will plunge this arrow deep in your chest. Now, who the hell are you?”
Calron seethed, pushing the tip of the lightning arrow against the old man’s broad chest.
The expression on the stranger’s face changed when he saw the dark bow in Calron’s hands, but he soon nodded like he had just confirmed something.
“Do you still not know who I am?”
The old man stared deep into Calron’s azure eyes, and in the next moment he abruptly vanished from sight, causing both Roran and Calron to withdraw their weapons and search for him in a frenzy.
“I am the Patriarch of the Raizel clan.”
A loud voice boomed throughout the small shop, as the old man abruptly appeared in front of Calron and his icy-blue irises penetrated through Calron’s own. Simultaneously, a faint image of a bulky and muscular golden bird coalesced behind the Patriarch, causing both Roran and Ellie to quiver in fear.
Glancing at the shaking figures of Roran and Ellie under the old man’s pressure, Calron quickly spread out his own aura to envelop them.
“Sigh… please withdraw your aura and have a seat.”
Calron exhaled, finally realizing who the old man was and asked him to sit down. He used his senses to check outside the shop and see if the noises had alerted anyone.
“Don’t worry, not a single tremor of sound escaped from this room.”
The Patriarch said gently, as he found himself a chair and patiently waited.
“Are you both alright?”
Calron inquired, as he patted Ellie on the head and looked at his brother.
“I am fine, Master… ”
Ellie still seemed to be a bit shaken up by the golden bird’s aura, but she was already recovering while Calron calmed her down.
“Big brother, your grandfather is too violent!”
Roran quietly whispered in Calron’s ears, and took a quick glance at the now tranquil-looking old man.
“He is not my grandfather, Roran… ah, whatever… ”
Calron tried to explain, but seeing the confused look on Roran’s face, he decided to deal with this matter later.
After making sure that the two were fine, Calron gradually strolled towards the old man and pulled himself a chair in front of him.
“…… ”
An awkward moment of silence passed between the two as they simply looked at each other, until the Patriarch finally broke the silence.
“What happened to your family?”
The Patriarch had noticed the brief flash of pain across Calron’s face when he mentioned his parents, so he guessed that something had happened to them.
“They died when I was eight.”
Calron replied in a quiet voice as he looked down at the floor.
“I’m sorry, lad… Do you know who your father’s or mother’s families were?”
The old man asked in a soft voice. He wanted to figure out which family member from the clan was Calron’s predecessor.
“I don’t know. As long as I remember, it was only me and my parents that lived together. They didn’t talk about their families and neither did anyone come to visit us. However, I know that I inherited the power of lightning through my father.”
Calron talked, while the old man silently listened without interrupting the young man.
“I guess it doesn’t matter who your predecessors were, but what matters is that you have definitely inherited the blood of the Raizel clan and also the bloodline of the divine bird. I won’t force you to follow the clan or be a part of it if you do not want to; however, I would like it if you would come to visit us and meet the rest of the family.”
The old man spoke in a serious voice without breaking eye contact with Calron.
“I was planning on visiting the Raizel clan soon anyways.”
Calron had a awkward smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head.
It was the first time that he met someone from his family, and he was slightly taken aback after sensing the honest emotions behind the old man’s words. The Patriarch truly meant what he said, and Calron could detect that with his
Divine Perception.
“I think a lot of people are waiting for your shop to open outside, so take your time to decide.”
The Patriarch slowly got up from his seat, and ruffled Calron’s hair while chuckling.
“I forgot to ask, where is the Raizel clan anyways?”
Calron appeared to be slightly irritated by the old man messing up his hair, but deep inside in his heart, he felt very warm at the affection.
Chains of thick lightning bolts burst around the Patriarch’s legs, as he smiled at Calron and his friends. Just before he disappeared from sight again, his deep voice echoed throughout the shop.
“Just look for the First Tower.”
…………………………….
“Master’s grandfather is very scary… ”
Ellie crouched on the ground and furtively peeked at the corners of the shop to see if the old man was still hiding there.
“Haha, are you ready for your first day at the Azure Pavilion, Ellie?”
Calron laughed with excitement, as he went towards the door of the shop and slowly opened it.
“Oh no! You forgot to paint the flowers on the sign board, Master!”
Ellie exclaimed, as she ran back to the black wooden board on the floor.
A streak of pleasant sunlight fell on Calron’s face when he gradually opened the door, along with a bright smile on his face that seemed to wash away all the worries in his heart.
…………………………….
In a far away place from the shop, a tall figure suddenly appeared surrounded by bolts of lightning.
“Protect him only if his life is in danger, but let him deal with his own matters alone.”
The Patriarch commanded in a regal tone, his voice was a stark contrast to the one in his encounter with Calron.
“Understood, Patriarch.”
Twelve figures cloaked in black and golden robes responded. And in the next moment, a dozen bolts of golden lightning flashed through the sky as the twelve figures all vanished from the area.
Chapter 37 – A Danger Approaches
“How many enhancing tiles will you be selling today?”
“Do we get a discount if we purchase in bulk?”
A tandem of questions were shouted by the waiting customers outside, as Calron slowly stepped out of the shop. Immediately after that, Roran followed behind him and stood at guard next to the door.
Ignoring all the of voices around him, Calron picked up the massive black wooden board from the floor and he swiftly leapt on top of the shop’s roof. Taking out a few thick metallic nails and a medium-sized hammer from his spatial bracelet, he began hammering the large board to the front of the shop.
“Master forgot about the flowers… ”
Ellie muttered with distraught as she gazed up at Calron’s figure.
Almost as if he had heard Ellie’s mumbling, Calron hastily hammered the remaining nail and jumped back to the ground. Meanwhile, the group gathered outside his shop patiently waited for him to finish and admired the elegant board stating ‘The Azure Pavilion’ once it was latched on.
It looked like there were a few nobles mixed in with the crowd, easily identified by their flamboyant and expensive clothes. Several of them had displeased expressions on their faces at being forced to wait outside, but Calron paid no heed to them.
“We will be opening the Azure Pavilion now! However, since we have limited stock, each person will only be able to purchase five enhancing tiles. We also have two new other God Tiles added to our store – Vision Tile and Immune Tile!”
Calron conveyed through his amplified voice, so even the people at the back of the crowd could hear.
There were only around twenty people gathered outside his shop, but since it was only the morning, more customers were likely to visit the Azure Pavilion later in the day.
“What? Only five enhancing tiles? That is too little, please increase it to thirty or thirty-five at least!”
A merchant right in front of Calron requested in a distressed tone, while the others concurred with the sentiment.
“I agree! Also, what do the other new tiles do?”
“Sorry, we will increase the quantity in future, but right now, we don’t have many tiles. Until the Azure Pavilion sends us more, we will not be able to remove the restriction. As for the other two tiles, you will find out once you enter the shop.”
Calron answered calmly, putting a helpless expression on his face.
In truth, he was the only one capable of creating the God Tiles and he didn’t have much time last night to prepare a lot of enhancing tiles. Most of the time was spent in experimenting with the two new tiles, so Calron was only able to produce eighty-three enhancing tiles, twenty vision tiles and twelve immune tiles.
Having the number of tiles being sold restricted had an added bonus, where Calron did not have to worry about it being mainly supplied to one group. A scarcity of the tiles would increase its value in the market, and it would allow Calron to increase its price even more in future. His biggest worry with the God Tiles was that a single clan or sect would monopolize them and use it to arm their own troops.
If he didn’t have such an immediate need for money, Calron would have never decided to mass sell the God Tiles.
“I welcome you all to the Azure Pavilion!”
After that, Calron stepped inside the shop while Roran remained on guard outside. Calron had given him the task of making sure that there were no troubles occurring outside, along with secretly keeping an eye on who was spying on them.
“Woah!”
Ellie gasped with fright once the crowd all rushed inside. She was currently standing next to Calron behind the front counter desk, where all the enhancing tiles were stored. The shelves behind them had all three types of tiles on display for the customers to view.
There were still many empty shelves outside the counter desk, but Calron did not plan on using them until he hired more staff and security for the store.
“I want you gentlemen to pay close attention to this unique tile… ”
Just as the customers reached the front of the desk, Calron started his demonstration with the immune tile. A slight smile crept on his face as the customers’ eyes gradually widened in shock the more he revealed about the immune tile.
“I will pay you ten gold for one of the immune tiles!”
A young man quickly shouted the moment that Calron finished his demonstration. He knew that akin to the enhancing tiles, there would be a restriction on the immune tiles, so he wanted to secure one of these new tiles for his sect Elder to look at.
“I have only twelve of these ti- “
A collective groan echoed in the shop, as the customers inwardly cried out tears of frustration at the measly quantity of the items for sale.
Most of the gathered people in the shop were merchants, and they had been planning on re-selling the God Tiles to the high nobles of the court in the inner city. But with such a paltry amount, it would be impossible to satisfy the nobles.
“Since there are so few of these tiles, I will be holding an auction for the immune tiles and the starting bid is… fifteen gold!”
Calron chuckled with amusement, but to the rest of the people, it simply sounded like the devil’s laughter.
“What!?”
The young man who had initially asked to buy the immune tile for ten gold, burst out with indignation, but a voice at the back soon quieted him down.
“Seventeen gold!”
“Seventeen gold and one copper!”
A fat merchant yelled proudly, his beady eyes daring anyone to go higher.
“Nineteen gold!”
An elderly voice sounded out from the back, silencing the others.
“Nineteen gold and one copper!”
The fat merchant shouted, while the others gave him a disgusted glare. The merchant simply shrugged his shoulders, not at all bothered by his shameful bidding.
“Hahaha, any other bids?”
&
nbsp; Calron laughed at the scene unfolding before him. He felt slightly guilty for brazenly ripping off the merchants, but he was not forcing them to buy the tiles, so he reveled in this strange new feeling of being wealthy.
“Master is acting strange… ”
Ellie crossed her arms on the desk in front of her and placed her chin between them while she glanced up at the laughing Calron.
“Sigh… this is not a good look on big brother.”
Roran lamented at the sight of Calron acting like a five-year-old kid who had just received a basket full of sugary treats.
It was seldom rare to see his brother be so carefree and childish, something which Roran had not even seen during their school years, that he weirdly felt a bit of happiness watching the laughing Calron enjoy ripping people off.
…………………………
“Phew, that was a lot of work!”