Max was going to ignore him as he knew that the things you can get a discount on aren't usually good.
But as he glanced at the items on his stall, a fiery red ring caught his attention. This ring somehow gave him a bit familiar feeling. He walked up to his stall and pointed at the ring, "How about you tell me the uses of this ring, and I'll purchase it?"
The Merchant looked at him for a moment and smiled wryly. "Young master, This ring was found by someone who sold it to me at a low price. He told me that this was a magic item, but so far, no one had shown any interest in this ring. I'm only a minor merchant and don't have any knowledge about magical items. So, I apologise to you as I'm not sure of its uses."
Max looked at him and calmly said. "It's okay old man. You don't have to apologise for that. So tell me, how much do you want for this ring?"
The old man looked at him and raised two fingers. "How about young master buy it for twenty silver coins?"
Max nodded and paid him twenty silver coins. He only knew that special items made with magic existed, but he didn't know their price, or he would have been shocked to know that he had just bought a magic item at a very low price.
After, he took the ring and wore it on his left hand's index finger. He walked towards his manor with Lilly chatting and laughing. He didn't notice that the ring on his finger glowed with a faint crimson light for a second and then returned to its normal state.
***
In an unknown location was a mountain range that was surrounded by fire; many powerful fire attributed beasts roamed around here. Even a five-star mage will find his life in danger. Deep into the mountains, a blurry silhouette of a man opened its eyes and mumbled in a hoarse voice, "Final candidate has been chosen. The trial will start shortly."
As the blurry figure finished speaking, five ancient-looking alters started glowing in a volcanic cave in the mountain.
***
Max returned home with Lilly, and after entering his room, he told Lilly to move the rest of her belongings to his room. He then lay on the bed.
Lilly nodded without saying anything as he had already told her to live in his room. She moved out of his room to do as he said.
While Max waited for Lilly to come back, he raised his left held and stared at the ring on his index finger.
'This is a magic item, right? How should I activate it? Maybe I should try channelling mana into it.' He wondered and sent out a stream of his mana into the ring.
Just then, The ring started glowing with faint crimson light, which increasingly became brighter, and he had to close his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a cave with magma all around him. The temperature here was so high that he started sweating after a few seconds.
"What the fuck? Where am I? How can it be so hot here." He cursed out loud.
"Will you stop your rambling, kid?" A lazy voice sounded beside him. As Max looked beside him, he was surprised to see another human present.
The one who just spoke was a middle-aged man in red robes who, just like his father, was very fit and brimming with vitality. He had white hair and a handsome face. He was rubbing his eyes and yawned as he spoke. It looked like he had just woken up.
After looking at him and around him, he found that both he and this man were standing on stone platforms. There were three more stone platforms which were currently vacant.
As Max observed the middle-aged man, he concluded that the man was also in the same situation as him and had just arrived because who can sleep on these hot stone platforms, and the man also didn't look hostile.
"Oh, sorry old man, I was surprised when I suddenly appeared here out of nowhere." Max apologised as his surprise diminished; he was going to continue when the man suddenly grew angry.
"You little brat, from where do I look like an old man to you?" The man suddenly grew furious, and his previous harmless demeanour was replaced with a dangerous one. He looked as if he would attack him if he said something that he didn't like.
Just then, another stone platform flashed a woman in a pink dress appeared. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her face was fair, with thin pink lips making her look even more alluring. She had the regal air about her. When she looked at the other two present, she had disdain in her gaze.
Max observed her for a moment. She was beautiful. He could imagine her seductive body even when her long pink robes entirely covered her feminine body.
Max sighed inwardly at this. 'Only if I could take a look at her naked. What a waste!' He realised that almost all his thoughts were becoming perverted, and his sexual desires were becoming even stronger even after he had already had enough sex to satiate his lust after his reincarnation.
He took a few deep breaths to calm his emotions and focused on the bizarre situation he was in. He didn't want to remain clueless when his life might be in danger.
"I apologise for offending you earlier. May I know how should I address you?" Max apologised and asked the man beside him.
The man who now was looking at the woman with a serious look on his face turned his head when he heard Max's apology. He then gave a last glance to the woman and said with a satisfied tone. "You are a sensible kid. I will forgive you this one time. You can call me Lord Schwartz or Schwartz if you want."
When he stopped speaking, the woman who had closed her eyes, looked at him in surprise for a second and then closed them again without saying anything.
Max didn't think of this too much and spoke, "Okay, Schwartz, can you tell me where are we and, why I was suddenly teleported here."
He could only ask him if he wanted to know what was happening and why he was here. As for the woman, she didn't even bother giving them a second glance; She was clearly not interested in talking to them.
Schwartz looked at him weirdly and then suddenly exclaimed when he saw the ring on his finger, "What the fuck! You are barely a two-star mage. How come the ring recognised you as the potential successor?"
The woman also looked at Max weirdly. It was unknown what she was thinking.
Max looked at him, dumbfounded. He didn't expect another outburst from him when he had already apologised. But when he heard what he said, Max understood that this was because he had the ring.
He raised his left hand, showed him the ring, and asked, "What about this ring? What successor? Can you explain Senior Schwartz?"