"Hello, my name is Lothur, and she is my friend, Elke." That silver-haired young man greeted the store employee before explaining what he wanted. "I want to access the second floor of this store, but this is my first time here."
"So that's it..." The young man smiled, sensing that Lothur was another one of the many people who came to test their luck in this place every day. 'I don't sense any cultivation from him, and that beauty is at the 1st Transformation.'
But upon paying attention to the clothes of the two, he decided not to push them away from there and just do what they wanted. 'Sigh, it's not worth pissing off these members of the nobility for so little.'
"Well, if that's the case, just follow me. I will take you to do one of the aptitude test rooms." That well-dressed fellow said this before finally moving on as Lothur and Elke followed him.
"Friend, tell me something, does someone with the ability to enter upper floors have the power to take people with them?"
"No. Every person who intends to enter our store to obtain products must go through our requirements."
'Eh? And what's to stop me from passing on these techniques to other people? That rule makes no sense...' Lothur was thinking about it, but soon that individual's voice stopped his train of thought.
"But don't worry, our store's system is foolproof. When you buy a technique here, our customers receive a copy of the purchased technique that only up to three people can learn."
"After that, the memory crystal decays until nothing but dust remains."
"So every customer who has access to our upper floors has the privilege of access to techniques that are hardly propagated around the world."
"Really? So by buying a technique here, someone is only paying for a copy..." Lothur muttered to himself, realizing the advantage of this deal to the sellers.
On Earth, this seemed to happen too. There were products on Earth that customers only had to pay for once. After that, customers would have them as long as they existed, were functional, and were compatible with other technologies.
But then some genius thought of the idea of subscriptions, and products of that other kind slowly disappeared.
But this was a way with no turning back. After all, why sell something expensive only once when you can sell something cheaper every month, at a price the masses can afford, indefinitely?
And upon noticing the business model of this establishment, Lothur immediately understood why anyone in this world would sell techniques that should be secretive due to the cruel nature of this world.
'Ah, this chain owners must be swimming in spiritual crystals...' Lothur felt a little admiration for these individuals before turning to his companion and asking something. "Elke, will you take the test with me?"
"Uh? Oh, no."
"I already know my talent, and I also already have access to the second floor of this store." She said this quickly, trying to talk as little as possible about her shameful talent.
Elke naturally did not have a great talent. Still, due to her position as the daughter of the patriarch of the Becker family, she had what it took to access the second floor of this store.
"Is that so? Haha, so I hope I don't disappoint you with my aptitude test later."
...
After a few moments, Lothur, Elke, and the employee from before finally reached a hallway that had three doors on each of its sides.
"This way." That individual waved to the two as he opened the door to one of those rooms.
Upon entering there, Lothur immediately observed his surroundings, seeing a relatively small room of less than 10 square meters. There was a counter with a white crystal on top, some paintings of natural landscapes of this region on the walls, and some armchairs.
Immediately that white crystal, an octahedron, caught Lothur's attention. At the same time, that employee went behind that counter, and Elke sat down in one of the armchairs there.
And then right away, that man said. "Well, will you try to get approval to enter the second floor through your talent or contacts?"
"If it is for your position, we will have to..."
"Don't worry about that. I'll take the aptitude test." Lothur stopped that individual from continuing, hurrying to find out what the rating of his talent would be.
"OK then." He stepped forward and began to touch that crystal in a way that Lothur did not understand.
"To test your talent, you basically had to place one of your hands on this face of the Aptitude Crystal." This store employee indicated with one of his fingers the right place for Lothur.
Then Lothur did what that man advised him to do until he began to feel the temperature in that used hand slightly rise.
Finally, that octahedron began to glow in rainbow colors, with multiple beams of light leaving that item on all sides as one of the colors slowly spread across its surface.
"Green-grade Talent!" Elke shouted in surprise as she got up from her chair in a startled manner.
She could not believe that Lothur, a student from the humble Sector-1, had a talent of this quality!
'Lothur...'
'Who are you? What are you doing in Sector-1?' She asked herself as she bit her lips.
On the other hand, that man was satisfied that he had not mistreated these young people. That's because someone with Green-grade talent had enough aptitude to become a Transcendent!
And in a world full of mortals, someone capable of reaching the 3rd stage could already be considered an expert in many places. Consequently, that man was happy that his good sense had prevented him from scaring those two away.
'Green-grade talent, who could this person be? He said his name... Uh... Lothur. But I don't know anyone that talented with such a name.'
'There is only that good-for-nothing of the Frost family, but that fellow has no talent.'
But that man did not think about it for long. He soon smiled at Lothur and offered his congratulations. "Excellent, sir."
"You have great talent and naturally qualify for access to the second floor of our store!"
"Here, take this." He gave a medallion to Lothur, something that had the symbol of a green crystal. "Just show it at the entrance to the second floor, and the guards will not stop you."
"Oh?" Lothur grabbed that as he smiled, satisfied that his assumptions were confirmed correct. 'It seems that my talent is different from my predecessor's.'
'Is this just a system thing? Or is it something related to me? The system said it had annihilated my predecessor's soul before my possession...' He pondered about the matter as he observed that medallion.
'Well, it doesn't matter. I'll keep those questions, and I'll naturally get to the truth when I have more information!'
"Thank you." He said to that man before turning to the shocked Elke and pulling her out of that place. "Come on, Elke. I want to see the techniques available on that second floor."
Gulp!
"All right..." She sighed quietly, following his command toward that area.
'Oh, why am I feeling so bad? I should be happy that he has a good talent!'
'But... But... That means.' She clenched her fists in frustration just before they reached the entrance to the second floor.
"You two, show your permissions or get out of here!" A tall, muscular man dressed in black armor, similar to others, said this in a grave tone after the two reached the entrance to the second floor.
But unlike what usually happened, that guard quickly saw the couple showing their green medallions.
"Hmm, very well, you can come in."
Then Elke and Lothur entered that area, a place somewhat smaller than the second floor but much more beautiful and luxurious, to the point that the difference was simply surreal.
At the same time, while the second floor had several people coming and going, this place was much more secluded, with only a few people passing through.
The individuals there also seemed to dress much better, with appearances that were hard to ignore and noble bearing, only seen from those of good education.
That was true for the customers next to the shelves and even the employees who wore green clothes in that area.
"Dear customers, welcome to the second floor of Innumerable Scrolls. This one's name is Wilfried. How can I help you?" One of those employees approached Lothur and Elke formally.
...