"How much is this?"
"Ten gold coins."
"Huh, might as well try and rob me. I'll pay five."
"Huh, but this is authentic and not a fake, can't you reconsider?"
"No, in fact, I'm only willing to pay three now."
"Ah, okay I'll stick with five, please don't ruin me."
"Good. Here you go."
Max stood at the side, speechless as he watched Laura commit what he could only tell was daylight robbery.
…
Max could not believe what he had just watched. One of the richest teens in Tudor County was still so shameless as to try and haggle prices of goods with other merchants.
On the other hand, Laura skipped down the street, a beautiful emerald necklace on her neck. For her, she had just gotten the necklace for quite a steal.
"You might as well have just stolen from the poor shopkeeper," Max remarked eliciting a chuckle from Laura.
"You think I'd be willing to spend money just because I have it?... Hmmph, as the daughter of the most successful businessman, I have an image to keep."
Max rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh, a nice way to defend being stingy."
Laura stuck out her tongue. "Are you going to keep talking about the shopkeeper or can we start our tour now?"
Max sighed. "Let's start the tour."
"Good. Tudor County is divided into three sections as we have already noted. To be honest, the real hustle and bustle most times occur at the outer section, which also means, most of the good stuff happens here."
The outer section is also known as the place where dreams could come true.
Most commoners would come to the big city hoping for a big break, hoping for that little luck required to make them rich.
It was the same thing when Sir Lloyd came all those years ago. Beaten, and battered, he had to rely on his wits and business acumen to establish himself before he slowly began to spread his influences.
Most would use his success story as a reason to keep pushing forward. As a beacon of hope, Laura was proud to be the daughter of such a man.
Max noted the pride and nodded. It was normal to feel that way.
They walked down a few streets, very few of which did not have a stall docked out with varying goods.
There was a saying, "if you don't find it in Tudor County, then you won't find it anywhere else"
It was a testament to how wide the city's scope was.
They had just gone past an ice cream store where Laura once again cheated the vendor out of two cones of ice cream for the price of one.
Max could only apologize in his heart as he followed behind her.
"Is it always these rowdy?... It feels as if there are more people than the city can take." Max felt the Ordena in the area and it seemed pretty choked up, a sign that the population in the city was more than necessary for the area.
Laura licked her ice cream and savored the taste in her mouth before responding. "Well, you are right that the population is denser than usual. That's because of the Parade that takes place every five years."
"The parade?"
"Mn, a Magic parade, every influential city organizes a parade once in a while, obviously at different intervals to not clash with one another," Laura explained.
"Oh, I see. So what happens at a Magic parade?" Max asked.
Laura almost spat out the ice cream in her mouth. "Are you kidding me?... If someone else heard that, they would think you are a magical creature in human skin."
"Well, I'm not."
"So how exactly are you unaware of what happens at a Magic parade?" It was strange no matter how she thought about it.
"Because it never happened in my home and I was never allowed to leave home for any reason. Sure I read books about world history and politics and geography, but that's about it. Apart from that, for the last four years, I've been away so forgive me if I'm not exactly privy to information about every little thing that happens in the Empire."
Laura found no way to retort thus she sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. A Magic parade as its name implies is a parade celebrating the advent of magic and how it has helped develop our world."
Max nodded in understanding. "So what happens at the parade?"
"Anything actually, depending on what the city lord chooses. But the main event is always the same; a combat competition for teens and youths to compete, with the final prize this year being a high-grade manastone."
Max was impressed.
Manastones were basically lumps of magic that took long periods to form. It normally occurred around places that were said to have been hotspots during the War for Supremacy.
Their existence was helpful to magic cultivation as it allowed Magicians to directly absorb the energy without fear of backlash of any kind.
In fact, most Magicians would most times use it to breakthrough a rank and solidify their base.
So it was understandable for it to be a sort after product.
It was divided into three forms, namely; Low grade, Mid Grade, and high-grade Manastones.
For the city lord to consider giving away a high-grade Manastone, he was indeed feeling quite generous.
Max asked. "So are you taking part in the parade?"
Laura immediately responded. "Of course, it's a high-grade Manastone we are talking about here. If I can get my hands on it, I'll be able to get past my bottleneck and breakthrough to the Advanced level."
Just the thought alone was enough to make Laura's eyes shine with anticipation.
Max could not understand the feeling though. As a Sage, there was no such thing as a lump of Ordena waiting to be absorbed and even if there was, he wouldn't dare to take it since it would be the same as courting death, and no… no plot armor would save him from certain death!