There were so many different articles lying around inside of the large store that I almost became dizzy from just looking around, but at the same time, it was hard to contain my childish glee from seeing all these things that I could previously only dream of having.
Looking over one of the many cabinets standing around, I found that it was filled with different kinds of rings, all with their own special ability. Everything from spatial storage to different elemental boosting attributes.
One example of this could be read on the accompanying description under a golden ring with red markings.
[Ring of Fiery Passion: [D]-rank]
[Allows a user blessed with the fire element to revitalize its body by channeling mana into the ring.]
This was just one of the many rings lying in the cabinet, but there was sadly no one that fully caught my interest.
"Did you find anything?"
Coming over to me, Dona also took a peek through the glass to see what I was looking at.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think I need any of these at least."
The one problem with artifacts was the fact that equipping multiple items often led to a very unfortunate condition called death, depending on how large toll they took on the user's body.
Some items, I had learned, like spatial storage rings didn't put that much stress on one's body, but as soon as you started using artifacts with combative abilities, it was very rare to find combos of more than two that wasn't too demanding.
So, for most people, it was not only important to find artifacts that you were suited to using, but you also had to know what artifacts you would bring for different scenarios. For me, however, I was just glad that I would be receiving one artifact, but that also meant I wanted to make it count.
'And it's also my first gift...'
I wanted to find something that I could use for as long as possible, and even if that meant it didn't boost my combative capabilities, I didn't really care. For me, it was more important to find something that would be useful for a long time.
Following this, a bright voice rang out through the room, and when we we turned around, we were met by the look of the young employee coming back with a catalogue in her hands, which she quickly handed to Dona.
"Sorry for the wait! I have a list here of [E]-rank artifacts if you want to take a look!"
"Thank you. We will take a look before getting back to you."
"Absolutely! Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!"
Taking a few steps back, so we could have some privacy while looking at the wares, Dona gave me the catalogue so that I could look through it.
However, when she did so, a weird feeling emerged inside of me. A feeling that told me that this wasn't right, that this wasn't actually what I wanted.
"Aarick, what's wrong?"
As I looked at the now confused, and maybe a bit worried, Dona, it didn't take long until I realized why it felt so bad to look through the catalogue. Instead, I just gave it back to her while shaking my head, feeling my cheeks flush a bit.
"I want you to choose something for me."
Even more confused now, as she couldn't understand what I was doing, her head tilted a bit.
"Choose for you? But wouldn't it be..."
And then, the penny dropped for her, seemingly being able to interpret what I was thinking by looking at my face. Following this, a gentle smile appeared on her face, somehow making me even more embarrassed than I already was.
"I see. Then, please wait outside and I'll pick something good for you!"
****
[Levi's Pov]
"So, are you having a good time at school? It shouldn't be too long until you get your rankings, right?"
"Yeah, Ms. Zito told us that it shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks before they release the list.
My father had come around to my house once again, with us now enjoying a meal at the dinner table in the kitchen area. As it was quite rare that he had time to eat with me, I was happy that we got this opportunity. Even if I knew that part of it was because he wanted to talk about the event tomorrow.
Even the way he had chosen to discard the blue suit for the night, instead just wearing a black turtleneck and a pair of white pants, showed that he was consciously trying to not make this night about work.
Unfortunately, after we had finished our meal, it didn't take long until my father felt like he needed to bring it up.
"Are you ready for tomorrow then, Levi? It's just a show match, but..."
"I'll be fine, father. Even if it's the first match that I will have as the heir of the Leviathan, it's not like I have never dueled before."
It wasn't hard to see that my father also didn't particularly enjoy the tradition that was going to go down tomorrow. A tradition that was more or less the aristocrats patting themselves on their back by making the heirs of the large guild fight youths belonging to smaller guilds or even just normal students.
Now, even though I thought it to be a very distasteful tradition, it was at least not all bad for the one I would have my match against. Because not only did they get a chance to show off what they were capable of in front of a lot of important figures, their households also got a chance to make some very potent connections.
One could say it was a bit of give and take. So even if I still found it very off-putting, I could to some degree accept it when thinking about it like this.
His blue eyes narrowed a bit, probably seeing right through me and understanding how I truly felt about it. However, a second later, his body relaxed, knowing that it wasn't as if anything would change. No matter how both of us felt.
"I see. I just hope that you can enjoy yourself as much as possible. Even if there's pressure on you to win, I don't think Mr. Loxley would invite someone that you couldn't beat. Hopefully you will have a good match."
Clenching my fists under the table, he just mentioned the one thing that I found most frustrating about all of this. The fact that even though the other guilds were responsible for inviting opponents as to make sure the match would be fair, the relationships between the big guilds and the Loxley's were too important for them not to make sure to invite someone who wouldn't stand a chance.
In other words, the match was pretty much fixed from the start.
Once again noticing my emotional state, my father quickly tried to gloss over it, and switched the focus of our conversation.
"Hrmm! So, how do you think Will will do? From what I've seen, he seems to have gotten pretty strong lately."
Forcing myself to face my father again, I confirmed his thoughts about my closest friend.
"He has. He is probably the strongest freshmen at Augustus, and by quite a margin at that. So I don't believe he could lose even if Mrs. Maxwell invited someone of equal rank."
Just like Alexander Loxley was responsible for inviting my opponent, Matthew's mother, Celeste Maxwell, was responsible for inviting Will's.
And this was the true purpose of the event tomorrow. To show the upper echelon the prowess of the two heirs of the biggest guilds in Teton, two individuals that miraculously both had a potential of [S]-rank.
Picking up his glass of wine and taking a sip, my father seemed content with my judgment of Will.
"I see. Then, I guess there will be no issues tomorrow then. Oh, did you get the artifact I ordered for you?"
Nodding, I lifted my hand and activated the spatial storage ring on my finger and brought out the gift that he had gotten for me.
In my hand, a long blue spear emerged, entirely crafted out of azure blue ores, letting one see the strands of the minerals throughout it. Gentle Blue was the name of the weapon that I had been gifted, a [D]-rank artifact that simply increased the user's potency while using the water element.
However, it was also more than sturdy and sharp enough to be used as a traditional spear, making it very suitable for my way of fighting.
My father smiled when seeing that his gift had successfully arrived, pleased to see that I was very content with my present.
"I'm glad. I hope that you can show your best side tomorrow while using it tomorrow in the match."
"I will, father."
In the end, I still couldn't help but feel slightly nervous about it all. Because no one could say for certain how the future would play out.