Mr. Gregory gave a big smile at Val's response, from Val's words he could basically infer that he had the eyes. Mr. Gregory thought for a brief moment, he knew Val was an orphan, so he would definitely need money, his weapon was also horrible and could break at any time, he had assumed he stole it from a Goblin or other monster, he also only had a backpack with him. After analyzing Val's situation he responded with his offer,
"I am willing to offer 2 gold and 50 silver, a basic short sword, and a spatial pouch."
Once again Val's eyes opened wide and he did not know what to say, Val had once asked a merchant about spatial pouches when he was younger, and the merchant had said that a spatial pouch cost at least 2 gold, depending on its size and a basic short sword should cost roughly 50 Silver. (100 Bronze (b) = 1 Silver (s), 100 Silver = 1 Gold (g), 100 Gold = 1 Platinum (p)). Mr. Gregory was basically offering him a spatial pouch on top of the value of the Light Ray Lion eyes value. Val was a bit shaken as this was more money than he had ever seen, let alone had. But he still got out a response,
"Why would you offer so much, that amount of money and items are worth way more than the eyes?"
Mr. Gregory maintained the smile he always had and gave a slight nod,
"That is correct, the value of my offer is significantly higher than the value of the item, however, there are two main reasons I am willing to pay more. Firstly, the item is rare and my client has been waiting for it for quite some time, they are an important client, and making them happy is worth taking a slight loss. Secondly, you have a lot of potential, you have at least two talents; Short Sword Talent and Life Talent, and your Life Talent is at least A-Rank as the [Tame] skill you have is an A-Rank talent, I know this because, over my many years of life, I have met a few people with this skill, so I know some things about it. Others may have heard about it, but it's very rare to find someone with the skill, even if it is a very infamous skill. I want to have a good relationship with you, for when you become older and stronger, I am confident that you will become quite a powerful adventurer with your Talent."
When everyone heard what Mr. Gregory said that all stopped what they were doing and looked at Val in surprise. What Mr. Gregory said was true, nearly everyone has heard about the skill [Tame], they knew it was a powerful Life Talent Skill but they had no idea it was A-Rank, the reason is, is that so few people actually have the skill. The reason it is such a well-known skill is that it is so unique, it allows one to tame and have a team of monsters and beasts. Everyone throughout history who has had this skill has become famous and powerful, at least everyone that did not die young.
Val heard Mr. Gregory's justification and gave it some thought. Mr. Gregory was a successful merchant, he was very experienced at reading people. It was not a surprise that he was able to figure some things out. Val understood now why Mr. Gregory wanted him to join their caravan, his aim was the Light Ray Lion eyes and to build a relationship with Val, who he believed would become a powerhouse in the future. Val was confident that the offer from Mr. Gregory was better than what he would get from the adventurers guild. Val made his decision and responded to Mr. Gregory,
"After thinking about your offer, I have decided to accept it. I believe it would be a better deal than what I would get at the Adventurers Guild."
Mr. Gregory's smile grew and he nodded his head happily, everyone else was still shocked at what they had heard and were just staring at the two of them. The only person unphased was the powerhouse, who had not stopped eating, it seems he had come to the same conclusion as Mr. Gregory, just from observing Val briefly. Mr. Gregory got up to collect the items for payment, to someone like him, 2g and 50s was a small amount, a basic short sword was not a big deal, and though the storage pouch was an item that was expensive and hard to procure for an ordinary person, it was different for someone like him, who had commercial connections all over the Kingdom, it would be different if it was a spatial ring, which was far more valuable then a spatial pouch.
Both Val and Mr. Gregory got up to grab the items for trade, Val went to his backpack, collected the eyes, and headed back, Mr. Gregory went into 2 different carts to collect the items needed for the exchange. When they both arrived back at the dining area, Val handed over the eyes, Mr. Gregory observed them, smiling and nodding when he had determined that they were not damaged. He handed over the money, then the short sword, which was made by a blacksmith, the sword seemed to be of good quality, though Val did not really know how to determine the quality. Lastly, there was only the spatial pouch to be handed over, as Mr. Gregory was handing over the pouch, he started speaking to Val, informing him of important information regarding the pouch,
"This is the spatial pouch, its size is 5 cubic meters, and time inside the pouch runs the same as outside. I would recommend keeping it on you at all times but also keeping it hidden, you don't want to attract attention from thieves."
Val nodded, immediately understanding Mr. Gregory's concerns and taking his words into consideration. Val places the money he had received into the spatial pouch and strapped it around his waist underneath his top.
After the exchange was complete, everyone finished eating, they prepared for bed. The adventures would have to rotate keeping watch throughout the night for safety, but Mark had said it was okay for Val to not participate because he was young and needed rest, also he was not a part of the request they had taken so it was not his responsibility to protect the merchants.
Val agreed and headed into his tent with Leo, ready for a good rest and prepared for his second day as an adventurer, his first had been so eventful, he did not know what to expect. As he lay down next to Leo the two of them fell asleep very quickly.
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The next morning Leo and Val woke up as the sun was rising, both of them had slept well, even though they were laying on the hard ground, they had just been too exhausted from everything that had happened yesterday.
As they woke up, they exited their tent, it seemed that most of the others had also awoken a little earlier or around the same time. Currently, food was being prepared for breakfast, and once breakfast was finished they would head off, the caravan wanted to move as quickly as possible, the less time they spent on the road, the more time they had to make deals and make money.
Val packed up his tent and placed all his possessions in his spatial ring. He only kept his two short swords at his waist. The rusty one that he got from the goblin was kept on his right side and the better quality one was kept on his left, the reason for this was that Val was right-handed, so he prefer to have the good sword in his dominant hand.
Val made his way over to where the food was, with Leo eagerly walking in front. The little Lion was quite the glutton, he enjoyed eating a lot and never missed a chance to stuff his face.
As they arrived, the food was being served, and both Val and Leo waiting for their turn to be served, after they received their serving, they sat down and started eating. As they were eating, they were approached by Mark and Becky who had also received their breakfast. The four of them ate their food in peace, Mark was talking a lot, but not about anything of importance. Val decided to ask a question,
"How was the night watch? Were there any issues?"
Mark with a smile, responded immediately,
"Nope, no issues, everything went smoothly. Though night watch is always pretty boring, but it's very important."
Val nodded in confirmation and went back to eating his breakfast. Mark then asked Val,
"Why are you keeping that rusty piece of junk? Now that you have a real sword, it would be better to throw away that thing, it is barely usable and you won't be able to sell it, so it's worthless."
Val looked at Mark, he agreed, it was a piece of junk, and definitely worthless, but for Val, it did have a purpose. Val decided to share just a little about his Talent,
"As you know, I have a Short Sword Talent, the skill I have is called [Duel Weilding]. So it's beneficial for me to use two short swords, even if one is complete shit."
Mark nodded his head repeatedly, he was trying to not show his surprise. Mark didn't know the exact rank of the [Duel Weilding] skill for short swords, but he knew it was high ranked in other Martial Talents, so he assumed it was the same for the Short Sword Talent. Becky was the same, as it dawned on the two, that the kid next to them had two very high-rank Talents and Skills. They now realized why Mr. Gregory wanted to create a friendship with the boy.
After breakfast, everyone packed up and readied themselves to start traveling for the day. After everyone was ready they began to move, traveling at a steady pace.