As soon as Puck got far enough away from the dwarf's section of the Awakener's Market, he took a moment to catch his breath.
Reality had hit him like a ton of bricks.
Sure he had his Gacha summons, but he shouldn't be satisfied with letting them do all the work.
Don't get him wrong, it was still exciting to actually see his beloved Gacha characters, that he worked so hard to summon, in real life.
In fact his heart still skips a beat still thinking about it.
But he thinks that the fight with Rebecca was an eye opener.
His fanboy stage of being a awakener is finally over.
"It's about time I start taking this seriously...." He thinks to himself as his face hardens with determination.
His stride as he walked towards a regular human vendor was one of confidence.
The blonde haired man at the front of the stand's eyes lit up when he noticed Puck coming his way.
The sign above the store front read in huge red letters: Leo's Weapon Emporium.
Puck couldn't help but blink at the odd name before finally greeting the man who was currently petting a black tuxedo cat with a grin on his face.
"Hello! Do you think you could take a look at a weapon I want to sell?" Puck asked with a small polite smile.
"Sure!" The cat exclaimed, causing Puck to nearly jump out of his skin.
The blonde haired man simply gave a two fingered salute before walking into the back of the shop.
Puck gave a small nervous chuckle, waving him off before turning his attention to the talking cat. "I'm guessing.... you're Leo?" He asked skeptically.
"Yeup! That guy was my assistant! Now what kinda weapon were you looking to sell?" The feline asked in a all too happy tone.
Of course....
Why was Puck even surprised at this point? Next to the dwarves, there was barely any human merchants.... Normal humans that is.
Most people who awakened that type of class turned into something like a dwarf, gnome, or even something else entirely!
"Man.... This guy must've really gotten the short end of the stick.... Or woman.... Kinda hard to tell...." Puck quickly shook himself from his thoughts and cleared his mind, grinning widely as he held out his hand in front of him like he was holding something.
The passing awakeners all stopped for a moment to stare in awe as a purple glow appeared in his hand.
"N-No way! A-An epic?!" The cat exclaimed, immediately beginning to inspect the staff with it's paws expertly, it's eyes lighting up in excitement as it looks up at Puck with stars in its eyes. "You're actually looking to sell this thing?!"
Puck let out a nervous chuckle, scratching his cheek as people around him began to murmur about someone actually willing to give up an epic grade weapon.
"Yeup! Don't really have a use for it! I'm not really a mage, you know?" He says, slightly uncomfortable at all the attention.
"Even still! You don't come across something like this very often! Even people in the top 100 rankings only have a few of these things! It even has a hidden growth option! Do you know how much this is worth?!" The feline says in excitement, clearly nerding out as it easily lifts the staffs in it's paws and rubs its face against it.
Puck simply gives Leo a small nod in confirmation, causing the cat to gain a serious look on its face.
It places the staff on the counter in front of it before crossing it's arms....or....paws?
"Then that settles it! I'll be your manager!" It suddenly exclaims causing Puck to be taken aback for a moment.
"W-Wait....huh?! I didn't ask for-"
"Michael! Man the shop for a bit please! I'll be heading out for a while!" The feline calls to the back, completely interrupting Puck.
A thumbs up suddenly appears from behind the curtain to the shop as Leo hops off the counter.
Puck was dumbfounded, quickly picking up his staff and putting it back into his inventory as the cat begins to walk off.
"H-Hey! Wait a minute! What the hell's going on?!" He asked, only to be met with silence as the cat marches off, leading Puck to God knows where.
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A Few Moments Later~
Puck had been dragged to a large red and gold theater like building without any explanation as to why.
The only thing he was told was that it was some prestigious auction that all awakeners and high classes citizens had access to.
Leo, with the help of the auction's staff, had forced him into a suit and he was given a mask to hide his features.
The mask itself was blank and resembled one of those smiling masks you'd see on front of a theater.
And now he found himself sitting high in a secluded balcony seat overlooking a mass of people and a stage.
Sitting next to him was Leo in a rather adorable small black tuxedo.
"Absolutely adorable." Puck muttered before he could stop himself.
Leo seemed to ignore this and istead chose to finally explain to Puck what exactly was going on, "So! Sorry for the late introduction, but we had to rush in order to catch the Auction before it closed for the week. So, long story short, I wanna be your manager! You don't have one yet, right?" He says as one of the auction staff appears holding a rather long red cloth.
The member of the auction house seemed to whisper something into Leo's ear, causing the small feline to nod in understanding.
Puck goes to answer Leo's question, only to be interrupted by him. "Sorry, but do you mind summoning that staff of yours? We need to give it to 'em so they can display it at the auction." He says simply.
"W-What?! You put my staff up for auction?! I brought it to you so you can buy it!" Puck exclaimed in a hushed tone.
The feline simply let out a small chuckle and shook his head. "C'mon! Don't be silly! There's no way I could afford something like that! That's why I said I'll be your manager! You need someone who's good at this stuff to do all the complicated things for you! Now stop worrying so much and give up the staff!"
Puck wanted to argue, but couldn't.
Especially since they were already there....
So he simply let out a small sigh of defeat and summoned the Lich's Great Staff and handed it to the action house worker.
The worker brought it over to another personnel who had a small monocular appraisal item, they used to make sure it was real, before finally marching off with it after receiving a approving nod.
Puck watched them leave before turning back to his newly appointed manager. "You could've at least asked my permission first! Don't I need to sign off on this?! Plus we never even signed a contract!" He whispered.
Leo simply smirked, puffing out his chest proudly. "Heh, already taken care of! I know the owner of the auction house personally! So they turned the other way while I signed your name! And I have the contract riiiiiiiiiiiigt...." He reached his paw into his pocket and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a stack of papers. "Here!" He finally finished.
"What?! Where'd you even-"
Puck was cut off once more as the lights on the stage dimmed slightly with a resounding ding, signing the start of the auction.
"The auction will be starting in a moment, please take your seats~!" A smooth feminine voice echoes from around the auction hall.
To be continued~
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End Chapter 15~