"Well?!" Both Gertrude and Victoria spoke at the same time, impatient to know the result. Looking up from reading the page I responded with a smile and a sense of pride. "I can read and understand it." "Brilliant! Hahaha! I knew it! . . . ." Gertrude crowed out praises to herself and her ingenuity as Victoria fixated her stare upon her. "Now is the matter of the negotiation." Victoria interrupted her. "What is your requested price?" Gertrude became reserved for a moment and began muttering under her breath. "Cost of materials, level of rarity, time spent creating it, as well as utilizing my knowledge of runes. Hmmm." She paused for a moment before proclaiming. "20 Mithril." Victoria's eyes widened at the value, then narrowed in challenge. "20 Mithril?! Are you trying to sell me the Mage guild itself at that price?!" Pointing at my chest from which the necklace still remained she countered. "That thing is worth half a Mithril at best!" Looking offended, Gertrude rebutted. "For your information, the materials themselves cost me 7 Mithril. That's not including my time and precious knowledge. 15 Mithril, since we are such good friends." "Bah! Friends who scalp each other?" A glint appeared in Victoria's eyes. "You as well as I know that except to an eccentric with more money than sense, an objects rarity can only have value by its need and practical use. Who else are you going to sell this to, an illiterate farmer? I say 2 Mithril, for you to gain back some of your investment and a lesson learned to not waste money on creating such expensive knickknacks." Gertrude appeared to take great offense at that. "Knickknack? You call this masterpiece which is probably the first of its kind, a Knickknack?! And such an expensive lesson to learn." She muttered the last part in commiseration. Firing back up she continued defending. "Besides, aren't you currently in need of it? I'm sure there are some powerful and wealthy families in this city or others that would Love to get their hands on this for saving Years of teaching their next young patriarch. I'll sell it to you for 10 Mithril, only because I don't want to have to bother myself to seek out and deal with those families." "Oh poor poor Gertrude." Victoria looked at her in commiseration. "You forgot the part about this being the only of its kind, not to mention that your first real test of it was with my desperate and illiterate apprentice who could have died, or worse, for your vanity in proving its use." Wait, I caught that last bit with more than a sense of curiosity. "Worse than death?" I muttered. Victoria and Gertrude both froze and a pregnant pause with silence filled the air. Finally, Gertrude broke the silence with a more somber tone. "It is true that there are extremely dangerous mage stones, among other things out there, for the unwary and under-prepared. I placed secure seals on this to prevent such from happening." Pausing again, as if assaulted by a bad taste, she finished with saying. "By law, we aren't allowed to discuss things further about why it is a risk." "Stupid Law, it's better to be prepared than ignorant," Victoria interjected with a grumble. To which Gertrude sagely nodded in agreeance with. Victoria was the first to break the brief moment of cordial agreement they both had with her next statement. "Gertrude," She said ever so innocently. "Which Families do you feel would be open to using this obviously very precious tool in order to train their illiterate '14-year-old' young patriarch?" Despite only having been just introduced to this vibrant virtual world, even I could see the absurdity of that statement. What powerful family would wait until their most precious child was 14 years old before they began teaching them to be literate? It would absolutely stunt their own growth and lose around a decade of teaching other topics by which reading is more easily taught. I assume Gertrude had come to that same conclusion long ago after, if not before creating this amulet. "I can sell it to you at cost, being 7 Mithril and I will as you say, consider it a lesson learned." The frustration coming off of her was almost palpable. "If you can't accept it for this price, I'm sure I can sell it to another Traveler in need or some foreign visiting dignitary. I was certainly enjoying this haggling. It was sort of like a debate. Although I could see how heated it was getting between Victoria and Gertrude, I felt that there was an undercurrent of respect and appreciation for the challenge which each presented to the other. It was far better than other arguments or debates, that resulted in one or both sides screaming incoherently because they could not articulate their responses, and remain cordial with each other. Back to the bargaining, it appeared that Victoria was preparing one last attack on what I personally thought to be a good deal, getting a product at material cost. "Sure, you might eventually be able to sell it to another Traveler in a decade or so, when they built up the funds. A dignitary or a Traveler could also hire a translator or teacher for far less and much more easily. Not to mention that most jobs likely open to Travelers can be done even by the illiterate. However, we don't know if or when more will come and how compatible they may be with this amulet. You also said it yourself, that you were worried about how he might be influenced. I'd say that is more of a flaw on your product's part, rather than a success. Credit should go to my apprentice who has proven to be capable of using such a volatile item. Each point Victoria made was like a dagger that caused Gertrude to wince or flinch. "What are you offering?" She asked with a gritted beak. "In light of our 'friendship' I offer 5 Mithril for purchase price." Victoria made her offer and continued. "It allows you to recoup some of your loss and gets rid of a piece that was simply gathering dust in your drawer." "Fine!" Gertrude snapped back. "5 Mithril it is." "Great!" Victoria smiled with a dark glint in her eyes. "As per your store policy, I would like to pay to rent its use, based on our mutually determined sale price. That should turn out to 20 silver a month if I'm not mistaken?" "You!" A claw shaking with barely suppressed rage pointed at her. If looks could kill, Victoria might have expired at that moment after facing Gertrude's fiery glare. Through sheer effort of will I could see this very angry turtle woman regain her senses and take a few deep breaths. Then a somewhat deranged look crossed Gertrude's face as if she had thought of a brilliantly articulate rebuttal. Even her voice appeared to change a little as regality entered it. "Due to the nature of the product to dwindle irrecoverably in value with use, rental is not possible as it can mostly only benefit one individual. The individual utilizing it, should retain full understanding of the written language once the energies have expired. As such, you will need to pay full price upfront, to acquire its use." The last was said with smug satisfaction. Victoria physically withdrew a little at that declaration. After a moment, she then turned a little away from Gertrude to face me more fully. "Well Andrew, it likely wasn't going to work out anyways, as I have never had any apprentices successfully complete their training with me. It was nice knowing you and I hope that you find a way to achieve your dreams elsewhere. I'm sorry that we have to say goodbye." Then with the eye hidden from Gertrude's view, she gave me a quick wink. Dust it all! I had to mentally strangle a rush of hormones again as I tried to decipher what that wink meant. With quick, if somewhat scattered thoughts, I made a guess. If there was an adequate comparison to what that might mean on Earth in these circumstances, then maybe she was hinting at me to play along? Well, here goes nothing. Putting on what I hoped to be a convincing morose expression I replied to her. "I . . . I guess I can just go to the military as the council had originally pressed me to do. I'm sorry Victoria; I was really looking forward to being under your apprenticeship. You appear to be a brilliant teacher." This was mixed fibbing as I hadn't really had time to gauge her teaching ability. I had a sudden thought. The breakfast that morning did stand out and while reminiscing, I added on "And your meals are amazing too. I will truly miss those." I didn't know if it was because I was such a great actor, but I felt my own eyes grow a little misty. Watching Gertrude's expression, I saw her grim look soften and she finally spoke but with sharpness. "Fine! You can rent, but it will be rent to own, with full payment due within 2 years!" Then her voice softened again. "I would advise that you limit Andrew's use of it to only when necessary." I could almost hear the unspoken words add in '. . . in case he proves to be an unsuitable apprentice.' But she proved to be too softhearted to verbally say that. Victoria appeared to hear the unspoken words, just like I did. In response, she became more serious as she addressed me. "Andrew, I know I promised Monroe to take things easy on you at the beginning. However, this unexpected cost is going to require a change in plans." Victoria took in a deep breath, as if to gather time for a thought. "If I go through with this purchase, you will need to agree to take a very serious and somewhat difficult test later today. This is a test created to discern the serious pursuers of knowledge from those that don't have the conviction to do what it takes to learn the valuable trade of being an apothecary. If you fail or refuse, you will need to give up on becoming a true apprentice and be satisfied with doing menial labor with some small learning on the side." My curiosity got the better of me as I asked "What does this test involve?" Shaking her head at me, she replied "Due to the nature of the test, I cannot allow those that have potential to fail it, to spread its use to others without taking precautions. You will have to sign a magically binding contract, which blocks your ability to share the details of the test to others during and after the test itself. Do you agree to this?" The translation necklace was still around my neck, and at her words, I felt the slightest of warmth and chills that I had grown to know so well on Earth, form between my chest and the emblem. My eyes widened at what even this minute sensation may imply. With full conviction I replied. "Yes!" No matter what this test involved, I knew that I had to keep this amulet close to me for as long as possible. This place was feeling less and less like a game or a contrived virtual reality to me. I had read of the theory of creating massive virtual civilizations from scratch, where each construct had feelings, emotions, dreams, and desires just like a flesh and blood being. With the exception of magic, these people learned trades that were accurately reflected in their ability to be emulated in real life. With this, it just might be possible to achieve what I was striving for in curing my sister's disease. Maybe these people truly lived the lives they believed they were living, and we as Travelers were simply guests that were being allowed to visit in their virtual world. As a guest, I believed I should give it my all to learn what I came for, as well as treating these people with respect. Victoria pulled out a rolled parchment which she then unrolled on the counter space. She additionally placed a small knife and a cream beside it. "Go ahead and take as much time as you want with this before applying your blood."