?A plethora of items, all necklaces, rings, and similar small accessories fell in front of Ning from an inter-dimensional storage provided by Randal's system. It took Ning only a glance to tell exactly what he was looking at.
"Ah! Storage artifacts," he said, somewhat surprised. "I was going to start making some soon. So many too?"
There were at least 2 thousand different artifacts, that half-filled the room. Each one would sell for pretty good enough too
"This is all I can give for now," Randal said. "Will this work for payment?"
"Hmm," Ning looked at the items and gave a thoughtful look. With a swipe of his hands, he pocketed all the items into his storage at once.
Randal was surprised to see that one needed a lot of space to hold space treasures, and there was possibly no way for a storage artifact to exist that could hold all of them.
"Your system has a storage too?" he asked.
"My system has everything," Ning said offhandedly, while he considered his next course of action. "I think I know what we will have to do for you to completely pay me back."
"What? More?" the young man complained. "I gave you so much already. Those will take me 3 months at least to make. Do you know how many people there are in this world that can make that even a single one in a week? None!"
Ning nodded to himself. "And you made this much in 3 months?" he asked.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Yes," he said.
"So most of the storage artifacts around here come from you," Ning asked him.
"Yeah, I've been making them for more than a century now," Randal said. "I used to make more, but I've slowed down with time. I have more responsibilities as a High Lord."
"Alright, I won't cause more problems for you then," Ning said. "Come to my shop tomorrow and I can set you up a deal so that we can sell the items you make from here on out. I'm gonna make you sign a contract."
"What?" Randal asked. "You can't—"
"You better come tomorrow," Ning said. "Or I'm gonna come looking, and it's not going to be pretty."
Before Randal could say something, Ning teleported away.
He returned back to his shop where Umbra was alone in her Shadow World. "Are you okay, Umbra?" he asked.
"I'm… okay," Umbra said slowly. "I… died, right?"
"Yes," Ning said.
"It felt so weird," she said. "As if I had fallen asleep and was woken up afterward. Is that what dying is like?"
"I wouldn't know," Ning said. "It's been a long time since I've last died. Anyway, you should go back and rest. It's been a long day."
Umbra nodded. "I'm sorry I failed in my duty to stop every intruder. I never expected one so strong to show up," she said.
"Don't mind that. Go be with Lory, I'll see to the rest," Ning said and let Umbra end her Shadow World.
Once she was gone, Ning cleaned up the mess, getting rid of the bodies of all those who had died. Once that was cleaned up, he went on to give poor little Hadden another beating so he could get used to the pain.
He was getting ready now, and within the next month, he would be sent to the Origin where he would train to split his core into multiple parts.
Once Hadden's training ended, Ning returned back to the shop. It was early morning by now, so he had to prepare to open it. As he did, he noticed someone outside the shop.
He opened the door and noticed the woman with the red teardrop-shaped earring from the party. "Miss Green, how may I help you?" Ning asked.
"Sir Ning," the woman said, sneaking past him to look at the inside of the shop. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" he inquired.
"Bass is dead, burned alive in a house fire. So are two more of my associates," she said. "Did you know that?"
"Sir Bass is dead?" Ning asked with a surprised look. "When? How? Fire you say? Was it arson?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe girl stared at Ning, trying to find answers, but she couldn't. "We don't know. The authorities are still looking into what happened. I was returning, and thought of informing you just in case."
"You didn't have to, I would've liked to hear the news by noon," Ning said. "Still, he was so young. To think he died in a house fire. And those two associates of yours too. Poor fellas."
The woman nodded. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know in case you wished to keep the shop closed to mourn his death. Our shops will remain closed for the day," she said.
"I'll think about it," Ning said. "Thank you for letting me know, Miss Green. I should return to work now. There's a lot to do."
Ning closed the door and walked back into the shop, leaving the woman behind whether or not she had more to say.
Rova came to the shop a while later, and Ning told her what had happened. He told her everything except for Randal and Umbra's death, as well as him killing Bass."
"Intruders, huh? To think they came to kill you," Rova said, slightly stunned. "It's a good thing Umbra is there all the time, or who knew what would've happened to you."
Ning shrugged. "Are you going to make more weapons today?" he asked her.
"Maybe not today," the woman said. "We have the auction and all. Things will be hectic today, so I don't want to tire myself this early."
"Makes sense," Ning said. "Also, since Bass died, do you think we should close our shops too?"
"Why should we? It's not like we are part of their small group," Rova said. "Besides, we should be happy that bastard died. Do you know how many people had to suffer because of him?"
Ning smiled. "Very well, then. Prepare for the auction," he said. "We'll be selling both the Twin Shadow Scythes and the Space Spear."