24 Books

He reached the appraisal room. There was a desk right beside it where a young beautiful woman was sitting. She saw Leo walk to the appraisal room.

“Hello. Are you here to sell any of your Magical Herbs or Beast Cores?” She asked him.

He was happy that he was in the right place. “Yes. I am here to sell a horn from a 1st Circle Magical Beast.”

He didn’t take it out yet.

“Of course. The appraisal expert is inside.” She gestured at him to go into the room.

He entered the room. Inside the room, an old man was sitting in a chair. There was a table in front of him.

“Put your items on the table.” He said in a low voice. Leo complied with his instructions. He put the horn on the table.

The man looked at the horn for a few seconds. He didn’t even touch the horn or look closer. He looked back at Leo.

“17000.”

He only said a number. He took out a ticket and handed it to Leo. Leo took the ticket, trying to process the interaction. The person only looked at the horn for a few seconds. How did he know how much it was worth that quickly?

It didn’t matter though. The number was in the same ballpark that Trevor gave him so he trusted it. He took the ticket.

“What do I do with the horn? Where do I give it?” He asked.

The man looked at Leo like he was looking at an idiot. “Leave it here. Take the slip to the counter.” He said.

Leo took the slip and left the room. He went to the woman at the desk.

“The person inside gave me this slip.” He told her. “Also, why does he seem like he doesn’t like me?”

“Master Clame is like that. He is a man of few words.” She took the slip. “You can get the money from here with the slip. It’s to give us a number to deposit into your account. Is this your first time here?” She asked him.

He nodded.

“Then I assume that you don’t have an account with us.” She said.

“Account?” He asked.

“You can open a bank account with us. We can just deposit the money there so that you can buy items at the Thousand Treasure Tower using that account. You won’t need to carry the money with you. You can also use this money at any of our branches and withdraw money at any time.” She explained what an account was to him.

He gave it a thought and nodded.

“Yes. How long will it take?”

Leo didn’t speak for a second. He thought a little and said, “Orion.”

She looked at the slip and disappeared to the back. She came back after five minutes with a card in her hand.

“Here is your card. It contains 16000 Star coins. It takes 1000 Star coins to open the account.” She said.

Leo took the card. He was okay with the initiation costs. He needed to buy some items from the tower anyway.

“Do you know where I can find the books that the Tower sells?” He asked her.

“Of course. They are in that corner. You just have to browse through and pick a few books. If you go to the sale counter, you just need to give the titles of the books you need and they will give new copies there.” She explained to him.

“Thank you.” He said to her.

He turned away and walked to the books. When he got there, he saw a shelf full of books. All of them were general knowledge related. He walked around to browse through them. He knew one of the books he wanted, but he was also planning on buying others. He needed to know more about the world, and his position before didn’t help him do that.

He found a couple of interesting books. He went to the counter. There wasn’t anyone in line. The place was adequately staffed so there was no waiting time for anything.

“Hello. Can I purchase a few books?” He asked the person behind the counter. She was also a young woman like before. He realized that many of the people serving the customers were female. He didn’t think too much about it though.

“Yes, of course. What do you require?” She said.

Leo started listing out the titles.

“Could I get [Everything about Magic], [Magical Beasts in Valkyr’s Forest], [The Complete History of Solaria], and [Mages against Aura Knights]?”

She nodded. “Of course, sir. Can I have your card, please?” She asked him for his card. He handed her the card that the person had given him a few minutes ago.

She inserted the card into a slit in a box on the table. She handed the card back.

“You have 3000 Star coins left, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?” She asked.

“No. Just the books today, thank you.” He said. She nodded.

“I will be back with the books.” She said.

She left to the back. When she left, Leo looked at the box. Somehow, the box just took his card and she was able to tell how much money he had in his account. He was trying to understand how it worked. He tried to peer at the other side of the box by leaning forward, but he saw the person coming back.

She handed him the books.

“Please come again.”

Leo nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

He took the books and left the store. He needed to understand more about the world than he thought.

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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.

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