Chapter 96: Ancient Coin, City Lord
His Spirit stat had grown immensely since last night. With that, his mental processing power had improved as well.
He could listen, calculate, process transactions, and monitor customer feedback all at once.
There were a few hiccups along the way.
A merchant tried to argue about bulk discounts. A young woman spilled a bottle and panicked. A cloaked man tried to offer him an artifact in exchange for the grains.
Isaac dealt with each issue calmly.
He didn’t raise his voice or get flustered. He simply kept moving in a focused, and efficient manner.
After Freya and Tyr had their breaks, they returned to the counter, and Isaac returned home.
He checked his bank balance on the way.
[Credited (Last 24 Hours): 4,022, 850,000 Obols]
[Balance (Total): 7,204,110,000 Obols]
Professor Catherine called Isaac and Emily for the combat training class.
She stood at the center of the backyard with her arms crossed behind her back.
Her gaze swept over the group assembled before her.
Isaac was stretching casually, Emily stood to his side, looking more focused than usual, and Leora leaned against the house, arms folded, watching quietly.
"We’ll start with something simple," Catherine said. "Emily, Isaac. Fight me."
Emily blinked. "Together?"
You sure about that?" Isaac questioned. "Not to brag, but I don’t think I would have trouble against Champion rank awakeners anymore."
"Oh, are you saying you can defeat me easily?" Catherine asked with a smile. "You’ve both improved, but you’re still far from enough. Now, come."
Then her gaze settled on Isaac. "And this time, you’re using a sword."
"I’ll stick to my hands."
Catherine narrowed her eyes. "You’ve trained swordsmanship more than anything. Why are you handicaping yourself?"
"Just ’cause." Isaac shrugged.
He didn’t have a sword skill. But he had a claw skill, and it was better to train what he could actually use.
"Isaac."
"Don’t worry. I am good with hand-to-hand combat too."
It was true.
While he had trained with sword the most, he also trained with every weapon type to a usable level, since he never knew what Talent he would awaken.
’I didn’t awaken a Combat Talent though. So my preparations would’ve gone down the drain if not for the system,’ he chuckled wryly.
From the sidelines, Leora kept staring at him. Professor Catherine looked at her, as if asking for something..
Leora shook her head.
Catherine clicked her tongue and looked back at Isaac and Emily. "Then let’s begin."
The fight was brutal.
Professor Catherine didn’t hold back.
It made Isaac think she enjoyed inflicting pain on others, and for some reason she was targeting him more than Emily.
Emily tried her best to keep up, but it was clear she was outmatched.
Isaac absorbed most of the hits, redirected her strikes, and stepped into Professor Catherine’s space again and again.
His movements were clean, efficient, and despite using only his hands, he didn’t fall behind.
Still, even Isaac was pushed.
They fought for nearly two hours before Professor Catherine finally stopped. Emily collapsed onto her knees, panting hard. Her uniform was soaked in sweat.
"Not bad," Catherine said, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Emily, you lasted longer than I expected."
Then she turned to him
"And you could’ve used a sword."
"I will think about it."
Professor Catherine shook her head at him and walked toward Emily, helping her up. "Come on, you need water. And rest."
She guided Emily into the house, leaving Isaac alone in the backyard.
After a minute of rest, he made his way to the bathroom, showered, and changed into something light.
As he was drying his hair, he heard the doorbell ring.
His first thought was Alice.
He walked downstairs while rubbing his hair with a towel, expecting to see his blonde mad princess with dragon-like horns .
Instead, when Leora opened the door, Lucius, Alice’s uncle, stood beside Selene Calloway.
Isaac blinked.
They entered silently and sat down in the living room.
For a while, no one spoke. The room was filled with a quiet tension, though not a hostile one.
Then Lucius bowed deeply.
"I’m truly grateful for what you’ve done for my foolish daughter."
Selene bowed beside him. Her expression was composed, but her fingers were slightly clenched on her knees.
Such a scene would’ve shocked anyone other than the people in the room.
Lucius was the Chairman of Calloway Conglomerate, and Selene was the next chairman.
They were not people who bowed their head.
Isaac was about to respond when something flickered in his vision.
[A potential wife candidate’s affection for you has reached 100.]
[All Affection points received from Selene Calloway will be hereon increased by ten times.]
[You can now see a hint to help Selene Calloway increase her rating.]
Before he could digest that, another screen appeared in front of him.
Selene Calloway
Rating: 87 (To be a wife candidate, 95 rating or above is required)
Personality: Ambitious, calculating, emotionally guarded, dangerously focused when provoked
Likes: Reading ancient texts, winning against her sister, attention from others, idol shows
Dislikes: Pain, losing to Alice, being disliked by others, being compared to others
Status: Confused why her heart is beating fast as soon as she entered Isaac’s house. Currently wondering if Isaac would like the gift on mythical plants that she has bought.
Status: Hopes Alice and Isaac can forgive her for her previous actions. Guilty for her past actions.
Rating Increase Hint: Feed her Bloodline Upgrade Potion (Middle-rank to high-rank), and Bloodline Upgrade Potion (High-rank to Apex-rank) to evolve her into Moon Dragon.
Isaac stared at the screen, then at Selene.
Then back at the screen. Then back at her.
’...Is Selene a masochist?’
He had broken her nose not long ago. She had bled because of him. And now she apparently had more affection for him than Alice or Emily.
He squinted.
’The 10x AP increase is very nice, but... damn.’
Before he could think more, Leora leaned in from the side. "Isaac?"
He blinked and closed the screen. "Oh, it’s nothing."
Turning toward Lucius and Selene, he nodded. "Please raise your heads."
Lucius didn’t waste time with drawn-out words.
"No matter what I give you, it won’t be enough for what you’ve done for me. So, please accept this."
He reached into his coat and pulled out an ancient gold coin. He handed it to Isaac.
Isaac’s eyes narrowed as he held the coin.
He’d seen something like this before. Dante and Lucian had given one to Leora after her successful recruitment attempt when they came to meet him.
Lucius nodded, reading his expression. "Seems like you recognize it. But I’ll explain anyway, just in case."
He pointed at the coin.
"This is a Gold Coin. It was the currency used by the Lost Civilization. With it, you can buy land, facilities, or even guards within this city, which was built by them."
Isaac looked up. "What?"
Lucius chuckled. "How do you think a city is conquered? If we restore it normally, the defense systems would attack us – the intruders. So after we initiate the restoration functions, we buy the permit of residence and the land from the city’s core system."
Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"This one coin," Lucius continued, "lets you purchase 1,000 hectares in the very center of the city, where land is most expensive. The heart of its infrastructure."
He leaned back and added, "If you had enough Coins, you could even buy the whole city. You could become its lord. Though... I’ve never seen it happen. No one’s ever gathered that many."