WEAPON SELLER IN THE WORLD OF MAGIC

<strong>Genesis Store, Imperial City;</strong>

Lin Xue was seen returning with Allen after their sparring session is over. In fact, she would have returned right away as soon as the third prince left but Allen insisted on completing their sparring, according to the deal.

Alina was nowhere to be seen in the store. There's only Mark who calmly sat at the counter.

He was a little bit surprised to see Lin Xue at the store.

"Greetings, Lady Lin." He stood up from his feet and lightly bowed.

She nodded and said, "Owner Lu, you put yourself into serious trouble."

"Is it about the public trial?" Mark asked her in return, implying that he knew the matter.

"So, you knew about it." She commented while walking towards him.

"They came here and were kicked out too." Mark didn't hide the matter and further said, "You shouldn't have appeared at this time, Lady Lin. A serious battle will be at my doorstep at any minute."

Lin Xue narrowed her eyes, realizing that the matter is far more serious than she thought. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to stick out her neck for Mark anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke her intentions, "I'm here to save my friend. Release Allen from servitude. I'll pay you enough compensation in return. Then, Allen will not have anything to do with this matter and he will be in Lin Clan's protection.

If you aren't interested in money, then, we can give you temporary protection. I'll make sure Lin Clan to shield you from this matter and you get a pardon from the Emperor."

As Allen was silent and just stared at his master, Mark broke out into laughter, "friend? Free from servitude? Pardon from Emperor? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Lady Lin?"

"Isn't he a born slave to your family or something?" A frown appeared on Lin Xue. Based on what she analyzed so far, she felt that way, seeing the undying loyalty of Allen towards his master. Adding on top of that, Allen might address Mark as a big brother but when talking to her, he addresses Mark as his master. So, she thought her assumption was right.

"I guess you don't have a proper understanding about the relationship between me and Allen, Lady Lin," Mark replied to her question in a roundabout way. Then, an idea popped up in his mind, and he said, "I'll give you a short demonstration. Allen."

"Yes, Big Brother."

"Crush her throat and lift her." He passed an order, shocking Lin Xue.

Her eyes widened as Allen suddenly caught her throat with his hand. Before she gets to escape, he lifted her by the throat.

Lin Xue's eyes met with Allen. Currently, they appeared very cold. As her legs started to kick in the air, displaying her struggle, Mark passed another order, "Allen, leave her."

Allen freed his hand and she fell on the floor.

Looking at her, Allen gave her his hand, "Are you alright, Lady Lin? I'm sorry but I can't refuse the master's order. I told you before."

She didn't take his hand and stood up on her feet on her own while coughing. She turned her head and glared at Mark in anger. She felt that his personality is far worse than she thought. "You…"

"I apologize but this is to let you know that you shouldn't try to come between me and my younger brother," Mark informed her calmly. At the same time, he was pleasantly surprised at Allen's earlier behavior towards this girl. Is it a concern that he displayed?

As Lin Xue thought of a possibility of Allen being mind-controlled by Mark, the latter proceeded to say, "Not intentionally, but still, you are a regular customer of the store and bought the firearms more than anyone else. That's why I'm going to give you a piece of free advice. The relationship between you and our store or more specifically Allen is strictly business.

You buy 500 gold coins worth of goods and in return, Allen would daily spar with you for three hours. That's it. There's nothing more and nothing else. We don't involve in your business and you better not poke into mine.

Whether you heed my advice or not, is entirely your wish, Lady Lin."

Allen is an Android bound to his soul whether he's developing emotions or not. Considering Lin Xue is a level-2 customer, Mark thought of her well-being and decided to draw a clear line between her and Allen so that she will never have the intention of making Allen leave his side. The demo earlier was also done to back up his statement.

Lin Xue might be much intelligent but she could understand what Mark was trying to tell her. However, she was as stubborn as a mule. She wouldn't even care about Shang Wei's identity when she coldly rejected his advances. Why would she care anything about what Mark tells her?

She was now even more determined to free Allen out of Mark's control.

But, for now, all she could do is to lower her head and back away. Just as she was about to return to her home, the black-robed guard entered the store.

"Lady Lin, a blue drake is flying in this direction. I believe its destination is this place." Yao Ling informed her in hurry. He knew the matter of the arrest. Seeing the six-circle beast, he had an inkling that the Supreme Commander was deployed to deal with this rebel.

Upon hearing it, as Lin Xue's expression darkened, Mark let out a smile, "I knew that Bai Xun will come. Allen, get ready for the battle. Alina will tell you what you needed to do." He pointed his finger upwards.

"Roger, Big Brother." Allen gave a salute and then, turned towards Lin Xue and gave her a slight bow, "I'll get going Lady Lin."

As he rushed outside and then, leap over the top of the roof of the store where Alina is keeping an eye on the surroundings, Mark spoke to Lin Xue. "You can either leave or just stay here for the time being. I would recommend the latter option as this store is protected by outside attacks. Of course, my invitation is only for Lady Lin as your guard is strong enough to protect himself."

"So, what do you want to do?" Mark waited for her choice.

Before she replied to him, Yao Ling whispered to her, "Lady Lin, it's better to leave right away. Inside the store, even I'm helpless. What if he takes you as a hostage and uses it to escape the situation?"

Lin Xue who already had a negative opinion of Mark didn't hesitate to think her bodyguard was right.

"No thanks. I'll be on my way." Not only did she reject his invitation, but she also went ahead and warned him, "I'll not forgive you if something happens to Allen in your fight with the Imperial family."

Mark suddenly wondered whether she fell for the Android just like those lusty male noble heirs fell for Alina.

But, currently, he couldn't think of those useless thoughts and went back to his seat while Lin Xue and her bodyguard left the store.

"System, connect with Allen's and Alina's visions." He spoke out calmly.

Suddenly, a couple of holographic screens were displayed side by side, before him. Mark saw nothing but the blue sky as both of them were staring at it.

It was a built-in feature that came with Alina where she can share her vision with him no matter their distance. As for Allen, he received it when he upgraded to Rank-5. Unfortunately, there's no audio connection in either of them. But, it's enough for Mark.

After that, he opened the inventory and took an advancement pill. It was one of the things he had received from those Sui Clan's assassins. There were 12 of them.

He took a pill into his mouth. It tasted like mint, forcing Mark to swallow it, directly.

It dissolved very quickly and a cool sensation spread all over his body, followed by a surge of ether energy.

<strong>*Ding! You took an advancement pill (intermediate)</strong>

<strong>*Ding! Your rank is raised by 1 for 60 minutes.</strong>

<strong>*Ding! You temporarily received a new summon, Lightning Crocodile.</strong>

<strong>*Ding! Ether energy temporarily increased to 10000 points.</strong>

"It has disadvantages but for now, maximum ether energy is most important."

Mark proceeded to open the pet inventory and click on the image of a lion.

*Roar*

A powerful roar filled inside the store as a 2-meter big lion that was bathing in lightning sparks appeared beside him. It was a thunder lion with 3.8 points of strength.

The beast can go head to head with 4-circle beasts and can even kill a peak stage 5-circle beast when using its strongest skill that increases its stats by 50% for 30 seconds.

It sat before him, letting Mark caress its mane, "be on standby for now."

While he is safe inside the store, without Allen and Alina, he can only depend on himself. That's why he decided to use his second strongest move, right from the start. As for why didn't he summon the lightning crocodile, it's because the beast size is too big. Moreover, there's no need for it unless it is absolutely necessary.

<strong>*Ding! You summoned Thunder Lion. 1000 ether points will be consumed every minute.</strong>

"Okay, I have ten minutes at most. I hope the time will be enough." Mark mumbled to himself.

Meanwhile, on the outside, Bai Xun reached his destination. From the sky, he could see Allen and Alina sitting on the top of the roof. Were they expecting him? He wondered.

He caressed the drake's neck and jumped down, softly landing on the ground. He started walking towards the store. Allen and Alina didn't make their move yet.

"Welcome to Genesis store, Commander Bai. I was waiting for you." Mark's voice was heard from the side as he was about to step inside.

His eyes fell on Mark who had a smirk on his face, before shifting to the beast, which was lying beside the store owner.

"It's not a tamed beast. The ether was constantly flowing from him to it. A summoned beast?" Bai Xun's facial expression changed.