After finishing up his skill crystal business at the main trade center, Kyle wanted to look at the surrounding stores. The trade center only really dealt with skill crystals, but that wasn’t true for the surrounding buildings. Since the trade center saw a lot of traffic it became the hub of a large cluster of shops that sprung up around it, kind of like an outdoor mall.

The trade center itself was over fifteen stories tall and the surrounding buildings ranged up to ten making the number of individual shops enormous. The sheer size and number of shops made it more of a whole district than an individual mall. There were even special kiosks that gave people directions, as it could be next to impossible to find the type of store you were looking for if you didn’t know its exact location or had a searching skill.

Kyle had been here before with Sarah but he hadn’t had any merit points then. Many stores worked on bartering so he could still have purchased things, but it wasn’t the same as going shopping with access to cold hard cash. And the goal of those outing was to spend time with Sarah. This time Kyle wanted to actually do more than window shop, although he didn’t really have anything in particular he wanted to buy.

The group wandered around the shopping area mostly dictated by Mickey’s whims, as he was perched on Kyle’s shoulders directing him which way to go. The group was walking around eating some ice cream that Mickey made them buy when Kyle finally noticed a store he wanted to go into.

What first caught his eye was the giant statue outside. It was a mech suit statue over ten feet tall. It was clearly a statue, but that didn’t stop Kyle from admiring the work done to add enchantments that seemed to simulate glowing lights and LEDs. Kyle stopped in his tracks when he noticed the statue, and then slowly moved towards it.

Kyle loved mech suits, and had a whole collection of handmade figurines in his room. Well, he used to have them. Obviously they were in his room on Earth, which now didn’t exist. Kyle had forgotten about his wish to create his very own mech suit now that it was possible. He had asked his uncle in passing about it, and Carl had said that people had created them, but they were not all that efficient as the mana it took to run them could be better used for other things.

That didn’t matter to Kyle. So what if the mech suit he created was inefficient? He had boatloads of mana anyway. It would be worth it even if he couldn’t use it in battle. It was a man’s romance to drive a mech suit. He had tried convincing Sarah of this in the past, but she just didn’t understand. Once Mickey noticed the giant statue he wanted a closer look.

“Kyle! That way, that way! I wanna see the giant robot!”

“Okay buddy. It doesn’t look like we can touch it though, so you can only look.”

Kyle led the group over to the statue and the store behind it, which was called Mecha Madness. He and Mickey took some time to admire the statue. It was even more impressive up close, and if not for it clearly being attached to the mannequin underneath it could pass for a functioning mech suit. The detail was incredible, and Kyle could only praise the futuristic design.

“I thought we were going to walk around more?” Sarah said, crossing her arms. She wasn’t a huge fan of robots, and didn’t really see what all the fuss was about. She had secretly been trying to steer Kyle in the direction of a certain store, but thanks to Mickey hadn’t had any luck.

Kyle was too busy admiring the statue to respond, and Lisa was the one who eventually answered Sarah’s question.

“Let the boy look around. He said he might want to buy something, and you know how he likes his giant robots. Mickey seems to like them too. If you really want to go somewhere special, the two of you can go by yourselves another day.”

Lisa knew where Sarah wanted to take Kyle, and didn’t really want to be involved.

The group eventually moved into the store, although Sarah did her best to showcase her displeasure. She loved Kyle, but once he got started on his “robot rants” as she called them he could end up talking for hours. Sarah didn’t really want to hear it, but Kyle didn’t have many other people to talk to about his passion so she ended up on the receiving end of his long gushing monologues. Sarah began scheming how she could get Kyle to talk to Walt or Li instead. Who knows, maybe they would even find it interesting?

The inside of the shop was fairly spacious. The first floor seemed to be mainly devoted to individual displays, where the second floor, accessible from a set of stairs, seemed to focus mainly on parts and kits to build your own models. The second floor had an opening in the middle with a railing that overlooked the first floor.

Kyle spent about a half an hour looking at all the models displayed on the first floor, before handing Mickey off to Lisa while he went to ask a few questions to the woman at the counter. Sarah tried to follow Kyle over, but Mickey wanted to show her his favorite robots, and she didn’t have the heart to resist him. No matter how cute Sarah thought Kyle was, there was a difference hearing about robots from Mickey. Their cuteness levels just weren’t the same.

Kyle waited in line behind someone who was buying a few weapons for their mech suit figurines before he approached the counter.

“Hi, I couldn’t help but notice the intricate detail on the statue in front of the store. While many of the figurines here are detailed, none of them have the same lights and enchantments on them as the statue does. I was wondering why that is?”

The woman behind the counter chuckled. “You’re not he first person to ask that question. That stature was actually specially made by the owner in collaboration with another shop. While the owner has a few skills to help him make the mech suit figurines, he doesn’t actually have any substantial enchanting skills. He borrowed the help of one of his friends who has an artifact that helps shape and enchant things to create the statue out there.”

Kyle zeroed in on the words ‘other shop’ and ‘artifact’.

“Does the other shop actually make mech suits?”

He really wanted to create his own mech suit, but he didn’t have the skills for it right now. He had picked up another enchanting skill, but it wasn’t super high on his list of skills to learn.

“No, the other shop actually specializes in artifacts. The artifact that the owner used to create the statue out there is part of their collection. I don’t know of any shops that actually make mech suits. There might be some out there though. Someone at an information kiosk could tell you more.”

Kyle chatted with the woman a bit more, and she even showed him which figurine she had designed herself. She had heard about people making their own mech suits, but didn’t know any other details. Without the internet it seemed the spread of information was much slower than back on Earth. Kyle did ask about the artifact store to see if he could use the artifact that made the statue and found out its location and name. It was called True Loot, and Kyle decided to check it out later.

Once they left Mecha Madness and Kyle mentioned what the woman told him about the artifact store Sarah and Lisa both expressed interest in checking it out. Artifacts were still rather rare, and neither of them had ever been to a store dedicated to selling them. Most artifacts that people found were not traded for merit points, as they were more useful to barter with other people for other artifacts or rare skill crystals.

When the group reached True Loot they quickly found out that it wasn’t a store so much as an artifact trading center. It made sense, as no one could possibly own enough artifacts to open up a store full of them. True Loot functioned as an artifact exchange. People would put the artifacts they didn’t want on display and then people who wanted them could try and set up a trade. Most of the artifacts in the store had some guidelines as to what the owner wanted in trade so that people wouldn’t waste their time offering something like an artifact weapon to someone who wanted combination crystals.

The store was rather out of the way and hard to find and most people who found the store did so through word of mouth or through an information kiosk. From the store’s outside appearance you would never know the value contained within. When Kyle and the others first entered they were greeted by an attendant. The attendant offered to show them around or direct them if they were looking for anything in particular, but the group elected to just browse. The shop was three floors, and they started on the first floor before making their way up.

Artifacts that were highly sought after were traded right away, so most of the artifacts on display either had strange effects that were of dubious value or specific and very high asking prices. There was an artifact that seemed to be able to produce different kinds of liquids, like water or alcohol, that the artifact’s owner would only trade for an artifact that granted invisibility. There was also a rapier that listed twenty combination crystals as its only trade option. Artifact weapons were incredibly powerful, but twenty combination crystals were a huge amount and most people would rather invest in their own strength via skills than artifacts, which only granted temporary strength.

Kyle was hoping to find an artifact that would be useful, but he didn’t have any luck. He had no interest in any of the weapon artifacts, which made up about half of them, and the other ones seemed mostly focused on out of battle utility, which he didn’t really need. He would have been interested in an artifact that created a pocket dimension if he didn’t already have a skill for it, but everything else was kind of lackluster. Sure, owning an artifact that could create different kinds of confectionary desserts from pure mana would be awesome, but not five combination crystals awesome.

Sarah spent most of the time drooling over the weapons. While summoning weapons from thin air was cool and all, some of the weapons on display were truly spectacular. The one she wanted most was a scimitar that could create five clones which could be controlled at will to fly around and attack enemies. It was a powerful weapon, and the only reason someone hadn’t snatched it up already was that it was only up for trade for a mana pool increasing artifact. While weapons artifacts were powerful, they couldn’t compare to artifacts that increased overall power, like ones increasing mana, health, or attack power.

The whole reason Kyle was here was information from Mecha Madness but he didn’t see the artifact that the person there had talked about. He decided to ask one of the attendants to see if they knew anything. It was possible the artifact was sold already.

“Excuse me, someone told me that there was an artifact here that was used to create an incredibly realistic mecha sculpture. I didn’t notice it on display and was wondering if it had been traded already.”

Kyle thought the attendant might not know what he was talking about, but his worries turned out to be groundless.

“Oh, you mean the Gauntlet of Creation? It’s not out on the floor. We have another section with a few artifacts that we loan out for people to use. I can take you to see them if you’d like?”

“That would be great.”

The attendant led Kyle down to the first floor and through a door he had not noticed previously. Inside was a whole other room with five artifacts inside.

“As you can see there are five artifacts that we loan out on a temporary basis,” the attendant said. “The owners couldn’t find someone to fulfil their trading conditions, so they are loaned out in the meantime for 3,000 points per day. Feel free to take a look around and let me know if you’d like to rent any of them.”

Kyle slowly read through the five artifact descriptions. He quickly found the one he was looking for. The Gauntlet of Creation as it was called could do two things. The first was to actually create materials out of nothing, although that apparently cost incredible amounts of mana, and the second was to channel certain types of skills to increase their effects, like item forming and enchanting ones.

Kyle briefly looked over the other four artifacts. Two didn’t really interest him, as one dealt with food and the other with looting. The last two were quite interesting though. Similar to the Gauntlet of Creation, one of them was able to freely form stone. By channeling mana the user could manipulate any type of stone or metal into any shape they desired. It was limited in its ability though, and Kyle was more interested in the last one.

The last one was called the Inscription Wand. Any inscriptions or formations made with it would have their power increased by threefold. Kyle couldn’t personally make any formations as of yet, but it was a very powerful effect. He was mentally drooling over what he could do with it later on, as with his ability to combine skills learning an inscription skill was only a matter of time.

The attendant had been nice enough to wait around while Kyle looked at the five artifacts on display and he now approached her with some questions. Some of the artifacts, like the Inscription Wand, specified they were only for rent. Kyle wasn’t that interested in renting anything though and was more keen on the “make an offer” sign on the Gauntlet of Creation.

“I noticed that the Gauntlet of Creation is also for sale,” Kyle said. “It doesn’t list a price though, and only say make an offer. Do you know what the owner would want in trade for it?”

“Actually the gauntlet’s owner is also my boss, the owner of this store. He had never specified exactly what he wants for it, but he has declined all previous offers, including ones like ten combination crystals. I think he is most interested in trading it for other artifacts but because of the gain from renting it out he is in no hurry to sell it.”

Kyle took a moment to think over whether he really wanted the gauntlet or not. It sounded like he would have to make a truly substantial offer to get the gauntlet, which would probably mean he would take a big loss. While Kyle had wanted to come to the shop to look around and see the gauntlet, that was not his only reason he was interested in the shop after hearing about it.

Secret training areas gave phenomenal rewards, so it was only as expected that Kyle had received some artifacts from completing one. In fact he had received two. One was a spear that had increased piercing power and could grow in length and the other was a crystal that could be set up in an area and would warn the user if a hostile lifeform was nearby.

Kyle didn’t really have any use for the spear and he was thinking of selling it. The alarm crystal was useful to him, but not really a true necessity. The question now was whether he wanted to trade both of them for the gauntlet. Together the artifacts were unquestionably more valuable than the gauntlet alone, but pure value was useless to him. The only consideration would be if he could get something more valuable by trading the two artifacts for something else instead of trading them for the gauntlet.

“Would it be possible to talk to the owner about trading for the gauntlet?”

Kyle decided that either way the first step would be to see if he even could trade for the gauntlet. He could hem and haw all he wanted, but it would all be useless if the owner only wanted something specific for the gauntlet.

“Let me see if he is available to talk.”

The attendant then excused herself and went off to a different part of the building, presumably to check if the owner was there and if he wanted to talk business. Kyle took the time to admire the Gauntlet of Creation again. The more he looked at it, the more he wanted it.

I don’t know exactly how much this enhances my skills, but using it to create a suit of power armor shouldn’t be too far off. At the very least I can make detailed figurines. Maybe I can make a set for Mickey. He always wanted to play with my figurines when he was little, but I was always afraid he would break them.

Kyle was interrupted from his thoughts as the attendant returned.

“George said he is free to discuss trading the Gauntlet of Creation. If you would please follow me.”

Kyle followed the attendant as she led him to another door on the first floor and into a series of hallways before knocking on a door that had two plaques on it. One said owner, and below that the other one said George Stevenson. A shout of “come in” was heard, and the attendant opened the door and motioned for Kyle to head inside.

Kyle wasn’t sure what he expected the owner of True Loot to look like, but it certainly wasn’t someone who looked like he was a steampunk college professor. George Stevenson was more than two full heads shorter than Kyle, and had a balding head and brilliant white mustache. He was wearing a tweed jacket and had some sort of multi-lens monocle contraption sitting on his head.

He stood up and extended his hand when Kyle entered the room.

“Hello there. My name’s George. A pleasure to meet you. I heard you were inquiring about my Gauntlet of Creation?”

It took Kyle a second to recover from his shock, but he eventually shook the extended hand before sitting down in front of George’s desk.

“My name’s Kyle. It’s nice to meet you too. Yes, I was wondering what you wanted for the gauntlet, as it isn’t out on the floor with the other artifacts up for trade and the sign doesn’t specify a trading price or preference.”

George pondered for a moment before replying.

“Well, I don’t really fancy selling the gauntlet and renting it out has been making me a pretty penny, but I am a businessman after all, and I don’t really have a use for the gauntlet myself. Excuse me for being upfront, but I don’t really have a need to trade for anything in particular so I would want to make a gain when trading it. Unfortunately, that would mean anyone buying it would have to take a loss. If you are okay with that kind of trade, I would be willing to accept anything I deem as more valuable than the gauntlet.”

At this point Kyle had basically decided to try and get the gauntlet. It was a quality item, and he felt it was a worthwhile investment. He took out his two artifacts he had from his pocket dimension and laid them on the deck in front on him.

“I would be willing to trade these two artifacts for the gauntlet. The spear looks like it has fairly good stats, and the alarm crystal you should be able to rent out at the very least if you don’t want to lose a steady revenue stream. I would imagine people would be willing to pay to take it with them on trips in the dungeon.”

George adjusted his multi-lens monocle headgear as he examined the two artifacts. It was quite surreal for Kyle to watch George cycle through the different lenses on his contraption. Kyle thought they must have given George some special ability to examine the artifacts, as he was making hrmming noises and exclaiming as he looked the artifacts over.

He finally put them down after a thorough examination.

“These both seem to be quality artifacts and I would be a fool to turn down your offer. Are you sure you want to make this trade though? You would be taking a stiff loss, as you could probably trade for some combination crystals or rare skills with the two of these.”

The allure of the Gauntlet of Creation was too much, and Kyle had already made up his mind.

“I’m sure. I have some abilities that combine well with the gauntlet and those two artifacts don’t really do that much for me. While I could always use some rare skills, I don’t really need combination crystals that much. I think the gauntlet is a good long term investment, as who knows when I will have the chance to get such an artifact again.”

“Well if you're sure then I won’t be polite. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

They shook hands to seal the deal before George went off to get the gauntlet. George then gave Kyle his card and insisted he come visit the shop in the future if he had anything he wanted to buy or sell. Kyle then went back to meet the others on the third floor. Sarah pestered him on where he had disappeared to, and after Lisa joined in Kyle relented and showed them his shiny new artifact. The four of them eventually left True Loot and spent some more time walking around the shopping district, but all Kyle could think about was what he would build with his new gauntlet when he got home.