"Come on, just one more round." Xenon pestered as he followed Steve around the house.
"No, the entrance examination is in 2 days from now, you gotta be in good shape to perform well, go and rest." Steve insisted. Xenon has spent the month at Steve's place, practicing combat and his lightning ability.
"You're just afraid I'll whoop your ass." Xenon taunted
"You couldn't even land a hit on me in your dreams, what makes you think you'll get me in reality?"
"I don't dream about you." Xenon said stoically.
"Just leave me alone and go do something else." Steve said in frustration at the same time someone knocked on the door. They paused, the knock came again.
"Go check who it is." Steve ordered. Xenon went to the door and opened it, only to see his half-siblings.
"Xenon!" Elsa screamed as she saw him, she trapped him in a tight hug and didn't let go until Xenon almost suffocated.
"Hey brat" Gael slammed his palm on his shoulder after Elsa released him.
"I didn't know what to get you, so I brought what I thought you'd need the most". Elsa smiled brightly as she handed him two leather pouches, one barely bigger than half a palm, the other a bit bigger than a human's head and it jingled everytime it moved.
"What are these?". Xenon asked curiously as he ushered them in.
"The big one, as you should have guessed is filled with money, 250 Mula." Elsa replied as she took the pouch from Xenon, opened it, and showed him the emerald coins in the bag.
Xenon's eyes widened in shock.
"I know it's small but that's all..." Elsa misunderstand his shock for disappointment tried to say but was interrupted
"What do you mean small, 1 Mula equals 25 Kudi, and 1 Kudi equals 17 Shishy... so that's 6,250 Kudi, which means your giving me 106,250 Shishy! And that's not calculating what it would amount to in Eiyo!". Xenon's voice grew louder as he calculated the amount of wealth that was thrown at him suddenly. "And if I'm not wrong a standard meal should cost 1 Shishy... isn't this too much?" Xenon faced Elsa and asked in a subdued tone.
The currency spent in this world is a peculiar one, different from what was used on earth, but Xenon still has a good grasp of the currency from the memories.
Eiyo, the currency with the lowest value was made with little, white, round shell like materials. 10 Eiyo equals 1 Shishy.
Shishy, the next in line were coins made out of gold. 17 Shishy equals 1 Kudi.
Kudi were glossy, sparkling coins, made out of a precious stone native to this world. 25 Kudi equals one Mula.
Mula, the highest valued currency were coins made out of rare green emeralds, one of such coin was enough to buy about 2 plots of land. A network of runes was engineered into each currency to ascertain their authenticity and value.
"What do you mean too much? if not for the current state of things I would've brought over at least a thousand Mula!" Elsa retorted, confused by Xenon's words.
"Don't get worked up over him, Elsa, I'm definitely sure he's just overly excited from being handed a fairly robust sum of money for the first time in his life" Gael said to Elsa before turning back to Xenon "Oh well, if you don't want the money I can help you hold on to it before your tiny brain overloads".
"Why don't you just beg properly you shameless thief" Xenon retorted.
"How dare you talk to me like that you brat, it seems you're mouth has gotten more loose since you left the manor!" Gael yelled and stepped forward to hit Xenon before Elsa stopped him.
"Can you guys not yell in my house". Steve instructed whilst sipping a drink and watching the spectacle between the three siblings.
Elsa spared him an indifferent glance before turning back to Xenon. "What are you waiting for? open the other pouch". She said.
Xenon opened the other pouch and emptied its contents onto his palm. He picked up the red metallic string that made up a necklace and raised it, the necklace unfurled, the fingers on his other hand went to the red gem which served as the pendant to the necklace and rubbed over its smooth, beautiful surface.
"You bought me a necklace?" Xenon asked Elsa as he raised his right eyebrow in confusion.
"Yes, it's a necklace, but not an ordinary one, It has two runic enchantments, one let's me know if you're in danger by turning bright blue, and the other enables long distance communication at the cost of spiritual energy. I'm going to start meditating again to gather more spiritual energy and strengthen my core so we can talk for long as it consumes a significant amount of spiritual energy depending on the distance". She showed him a necklace identical to the one with him, resting on her neck through which they'll communicate.
"I know you the entrance examination to the academy is in two days time so you better reach out to me when you get there"
"Of course I will, no need to worry, I'll 'ring your necklace' as much as I can once I get to the academy!" Xenon replied happily, a bright smile plastered on his face.
"Good" She was happy that Xenon was happy "I haven't forgotten your birthday so I brought these as consolation gifts as you wouldn't be on the island on your birthday. I'm sorry it's small but I'll try to send something through Jeage".
"Don't worry yourself, this is already enough, thank you". Xenon replied
"Well we have to go now to avoid Grandfather's suspicion, happy birthday in advance, Xenon" Elsa said as Gael led her to the door
"Happy birthday in advance brat, I hope your teeth get knocked out on your birthday!" Gael chuckled sinisterly as he and Elsa walked out the door.
"Thank you Elsa –fuck you– Gael". Xenon muttered the curse as quietly as he could.
"I'll miss you" Elsa said before she turned to walk away
"I'll miss you too." Xenon replied as his half siblings hurried their steps.
Gael threw something long and heavy, wrapped in a cloth at Xenon before he vanished from view.
The package hit Xenon squarely on his forehead and fell on the floor, he picked up, closed the door and sat on a wooden chair across Steve.
"Ready for the exam?" Steve asked
"Ready as I'll ever be" Xenon replied confidently.
Steve yawned loudly. "In that case, I'll be in my room, taking a day long nap. Don't disturb me" He instructed as left the little parlour for his room.
Xenon stood up from the chair and sat down on the makeshift bed he had been using for the past month, his back resting against the wall.
'Scan' He instructed the system as he looked at the leather pouch containing money
_________________
OBJECT: LEATHER POUCH
CONTENTS: 250 MULA
INFO: A leather pouch containing money
•Add to inventory
_________________
'Add to inventory'. He said in his head. The leather pouch shone, them shimmered as it disintegrated into nothing.
°Ding
_________________
•One item added to inventory
_________________
He picked up the necklace and scanned
_________________
OBJECT: WHISPERING CARCANET
INFO: This necklace contains a rare gemstone and a string made from special materials which collects the water's spiritual energy to perform its functions as instructed by the delicate engineering of runes engraved within both materials
— Sends out distress signals to receiver necklace when in danger
— Enables communication with receiver necklace while burning the wearer's energy
•Add to inventory
_________________
He added the necklace to his inventory as well, he grabbed the package Gael threw at him and unwrapped the cloth.
There was a long, red, rectangular case, and attached to the case was a note with words scrawled in a writing he recognized well.
"Thank you Qweri." Xenon muttered lying down on the bed to also get some well deserved rest as he anticipated the entrance examination in two days time.