After a brief moment of deliberation, Tiana exhaled softly and gave a reluctant nod.
Seeing her senior sister's approval, Kafla summoned a high-grade Mana Crystal from her storage ring. It glowed brighter and was slightly larger than a medium-grade Mana Crystal.
She placed the high-grade Mana Crystal on the counter.
"I'll take your most expensive item," Kafla said sharply, her tone filled with irritation. "The… Spicy Dragon Flavour Instant Noodles, or whatever it's called."
Jonathan took the high-grade Mana Crystal without a word, and in an instant, it vanished into thin air.
[ Main Task: Sell 30 Spicy Dragon Flavour Instant Noodles (1/30) ]
They froze, their expressions suddenly locked in shock.
What had just happened?
They had failed to sense the high-grade Mana Crystal the moment Jonathan took hold of it. He wasn't wearing a storage ring, nor did he carry a storage bag.
Neither of these items had used mana, yet they felt no ripple from Jonathan; he didn't radiate any sign of being an Ascendant. That left only one possibility: the man before them had hidden his strength, or he was far more powerful than they had expected, so powerful they could barely sense anything at all.
From their investigation so far, they were inclined to believe the latter.
For a moment, Tiana and Kafla paused, glancing at one another as a similar thought passed through their eyes. They quickly analysed what had transpired and realised they might have bitten off far more than they could chew.
All of this unfolded in barely a moment's breath.
"Ahem." Kafla cleared her throat and quickly introduced them. "We still haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Kafla, and this is my Senior Sister, Tiana. We are both Inner Disciples of the Ice Phoenix Sect."
She intended to use their sect identity to deter the man in case he had ill intent, at least until they returned to report to their elders.
In their view, even if they couldn't judge his Ascendant realm precisely, he should at most be a Grandmaster Ascendant, and their teacher stood a realm above that. The power of the Ice Phoenix Sect would make him think twice before causing trouble.
Still, they grew even more wary. After all, this store was unlike anything they had ever witnessed.
Meanwhile, Jonathan wondered idly what kind of effects the Spicy Dragon Flavour Instant Noodles might have. He took one from the counter, placed it before them, and replied nonchalantly, "I'm Jonathan, the owner of this store."
If they intended to hunt him down or bully him later, they were in for a rude awakening. He wasn't from this world and left no trace in it aside from the store that had brought him here. They had better chances chasing a ghost. And as long as he had the system, their chances of succeeding in any attempt on his life were nonexistent.
"…Owner? Wait a minute, you own this store?" Kafla blurted out, her expression filled with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
Tiana's expression was no different.
In the span of a minute, their opinion of him had risen from that of a mere human without an awakened Life Vein to an Ascendant, now even the owner of this mysterious store.
"Yes. I'm the owner of this store," Jonathan replied with a calm nod, his expression serious.
He began to realise that the women before him thought far more lowly of him than he had imagined. Compared to them, Van, despite his old age and fierce features, had been much easier to talk to. That difference spoke volumes about the wisdom that came with age and experience.
Jonathan sighed inwardly. No matter what world he found himself in, conversing with women always seemed to be the most stressful task of all.
Kafla's and Tiana's expressions turned solemn as they exchanged glances for the umpteenth time.
Kafla took the cup of noodles from Jonathan and looked at it curiously. It was her first time seeing such an item, and she had no idea how to open it. Having spent a High-Grade Mana Crystal on it, she didn't want to make a mistake.
Instead, she looked up at Jonathan and asked, "How do I open this?"
As if expecting the question, Jonathan answered immediately, "Gently open the lid of the cup and place it under the water dispenser." He pointed toward a water dispenser beside the sitting area.
Kafla nodded in understanding and headed toward the dispenser, with Tiana following closely behind.
Upon arrival, both women stared at the strange magic artefact in curiosity.
Jonathan followed behind to make sure they didn't mess up the process.
Kafla carefully peeled open the lid of the noodle cup and placed it beneath the dispenser as instructed. Suddenly, steaming hot water began to flow from the machine, filling the cup.
Witnessing the scene, Kafla's and Tiana's eyes widened in astonishment.
A magic artefact that could automatically produce hot water?
Though it seemed simple, such an artefact was convenient and versatile.
When the cup was filled, the flow stopped on its own.
"Place the chopsticks on top of the lid to hold it down firmly, and wait for five minutes. You can go have your seat while you wait," Jonathan said, handing two pairs of chopsticks to Kafla.
Kafla nodded, placing the chopsticks carefully over the lid to hold it down.
They went to take their seats.
Jonathan followed them.
He was sure she would love the noodles, unless she happened to dislike the Spicy Dragon flavour. In that case, there wasn't much he could do, except hope she wasn't unreasonable enough to slander his store.
With Van already promising to bring more customers, Jonathan didn't want anything that would ruin his growing streak of success and make it harder for him to gain customers.
Five minutes later, Jonathan said, "Now open the lid once more and stir the noodles with your chopsticks to mix the flavours. After that, you can eat."
The moment Kafla lifted the lid, a surge of steam burst upward like a dragon's breath, flooding the air with an intoxicating aroma.