The young woman beside Ethan widened her eyes in surprise, but Ethan only laughed mockingly.
"You? Challenge me in terms of wealth?" Ethan put a palm on his forehead and shook his head.
"Fine! You just dug your own grave. I'll make sure everyone here remembers how you bow and kneel on your knees."
James tilted his head slightly, showing a calm smile as he said. "We'll see who does that after this."
He then crossed his arms and asked calmly. "So, who's going first?"
Ethan smirked and laughed for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. "You, of course."
After pausing for a second, he continued with a mocking grin. "It won't make a difference anyway. Might as well let the loser go first."
"Fine by me," James responded without hesitation, making Ethan's grin twitch for a split second.
He then immediately took out a gleaming Moonveil Shield, its faint silver glow directly drawing the attention of everyone nearby. The Shield's polished surface reflected the store's bright lights.
Gasps echoed across the showroom.
"A C-rank item?" Someone whispered in disbelief, knowing that James was only an E-rank Awakener.
"Is he entrusted by someone?"
"Must be… Or else he won't even be able to afford it."
James ignored the murmur and handed the shield over to the nearest appraiser, a middle-aged man in a black suit.
The man adjusted his monocle and carefully examined the shield, his expression shifting from polite professionalism to barely contained surprise.
"This is… quite a decent piece," the appraiser said, his voice carrying a note of respect. "Moonveil Shield, C-rank. Very well crafted, with exceptional mana conductivity. We can offer you $650,000 for it on the spot."
"$700,000, no less than that," James replied with a firm tone and calm expression.
The appraiser blinked, hesitated for a moment, then gave a slow nod. "Deal."
The counter staff began preparing the payment, and after letting Kai talk to them for a few moments, James received a notification on his phone and smiled satisfiedly.
Ethan's smug grin froze as his eyes widened slightly when the realization sank in. 'C-rank? He actually had a C-rank item?!'
For a moment, he felt his confidence waver, as he had never expected such a thing would happen. But he soon forced a laugh, shrugging off the discomfort that crept up his spine.
"Tch… lucky bastard," he clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.
Fortunately for Ethan, he still had his father's million-dollar cash card in his pocket. That money was meant to help him purchase equipment and other things to help him in his progress to become a C-rank Awakener.
Not only that, this money was supposed to last him for months if he used it wisely. But right now, none of that mattered, as winning the bet was his priority.
"Hmmph. Watch and learn, trash." Ethan walked toward the counter, scanning the display cases until his eyes landed on a black-edged longsword encased in reinforced glass.
"I'll take that one," he said, pointing at the weapon with a confident smirk.
The sales assistant raised an eyebrow. "The Obsidian Fang? That's a premium C-rank sword priced at $800,000—"
"Wrap it up," Ethan interrupted, tossing his black card onto the counter. "I'll take it."
After the transaction was finalized, Ethan turned back to James with a triumphant grin, spinning the sword's hilt slightly as if to show off.
"$800,000." He announced loudly, making sure everyone heard it. "Looks like I won."
He then laughed mockingly, his arrogance growing every second that passed by. "Did you really think you could beat me in terms of wealth? With your puny shield? This is what real money looks like."
James simply tilted his head, the faint smile and calm expression never leaving his face.
"Do you think it's over?" He asked quietly, his confidence instantly silencing the room.
Before Ethan could respond, James calmly took out an item from his inventory again.
A silver-white longsword appeared in his hand, as he unsheathed the sword, the blade shimmered faintly with streaks of azure light.
Even the appraiser's eyes widened as he carefully took the sword, his hands trembling slightly as he inspected the weapon.
"This… This is a masterpiece," the appraiser said with an awed expression while caressing the sword.
"Aether Edge, C-rank longsword. This craftsmanship with the mana flow, the purity of the core… This is one of the finest C-rank weapons I have ever seen."
The crowd held their breath when they heard the appraiser's words.
"We can offer $1.4 million for this sword." The appraiser looked at James with excitement.
James smiled faintly, his tone was as calm as ever. "That's too low. Make it $1.7 million and it's yours."
"That's too high, sir." The appraiser shook his head, smiling bitterly. "We won't be able to earn a single dime. How about $1.5 million?"
James knitted his eyebrows for a moment and sighed softly before shaking his head. "Not enough. $1.6 million, and that's my bottom line."
The appraiser frowned, exchanged a glance with someone that James assumed was the manager, and after a tense pause, he finally nodded. "Alright, we have a deal."
The room erupted in murmurs of disbelief.
Ethan's eyes went wide, his face draining of color as the number echoed in his mind. "Wh-what…?"
Without waiting for long, James received another notification on his phone and became overjoyed as he got $2.3 million from selling two items that he bought using system points.
'So, system points are generally more precious than money.' James thought to himself and decided to use money to upgrade his strength in the future instead of using system points.
Naturally, there were some cons, such as if he were to buy too many things and just casually sell them like this, it would definitely draw some unnecessary attention and could even endanger his life.
James came back to his senses when he felt something nudge his hand.
He then raised his hand, signaling to not worry about anything as he noticed some unpleasant gazes from the other customers.
"Your turn now." James said with a mocking smile as he looked at Ethan's ugly expression.