Aizen opened the carriage door himself and stepped down, coat fluttering slightly with the movement.
Behind him, he raised one hand without looking back.
"Wait here."
"Yes, my lord," both driver and butler answered in unison.
He pushed the door open to the small shop.
A tiny bell jingled overhead, soft and unimpressive.
The interior was cramped, dimly lit, and filled with shelves of old trinkets and oddities like cracked vases, faded scrolls, rusted tools, and.... uh weapons that should not have been displayed openly.
At the counter, the shopkeeper sat slumped over, dozing with his chin resting on his chest.
This place looks nothing like some hidden magical shop… but the golden glow was real.
Aizen walked the aisles slowly, boots tapping lightly against the wooden floor.
When his eyes landed on a small, completely unremarkable stone sitting between a chipped mug and a dusty lantern.
The source of the golden light.
There was no markings or carvings, it appeared to be just… a rock.
But it shone bright to his eyes.
He picked it up and then carried it to the counter, he rapped his knuckles on the wood sharply.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Oi."
The shopkeeper jerked awake with a snort, nearly falling off his stool. "Ah—wha—welcome—!"
He made eye contact with Aizen and instantly paled.
"L-Lord McKenzie…!"
He scrambled to sit upright, bowing repeatedly.
Aizen placed the stone on the table with a soft thud.
"How much?" he asked.
The shopkeeper's face drained of all color.
"F-Free, my lord! No charge at all! Please—take it!"
Aizen gave a small nod, as if this were the natural order of the world.
Then he leaned in slightly, eyes narrowing.
"Tell me," he said, voice dropping into dangerous softness, "do you have a permit to sell arms in my territory?"
The shopkeeper choked. "A-Arms? I—I—" He stuttered. "N-No, my lord…"
Aizen clicked his tongue, disappointed.
"And you were asleep when I entered."
His tone turned even colder. "Do you not wonder what would have happened if a group of children wandered in and helped themselves to a few weapons?"
The man began sweating so intensely it dripped down his temple.
He fell to his knees, trembling.
"P-Please, Lord McKenzie—spare me! I—I beg you! I meant no harm—I only—"
Aizen's gaze drifted around the room.
Now that the glowing stone was in his hand, the golden veil that had obscured other items lifted.
The trinkets looked normal…
except for one.
A modest pistol on the far shelf.
It was old-fashioned but glowing faintly.
He walked over and picked it up and examined it a little.
Then, turning back, Aizen let the fear linger in the shopkeeper's eyes before speaking.
"Get a license."
The man blinked. "…M-My lord?"
"It will cost you one thousand gold coins."
Aizen slipped the pistol into his coat. "And do not think about running. I will know."
The shopkeeper collapsed into frantic bows.
"Yes—yes, my lord! Immediately! I—I will apply today!"
Aizen didn't acknowledge him further.
He walked out, expression unmoved, the golden stone and pistol placed safely inside his coat.
The moment he stepped outside, his butler approached with a respectful bow.
"Master Aizen," he said, "shall we continue to the mage tower?"
Aizen looked ahead, eyes cold.
"Yes," he replied.
The carriage rattled back onto the main road, Aizen leaned into the cushioned seat and pulled the pistol from his coat.
It looked… ordinary.
Old metal, dull finish, faint scratches.
There was no emblem of fallen kingdoms, empires and he could also sense no enchantment.
And yet it had glowed.
He turned it over in his hand, frowning.
"What did I just do to that shopkeeper…" he muttered under his breath.
"Was that… the influence of my Opportunist and Exploiter traits?"
The way he'd intimidated the shopkeeper… extorted a thousand gold… taken advantage of the situation without hesitation…
It felt disturbingly natural in Aizen's body.
He slid the pistol back into his coat.
Best not to dwell on that now.
He tapped lightly on the carriage wall, signaling the butler beside him.
"Make sure that shop gets a license," Aizen ordered. "And charge him a thousand gold for it."
The butler blinked in surprise.
"Master Aizen… a legal license is only one hundred gold."
Aizen didn't even look at him.
"That is the price of punishment for selling weapons illegally in my territory."
The butler bowed his head.
"…Understood, my lord."
Aizen rolled the small pebble between his fingers, watching its surface catch the light.
At a glance, it looked perfectly ordinary.
But it gleamed every now and then.
Just then, a soft gold shimmer pulsed from within, brightening until it looked like a tiny star trapped in stone.
Aizen blinked once and before he could even question it a wave of cool mana surged through his chest.
It hit him like a breath of winter air straight into his heart.
His eyes widened and without hesitation, he snapped open the system window.
[ Mana Capacity: 960 → 1960 ]
Aizen stared.
Then a small grin across his face.
"A thousand points," he whispered.
A full thousand.
He clenched the pebble in his palm, pulse quickening.
Just moments ago, he had been a man with less than a hundred days to live,
a candle burning at both ends, flickering toward extinction.
Now?
"From a dying man," he murmured, "to a barely dying man."
He chuckled under his breath.
A thousand extra capacity meant a hundred extra days.
A hundred more days to cure himself.
He examined the pebble again, admiration replacing confusion.
"You definitely won't stay a rock," he decided aloud. "I'll have it forged into a ring. Something I can carry everywhere."
Just then, the carriage slowed.
The butler leaned forward slightly and bowed his head.
"Master Aizen," he announced, voice respectful and steady, "we have arrived at the mage tower."
Aizen closed his fingers around the glowing stone.
Ah perfect timing.
He stepped out of the carriage and he looked up at the majestic mage tower.