"What are you doing? " Ryu groaned while he leaned in the door of Zeres’ opened room, his auburn hair looked like a mess.

"Nothing, just looking for something"

"Give me coffee, can you? " he yawned as he continued to inspect the items laying on his mattress.

He had just remembered that there were multiple good artifacts within the storage ring he wore, and now—he was looking for an artifact used for apprasing artifacts function.

"Okay, a strong one right? "

"Yes"

____________

"Here’s your coffee" Ryu handed him a ceramic mug, the scent of a strong aroma drifted across the room.

"Thank you, put it on the table" Zeres replied, his eyes narrowing while hid hands carefully inspect each artifacts.

"Finally found it! " Zeres breathed through his nose, though it took quite a while—it was worth it.

==Ravel’s Scope==

• Can appraise all functions of Artifacts.

• No mana needed.

• Soul-bound item.

[Owner : Zeres]

===============

"Hmm, this one’s good. I’ll just need to grant permission so Ryu could use it" Zeres nodded, satisfied.

The item looked like a magnifying glass of modern era, but it was a made out of a black metal Zeres had never seen, there was even an eye ball engraved on the handle.

"What’s that? " Ryu asked while he sat beside Zeres’ mattress.

"This will be the one you’ll be using to run this shop"

"Here, check it" Zeres handed him the Artifact as he sipped the coffee.

"It looks scary" Ryu put down the artifact after scanning it in seconds.

"Haha, now that we have that—it’s time for us to learn how to run the shop"

"How? "

"Come here, we’ll both read this one"

=Artifacts in depth learning=

===Artifact Ranks===

==Tarnished Rank==

• Artifacts damaged by time or imperfect crafting.

• Weak effects, unstable mana flow.

• Usually sold cheaply in markets or carried by low-class adventurers.

==Bronze Rank==

• Basic magical artifacts commonly used by mercenaries, merchants, and lower nobles.

Examples:

••heat-regulating rings

••storage pouches

••minor enchanted weapons

==Silver Rank==

• Reliable and valuable artifacts with stable enchantments.

• Often possessed by academy professors, knights, and wealthy merchants.

==Gold Rank==

• High-grade artifacts capable of influencing battles or political power.

• Rare enough that noble families protect them carefully.

==Royal Rank==

• Artifacts personally commissioned by monarchs, archbishops, or elite bloodlines.

• Usually carry unique enchantments impossible to replicate normally.

==Saint Rank==

• Ancient artifacts blessed by powerful beings, churches, or transcendent mana users.

• These often develop semi-conscious behavior or strange side effects.

==Relic Rank==

• Artifacts originating from forgotten civilizations, ancient kingdoms, or catastrophic eras.

• Their powers are poorly understood.

• Most cursed artifacts begin here.

==Divine Rank==

• Artifacts directly connected to gods, outer entities, or primordial beings.

• Some are said to alter fate itself.

• Most people believe these artifacts are myths.

===========

"Wow" Ryu’s eyes gleamed, his tiny mouth gaping open as he stared at the contents.

’Hmm, now I’m curious where did this child learn how to read’ Zeres smiled at Ryu.

"It’s really interesting" Zeres marvelled, though he had proofread this novel, it was already a long time, his sister had already changed too many things.

"Will we be able to see a divine-rank artifact? " Ryu asked, then he grabbed the leather book the read again.

"That’s quite unlikely" Zeres shook his head, even a relic-rank looked like it will need many sacrifices just to have one.

"What should we name the shop? " Ryu turned his head at Zeres, excitement evident on his face.

"I’m really not good at naming, how about Zeryu?"

"Zeryu? "

"Yeah, we mixed my name Zeres and Ryu, how about it? " Zeres stood up, standing before the tall glass in his room overlooking the street of Helva district.

"It depends on you, it’s your business after all" Ryu shrugged, though there’s a blush behind his ears. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You’ll also need to learn here, I’ll bring some books so you won’t get bored" whistling, Zeres went beside Ryu, hands on his back.

"I’ll hire a bodyguard for you but that will likely take some time; I’m also a student so I need to focus, the midterms coming soon."

"Midterms? " Ryu tilted his head to the side.

"You can call it that, but it’s just like a trial"

"How about you help me out these artifacts on the ground floor so we can at least look like a decent appraisal shop with collections" Zeres smiled warmly before he went down, artifacts on his hand.

"Okay"

__________

"My daughter, I heard the Luminary Trial is already near. Are you confident you’ll come out on top? " a man said calmly while scribbling something on the yellow parchments resting on his table.

"I doubt it will be easy" A woman replied while seating on the couch.

The man raised his head, his sleek long black hair was tied on a ponytail. Golden eyes staring at the woman before him.

"Is someone there worth to be called your rival Saelyz? " the man smiled gently.

"There are" Saelyz replied, her hand grabbing a ceramic mug adorned with Intricate designs.

"I heard the daughter of Azure Tower is at Revenant-rank though? "

"You heard it right" Saelyz answered curtly, her hands gently resting on her lap.

"Then? " The man’s brow raised, his stare enough to intimidate any lesser man before him.

"It’s one of my classmate, a vampire"

"A vampire? That’s rare" The man nodded, his chin resting on his hands.

"So you’re certain that classmate of yours is also on Eclipse-rank?"

"That’s right"

The man’s fingers paused above the parchments.

"Interesting, a vampire who’s smart enough to know the divide among humans, I might need to watch the trial to see if it’s a gem or not"

"Having him on our side would be beneficial, I personally think he’s worth the risks" Saelyz mumbled, then her head snapped sideways.

"A boy huh? " The man before the table muttered in a low voice, the parchments on his table scattered everywhere.

"What’s his name? " the man leaned backwards, his head snapping upwards.

"Zeres"

"I’ll be going now" Saelyz sighed as she shook her head. That old man was always nagging.