Chapter 1327: Selecting the Candidate(14)
Aakesh saw that the way Phily walked had changed.
What surprised Aakesh even more was his intuition to suddenly glance at Phily walking. He would never look at customers walking away.
His changed walk further added to the suspense regarding Phily.
Phily was also leaving the store when he suddenly felt an urge in his heart to stop. He could feel there was something wrong with him, so he tried to ignore it.
But ignoring the urge seemed like pouring water into the hot oil. The intensity of the urge heightened, and Phily could no longer walk away.
Phily then turned around and looked at the store owner. He found the scene to be weird since the store owner was in conversation with other customers and not at all focusing on him.
Phily felt that the store owner was the source of the sudden urge in his heart, so the scene seemed incomprehensible.
***
Even though Aakesh found an interest in Phily, it didn't mean he would stop doing his duty as the store owner.
Since he was in a conversation with a customer, Aakesh couldn't just ignore the guy and call Phily back, so he requested the system to make Phily stop.
***
Even in his dreams, Phily couldn't guess that the change in the way he walked would get him caught by the store owner.
After stopping in the store, he instinctively joined the queue in front of the store owner and waited for his turn.
After a wait of a few minutes, his turn finally arrived. When he stood in front of the store owner, he was silent and simply looked at Aakesh.
"What happened to you?" Aakesh surprised Phily and took the initiative to converse.
A bad feeling rose in Phily's heart, but the next moment, he suddenly calmed down.
His eyes which were a combination of gray and deep red suddenly turned into a different combination of silver and gold.
The aura around Phily changed in its entirety. He was a King, so he already had a majestic aura around him. But at that time, it had reached an intensity where it seemed as if Phily was the master of the entire world.
"Why do I not know you?" A different majestic voice came out of Phily's mouth when he spoke.
Aakesh's eyes remained as indifferent as ever when he looked at Phily.
A staring contest began between the two, waiting for one to move his eyes away.
After a long pause, Phily sighed and finally moved his eyes away.
What was happening with Phily wasn't a possession by a higher level being. If it was, Aakesh would have acted and asked the system to destroy the intruder since one of the store's rules was the complete protection of its customers.
"Can I request you to protect my host?" Phily asked, pointing at himself.
At that time, the gold in Phily's pupils and the regal aura around him had slightly dimmed.
At the same time, there was also a hint of terror in the eyes. The staring contest wasn't simply a staring contest but a competition of wills.
The more Phily stared at those indifferent eyes, the more terror he felt in his heart. It was as if Aakesh's eyes were a black hole and it was devouring Phily's soul.
"No, I don't involve myself in the lives of customers outside the store," Aakesh expressionlessly responded.
The moment the change occurred, Aakesh already knew what happened with Phily. It was an opportunity for which even the top races of the Sacred Dimension would go to brutal wars.
From what Aakesh could see, the real Phily wasn't aware of what had happened to him at all.
"My host is scared of you," Phily suddenly commented with a smile. He didn't feel anything wrong with what Aakesh said.
Aakesh only nodded in response to that comment. He had already gotten used to the emotion of fear from other customers.
The majority of his customers feared him, irrespective of their cultivation level. It would later turn into respect due to the change in their lives, but there would always be a facet of fear in their hearts for him.
"Is it his luck that he got chosen by you or was it random?" Aakesh suddenly asked.
"What kind of luck can make me choose someone like him?" Phily commented with a smile.
Aakesh nodded in response. He already had a sense that Phily was randomly chosen but he didn't expect it to be bluntly honest.
Aakesh and Phily then conversed for some time. Phily was the one who talked the most while Aakesh would speak ceremoniously.
Phily also told Aakesh about the two beasts he summoned and how his host was unable to afford them.
Talking with Phily, Aakesh suddenly had an idea. He immediately asked the system about it.
Phily noticed the slight change in spiritual energy around the store, but didn't say anything.
Phily was wondering whether it was his bad luck that his host was born in such a backwater area, or his fortunes were so great that he came in contact with someone like Aakesh.
Phily didn't mean in sense with the store since it was an open store and anyone could come inside the store and come in contact with Aakesh.
Almost all of them who came to the store and were in contact with Aakesh believed that there was a strong figure behind Aakesh when they sensed the energy inside the store. But there were also a few minorities, who thought the opposite.
They believed that Aakesh was the core, and Phily was one of them. Maria was also one of them, but she believed such due to her faith in Aakesh.
The case with Phily was different. He knew things Maria might never come in contact with. He could see an unprecedented situation the Multiverse would usher in due to the blue-skinned man in front of him.
"I think it's time for you to go. I want to talk to your host," Aakesh suddenly commented, breaking the thought process of Phily.
Phily nodded since he also knew his host was only able to hold it because of the protection of the store, or Phily would have long exploded. It only happened for a minute.
"I will see you when my Host gains some strength," Phily smiled and commented.
The next moment, the regal aura around him began to dim, while his eyes began to return to their original combination.
Phily looked confused at the store owner since he didn't remember anything about what happened in the past minute. Suddenly, the confusion in his eyes completely disappeared as if there was nothing wrong with what transpired in the store.
"I saw that you were unable to buy the beasts you summoned…"
While talking with Phily, Aakesh suddenly had an idea, and he asked the system about it. The system also found that idea to be doable, so it accepted his suggestion.
The idea Aakesh had was along the same lines as the lending function of the Store Card. In that system, a customer could pawn their valuable items and borrow a percentage of their value for a term they found suitable.
That system helped store customers being able to afford store products, but it had a grave side effect. The customers who didn't own any valuable items wouldn't be able to use that function for their benefit.
So Aakesh decided to take that function further and involve customers who had great fortunes but were poor at the moment when they came to the store.
Aakesh's idea was to allow every customer to have a monetary limit fixed to their card, and they could borrow any amount within that limit.
The monetary limit was dynamic and would change every month since fortunes were constantly shifting. It could see an explosive increase and a similarly rapid decrease.
But the two systems couldn't be compared since one was pure lending while the other was an equal exchange with the benefit slightly tilting toward the store. Since the systems were different, the interest rates couldn't be the same as well.
There were five types of stones, so the system decided on five interest rates depending on the stone types. Paying one percent of interest for borrowing in lesser Sacred stones couldn't be compared to the same interest rate in ultimate Stones. It was a difference between heaven and earth.
***
A/N: Phily is a character on the same footing as Ryan, Maria, Lilith, etc., so we will slowly expand on what happened with him and how he would influence the story.
Sorry for the mass release. I got an eye infection, so I couldn't write any more chapters. Even this chapter is what I wrote yesterday and today.
Once I recover, I will upload the remaining six chapters.
I hope you guys understand.
Thanks, Blac, for the Pizza, and GreatDaoofSpace, for the Ice Cola. I am really grateful for the support.
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