Chapter 958: A New Day for the Store(6)
The store owner had told Alfred that the price for summoning the beast didn't reset to zero.
It didn't matter when Alfred tried, but the next round of summoning would require him to pay a thousand ordinary stones right from the start.
As for Asher, he wasn't eligible anymore since he had already chosen the beast.
Even Asher felt that it would be too much, so he told Alfred to make the purchase in the future. The store's appearance in Thorr City would lead to an economic boom in the city, and since Alfred was the city leader, he would be the biggest beneficiary of that rise.
Asher was confident there would come a day when a thousand ordinary Sacred stones and one lesser Sacred stone would mean the same thing to them.
Alfred realized this as well, so he inserted the card into the compartment one inch right to the screen and exited the device room with Asher.
Asher and Alfred both approached Aakesh since they needed to pay their share.
Getting the beast from the device wasn't the end, as the owner needed to tame the beast and then sign a contract with it.
Even if the store had all of the pillars and an early Divine Transformation obtained a peak Sacred Dimension level beast, they wouldn't be able to own it because they couldn't tame it.
To ensure that the cultivators only received beasts they could tame, it was also the driving force behind the creation of two systems for summoning.
The taming battle could only be started by the store owner, and a contract would be made between the store and the customer, with the store taking the lead. Since Aakesh was the store owner, the agreement couldn't take place without his presence.
***
Aakesh heard the sound of footsteps approaching him, so he opened his eyes and turned in that direction. Alfred and Asher were nearing him.
Aakesh didn't have to think of a reason, as Asher had a card in his hands with a tinge of excitement on his face.
"Store owner, I want to start the taming battle," Asher said. He tried to hide his excitement, but he clearly failed.
The beast chosen by Asher was the Aviern, and its cultivation was the early Divine Lord. It should have been easy for the contract to take place due to the large gap in cultivation, but things weren't as they appeared.
To tame the Aviern, Asher needed to defeat the beast at the same cultivation level. It was easy to summon a desired beast and have enough financial wealth to buy it, but it wasn't easy to take the beast home.
It was also the reason why the system only wanted Aakesh to sell five thousand beasts in 360 days. It wasn't because of the cost, but because it was difficult to purchase. It was a three-question-marked product for a reason.
Aakesh nodded as he took the card from Asher's hands. Aakesh then turned around the card, and there was a small pattern of the store's building on it.
Aakesh tapped on it twice and then handed over the card to Asher.
When Asher took the card, he suddenly found his surroundings changing as he found himself floating in the air while Aviern was staring at him.
It took a while for Asher to adjust himself, as this was his first time floating in the air. Since he had to battle a creature like the Aviern in the air, in its domain, he needed more than just readiness.
Soon the battle began as the Aviern charged at Asher. Both sides' cultivation levels were early Divine Lord, but the Aviern was faster, appearing in front of Asher in no time.
Its claws engulfed in flames were like the setting of the sun as it fell on Asher. Asher wasn't someone who stood at the peak of Vurrons for no reason. His sword easily deflected the attack, demonstrating his talent.
It was only the start, as a destructive battle began between the duo.
The battle dragged on indefinitely because no party was aware of the passage of time. Asher finally won the battle as his strike took whatever energy Aviern had and knocked it unconscious with numerous bloody injuries spread across its body.
Asher wasn't any better, as bones could be seen through many of his injuries, and his body was shaking as it had lost too much blood.
A smile spread across his face when he suddenly found his surroundings changing. The next thing he knew, he was back in the store, the card still in his head.
A surprised expression appeared on his face as he asked Alfred how long he had been gone.
"Hmm, I didn't see you going anywhere. You just took the card from the store owner's hands," Alfred answered.
Asher's conjecture turned out to be correct. Even though there was no way to judge time in his battle with the Aviern, he still believed that days must have passed.
Asher then asked Aakesh and finally got his answer.
"There is no time in the taming battle. Even if you fought for years, no time would have passed inside the store," Aakesh answered.
The consciousnesses of the customer and the beast fought in a system-controlled area, so there were no chances of death or injury for either the beast or the customer.
The next moment, the store pattern on the back of the card lightened up.
"Drop your blood," Aakesh told Asher, as it was now time to sign the contract.
Asher did as he was told, and soon, he found a new consciousness in his sea of consciousness. It was in the shape of the creature on the card.
The card in Asher's hands began to slowly change as the content on it began to disappear while the illustration of the Aviern started to expand, and soon it covered the entire card front.
The store-building pattern on the back dimmed and returned to normal as the beast now belonged to Asher. It wasn't a master-servant contract. The customer had more power over the beast, but they couldn't force the beast to attempt suicide. It would be a breach of the agreement and would result in annulment.
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