It felt like a bit of a jerk move to reject someone asking for a favor right after they helped you with yours, so Hal didn’t think too much and agreed to Liora’s request, even though he still didn’t know what they would be doing.
’W-Well, she’s quite good-looking, so even if she asks me out on a date, I’ll give her a chance...’
Over the next six days, all Hal did was take on easy F-ranked hunting missions to gather more F-ranked cores and build up his coin reserves as much as possible. He temporarily reduced his physical fitness training to three sessions that week.
He was able to gather up twenty-seven cores, an additional 7 silver coins, and a decent number of academy credits and contribution points as a result.
He should be able to get through the month without any problems.
However, he had to at least win second place, as he would be in a bad position financially if he didn’t.
Hal was pumped, nonetheless.
He believed that his chances of winning were decent.
Furthermore, the rewards were worth the risk, as he would be hitting two or three birds with one stone if he succeeded.
It also wouldn’t hurt too much even if he didn’t.
Right after gathering everything he needed, Hal began his intense two-week Chaos Arcane Link Set training.
He tried to create various types of artifacts, failing the first few times before finding his groove.
Over the fourteen days, Hal was able to craft all three types of Arcane Artifacts: accessories, utilities, and weapons, though he only managed to successfully create the most basic weapon types, which were staves and wands.
While he believed he could also craft orbs and grimoires, he didn’t have the necessary materials for those.
Hal then realized something.
"Aihh...maybe I shouldn’t have jumped the gun and borrowed money?"
Couldn’t he sell the artifacts he made? Although he was unsure how much he would earn from them...
Things have already happened, unfortunately, and he had already committed to help Liora with whatever her request was.
Hal managed to craft a total of eighteen artifacts in thirteen and a half days: eight were accessories, five were of the weapon type, and another five were of the utility type.
To his surprise, when he had them appraised, all of them were of superior grade, and one accessory even reached mastercraft grade.
Hal could only thank the Imperium for allowing masks and aliases, as the appraiser looked like he wanted to rip his mask off and take a good long look at his face.
Superior-grade common-tier artifacts, although uncommon, still existed in shops.
Mastercraft-grade, on the other hand...
Even Adept Arcanists would probably struggle to create a common-tier artifact of such a high grade.
Only Master Arcanists could craft one with ease, but the question remained: who the hell was this guy named Joker?
There were only a little over a hundred Master Arcanists in the entire empire, and the appraisers knew every single one of them.
There wasn’t one with the alias "Joker" among them.
Was the guy really just a talented Adept Arcanist, then?
That was the question that bugged the appraiser who evaluated his crafts that day.
The man was dying to know his identity.
Nonetheless, although it was impossible to do so, the appraiser noted his alias, a great business plan forming in the guy’s mind.
Hal paid five silver coins for everything, including the official artifact cards, since he planned to sell them.
With this, he got a rough idea as to how much he would earn.
There was indeed no need to borrow money...
But what’s done is done.
After leaving the Artifact Appraisal Office of the Aeloria City Hall, Hal immediately made his way to Wanzin’s Arcane Emporium to sell his artifacts.
The staff member at the counter offered him a customary, professional bow and promptly went to the back office to call her manager, as he had requested.
His decision to choose this particular shop proved to be a wise one.
Both the manager and the staff member were pleasant to talk to and straightforward in their offers, just as they had been when they bought his items despite the single star on the right chest of his Grand Magic Academy uniform.
They didn’t attempt to cheat him at all.
Hal greatly appreciated the shop, and if he ever reached a point where prominent stores would reach out to him for partnerships, he would partner with Wanzin’s Arcane Emporium.
He managed to sell his superior-grade common-tier artifacts somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 silver coins per artifact, and the mastercraft-grade one for five whopping silvers.
Hal couldn’t help but question his career choices then.
The earnings of an Arcanist probably couldn’t be matched by even the Magnas, though it was undeniable that the prestige and pride of becoming one of the latter was unattainable even if he became a Grandmaster Arcanist.
Fortunately, if he worked hard enough, he had a chance of becoming both.
A Magna and a Grandmaster Arcanist at the same time...
He would be a legendary figure by then, no? Perhaps unsurpassed for eternity!
Extremely pumped, Hal left Wanzin’s Arcane Emporium thirty-seven silver coins richer, lost in his daydreams for a few hours before finally jolting himself out of dreamland.
The fifty silver coin reward for first place didn’t seem so extravagant to him anymore as his psychological wallet’s capacity inevitably expanded.
However, what Hal didn’t realize was that only Adept Arcanists typically earned that much, and if an Arcanist lacked skill, they would only be able to craft standard or even substandard arcane artifacts.
They would earn just a few copper coins more than what they spent, with some even ending up at a loss.
"Phew... I guess that’s that," Hal muttered with a smile after sealing his bags tightly.
There was apparently a branch of the Flexpecto Patronum Fitness Center in Azmarin City, so he also brought his fitness bag and training clothes along with him.
Maybe he could sneak in a workout day or two while there.
Hal then turned to Loki, who was wagging his tail happily at the side, tongue hanging out of his mouth in a goofy grin.
"Are you ready for a nice, long trip, bud?"