Chương 205: Teft Family

Helena did not look like she quite believed what Damion was saying, but given the evidence in front of her, she had little choice but to. The young man clearly had an Ice affinity, as evidenced by his hair, so how else could he have stored all those Demonic Beasts bodies. She thought it possible he had additional spatial artifacts, and he was just fast with his hands, never revealing he had more than two. But when the Arcdotus carcass came out, she knew that could not have been the case.

No spatial artifact should have been able to contain something so massive. The same was true for Spatial mages. The amount of mana required to store and retrieve such an enormous corpse was more than what an S Rank Spatial mage would have. This left no doubt in her mind that the Fontane family had been holding back their advancements in spatial artifacts.

"While we wait for the cores to be removed, would you like to return to the showroom to select artifacts you want in exchange for the carcasses?" Helena asked.

"Sure," Damion answered as he let Helena lead him back to the store's showroom. While they walked he decided to probe her for some information.

"Is your shop related to Dean Teft of Silver Spire Magic Academy?"

"Dean Teft was once a member of our family, but she left the family long ago."

"Really?" Damion questioned, pretending to be surprised.

"That is a shame. She has recently achieved S Rank. If Dean Teft was still part of your family she would have elevated your house to being an elite family among noble families."

"The past is the past," Helena said without showing any emotion.

"Do you have an idea of what type of artifacts you are seeking?"

"Wearable artifacts that have attack glyphs of various affinities on them." Since Damion now had eight affinities, and he would likely buy more from the Magic System in the future, he thought it would be a good idea to have an explanation for him casting spells of different affinities. The simplest way to explain his use of other elements, was to have artifacts that could perform that magic.

He considered just claiming that he had such artifacts, but if ever asked to produce such an artifact, he would be put in a tight spot.

"Most elemental attack glyphs are created on weapon artifacts, but we do have a limited selection of D and C Rank artifacts you should find suitable."

"Excellent," Damion smiled as he let Helena lead him to a selection of artifacts that looked more like jewelry accessories. Helena laid out an array of artifacts on a counter. True Sight told Damion they were all C Rank artifacts. On another shelf behind the counter, he spotted lower Rank artifacts. Evidently, Helena had taken out the best of the store's stock to show him. Considering the value of the Demonic Beast carcasses he provided them, being shown their best did not surprise him.

With the knowledge Damion had gained of Nashto, he could see what affinity each of the glyphs on the artifacts were. He focused on five of the artifacts, four of which were bracelets, while the final one was a palm sized medallion. The first bracelet Damion picked up was one with a fire attack glyph. The quality of the bracelet was higher than his sword, he was still partial to his sword, and he did not truly need two artifacts that could produce the same effect.

Setting the fire bracelet aside, he moved on to the next of the bracelets. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. This bracelet had a lightning attack glyph. Damion recalled Arica having used similar bracelets on their few missions together. Lightning would be an excellent attack artifact, but he had not received a Lightning affinity from the Magics System.

The next artifact he looked at had a wind attack glyph, but again, he put it aside since he did not have the corresponding affinity. With three bracelets down, Damion had two artifacts left to look at. The final bracelet had an earth attack glyph on it. This affinity he had acquired from the Magic System. Examining the artifact, he found it was made of Adamantine. The bluish metal of the bracelet was a soft blue and matched his hair, but did not quite go with the rest of his gear.

He did not mind though; he had no intention of using the artifact. If it was not for the fact that D Rank artifacts would not be able to expel C Rank magic, he would have just bought D or even E Rank attack artifacts. However, if people asked questions, it would be difficult for him to explain how low Rank artifacts managed to inflict damage to anything C Rank. The earth attack artifact Damion set back down and picked up the final artifact.

This one was an oval medallion about the length of his palm with a smooth rounded design. He could not identify the material the medallion was made of, but the glyph was for light magic. Since the Magic System had granted him a Holy affinity, having a light affinity artifact would help him disguise his use of healing magic. The artifact would also be useful to explain how he was able to heal so well if he happened to be forced to consume another of his Health Potions.

Artifacts with magical effects were expensive, as Damion had learned in recent years, hence why so few adventurers could afford them. Healing artifacts were even more expensive. No team member wanted to be excluded, and artifacts were never as effective as a knowledgeable mage, so healing artifacts were looked down on by Light and Holy mages.

"I'll take these two," Damion said, holding up the earth bracelet and the light medallion.

"Just those?" Helena questioned. C Rank artifacts were expensive, but the corpse of the C Rank Arcdotus Damion brought in would more than cover the cost.

"These two will suit my purposes," Damion told her.

"Why don't you take at least one more?" Elicia told Damion. Either he did not care about the value of the carcasses he brought, or he did not know, but she wanted to make sure he was not completely ripped off. Damion was aware what he brought was more valuable and was going to tell Elicia to select a few artifacts for herself when a small boy crashed into the side of his leg.

After the impact, the boy, who appeared to be around 7 years old with brown hair and the same light blue eyes Damion had come to expect of the Teft family, was left sprawled on the ground as if he was unsure what he had run into.

"Aimery," Helena snapped.

"What are you doing? Haven't I told you not to play in the showroom before? Where is your grandpa?"

"There you are," an elderly voice said. Turning, Damion saw an elderly man who appeared quite old and True Sight revealed he was B Rank. The old man must have sensed Damion's gaze faced him with curiosity.

"And who do we have here? Buying attack artifacts?"

"Father, this is the customer that brought in all the Ice affinity beasts. He is just selecting some artifacts in exchange for his goods," Helena explained while catching hold of Aimery who had risen from the floor and appeared to be about to run off again.

"Odd for a mage to want different methods of attack? Planning to assassinate someone with the artifacts? That's how it was done in my day. Using artifacts of a different element to throw suspicion off yourself." The question threw Damion off and before he could think of a response, the old man broke out laughing.

"Oh, you should see the look on your face. Young people these days, so easy to fool," the man laughed and held out his hand in introduction, "Ferdinand Teft."

"Damion Wells."

"Ah, my sister's prized pupil. I must say, as happy as I am to see her reach S Rank, it pales in comparison to how happy I was to hear about you killing a dozen little noble upstarts."