Walking around the magical item shop, Elianna and Nicholas looked excited and intrigued as they eyed the various enchanted items shelved around them. The shop was large and spacious, with the first floor having an open area in the middle where individuals could test the item's enchantment abilities. Shelves and display cases were scattered throughout the store, each full of curious magical items. Some items were tagged with the enchantment they were imbued with, while others had mystery enchantments, allowing the user to take the item to the testing area and see what the item did.

  Elianna and Nicholas continued walking through the store and approached a glass display case. They had noticed that the glass display cases contained the more expensive items, which required the person to ask an employee to see them. On the other hand, the shelves were open, allowing people to pick up and look at the items they wished since they were of lesser value.

  As Elianna stepped up to the glass display case, she looked at the items, eyeing them individually. She noticed the items ranged in size and beauty, with some as small as rings and others as big as her forearm. She looked at one item and saw it was a black obsidian metal box with a golden circle on top, standing on four golden legs.

  Elianna hummed curiously as she leaned down to get a closer look at the item, "This item looks interesting."

  Nicholas, who was standing beside Elianna, looked at the item she was eyeing and saw the black box. "What does it do?"

  Elianna looked at the tag attached to the item, "It says it's a brazier."

  Nicholas raised a brow, "What's that?"

  "It creates a flame."

  Elianna and Nicholas looked up and saw one of the store's employees approach them. She was a middle-aged human with long orange hair and dark brown eyes.

  The woman walked up to the display stand and pointed to the brazier, "The brazier is a useful object, mainly used by adventurers. It creates a small but very hot flame that's useful for cooking or keeping people warm."

  "That's interesting," Nicholas said, eyeing the object. He looked at the female employee and smiled, "These items, do you enchant them yourselves?"

  The female smiled and nodded, "Yes. Well, not me personally. My husband and his sister are the enchanters." She pointed to another display case, where a middle-aged man with blue hair and blue eyes stood, showing two young males a small cylinder object. The female smiled warmly, "That's my husband over there."

  Elianna's lips curved, seeing the warmth in the female's smile. She looked back at the items in the display, "He must be very skilled in enchanting to make so many items."

  The female chuckled and looked at Elianna, "He sure is. He studied enchanting at Tri-Union Academy with his sister. He fell in love with the idea of enchanting and wanted to open a store where he could make and sell enchanted items." The female gestured to the shop around her, "And well, he did just that."

  Nicholas looked around the store and smiled a little, "I'm glad that his dream came true." He looked back at the female, "I hope to become a master mage," he gestured to Elianna, "while she wants to become a master knight." He looked at Elianna with a smile, "Right?"

  Nicholas' smile faded as he noticed she wasn't listening. In fact, she was leaning forward, with her eyes locked on an item in the display case, with her eyes wide and gleaming. Nicholas curiously approached her and looked over Elianna's shoulder, following her gaze. His eyes fell on a beautiful two-stone diamond tear-drop necklace with a gold chain. He noticed how the diamonds seemed to shimmer in the light, which made them stand out even more.

  "That's pretty," Nicholas said.

  Elianna yelped in surprise when she heard Nicholas beside her. Her head whirled, and she looked at him a little startled, wondering when he had approached her.

  Nicholas chuckled and smiled, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He jerked his chin at the display case, "Were you looking at the necklace?"

  "It's fine," Elianna laughed slightly. Looking back at the necklace, she nodded. "And yeah, I was."

  "You have a good eye," The female said and approached them, looking at the necklace. "This is one of our newer items. It is a little expensive, but it's beautiful and has a nice little enchantment."

  Elianna looked at the female curiously, "What kind of enchantment does it have?"

  The female pointed to the display case, "Do you see that bracelet beside it?"

  Elianna looked to where she was pointing and saw a black and gold metal bracelet lying beside it. Elianna nodded, "Yeah."

  "The necklace and the bracelet have a bonding enchantment," The female explained and looked at Elianna. "The two individuals who wear the bracelet and the necklace can sense each other, knowing when the other is in danger. Also, it allows the user to signal the other, letting them know when they are thinking about them."

  "That sounds interesting," Nicholas exclaimed as he looked at the necklace.

  "Yes, it does," Elianna whispered.

  Nicholas looked at Elianna, whose eyes were practically glowing as she studied the necklace. He watched as she tilted her head slightly and began to trace her finger in a circular pattern on the glass above the necklace. Nicholas' lips curved as he watched her, and he saw that she eyed the necklace with desire.

  Seeing that Elianna was obviously interested in the necklace, the female asked, "Would you like me to take the necklace out?"

  Elianna's eyes shot to her with eagerness, "And let me try it on?"

  The female nodded and smiled, "Yes."

  Elianna looked like she was about to say yes, but her brows furrowed a little, "You said the necklace is expensive, right?"

  The female's smile faded slightly. "I'm afraid so, especially since it's a package deal with the bracelet."

  Elianna looked at the necklace again, "H-How much?"

  "Twenty-six hundred credits."

  Elianna's eyes widened, and her heart sank at the number. While she was sure her family could afford it, she didn't have that many credits on her credit keeper at the moment. Plus, she wasn't sure how her family would react to her purchasing a necklace and bracelet for that much.

  "I see," Elianna said, her voice low and dejected. She looked at the female with a small smile, "Thanks, but I probably shouldn't."

  The female gave Elianna an apologetic smile, "I understand, and I'm sorry."

  Elianna nodded and gave the necklace one last longing look before she turned and walked off. She took a few steps, looking around the store. She felt a little bummed since she really wanted that necklace, but told herself it was best to forget about it.

  Elianna sighed a little, pushing the necklace out of her mind, when she asked, "Where do you want to look next?" She stood there, waiting for Nicholas to answer, and continued to look around the store. "Nick?" She called out again. "Anything you want to look at?" When he didn't, she curiously turned around, "Nick?"

  Elianna's eyes fell on Nicholas, who was still standing in front of the display case. She watched as he and the female exchanged a handshake and a few words, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed a small piece of paper in the female's hand. Nicholas's eyes flicked to Elianna, seeing she was watching him. He gave her a quick smile before saying something to the female, and she nodded and said something back to him as she handed him the paper before he turned and began to approach Elianna.

  Elianna looked at Nicholas curiously, "What were you doing?"

  Nicholas smiled and shrugged, "Nothing. I was just asking her about enchanting."

  Elianna nodded, "I see." She looked around the store, noticing several people walking around and countless objects to examine. " Is there Anything you want to look at next?"

  Nicholas also looked around, eyeing the multiple items around them before looking at Elianna and saying, "Maybe we should go find Celine."

  Elianna nodded, "Good idea." She looked at Nicholas curiously, "Where did she say she was going again?"

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  Nicholas grabbed his chin, thinking, "I think she said she was going upstairs."

  "Oh, yeah, that's right." Elianna turned and began to walk toward the stairs, "Come on."

  Nicholas followed Elianna to the stairs, and they made their way to the second floor. The second floor was just as big as the first but less spacious. Clothing racks with different types of apparel were placed side by side, and shelves containing different items were lined up behind the clothing racks. Several people were walking around, looking at the various items and clothes.

  As Nicholas and Elianna looked around, Nicholas smiled and pointed, "There she is."

  Elianna looked at Nicholas before she looked to where he was pointing, seeing Celine standing between two shelves and looking at its end cap. Elianna began to follow Nicholas as he began to walk toward Celine. As they were walking, Elianna's eyes darted between the clothes, seeing they didn't have that much of a selection. Most of the clothing seemed to be either for exercise or winter clothing. While Elianna didn't care about winter clothing, she was interested in exercise apparel. She was curious about what kind of enchantments they held and if they would help her out during her workouts.

  As Elianna looked at the clothing, her eyes flicked up, seeing a boy who looked a little older than her, leaning against the wall next to others his age who she assumed were his friends. The boy's eyes were locked on Elianna, and when their gazes met, the boy shot Elianna a smirk. Elianna just furrowed her brow and looked forward, paying the boy no mind.

  "Hey, Celine," Nicholas chirped as he and Elianna approached her.

  Celine curiously looked toward the voice and smiled as her eyes fell on Nicholas and Elianna, "Hello, you two. Find anything you liked?"

  Elianna smiled. "Yeah." She shrugged dejectedly. "It was too expensive, though."

  Celine nodded, "Yeah, this place does seem to be a little pricy with some things." She grinned and jerked her chin, "Like this over here."

  Celine began to walk down one of the aisles, and Nicholas and Elianna followed her. She stopped and picked up a small silver circular object that was attached to a ring.

  Nicholas raised a brow, looking at the object curiously, "What is that?"

  Celine slipped the ring onto her finger, with the circular part on the same side as her palm. Celine looked at Nicholas, grinned, and held her hound out to Nicholas, "Here. Shake my hand."

  Nicholas narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Why?"

  Celine chuckled mischievously, "Just do it."

  Nicholas hummed, his eyes darting between the object and his cousin's suspicious grin. He slowly reached out, and when he grabbed his cousin's hand, he yelped as the object delivered an electric shock to him.

  Celine laughed comically, "It's an object that shocks you."

  Elianna smiled humorously, seeing Nicholas' reaction, "You okay?"

  Nicholas rubbed his palm, "It's fine. It was like a little sting."

  "Yep," Celine said and pressed the object against Nicholas' shoulder, getting another yelp from him. Celine chuckled, "It's harmless."

  Nicholas narrowed his eyes on Celine, "But also annoying."

  Celine laughed, took the object off her finger, and placed it back on the shelf.

  Nicholas looked at the shelf Celine placed the object on, and his eyes fell on a glove with a small ball next to it. He looked at the tag, seeing the glove had a retrieval enchantment, and he curiously picked it up. He put the glove on, and when he turned his hand with the palm facing the ball, Nicholas' eyes snapped wide with surprise as the ball flew into his hand.

  "Woah!" Nicholas breathed out in excitement. "Celine, look at this!"

  Celine, who was looking at another object, curiously looked at Nicholas. She watched as Nicholas tossed the ball into the air, and when he faced the glove toward the ball, the ball flew back into the glove.

  Celine chuckled, "That's pretty cool."

  "Right!" Nicholas said with excitement and looked to the right. "Hey, Lia!" Nicholas frowned when he noticed Elianna wasn't standing beside him. He looked around, wondering where she had wandered off to, when he noticed she was standing right outside the entrance to the aisle, looking at a clothing rack.

  ***

  Elianna inquiringly looked at the sportswear hanging on the clothing rack. She thought that while Celine and Nicholas were busy looking at the enchanted items on the shelves, she would take this time to look at the exercise material. She shuffled through the different shirts when she came across a black sports tank crop top. Looking at the tag, Elianna read that the top had a cooling enchantment when activated, which Elianna thought could be useful.

  Elianna pulled the top and hanger off the rack, eyeing the shirt curiously, wondering how it would look on her. As she thought about it, her lips curved, and her cheeks reddened a little as she wondered how Nicholas would think the top looked on her.

  "That's a nice top."

  Elianna frowned and her eyes flicked to the unfamiliar voice, seeing the boy that smirked at her earlier approach her. She assessed him quickly, seeing he was tall and muscular but not as muscular as Nicholas. He had long green hair and brown eyes and seemed to hold himself in high regard.

  ***

  Nicholas' brows furrowed as he noticed the boy approach Elianna. Without taking his eyes off them, he pulled the glove off his hand and laid it on the shelf with a loud thunk.

  Hearing Nicholas return the glove to the shelf aggressively, Celine looked at him, a little surprised. Seeing his irritated expression, she followed his gaze, and she comically smiled when she saw another guy had approached Elianna.

  "Wow," Celine chuckled. "Elle seems to be popular today."

  "Yeah," Nicholas said, his voice tight, as he watched the guy intently. "It's the third guy to approach her today."

  Celine bit her lips between her teeth, trying not to laugh or smile. She couldn't help but see the humor in the parallel between Elianna and Nicholas.

  ***

  Elianna looked at the boy blankly, "Thanks."

  The boy reached his hand out, "My name is Ivan, by the way."

  "Congratulations," Elianna said flatly and looked back at the shirt in her hands.

  Ivan smirked, thinking Elianna was playing hard to get, and kept his arm extended, "May I ask what your name is?"

  Elianna sighed, seeing that Ivan wasn't getting the hint that she wasn't interested in speaking with him. "You can ask. But I won't tell you."

  Ivan raised a brow and pulled his hand back, looking Elianna up and down, "So, uh, you come here often?"

  ***

  Nicholas narrowed his eyes, "What do you think they're talking about?"

  Celine shrugged as she walked over to stand by Nicholas, "I don't know." She looked at her cousin, seeing his eyes narrowed and lips tight. "How does it make you feel?"

  "What?"

  Celine's eyes flicked to Elianna, "Seeing another guy talking to Elle."

  Nicholas shrugged, "I don't know."

  Celine sighed as she looked at her cousin, knowing this was how their conversations usually went. When it came to his feelings, Nicholas would sometimes close himself off and not let anyone know what he was thinking. Celine wanted to press Nicholas about his feelings, but before she could, he began to walk toward Elianna, and Celine grinned a little, eager to see how Nicholas would react.

  ***

  "Nope," Elianna responded flatly.

  Ivan smirked, "In that case. I could show you around if you want."

  "No thanks," Elianna said coldly.

  Ivan chuckled, "You sure. I can-"

  "No," Elianna snapped and scowled at Ivan. "I'm not interested. Now go away."

  Ivan narrowed his eyes and scoffed as he turned to walk away, "Whatever. Suit yourself."

  Elianna watched intently as Ivan walked away, and she shook her head with annoyance.

  "What did he want?"

  Elianna flinched slightly and spun around toward the voice. She smiled as her eyes fell on Nicholas, who was standing there with a glare. Her smile faded as she noticed the intensity in his eyes, and she followed his gaze, seeing he was watching Ivan as he made his way to his friends.

  "He wanted me to walk around with him," Elianna answered matter-of-factly. She looked back at Nicholas and shrugged, "I told him no and shooed him away."

  Nicholas looked at Elianna and smiled a little humorously, "'Shooed'?"

  Elianna chuckled and nodded, "Yep. Shooed."

  Nicholas laughed and shook his head, "You've been doing a lot of shooing tonight. He was the third guy to approach you."

  "Really?" Elianna asked and curiously grabbed her chin, recollecting the guys who had approached her. She remembered the one from the clothing store, the one from the pet store, and now Ivan. "Huh," Elianna shrugged. "I suppose you're right." She smiled at Nicholas, "I don't really care for their attention, though."

  Nicholas' expression softened, and his lips curved, "You don't?"

  Elianna shook her head, "Nope." She blushed slightly as she thought that the only guy's attention she wanted was his.

  "Hey, guys."

  Nicholas and Elianna broke their eye contact and looked toward Celine. They noticed she was looking at the pocket watch in her hand as she approached them.

  "What is it?" Nicholas asked.

  Celine stored her pocket watch and looked at them, "We should get going. The illusionaire will be starting soon."

  Elianna smiled excitedly, "Oh, good!" She held up the shirt in her hands, "I'm just going to get this really quick if that's okay."

  Celine smiled, "Of course it's okay." She jerked her chin toward the stairs, "Let's go."

  Elianna and Nicholas began to follow Celine as they made their way toward the staircase. They descended the stairs to the first floor and began to make their way to the check-out counter, where a male employee stood. As they approached the counter, Elianna recognized the male employee as the husband of the female employee they spoke with earlier.

  The man looked up, seeing Celine, Nicholas, and Elianna approaching, and he smiled, "Hello, how may I help you?"

  Elianna placed the shirt on the counter and returned his smile, "Can I get this, please?"

  The man nodded, "Of course. That will be twenty-five credits."

  Elianna pulled out her golden credit keeper from her spatial ring and tapped it against the receiver, willing twenty-five credits to transfer. A flash of light occurred, indicating the transfer was complete.

  "Thank you for the purchase," The man said with a smile. "Would you like a bag?"

  "No, thank you," Elianna responded kindly. She grabbed the shirt and stored it and her credit keeper in her spatial ring.

  The man nodded, "Have a good day."

  "You too," Elianna said, and she and Celine were about to walk away.

  "Wait," Nicholas said, and Celine and Elianna looked at him curiously. Nicholas approached the counter, and Elianna watched as he placed the small piece of paper the female had given him earlier on the table. "I should have a pick-up order ready," he said.

  Elianna and Celine shared a perplexed gaze.

  The man picked up the paper and read the number. "Ah, yes!" The man smiled. He reached down behind the counter and placed a small black bag in front of Nicholas. "Here you go, sir. Thank you for your purchase, and have a nice day."

  "You too," Nicholas said kindly, grabbing the bag. He stored the bag in his spatial ring and began to head toward the doors, "Come on, let's get going."

  Celine and Elianna shared another confused gaze before they began to follow Nicholas.

  "What was that about?" Celine curiously asked her cousin.

  Nicholas smiled and looked over his shoulder, "I was picking up something I bought."

  "You bought something?" Elianna asked, trying to remember when Nicholas had bought anything. As she thought about it, she didn't remember him purchasing anything. "When would you have bought something?"

  Nicholas smiled and shrugged, "Earlier."

  Elianna's brows furrowed, "Earlier wh-"

  "We should go," Nicholas said, jerking his chin toward the doors. He began walking faster, saying, "Come on."

  Celine and Elianna watched Nicholas as he walked faster and exchanged a quick, confused glance.

  "You don't know what he bought?" Celine asked.

  Elianna shook her head, perplexed, "Not a clue."

  Celine looked back at Nicholas and shrugged, "Whatever, come on."

  Elianna nodded, still a little curious about what Nicholas had bought, as she followed Celine toward the doors.