The First Store System

Xani excitedly looked at the details of the beast on the card. The first thing that caught her attention was the beast’s illustration covering one-half of the card.

The Crowned Uguisu was a majestic beast that seemed to carry a divine presence. It looked like a gigantic nightingale, with pearlescent feathers that glowed under the light. A shining golden crest was on its head, resembling a royal crown that gave the creature its divine presence. Its long, refined tail feathers were engraved with various starry patterns.

Its piercing eyes glowed like twin suns, exuding authority. It was in its singing posture and Xani could feel the harmonics released by its beak and it created visible waves of energy, shaping the very air around it. She seemed to see rhythms and their movements which were graceful yet commanding, displaying the harmony between elegance and overwhelming power.

After that, she moved to the details and immediately became excited upon reading the skills the beast had. She had never seen a Crowned Uguisu but had heard about it, so she knew just how strong the beasts were.

Even though the quality was only higher, she truly liked the beast, especially the beast characteristics [Song of Freedom]. Her eyes then finally moved to the price section and her heart immediately skipped a beat in shock.

Fifty million ultimate Sacred stones wasn’t a small sum for her. As she began to count her assets, a helpless smile appeared on her face. She found that she had fallen short of that sum by quite a margin.

Her shoulders sunk down as she exited the room. She still had to pay the summoning cost, so she joined the queue before Aakesh and waited for her turn.

Her eyes had turned completely blank as she had lost all hopes whatsoever. Before learning about the store, she was already at the edge, but after she learned about the store from her granddaughter some hope had grown in her heart.

That small hope turned out to be more disturbing than losing which pushed her completely over the edge.

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With blank eyes like a dead being, Xani waited for her turn. She instinctively moved ahead whenever a spot before her moved forward, not knowing when she finally reached the store owner.

She took out the required summoning sum and handed it to Aakesh.

Aakesh was always indifferent to others but that was when the store wasn’t involved. How could he let someone leave the store with a dead expression?

He snapped his fingers and there was finally a change in Xani’s expression. She looked at Aakesh confused, not knowing what the store owner wanted from her.

Her hand was still extended holding Sacred stones. For some reason, her heart suddenly turned heavy and before she could understand things, her eyes began tearing and she revealed everything like she was venting over all the struggles she had went over the long duration of time.

Aakesh maintained the same indifferent expression and when finally Xani talked about her not having enough money to purchase the beast, he informed her about the credit card.

Xani immediately stopped crying upon learning that the store even offered credits. Without wasting even a second, she asked Aakesh for the card.

Aakesh nodded, tapped on the machine, and soon a card appeared. He handed it to Xani and told her the way to learn about her credit limit.

Hope had risen once again in her heart as she did and anticipatedly waited for the numbers to appear on the screen.

Finally, the numbers stopped changing on the card and her credit limit became visible. Her breathing had stopped, and her heart had stopped beating, leaving no difference between a dead and an alive person.

The next moment, her heart started beating once again and her breathing returned to normal as the number on the screen lit a fire in her heart.

She immediately jumped up in excitement like a little baby does after seeing their favorite toy. The exhilarating feeling she was feeling at that moment was something she had never felt before. She seemed to have come alive from death as the number on the screen was enough for her to purchase the beast.

She immediately wanted to return to the beast room and have the taming battle but controlled herself. Earlier, her heart had stopped beating, and now it was beating extremely loudly.

Aakesh then explained all the rules and conditions associated with the lending as the store wasn’t lending money out of charity.

Xani immediately accepted everything as she had already lost hope in everything, so the card was like a straw that could bring her back and save her and her race.

“You might feel that you will accept any condition due to your situation, but remember the store never does a losing business. If you fail to pay on time as per the conditions, you will wish that you should have never accepted the money from the store and that dying earlier was better.”

Aakesh bluntly stated with his usual indifferent expression. He understood what was going through Xani’s mind. Even though the store never did a losing business, it was never at the customer’s stake. The store only did business that was fair for both the store and the customer.

Xani froze, but a helpless expression spread across her face the next moment. Even though she didn’t know what the future held for her, she knew one thing she didn’t have a choice in accepting the conditions and having the money. Without it, there was no future for her and her race.

“Senior, I will accept the condition!”

Xani responded immediately.

Aakesh nodded, and soon the contract appeared in his hand. As Xani signed on it, an unbearable pain hit her. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and an excited expression appeared on her face.

She then excitedly walked to the beast room and walked to the third pillar. There was one customer already in line, so once he had summoned the beast, she reached the pillar and tapped on the summoning button.

The next moment, the Crowned Uguisu appeared on the screen, and immediately after the card flew into her hand. Even though she had already summoned the beast, she would still have to pay for two summons as everything turned null once the customer exited the room.

Xani wasn’t heartbroken about it at all. Even if she had to pay ten or a hundred times what she would have to pay as the summoning cost at that moment, she would happily pay for it if she could get the Crowned Uguisu.

She read the details on the card once again, and her heart immediately turned giddy, forgetting all the hopeless thoughts she had in her mind a few minutes ago.

***

A beautiful song rang in the area as the Crowned Uguisu descended on the ground. In front of it, Xani looked tiny.

Her eyes shone in excitement as she saw the beast from up close. Her heart was both excited and frightened. Excited because after winning the taming battle, the beast would be her partner for life. Frightened because she had to fight against the Crowned Uguisu to win the taming battle.

The Crowned Uguisu also had kind eyes despite its majestic sun-like pupils. It was a beast known for its calm and composed personality despite it having so many offensive skills.

The Crowned Uguisu’s appearance didn’t match its personality at all. Looking at it up close, Xani felt that the illustration didn’t do justice to the creature.

The Crowned Uguisu couldn’t help but feel shy when it saw the excited expression Xani had. It was aware of why it was here and it wasn’t going to be kind against Xani, but the expression Xani had was like a fanatic believer, making it feel awkward.

Ring!

The bell suddenly rang announcing the start of the battle.

Xani knew what she had to do so her expression immediately changed and she was ready to battle the beast.

The Crowned Uguisu also took flight with a single sweep of its vast wings. They were covered with radiant golden and silver plumes that produced rippling waves of light when in motion.

Immediately after reaching the height it had in mind, it let out a sound, activating [Gale Barrage Symphony]. The next moment, the wind around it turned wild and barrages of projectiles appeared.

Even though it was just wind and sound, it was visible like metal projectiles.

***

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