Chapter 395: Coming to an agreement King Aldric smiled with genuine curiosity, his eyes scanning the shelves with the gaze of someone who understood value when he saw it. "There are so many new things on display. Why don’t you tell us what they do? I’m particularly interested in those two items I haven’t seen before." He gestured toward the rose-colored candies wrapped in delicate packaging and the vibrant smoothies contained in elegant crystalline bottles. Noah walked over to the display and picked up samples of each item to demonstrate. "These are two of my newest premium offerings. Let me explain their effects." He held up the Rose Petal Candy first. "This item provides several significant benefits. Upon first consumption, it permanently increases your Charm attribute—enhancing your natural charisma and your ability to subtly inspire loyalty and admiration in others. It also grants a permanent increase of 50 Vitality points and extends your lifespan by 10 years." The room went completely silent as those implications sank in. "Additionally," Noah continued, "the user gains an enchanting floral scent that emanates naturally from their body, producing mild calming effects on those in close proximity for 24 hours after consumption." Valeria’s eyes had gone wide. Alissa’s normally composed expression showed naked interest. Even Princess Elara leaned forward with obvious fascination. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 Noah then picked up the Luxury Fruit Smoothie. "This one is much more powerful in terms of combat applications. It increases all attributes by 100% for an entire hour—doubling your effective strength, agility, intelligence, and vitality during that period. It permanently increases both Agility and Strength by 30 points upon first consumption." He paused for emphasis before delivering the most shocking detail. "And there’s a small percentage chance of awakening a dormant skill or randomly upgrading one of your existing skills or abilities when you first consume it. The effect is not stackable; you can’t constantly upgrade skills or awaken multiple dormant skills." The collective gasp from everyone in the room was audible. Awakening dormant skills was something that most practitioners believed was utterly impossible after a certain developmental stage. Skills either manifested naturally during youth, or they remained forever locked away. The idea that a consumable item could break those fundamental limitations was paradigm-shattering. "Noah..." Valeria breathed, her mind already calculating the implications. "That awakening effect alone would be priceless. Even a small chance at unlocking hidden potential could change someone’s entire trajectory." Alissa’s ears had perked fully forward, and her tail swished with excitement. The reserved cat-girl actually spoke up unprompted. "The Rose Candy... how much does it cost?" Elara nodded in agreement, her royal composure slipping to show genuine desire. "Yes, I’m also very interested in that particular item. The beauty enhancement and lifespan extension would be..." She trailed off, clearly struggling to articulate just how valuable those effects were. Even King Aldric looked intrigued by the Rose Candy’s effects, though his interest might’ve been for his wife rather than himself. Who didn’t want their other partner to look better? Everyone did. "Of course, I want the Luxury Smoothie too," Valeria added quickly. "But the Rose Candy specifically—that’s something I need to acquire." Noah smiled at their enthusiastic reactions. It was rare to see his normally composed friends so openly excited about products. "I’m glad they interest you. But there’s actually one more item I’m planning to add to the inventory soon." That got everyone’s immediate attention. They raised their eyebrows with renewed curiosity—if the items he’d just described were this powerful, what else could he possibly be offering? Noah looked thoughtfully at his shop’s system interface, reviewing the final premium item he had unlocked but not yet made available for purchase. "The final item is called Warrior’s Protein Shake," Noah announced. "Its effects are particularly impressive for combat-focused practitioners." He outlined the benefits systematically. "It increases weapon proficiency learning speed by 20%, which means you absorb and master techniques faster. All attributes are increased by 100%—the same doubling effect as the Luxury Smoothie—and it grants an additional weapon mastery boost for one hour. During that time, all physical attacks have a 10% chance to critically strike." Noah paused before delivering the most unusual effect. "The user can wield any weapon type with basic competency during the effect period, even weapons they’ve never trained with before. And upon first consumption, it permanently increases both Agility and Strength by 50 points." The room remained silent as everyone processed those incredible benefits. Fifty permanent attribute points was nearly double what the Luxury Smoothie offered, and the weapon mastery effects were unlike anything they’d encountered before. Unfortunately, Noah had originally wanted to feature the Warrior’s Protein Shake in an auction similar to the successful event he’d held in the elven territories. The Luxury Fruit Smoothie had generated enormous bidding wars among wealthy elves, and this new item would likely have performed similarly. But with everything that had happened—the betrayal, his death, the political upheaval—conducting an auction in elven territories was now impossible. And hosting one in the human realm wasn’t viable either, simply because the human nobility and merchant class didn’t possess sufficient liquid wealth to drive prices up to their true value. "How much does the Warrior’s Protein Shake cost?" King Aldric asked with obvious interest, though his expression suggested he was bracing himself for a substantial figure. "Three thousand golden coins," Noah stated plainly. The king nodded slowly, clearly considering whether the kingdom’s treasury could justify such an expenditure for key military commanders. "And the Rose Petal Candy?" Elara asked, her tone trying to sound casual but failing to hide her eagerness. "Two thousand golden coins." Valeria closed her eyes briefly, doing mental calculations about her personal savings and whether she could afford it without depleting resources needed for other magical research. "The Luxury Fruit Smoothie is five thousand golden coins," Noah added before anyone could ask. Every single one of these items represented sky-defying improvements that transcended normal progression limits. The permanent attribute increases alone were worth fortunes, but the additional effects—particularly the dormant skill awakening from the Luxury Smoothie—made them genuinely priceless artefacts. Awakening dormant skills was something that nobody in Esta had believed was even theoretically possible. Skills manifested during youth based on bloodline, training, and natural affinity, or they remained forever locked away in potential. The conventional wisdom held that adult practitioners were fundamentally limited to developing what they already possessed. But Noah’s item shattered that assumption completely, opening possibilities that would revolutionize how practitioners approached their development.