BXBX NOVEL Chapter 123: Happily Ever After Is Not A Fairy Tale. It Is A Choice.
As if understanding his intent, James walked to his side and smiled.
"The Sea God's Trident—a most excellent choice, young man," James said. "As the name suggests, this Trident used to belong to a Sea God eons ago. Unfortunately, as Pantheons rose and fell, even the Ancient Gods had long ceased to exist and had been forgotten as time went on.
"I can tell that you and this weapon share a connection. So, how about it? It was originally priced at 60,000 Merit Points. But as I've told you, all the items here have a 50% discount until midnight, so you can get it for a very low price of 30,000 Merit Points."
Ethan didn't know whether it was just a coincidence or if James knew how many Merit Points he exactly had.
Either way, the remaining Merit Points in his possession were just a little over 30,000, which was just enough to purchase the Sea God's Trident if he wished to do so.
"Can I return the weapon if it's defective?"
"Sorry, but we have a No Refund Policy. Once you buy it, it cannot be returned."
Ethan sighed in his heart, feeling quite conflicted at the moment. A part of him wanted to get the Sea God's Trident, and the other half was very wary of the old man, whom Henry had said to be a scammer.
But after thinking for a few minutes, the teenage boy decided to take a leap of faith and agreed to buy the weapon from James.
"You made the right choice, young man." James nodded his head in satisfaction. "Sometimes, we need to take a gamble in life to see its ups and downs. Walking down the easy path will not get you to the place where you need to be. If anything, it will only give you regrets because time doesn't wait for anyone.
"Once you grow old like me, you will look back at the past events in your life and wish you could have done things differently. Remember this, Ethan, You will never know how strong you are until you have no other option but to be strong."
James then patted the young man's head before taking out the Sea God's Trident from its display case and placing it inside a wooden box.
"That will be 30,000 Merit Points," James said as he presented a crystal ball to Ethan.
Ethan placed his hand over the crystal ball, and 30,000 Merit Points were deducted from him.
After the transaction was done, James handed him the wooden box, to which Ethan replied with a thumbs up.
"Allow me to give you one more piece of advice before you leave this place, Ethan," James stated. "'Happily Ever After' is not a Fairy Tale, but a choice. If you wish for everyone to be happy, then you need to put in a lot of effort to make them happen, especially if you love more than one girl—if you know what I mean."
James chuckled before walking away, leaving Ethan deep in his thoughts.
Half an hour later, the handsome teenager returned to his room, where he opened the wooden box.
Inside it was the Sea God's Trident that faintly glowed in the darkness.
Back in the Treasury, he felt like he wasn't in the right place to hold the weapon in his hand. Now that he was back in his room, he reached out to hold its handle and held it firmly in his hand.
A second later, he found himself in a familiar blue world, where the sea extended over the horizon.
Not far from him was Illumina, who was resting on top of a rock and looking at the Sea God's Trident in his hand with a shocked expression on her face.
"Where did you get this?" Illumina asked. "How did this come into your possession?"
After Ethan's battle with Kurt, the Mermaid Princess told him that she would go into hibernation for several days to recover her strength. During that time, Ethan wouldn't be able to use magic because his wand wouldn't react to it.
However, after Ethan touched the Sea God's Trident, Illumina woke up from her slumber. The residual magical power that it possessed allowed her to manifest.
"I bought it from the Academy's Treasury," Ethan replied. "It was in the Defective Goods Section."
"Academy's Treasury?" Illumina blinked in confusion. "Defective Goods Section? You got this in that place?"
"Yes, I did."
"… Just what kind of place sells Relics that belonged to an Ancient God?"
After hearing Illumina's words, Ethan became curious and decided to ask her a few questions.
"Is this weapon really a Relic from a God?" Ethan asked. "Is it authentic?"
"It is authentic," Illumina replied. "But it is also damaged. You can even say that it has lost its original strength. In its current form, the most it can do is manifest one percent of its original power. Of course, if it can be fixed, then its performance will substantially increase.
"I daresay that if you manage to fully repair it, only a handful of people in this world would dare to fight you."
Seeing how serious the Mermaid Princess' expression was, Ethan believed that she was telling the truth.
But after chatting with her a bit longer, he found out that there were only a handful of Blacksmiths in the world who could repair a weapon that once belonged to a God.
At a minimum, their proficiency level in smithing must be at a Godly Level. Only then would they be able to repair the Sea God's Trident.
"Don't think too much about it," Illumina advised. "Consider yourself extremely lucky that you got your hands on an Ancient Relic that once belonged to a God, even if you can only use a fraction of its true power."
Ethan looked at the dark blue trident, whose handle only had enough space to be gripped by one hand.
He still didn't know how to activate its powers, but something was telling him that he would know more about it when the right time came.
As for when that right time would be, only time could tell.