"Taufik, did you not check this list beforehand? What is the meaning of this?" The manager pointed at her tablet screen, which displayed a barren webpage without a single image of an antique.
Taufik observed the screen for a moment before nodding calmly. "My apologies, Miss. However, I have a strong hunch about this site. Based on our tracking, the owner only activated this domain last night. I suspect he is sitting on rare items that could bring a massive profit to the company."
"Suspect, you say?" The manager repeated the word with skepticism, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses.
"I am quite certain," Taufik replied confidently. He swiped the tablet to show a map. "Look… the location is not far from your house. It's only a hundred meters away from your residential complex."
The manager fell silent, staring at the red dot that marked the location of Zen's boarding house. She hadn't expected this mysterious "supplier" to be practically her neighbor.
"Hmm… if this man turns out to be a fraud, I'm docking your pay this month," she threatened coldly.
Taufik merely chuckled. "But if my hunch is right… how about having dinner with me, Miss?" he said with a teasing tone.
The manager ignored the flirtation with a flat expression. "Enough, get out. I'll go and check this supplier myself," she dismissed him.
"Thank you, Manager." Taufik gave a polite bow and stepped out of the room with a thin smile.
In the now-silent room, the manager looked back at her tablet. A spark of curiosity began to gnaw at her mind.
***
Meanwhile, inside his cramped room, Zen had just finished cleaning the pile of junk he had hauled from the flea market. The objects were no longer covered in thick dust, though their colors remained dull and tarnished.
"Let's begin," Zen muttered.
He placed a Mana Crystal beside the Dallah, the bronze teapot he had bought earlier. Zen sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his entire mind on the energy stored within the crystal. He cupped his hands as if in deep meditation.
A minute passed. Slowly, blue specks of light began to drift out from the surface of the crystal. Cold sweat started to bead on Zen's forehead. Extracting mana from the crystal required immense concentration; it felt like his mind was dragging a heavy weight.
After three minutes, enough mana specks had gathered, dancing in the air like blue fireflies. With trembling hands, Zen guided the cluster of energy toward the Dallah.
One by one, the blue specks latched onto the bronze surface before seeping into the material itself.
"Ugh…" Zen groaned softly. His mind felt like it was being crushed under an enormous mental burden. Five minutes in, and half of the energy had yet to be absorbed.
'Come on, get in there...' Zen urged internally.
The moment the final speck was fully absorbed, the Dallah suddenly vibrated violently against the floor.
Drdrdr...
Zen jerked back, wiping the sweat pouring from his temples. "What was that?" he muttered warily. However, the vibration didn't last long and soon subsided.
When Zen touched the pot again, a warm sensation radiated into his palm. Faint blue specks appeared on the metal's surface, floating around Zen's fingers as if they possessed a consciousness of their own.
'They seem to like my touch,' Zen thought. He remembered how his body had adapted to the mana-rich atmosphere of the other world, making him a perfect vessel for this energy.
He set the Dallah aside. The Mana Crystal he had used still emitted a faint, dim glow. 'Incredible, there's still enough energy for two more items,' he thought happily.
The next item was a small silver knife, about 16 cm long. Zen repeated the same process—focusing his mind and drawing out the mana. The assimilation took ten minutes before the knife finally vibrated softly, signaling that the mana had fused with the blade.
"Good… one more left," Zen muttered, pleased. It turned out that a single Mana Crystal could be used to transform three pieces of junk into magical artifacts.