Chapter 56 – London (Patreon)

All this time, I thought Lis was nice, but I found out he had a mean streak the following day. When I got up, I saw a pile of twenty books on the table. Lis pointed at it, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "Enjoy."

"It's not fair! All of the books I gave you are in English; each of these books appears to be in a different language."

"You're looking at it wrong. What you see in front of you is knowledge of magic from twenty different worlds; you should be glad it's in different languages."

His feeble attempt at justification didn't fool me; I knew it was revenge. But I wasn't one to back down. Oh no, I had a plan. A plan involving many, many more books...

I took some money from him and bought Rue a collar and a leash. He was OK with the collar but really unimpressed with the leash. Every time I clipped it on, he unclipped it. Who said it was a good idea to give a familiar telekinesis?

Ultimately, I gave up and told him, "Have it your way," took out a bowl for him to do his business, and went to look for a pawn shop. I don't know if it was the Earth effect or if my Luck stopped working, but today was not my day.

I found some pawnshops in Baden-Baden, sold some jewelry, and bought two burner phones and two computers. Back at the hotel, I taught Lis how to use the computer and look things up on the Internet.

That's how we spent the next two weeks: I learned more about spell construction from a very wordy book, and Lis was up to his ears in books about engineering and mathematics. At least after the rain stopped Rue agreed to walk on a leash outside.

______

After two weeks, I told Lis, "I think we should relocate to England as planned. We should start looking for workshops."

"You know this world better, my friend. You decide, and I will follow you."

We took a train to England, and when we got to London, a border control official informed me, "Your dog needs to be quarantined."

"Just a second, sir."

I pretended to look in my backpack and conjured more documents for Rue. I checked them, and these documents showed that Rue had already undergone quarantine. The One of the Crowd ability is fantastic; it significantly simplifies life.

Through Airbnb, I found us a two-bedroom apartment in Croydon. Lis continued to study, and I started looking for workshops. After two days on the computer and the phone, I had a list of 50 workshops that I signed us up for every other day. When I showed Lis the list, I feared his face would split in half from his smile.

Stained Glass-Style Embroidered Suncatcher
Making a Cut Paperwork Picture
Raffia Workshop
4-Shaft Weaving Workshop
Drawing Perspectives
Embossing Workshop
Street Art Tour and Workshop
Swing Dancing Class with London Locals
London Street Photography Workshop
Traditional Scone-Making Workshop
Pizza Making Cookery Class
Sushi Making Workshop
Chocolate Truffle-Making Workshop
The French Macaron Workshop is in London.
Off-The-Loom Weaving
Italian Feast Cooking Class
Taste of Spain Cooking Class
Watercolor Painting
Vegetarian Italian Dishes Cooking Class
Belly Dance Workshop
Limoncello Masterclass and Caprese Cake Lesson
Granola Making Workshop
Paint in the Dark
Beginner's Cake Decorating Workshop
Spanish Tapas Cooking Class
Mexican Street Food Cooking Class
Silver Ring Making Class
Dim Sum Cooking Class
Indian Miniature Painting
Fluid Art Bear Workshop
Perfume Making Class with Essential Oils
Candle Making Class
Ethiopian Cooking Class
Rigid Head Weaving
Kintsugi Workshop
Abstract Mixed Media Painting Session
Bubble Cocktail Making Class
Japanese Whisky Masterclass
Bespoke Cocktail Masterclass
Private DJ Class
In-Person Meditation Class
Make a Fascinator Hat With A Designer
Enamel Jewelry Making Class
Make Your Own Scrunchie Workshop
Masterclass Epoxy Workshop

I had another list for Lis with fifteen workshops that I couldn't attend because I had already done them and converted the points.

Lis said, "Let's finish the list we will attend together. By then, I will feel comfortable enough in the city to manage the other list independently."

And that's what we did for another three months. Workshop, study day, workshop, study day, workshop, study day, workshop, study day etc.

I finally finished the book on spell construction and moved on to a book on magic basics. This book was also very wordy. What's wrong with these wizards? All the books I've read about mana and magic thus far have stated in two or three paragraphs what a single sentence could convey!

We had a blast in the workshops.

We were the only guys in the Belly Dance workshop with twenty women. They were sure we were lovers, and half the class tried to be extra supportive and kept telling us that we were a “lovely couple.” After we left, we couldn’t stop laughing.

Lis fell even more in love with sushi and decided to keep the skill.

I kept the photography skill.

Following the Make Your Own Scrunchie Workshop, Lis decided that Earth is weird.

I decided that I liked limoncello and maintained the skill; my only hope is that other worlds will have lemons or something similar.

______

While visiting a pawn shop to sell some of my and Lis's jewelry, I had an idea when I saw a nearby antique store. I walked around the corner, and after verifying I was alone, I took out one sword, conjured documents showing ownership and history, and went to the antique store. The seller was enthusiastic about the sword and the accompanying documents, and he offered me 1,000 £. I sold him the sword, and when I returned home, I took out all the weapons I had in Storage.

Luckily, I did it while standing in the hallway's doorway. Otherwise, I would have been cut into ribbons. We didn't have a living room anymore, but a pile of weapons up to the ceiling.

Lis came running to check the noise, stopped at the entrance to the living room, and just stared at the pile.

He turned to me and said, "That's a lot of weapons."

"Yep."

"That's a huge number of weapons."

"Yep."

"Why do you have so many weapons?"

"When traveling in Shimoor, I saw a general store selling old swords that cost a few coppers. I purchased one, cast Restore on it, and it returned to its original state. I bought all the stock, and it turned out that the shopkeeper had a shed full of weapons, so I also bought them. When I traveled from town to town, I would buy all the cheap old weapons, and in every capital city I visited, I would go to the blacksmiths' area and bowyers and buy all their old, damaged weapons for a coppers; I just put them all in Storage, and slowly I restore them."

"And what are you going to do with them now?" Lis asked.

"I thought I'd conjure documents for them to sell at an auction house."

"Keep at least one of each type of weapon for yourself."

"Why?"

"I don't know if you've already discovered this fact, but with the Guidance, more is better. You want a fighting class, so your class will be better if you learn to wield as many weapons as possible. I promised to train you with a sword, and I can train you in knife fighting. You already have Archery, so learn to fight with the other weapons."

"I have a staff fighting too," I told him.

"Did you buy it for points or learn 'the hard way'?"

"The hard way."

"Very good. So, practice throwing knives, throwing axes, fighting with an axe, fighting with a long sword, crossbow, and any sword fighting method you can find a workshop or class for. This will ensure that you get a better class."

"Ok, thank you."

Lis went back to studying, and I started sorting the weapons. I put aside the ones that I had already restored and those that were in terrible shape. I selected all the different types of weapons to learn and then went through the rest.

Most of them were in average condition, and I started to restore them, but not completely. I wanted to keep some mana, and I didn't want the weapons to look too new. I would bring each item to a state where it's not excessively damaged or falling apart, yet clearly demonstrates its use, apply a Clean spell on it, and then set it aside. This process took me over two months, with breaks to regenerate more actively. On Earth, my regeneration was three points per minute; with active regeneration, it was five points per minute. The mana amounts here were too low. At least my channels were slowly expanding more and more; soon, I’ll be ready for another spiral.

I did the same with the bows and some leather armor, adding all the Shimoorian arrows to the pile. In total, I had 512 items, not including the arrows, most of which were melee weapons and shields, with some bows and leather armor thrown in.

After I prepared all the weapons I wanted to sell, I concentrated and conjured documents for them. I wanted proof it was mine, proof of ownership history, and some documentation of the weapon. It cost me 1,000 mana, and I got a stack of documents half as thick as a phone book. The package contained documents showing that my great-grandfather started the collection and my grandfather increased it. There was documentation for each item, including historical records, a will in which my grandfather bequeathed everything to me, and documents proving that I had paid all the taxes on the collection. It's good that the ability took that into account; the taxes didn't even cross my mind.

I found a short-term rental warehouse, bought boxes to store the weapons, packed everything so it wouldn't look like a huge pile, and took a cab to Christie's.

At Christie's, I approached the receptionist and asked, "I have a large collection of medieval weapons my grandfather left me in his will, and I want to sell them; who do I contact about this?"

"Do you have documentation?"

"Yes."

"Wait here; I'll call the weapons appraiser."

After a few minutes, a gentleman in his fifties arrived wearing a costly suit, spoke to the receptionist, and approached me.

He extended his hand and said, "I'm Parker Walker; nice to meet you."

"John Ripper, nice to meet you."

"I hear you have a collection of weapons for sale," he asked.

"Yes, I have all the documents here."

He led me to an office off the main lobby and asked, "Tea, coffee, something cold to drink?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Can I see the documents?" He asked.

I gave him the whole package, and for the next hour, he went through each document with great attention and seemed happier and happier by the minute.

After reviewing the documents, he said, "Christie's would love to host your auction. How can we get the weapons? You have to bring them from the United States."

"No, they're already here in London. I can hire a truck and bring them over tomorrow."

"You don't need to hire anyone. We will be happy to provide transport services."

I signed a sales contract with Christie's, and we parted ways. I gave him the warehouse address, and we agreed that they would collect the weapons the next day. The next day, a truck arrived with two movers, and they took everything.

A few days later, I saw an extensive article about the "Ripper Collection" and its historical importance. I felt a bit uncomfortable because it wasn’t historical, but then I decided that if someone spends money on a weapon to hang on the wall, they can afford it.

I was also pleased that my last name fits the collection's theme. After all, to use all these weapons, you must be a ripper.

While waiting for the collection to sell, I enrolled in the London Longsword Academy for lessons in sidesword, longswords, Daggers, smallswords, and rapier.

I enrolled in Schola Gladiatoria for Sword Fighting (HEMA), Sabre, and Cutlass.

I also signed up for classes in Battodo, Wudang Taiji Sword, Unarmed Striking and Grappling, Poleaxe and Spear Weapons, Kenjutsu, German & Italian Longsword, British Military Saber, Staff & Dagger Work, Sword & Shield Fighting, Kory Iai, Dento Nihon Kobudo Jikan Kai, Muay Thai, MMA, Choi Kwang Do, Stick Fighting, Axe Fighting, Axe Throwing, and Knife Throwing.

The collection sold for over 700,000 £, and I was both shocked and thrilled.

I continued training almost daily in various schools and dojos while Lis studied. He finished all the books I gave him, and I gave him the next batch, which was even bigger. Sadly, he didn’t react to the amount; he just thanked me and went back to studying.

Life is so unfair sometimes.