After a sumptuous feast, Allen soon bid farewell to Ariel and began wandering the bustling streets alone.
His objective was simple: find a suitable place to rent or buy, then open a shop. This would allow him to observe the city while studying the thick stack of Profession skill notes in his satchel, reclaiming the knowledge and techniques he had lost through deletion. In the meantime, he would wait for Vaelastrasz to awaken from its deep slumber.
Given his specific requirements, ordinary houses and storefronts were clearly unsuitable. After more than three hours of meticulous selection, Allen finally purchased a somewhat dilapidated building located at the junction of the 7th and 8th Districts in the city's northwest.
It couldn't be helped. To avoid unwanted attention when exchanging currency at the Guild, he had only cashed in about one million Valis. The value and purchasing power of this currency, "Valis," was only slightly stronger than the Japanese Yen. Based on the food prices at the Hostess of Fertility, one Valis was roughly equivalent to four Yen. One million Valis wasn't nearly enough to buy a storefront in the prime districts; it might not even cover a single year's rent.
Furthermore, this sum had to cover Allen's living expenses for a long time, so he naturally had to be a bit frugal. Incidentally, the abandoned church where the Goddess Hestia and Bell Cranel resided in the original story should be near this area, a typical gathering spot for the city's poor.
However, he believed that with Azeroth's blacksmithing, alchemy, and enchanting techniques, earning money in this world would be no problem. After all, Allen was running a business with zero overhead! Nearly all his raw materials could be obtained from dungeons, and whatever he couldn't find, he could buy in bulk from the Auction House.
And so, after paying the previous owner 600,000 Valis, the two-story brick-and-stone building became his legal property in the city.
Without hesitation, Allen's first act upon acquiring the house was a comprehensive, multi-dimensional renovation and cleaning, eradicating every spider, rat, and cockroach. Leveraging the Earth Release Ninjutsu he had learned in the Naruto world, he refreshed the entire house with minimal effort. He even encouraged beautiful trees, flowers, and grass to grow around it, creating a stark contrast to the surrounding dilapidated streets. As for the furniture and decor, he simply used Wood Release to craft a brand-new set.
Once the renovation was complete, the first floor had been transformed into a shop for displaying merchandise, while the second floor served as his living and dining area. Since Allen intended from the start to use the forges, anvils, and alchemy labs within his dungeons to craft items, the house contained no actual working equipment.
With everything settled, he immediately took his thick stack of notes and dove into a dungeon, beginning the arduous process of re-learning those complex skills from scratch.
After approximately ten days in the real world, equivalent to a hundred days in the dungeon world, the first-floor shop was finally densely packed with various forged and enchanted weapons and armor. The shelves were lined with colorful commodities, alongside firearms and explosives crafted through Engineering.
"Hoo… finally open for business."
Allen swept his gaze over the items he had personally crafted, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. Although the items for sale were generally low-level, none exceeding Level 40, every piece of weaponry and equipment was, without exception, imbued with various attributes and "chance on hit" proc effects. To the adventurers of this world, they were undoubtedly rare treasures.
As long as one person bought an item and experienced its power, word of mouth would spread quickly. Powerful adventurers would then flock to him, firmly cementing his identity as a Blacksmith and Alchemist.
Regrettably, for three whole days after hanging out the "Open" sign, not a single soul walked through the door. For one, the location was somewhat remote with low foot traffic. For another, the adventurers living in this area were mostly rookies and "weaklings" who lived hand-to-mouth; they could hardly afford weapons, armor, or potions that cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of Valis.
Yet, Allen wasn't in the least bit anxious. He continued to open for business every day, sitting alone behind the counter and leafing through his notes. It wasn't until a full two weeks later that he finally welcomed his first guests.
To be precise, it was Loki herself, followed by the "Sword Princess," Ais Wallenstein.
"Welcome," Allen greeted them with his head down, his tone decidedly perfunctory.
"Hmm… these things look fairly decent," Loki remarked, picking up a dagger from a weapon rack and evaluating it with a professional air.
However, she soon realized that while holding the dagger, her strength was noticeably enhanced, even if the degree of reinforcement wasn't exceptionally high. On the other side, Ais, clutching a longsword, had clearly noticed this as well. Her normally dull eyes suddenly sharpened as she asked bluntly, "Which is the best weapon you have here?"
"The one on the far inner side to your right, the one flickering with silver lightning," Allen said, pointing to a weapon displayed separately not far away.
It was a standard longsword, roughly 1.3 meters in length. Its primary material was Thorium Bars, giving the blade a distinctive greenish hue. Because a vast amount of Breath of Wind and Essence of Air had been incorporated during the forging process, it was imbued with the power of wind and thunder.
When Ais picked it up, she immediately felt a powerful resonance with the wind attribute within her body. Furthermore, her Strength and Agility attributes were significantly boosted, at least five times more than the previous sword.
There was no doubt about it; just by holding it, she could feel that this was the most suitable weapon she had ever encountered. Thus, the blonde girl didn't hesitate for a second. "How much for this sword?"
"Thirty million Valis. But I must warn you: while its hardness and durability are quite good, it will still be damaged or even snap if you use it recklessly," Allen reminded her nonchalantly.
He was well aware of how brutally the Sword Princess treated her weapons; she could wear out even the "Desperate Sword" despite its "Indestructible" attribute.
"If it breaks, can it be repaired?" Ais continued to press him, her face expressionless.
"Of course! But in this world, only I can repair it. If you take it to another blacksmith, it will likely suffer irreparable damage. Additionally, this sword has a special ability that only manifests during combat."
As he spoke, Allen kept his eyes on Loki, who was wandering aimlessly around the shop. It didn't take a genius to know that the Goddess of Lies and Deceit hadn't appeared for a simple motive, nor had she come merely to shop. Quite the opposite, she wanted to use these goods to figure out Allen's origins.