Chapter 54: Amelia Jones

****(POV)

Amelia Jones had a very common surname. One that was actually the second most common surname starting with the letter "J". This common surname of hers represented her quite well.

At first glance, this 19 years old girl was very similar to any other young girl her age. Well, she would have called herself a young woman while pouting had she heard that appellation haha.

Like many other 19 years old she had a loving family, loved the Tower, had a simple hobby, and was shy yet bubbly at times. In fact, anyone meeting her in the street would have smiled seeing her cheerfulness but that would have been it.

What most ignored was that this young woman was actually one that was very well renowned in a certain circle. She was what one would call a hidden mid-boss. Of course, only her doting father himself would have been worthy of the title of a hidden last-boss (even if her skills had surpassed his a while ago).

Her family owned an antique shop. How much money was there to be made in antiques? These were but a bunch of worthless artifacts, right? Well, surprisingly a LOT! People would go to great lengths to buy the artifacts they appraised.

There were even rankers crossing large distances to humbly visit their small shop! Why? Well, because when something is rare, renowned, and exclusive it becomes a symbol of status.

Sometimes, sales would even reach the 5 digits credits! One had to know that this was the price of a D rank item. These started dropping on Floor 25 only! Even now the strongest items that were traded were D+ Rank!

There was one saying in the high society: If you don't own an antique from <Eons> you ain't shit! One would have expected high society to sound more civilized? Please! One could join that inner circle literally by 'killing shit in the Tower'!

Now, there was a very special story behind the name. One that she or her father would tell every one of their customers. It was part of their brand.

Eons: An immeasurably or indefinitely long period of time. Now, no matter what one brought the Jones they would instantly be able to identify the approximate year and civilization it belonged to..also a little more.

What was the point of all that with the technology available? Well, identifying was something even a U-bot could do. There was however something different about what <Eons> was doing. They would figure out the emotions infused in an object by its creator too.

Was this simply a trick to make tons of $$$$? Maybe…maybe not. In any case, the customers were satisfied and business was booming.

Amelia was thus what one would call…loaded! But even then she wasn't exactly satisfied with her current life. Her dream was to explore the Tower and discover items from all kinds of civilizations. She had heard that some Floors actually hosted some interesting things.

Of course, only what was considered an item by the Tower could be taken out of it. The materials and the equipment, that was all! Now, she wanted to explore it all! She would have no choice but to personally get there!

How had her caring father reacted once he had learned of her dream? Well, he had been tempted to lock her in a dungeon akin to a princess in the stories for her own safety. But of course, he knew how stubborn his daughter could be.

She also had a certain naivety toward the world, but she wasn't dumb or clueless either. He could only give her his blessings, albeit he did so extremely reluctantly.

Now, why would she attend such a questionable Climber school instead of hiring a professional Climber to be her private trainer? She could have simply joined her family's guild too, because of course <Eons> had joined the bandwagon and owned a B-Rank one.

Well, the decision had stemmed from a very simple thought process. She had never attended school and was quite curious about living this new experience. That was why she had been rehearsing how to introduce herself.

Funny how she had no issue in her appraiser duties…but at school, it was something else! For instance, she decided early not to reveal her surname in case anyone made the connection. She simply didn't want others to be intimidated.

That's how she stumbled upon a weird man too. When she first saw him she froze and completely lost her composure. Was it because of her embarrassment? Not at all. It happened when she peered into his gray eyes, because of what she saw in them.

He seemed young yet having experienced a few lifetimes. For once in her life, she found someone she didn't manage to appraise. HER, an appraiser genius! She quickly composed herself and started talking with him.

Well, she was mostly the one talking. For some reason, she felt like she could tell him anything. She felt like she could unload all her problems and hopes unto him, it was a weird feeling. Who does that?!

Then it was time for initiation, then class. She had only learned of his name, Josh, but she did commit it to memory. Then she couldn't help but interiorly cheer once she saw they were in the same class.

Once the actual teaching started she felt that everything the teacher said made perfect sense. But then she saw him. Josh somehow didn't seem to agree. He was hiding it very well under a poker face. No, she simply felt his aura.

Many were jokingly saying that appraisal was a sham akin to fortunetelling. There was no way to know the emotions infused in an object. Yet it was that very skill that made her be able to read Josh.

Now that she thought about it, he and a stone quite had a similar aura haha. No matter if it rained or poured both wouldn't move or care in the slightest. In fact, she imagined that even if he was facing literal Hellfire he would merely shrug.

Then he confronted their mentor. Instead of saying that each should only focus on one role he was arguing that everyone should know the basics of everything as much as possible.

The teacher replied that what one could accomplish alone was limited. Once more it made sense, but when she looked at Josh she couldn't help but think that maybe it didn't….

In short, this Josh was extremely confusing and intriguing! So intriguing in fact, that she had decided to invite him to eat just to crack his secrets!

That is when she was approached by a young girl seemingly from another class. The newcomer came with stars in her eyes! She had recognized her somehow and was murmuring asking her if she'd like to talk about antiques with her.

Usually, Amelia would have accepted directly, but she could clearly see the greed AND the scheming in the eyes of her interlocutor. Just as she was about to politely refuse she felt it.

This Josh was looking their way intently. Her instinct was telling her so! Thus she decided on a whim to instead accept the girl's invitation.

As they started moving, Josh was following behind. Amelia couldn't help but smile slightly, how would it all play out? …