Wilson ordered his tractormen to continue digging. Others might not know any secrets, but Jared did. If word got out, those people would break his nose…and then some!He shot a look at Uri Copeland, who knew exactly what that look meant. He rushed forward quickly, ready to interfere. “No, stop this at once! You might release the ancient demon if you keep doing this! Doom shall befall us all—”Wilson lodged a fist straight into Uri’s head. “Doom, my *ss!” he snarled, seething at the shaman’s mere presence. Had Javier not pointed this out, he would have been considered a fool forever!The crowd was aghast. What had gotten into Wilson’s head? How could he dare beat up someone as eminent as Master Shaman, Uri Copeland?!As the beating went on, the crowd started noticing something weird. How could someone formidable enough to defeat an ancient demon from a thousand years ago suddenly become the punching bag of a normal person like Wilson? It did not seem like it made sense, right?Wi
A man from Gerra Construction Corp’s financial department arrived while the two of them were talking. He had a bag of 15,000 dollars with him. Wilson was a man of his word, at the very least. True to his promise, he put the bag in Javier’s arms before adding sheepishly, “Look, Javier, Joey is your mother-in-law, okay? I just think…it’s not a good idea to make things hard for her, y-you know?”Javier smiled after receiving his money. “Calm down, Mr. Jolley. I was joking. I can’t hurt Evanna’s mother in any way, shape, or form, right? Besides, this is your money. If I hit her with a stash of money you gave me, she’s only gonna come for your head too.”Wilson breathed a sigh of relief. “Right! That’s exactly right! Ha, I knew you’d understand!” He had to revisit his past judgment of the kid from now on—he had underestimated Javier too much. Not only was he inhumanely gifted, but he was also super talented in all matters related to social interaction and relationships. It actually ma
Joey was stunned by the 15,000 dollars of cash scattering about. She had not expected the black shopping bag to contain such a thing, which was why she had been so flagrant about taunting him. Who would have known that the very thing she had taunted him about would turn out to be true?Hell, she had not even thought she would end up shooting herself in the foot! Evanna was just as baffled. She had wanted to step in at any given opening as soon as her mother had intruded on their conversation, thinking that her mother was too much. But now that she was eyeing the money on the floor, she realized why Javier had been gripping his bag so tightly just now. It was less because he was infuriated and more because he had been suppressing the impulse to toss the money on her mother’s face. All that self-control had been for naught, though. Joey had ended up embarrassing herself.The older woman herself stayed rooted to the floor, mouth agape, suddenly unsure what to do next. She was the on
Evanna’s grandfather’s birthday was coming right up, and Javier needed to get a suitable gift. After some thought, he decided to find something on a street renowned for its antique shops. Javier was no expert at these things. Like most people, he was a total noob and a prime target for rip-offs. But Javier was not afraid of that at all. He was special after all. He knew that real antiques possessed energy essence that could only be created by time, and unlike common plebeians, his Astral Sight could see it. Naturally, Javier was the only man on Earth who could tell if an antique was genuine or not by looking into its temporal energy. Javier took a casual stroll down the street with his hands behind his back. Everything seemed cool. Everything seemed to be vying for his interest. Unfortunately, his demeanor alerted the veteran vendors by showing his inexperience. It was like a neon sign above his head, telling them he was the biggest sucker they had met in a long, long time…Exci
There was no such person as an amateur clockmaker called John Barnum. Javier had made it up, which clued Barney into realizing that Javier did not know what he was talking about at all.It also made the less-than-fetching 450-dollar bid a bit easier to swallow. This was a dumb*ss who did not know anything about art, man. Just the reminder that this clock had been bought at the economical price of 30 dollars was enough to make 450 dollars seem like an absolute win. Of course, no antique-based conman worth his salt would say yes to a bargain-bin price so quickly. Barney had to go through the motions, mumbling about how hard it would be for him to part with his crown treasure, before finally agreeing to sell it for 450 dollars with a convincing wince. After Javier wrapped the clock with newspaper and left with his loot, Barney reclined into his lounge chair, a cigarette between his fingers and a cup of Earl Grey in his other hand. Life was good when one knew how to take a little adva
Boris would gladly admit that he had never seen a secret pocket watch hidden in a mass-produced clock. Most importantly, he had never seen anything quite like it before. The craftsmanship, the skill of its unknown artisan, the color, the aesthetics, and the sheer history—all of it rivaled the watches and clocks Boris had collected, which were worth 750,000 in total!Boris’s attitude had changed. His tone and attitude had now become respectful. One might even wonder if he had begun to see Javier as an antique master. Boris certainly thought only a master could somehow sense a real relic in a quotidian trinket. “C-Can I, uh, get a feel of that, partn—sir?” After receiving Javier’s explicit approval, Boris held the watch in his hand carefully and hugged it close to his chest. It was as if he could not bear to drop it lest this beauty got hurt. He enjoyed the small moment he had with the watch before parting with it reluctantly.He then pushed his money from the boot toward Javier. “I’
Boris said it was a friend who needed help, but as it turned out, the matter was not as advertised after all. The friend turned out to be an art dealer who was selling a Renaissance sculpture to a few good interested buyers. “This, right here, is a Mannerist sculpture oozing with the aesthetic of the High Renaissance. How did this end up in my collection? Well, my great-great-great grandfather used to be quite the explorer, and during one of his travels, he found himself lending a hand to a local parisher in Hildegarde…”As the man began recounting the sculpture’s supposed history, Boris nudged Javier sheepishly. “Sorry I was not more forthcoming,” he muttered under his breath. “It’s not about my friend, see. I’m interested in this sculpture, but I can’t really tell if it’s genuine or not, so…”Javier empathized. He could not blame him for his fib. Purchasing antique artwork had always posed a large risk regardless of its potential large returns. One would always worry that somethi
The dealer was basically locked in his room, where angry buyers were making him eat the sculpture, so to speak. Any pleas simply fell on deaf ears, so he ended up wailing and howling like a banshee. Boris was quite interested in joining the carnival. The fact that he had come this close to parting with 750,000 had pissed him off!His wish was not granted. He caught Javier leaving by the door and hurried over, calling out, “Wait! I haven’t paid you your just reward!” Oh, god! Javier had forgotten about this. His mind had been too occupied with buying a suitable gift box for the pocket watch. Boris asked for Javier’s bank account number and transferred 75,000 straight away. He then stuck up his thumb before the latter’s face. “You are a god among men, sir! That is to say—you’re so good at what you do, you’re no different from a genuine psychic! Please impart some wisdom to a friend. How did you know it was a fake? What were the signs?”Cough, now that was an impossible question t