"Perhaps but I believe that just makes what you have accomplished all the more impressive." I said frankly.
She smiled "Careful with that silver tongue now. You might cause a poor girl to get the wrong idea." she said with a light laugh.
I shook my head at that but didn't bother arguing with her. Nicolas you could have an argument with as he'll concede if your side is factually superior. Perenelle though was one of those type of people who would hear what you said, nod, and then promptly continue hammering her point in.-
It was just best not to argue with her in the first place.
Still the day finally came when my my search function was freed up again and I sat atop the "mountain" of my realm as I activated it.
{Search function activated.... searching.... searching.... searching.... Target locked. Initiating trade window with target: Isabelle Tharn , World : Earth(Myth apocalypse)}
'I don't know this one.' I thought with a deep frown that I quickly wiped off my face to make the best first impression.
As the world grayed around me and that oh so familiar screen appeared I posed in a confident and calm manner. The image appeared and I promptly lost all sense of composure as I blinked in surprise. The person who appeared on the other end of the connection appeared to be no older than twenty with a smooth narrow Caucasian face and bright blue eyes. I couldn't tell you what color her skin or hair was though as she was covered in mud, blood and who knew what else. Frankly she looked like she had walked out of a warzone.
"Let me guess, you are some sort of god? Would just be my luck." she spoke with a bitter tone and bone deep wariness in her eyes.
I shook my head "I am no god. Alexander Drake, multiversal merchant and rising student of magic. At your service." I said giving a grand bow.
"Multiverse? That's real? No, of fucking course it's real! Why wouldn't it be when all of this can also be real?" she vented a little before sighing "Sorry, I shouldn't take out my frustration on you. It's been a VERY bad day." she said rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"I can see that. Not to poke wounds but could you tell me what your world is like? I'm afraid I simply have no knowledge of it." I said honestly.
"Wait, you aren't here!?" she exclaimed in shock.
I shook my head "I am in an entirely separate reality from your own. Sadly my ability to reach other realities is random so I can not choose the time, person or reality in question." I explained calmly.
"You have a system." she stated rather than asked.
"You came to that conclusion rather quickly. Why?" I asked curiously.
"Why wouldn't I? Anyone who has read a webnovel would know about the damned things. What's yours?" she asked eagerly.
"Multiversal merchant system. Not directly empowering perhaps but I can trade with other realities to raise my strength with things from them." I said honestly.
"I'm jealous, we only got the standard RPG system with this hellscape. You know the sort where killing is your main source of loot, experience and skills? I mean crafting classes also exist but choosing one of those is a death sentence right now." she said with an envious expression.
"Oh really? You wouldn't happen to be willing to offer a copy of that for trade would you?" I asked greedily.
Maybe such a thing wouldn't be all that useful for me but a system was the sort of thing that broke the balance in most worlds. The standard template RPG style systems came in various flavors of how extreme this breaking ability went but even a basic one could flip even high end realities on their heads. Additionally I was curious to see what would happen if I were to obtain a different system. Would it fuse into my own? Would it replace it? Or could I simply not use it? Whatever the case it was a high end product that would NEVER not be in demand.-
"You can do that!?" she exclaimed again.
"Anything that can technically be owned can be traded yes. Magic, abilities, skills, souls, people, items, the list is quite extensive." I said honestly.
"Jesus, that sounds over powered as hell." she said with wide eyes.
"It has it's moments. So about that trade?" I pressed.
Her gaze turned calculating "What are you offering?" she asked and I chuckled.
"What do you want?" I asked in reply.
"I need protection the most right now. After this nightmare began monsters have been picking off anyone who is careless or squishy, I unfortunately fall into that last category. I was just a shut in before this hell began, my stats suck." she said with a heavy amount of grievance.
"Perhaps the One piece set then? Haki, that unreasonable growth type physique and of course a potion that would double your current strength in exchange for a small amount of your lifespan being shaved off, only a few weeks really." I offered after a moment of thought.
"You are trading with the One piece world?" she asked surprised.
"That is one of the six worlds besides your own that I have a trading partner in yes. Since you know what that world is your world must have reached the twentieth century at least." I said finally getting some world knowledge.
"Twenty twenty. This hell started right as the new year turned over yesterday, I've barely managed to survive by hiding." she said tiredly.