Claude shook his head. It was his first time in the underground market, so he didn't let his guard down.
Who knew what was added to this fruit wine?
Maria had warned him that magi weren't that friendly or harmonious with one another, especially between rogue magi. It wasn't strange for magi to be ambushed by other magi. Rather, it was common.
"My teacher told me," Claude replied.
"Your teacher?
Who's your teacher? "Hurian asked with a furrowed brow.
Claude didn't reply.
Maria had said that as long as he proved his identity as a magus, he could enter the underground market to trade. There was no need to reveal his identity.
Any questions about his identity could be ignored. That was the rule of the underground magic market to ensure that magi could trade in the market without worry.
The old man seemed to have realized that as he finished the wine in his cup. "I'm sorry. I'm just curious. You've never come here before and we don't know each other.
You said that it was your teacher who told you about it, so I wanted to ask if your teacher knows me … "
Claude laughed hoarsely. "My teacher went to Dodessas to take care of some matters and will only be back in a few days.
I messed up the task he gave me, so I can only come here to see if I can buy some special materials to please my teacher so he won't punish me.
My fellow brethren and I heard about this place from our teacher. He only found out about the underground market in town after receiving a letter from the royal capital. "
Claude shrugged. "We haven't come here before, but I have no choice but to try my luck here."
Claude said a lot of things, but what he told Hurian was that the masked man seemed to have quite a background. He had a teacher and fellow brethren. His teacher was even in contact with the royal capital and had access to information about the underground magic market.
His teacher wasn't in Whitestag at the moment and had gone to Dodessas to take care of business. He didn't know what trouble the masked man had caused his teacher and he was hoping to buy some magic materials from him to make up for it.
"Alright." Hurian no longer intended to probe the background of this secretive fellow in front of him.
The reason he dressed up like this was obviously to hide his true identity. He didn't want anyone to discover who he was.
Since that was the case, it didn't matter if he sharpened the knife a little faster. This deal was to cut more meat from the masked guy. "What special material do you want to buy?"
"Do you have magic crystals?" That was the second time he asked that question.
However, Hurian's reply was completely different from when he was in the room outside. "Yes.
What attribute do you need? "
"Fire attribute. Do you have fire crystals?"
The most important part of an alchemy array was the Fire Crystal. Without the Fire Crystal, the alchemy array could not be operated.
From a certain point of view, he believed that the fire crystals were the fuel for the alchemical formation, and the alchemical formation consumed the fire crystals and magic stones.
"I do have fire crystals, but they're quite expensive.
By the way, are you going to pay with gold coins or other magic materials or items? "
Claude gave it some thought and decided that he had no choice but to use the 30 shaliuns he had. "I'll pay with shaliuns."
"Shaliuns?" The old man's eyes lit up. "Alright, three shaliuns for one cube of fire crystal. How many cubes do you want?"
Claude had heard Maria talk about the number of magic crystals in cubes before. A cube was about the size of a mahjong tile in his previous world, just a little thinner.
Maria carried a cube of crystal with her at all times. It was said that water-attributed magic crystals could nourish one's skin, whiten one's skin, and were a favorite of noblewomen.
Claude had seen those crystals before and had played with them before. He believed that it was more appropriate to use the term 'cube' instead of 'slice'.
"There's something wrong with the price, isn't there?" Claude looked at the old man suspiciously, "The fire crystals sold in the underground magic market in the royal capital only cost two shaliuns and five crowns. Why are you charging three shaliuns here?"
Maria said that one shaliun could be exchanged for 20 crowns in the underground magic market in the royal capital. A cube of fire crystal was sold for 45 crowns.
If it wasn't for the fact that Whitestag was too far away from the royal capital and that he didn't want to cause trouble for Maria, he would've handed the 30 shaliuns to Maria and asked her to buy the magic materials he needed from the underground magic market.
The old man's asking price of three shaliuns for a piece of fire crystal was unimaginably high.
At that price, he would be able to earn an extra 15 crowns, or 75 thales, from Claude for one cube of fire crystal.
Now that he was the supervisor of Normanley Wood, Maria gave him a monthly salary of three thales, or 36 in a year. The old man could earn three thales more than two years' worth of salary from Claude for one cube of fire crystal.
Claude wanted at least six fire crystals, as the alchemical formation had a six-pointed star structure and the fire crystals were placed at the six corners of the formation.
"The royal capital is too far," Hurian said without the slightest hint of panic. He slowly poured more wine into his silver cup. "You only know the price in the underground magic market in the royal capital, not here.
Over there, one shaliun can be exchanged for 20 crowns, but here, we can only exchange for 18 crowns.
So, the price I'm offering is 54 crowns per cube of fire crystal.
"More importantly, magic materials like fire crystals aren't usually sold in stores like ours. As long as we get them, they have to be sent to the royal capital.
"That's because fire crystals are in high demand in the market and have always been in short supply.
"The few cubes I have now weren't purchased. Instead, they were given to me by a friend for sale. That's why I'm willing to sell them.
There aren't many either, only eight cubes.
"Nowadays, the production of magic crystals is no longer the same as before. The cost of mining and the risk of excavation are getting higher and higher. The production of fire crystals is also getting rarer.
"The price is indeed higher than in the royal capital, but there's nothing I can do about it. That's the price my friend set.
"That's why I can't buy it from him.
"Truth be told, I don't want to make any money from this deal. I just want to help my friend.
"So, I don't really care whether you're willing to sell it or not. At most, I'll just leave it in the shop. It's not like I can't sell it.
"Also, I received news that the royal capital is going to raise the price of some magic crystals after the new year, and fire crystals are one of them."
Claude was speechless. Even though he didn't believe what the old man said, he couldn't bring himself to question him.
Hurian's attitude was clear. If Claude wanted to buy it, he could. If not, he didn't care.
Under such circumstances, Claude had no choice but to accept the loss. If he missed this chance, who knew how long he would have to wait to get his hands on an alchemical formation?
"Alright, I'll take the hexagonal fire crystals," Claude said helplessly. Eighteen shaliuns were gone just like that.
Hurian beamed with joy and spoke more warmly, "Apart from fire crystals, what else do you need?"
"Do you have stardust, whiteroot powder and crimsonblood dew?"
Stardust was actually a meteorite that had been crushed into sand, whiteroot powder was a type of fossil plant powder, and crimsonblood dew wasn't blood, but a mineral similar to mercury.
All three of them were supplementary materials for setting up an alchemical formation.
Hurian raised an eyebrow and looked at Claude, but he couldn't see Claude's expression due to the black robe covering his face.
"Are you going to set up an alchemical formation?"
As the person in charge of one of the underground magic markets, Hurian knew what those materials were for.
Claude shrugged again. "I went too far this time and ruined Master's alchemical formation.
"In order to make Teacher forgive me, I have to restore the array to its original state before he returns …"
Hurian smiled. "It's unavoidable for young people to make mistakes, especially on the path of magic.
What's important is to learn from your mistakes and learn from them. That way, you can avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
If you can realize that and make up for your mistakes, I believe your master will forgive you. "
"Stardust costs 16 crowns per catty, whiteroot powder costs 7 crowns per box, and crimsonblood dew costs 12 crowns per bottle.
If you pay with shaliuns, that'll be a total of two shaliuns. I'll have to give you a change of one crown. "
Even though Hurian sounded kind and considerate, he didn't hold back in the slightest when he quoted a price.
Claude didn't even have the energy to retort. The price he quoted was at least 50% more expensive than the ones in the royal capital.
Maria had mentioned that she needed whiteroot powder for her experiments and that a box cost four crowns. She even complained that it wasn't enough to last long and that she had to buy more after a few experiments.
Even though she had a large business, magic materials were far too expensive. She couldn't afford them with her income.
So, when she heard that someone in Whitestag managed to hunt a four-meter-long niros crocodile, she rushed over with the intention of making magic tomes and scrolls. That way, she would be able to earn a huge sum of money back in the royal capital to pay for the materials she needed for her experiments.
"Alright, I'll take one for each," said Claude.
All the materials needed for the alchemical formation were basically all gathered. Even though the price was a little high, it was a pleasant surprise for Claude. He didn't think that he would be able to gather all the materials he needed from Hurian. He thought he would be lucky if he could find one or two.
"By the way, I have a magic slate here. Do you need it?
If you use one at the bottom of the alchemical formation, you'll be able to increase the success rate of your experiments, "said Hurian eagerly.
The setup of an alchemical formation could be described as both simple and complicated.
The simple one only had to find a flat and sturdy spot to set up the formation. The more complicated one had to be meticulous in drawing and carving the runes. Usually, the runes would be drawn on a slate or a special wooden board. That way, the depth of the lines and the thickness of the strokes could be controlled, which would help the flow of magic.
Magic slate was the most commonly used base for alchemical formations. It was made from earth-attribute magic crystals.
The Earth Crystal was different from the other magic crystals. It was wrapped in a thick stone shell. The outer stone shell had to be peeled off to get to the Earth Crystal in the middle.
The stone shell was used to grind magic slate, which could also be seen as rune parchment.
Claude was tempted. "How big and how much?"
"Six for one square meter. One shaliun will do if you want," said Hurian.
He wanted six magestones to be pieced together to form a hexagram that had a diameter of one meter and an area of one square meter.
That was more than enough for Claude to use. The only problem was the price. The old man was trying to rip Claude off.