"Six fire crystals, half a kilogram of skystar sand, a box of whiteroot powder, a bottle of crimsonblood dew, six magestones, a magic crossbow, and six enchanted iron bolts.
You've got everything you need. Come and have a look. "
Hurian had been waiting for Claude in the shop for a long time. He led Claude to the secret room and placed a Luminous Pearl inside before taking out a sheepskin pouch from under the counter. He took out the items Claude wanted and placed them on the counter one by one.
Claude nodded after a thorough inspection and took out the ordinary-looking sackcloth pouch from his robes and tossed it on the counter. "Take a look. The money is all in there."
There were 21 shaliuns and two crowns. Hurian checked them one by one and finally put them back into the linen money pouch in satisfaction. "You should get yourself a better money pouch. At the very least, you should use a deerskin pouch to match the value of these shaliuns …"
Claude only smiled at Hurian's complaint and didn't say anything. Did he take him for a fool? It was easy to tell which shop made the pouch. If he were to ask around patiently, he might be able to find out where the pouches went.
Every pouch made of deerskin had a slightly different design and patterns. Anyone with a discerning eye would be able to find clues about the owner.
His pouch, on the other hand, was a single-use item. Most of them were used for trade and were cheap. He wouldn't feel the pinch if he gave it away.
If he tried to find clues about the owner of the pouch, it would be a waste of effort.
The shops sold them in batches of about a hundred each time and there was no way to tell the difference between the batches. They were all of the same design, size, and quality.
Hurian smirked. "Do you want me to pack your things? I can give you this sheepskin pouch. It'll be easier to carry."
"No need, thank you."
Claude shook his head and took off his backpack. "I brought my own bag. I don't need your pouch."
As a precaution, who knew if Hurian, the fat old man, had played any tricks on the sheepskin pouch. The best precaution was to not use his things, even if they were given to him for free.
"Uh, I mean no harm."
Hurian chuckled awkwardly as he watched Claude put the items on the counter into his backpack.
This backpack was also a common item sold in the open-air market. It looked like it had been around for a long time. He reckoned that he wouldn't be able to find anything useful in the backpack store …
"Oh, right, I almost forgot something."
Hurian took out two shaliuns from the pouch and placed them on the counter, gesturing for Claude to keep them.
"What do you mean?"
Claude looked at Hurian suspiciously. What the hell was the old man up to? He actually took the initiative to give him money. Did the sun rise from the west?
No, it's dark outside …
"It's like this. We have an unwritten rule in the underground magic market. That is, for transactions of more than 10 shaliuns, the person handling the transaction will get a 10% commission.
You can think of it as a 10% discount.
So, I'll return you two of the twenty-one shaliuns. "
Hurian had a sincere smile on his face. Those who didn't know him would definitely treat him as a model of honest management.
"You don't mean anything else?"
Claude looked at the old man playfully, picked up two shaliuns and tossed them up and down.
"Hehe …" Hurian's gaze followed the movements of the coins. "I'd like to ask a few questions …"
"Oh, see if you can answer them. I'll have to think about it." Claude caught the coins in his hand.
"Ugh, was it you who did the Blacksnake thing last night?"
"That's right. It's their fault for blocking my way," Claude said domineeringly.
"Aren't you worried that the special department in the royal capital will find out about you using magic to hurt people last night?"
"Hehe, it's fine. My teacher can handle it." Claude didn't seem afraid at all. He didn't even bother to talk about it.
The conflict with the Black Snakes in the alley couldn't be hidden from Hurian, who was a local tyrant. His question proved this point.
If it weren't for the conflict last night, Hu Lixin probably wouldn't have taken out two shaliuns as a kickback.
It was obvious that he was afraid that Claude would hold a grudge against him for asking such a high price, so he had no choice but to come up with a trick to get some profit out of it.
Asking about the conflict last night was just a test to see if Claude was fearless or if he didn't know about the existence of the special department.
However, Claude pushed all the blame onto his teacher. That answer would only make Hurian rack his brains trying to figure out which magus had the ability to teach such a ruthless disciple.
"Oh, since your teacher has this alchemical formation, I'm sure he'll need quite a lot of materials for his experiments in the future.
If possible, can we work together in the long term? I'll provide all the materials your teacher needs. Of course, I'll give you a discount as well, "Hurian finally revealed his true motive.
Claude shook his head. "That'll be hard to do.
To be honest, the materials you have here are too expensive. They're almost half the price of the underground magic market in the royal capital.
Rather than buying my teacher from you, I might as well just write someone to bring it over.
If I hadn't made a mistake this time, I wouldn't have asked my seniors to pool their money to buy it from you. "
"Hehe, we'll get used to it the second time. It's our first time doing business, so we have to be careful.
If you come to buy it next time, I promise to sell it to you at the market price in the royal capital. If the quantity is large, I'll even give you a discount, "Hurian said with a smile.
"Then we'll talk about it next time. Whether or not I need to buy the materials will have to wait until my teacher returns.
The most important thing for me now is to replace the broken alchemical formation with a new one, lest my teacher comes back and chastises me.
But if you can guarantee that the price is reasonable, I might be able to recommend it to my teacher and see what he decides. "Claude spoke as if he really had a teacher.
However, Hurian didn't seem to doubt him at all. "Hehe, of course, it's up to your teacher to decide whether to buy it or not. But it won't be wrong to put in a good word for me, lad. I won't forget your help when the deal is done."
Claude slapped the two shaliuns on the counter. "Then, do you have spell scrolls for sale here?
If you do, I'll take a look. If I find something suitable, I'll buy it from you. That way, I won't have to go all the way to the royal capital to look for it. "
"I do have spell scrolls, but what kind of spell do you need, lad?"
"I want a battle spell. Do you have it here?" Claude asked.
Hurian looked troubled. "To be honest, I don't have any powerful battle spells here. Even in the royal capital, they rarely appear.
You should know that it depends on luck. You just so happened to be on sale and the price was just right for you to pay. That way, you'll be able to get a battle spell.
But I do have two support-type battle spells here. Do you want to take a look? "
Seeing Claude nod, Hurian took out two long boxes from under the counter. He opened them and took out two spell scrolls.
They weren't magic scrolls. Magic scrolls could seal mana on them and tear open the seal to release the spell inscribed on them.
This kind of magic scroll was used to learn spells. There was a detailed explanation of the structure of the magic array and the drawing steps.
One of them was a spell called Featherfall. To put it simply, it allowed one to fall from a high place like a feather instead of smashing into a bloody pulp.
However, there was a limit to the spell. It could only maintain the feather form for one to two minutes.
The note on the side said that it was best not to go higher than ten meters, or else it would be too high. For example, if you were to jump off a cliff, you would fall like a feather for the first ten meters, but two minutes later, you would fall like a rock and be smashed into a pulp.
Of course, it would be a different story if you could keep your head clear during the fall and cast Featherfall.
Perhaps you could fall 290 meters from a height of 300 meters and still land safely after casting Featherfall for the last ten meters. That would be a testament to your ability.
However, that was only in theory. Not a single magus who had learned Featherfall had been able to do that.
The other scroll was a long-range arrow defense spell. That could be considered a true support-type spell.
Claude thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out how Featherfall could be used in battle. Perhaps it could be used when escaping.
However, the long-range arrow protection spell was of little value to Claude.
What era was it? Did people still use bows and arrows? They were already playing with guns.
If there was a protection spell for long-range muskets, he believed that the business of this spell would be booming and the supply would not be able to meet the demand.
Seeing Claude shake his head and look at the two scrolls with disdain, Hurian hurriedly explained, "Lad, there are only useless magi in this world. There are no useless spells. Any spell can have an unexpected effect under certain circumstances.
For example, this Featherfall spell helped a magus friend of mine escape the pursuit of the special department several times.
At the same time, it made it much easier for him to hide his tracks and harvest herbs. "
Heh, it really has something to do with escaping. Thinking about it, the pursuer blocked the stairs of a three-storey building, thinking that the target wouldn't be able to escape even if he grew wings.
He didn't think that he would be able to rush upstairs and kick the door open, only to see the target waving goodbye and jumping out of the window. He landed lightly on the ground like a feather and left. How could the pursuer not cough up blood in anger?
Alright, it's a rather practical spell. There's no harm in being prepared. Who knows when it'll come in handy?
Claude nodded, indicating that he wanted the scroll for Featherfall.
Hurian continued, "This long-range arrow defense spell is a standard support-type spell for battlemages. You can slap a long-range arrow defense on yourself before a battle and you won't have to worry about being hurt by arrows or stray arrows.
Naturally, this era was different from the past, no one would use bows and ballistae to fight. It might seem like this spell was useless, but that wasn't the case. This long-range Arrow Defense was an important defensive spell for mages who were roaming the battlefield.
For example, when you clashed with Blacksnake in the alley last night, even though you won, you should be thankful that the gangsters didn't carry long-range weapons like hand crossbows and sleeve bolts. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to escape unscathed.
Now, the gangsters know that the one they have a grudge against is a roaming magus. They've prepared a large number of crossbows in case you come knocking on their door.
Crossbows are indeed useless on the battlefield, but they're useful in small skirmishes like this. "
He did have the advantage of long-range magic last night. If the Blacksnakes were as Hurian had said and carried crossbows and hidden bolts with them, he wouldn't have had a good time either. After all, he could only dodge them, but the alleyway was only so wide. Sometimes, he wouldn't even be able to dodge them.
"Alright, I'll take these two spell scrolls. How much do you want?" Claude asked decisively.
"Two shaliuns it is then. You should know that those so-called harmless spells in the capital cost ten crowns each.
These two spells are much more practical than those, but I'll only sell them to you for one shaliun. That's only double the price of those harmless spells. This is a discount for you, young lad! "