Chapter 59: Market Hall

The guard asked Diether. Unlike the middle-aged man who thought that he was here for enrollment, this guy seems to be aware that he was here for business.

"I don't have an auction ticket… But I have this… Can you let me enter?"

He then showed the token that has the symbol of the Royal Academy in his pocket.

"Whoa!"

"Isn't that a token used to enter the Academy's Exclusive Market!"

"It must be… I wonder how he got it…"

The people behind Diether noticed his actions and recognized the token. They seem to know a lot about the Academy.

Unfortunately for them, only those who fulfilled missions given by the Academy could have a chance of obtaining this.

The guards looked at each other and immediately checked the authenticity of the token…

"It's genuine… You may enter now. Neo, attend to him."

"Ah? Yes, sir!"

Neo was a young man around 15 years old who was together with the guards.

Diether was curious about him since he doesn't fit in the place at all.

"Sir… I'll bring you to the Academy's Market."

"Sure."

The market wasn't that far and he will be assisted by a different guard once he arrived there, so he asked some questions to the young guard.

"Are you a full-time guard in this Academy? Aren't you a bit too young compared to the other guards?"

"No! I'm just a temporary… It's part of our education."

"Eh? Are you a student here?"

"Hmmm… Yes, I am…"

"Really? I thought that Arcanist should be practicing within the Arcane Tower or within the Magic Fields…"

"You'll need some merits to enter there… There's a lot of students here and only a limited number were allowed to use those facilities…"

"I see. That makes sense… Restrictions like that were necessary considering the number of students using it."

Diether already saw the entrance to the Marketplace. He was reminded of something and decided to ask more questions.

"Is it true that there is an ownerless Arcana within the Market?"

"Yes… There are only a few of them… But if you're interested in those Arcana, then I suggest that you give up… They are being sold for an outrageous price!"

Neo answered after hearing Diether's interest in Arcana. Remembering the prices only makes him go mad.

The young guard happily explained many things to Diether. Apparently, he was also planning to purchase better Arcana since he only has a Common one. Unfortunately, even Rare Arcanas was expensive and much more for a Unique one.

As for ownerless Epic Rank Arcanas, they were not being sold at the Academy. Only by obtaining huge contribution to the kingdom can an Arcanist obtain them…

That's right, ownerless Epic Rank Arcanas and above can only be acquired through the authority of the King which was not surprising…

"How about selling items? Can I do it as well inside the Market?"

"Of course… However, only the top quality products can be sold inside… If not, you can consider selling them at the nearby town…"

"I see… Thank you for attending me, Neo…"

Diether said as he bowed to him in order to show his gratitude. The young guard felt happy after speaking with someone as he returned to his previous post.

The guards of the Market already noticed Diether and before they say a word, Diether showed them his token. After confirming the authenticity, they allowed him to enter.

"There's no problem with the token. Are you sure you're going to use it now?"

The guard asked. It seems that this was a common occurrence.

"Yes… I will use it now…"

"Alright. We'll be holding this token for now… You may now enter."

The guard then opened the gate going to the Exclusive Market.

"Whoa… This place is not how I expected it to be…"

Reiji also felt what Diether wanted to say.

The market that was in his mind was composed of several stalls showing their different products. There should also be vendors and other customers looking around the place.

He expected it to be noisy or lively but it was the opposite…

The place was big but it doesn't seem to have many customers. Instead of stalls and vendors, there's a long line of shelves within the hall…

"How can we purchase things if there are no vendors here?"

The hall or the market was full of weapons and materials displayed on the shelves. Diether decided to check one of the nearest shelves…

[ Rare Fang of Female Musky Bats

The main material to craft Echo Sword/Blade.

Price: 259 gold coins ]

[ 250 mL of Treant Butterfly Poison

An odorless and crystal clear poison that has a weak effect against users of Spiritual Energy but extremely effective against normal people. ]

Price: 190 gold coins. ]

[ Undamaged Eyes of Phantom Wolf

An ingredient to treat a Jarbut Disease. It can also be used to craft Night Vision Goggles.

Price: 199 gold coins ]

"Eh?"

Diether was sure that Musky Bats, Treant Butterfly, and Phantom Wolves were evil beasts. Their bodies were being sold for a very low price and only the Cores were supposedly expensive!

But now, their parts were surprisingly very pricey!

"What's going on?"

Reiji also noticed this but he kept his silence…

'Is it due to the conditions of the beasts when being hunted by the Licensed Hunters? Is there a proper way of hunting those beasts? If that was the case, why are we not aware?'

It would be interesting to know this secret.

Diether saw more familiar evil beast parts that were being sold for a high price and took note of them.

In the meantime, he decided to continue searching for weapons.

As for the method of purchasing them, he already saw a couple of attendants that were observing him from the corners. It seems that they will be assisting him once he decided on what to purchase.

He thought of them as customers at first but their uniform allowed him to recognize them.

"Hmm… Just by seeing all the materials and weapons here would allow me to learn a lot…"

One shelf in the market hall contains 20 to 30 materials of varying sizes.

There were bones and parts of beasts, their hides, crude weapons made of these materials, bottles of various concoctions, and many more…

The other shelves further in were full of beast cores of different types of beasts. Finally, Diether saw many types of good quality Magic Equipment and Magic Weapons, and at the furthest part of the hall was a shelf containing several ownerless Arcanas.