Chapter 137: Awakening [ XVII ]

Dragun and Vishirk strolled for a while before evening finally arrived. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the land. A gentle breeze rustled through the trees, and the air grew calm and refreshing, carrying the quiet promise of a blissful night.

They were walking through a wide avenue bustling with people moving to and fro from a certain direction.

All of them were mages, as Dragun could sense the mana radiating from their bodies. Only about one percent of the people Dragun had seen in this location weren't mages.

"We are almost there, Senior," Vishirk said to Dragun, his face lit with excitement.

Dragun nodded, he could already tell they were getting close due to the large number of people walking the same lane and the sounds emanating from the marketplace.

After taking a sharp turn, they arrived at a bustling area.

The area was vast and filled to the brim with people either buying or selling magic artifacts. Some sellers operated from stores, while others carried their wares and approached promising customers to advertise them.

"Mana orbs sold here with a twenty percent discount! Come and get yours!"

"I just hunted down an E-rank Raging Kangaroo with a fire magic attribute! The flesh will boost your fire magic, and the skin can be forged into top-quality material with built-in heat and cold resistance!" seaʀᴄh thё nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Come and get your quality healing potions!"

The scene was lively and bustling, everyone looked busy.

Dragun couldn't help but stand for a moment and observe the market, taking in the harmonious yet rowdy scene. Although he had been to many markets in the past, none could compare to the Yellow River Market.

"This is great!" Dragun muttered to himself with a smile.

Beside him, Vishirk was also observing the scene with a bit of nostalgia in his gaze.

"Let us go and get what we want before it gets sold out," Dragun said to Vishirk after taking in the scene for a few seconds.

"Haha, we do not have to worry. Aether Crystals are mostly rented out instead of sold, so there are always a large amount available when you go to buy them. The only people who actually purchase Aether Crystals are the heads of big families and leaders of magic institutions. Only a wealthy man with enough coin to spare would purchase an Aether Crystal he would only use once," Vishirk explained as they walked further into the market.

Two middle-aged women rushed towards them. One held a stack of black magic robes, and the other was holding several wooden magic wands.

"Come and patronize us, handsome man. We have top-quality attire!" one of them said to Dragun.

"Come, patronize me! My prices are cheap, and I treat my customers very, very well," the other one said, her hot, sexy figure accentuated as she wrapped her hands around Dragun's arm and flirted openly.

"I will make sure to patronize you two when I am in need of your wares. Hope you give me discounts and treat me well," Dragun said to them calmly, a smile on his face that made the women feel charmed.

They happily left, telling him to come to them when he was ready.

Vishirk was pretty amazed by how Dragun was able to draw them in less than two minutes after he had stepped into the market.

"I am handsome, and none of the ladies have treated me like this before," Vishirk thought inwardly.

"Maybe they like older men!" he concluded.

As they strolled through the market, searching for merchants with Aether Crystals, many people approached them—mostly women who tried to advertise and sell their wares to Dragun. Vishirk was not ignored, but only the male vendors advertised to him.

About thirty minutes passed, and they finally found a stall with Aether Crystals.

An aged man with grey hair sat idly inside the small building.

When he noticed both of them, he stood up and rushed towards them with a smile.

"I am the only one you can find who sells Arcane Crystals in the entire Yellow River Market tonight. But do not be afraid, I am an honest man, and I won't inflate the price because of that," the old man said.

Dragun didn't really listen to his explanation as he began observing the Aether Crystals. Only Vishirk spoke with the man and asked him to describe his products.

The old man grabbed three Aether Crystals and placed them on the table.

"This one is the basic Arcane Crystal, sold for one thousand gold coins. It can only check for the basic four elements, and it only detects the strongest element affinity in the body while neglecting the others. Let's say a mage has a strong fire magic affinity and weak water and earth magic affinities, this crystal will only detect the fire one. I would advise you not to get this one," the old man explained.

He moved on to the other Aether Crystal. "This is the intermediate Aether Crystal. It can test for only basic elements like the basic one, but it detects all four at once if you possess them. It is the most accurate one for testing for basic element affinities. It costs five thousand gold coins."

The prices the man called out caused Dragun to suck in a deep breath as he understood the value of the sums being mentioned.

The old man turned to the last one, and his face lit up as he began to explain, "This is the superior Aether Crystal. It can detect up to twenty elements, including advanced elements like blood magic and spirit magic. It goes for ten thousand gold coins, but since it's your first time doing business with me, I'll sell it to you for nine thousand five hundred gold coins."

Vishirk and Dragun listened to his words. Vishirk's expression was hidden by the mask he wore, but Dragun had a rather troubled look on his face.

"Can we get it for five thousand gold?" Dragun asked.

The old man looked at him with the nastiest gaze, as though he was about to come out and throw punches.

"I will only take five hundred gold off, you can get it for nine thousand now," he replied.

"We do not have that much. Let us do it for six thousand gold," Dragun responded immediately.

Soon both of them got into heated bargaining that shocked even Vishirk.

The old man was sweating buckets as he and Dragun bargained with each other.

After several minutes of back and forth, they finally agreed to do it for seven thousand five hundred gold coins.

Dragun brought out a money pouch containing seven thousand five hundred gold coins and handed it over to the old man, who now had a depressed expression on his face.

He received the money pouch, counted the coins, before handing the Aether Crystal to Dragun.

Dragun and Vishirk waved at him and left the store.

"You fucking bastards!" the old man muttered hateful curses inaudibly as he watched them leave.

Dragun and Vishirk strolled around the market for a few minutes more to get what they could.

They purchased potions, ingredients for potions, and some special stones.

They spent up to twenty thousand gold coins altogether.

Both of them were strolling down a lane when Vishirk spotted a special ingredient for the awakening potion. He told Dragun, and both of them rushed towards it.

"I will sell the Quad-colored Eagle Flower for four hundred thousand gold, no bargaining. This is the cheapest you'll find in the whole world right now."

However, when he heard the price, his expression crumbled.

The seller noticed the change in his expression and tried to console him.

"I have the inferior quality one, the Tri-colored Raven Flower, and it goes for two hundred and fifty thousand gold. It's two days old, hence the low price. If you want the new one, you'll get it for three hundred or three hundred and fifty thousand gold coins," the seller explained.

The more he explained, the more depressed Vishirk became.

Even Dragun didn't bother to bargain with the seller since the total amount of gold in their possession wasn't even up to fifty thousand after everything they'd purchased so far.

Vishirk went to other stands to look for the ingredients for the awakening potion, but he could only inquire about the prices as they were too high. Now he understood why most nobles go broke just to awaken. He knew the ingredients were expensive, but he never expected them to be this expensive.

After they were done strolling through the vast market, they prepared to retire and look for an inn to rest their heads for the night when they began hearing troubling rumors.

"Have you heard? The Seventh School of Magic has found a suspect for the killings a few weeks back. They will soon start executing him," one buyer said to the person he was purchasing potions from.

"What? They found him?"

"Yes, apparently he was near the school, looking for teenage magic scholars to slaughter once again when his mana trace was detected, and he was quickly apprehended!" the buyer replied with much enthusiasm.

"I have to witness this! That bastard has to pay. My neighbor's only son was among the people he slaughtered. She took her own life when she heard the bad news!"

Discussions like these spread across the marketplace like wildfire.

Vishirk turned to look at Dragun with widened eyes and yelled with much emotion in his voice, "We have to witness this!"