Volume 11: Chapter 16 – Stronghold Peddler
It was unknown how much time had passed when I gradually woke up. Nothing in my surroundings had changed. As I used my inner sight to check my body, I found that my fusion power had become noticeably stronger. The three gold dans in my body seemed to become more substantial, while they constantly absorbed the powers in my surroundings. My cultivation had not only returned to its normal state, but even seemed to have improved. This was definitely related to the magic gathering array from yesterday, and had nothing to do with my training.
I had gotten out of bed and started to exercise my muscles and bones. It seemed to be about noon, the sun had risen high up in the sky. I discovered that I had slept for an entire day. Circulating the fusion powers in my body, I soared up off the ground towards the Ström Fortress after putting on my cloak.
The fort was still the same. I could clearly see that there were numerous workers repairing the damage that we caused with our forbidden spell. The process wasn’t quick so they would be busy for a while. Since I didn’t know the exact position of the God Rended Canyon, I decided to head to the fort. The people there should have a better understanding for the surroundings of the fort than I do, so they might have some hints regarding the location of the canyon. It was much better than trying to find it randomly by myself. Thinking about that, I flew to a place that was a couple of meters from the fort. It was probably due to the success of the peace talks that the fortress security was extremely relaxed. There should be people patrolling, but I didn’t see any of them today. There were only some merchants constantly coming and going.
I gradually walked towards the fort. The surroundings were very peaceful. I didn’t know who was in charge of the fort after I left, since it had been a while. ‘Forget it, I shall not disturb the leaders of the three kingdoms. If they knew of my arrival, there would be some trouble and I currently can’t afford to dally!’
I slowly walked to the entrance as I pondered it. After reaching it, the number of people had obviously increased. The majority of them were importing construction materials, though I finally saw a few patrolling squads after entering the fort. They seemed to be from the Kingdoms of Dalu and Xiuda because I didn’t see any mages from Aixia. Ma Ke should have ascended to the throne by now. I felt very comfortable with him leading the Kingdom of Aixia. With the teachers assisting him, the mage army of Aixia could only get stronger. I hoped that with the nurturing of light magicians by Teacher Di, it would be easier to deal with the emerging Monster race.
“Sir Mage, do you want to buy some magic stones?” A foreign voice sounded from a corner. I turned to look as it seemed to be a slightly shady middle aged man. He wore a long robe and wasn’t tall as his height only reached to my chest. He was only slightly built, which was probably due to malnutrition. He timidly waved his hand at me.
I was moved and walked over. The skinny character said, “Sir Mage, do you want to buy some magic stones? It definitely will be a great help to your magic cultivation.”
I inwardly sniggered. This fellow must have thought I was a low level mage. I currently wore a mage robe that didn’t have any symbols, ever since I escaped from the Kingdom of Aixia. It looked as though I was a novice mage that hadn’t been certified. He must have thought that I was cheap and foolish as he wanted to trick me with low-cost magic stones to get some money.
I shook my head. “I’m not interested in becoming a mage.”
The slightly built man surveyed his surroundings before replying, “How about this? Just head to my place to have a look. My possessions aren’t solely magic stones, there are also many other products for mages. Those goods are from the Kingdom of Aixia so many of them are items that are used in their mage army battalion. They are absolutely genuine goods with fair prices. You’ll surely find a bargain. At first glance, you must be a high leveled mage. There’s definitely something that you can use. Don’t worry, I promise that I won’t take much of your money, so want to come with me to have a look?”
I nodded. “Alright, bring me there to have a look then.”
A sliver of happiness flashed past that skinny man’s eyes. He said to follow him before turning and walking into an alley. I followed him in his turns in corners and perplex directions to reach an unremarkable house. He surveyed his surroundings to check that there wasn’t anyone around before opening the door and leading me inside.
The house wasn’t big. I saw the various magic products that were on display after entering. There were magic robes, magic staffs, and other products. I could clearly feel the magic undulations emanating from these items with my advanced cultivation. It was within my expectations that they were just crude low level magic items. Even though they looked amazing, there wasn’t any real content to any of them.
The skinny man rubbed his hands together. “Sir mage, please have a look. The items that I have here are great items!”
I smiled. “Do you have any other items? There’s nothing that catches my eyes here.”
The skinny man’s expression changed. He looked stunned before constantly nodding in approval. “I have even better items, but their prices will be slightly more expensive.”
I looked at him and replied, “Take them out and let me have a look. If there’s anything that seems worth it, I’ll consider buying them.”
“Alright! Please wait for a moment.” Upon saying that, he turned to walk further into the room. After a short moment, he carried a huge container with him. “Sir, these items are part of my collection. If it wasn’t for you being a high leveled mage, I would have been reluctant to take it out. However, the pricing…….”
I replied impatiently, “Just let me have a look before continuing this discussion.”
“Alright, don’t be anxious. Please have a look.” That slightly built man slowly opened the container as he said that. There were a few magic stones and a few small magic staves in there. It certainly was much better than those items outside, especially those small magic staves. The magic powers in them made them second rate weapons. However, there was a huge difference from what I had seen before. I took one of the staves to have a look. The skinny man said with praise, “You have a good eye, this is the best magic staff that I have. It can enable you to increase the releasing speed of your magic by 30% when you cast a spell.”
I shook my head. ‘30%? It’s already not bad for it to have a 5% increase. It’s impossible for it to be compared to my Sukrad’s staff. Moreover, I don’t have any problem in the speed of releasing magic.’ I placed the magic staff back. “Do you have any other items or are this all of your possessions?”