Bloodline of the Wizard-Chapter 7 - Market

In the dimly lit wooden cabin, Ronan squatted in a corner by the wall, fumbling slightly in the crevice before pulling out a black cloth bag the size of a palm.

He walked over to the table and emptied the contents of the bag onto it.

They were Crystal Stones the size of mung beans, each with varying hues.

"One, two, three..."

Ronan carefully counted the Crystal Stones on the table, totaling seventy-six.

Seventy-six Magic Stone Shards.

That was all the money he had on him now.

He had plenty of mundane gold coins and gems, but in Wizard Land, these were of no use.

His pocket watch showed it was just nine fifty in the morning, still early.

Today, Ronan planned to head to the residential area of Wizard Land to buy some materials necessary for his next phase of training and some essentials for living.

Ronan changed into a light and convenient hunting outfit, covered by his Wizard Robe for disguise.

The dagger he used normally for cutting meat was carefully tucked at his waist.

The dagger, left behind by his precursor, was very sharp. Although he didn't know any close combat techniques, it might come in handy.

Water bag, dried food... Finally, he secured the cloth bag containing seventy-six Magic Stone Shards close to his body.

Before leaving, he also packed a large portion of the dried, salted meat from his hunting that he hadn't finished eating.

Once ready, Ronan locked the door of the cabin, slid down the vines to the bottom, and chose a direction he had never taken before... quickly disappearing into the jungle.

...

The entire Hoddam Wizarding Land was situated in a vast basin, surrounded by a dense and extensive primitive forest.

From a high slope, Ronan looked toward Hoddam Wizard College but could only see a swath of white mist, with a bustling town around it, a circle of grey and black encircling the mist.

Ronan opened his water bag and took a sip, a fine layer of sweat forming on his forehead.

To minimize contact with others, his predecessor chose a treehouse far from the town, and it still took some time to get there.

After nearly two hours of walking, Ronan finally approached the town.

The rough mountain trail under his feet became wide and smooth, and he began to see more and more people, mostly Wizard Apprentices like himself, with large robes being the basic uniform.

"Sir, do you need a follower? For just ten low-level Magic Stones, you can have my loyalty for ten years!"

"Sir! I will be your most reliable guard!.."

As he passed a small square before the town, a group of people surged toward Ronan, all robust, with Giant Swords strapped to their backs.

These were Adventurers practicing the Knight's Path.

Ronan was interested in contacting them to see if he could learn an authentic Knight Breathing Technique to alleviate the problem of his body being eroded by Energy Particles.

But thinking of the little money he had on him, and the many items he still needed to procure, and knowing these fellows dared to mingle in Wizard Land as mortals, each probably being quite cunning, who knows how many Magic Stones they might demand.

So, he politely declined them all.

Past the square, there were gray stone walls, dilapidated and crumbling, inside which was the residential area of the town.

It was said that these walls were left from many years ago when Hoddam gathering place was just forming, and there were not as many Wizards as now.

Back then, the forest was filled with Magic Beasts, and beast tides would often erupt.

Only when the Magic Beasts in the surrounding forest were expelled and the beast tides disappeared did Hoddam gradually develop into its current scale.

Ronan entered the town, facing three paths.

The middle one leads directly to Hoddam Wizard College, the left to the Dwarf Market, and the right to a comprehensive market formed spontaneously by wandering wizards.

The left path was obviously better maintained, and like Ronan, most wizards who entered the town took a turn and then went right.

Ronan was curious to see what the legendary dwarfs looked like, but from a distance, it seemed like there were guards at the entrance to the Dwarf Market, and ordinary wizards were generally not allowed in.

While Ronan was observing, coincidentally a group of people came laughing from the middle road, heading straight towards the Dwarf Market.

These individuals were all dressed in brand new and beautiful wizard robes, with their casually exposed hands adorned with shiny rings that vibrated with significant energy particles, carrying themselves with an air of the chosen ones.

Ronan glanced enviously at this "academy group," then turned and headed to the Wizard Market.

The Wizard Market was quite different from what Ronan had imagined; it was just an ordinary street, not very crowded, but the sanitation conditions were worrying, as he could even see animal carcasses and feces in the roadside gutters.

The street was lined with all kinds of low buildings, most without signs, relying mainly on experience and observation to determine what the shops sold.

Ronan walked and paused along the way, his seventy-six Magic Stone grains of "change" making him too timid to enter the slightly grander shops, only daring to stand at the door and look inside.

"Damn it, several pounds of flour costs me five Magic Stone grains... why not just rob?!"

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Ronan walked out of a bakery cursively, having grown tired of grainy foods and hoping for a change of taste, only to find out that his current food was already the lowest-priced in the entire gathering place.

"Forget it, I'll just make meat the staple food from now on. At least the vegetables in the forest are readily available."

Ronan was a bit depressed as he clipped the cloth bag of flour to his waist.

In the Wizard Land where prices soared, life was becoming unaffordable.

Mainly because wizards do not engage in production, the food sold in Wizard Land is primarily transported from lay kingdoms.

The food itself is not expensive... but the cost of transportation is.

After spending another Magic Stone grain just to buy some essential cooking spices, Ronan felt so pained it was as if his liver was trembling.

So far, he had no means to earn Magic Stones.

The few dozen Magic Stone grains he carried were genuinely dwindling one by one.

He had initially thought that since prices were high in Wizard Land, the dried meat he brought could fetch a good sum.

But no one showed interest at all.

Wizard Land did not lack ordinary meat; it lacked either particularly tasty or effective magic beast meat.

Ronan had never even seen what a magic beast looked like, which would require venturing deep into the forest.

Continuing along the street of shops, Ronan began to encounter wizard stalls set up right on the spot.

Then more and more appeared, and more and more people gathered.

At the end, nearly all he saw were various stalls, with no trace of shops in sight.

"Fresh Fire Lizard Blood, top-notch for forging and enchantment, now only five low-grade Magic Stones per bottle!"

"Fake Zero-Order Intermediate Offensive Magic Tool! Double Rune, 90% new, big clearance!"

"Ghost Face Flower Seeds, Blue Song Grass Flower Heart... all the magic potion materials you want are here!"

...

The street was bustling with people, the sounds of hawking and bargaining endless to the ear, with some wizards dressed brightly and some in robes so tattered they even had patches, giving Ronan a run for his money.

Amidst this lively atmosphere, Ronan also relaxed, no longer tense and restrained as he had been on the commercial street.

Though he didn't recognize most of the items on the stalls in front of him, and the incessant hawking was mostly incomprehensible to him, it did not hinder him from gradually blending in.