Chương 15: Chapter 14

Sir Greyson had warned me that someone might be after me. It's a very low-level dungeon where a lot of people just go to gain their first levels. But the fact that you can learn Fire Walk from one of the crystals that drops in the dungeon means that it's actually quite a sought-after spot. The low regeneration of the dungeon means that it's often booked. Thankfully, the Adventurer Guild has rules in place to assign the spots. If you're not an adventurer yourself, you can still request access to the dungeons.

What you cannot do while not being an adventurer is take on missions. Adventurers and knights are positions that have some overlap. Some people will commission a knight, someone who's been formally trained, for their mission. They don't want a rogue group of adventurers without formal training. Becoming a knight and graduating as one means that you know how to follow rules and protocol. And from what Sir Greyson explained to me, that's mightily important when you are responsible for the lives of innocents.

Especially knights are apparently also taught how to coordinate with each other, whereas adventurers are more lonesome figures or groups that don't often love each other. Now that I've gotten the permit and have nothing else to do for the day before meeting Felicia for some training, I think I'll swing by the market. Greyson said that I should find many Skill Shards for Fire Shield. Skill Shards are an interesting thing.

Basically, they are minor skill crystals, and by combining shards you can get the actual skill crystal. You only need ten. But, there's a catch. You need ten shards at full-purity. Of course it couldn't have been that easy, right? There must always be a catch. Every shard has a different degree of purity. You need ten shards at 100% purity or the equivalent number that would sum up to the same amount.

Normally, a rich person would bring a Tutor or an appraiser with them, someone capable of spotting the right amount of purity in the shards and whose reputation alone scares most cheats into honesty. Otherwise, the chances of being scammed would be sky-high because half the vendors in this bazaar would sell painted glass if they thought they could get away with it. I check the stall of a guy and ask, "Fire Shield shards?"

My voice slices through the chatter like a whetstone across iron, and a few heads swivel our way. He smiles smugly as if the sale is already stamped and sealed. The merchant leans back behind his crate, arms crossed, grinning like he's already pocketed my coins and picturing the tavern ale he will buy tonight.

"Fresh in from the Emberdeep spawn," he says.

"Only a few left. Premium stuff. Fifty silver per shard." He taps a knuckle on the wood in a showman's rhythm meant to hurry me along. I frown.

"Let me see them." The request leaves a sour taste on my tongue because hot wax and cheap perfume cling to his sleeves, telltale signs of a forgery shop nearby. He makes a big show of lifting a satin-lined box and opening the lid slowly so the silk glows under the afternoon sun that spills through the canvas roofing like watered wine. Inside sit seven pale-orange shards, each the size of a fingernail though the color reminds me of spoiled marmalade rather than living flame.

A faint warmth hums from them, like kindling before the flame catches yet it feels thin, almost brittle, and it dies the moment I pull my hand back. He taps the side of the box.

"These? Top-tier purity. Ninety to ninety-eight percent, guaranteed." He winks, pretending the guarantee is worth the spit it costs him to say the word. I don't answer him. I activate The Grimoire Extraordinaire.

[Grimoire Material Scan] ID01 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 18% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID02 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 12% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID03 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 13% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID04 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 13% Eighteen percent? That's insanely low. I glance at the next one. Twelve? Thirteen? The other ones don't even get up to ten. Who buys this crap?

"These are all low purity," I look at the merchant with a frown.

"I'd pay fifty silvers for all of them, not one." My words slap the grin off his face faster than a mailed gauntlet.

"Well, how could you know?" The merchant looks unsure now because his rehearsed pitch never covered customers who can read artifacts.

"Whatever, I'll find something better," I sigh. Before I can walk away, a familiar voice cuts across the market noise like a dull knife.

"Fire Shield shards, you said? I'll take all of them." Valerius Shellford steps between two stalls, dressed in a dry indigo cloak with his house crest stitched in gold over the chest and polished boots that have never met real mud. Behind him trails a squat man with thin spectacles that make you look twice before realizing he's not blind and he clutches a ledger to his chest as if it contains his heartbeat. An appraiser, probably. The merchant brightens like a starving dog tossed a bone.

"Of course, Master Shellford! Of course!" I fold my arms and stand right there letting the crowd drift around us the way water curls around a stone. Valerius doesn't acknowledge me. He lifts one shard between gloved fingers and examines it like he's deciphering ancient runes but his gaze skims, unfocused, and I realize he is bluffing.

"You know what these are, right?" I ask, casual. He glances my way, his mouth twisting.

"Clearly more than a mud-scraper like you." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I smile. Valerius snaps his fingers, and the spectacled man steps up. He lays a hand on the box, his pupils narrowing like a hawk zeroing on prey. After a moment, he frowns.

"Difficult," the appraiser mutters.

"Fire Shield shards are unstable. Hard to read. The mana signature changes after exposure to air. Even I can't be certain of their purity."

"You don't want to buy them, trust me."

"Why would I take advice from an idiot?" Valerius snorts. Well, that's for trying to be nice. I raise an eyebrow.

"So let me get this straight. You can't tell if they're real or not, but you're still going to pay full price? That's bold." Valerius's jaw tightens.

"Do you even know what you're looking at?"

"I know enough to save my coin for something real. But hey, if you want to buy garbage, be my guest. Actually… no, wait." I turn to the merchant.

"Seventy silver a shard. I'll take all of them." The merchant blinks.

"But you said…"

"I said nothing but that I want them," I say, loud enough for the crowd forming behind us to hear.

"I'm even willing to pay a little extra to make sure he doesn't get them." I take a few golds out of my pouch and slam them on the merchant's table, making the guy starting to salivate. Valerius scoffs.

"Eighty silver each!"

"Ninety."

"A gold!"

"Two." He whirls toward the merchant.

"Fifteen golds for the whole box." The merchant nearly faints.

"Sold!" he squeaks, pushing the box toward Valerius like it might vanish. Valerius grabs it, jaw clenched. He turns away without another word, his boots slapping stone with too much force.

"Enjoy," I call after him. The appraiser glances back once, confusion painted across his face. He's not sure what just happened, but he knows his noble just got played. I stroll away, whistling. This idiot just spent fifteen hundred Silvers on that crap. This day is getting better and better. Suddenly, I see a tent that smells of sulphur and everyone is keeping away from it. SHARDS, REAL. NO REFUNDS. DON'T ASK. The sign is written in flaking red paint that looks disturbingly like dried blood.

"What's the story?" I ask a passerby, pointing at the tent.

"The old hag there has stupidly high prices. And she attacks you if you start bartering in a way she doesn't like. She was a Platinum Knight and she's been retired forever. She's as old as the city if you ask me." Huh, that sounds interesting. I go up to the tent and enter it ducking my head because the doorway sags like a weary mouth. Inside, a wrinkled woman with no visible teeth waves me closer and the air around her crackles with dormant power that pricks my skin.

But there's something about her aura that gives me pause and makes me lose my voice for a moment since it feels like standing in the eye of a wildfire, silent yet lethal.

"You buying or wasting my time, boy?"

"Fire Shield shards," I say keeping my tone respectful because my instincts scream that disrespect would end poorly. She grunts, ducks under the cloth counter, and hauls up a wooden tray. Half the crystals are for water‑type Skills, three are mislabeled, but in the top corner… The woman sighs and puts a small mound of about a dozen Fire Shield Shards in front of me. Holy shit, I say, immediately examining them with the Grimoire.

[Grimoire Material Scan] ID01 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 88% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID02 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 92% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID03 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 87% [Grimoire Material Scan] ID04 Skill Shard – Fire Shield (Silver) Purity: 93%"It's three golds each," the woman sighs.

"Are you going to buy, boy, or—" Before I can say anything. Before I can say anything, the flap of the tent rips open with a practiced flourish.

"Oh, for the love of—what now?" the old woman growls, already rolling her eyes before she even sees who stepped in.

"I thought I smelled swamp-rot and desperation," Valerius Shellford announces, ducking into the tent with the same pomp he used to barge into the Guild Hall. His voice carries like he's performing for a gallery. He stops cold when he sees me hunched over the tray.

"You," he spits.

"Still sniffing around for scraps?" I don't even look up. If this idiot buys these up… He's still the son of a merchant so there's no doubt that he has more money than I've got. The old woman squints at him.

"Who the hell let a bard in here?" Valerius doesn't miss a beat.

"Madam, I'm here to make a proper purchase, not—""You're here to waste my breath," she snaps, slapping her palm on the counter.

"Every time some half-breed noble brat shows up flapping his tongue, I lose years off my life." Valerius draws himself up like he's about to lecture a maid.

"You will show respect, hag. I—""I'll show you the door," she barks and then disappears, appearing right behind Valerius and bending him on her knee like he's a small child.

"Respect gets paid for in this tent, not inherited."

"HAG, RELEASE ME RIGHT—" SLAP The old woman slaps his ass so hard even I hiss in pain. That must have hurt.

"AHHH! HOW DO YOU DARE—" SLAP"MY FATHER—" SLAP By the end of it, the appraiser has run away, fearing that his buttocks might get spanked as well. Even I wince. The woman just publicly spanked a Shellford in front of me and whatever poor souls are within earshot. When the heir of the Shellford family runs away, the woman turns toward me with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll take them all," I say with a smile.

"All twelve."

"Are you not doubting their purity like every idiot in this market?"

"Eight-eight, ninety-two, eighty-seven," I say, pointing at three of the shards. The old woman clicks her tongue and now, as if by magic, her mouth fills with perfect teeth and, as she stands straighter, she reveals herself to be taller than me.

"You have eyes," she says, smiling like a cat and apparently getting younger by the second until she looks not older than fifty. Did I just make a mistake?

"Why didn't you fuse them together yet?" I ask nervously, trying to change topic.

"Selling individual shards is more profitable than selling a Skill Crystal," she says, studying me from head to toe.

"What's the Rank?"

"Huh?" I say, dumbfounded.

"The Rank of the Skill that allows you to see the purity of these shards."

"I—" She snaps her fingers and the curtains of the tent close behind me.

"No one can hear or see inside here. What's the Rank, youngster? You already absorbed the Skill anyway. Very few in this world have the mean to pry a Skill from a dead body and it does things to those who absorb Skills that way—things that are not pretty. But it's usually those who deal in Forbidden Skills anyway." I open and close my mouth a few times." That good, huh?" The woman says, hunching her head forward and taking a step closer to me.

"Mithril?"

"Y—yes!" I say.

"Oh my, higher?" She smirks.

"Don't tell me, then. I try to be a good person, but I get tempted. And never show off like this. Always be vague. Next time, say you got word I have good wares." She sits on a crate and gestures me to sit as well.

"Does it only work on items?" She asks. I stay silent now.

"You're learning, but I do need a favor. Is it one of those freakish Skills that can give you vague insights into lower level items and Skills?" I swallow.

"Something like that," I reply with a dry throat.

"Something like that," the middle-aged woman smirks suggestively.

"How about we try it out, then. If you have any good insight into this Skill, I'll give you all the shards for free and a little extra gift."

"S—sure," I say, not really knowing what else to say.