episode_0020

While Leon was changing into different robes, he picked a few herbs of each type and put them in his subspace pouch.

I had no intention of selling it right away.

This was Leon’s first time dealing with a wizard like this.

Since I was ignorant about the market price, I decided to find out and try to trade if I saw an item I liked.

If you are satisfied with the transaction, you can avoid the hassle of exchanging it for mana stones.

Leon came out of the jewel and put on his robe and adjusted his realm to level 1.

I couldn’t completely hide my face, but that didn’t matter as long as I could hide the fact that I was an ordinary disciple.

It wasn’t much different from a regular shopping street just because it sold magic items.

The original store building, and the tents and stalls scattered throughout.

The tent was a stall set up by another merchant who had taken advantage of this exchange event, and the stalls were set up mainly by individual magicians for bartering.

Leon wandered around the market streets.

I learned a little about the market prices by comparing what people were shouting with the prices written in front of the stalls.

Most of the items stayed in F~D.

Although I was able to see a few C-class artifacts, anything higher than that was hard to find.

It seemed like the higher ranks had their own means of trading.

In the case of F-grade elixirs, they could be purchased with 50 mana stones.

When Leon worked for a year, he received one mana stone from the Magic Tower per month.

It was said that an ordinary disciple would have to work for 50 months to buy one elixir.

When Leon was a third-class being, he ate over 50 F-class elixirs to level up from 1st to 2nd.

Of course, most of them were F-grade because the initial reward probability was low, but even so, it cost 2500 mana stones just by simple calculation.

It was an expense that most apprentice wizards could not afford.

Even the effects of F-grade elixirs decrease rapidly in the latter half of Grade 3.

Even though it has become an exclusive form, the potion’s effectiveness has increased.

‘I have… … 32 F-class elixirs.’

There were 10 elixirs that were saved as rewards and 22 elixirs that were not taken after reaching the latter half of the 3rd level and that were made by hand.

Now that Leon had no need for them, it was okay to sell them all. The problem was how to sell them.

Leon, who had finished getting a rough idea of the market price, stopped in front of a tent.

Above the tent hung a wooden sign that said medicinal herbs were for sale.

Leon, whose interest was piqued, immediately opened the tent and went inside.

The old man with glasses noticed Leon and tilted his head.

Leon, who had become sensitive to the flow of magical power after becoming a full-time adult, noticed that the old man was increasing his magical power to understand his own realm.

Leon, who had somewhat expected this reaction, pretended not to notice and looked at the wooden boxes laid out in front of the old man.

Most of the herbs stored in the chest were familiar to Leon.

It was a medicinal herb used in F and E-grade elixirs.

Leon’s eyes widened when he saw one of them.

‘Little sunshine flower!’

It was needed to make E-grade elixirs, but it was the only herb that Leon could not obtain from the herb forest.

Leon, who had a good idea while looking around the stall, pointed to a wooden box containing a small sun flower.

The old man saw the sight and reacted immediately.

“Wow… You seem to have knowledge of making elixirs. You picked it up without hesitation.”

“There is no reason to hesitate since you have found what the Master wanted.”

Leon asked, subtly revealing that he was training under his master.

“What is the price?”

“Just give me 700 mana stones.”

Contrary to his casual remark, the old man looked at Leon as if asking if he could live.

700 was roughly the price of two E-grade elixirs.

I was asked to pay the price of two elixirs for one of the five herbs that go into a Grade E elixir.

Leon didn’t really point it out, although he felt he had overcharged.

“How about exchanging it for another herb?”

“Another herb? Sorry, but this is a herb with a healthy stem. If you plant it in the right environment and take good care of it, it will reproduce on its own.”

Leon took out the herbs needed to make other E-class elixirs that weren’t on the table.

Since it was dug up just before it was sold in the market as a fully grown herb, even the roots were fresh.

“Ugh… … .”

The old man’s eyes sparkled as he carefully looked at the herbs in Leon’s hand.

“It’s okay, considering it wasn’t stored properly. If you give me two of the same quality, I’ll exchange them for one small sun flower.”

“2 words?”

“If you’re only exchanging 1, there’s no need to exchange it. Small Sunflower is also a rarer herb.”

When I heard it, it was true.

It was a disadvantageous condition for Leon to want a small sunshine flower, but the reason was reasonable.

Of course, it was also generally true that one would suffer a loss.

For Leon, who was growing a large amount of herbs in his treasure chest, that level of damage was nothing.

Finding new herbs was more important.

But Leon did not readily accept and seemed hesitant.

The old man asked as if he understood Leon’s situation.

“But there’s only one herb? Unfortunately, my suggestion won’t change.”

Leon finally sighed and took out another herb.

“You gave it to me to exchange for what I want, but what can I do? Master’s errands come first.”

Then the old man smiled brightly.

“What a brave disciple.”

It wasn’t just a comment meant to lower the price.

The purpose was to prevent Leon from having any strange intentions, thinking that he had more herbs.

Leon traded two herbs for one small sunshine flower and left the tent.

‘Is this enough for today…?’

It has been on the shopping street for quite some time in its current form.

If you buy a bunch of things that look the same, you might attract the attention of other wizards.

‘There’s no need to rush things.’

Anyway, the exchange program was scheduled to last a week.

The second day was a duel between individual disciples, the third day was a duel between apprentice magicians belonging to the Academy, and the fourth day was a duel between secret magicians belonging to the Academy.

After that, a literal festival was held.

I thought I could come back one more time to check the prices of elixirs and scrolls, and then try to sell them little by little.

Leon, who was about to go back the way he came, discovered a small table set up next to the tent.

The man sitting with his arms crossed was nodding off with his eyes closed.

There was only one object in front of him.

It was a plain wooden sword of light brown color.

It was an artifact with such a bland presence that I found it rather interesting.

Leon approached the man.

A man with messy black hair and sprawled out in a mess opened his eyes, as if he sensed something.

“Are you selling this?”

“Is that so?”

Although his speech was awkward, he was polite enough to not start talking right away after looking at Leon’s face.

“Is this an artifact?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Yes?”

“I picked it up by chance while working as a mercenary in the Western Forest of Demons, and I know it’s not an ordinary object because it doesn’t break no matter how much I hit it.”

“No matter how much you hit it, it won’t break?”

The man nodded resolutely.

“That’s right. No matter what you do to it, it won’t break. It’s a weapon that you can be sure is sturdy.”

“… Is that all?”

“So that’s why I’m lying around like this without being able to withdraw?”

Whether you are going to sell it or not.

Leon, who had been determined to buy it, also gave up slightly due to his indifferent attitude.

“How much is it?”

“Will you buy it?”

“Yes, as long as the price is right. I’m interested in collecting antiques.”

“You’ve had a strange hobby since you were young.”

The way he speaks strangely makes me feel hot.

Without saying anything else, I looked at the man. He glanced at Leon and held out a wooden sword.

It was meant to be emotional.

Leon wanted to use emotional magic to test the wooden sword’s abilities.

‘I don’t know what abilities you have?’

If what the man said was true, then it was a truly solid wooden sword.

It’s strange that the tree is this strong… … .

‘for a moment.’

When I looked closely, something strange caught my eye.

Although very faint, I could feel a strange flow of mana around the wooden sword.

‘What’s really there?’

The man who was looking at Leon who was lost in thought blurted out.

“250 Mana Stones.”

“You don’t have any mana stones, but you can exchange them for other items?”

“Any other stuff?”

“I have some elixir that the Master gave me.”

“Hmm… … 5 F-rank elixirs.”

Leon shook his head.

I knew there was something in the wooden sword, but only Leon knew that.

“If you just want 5 F-grade elixirs on a solid club, it seems like you have no intention of selling it.”

“Can’t you tell at a glance that there’s a hidden ability?”

“Isn’t this what you’re trying to reveal because you couldn’t find out the hidden ability?”

“… … Are you so insightful at such a young age?”

The man extended his index and middle fingers and held them out in front of Leon.

“2ea.”

“Um… .”

“Take a chance on the possibility. You are expecting something anyway, right? I can’t sell it for less than that, so think carefully before you say it.”

The man seemed unwilling to give up his last possibility.

So, it must have been lying around because it couldn’t handle this one wooden sword until now.

Leon, who had been thinking, nodded.

After finishing the last transaction, Leon changed his clothes and returned to his lodgings.

The regular disciples who shared the same room were still wandering around outside, so Leon was alone in the room.

Thinking that this was a good opportunity, Leon took out his wooden sword and examined it from all sides.

Leon, who was trying to make the wooden sword float in front of his eyes with basic psychic powers, was confused when he realized that basic psychic powers did not work on the wooden sword.

‘I was thinking of using it later with the moonlight scattering sword.’

A feeling of frustration welled up in Leon, but he managed to suppress it.

After all, isn’t the sword that scatters the moonlight unfinished?

I had no choice but to pick it up with my own hands and try various things.

I tried fiddling around with it like I was trying to figure out what the jewel of time and space was for, but it was no use.

‘Is it related to the flow of mana?’

Leon sat cross-legged with his wooden sword by his side.

Leon, who had begun to catch his breath as usual, immediately felt something strange.

The flow of mana coming in through breathing was strange.

Leon, who had stopped using the spell, immediately cast a search spell.

Leon, who had noticed the flow of magical power around him, soon found the cause of the strangeness.

The mana that was rushing around Leon was being intercepted by the wooden sword.

The intercepted mana was sucked into the wooden sword.

A belated thought struck Leon on the back of his head.

‘There was a reason why that guy gave it to me so easily. It’s not that I didn’t notice it.’

When the wooden sword was left alone, this flow might not be noticed, but as training progressed, there was no way a man who was a magician would not notice this fact.

A sword that sucks up mana when placed next to it.

It became clear that he had some kind of suspicious ability, but he was still a burden to keep by my side.

If I leave it in a subspace, it’s obvious that nothing will change, and if I keep it by my side, it’ll really interfere with my training.

A thought crossed Leon’s mind as he let out a hollow laugh.

Leon left the room straight away and headed to a dark place.

And grabbed the jewel.

Leon, who entered the jewel holding a wooden sword, stuck the wooden sword into the ground.

“Drrr… … ”

Leon sat cross-legged, ignoring the breathing of Kito, who was sleeping with a very comfortable face, and was about to vomit.

Even before I touched the flow of mana, the surrounding mana began to be sucked into the wooden sword.

“ and… … .”

The amount of mana absorbed by the wooden sword grew uncontrollably in an instant.

It was as if the wooden sword was opening its mouth and devouring mana.

The wooden sword continued to suck up mana for a long time, gaining momentum at a frightening speed.

Kito, who had been sleeping, felt the flow of magical power and opened his eyes.

‘Let’s see how long it can suck you in.’

Anyway, the mana in the space inside the jewel would never dry up.

Even just looking at it now, it was sucking up mana like this without any sign of drying up.

About half a day passed like that.

Soon the wooden sword began to tremble as if it couldn’t handle it, and then at some point the vibrations suddenly stopped.

And then a “squeak” sound echoed from the wooden sword.

It was the sound of the surface cracking.