Chapter 32 Market Sightings
In the center of the forest was a large open space, with many houses and tents set up to meet the market’s needs. Li Wen saw many people along the way, including ordinary people and Transcendent beings. Besides Fairies and humans, other intelligent races were also not uncommon, such as White Elves and Dwarfs, races commonly seen throughout the inner continent like humans. Li Wen even saw people who appeared to be Players; she didn’t know how they managed to infiltrate.
They mostly acted as buyers, though a considerable number also set up stalls to sell various strange and unusual items.
The dazzling array of goods made Li Wen’s eyes water.
Li Wen approached a stall, the owner of which was a gaunt Dwarf.
Though called Dwarfs, it did not mean they were small in stature. In reality, Dwarfs were generally much taller than humans, but they were accustomed to living in dark corners like caves or underground, away from sunlight. Their bodies were always hunched, and coupled with their ugly appearance, they were contemptuously called the Dwarf race.
“Need something?”
The Dwarf stall owner gestured with his fingers. Although his Terran was exceptionally fluent, his gaze towards Li Wen was always cautious.
“I’m just looking around.”
Li Wen said. The Dwarf’s stall was a tattered grey cloth about a meter square, stained with unknown smudges.
What caught Li Wen’s attention and made her stop was half a bottle of a faint blue Potion, contained in a narrow-mouthed square bottle. The bottle itself was also dirty, unremarkable like the other items on the stall.
“Lesser Ghost Solution? Did you refine this potion?”
“I don’t know… I can make some weapons or enchant armor, but I know nothing about potions.” The Dwarf stall owner was extremely honest. “These are spoils I scavenged from a dungeon.”
Li Wen looked regretful. An alchemist who could create Lesser Ghost Solution could largely also create Fallen Shadow Potion, as their procedures were largely the same, differing only in materials.
Fallen Shadow Potion was the last piece of the puzzle Li Wen needed to obtain the Ultimate Original Text. It could strengthen Li Wen’s Reverse in Shadow trait, allowing her to truly stealth in the shadows, and only then could she bypass the Daughters of Amber without alerting them.
“Do you know anyone who can refine this kind of potion?”
The Dwarf stall owner repeatedly shook his head. He did not seem resentful of Li Wen, who asked many questions without buying anything. “Grandma Martha might, but I’m not sure.”
“Grandma Martha?” The Dwarf Fairy from earlier seemed to have mentioned this name as well.
“She’s the master of all the Fairies here, a Ghost Fairy…” the Dwarf muttered softly, as if afraid of being overheard.
It seemed this so-called Grandma Martha was not a benevolent character, Li Wen mused.
“Then how can I find her?”
“She usually lives in a treehouse and won’t leave easily.”
After getting her answer, Li Wen left directly. The goods the Dwarf sold were not what she needed. The Dwarf stall owner watched Li Wen’s receding figure but ultimately did not urge her not to seek death.
Not all stalls were selling items. Li Wen saw a Wild Mage’s stall; the person was performing tricks for those who didn’t understand magic, such as making water flow from an empty vessel or planting a seed that quickly sprouted a frog.
Li Wen was not interested in such simple tricks that couldn’t even be called magic. However, she noticed that while the Wild Mage was performing, another person was using some unknown spell to steal from the onlookers.
No wonder they were calling it free; they were fishing together.
Li Wen didn’t have the sense of justice to expose others, after all, she hadn’t done any less stealing herself…
But just because Li Wen didn’t care didn’t mean no one else would.
“Wait a minute!”
As Li Wen turned her head, a voice came from the crowd. The owner of the voice wasn’t addressing Li Wen, but Li Wen hesitated for a moment and stopped, as the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
The Wild Mage had just performed a trick of moving objects without physical contact. Hearing someone shout, he almost had a heart attack. He calmly looked up and saw the face of a solemn young man.
This almost made him think his dirty dealings had been exposed. The reason he didn’t run immediately was that the other person was almost a head taller than him, the frail mage, and wore magnificent armor as if he were a Knight of the Church.
Damn it! Didn’t he know this was Fairy territory? If he caused trouble, wouldn’t he be afraid of a Ghost Fairy skinning him and eating him?
The Wild Mage forced himself to calm down. Not to mention that his cooperation with his companion was almost seamless, but even if it were exposed, what of it? At worst, today’s earnings would be split three and seven, and money would silence the other party.
So the Wild Mage gave the other person a look, but whether he didn’t see it or didn’t understand, he spoke earnestly.
“I think your spell isn’t quite right.”
The Wild Mage was sweating profusely.
“Don’t talk nonsense, what’s wrong with my magic?”
The other person seemed not to notice the Wild Mage, who was sweating profusely as if about to be scared to death, and continued, “Teleportation Touch consists of three incantation groups and two hand gestures. Clever apprentices can shorten the incantations to two lines and simplify the gestures into one group, but you have one extra group of incantations and gestures than the original. This indicates…”
The Wild Mage’s face grew increasingly grim as the words fell. He was certain his trick was fine, but… the situation where an extra incantation and gesture was added, as the other person described, was not impossible. That was precisely what his companion had done when casting the spell.
Merely by adding an extra group of incantations and gestures to the original composition, the nature of the spell was greatly altered. From Teleportation Touch, which moved and manipulated matter positively, it became the stealthy and silent Invisible Touch. Such a change was enough for the Wild Mage to consider himself a genius, even though he and his companion had put this brilliant idea into wicked practice.
However, having their spell’s details completely seen through at a glance was something they had not considered at all.
Joke, this level of mage would be studying high-level spells in magic societies, not wandering around outside!
Despite being seen through, the Wild Mage still stubbornly argued, “What are you talking about? Everyone saw how I cast it, how could there be an extra or fewer group?”
The onlookers exchanged glances, all expressing agreement. Although they didn’t understand magic, they could hear the Wild Mage chanting a few arcane words when he cast it.
Seeing this, the person dressed like a Church Knight sighed.
“If that’s so, then I’ll perform a magic trick for you for free as well.”
