Chapter 13 Justice X

NPCs' secret Transcendent gathering, Aske attended for the first time. There was no other reason--in his past life, players didn't need to attend such meetings, they'd just post on the forum to ask for Magic Potion Recipes, begging with three hundred and sixty degrees of prostration in the snow, and someone would always reply...

If that didn't work, they could pay a workshop, which usually offered ready-made Magic Potions, taking care of both material gathering and preparation.

This was also why most players, including Aske, could recall various Bloodline pathways and Magic Potion combinations but would be clueless once the recipes were mentioned.

After selecting their masks and robes to conceal their features, everyone passed through the dressing room's secret door and arrived at a secret underground bar. There was an empty circular space in the center of the bar with a lonely chair. Around it were shadowy private booths, shrouded in darkness.

With Medea's experienced guidance, the group found a larger private booth...large enough for three people. There was no choice; the organizers obviously hadn't anticipated five people arriving together, so they all had to squeeze into this cramped booth.

"Each private booth is shielded by Shadow." Medea's voice echoed in everyone's minds through Mind Power, explaining, "Shadow is also a Magic Potion Sequence. As far as I know, Shadow I allows one to utilize shadows to block out the dispersal of light and sound; so, nothing inside the Shadow private booth can be seen or heard from outside, but from within the booth, we can observe the outside. If we want to speak to someone outside, we have to use that speaker on the wall; pressing the button on the side will do."

Nora, who was the closest to the wall, carefully examined the device on the wall and started taking notes.

Not long after, probably because everyone had arrived, a figure in a mask, shrouded in a black robe, approached the center, sat down on the chair, and with a raspy voice processed through a voice changer, announced:

"The masquerade begins."

"First is the free trading period."

His voice had hardly faded when a voice blurted out eagerly from one of the booths' speakers:

"Booth number seven, selling a set of Meteorite Armor."

The host raised a hand, and from the shadow of booth number seven, elongated tentacle-like shadows pulled out a set of dark green Full-body Armor, displaying it in a round before each booth.

"That's!" Nora exclaimed in disbelief, staring at the shadows.

"It's also an Ability of the Shadow Sequence, which can manipulate any shadow with ease, to take objects or entangle enemies," Medea explained.

"Let me introduce this set of Meteorite Armor so newcomers don't miss it due to lack of knowledge," chuckled the voice from booth number seven, "Meteor Iron, a rare high-end material, is known in the Solomon Church's terminology as 'Loh's Body Stainless Steel,' a type of steel from meteorites with an extraordinary structure. Unlike normal iron materials, the iron atoms inside Meteor Iron are stacked in polyhedric spirals, which fill the interior with a spring-like microstructure. Due to this special structure, Meteor Iron can withstand external impacts and absorb all kinetic energy, storing it within its spring-like organization, translating it into resistance to external forces."

"In other words, the more Meteor Iron is struck, the tougher and more impervious to damage it becomes."

"The Beastman Tribe of Salmatia, originally residing north of the Black Sea, were the world's first to use Meteor Iron for Armor crafting. A battle-ready set of Meteorite Armor requires a mature Beastman Blacksmith to forge it at least a hundred thousand times, taking about half a month to ensure that it can withstand hits from an Armor-breaking Warhammer." The voice from booth number seven snorted through the nose, clearly disdainful of the Beastmen's primitive methods, "Of course, I've processed it using modern factory equipment with a six-axis drill bit, pressing every point on the Armor's surface over three million times. The final product can even resist frontal shots from anti-materiel sniper rifles."

"I don't have a sniper rifle here," the host's raspy voice replied, "How about we test it with a handgun instead? What do you say?"

"Fine," the confident voice from booth number seven agreed.

The host drew a handgun from his cloak and pressed it against the Armor, squeezing the trigger. Gunshots rang out, casings fell to the floor, and the shadow tendrils once again paraded the Meteorite Armor around for another lap, showing the onlookers that not a single dent, let alone a bullet hole, had appeared on the Armor.

A rustling sound came from the side. Needless to say, the diligent student Miss Nora was taking notes again.

"The Armor's model is 180XL; aside from those with the Giant Bloodline, no one should be too large to wear it. If someone is smaller in stature, they can wear thicker clothes inside for a more comfortable fit. The Armor is designed as Ring Plate Armor, ensuring joint movement is not restricted," the voice from booth number seven finished with the price, "I hope to trade it for a Numerical Control I recipe, or Mechanical II, or Power II; I will cover the price difference if necessary. If there is no recipe, 100 pounds of cash can substitute."

"100 pounds," someone immediately made an offer as soon as the pitch ended.

"120 pounds," another booth started bidding.

"200 pounds," someone with deep pockets and a determination to win threw a hefty sum to scare away the competitors.

Watching the fervent bidding scene, Medea turned to explain, "Armor and weapons are always hot commodities they can be used by anyone. Next are magical items with Extraordinary Abilities; their appeal depends on the match between the Ability and the person's needs. Ironically, the coldest items are actually Magic Potion Recipes and materials, the most highly sought after; because unless they're part of your Bloodline Sequence, other recipes are meaningless to you."