Chapter 117: Purchase

Chapter 117: Purchase

 Raven returned to the Capital City without difficulty and went to Baker Street, where Mystic Cauldron shop was located.

As soon as he entered the potion shop's main hall, a familiar voice came from the left side.

"It's been a while, Mr. Holmes." A silver-haired woman with a formal dress stood near the entrance and said with a smile.

"Good to see you, Miss. Anastasia!" Raven smiled politely and greeted her while tipping his hat.

In truth, he didn't want to visit this place after Ravenshield Family recreated his potion and spoiled his stable income. But he realized that only a few shops, like Mystic Cauldron, possessed all the potion ingredients. Other than the Mystic Cauldron and another shop owned by the Blackwater Family, the Wizard Alliance controlled all other big potion shops.

'For now, I should avoid getting involved with the Wizard Alliance.'

"Are you here to buy things? Or sell?" Anastasia kept her professional smile and asked.

"I'm here to buy quite a few items. First, I want a few dozen of potion ingredients." Raven said.

Anastasia raised her eyebrows and led him to where potion materials were stored.

"What type of potion ingredients are you after?"

A smile appeared on Raven's face.

"This time, my senior is trying to concoct an upgraded version of the Mind of Insight. But he said he needed more than 70 ingredients to find the right formula first." As he spoke, he took a notebook from the inventory and gave it to her.

Meanwhile, Anastasia opened the book and soon furrowed.

"Bloodroot orchid-25, 500 grams of Dragon's vein powder (Rank-2 Flame Wyvern's crushed bone.), Crimson Drake Scale, moss of malady…"

'He came well prepared, huh? With this many potions, it's almost impossible to find the exact materials for concocting the Mind potion.'

As she continued to read, she realized that all the ingredients were used for Rank-2 Adept potions!

"And 25 sets of ingredients each? 1 bloodroot orchid cost 200 gold coins, and 10 grams of Dragon's vein powder cost 150 gold coins…" She took the ledger and started calculating.

At the same time, she summoned a few of her servants and ordered them to collect each of the ingredients.

"Are you sure you can afford the price, Mr. Holmes?" She furrowed after calculating the amount of ten ingredients.

Instead of responding, Raven took out a golden bank card and placed it on the wooden table.

"I earned more than millions of gold coins from selling the Mind of Elixir potions alone, Miss Anastasia. You can continue."

A forced smile appeared on Anastasia's face.

She then calculated the amount for each ingredient for more than two hours and finally spoke.

"It's 665,000 gold coins, Mr. Holmes." As she spoke, the servants had packed all seventy batches of ingredients in separate cubic glass boxes and arranged them in the middle of the room.

Meanwhile, Raven casually waved his hand and took out five large leather bags from the inventory.

"There are around 7500 platinum coins in these five bags." He paused for a moment and then added with a smile.

"But I haven't finished the purchase, though."

"W-What would you like to buy next?" Even though she had seen much larger transactions than these amounts, Anastasia got serious.

'He is willing to spend this much without batting an eye?'

Meanwhile, Raven thought for a moment and spoke.

"I would like to see Rank-2 Magical Beast corpses. What is the average price of a Rank-2 Magical Beast?"

"Rank-2 magical beast corpse ranges from 70,000 to 150,000 gold coins, Mr. Holmes," Anastasia answered as she guided him to the storage room where they kept the Magical Beast Carcasses.

But unlike before, she guided him further into an even larger warehouse area and showed him tens of magical beasts sealed in ice cubes.

Raven looked around and soon saw a meters gigantic being with a third eye on its forehead, jaw-like teeth, and a muscular humanoid body.

"Three-eyed Giant?" Raven stared at the corpse and nodded.

"I'll take this."

Saying so, he turned his gaze towards the next corpse and checked it with the monocle.

Raven inspected the whole warehouse for more than 30 minutes and picked up a total of four magical beasts with a sum of 394,000 gold coins.

One was the corpse of a Rank-2 Three-Eyed Giant, the second was a Rank-2 Twin-Headed black Serpent, the third was a Rank-2 Snow Wyvern, and the final one was a creature similar to an Orc but a species called a War Troll!

'Why are we taking this Troll corpse?' He couldn't help but ask.

[Orcs, Trolls, Orges, Ettins, Cyclopes, Half-Trolls, Half Giants, Fomorians, War Trolls, etc., are all subspecies of Giants. These Giants are also subspecies of Titans. So, we can use the corpse of the Trolls for Orcs or other subspecies.] 

'Oh? Does that mean I have to hunt Titans one day?' He asked stiffly.

[Of course. You've got to hunt Titans, Dragons, Vampires, and many mythical creatures.]

'This is the path of the Warlock, huh?'

Raven nodded and then turned his attention towards Anastasia.

"Next, I want to purchase some equipment."

"What type of equipment?" Anastasia furrowed.

'He already purchased things more than one million, though!'

"Uncommon and rare ones. If possible, Epic Rank too." Raven answered.

"Understood," Anastasia replied, catching onto Raven's intent. "For such a broad equipment category, it would be best if I guide you to our artifact vault. Follow me, please."

She led Raven through another set of reinforced double doors protected by glowing rune arrays. As the doors opened, the interior revealed rows of shelves holding weapons, armor, accessories, and magical gear. Each piece radiated unique elemental auras; some were encased in shimmering barriers for protection.

"This is our collection of Uncommon and Rare gears," Anastasia explained, gesturing toward the neatly categorized shelves. "We have weapons, armor, and accessories of all kinds. Are you searching for gear with specific abilities?"

Raven walked to the nearest section where uncommon weapons were stored, his eyes scanning the items methodically.

"Let's start with weapons," he said.

He saw various weapons, such as Aether Rifles with different models, long swords, spears, daggers, bows, and arrows.

[Are you planning to buy these weapons?] Zera asked and then continued.

[As long as you spend time absorbing Runeth's memories, you can create them easily.]

'I know. I'm checking if any unique weapons like my spear are hidden among those. Also, I want to take a look at the Aether Rifle.'

[Hmm, Aether Rifle, huh? A similar weapon called Ember Pistol became popular in the Edhen World when Charles and Runeth met. But it had a long cooldown and could only unleash raw mana power. Even an Expert Rank could easily deflect the mana bullet released from that weapon. If we can encrypt the arrays hidden in the Aether Core, we can combine two weapons into a powerful one.] Zera suggested.

Meanwhile, Raven inspected the weapons and spoke.

"I want to learn more about the Aether Rifles."

Anastasia nodded as she approached the dozens of rifles placed inside glass boxes and answered.

"Aether Rifles are divided into four categories, Mr. Holmes. We call them C, U, R, and E for short. C-type is an Aether Rifle that is even used for hunting down a peak Rank-1 Magical Beast by Walkers. The bullet speed is around 800 m/s and has the power of 1,500 to 2,000 joules. These weapons can even kill a Radiant Walker if aimed at a close range. But it has a long cooldown of 30 seconds." She paused as she moved towards the nearby glass table and took a long rifle with a silver muzzle.

"This one is a U-type Aether Rifle. The one that the Mercenary Leader you hired possessed is similar to this U-type model. The bullet speed of U-type weapons is around 1,500- 3,000 m/s and has the power of 7,000 to 20,000 joules based on the models. The latest model from Starflare-18U has exceeded 20,000 joules and even managed to wound a beginner Rank-3 Magical Beast."

She then placed the rifle back into the glass box and took another from the nearby glass box.

Unlike the other rifle, the rifle was primarily forged from Dark Iron, giving it a deep black, matte finish that seemed to absorb light. Delicate veins of shimmering Alexandrite ran along the surface, radiating an iridescent green-purple glow that shifted depending on the angle of view.

"This is the new R-type Rifle weapon called Starflare-3R made by the Sterlinghart Family. There are only four weapons in this entire model in our shop, and it has the power of 89,000 joules. But unlike the C and U types, the R type uses 'Fire elemental energy' for fuel and releases a powerful ray attack. But the only problem this weapon has is it has a very long cooldown of 6 hours." Anastasia explained while giving it to him.

Meanwhile, Raven used the monocle to inspect it and soon furrowed.

"For one shot, the weapon consumes a Rank-2 Fire Elemental Crystal as fuel?" Raven knew a Rank-2 Elemental Crystal would cost around 20,000 gold coins or above and furrowed!

"How much does it cost?" He asked.

Anastasia looked at the model number engraved in the weapon's stock and spoke.

"It's 540,000 gold coins, Mr. Holmes."

The corner of Raven's lips twitched as he heard her response.

'It's costly.' 

Noticing his silence, Anastasia gave him an explanation.

"We brought these Starflare-R series weapons through an auction from the Sterlinghart Family 3 years ago for 500,000 gold coins each. Among the four weapons, two have already sold for 600,000 each. The reason I'm only selling for 540,000 gold coins is to make up for the loss you've faced due to our family's intervention in your potion sales." 

"What about the 'E' Type?" Raven asked with a frown.

"E-type weapons can only be brought through auction, Mr. Holmes. They appear in the 'Wizard Auction House' every year, but most of them are purchased either by the Military or Wizards or the Twelve Ancient Noble Family. And I heard that even the oldest models are sold in millions." Anastasia answered.

[That's to be expected. If what Anastasia said is true, even the R-series weapons can kill a Rank-4 powerhouse at close range. So, E-type weapons are on par with Pseudo-Legendary weapons. We should buy one in the future, too.] Zera said in his mind.

Meanwhile, Raven nodded his head and spoke.

"I'll take this Starflare-3R, then."

"Anything else?" Anastasia asked while giving the weapon to the nearby employee for packing.

Raven thought for a moment and nodded.

"I want to buy a Rare-rank spatial artifact."

Anastasia took a few rings and bracelets from the glass boxes and placed them on the glass box.

"All these spatial artifacts have 150 to 200 cubic metric storage space inside. Each cost around 100,000 to 150,000 gold coins." As Anastasia explained, Raven checked them using the monocle and finally picked up a silver bracelet that cost around 142,000 gold coins, which could hold up to 200 cubic metric storage.

[Inventory feels useless now.] Zera said in his mind.

'No. Although the inventory has less space, it is the safest place to store all my important items. I heard that there are spells out there that could allow a Spatial Wizard to steal items from the spatial artifacts without even letting the other party notice.' Raven said in his mind. He checked armor, amulets, helms, etc., but found nothing satisfactory.

"How much does everything cost?" Raven asked as he stored them in the newly brought silver bracelet.

Meanwhile, Anastasia calculated the amount for all items and replied.

"It's 1,741,000 gold coins, Mr. Holmes. You can pay 1.7M gold coins as a whole."

'Thankfully, I didn't deposit all my money in the Royal Bank.'

Raven took seven more leather bags from the inventory and placed them on the reception table.

After completing the purchase, he bid farewell to Anastasia and left the Mystic Cauldron shop.

[What is your next destination?] Zera asked.

'I need some rest.' Raven spoke as he approached the sleek black carriage parked outside the potion shop.

"Please go to a nearby Inn." He ordered as he opened the carriage door and stepped in.

Meanwhile, the carriage driver nodded his head and started driving the carriage.

 …

A few minutes later, Raven booked a single room in an Inn called 'Wolf's Shift' and decided to check the Memory Library.

He quietly lay on the single bed and entered the memory library by closing his eyes.

A moment later, he stood in a large hall filled with bookshelves.

"What is the gift you talked about?" Raven asked as he looked around.

Meanwhile, a silver-haired elf in her red gown appeared beside him and carried a cage made of fire.

But surprised Raven was the being caught in the fire cage. Strangely, the bird didn't blink and stood in the cage like a frozen doll.

"Isn't this bird the one that made me battle endlessly? How did you catch it?" Raven asked in a surprise.

"Didn't I tell you earlier? Entering one's Sea of Consciousness isn't an easy matter." Zera responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"But why does it look like a frozen doll?" Raven asked.

"Oh, I've frozen its body. But don't worry. I've already extracted some of the information it had." Zera said with a smile.

"Memories?" Raven furrowed.

Zera nodded as she made the cage disappear and grabbed the frozen owl.

"This Owl is called the fragments called 'Fragment of Seer.'"

"Is it a powerful artifact?" Raven asked.

"Hm, where should I start?" Zera thought for a moment and then answered.

"Seer is a person who can look into the future, present, and past. And I suspect this artifact is capable of casting three or more legendary Time-related spells with long cooldown time."

"Didn't I already have two-time spells? Moreover, don't we also have many Time Spellbooks in the Memory Library? As long as I nurture Ronald to become a proper Seer, this artifact becomes useless, right?" Raven felt like he had wasted his time.

"Haa, do you know how long that will take? Centuries or even millennium!" She paused as she turned her gaze towards the owl and added.

"But this owl is strong enough to even enough to kill a Rank-5 powerhouse."

"T-That strong?" Raven took a deep breath and looked at the owl in shock.

"Unfortunately, this artifact has no good intention. If we don't restrict its power through a magic contract, it will find a loophole and try to kill you indirectly." Zera thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Before we forcefully sign a magic contract with this bird, we need to check something else."

"What is it?" Raven furrowed.

"It's the compass. It was the one who guided you to find this thing. That Jovie girl also probed that compass with great interest and informed us that it could do more than locate the artifacts. Use your spirit power to probe the compass and see if you can find any array circle. If you find one, imprint your spirit into it." Zera said solemnly.

Raven nodded his head and quietly left the memory library.

After that, he took the black compass and used his spirit power to probe it.