32 Shopping Spree, Abusive Elf

"Where are we to, Miss Haera?", Eluard asked as he got off the carriage.

He realized that they were underground. There were rarely any people here and those who remained were workers and servants moving things around.

'Is this a parking space or something?'

The area was large and 2-3 meters high. Each step he took would echo outward, bringing a lively ambiance to the desolate surroundings.

"To the top floor, Mr. Kai. A person I know there is rather expectant in meeting you as soon as possible.", Haera replied.

Eluard scratched his cheeks, 'Damn, she acts fast. I have only spent a day here and she already spread the news of my identity and arrival…'

Haera stepped inside a teleportation magic array and Eluard followed.

The mana reacted and transported them on the top-most level of the Elven Emporium.

When they arrived, a loud laugh welcomed them.

"Ah, Miss Haera! You're finally here!", a plump middle-aged man approached Haera and Eluard.

Haera was embarrassed by that person's sudden appearance. Moreover, the hallway was decorated with luxurious paintings, a smooth red carpet, and guards stationed on the sides.

"Uncle Wyn, you don't have to be this extravagant. A little formality is enough…"

Wyn dismissed Haera, "Why the frugality? I have money and I will spend it as I wish!"

He noticed Eluard and extended his hands, "You must be Mr. Kai that Miss Haera has been talking about! Nice to finally meet you. I am Wyn Qinric, the manager of Nirulva City's Elven Emporium branch."

[ Name: Wyn Qinric ]

[ Age: 76 years old (228 human years) ]

[ Race: Elf ]

[ Status: Nirulva City Branch Manager ]

[ Affiliation: Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary, Elven Emporium ]

[ Magic Power: Master Wizard (Median Ring) ]

[ Magic Root: Profound Magic Root ]

[ Magic Aptitude: 7.0/10 (Adept Wizard) ]

[ Magic Affinity: Wood ]

Eluard received Wyn, "Hello Mr. Wyn."

Wyn approved of Eluard's greetings.

"Come, come. Let's take this inside my office, shall we?"

Wyn's office was large, surrounded by bookshelves on the left and stacks of wines on the right. Eluard could smell the lingering flowery scent in the air.

'No wonder he's fat…', Eluard contemplated before closing the door behind him.

"Sit, over here.", Wyn gestured.

"Wyn, you know why we're here. Have you brought the goods I told you about?", Haera bluntly reminded.

"Oh yes of course I did! But not only did I bring them, I also brought some extras as well.", Wyn smiled at Eluard, "After all, Mr. Kai here might be looking for something more… extraordinary.", then flicked his hands.

The two bookshelves on the corner started moving away and revealed a secret door.

"Follow me.", Wyn led.

Eluard saw a vast display of materials inside the secret room. They were placed neatly on top of wooden tables carved with intricate magic circles.

"Are they array formations, Sir Wyn?", Eluard inquired.

Wyn widened his eyes in surprise, "My, my, Mr. Kai. You sure have a keen sense of perception, don't you?"

He picked up a staff from the nearest table and showed it to Eluard.

"Mr. Kai, I present to you the Ice Crystal Staff. Consider giving it to the most accomplished ice elemental user that you know and you will see that their powers are amplified to a high degree."

Wyn caressed the staff. Its base was cracked in many places but was filled with dark-colored ice, gluing the fragments.

Mana flowed through the ice, glowing like Christmas lights.

On its head were five diamond-shaped white-bluish crystals floating harmoniously. The middle one was large while the rest were small.

[ Ice Crystal Staff (Rare) ]

[ A staff imbued by the natural characteristics of ice. It is cold to the touch and might cause frostbite to non-ice elemental mages and wizards. ]

[ Passive Effect: Glacial Aura

Ice-based magic spells are 150% more effective. Ice-based magic spells have a 15% reduced mana consumption. Ice-based magic spells are casted 10% faster. ]

[ Passive Effect: Cold Glare

The staff imbues coldness to the wearer's mind and body. ]

Wyn felt the cold biting him and immediately returned the staff to the table.

"Ah, very, very cold, Mr. Kai. I would be careful to touch it if I were you.", Wyn advised.

"This staff interests me. How much does it cost, Sir Wyn?", Eluard asked.

Wyn bowed, "200 blue magic crystals, Mr. Kai."

He wanted to say something additional but Eluard cut him off.

"Deal.", Eluard handed out 200 blue magic crystals to Wyn without hesitation.

'Eh?!', the two elves stared at Eluard with great shock.

'He-he didn't have to appraise it? Isn't he afraid of being scammed by this profiteer?!', Haera was dumbfounded.

Wyn held Eluard's shoulders, "Wait, Mr. Kai! I think you should have this appraised again first before you-"

"No need. I have my ways, Sir Wyn.", Eluard said before picking up the staff and storing it in his inventory.

He continued onto the next table and scrutinized the rainbow-colored powder stored in a jar.

[ Diffusal Powder (Rare) ]

[ A powder used for pill concoction or array formation. It can also be used as a cooking ingredient and add/remove flavor to/from the dish. It has strong dispersing characteristics. ]

'This could be useful later.', Eluard turned around, "The diffusal powder?"

"5-5 magic crystals for every 100 grams, Mr. Kai.", Wyn stuttered. He didn't expect that this young man was that direct.

'He even knows the name of that powder!'

Eluard purchased it and continued walking around the room, buying things that were noteworthy in his eyes. Out of the 900 goods that Wyn displayed, Eluard bought 200 from the list.

[ Inventory ]

[ White Magic Crystals x4589

Blue Magic Crystals x667

Purple Magic Crystal x1

Staff of Demonic Oblivion (Epic) x1

Ice Crystal Staff (Rare) x1

Diffusal Powder (Rare) 700g

Eye of the Broken Basilisk (Rare) x 5

…

]

'Hmm… I still have half a thousand blue magic crystals. And I'm planning to sell more of the demon beast materials back at the Woodland Bar.', Eluard thought as he looked at his inventory.

Meanwhile, Haera and Wyn dumbfoundingly stared at Eluard as if he was some monster.

"Miss Haera, isn't his storage space strangely large?", Wyn whispered.

"Uncle Wyn, that, I do not know either.", Haera shook her head. It seems like there was more than just the elemental spell shifting about Eluard.

"Also, Miss Haera, haven't you noticed?", Wyn gossiped again.

"What is it now, uncle?!"

Wyn giggled, "That young man, he isn't giving you any attention at all!"

Haera's expression darkened. She realized that Eluard has been able to avoid her exquisite beauty even though they'd been together for a while now.

"Ah, Miss Haera. To think the day would come where you're the one who is being rejected instead…"

Haera pinched Wyn's chubby tummy, "Ah, no stop! Goddess, no!"

The commotion dragged Eluard out of his daze. He approached Wyn with a smile, "Sir Wyn, it seems like that will be all I could buy for today. I'm running low on money so…"

Haera breathed a sigh of relief after knowing that Eluard wasn't able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Wyn waved his hands, comforting Eluard.

"Mr. Kai, if you have something to sell, you can approach us as well. If you want it, I can call an appraiser now and buy from you."

Eluard scratched his face, "Well…"

Haera stepped in and told Eluard, "Mr. Kai, the Woodland Bar and the Elven Emporium are under the jurisdiction of the same set of owners. I only sent you to the Woodland Bar yesterday to confirm something from you."

"Now that all is well, you don't have to worry much about making business with Uncle Wyn here."

Eluard was awed by how vast the elven lass' connections were.

"Then… I guess this will do instead?"

He took out the remaining of his loot. Wyn immediately sent 3 adept appraisers to his room and have them checked out.

The appraisers became fervent once they noticed how unusually flawless the quality of goods was.

"Oh! A perfectly harvested dark luminous wolf's hide and claws!"

"What about this clawed monkey's metallic claws? If anything, they're priced at 50 white magic crystals on how perfect they are!"

"This supple grounded barbed worm's meat! Damn it, let's get this over with quickly! My stomach is rumbling after smelling the delicious aroma from the raw meat."

…

The entire day passed with Eluard constantly buying and selling with Wyn on the Elven Emporium.

He was able to profit 2000 blue magic crystals even after purchasing the other materials he could get from Wyn's secret room.

Furthermore, due to how profitable their deal was, Wyn handed Eluard a premium Elven Emporium card, allowing him to buy from them, or any other branch, with a 20% discount. It also allowed Eluard to receive news and the highest priority should Wyn or the other branches decide to sell quality stuff on an auspicious day.

"That was tiring.", Eluard yawned.

"Tiring? Shouldn't you celebrate instead? You profited a lot earlier and you want to rest. You're wasting a good opportunity here.", Haera shook her head.

"Miss Haera, that was a collective effort from my junior brothers and sisters back at the Heavenly Magic Academy. Also, making money isn't easy, you know?", Eluard retorted.

Haera rolled her eyes at how dense this human was, 'I'm asking you to… to…'

She blushed but Eluard didn't seem to have noticed it. The human stared at the sky above as they made their way back to her residence.

"Mr. Kai…", Eluard looked at her, "What does it feel like being a student of the Heavenly Magic Academy?"

Eluard was confused, "Of all the questions you could ask, why ask the obvious one?"

"Just answer me!", Haera insisted.

He sighed, "Nothing different, really. It's just reading books, practicing magic, cultivating, and repeating them all, with some tasks given to us once in a while."

"Is that so… I thought it would be strict there or somewhere in between…"

Eluard coughed, "What do you mean by strict? I guess the entrance requirements might be a little strict but after that, everything else is the same."

"Those juniors of yours… do you miss them when you're out here in Aludia?", Haera continued.

"My juniors, huh? Not particularly missing them, but the change of environment does make me feel that way."

He was about to get teary-eyed when the carriage suddenly stopped. Haera was angered that her moment with Eluard was disturbed.

"Uncle Vermon, why have we stopped?"

"Miss, it's that conceited brat again.", Uncle Vermon helplessly replied.

Haera went out and saw three carriages blocking the way ahead.

"Vulture, what sort of ridiculous parade is this?", she shouted.

{Author's Note: Pronounced as vul-tu-re, not vol-ture.}

Vulture stood there proudly, "Oh my Goddess, why are you spending your time with a loathsome human instead of a noble elf like me?! Are you ignorant of my affections? Are you blind to my actions?!"

He started weeping like a dumb idiot.

"Vulture Winxys, you have no right to determine which people I choose to hang out with-!"

"Shut up! Shut up!", Vulture cut her off, "How dare you speak back to me, woman? You should shut up and let me finish my words!"

"Instead, you should lower yourself to me and offer your body you bitch!"

The moment he said those words, a large harrowing death reaper appeared behind Vulture and his men.

"Young Master!", one of his subordinates cried in horror.

Vulture turned around, "What?!"

Before he could react, the reaper quickly slashed Vulture's men into two. Their heads lobbed up in the air, glued in their faces the horror of death looking at them right in their eyes.

Blood sprayed out, sprinkling Vulture's body as if he needed some sort of bloody bath.

The scythe then absorbed the bodies like a black hole, leaving no trace of them ever existing.

Vulture cried fearfully, "Ah, my men! Who-who dared to do this?!"

Haera's carriage was opened.

"Mr. Kai?!", Haera and Uncle Vermon stared at him with fear.

They knew that it was him who conjured that horrific figure.

"Vulture… Winxys, right?", Eluard coldly glared at the elf.

[ Name: Vulture Winxys ]

[ Age: 26 years old (78 human years) ]

[ Race: Elf ]

[ Status: Current Heir of the Winxys Noble Household ]

[ Affiliation: Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary, Winxys Noble Household ]

[ Magic Power: Adept Wizard (Median Ring) ]

[ Magic Root: Profound Magic Root ]

[ Magic Affinity: Fire, Wind ]

Eluard scoffed at Vulture's attributes.

"A profound magic root, daring to look down upon a mythical magic root. Do you think that just because she's a woman means you have more authority than her?!"

Eluard manipulated the mana to slowly corrode this abusive elf's magic root and cultivation.

"Ah!", Vulture agonized in pain, turning his face into purple. His nerves were starting to bulge out of his body. He couldn't feel properly as everything inside him was being burned inside out.

"St-stop it, Mr. Kai!", Haera begged. Although Vulture was a scornful fellow, the household and people that backed him were powerful.

However, she had to admit that Eluard was also a very powerful wizard indeed. None of them noticed Eluard amassing his mana to attack Vulture and his people.

It simply came out of nowhere and when they realized what happened, they were already dead. Moreover, Eluard seems to know her magic root's rarity and of Vulture's just by a single glance.

"Luckily, my time is nearing and academy master has called me out. Otherwise, I would've obliterated you and the people behind you to dust.", Eluard threatened before conjuring a teleportation magic circle below him.

"Miss Haera, this is where we part ways for now. I'll be back to finish this later."