Gathering Information

As he strolled toward the nearest black market, he decided to check his status window for any updates. Lo and behold, there was a noticeable change in the HB progress bar – it had increased.

Honestly, he almost forgot that progress bar existed. It had been months since there had been any changes. Let's see, the last time there was movement was when he spooked out that guy.

Now, what about this time? Hm, no changes after he dealt with the rabbit leader. Ah, but there was a bump after meeting with the three apprentices. Oh, and he always glanced at the status window to keep tabs on his total mana. Sure, he could gauge his mana based on feeling, but seeing the exact number was more reliable.

Anyway, circling back to the progress bar, what's the deal with meeting those apprentices and spooking out that guy? Wait... did he also spook out the three apprentices? Seriously?!

Did he really have to scare people to fill up that progress bar? Well, guess he had no choice. He had to do what he had to do to fill it up because there was something he really wanted from the list of abilities provided by [Hidden Boss].

That something was the ability [Thousand Faces]. He had a hunch that it would be super handy. And he was pretty sure it had more uses than just changing body forms. Just like [Hidden Strength], [Thousand Faces] probably had some extra tricks up its sleeve.

Before long, he reached the black market.

It was a bustling place, filled with magic beast materials. Three stories tall and pretty spacious. Even the first floor had this fancy vibe going on. Cabinets showed off samples of their goods, and if you wanted to buy something, the staff would go fetch it from the back.

As he checked out the shop, a staff member came up to him with a pro smile. "Greetings and welcome to Nephilm Treasure. May I inquire if you require any assistance?"

"Yeah, I wanna sell materials from 11 horned rabbits," he said, but then realized he only had the parts from 10 "small" rabbits taken apart. The big one was still intact. He should've asked the three apprentices to handle the big one earlier. Facepalm moment. "But, uh, there's one body that's not been dismantled yet."

The receptionist looked surprised for a sec before saying, "No worries, sir. Follow me to the back."

She took him to a chill reception room in the back, served him some tea, and said she'd call the store manager to help out.

After just five minutes, the receptionist and manager showed up. As soon as the manager arrived, they went to the warehouse. Inside, loads of folks were busy with big magic beast corpses – some were slicing, some were cleaning, and some were packaging materials.

The manager led him and the receptionist to the magic beast disassembly spot and pointed to an empty space. "Alright, you can start taking out the horned rabbits materials here," he said.

Before he got started, he asked the manager and receptionist to step back a bit. "Actually, a bit further back," he said, seeing their confused looks. Once they moved back, he laid out all his materials – a giant rabbit corpse and the parts from the 10 small rabbits. Together, they made two impressive piles.

The manager's face was totally shocked when he saw the giant rabbit corpse. Zack didn't know it was one of the rarest variants around, but he figured it would've taken at least 2 or more top-level 3 apprentices to bring it down.

Meanwhile, Zack toned down his mana to match that of a 2nd-grade apprentice wizard, aiming for a surprise rather than a scare with the manager and receptionist. He wanted to see if just surprising them would affect his progress. Checking his status window, he saw changes, but the progress bar only went up by 5%.

He sighed at the small gain, wondering why it was so tiny. But hey, something was better than nothing, right? And he made a mental note that surprising others seemed to count too, not just scaring them.

The manager seemed surprised for a moment before calling over one of the dismantling teams. Meanwhile, Zack closely observed how they dismantled the giant rabbit corpse. He already knew how to handle the smaller rabbit corpses but was curious if the same methods applied to the giant one.

As it turned out, the methods were indeed similar, with only minor differences. Once the giant rabbit was dismantled, the manager inspected the materials. The parts from the 10 smaller rabbits were a bit flawed due to the prolonged fights with the apprentices, despite Zack dispatching them cleanly with one slash each.

Surprisingly, the giant rabbit corpse was in good condition. Zack's lightning hadn't damaged it much, and the fight had been brief, ending with a clean stab.

The parts from the giant rabbit were valued at 1000 low-quality mana stones, while those from the smaller rabbits were valued at 400. He could have gotten 800 mana stones for the smaller rabbit parts, but he chose to keep the horns, which contributed half of their value. He needed them to complete a mission in the tower.

However, he decided to let go of the giant rabbit's horn because he didn't want to attract attention at the magic tower. The horn was four times bigger than those of the smaller rabbits – a massive piece that would clearly indicate a confrontation with a magic beast far beyond the capability of a 2nd-grade apprentice.

Then, Zack inquired with the manager about a place that sold information. Following the manager's directions, he made his way to the mentioned establishment.

As he approached the front door, he couldn't shake the feeling that the place looked shady as hell. The gloomy stone color, simple decoration, and black sand all screamed shady. Despite its dubious appearance, the establishment had a steady stream of customers coming and going, all wearing masks like him or donning hoods that obscured their faces.

Upon entering, he was greeted by a receptionist and then escorted by a waiter to a booth on the second floor.

The second floor was divided into numerous corridors lined with small booths or rooms on each side. Customers could pay and ask their questions inside these rooms.

Without wasting any time, Zack asked about the whereabouts of level 1 wizards in the area. He specified that he was in the northern border of the Fulminar Empire, located on the west side of the tower, and wanted information about those in the northwest area of the empire. Ideally, he wanted information about level 1 wizards across the entire empire.

After some thought, the informant replied, "If you want the exact locations of each wizard, it'll cost you 10,000 low-quality mana stones." The informant carefully studied Zack's mask and body language. Seeing Zack's prolonged silence, he added, "However, if you're interested in a rough power distribution map of the northwest area, it'll only be 100 low-quality mana stones."

The informant explained that the power distribution map contained locations and territories of small organizations in the area. Zack agreed to this option. After paying 100 low-quality mana stones, he received a map and a small book from the informant.

Zack carefully examined the map, noting that each organization's territory was marked by a symbol. He quickly located the symbol corresponding to each organization in the booklet to gather more information. However, he soon realized that the information provided was only a rough estimate of each organization's power.

For example, the Fulgor Union, headed by a level 1 wizard, consisted of 10 level 3 apprentices, over 40 level 2 apprentices, and more than 100 level 1 apprentices. The information didn't specify the stage of advancement for each wizard or apprentice within their respective levels.

In the northwest area of the Fulminar Empire, there were 10 small organizations, while there were also 2 large organizations represented by the magic towers on the western border. Zack obtained information about the magic towers for free, as it was common knowledge.

However, this map didn't meet Zack's needs. He was certain that the heads of the small organizations had already reached the peak level of 1 wizardry. Typically, wizards preferred to remain inside the tower until reaching peak level 1 before venturing out to establish their own organizations.

Knowing he couldn't stand against a peak level 1 wizard, Zack didn't entertain the idea of capturing them. Instead, he inquired about any independent or "loose" wizards. The informant remained silent, prompting Zack to push 10 mana stones before the informant finally spoke up.

The informant's response was disheartening – there were no loose level 1 wizards. Each of them was either affiliated with one of the big organizations or leading a small organization.

Frustrated, Zack cursed inwardly. If targeting loose level 1 wizards wasn't an option, then his only choice was to go after the level 1 wizards from the magic towers. It was a last resort, as he knew he had no chance against the small organization's heads. He made a mental note to avoid killing any level 1 wizards to avoid complications.

He then requested information that could lead him to level 1 wizards, reluctantly paying the hefty fee of 1000 low-quality mana stones. The informant disclosed that near the western mountains, a new small magic realm had been discovered. Representatives from the fire and earth magic towers were sent to gather materials and discuss the management of this realm, each led by a level 1 wizard.

Armed with this information, Zack wasted no time and headed towards the western mountains.