Hunter's Buzzare part 3

Seraphine kept staring at Desmond as she suddenly sighed "well it's not like I could stop you anyway with that kind of blind devotion to magic you'll fit right in with all those other magi if you ever make it that far that is. I'll get you that introduction into magic book set for you now.

"Wait, I only wanted to know the prices of those books I don't have any Drachma on me to buy them at the moment". Desmond was saddened by how he was unable to buy those books right now but, he had to find his home first and get cleaned up so he could exchange those monster cores for money.

Seraphine looked straight at Desmond "judging from your armor you must have just come back from clover forest so you must have gotten some kind of magical plant or monster core out there you can just use that to change for the books".

Desmond's eyes grew wide in surprise "I can trade my monster cores her".

"A lot of stores don't except monster cores or herbs for trade because of price fluctuations but you can here. You also may wind up taking a loss if you trade your monster core directly to us or we will end up on the losing end of the deal and not make a prophet but me and my husband have been doing this for years so it's gonna be hard to try and scam us." she really does not want to let this sale go, she really is one hell of a salesperson.

I nod my head in agreement It's not like I could have used those monster cores to do anything with so trading them for Magic books is most definitely worth it to me.

"Alright just give me a second to get them" I get down on one knee open my bag and take out the 3 shining monster cores which I hand off to seraphine.

She takes the cores and inspects them "let's see two small blue cores there beginner apprentice grade and most likely drowner cores. Only worth about one mage stone for the both of them you need 40 for them to equal one magic crystal still it's more than enough to pay for that introduction into magic package. The second one Is advance apprentice grade it's in good condition I don't know from what creature, but about 50 magic crystals on the low end".

"Hubby, mind taking out that new appraisal device I just bought" she through my monster core at Ragnar who caught it with one hand.

"Alright just give me a second" from under the counter he pulled out a wide black slab that had white carvings on it the same kind that are on my gun and bullets. The carvings glowed when he placed the green sphere on it.

"It appears to be from a sleeping death plant its worth I would say around 100 magic crystals. How In the world did you manage to get a monster core like this? Sleeping deaths are quite hard to kill for creatures. below the level of rank 1 their one of the toughest even with a group.

They may have a weak defense but they always put everything around them to sleep and then trap their prey in an illusion that is hard to break out of without the right potions. Since potions are so expensive there is basically no profit when hunting these things which is why so few even bother to do it". Ragnar had a look of suspicion when he looked at me it made me feel uncomfortable.

Since it was not something I had to keep a secret any way I just told him so he would not think I stole the thing while leaving out the important details and changing some things around I even took out the gun and knife I used and showed It to him.

"An enchanted flintlock with enchanted pullets the guns an old model worth about 300-400 magic crystals and the bullets about mage stones 10 each looks like even some of the runes are losing their power, but it does explain how someone as weak as you could defeat that thing so easily. The knife is about 100 to 150 magic crystals it only has one active not passive basic enchant making it sharper when you inject mana into it". To think you would get lucky enough to spot one of those things from a distance and shoot its stem before it could even spot you now aren't you lucky.

Ragnar handed me back my things as I asked him about the enchanted knife" This knife was gifted to me by an old friend but I have never used an enchanted blade before can you tell me how I inject my magic into it to activate the runes?".

"You must really suck at using magic to not even know how to do that. Listen up since everyone has some amount of magic in them well most of the time that is there are still those rare chances someone's born without magic. Everyone unconsciously releases Magic in every action they do. People who train in magic can stop that flow of magic from leaking out.

That's why at times you can find traces of magic on some of the greatest artworks in history or even fined some on your food when you're eating at a restaurant even if the person is not a mage.

Injecting magic Into something is easier than people think since we're always doing it. It's just hard to switch it from passively releasing it to actively releasing magic.

So, what you need to do is simply focus by feeling the flow of magic inside your body and directing In a way that feels comfortable to you. It helps if you imagine your body as a vast lake and you have a channel going from that lake up to your arm to the weapon".

Ragnar took back the curved dagger he handed to me to demonstrate what he said. As he held the weapon in his hand it glowed a soft light. The light was very faint though only comparable to a wisp of smoke. He then took out a block of wood from under the counter placed it on the table and cut it in half as easy as cutting through a steak. So there was still some resistance but, he ended up cutting it fairly cleanly in half.

My eyes grew wide after seeing this "this enchant is amazing it's so powerful".

"No, it's not its one of the most basic ones there are a bunch of things out there you could never hope to harm with only something like this" Ragnar shook his head feeling as though that old man's chances of becoming a mage had just worsened.

Desmond thought that these people were very useful they kept telling him all kinds of things he needed to know for free. It was all general knowledge but it was still things he did not know so he thought about making the most out of their kindness.

"I remember you were reading a scroll when I first walked in. I happen to have a few scrolls given to me for my protection, but he forgot to tell me what any of them did so I can't use any of them until I know their effects can you please identify them for me". Desmond then went into his bag and took out 5 rolled up scrolls and handed them to Ragnar.

He proceeded to unfurl the scroll place it on the table and turn it towards me while placing his finger on the top right corner. "You see these words up here it's modern Zedrick, not ancient Zedrick like how most spells are written or spoken in so you should be able to tell what the scrolls are yourself this one says, Earth Spike surge.

It creates a wave of earth spikes in every direction from the ground in any location you want within 30 feet that shoots up and stabs your enemy.

You also have one that says magic needles a lower level spell compared to magic missiles, acid splash, low-grade invisibility, and firestorm, that one's not actually half bad. Except for firestorm which is an advanced apprentice spell the rest are at an intermediate apprentice grade.

Activation requires no magic there are three ways to activate the scroll even tear it up, speak to spell name, or read the incantation. just so you know no one does the last one it takes too much time". He told me what all the scroll's effects did and their effective range.

He then handed me back all my scrolls I put them away and right after that his wife seraphine walked up to me with a pile of books wrapped up in hand. " Your Introduction into magic book set is there anything else you need". She had a sweet smile on her face as she asked me that.

I looked at the books she brought me the were not that thick as I had expected that's when I noticed this book set did not come with some important ones that he needed to know about magic.

"Yes, this book set doesn't seem to come with a book on how to read ancient Frazik, or how to read runes. There is also no book on how to make a magic circle, cast spells or a book about magical plants or creatures".

"Those books are not included in the public book set. A book on how to read ancient Zedrick is only 10 magic crystals, the book on how to read runes is 30 magic crystals, the book on the basics of creating a magic circle is 40 magic crystals, the book of magical plants and creatures depending on the one you want around 20 magic crystals. spellbooks we are not allowed to sell anything beyond Beginner Apprentice Grade and depending on the kind of spellbook you want it'll be between 20 and 100 magic crystals each".

I still did not know the value of magic crystals but if I treat every magic crystal I see like 100 dollar bills than I start to get a sense of how expensive everything is.

"I want the book on how to read ancient Zedrick, ancient runes, and one book with the most information about magical plants and creatures. I would also like a book about the history of Theotera, and a map of the world, a map of the clover forest and a map of the city". I've been lost and stupidly walking around for far too long I really need those maps.

"We don't have a map of Theotera but we do have a book with a map in it for 3 magic crystals. Those 2 other maps are only 200 drachma (or 2 Gold Mines). Will that be everything you wish to purchase". She said with a smile.

"Yes, that's all I would like to buy today. I may not know the true value magic crystals I can still feel the sting in my pocket. My piecing together everything I know about prices in this world currently it's no wonder that guard said Magi apprentices are broke. She started to walk off to grab my books when I suddenly stopped her.

"Wait a moment, please I am a bit lost currently can you direct me toward the underground" I have been searching all around for where I lived yet no memories are surfacing so either I'm missing an obvious clue or this man used to live somewhere in that place they call the underground.

"Sure I can help you, see we're currently on the intersection between District D and C called morning road. If you want to reach the trains heading Underground you'll have to go towards the tall Bell Tower in the distance. You'll see it if you just look up the bell towers signifies the train depot in this area". She quickly answered my question before promptly leaving grabbing my books and handing them to me.

"That all comes out to 68 magic crystals and 200 drachma (or 2 Gold Mines) your change is 31 magic crystals and 19 and 3/4's of mage stones and since mortal money does not transfer well with the money magi use you have the option of 99 gold mine and 98 Drachma or you could buy more books". The lady was a splendid sale man as she told me this.

So, magi don't accept those bills I keep seeing as payment "can In open a tab here and put that money in it I plan on coming back there are still more books I need to buy. Just give me 800 Drachma (8 gold mine)." Carrying all those bills in my pocket would be annoying anyway. Magic Crystals are apparently a better form of payment anyways.

"Of course you can, may I have your name please"

"My name is Desmond Gillies" She had taken my name down and hands me my money in a leather pouch. The magic crystals were the length and width of my finger making them annoying to carry. They were light blue and looked like they had a rainbow inside of them. The drachma was in paper form like dollar bills just silver and had pictures of mages on them. They ranged from they came in the form of 1, 10, 20, 50, and 100 bills.

"They're even able to put pictures of themselves on their money magi really are full of themselves, I can't wait to become one".

After that, I leave the store with all my books in tow heading toward that train depot to find my home while looking towards a bright future.