Ellinel Market
After the green flames died down, what was left behind was a pile of white dust.
Leylin's expression was extremely solemn as he lightly dabbed on the dust. * Hu! * The dust swirled in the air, transforming into a female's face, "Enemy! Enemy!"
"This pathogen contains the poison of an aggrieved soul, no wonder it is so strong!" Leylin shook his head, took out a green-coloured potion, and splashed it onto that female face.
* Sssii! * The human face rapidly turned into white mist, vanishing completely into thin air.
"A.I. Chip, initiate scan!" Leylin ordered.
[Beep! Scan complete. Result: Pathogen in Host body has been completely eradicated!]
Hearing the A.I. Chip, Leylin's face finally revealed his relief.
He stretched lazily and touched the scars on his body, "It's a little unsightly! If Neela were to see these, what would her expression be like?"
After rummaging through the big chest, he found a potion and downed it.
A dozen minutes later, Leylin's superficial layer of skin quivered and forced out the layer of scars and dead skin replacing them with glossier skin.
"Once I got rid of the pathogen, healing the scars on my skin is just a matter of a few potions!"
Leylin touched the scars which were extremely faded now, "I estimate that after one more dose, these will be completely gone!"
Leylin then took out the remainder of the unfortunate black bear's paw and rewarded himself with a good meal.
While eating and drinking until he was full, the sky outside had already dimmed. Leylin lit a small fire inside the cave and began to think of the journey ahead.
"Doris has finally been disposed of. There aren't any pursuers remaining so I can rest easy while travelling!"
"The academy's mission isn't really important. After all, I have 3 years to complete it. I wonder how the academy is faring right now?" Although Leylin could enquire about news concerning Abyssal Bone Forest Academy in the market today, he did not dare to.
Who knows if there might be spies around. If he were to expose his identity, wouldn't that be like walking right into a trap?
He could only wait till he journeyed through half the kingdom before he could safely begin making inquiries.
Such a huge matter will definitely be a hot topic at Magi gathering points. He only has to be careful not to expose any information about himself.
"All of these could be dealt with later, what's important is to hurry and change all the potions into magic crystals. It is simply too inconvenient to lug all these huge chests around!"
Leylin patted the solid hard wooden chest. He thought of the miserable brown horse days ago that seemed like it would die anytime. He smiled bitterly.
"I can't go to the Walker family's market anymore. After all, I have just sold a number of potions there!"
Leylin mentally called up the map and located his current position.
"From the academy to Eastwoods Province, I have to travel through 5 other provinces. I can sell potions along the way. At best, I can only sell potions until Jersha Province.
On the map, the Jersha Province was midway to his destination There were two more provinces separating Eastwoods Province from it.
If he were to sell his potions all the way to Eastwoods Province, wouldn't that mean giving away his itinerary and purpose? Leylin wouldn't be so foolish as to do that.
Although he sold his goods along the way, others may not be able to discover it. After all, the trades did every day were numerous. Leylin, however, would rather be a little more cautious in safeguarding his tracks.
As for Jersha Province, it was in the central region of Poolfield Kingdom and was accessible from all sides. Other people would not be able to guess Leylin's destination at all.
"En!" Anyway, there is still time. If it's necessary I can reroute to further locations. In any case, I must be careful never to reveal my identity!"
Leylin looked the points marked as Magi gathering spots and entered into deep thought......
Two odd months passed.
On a path to Jersha Province, a sturdily built black horse carrying a wooden chest and a black robed man could be seen cantering along.
The black robed man had bright red hair and was extremely handsome.
This was naturally Leylin in disguise.
Ever since that time, as Leylin journeyed, he found some Magi gathering points or some small scale trading sites time to time, where he sold the potions he brewed.
As he only sold a few each time, he did not attract the avarice of other experts. Occasionally, some foolish acolyte blinded by greed would waylay him, but they were completely not his match at all. The most dangerous instance was when a level 3 acolyte brought a group of other acolytes to surround him. Still, Leylin managed to evade them with the help of the A.I. Chip's detection capability.
Through these trades, he acquired a few precious materials, and many books on specialised Magi knowledge, greatly enhancing the data bank of the A.I. Chip.
In these past two months, he finally recorded all the Shadow and Dark Element spell models he purchased previously. He then completely obliterated the contents of the book.
This lightened his luggage tremendously.
After selling a huge portion of his potions and getting rid of those bulky spell books, Leylin could fit all of his belongings into one chest.
According to his projections, he could simply travel with a knapsack after selling the remaining potions.
"I have underestimated the popularity of potions. Right now, I have amassed over 2,000 magic crystals. If not for purchasing information and other miscellaneous items, I might have gotten over 2500 magic crystals!"
Leylin stretched his hands and felt around his robes. A sack of hard texture travelled to his hands. He could not help but smile.
"Fortunately, there are high-grade magic crystals in this Magus World. One piece can be exchanged for 100 ordinary magic crystals. Otherwise, I would have a problem carrying all those magic crystals......"
"A.I. Chip, stat update!" Leylin ordered.
[Beep! Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte and Knight. Strength: 2.7, Agility: 2.8, Vitality: 3.0, Spiritual force: 4.6, Magic Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
"En! Strength and Agility increased. This is the result of continuous stimulation of my internal Knight energy. After it stabilises, I can begin to gradually take on the next phase of Knight's training. This should raise all my stats to at least 3! As for spiritual force, it only increased a little. This was the only return I got after a number of life and death situations. Magus training, as expected, is only going to get more and more difficult!"
Leylin sighed and mentally projected the map again.
On the huge map, Jersha Province was in the central region of Poolfield Kingdom. There were many small Magus families here.
Although this was the capital of a regular human kingdom, it attracted all sorts of travellers, many wandering Magi, and even criminal Magi.
These Magi, because of their radical opinions, or some other matter, were exiled from their previous association, faced with persecution, or even put up on bounty lists. They turned into wandering Magi, often making them very dangerous people.
"In Jersha Province, it just so happens that there is a huge Magus market controlled by the Redbud family, one of the three big families supporting Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. I will definitely be able to obtain the latest news here!"
In these past two months, Leylin had secretly made inquiries about the various news related to the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. However, the information he got were all rather vague. He only knew that it was at war with some factions to its west. As for its opponents, and how the academy was faring, everything was extremely hazy.
"We're here, Ellinel Market. I'll sell my remaining potions and ask about news of the academy before resuming my journey."
Leylin decided.
......
In a tiny village's ruined wharf.
"If not for the intelligence report, I would never have believed that the first Magus market in the Poolfield Kingdom would actually be hidden underneath a regular human village".
As Leylin scanned the village's surroundings, a lifeless atmosphere greeted him.
"The Magus market should be below here since there are signs of occasional radiation emanating from it. The villagers above are also definitely sickly, where some might even die suddenly. How would they be able to flourish? I'm afraid after a dozen or so years, this village would become another ghost town!"
Leylin adjusted the grey robes on his body and covered his facial features, before coming to the entrance of a hut made of bricks.
The corroded door let out a dull noise as Leylin knocked lightly.
"Who are you?" An icy voice sounded from inside.
"I am a wandering acolyte, who wishes to have a look at the market!"
* Creak! * The large door opened and revealed a black robed figure.
Leylin was shocked; he felt murderous intent oozing from the black robed figure. This may be a very obscure concept but if one killed too many of their kind, they will definitely be different from others. The feeling that this black robed figure gave Leylin was that many experts of the same level died in his hands.
"As expected of a large market, even the guard is so fierce!" The black robed figure emitted the energy waves of a level 3 acolyte. He even carried a one-time use magical item. It could not escape the A.I. Chip's detection, though.
"No matter if it's your first time or not, I will enumerate the rules. Any fights inside the market will be deemed as a provocation by the Redbud family." The black robed figure said icily.
Only then did Leylin notice the Redbud insignia on his sleeves.
"I understand!" Leylin nodded his head.
"Alright, the fee would be 1 magic crystal!"
After Leylin paid the entry fee, the black robed figure tapped lightly on the fireplace, and steel machinery rumbled. The fireplace swung to the right revealing a flight of stairs going downwards.
"Even the style is reminiscent of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy!" Leylin shook his head.
After entering the tunnel, the fireplace swung shut, and the passage dimmed once more with only a few lamps dimly glowing in the depths.
Leylin descended the stairs. After he felt he had gone a dozen metres underground, a huge cavern emerged.
The market was extremely huge. It was the size of several football fields. The ceiling was studded with some kind of stalactite that made Leylin wonder if they were natural.
In the middle of the market, buildings built using grey rocks were lined up in a row. Surrounding them was a circle of wooden huts. As for the street stalls, they were actually rather sparse.
Magi and acolytes wore robes of various colours; white, black, and grey-robed people could be seen stepping in and out of the shops.
Leylin began to understand the rules of the Magus World a little better.
Normally, official Magi would either wear black or white, and acolytes would wear grey. White represented the factions that were more peace loving, for example, the healing arts and the like. As for the black robes, they leaned more towards combat, and their dispositions were rather strange too.
Of course, these are the conventionally attired ones. There were also some Magi who wore various odd looking costumes that were rather bizarre.