The Trade
Leylin led Kesha and Freya around his Magus Tower.
Kesha oohed and aahed at everything, while Freya was much quieter, as though there was something on her mind.
“Whew… Junior Leylin, I take back what I said earlier. You’re not only much richer than me, you’re a lot richer than even Senior Lucian!” Kesha said, pleased. She was half-lying on the sofa in the living room without the slightest care about her wardrobe malfunction.
“In my opinion, even Lucian’s Magus Tower might not be as luxurious as yours, Leylin! I’m afraid that only a handful in the entire central continent would be as fancy!”
“Senior! Don’t say such things!” Leylin laughed wryly as he raised his arms in defeat, “Why are you here today?”
Seeing his mentor conversing with guests, Snoopy served refreshments and quickly retreated, behaving like a waiter that had been groomed with utmost care.
“We are here to thank you, junior, for your care in the pocket dimension. We’d initially planned to compensate you with resources, but by the looks of it, you aren’t short on them, so we’ll have to make it up to you through other means…” Kesha licked her lips, “How about letting me keep you company for few nights? Any position works…”
“Hmm! Let’s talk about this another time…” Leylin laughed and changed the topic.
“Hmph! You’re still as boring as ever!” Kesha shook her head regretfully, “On Freya’s end, she’s here to ask a favour of you, hoping to make a trade with you!”
“A trade?” Leylin had his doubts, and instantly recalled the previous incident at the trading hall.
“Not that kind of trade! Of course, if Lord Leylin is willing to sell his seed, I will offer a high price!” Freya giggled with her hand over her mouth.
“I don't have any plans in this area just yet!” Leylin said with a straight face, realising that speaking to these women was indeed very tiring.
As though afraid to anger Leylin and cause the trade to fall through later, Freya was very obedient and didn't dare tease him.
“Actually, I’m offering a high price for a certain material that you possess.”
“Which material?” Leylin put his guard up in a split second.
“Bloodline crystals!” Freya took a deep breath and looked at Leylin expectantly.
“Oh, that!” A look of understanding flashed in Leylin’s eyes. Bloodline crystals had the potential to strengthen bloodlines, and even had the powerful effect of purifying them. Although they did not have much effect on Leylin, a Warlock whose bloodline was already purified to its limit, it was a priceless treasure to Freya whose family’s bloodline was showing signs of degradation.
“But… how did you know about them?” Although the question was posed to Freya, Leylin’s eyes were fixated on Kesha.
Under Leylin’s gaze, Kesha couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, before sitting up and saying arrogantly, “That’s right! I told her. You still have leftover bloodline crystals from the time when you performed the exchange with Mentor, right? You don’t have any family, so you don’t need them urgently. On the other hand, Freya is a good friend of mine, and the price she’s willing to pay will definitely satisfy you!”
Leylin stroked his chin. What he handed out on the Black Scale previously was only a portion of his possessions. He still had a secret stash of a few pieces in his spatial ring.
Of course, this was done on purpose for Gilbert to see. Otherwise, even a regular human would be suspicious of such a generous student.
There was no way sly old Duke Gilbert would believe him to be without a trace of selfishness, especially as a Magus.
Thankfully, everything went as Leylin had expected. Although Gilbert knew that Leylin had a stash in his spatial ring, he didn't pursue the matter, and instead was more assured.
Leylin’s secret stash was not tempting enough for Gilbert.
From the looks of it, Gilbert didn’t care about it, but that didn't mean that other high-rank Warlocks didn't. He must have been spreading the news, or else Kesha would not have known either.
“Bloodline crystals… I still have one remaining piece, but you should be very clear of its value. How much can you pay for it?” Leylin muttered, tapping his finger on the table rhythmically, as though struggling with the thought.
In actual fact, he had already decided to sell off all the materials he had shown, or else many people would have their eye on these items.
This time, it was Kesha and Freya, who were close to him. In the future, however, if crazier people like Miranda or Senior Lucian came over, what should he do?
Freya and Kesha exchanged looks of joy.
As long as they were willing to offer a price, everything would be settled. Their families had profound backgrounds and possessed much that was enticing to Leylin. Since Freya had made special preparations before coming, the items must be even more tempting.
“A set of the Hydro and Crystal Phase spell formations that have been passed down the generations in our family. They can increase the success rate when compressing your spiritual force by 10%!” Freya’s first sentence made Leylin’s eyes light up.
The compression spell formations inherited by such high-ranked Warlocks could not be compared to the normal goods exchanged in the Trading Hall of the Ouroboros Clan.
Furthermore, the other party was also a Giant Kemoyin Serpent Warlock, so the spell formations developed would be even more appropriate for bloodline Warlocks.
“That’s not enough!” Leylin kept a straight face.
“And this!” Freya pushed a red box before Leylin.
The box was small and had a grainy wooden texture, likely made from some bark. A loop of fiery red energy particles surfaced on the box, forming multiple seal patterns.
“What?!” Leylin furrowed his brows and blew lightly on the box.
*Whoosh!* Powerful yet fine black darkness elemental energy particles whizzed by, and the seal on the box started to disintegrate, tearing apart inch by inch.
"As strong as a Crystal Phase Magus!" Kesha gasped in awe, “The amplification from your Magus Tower is really terrifying!”
Freya was also shocked. She had purposely left the seal on the box as it was, with the intention of testing the waters, but it looked like Leylin’s abilities in his Magus Tower were far beyond her expectations.
As a matter of fact, within the amplification boundaries of the Magus Tower, Leylin could not only display strength comparable to a Crystal Phase Magus, but could even manipulate the energy particles in the positive and negative energy reactive pools to replenish what had been depleted. His magic power was endless.
If any average Crystal Phase Magus were to enter, they would waste all their spiritual force against him.
It could be said that within the range of his own Magus Tower, the only ones that struck fear in Leylin were Morning Star Magi.
In response to the exclamations made by the two women, Leylin’s expression did not change, as he opened the box.
At the bottom of the box was a thick layer of soft, pure white velvet.
And right in the centre of the velvet cloth was a red octagonal gemstone. A few intricate gold runes were swirling around in the jewel, much like tadpoles.
[Hall’s Jewel. Rarity: One of the three ancient wondrous items. Has the ability to greatly boost the compression of a bloodline Warlock’s spiritual force, and can increase the success rate of advancement to the Hydro Phase by 50%.]
The A.I. Chip swiftly transmitted the corresponding information to Leylin’s brain.
‘It’s actually Hall’s Jewel!’ Leylin was unable to mask his excitement. ‘Haven't these materials been lost since ancient times?’
With this gemstone, coupled with the Hydro Phase spell formation, his spiritual force would naturally enter the Hydro Phase without a bottleneck once he had sufficient spiritual force.
It was obvious how important this object would be to him.
Leylin took a glance at his condition that was presented in his consciousness.
[Leylin Farlier. Rank 3 Warlock (Vapour Phase). Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 23.6, Agility: 20.1, Vitality: 39.1, Spiritual force, 251.7; Magic power: 251(Magic Power synchronized with spiritual force)]
‘The minimum spiritual force required to enter the Hydro Phase is estimated to be around 300!’ Leylin recalled the statistics he had obtained from many simulated experiments through the A.I. Chip.
‘And with the Lamia fingerbone, if I artificially strengthen my bloodline, the rate of increase of my spiritual force wouldn't be too slow either, and I may attain it in a few decades!’
The two obstacles in a Magus’ progress would be accumulating spiritual force and breaking through the bottleneck.
Now that the problem of a bottleneck had already been solved by Freya, what's left was to slowly accumulate spiritual force. How could this not be a cause for joy?
Although Leylin tried to keep a straight face, Freya managed to catch a glimpse of happiness flicker across his face.
“It seems that Sir Leylin has taken a great liking to this item!” she smiled sweetly.
“Yes, the Hall’s Jewel is enough to make any Vapour Phase Magus go crazy!” Leylin nodded.
“If it's appropriate to ask, may I know where you found it? The Hall’s Jewel should have been wiped out with the extinction of the Sea of Gemstones!” Leylin stated his doubts.
“The Sea of Gemstones did vanish a long time ago, but it still existed in ancient times!” Freya smiled in response, “As long as you find more ruins from ancient times, it is still possible to find these gemstones.”
‘So this was the aim of their previous expedition…’ Thinking about how they returned full of severe injuries previously, and how even the Second Elder was forced to take action, Leylin felt his scalp go numb, and the gemstone even heated up.
“I initially wanted to give it to you without any conditions, but…” Freya expressed her regret, but Leylin was secretly afraid.
Thankfully, he owned something that she wanted, or else he would have a hard time deciding if he should accept the Hall’s Jewel should she have really sent it over as a present.
Once he took the bait, the other party would tempt him with more benefits in the future, landing him in a trap until he willingly married into her family.
Sadly, in the history of Magi, many with shockingly excellent inherent skills but yet without a background or much status were enticed into marrying into other families in this manner.
Although both parties would be satisfied in the end, Leylin was different from them.