Chapter 43: Bargains!
The news quickly reached Modo through special channels.
When the message arrived at Soren via magical communication, it was already noon the next day. By this time, Soren had left the initial town and arrived at a large city near the desert region. This city is very old; although it has been destroyed many times throughout history, it has always been rebuilt by monks. It is an important stronghold for monks and one of the few places in the Material Plane where one can learn the “Sunfire Style” through conventional means.
Many adventurers aiming to advance as monks came here to train, hoping to master the “Sunfire Style” and “Moonshadow Style” upon reaching legendary status.
Soren’s purpose in coming here was to learn Shadow Steps.
A special combat skill, which, in quantified terms, grants additional abilities of “+2 to Initiative” and “+1 to Evasion” once mastered.
The Eastern Kingdom has a unique culture.
Although one can train “Expertise in Initiative” on the other side of the continent, its practical combat effectiveness is no match for the footwork of the Eastern Kingdom.
Soren would definitely not be able to learn the Sunfire Style and Moonshadow Style.
Unless he planned to advance as a monk to a legendary level, he could still grasp some unique specialty training methods of monks, and Shadow Steps is one such [Special Specialty].
Additionally,
In the Eastern Kingdom, one can also train extra specialties such as “Rapid Strike,” “Sword Draw Technique,” and “Swift Movement,” among others.
This city uses an Eastern language, and its name translates to “Desert Ark.” It is a gathering place for Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral monks, who have guarded several underground ruins that seal ancient evil artifacts for generations. Because of the unique teachings of the monks, many ascetics who have taken the “Oath of Poverty” can be seen here. They are almost indifferent to material possessions, completely in pursuit of spiritual transcendence.
The city’s population is around fifty thousand.
Most cities in the Eastern Kingdom have a small population. Only in areas near fertile lands do cities with populations exceeding one hundred thousand appear.
The Desert Ark has three monasteries.
As soon as Soren arrived here, he saw a group of dwarves. It is rare to see bearded dwarves in the Eastern Kingdom, but because the monks have accepted dwarves as monks, there is a specialized dwarf monk team here.
The stout and hardy dwarf monks specialize in the “Vajra Body” and are first-rate tanks in the Eastern Kingdom.
To the south of the city is a weapon shop called “Broken Sword.” This is one of Soren’s objectives for this trip, as there are good things inside this blacksmith shop.
Across from the blacksmith shop is a tavern, and standing at the entrance, one can see a languid dance maiden resting on the counter. This city does not allow any establishments of ill-repute; even the Eastern Empress would not dare to violate such rules, as the teachings of the monk groups here are strict. Many of them do not keep overnight wealth. Establishing such places openly would be a blatant slap in the face. However, the monk order does not inquire too much about any illicit activities that might happen in the shadows.
After all, they cannot expect ordinary people to adhere to the same doctrines as they do.
The owner of the Broken Sword blacksmith shop is an unassuming middle-aged man, who appears quite robust. He usually just forges and drinks, with a few apprentices working under him.
If Soren hadn’t seen him in action before, he wouldn’t believe that this seemingly ordinary middle-aged man is a high-ranking Sword Saint.
“What would the customer like?”
The middle-aged man in the blacksmith shop glanced at Soren with apparent disinterest and lazily said, “We have all kinds of weapons here. If you need exotic weapons, we can customize them. But the price will be higher.”
The Eastern Kingdom has many exotic weapons.
Some monks even use sickles as weapons, resembling a smaller version of the grim reaper’s scythe.
Many monks choose to fight unarmed. Therefore, the blacksmith shop doesn’t do very well; Soren cannot afford to delay in the Eastern Kingdom for too long, as the second wave of abyssal demons will soon arrive, so he went straight to the point: “I’ve heard you have some items from underground ruins for sale?”
“I want to pick a few.”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s eyes narrowed. After sizing Soren up, he said, “Follow me.”
Creak.
The middle-aged man opened a gate after entering a room, revealing an entrance to a basement.
Soren quickly followed him inside. The basement was spacious; on the left side were rows of weapon racks, while the right side looked more like a garbage pile, filled with all sorts of strange and peculiar items.
This is a Sword Saint from the Lawful Evil Faction.
His hidden identity is the leader of a gray organization that often violates bans to enter forbidden underground ruins in search of treasures.
Thus, one can find some rare good items here.
Many underground ruins seal terrifying monsters, and the monk order does not favor adventurers disturbing those places that seal ancient evil artifacts. However, many locations where evil artifacts appear are remnants of the Arcane Empire, containing a wealth of priceless items. Therefore, some organizations will secretly explore those areas, and the monks are also helpless; sometimes they even have to clean up after them. Recently, it was unclear which idiots opened the seals of the ruins, resulting in several Abyssal Bolsheviques escaping from underground ruins.
Soren glanced around and began rummaging through items.
Utilizing his foresight advantage, Soren could identify some valuable items in advance, but due to his current status as a deity, only items of significant value could attract his attention.
Soon!
Soren dug out a broken mask from a pile of garbage.
The mask is made of bone and appears somewhat sinister. Its surface is severely damaged but still emanates a faint spell light.
“How much for this?”
After picking up the mask and weighing it, Soren asked.
The middle-aged man squinted slightly, examined it seriously, and after a moment, said in a deep voice, “Three thousand Gind.”
An outrageous price.
In the middle-aged man’s mind, this mask is certainly not worth that much, but Soren did not care, directly accepting it and preparing to leave after paying.
He came here specifically for this mask.
Now that the mask was in hand, Soren left the blacksmith shop and intended to buy a book on learning Shadow Steps through the black market.
This mask is a legendary-level item.
However, it is now severely damaged and will be quite troublesome to repair. A legendary item alone isn’t enough to warrant Soren’s personal visit; what’s more valuable is the spell inscribed upon this mask.
——”Illusory Image [8th Circle Spell]!”
Of course.
If it is called “Illusory Image,” it doesn’t sound impressive; but if it is renamed to the temporary version of “Avatar,” it instantly sounds more prestigious.
……………………(To be continued ~^~)
