Port City of Melen.
A fishing city located three kilometers southwest of Orario on the shores of Lolog Lake. Known as "Orario's entrance to the sea", ships from foreign countries visit daily to trade goods.
Every day, merchant vessels sail into this brackish lake connected to the sea, unloading countless goods.
These goods gather in Melen before being transported to Orario's trading district. Orario's exports follow the same route; numerous magic stone products concentrate here before being shipped worldwide.
"Hmm, so this is the gem fruit! A treasure guarded by the fearsome Green Dragon!"
Near an unloading cargo ship, Kael held an unusual crystal fruit with hardness comparable to fine steel as he tried to explain its worth.
The chienthrope merchant stroked his beard worriedly, "It certainly looks like a gem fruit, but with this hardness, no one could swallow it. Are you sure you're not trying to fool me with painted mithril?"
The merchant wasn't unwilling to buy the strange fruit in the kid's hand, but fear of the unknown made him hesitant.
Kael frowned, "Don't joke around. You know what mithril costs — if this were really mithril, you could make a fortune selling it for V$100,000 each."
The merchant replied bluntly, "Precisely. If I treat it as metal for processing and it turns out unusable, wouldn't I be left with nothing?"
I might be a bit dishonest, but you're a real dog!
"With your mindset of wanting to make money without taking risks, you'll never make big profits." Kael sighed. He snapped his fingers, and a fireball appeared in his palm, "Watch!"
"Oh, so you're a mage?!" The merchant's contemptuous gaze suddenly turned respectful.
Kael carefully brought the fruit in contact with the flame. With a popping sound, the fruit began to expand, emitting a peppery aroma. As it heated evenly, the fruit's surface slowly cracked, gradually splitting from the center to reveal pure white, tender flesh.
He took a piece and put it in his mouth. A refreshing fragrance rushed to his taste buds, and his mental energy seemed to gradually recover. He raised his eyebrows, gesturing for the merchant to try.
The chienthrope merchant cautiously called a servant, who tried a piece first. After waiting about 10 minutes, seeing his servant unharmed, the merchant finally put a piece in his mouth.
In that moment, his pupils dilated and his face flushed. "Good, good stuff!"
It seemed to restore mental energy! And... his "brother" that his wife had been complaining about for being flaccid suddenly felt vigorous again!
His sensitive nose immediately detected the tremendous business opportunity.
Kael grinned, removed all the fruit flesh, and took out the iron-hard seed inside.
"Now take a look at this..."
"This..." The chienthrope merchant hesitantly accepted it. Though he didn't understand magic, the seed's material resembled the rumored "Great Holy Tree wood"!
"Could this be a fruit produced by the Great Holy Tree?"
Wrong, it's a treasure condensed by spirits! Albeit a fallen one...
Kael knew very well that what the elven race called Great Holy Trees were all inhabited by Spirits year-round. Rather than saying the trees possessed magical conductivity, it was more accurate to say that the Spirits' migration magic transformed them into Great Holy Trees.
The gemstone trees inhabited by spirit avatars and the jewel fruits that fell from them had essentially assimilated with the spirits' bodies, becoming extremely precious.
The merchant realized this too, his eyes growing eager, "How many of these fruits do you have? I'll take them all!"
Kael grinned...
"Brother, I told you, being too cautious won't make you big money." He held up five fingers, "This is the price now."
"500,000?!" The merchant glanced at Kael's backpack, which contained at least 100 similar fruits.
Greed flashed in his eyes — this kid was wandering around with V$50,000,000 worth of goods! As the greed quickly passed, the merchant recalled the boy's casual magical display.
His pupils contracted slightly — this kid used magic without chanting!
His face suddenly broke into a fawning smile as he handed over his business card, "Young man, 500,000 it is! I'll take them all, just to make a friend!"
Kael took the card and tucked it away, "You can call me Joker. Since you're so agreeable, I'll contact you if I come across more good stuff in the future."
"Thank you, thank you!" The merchant obsequiously handed over a gnome bank gold card, "This is my unnamed gold card at the Orario bank. It contains 50 million valis in deposits. I'll pay the rest in sacred gold coins."
Kael glanced at the gold card; he'd never seen such a high-end item before. But it definitely contained a miraculous magical aura similar to that of the gnome elder, so it didn't seem fake.
He then took the money pouch, counted it briefly, and poured out all his gem fruits, "No problem. A total of 55.5 million valis. Money and goods exchanged, until we meet again."
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After Kael left, two mysterious figures emerged from the cabin — one tall and one short, one stocky and one thin — their faces concealed by black and gray cloaks.
The chienthrope owner fawningly presented the Gem Fruit to the two.
"Sir, this seems to be a high-magic crop even purer than the Great Holy Tree branches. Would you like to try it?"
The black-robed bulky man stepped forward, grabbed the fruit and tossed it into his mouth. An astonishing cracking sound came from within his mouth. After a pause, he spat out some wooden fragments.
"No good, it's too hard. Can't bite through it, can't swallow it. But... no problem, it tastes like gem fruit. Looks like a drop item from a level 5 plant monster."
"Hmph, a mere child actually managed to obtain an item of this caliber." The figure paused, "Hmph, we should investigate Orario's current capacity first."
He crushed the high-quality metal-like fruit core with just his teeth, leaving the merchant stunned.
The other gray-robed figure elegantly held the fruit and summoned her magic power. Her hand trembled slightly, causing the skin to crumble and reveal the pure white flesh inside. She took a small bite and chewed slowly.
After a moment, she felt the unstable magic power in her body gradually settling, her muscles relaxing noticeably.
Her full lips, visible beneath the gray robe, moved: "Not bad."
The black-robed man sneered, "I'm looking forward to the opponents we might encounter in present-day Orario. I hope they won't disappoint me."
"They're probably just annoying background noise." With that, the gray-robed figure returned to the cabin.
"You're not going?"
"No. I have personal matters." The gray-robed person recalled the image of an old acquaintance.
Should I... go see that child?
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On the main road of the port city.
Kael strolled leisurely through the prosperous town, hidden under a black cloak. The slightly humid sea breeze seemed to dispel any gloom, allowing his spirits to bathe in warm sunlight.
He stood in front of a pancake stall, waiting patiently for his food.
He thought to himself: 'I hit the jackpot this time, earning nearly 50 million valis in one go. Come to think of it, half of this haul belongs to Ais... hehe, never mind, she's still young and has no use for money. I'll keep it for her.'
Thinking of that girl, he figured she was probably already enduring Riveria's Spartan-style scolding. She might even be thrown into the water, forced to learn swimming...
Pfft...
Imagining that Ais would still be a landlubber seven years later, Kael couldn't help but giggle.
Being with cute girls is always so wonderful and memorable. It also easily creates illusions... Like, whether she might like me or not.
Forget it, we're probably just temporary teammates using each other. Women would only slow down my path to becoming stronger.
They also make one overlook potential risks...
Kael raised his head and looked at the pancake vendor, "Boss, how long have you been making pancakes?"
"Ten years, why?"
Ten years making egg pancakes and you're still making them so broken and burnt?
"Nothing..." Kael shut his mouth.
In his previous life, people who were clearly unskilled at their profession but boasted about years of experience were either undercover cops or criminals.
Kael instinctively scanned his surroundings. Upon closer inspection, he noticed quite a few similar stalls. Even the passersby sometimes moved stiffly, as if deliberately patrolling.
"Customer, your pancake is ready."
"Ah, oh." Kael reflexively took it.
Noticing the owner's unfriendly gaze, he silently took out a crimson dagger from his pocket, skewered the scattered tenderloin meat, and put it in his mouth.
The air around them, which had seemed momentarily frozen, suddenly relaxed. Passersby and shopkeepers resumed their bargaining and chatting.
The pancake vendor leaned on his stall, teasingly mocking Kael. "Hey, which division are you from, and who's your superior? Dressed like that, if not for the dagger in your hand, I'd have thought you were a spy from Orario."
Kael broke into a cold sweat. "I'm from the Rudra Familia. My big brother is Jura Halmer. Um, senior, this street..."
"No wonder, those slave traders don't care about these things." The owner chuckled, "You guessed half right. Half of the entire port town is our people. But this information must be kept secret from Orario. You can't go around dressed in black like this. Come with me, I'll get you a change of clothes."
"You're actually pretty nice." Kael couldn't help but remark.
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T/N: Favorite, comment and save to your library of best reads in the world, thank you for reading this far!
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