The Method of Tempering

The Method of Tempering

"But your talent is decent enough."

The stall owner toyed with Ronan's two Cleaning Runes, glanced at him, and said, "So what do you mean? Planning to sell them to me?"

"Just tell me whether you're buying or not."

"I am, of course."

The stall owner nodded and said flatly, "Two Cleaning Runes, one and a half Low-Level Magic Stones."

"Shouldn't it be two?"

Ronan grew anxious.

"Come on, that's the selling price. This is a purchase."

The stall owner replied irritably, "Try taking those two runes around the market and see if you can sell them. Who would normally buy one or two runes from a street stall? If they wanted them, they'd go to a proper rune shop."

"Then why are you running a stall here?"

Ronan clearly did not believe him.

The stall owner seemed a little helpless. "I set up a stall mainly to buy things. I can't exactly leave it completely empty..."

"Uh..."

"If you think the price is too low, take them to a proper rune shop yourself."

As he spoke, the stall owner tossed the two runes back in front of Ronan. "But don't say I didn't warn you. Proper rune shops are only in the Dwarf Market next door, and entering the Dwarf Market costs one Magic Stone each time. Besides, you're an unfamiliar face, and you're only selling two of the most basic general-purpose runes. The proper rune shops might not even take them..."

Ronan's expression shifted as he considered it again and again. In the end, he could only agree helplessly.

"Fine, fine. One and a half it is."

"Alright."

Once the deal was complete, the stall owner took the runes and gave Ronan one Low-Level Magic Stone along with fifty Magic Stone fragments.

Ronan then spent fifty Magic Stone fragments at the same stall to buy ten blank runes.

Perhaps seeing how truly poor Ronan was, the stall owner suddenly felt generous and gave him ten more for free. Then he patted Ronan on the shoulder and said with a sigh, "Kid, don't think you can start making money the moment you get started. The spending has only just begun. Think it over carefully."

Ronan understood what the stall owner meant.

A novice Rune Master's success rate at inscribing runes was far too low. They might not even succeed once in ten attempts.

It was difficult to recoup costs in the early stages. Only after thoroughly mastering a rune could one gradually turn losses into profit.

But Ronan had the panel's assistance. He improved with every inscription, and his success rate far surpassed that of ordinary Rune Masters. The stall owner did not know that.

After leaving the stall, Ronan eagerly took out the Low-Level Magic Stone he had just acquired.

It was no longer a Magic Stone fragment, but a genuine Low-Level Magic Stone, about the size of a pigeon egg.

Blackish in color, smooth on the surface, cool and hard to the touch.

Holding it in his hand, he could clearly sense the energy particles settled and accumulated within it.

Magic Stones were mainly used to provide energy for magical implements and rune arrays. Many alchemy experiments required them as well, which was why they had become the hard currency among wizards.

"I can come to this stall two or three more times at most. Otherwise, my talent for runes will be completely exposed sooner or later."

Ronan carefully put the Magic Stone into his coin pouch and made plans. "Once I save up some money, I'll go sell to rune shops myself."

Though the one Low-Level Magic Stone entrance fee for the Dwarf Market pained Ronan, it was nothing compared with his personal safety.

It would also save him the markup taken by middlemen.

Ronan took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was a little past three in the afternoon, still early, so he decided to stroll around the market some more.

With money in his pocket, his entire mindset changed.

Now Ronan even dared to stop before some stalls and ask the prices of things with an affected air.

"A low-grade zero-rank magical implement costs fifty Magic Stones? Too expensive, far too expensive."

Ronan walked away from one stall with a look of "disgust," completely ignoring the stall owner behind him shouting, "Forty-nine! Forty-eight!" as if Ronan could truly afford it after the price dropped.

After walking a little farther, Ronan's gaze suddenly settled on a stall covered in Black Leather Books.

His expression shifted slightly as he slowly approached.

The stall owner was a young man in his thirties. Rarely, he wore leather armor, and looked quite spirited.

Seeing a customer approach, the young wizard's eyes lit up. He warmly greeted Ronan.

"Take a look around. I have pretty much every spellbook below high-grade zero-rank."

Ronan sensed the faint spiritual power radiating from the young man, clearly many times stronger than his own. Knowing the other party was a Wizard Apprentice far stronger than himself, he remained quite polite. He nodded and began browsing carefully.

Just as the young wizard had said, his stall mainly sold spellbooks.

"Collection of Mid-Grade Zero-Rank Fire-Type Spells"

"Collection of Mid-Grade Zero-Rank Ice-Type Spells"

"Collection of Mid-Grade Zero-Rank [Electric-Type Spell]s"

These spellbooks were likely compiled and bound by the young wizard himself. Their covers were similar, and their titles were all the same, differing only in thickness.

Ronan picked up an electric-type spellbook and asked its price. After receiving a number he absolutely could not afford, he thought for a moment before hesitantly saying, "Actually... I wanted to buy a better Knight Training Method."

"Oh!"

Upon learning Ronan's true purpose, the young wizard did not seem particularly surprised.

He smiled and said, "The problem of energy particle corrosion has gotten worse, hasn't it? I could tell just by looking at you that your body is weak. You should do some training..."

Ronan nodded awkwardly.

"You came to the right person."

The young wizard turned and rummaged around behind him for a while, then pulled out a thick stack of booklets.

These booklets were clearly not as refined as the spellbooks displayed at the stall. They looked more like notes, and many of their covers had yellowed.

Ronan casually picked one up and flipped through it.

"'Lionheart Body Tempering Art': passed down by the Lionheart Duke, a legendary knight of the South Austria Kingdom."

Then he picked up another.

"'Silver Cross Body Tempering.'"

Ronan looked through several books and felt that their effects all seemed quite good. At the very least, they sounded convincing enough. If they could achieve even one-tenth of what was described, they would be more than enough for his needs.

But when he asked the prices, he was stunned.

"Why are they so expensive?"

Ronan could not quite understand. "Even mundane Knight Training Methods cost several Magic Stones per book?"

"They're the finest knightly inheritances even in the mundane world. If you train them to the peak, you might even be able to contend with high-level apprentices."

"The question is, who would train something like this to the absolute peak?"

Ronan kept shaking his head. "I only want to strengthen my body. I don't need any top-tier knightly inheritance.

Do you have anything cheaper?"

"The cheaper ones are underneath. Two or three Magic Stones will be enough, but their quality will be much lower."

"Cheaper than that... Give me the cheapest one."

"The cheapest one..."

The young wizard frowned, and his attitude gradually cooled.

He reached beneath a pile of booklets, pulled one out, and tossed it in front of Ronan.

"There. This is the cheapest. It has neither sword techniques nor a breathing method, only a few body-tempering postures. Supposedly, it was once a method used by Ancient Ascetics to temper themselves."

The young wizard paused briefly, then added, "It will definitely be fine if all you want is to strengthen your body."

Ronan picked it up, flipped through it quickly, and asked, "How much is this one?"