Bargaining

"Do you think I can't crack the internal structure and secrets of this cylindrical crystal, so you want to name an outrageous price?" The woman raised her head and challenged him in a slightly provocative tone.

Raymond smiled faintly and nodded without hesitation. "That's right! If you're confident, then name your price. Once you buy it, whether you smash it open or probe it with every kind of spell is entirely your business."

Clearly, the reason he was so fearless lay in several special abilities granted by the Creator profession.

Without Refinement and Shaping, even if outsiders figured out the materials and the magic used in its manufacture, they still could not replicate a true energy-storage device.

What was more, this thing incorporated technical design concepts similar to modern batteries. It had only been successfully produced after more than three hundred failed experiments.

Want to crack it?

First, figure out the dozens of composite materials and compounds that could only be manufactured through modern industry, as well as its original rune arrangement.

Even the Necromancer Archmage—Astar—had taken it away to study for over a week, yet ultimately failed to uncover its secrets.

Of course, that was also because he had not been particularly interested in it.

For a powerful spellcaster devoted to necromancy and the pursuit of immortality, something that merely resembled an enhanced Lightning Bolt wand was not worth wasting too much time and effort on.

With that effort, he might as well make a few more Flesh Golems or other high-level undead creatures.

"Very well! Since you're so confident, I'm determined to give it a try.

"The price of a spell-storing magic item is generally calculated by multiplying its base price by the spell level, then by the creator's caster level.

"Since yours is a unique technology, I'll additionally give you 5,000 gold pieces for the value of its knowledge.

"Now tell me your caster level."

The woman was clearly extremely confident in her knowledge of magic-item crafting and did not believe this interesting little toy could stump her.

The pride and intense self-confidence practically spilling from her also proved, from another angle, that her personality had definitely been influenced by the other half of her nonhuman bloodline.

"My caster level is five."

Raymond had no intention of wasting time arguing and directly stated his Creator level.

The woman glanced down at the gemstone pinched between her fingers, then asked, "Are you a wizard?"

She showed no surprise or astonishment at the boy before her, who looked less than ten years old, possessing five caster levels.

In spellcaster circles, appearance was never a reliable basis for judging someone's true age.

Not only could one make oneself younger, one could even change one's sex or race.

Some foolish apprentices, when studying transmutation magic, even turned themselves into small animals such as chickens, ducks, geese, or dogs through insufficient care.

"Sorry, that's a secret. I can only tell you that I'm an arcane spellcaster."

Raymond cautiously gave a vague answer.

He was no fool. He could tell that the gemstone in her hand was very likely a magic item capable of determining whether someone was lying.

If he answered too directly, others could infer plenty of useful information from it.

Seeing Raymond become wary, the woman did not press further. She put away the gemstone and said bluntly, "The base price of a spell-storing wand is 750 gold pieces.

"Your interesting device can absorb and store a third-circle Lightning Bolt, so we'll calculate it as a third-circle spell.

"Then multiply it by the caster level.

"That comes to..."

"Wait!"

Before she could finish calculating, Raymond immediately interrupted her.

"My energy-storage device isn't a wand.

"Not only can it absorb third-circle Lightning Bolt, it can also absorb sixth-circle Chain Lightning, even a Blue Dragon's lightning breath.

"And it won't be ruined after its final charge is used up like a wand.

"It is a reusable spell-storage device that can also defend against lightning-based magical attacks.

"So there's a problem with the base price you gave."

"What do you think it should be?" the woman asked expressionlessly.

Clearly, she also understood that treating the energy-storage device as a wand had been an intentional attempt to suppress the price.

Now that she had been exposed, she could only reluctantly enter the bargaining stage.

"I think a base price of at least 1,500 gold pieces would be reasonable."

After a brief moment of thought, Raymond directly doubled the original base price.

But that kind of outrageous asking price immediately drew the woman's ridicule. "1,500 gold pieces?

"Do you have some misunderstanding about the pricing of magic items?

"Or are you simply an inexperienced amateur?

"That price could buy a fifty-charge wand of a third-circle spell.

"And your device is completely empty right now.

"I'll offer 1,200 at most."

"1,200?"

Raymond quickly calculated how much money he would ultimately receive, then immediately nodded.

"Deal!"

"1,200 times 5 times 3, plus 5,000, comes to 23,000 gold pieces. Deducting the 1,647 you owed me before, I should pay you 21,353 gold pieces."

The woman clearly possessed excellent mental arithmetic and settled the accounts between them in the blink of an eye.

Just as she was about to open the cloth pouch that appeared to be a Bag of Holding and take out the money, Raymond suddenly pointed at the spellbook blind boxes and said, "I'd like to try my luck."

"Oh? You want to experience the unpredictability of fate as well?

"No problem! Please choose to your heart's content.

"Remember, you may not open them or cast any spells to identify them.

"You can only judge their value by their appearance."

As she spoke, a hint of amusement flashed through the woman's eyes. Then she made an inviting gesture, as though looking forward to seeing something entertaining.

Raymond noticed the maliciously amused look in the shopkeeper's eyes and immediately realized that the spells recorded in these spellbooks were probably, for the most part, not worth 5,000 gold pieces.

But he did not show the slightest hint of nervousness. Calmly, he picked up spellbook after spellbook—each made of different materials and featuring different colors and decorative styles—and inspected them carefully before placing them back one by one.

The selection process lasted a full twenty minutes.

In the end, he chose two spellbooks from among several dozen.

One of them looked extremely plain. Aside from its pale yellow cover, which was still relatively intact, every other part was tattered and worn.

The edges of some pages were even uneven and serrated.

The other was the complete opposite. Its cover was densely studded with gemstones, while the edges were inlaid with gold and silver trim.

"Are you sure these are the two? Once you choose them, no matter how many spells they contain after you open them, you cannot regret it," the woman reminded him meaningfully.

Through this pretense of kindness, she could exert invisible pressure on those choosing spellbooks and influence their initial judgment.

But Raymond was utterly unaffected and answered crisply, "I know. Can I open them now?"

"Of course! That is your freedom. Also, I'll deduct 10,000 gold pieces from the payment."

Seeing that this "little fellow" before her had not been influenced by her, the woman was visibly disappointed.

But that disappointment quickly turned into shock and disbelief.

After Raymond opened the two spellbooks he had selected and the proprietress performed a simple magical identification, the battered one was found to contain more than forty spells.

Although most of them were low-level first- and second-circle spells.

It also contained five third-circle spells and two fourth-circle spells.

There was no doubt that this spellbook was worth well over 5,000 gold pieces.

The other one contained fewer spells, but it had a fifth-circle Teleport spell.

As a shrewd merchant, the woman knew very well how difficult it was to select a spellbook worth more than 5,000 gold pieces from this pile of "junk."

Moreover, some of these spellbooks had sat here for many years, and even she herself no longer clearly remembered what spells they contained.

Yet today, someone had selected two of them at once.

It was enough to make her wonder whether he had been kissed and blessed by Tymora, the goddess of luck.