New Spells (Part 2)

Gao De took the parchment Yom handed him and quickly scanned the information on it.

The spell list contained a total of five Zero Circle Spells:

Acid Splash (Conjuration, Zero Circle)

Fire a small ball of acid at the target, with an initial maximum range of 25 feet (approximately 8.5 meters).

You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit the target. The acid ball deals corrosive damage.

The acid in the ball disappears after a few seconds.

Resistance Boost (Abjuration, Zero Circle)

Infuse the target with mana—the target may be yourself—to increase their spell resistance, reducing the spell damage and magical effects they suffer. Each casting lasts one minute.

Blade Ward (Abjuration, Zero Circle)

Trace a protective mark in the air with your hand, granting yourself resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage caused by weapon attacks.

Ray of Frost (Evocation, Zero Circle)

Fire a cold blue-white ray at the target and make a ranged spell attack, with an initial maximum range of 25 feet.

On a hit, the target takes cold damage and has its speed reduced.

Read Magic (Divination, Zero Circle)

You can decipher magical writing on items such as books, scrolls, weapons, and more that cannot be interpreted by other means. Such interpretation usually does not trigger the magic contained within the writing.

Furthermore, once you have cast this spell and deciphered a particular piece of magical writing, you can understand that same text thereafter without needing to rely on Read Magic again.

"Well? Satisfied?"

Gao De forcibly suppressed his excitement and looked up expressionlessly.

Satisfied. Very satisfied!

How could I not be?

The spell list Yom had provided not only contained the offensive spells he needed most, but two of them.

However, the most important principle of any deal was to never let the other party see how satisfied you were with the goods. Otherwise, they would inevitably jack up the price.

"One or two of these spells are decent enough and barely meet my needs, but there are a little too few spell formulas," Gao De replied, praising and criticizing them in equal measure.

"It's not a small number. For a Mage Apprentice to master all five spells, it would take at least one or two years," Yom muttered.

Gao De pretended not to hear Yom's muttering and got straight to the point. "How much are you asking for one spell formula?"

"Three little roosters." Yom held up three fingers.

"Too expensive. I'll pay one gold coin at most for a spell formula." Gao De frowned slightly, immediately cutting Yom's price by more than half.

"At the official Mage's Association, the average price for a Zero Circle Spell formula is six gold," Yom quickly emphasized.

"You said it yourself, that's the official price. If your price doesn't have a clear advantage over the official one, why would I buy spell formulas from you? Not only would I be violating the ban, I'd also be taking a huge risk. After all, who knows whether the spell formulas you're selling me are real?"

"Two gold and ten silver." After another moment of silence, Yom finally spoke. "I was born and raised in Hogan City. I'm right here, and I can't run away. So at least the authenticity of my formulas is somewhat guaranteed. That's far more reliable than making a deal with some random person you find."

Gao De looked toward Pierre, who had been watching the show from the side.

Pierre was no fool himself. He nodded. "Yom really is from Hogan. He's lived in Hogan City for all these years and has never left."

Gao De's heart stirred. If Pierre was not lying to him, then the authenticity of Yom's formulas truly had some measure of assurance.

After all, a monk might run, but the temple could not. Yom would not abandon his hometown just to make a deal worth fewer than ten Sien Gold Coins.

Looking at it that way, paying a little more was not entirely unacceptable.

"Sell me three spell formulas as a bundle. One price: six gold coins." Two gold and ten silver was already within Gao De's acceptable range, but he chose to keep bargaining.

"The price I gave you is already the lowest possible." Yom gritted his teeth.

"Then that's truly regrettable." Gao De shook his head, decisively returned the list to Yom, and immediately turned to walk out of the store. His expression was utterly calm, but his heart was full of tension.

Will he call me back?

He knew perfectly well that if he missed Yom, it would be difficult to find anyone else willing to trade spell formulas with him anytime soon.

Yet what Gao De lacked most right now was time.

But he was genuinely short on money, so whatever he could save, he had to save.

Besides, this was only an attempt.

Gao De had long prepared himself. If Yom truly did not call him back before he left Pierre's General Store, he would immediately turn around with a smile of failed speculation and say, "All right, sir. Two gold and ten silver. You win."

Pride could not fill his stomach, but the thirty silver he saved could buy him many meals.

One step, two steps, three steps. Just as Gao De was about to walk out of Pierre's General Store, Yom's somewhat dejected voice finally came from behind him.

"Wait."

Gao De turned back and looked at Yom.

"All right, six gold coins. You win. If I weren't so short on money lately..."

Beautiful! To bargain this successfully on my first try in both my past life and this one, I truly am gifted.

Gao De fiercely praised himself in his heart, then showed a calm smile. "Sir, this should be called a win-win."

He was genuinely in a good mood, so his smile came from the heart.

"Which three spell formulas do you want?" Yom asked.

"Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, and Resistance Boost." Gao De had already made up his mind.

With his current finances, buying three spell formulas was his limit.

First, the two attack spells were essential.

Of the remaining three spell formulas, Read Magic could be ruled out for now. It was not that the spell was worse than the others, but Gao De did not need it at the moment.

What he needed were spells that could improve his Combat Strength.

As for Blade Ward and Resistance Boost, both were Abjuration spells, but they protected against different types of damage—the difference between "magic resistance" and "physical resistance."

With Mage Seda as his hypothetical enemy, Resistance Boost was undoubtedly more suitable. An old mage was not going to pull out a longsword and engage him in a bayonet fight, was he?

Although the final price was thirty silver lower than he had expected, six gold coins was clearly still within Yom's acceptable range.

He readily took out three thin booklets—the three spell formulas Gao De had chosen.

Money and goods changed hands, and Gao De took out six gold coins to complete the transaction with Yom.

After receiving the money, Yom greeted Pierre and left first. He had already waited in the store for Gao De for quite a while and was eager to get back.

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Pierre." Fully satisfied, Gao De expressed his gratitude to Pierre.

"I take payment and do the job. It's only right, so there's no need to be polite with me. On the contrary, I'll have to rely on you to support my little business in the future," Pierre said with his usual cheerful smile.

Ten Shamrock Silver Coins were not a major deal to him, but all he had to do was say a few words and he could earn a tidy sum without giving up anything else. Naturally, Pierre was more than happy to do it.