Bag of Holding

Soren's injuries healed well. By the next day, there was basically no sign of them when he walked. He only felt a slight inconvenience during strenuous activity. As long as the wound did not split open, he would recover completely in at most two days. That was why Soren had pursued 20 points of Superhuman Constitution. If he raised his Constitution a little further, he could fully recover from injuries of this severity within a single day.

The treasure cave was, after all, only a low-level adventure site.

If they wanted to delve deeper into underground ruins or tackle higher-level adventure sites, the time required could even exceed a month.

That included not only the time spent exploring the ruins, but also Wilderness Survival incidents encountered along the way, as well as highly likely man-made accidents. Constitution greatly affected an Adventurer's ability to survive over an extended period. For example, Soren had once encountered an idiotic mage who actually used Fireball inside a cramped underground cave. The entire cavern collapsed. Although his teammates had all been high-level professionals and suffered no casualties, they were trapped underground for a full week, eventually digging out a passage with their bare hands! So—

Please stay far away from mages with low IQs.

Sometimes, they were more dangerous than monsters!

Of course.

That was not even the most infuriating part!

The most infuriating thing had been done by a priest. He had actually used Earthquake inside an underground ruin, causing widespread collapses throughout the entire complex. Most of the loot was destroyed by the quake, and all his teammates were buried hundreds of meters underground. In the end, only a Dwarf Warrior with a special bloodline and more than 25 points of Constitution managed to crawl out alive. That priest was ultimately hailed as the model specimen of the "infuriating" class, a nightmare for all Adventurers!

However.

This kind of thing was basically done by Players.

The mages among the story's natives were all experts. Sometimes, they could even turn the tide with their final, seemingly insignificant low-level Spell.

Unfortunately, the mages among the story's natives were the hardest to recruit as teammates!

Before going to pick up Vivian, Soren first visited the Arcane Shop.

Security at the city gates was tight, and they thoroughly inspected the belongings of outsiders. After its initial buildup, the Skinning Incident showed signs of escalating further and further. But Soren knew this was only the beginning. In his memories, the Skinning Incident had been an Evil chain Sacrificial Ritual. Its final reach encompassed the entire southern region: six kingdoms, eighteen duchies, thirty-one city-states, and more than three hundred cities. At the time, at least two hundred thousand Players entered the storyline, directly drawing out more than twenty professionals in the Legendary Domain!

It could be said that this was the period when Players were at their most powerless.

Soren carefully recalled everything in his memories, constantly trying to determine the current time. The Skinning Incident had only just begun, and the Ancient Red Dragon had not yet appeared. In other words, there was still about a year before the Gods lost their Divine Power and were forced to descend as Avatars. Including certain special events, he should have around two years to build up his strength.

Two years later.

Something extremely serious would happen!

The Goddess of Magic would fall, the Weave system would collapse completely, and all Wizards would temporarily lose their ability to cast Spells.

The Goddess of Magic was a powerful Deity, and also one of the first Deities to be struck during the Time of Troubles. She governed the Weave systems across countless Planes, helping Wizards cast Spells.

That was the Spell Slot ability Wizards used now!

There were many Wizards at this stage, so basically every city had an Arcane Shop. It was only after the Goddess of Magic fell that the number of Wizards began to decline on a massive scale. As the Goddess of Magic fell, the Weave system lost its maintainer. The Weave system then began to collapse on a large scale, eventually causing all Wizards to completely lose their Spell Slots.

All Wizards with Intelligence below 18 would completely lose their ability to cast Spells!

All Wizards with Intelligence below 20 would only be able to cast the lowest-level Level 0 Cantrips!

Only Wizards with Intelligence above 20 could rely on their own abilities to perceive and analyze the rules of the world, then gradually restore their normal Spellcasting abilities through their understanding of those rules. But by then, they would no longer use Spell Slots dependent on the Weave. Instead, they would use their own Mana and understanding of the rules.

The Weave system was both a convenience and a shackle upon Spellcasting power!

It allowed Wizards with insufficient talent to cast Spells more conveniently, while also restricting powerful Wizards from advancing into terrifying Archmages!

From then on.

Mages began moving toward two extremes: either utterly useless or utterly freakish.

But those were matters for the future.

At present, the Weave system was still functioning normally. All Wizards handed their Mana over to the Weave, borrowing the Goddess of Magic's power in exchange for Spell Slots.

Though this required them to memorize Spells frequently!

Soren sorted through his old memories, because the fall of the Goddess of Magic had been an extremely important event.

The turmoil it created swept across countless Planes!

During that period, the value of Supernatural Items soared severalfold. A low-level Bag of Holding that now cost around 100 Gold Dalers could rise to more than 500 Gold Dalers then. Because as the Goddess of Magic fell, many Deities also died in the mortal world, and many priests and druids likewise lost their ability to cast Spells.

Only powerful individuals whose relevant attributes had exceeded 20 points and entered the Transcendent Realm could rely on their own power to perceive the rules of the world.

And gradually restore their Spellcasting abilities!

This period was actually not far off. If Soren remembered correctly, the Goddess of Magic had been the earliest Deity to fall. Before long, Wizards would lose their ability to cast Spells.

Then the age of Arcane Magic revival would begin!

The Arcane Shop was actually quite inconspicuous.

Wizards did not like interacting with ordinary people, and even other professionals found it difficult to come into contact with them.

Among all Spellcasting Class professionals, only priests were relatively down-to-earth.

Soren gently pushed open a wooden door. The Arcane Shop was very spacious, with a few enchanted pieces of equipment displayed on the sparse counters. There were actually very few customers here.

Because the things here were also very expensive. Ordinary people simply could not afford them!

"Selling or buying?"

An elderly old man lazily swept his gaze over Soren. He wore glasses and held a book as thick as a brick. After looking up at Soren, he said indifferently, "If you're selling enchanted equipment, bring it to me for appraisal. If you're buying enchanted equipment, look around as you please."

The Arcane Shops had been established by the Wizard Union and were spread throughout most cities. Wizards of Tier 2 and above were stationed here, rotating out at regular intervals. At this stage, the Wizard Union was still relatively powerful and prosperous. Only after the Goddess of Magic fell did its strength begin to decline on a massive scale. At that time, many people took the opportunity to loot Arcane Shops.

But doing that now was practically suicide!

The old man seemed to recognize Soren's profession and reminded him, "Don't touch anything here carelessly. They all have Spell Traps on them."

Everyone knew that Rogues had the least honest hands.

Naturally, Soren would not seek death. Instead, he took the two Marilith Longswords from his back and placed them directly before the old man.

This was a Tier 3 Wizard.

His class level was probably above Level 10 Scholar/Level 10 Wizard. Killing Soren would take only minutes.

"Eh?"

The old man's gaze swept over the Marilith Longswords, and a trace of surprise appeared on his face. He muttered, "Abyssal Magma Rock?"...

He laboriously picked up one of the longswords and touched the blade with his fingers. Wizards were not physically strong, and their Constitution was considerably lower than that of other professionals. Only after entering the Legendary Domain could they strengthen themselves through special rituals. The old man examined it carefully, then withdrew his fingers and said, "Such material was actually used to forge a weapon!"

"What a waste."

The old man glanced at Soren. Without asking where the weapon came from, he simply said, "80 Gold Dalers."

The Arcane Shop had its own channels. As long as something was Supernatural Equipment, they would buy it without asking about its origins, regardless of whether it was stolen.

Mages never complained about having too much money. They spent it even faster!

When Soren heard the old man's offer, he could not help frowning. He slowly said, "120 Gold Dalers."

"This sword was forged from Abyssal Magma Rock!"

"According to weapon pricing rules, the price of greatsword-type weapons should fluctuate by around 50%!"

"Whether sold as a weapon or recovered as material, this sword should be worth more than 200 Gold Dalers. If it can be transported to the North or the grasslands, its value can reach 300 Gold Dalers."

"More than double the profit!"

"80 Gold Dalers is far too little. If I gave it to the Thieves' Guild to handle, the price would be higher than that!"

The old man looked at Soren in some surprise, then said, "You do know the market."

"Fine."

"Then 120 Gold Dalers."

The old man lightly shook a bell. Soon, a heavy figure emerged from the back: a Stone Golem roughly 2.2 meters tall, a type of Alchemy Construct lifeform. The Stone Golem carried the Marilith Longswords in both hands through the back door, then returned behind the old man carrying an inconspicuous bag.

This was a Bag of Holding!

The old man opened the Bag of Holding and poured its contents onto the counter. A pile of gleaming Gold Dalers appeared.

He swept his gaze across them and made a motion with one finger. The Gold Dalers split into two piles on their own. The smaller pile flew into the Bag of Holding out of thin air, while the larger pile was pushed toward Soren.

"Mage Hand."

It was a very convenient ability.

Mages truly were wealthy. After accepting the two Marilith Longswords, the old man returned his gaze to his book and casually said, "Feel free to look around. Tell me if you want to buy anything."

240 Gold Dalers.

It was a decent-sized pile, weighing a full twelve pounds. Carrying it on his body was not convenient.

Sometimes, it could even affect combat ability.

Soren reached out and separated a little less than half of it, exactly 100 Gold Dalers. Then he said, "I want a low-level Bag of Holding."

The old man nodded, raised a hand to collect the Gold Dalers, then took an inconspicuous bag from a drawer.

"Be careful not to damage it."

He looked at Soren. Perhaps because he found him fairly agreeable, he reminded him, "It only has the lowest-grade enchantment protection. It will not be damaged through normal use, but if it is deliberately destroyed, everything inside will fall out."

Soren nodded and accepted it, putting the remaining 140 Gold Dalers inside.

A low-level Bag of Holding had three feet of space, while its opening was half a foot wide. It could hold some relatively small items.

It could be damaged during an attack. Once damaged, it would lose its storage ability, the small space inside would collapse, and everything would come pouring out at once.

Some items might even be lost in spatial fissures.

Supernatural Items below the Legendary tier had a considerable chance of being damaged. Even Soren's Ogre Gauntlets could be damaged and rendered useless during battle!

Some could not even be repaired after being damaged.

The transaction was complete.

Soren soon left the Arcane Shop and headed toward the Blacksmith near the grand plaza.

He needed a Scimitar.

Scimitars of the Transcendent Tier were difficult to buy in the South, so he could only buy a standard-issue military scimitar for now.

A series of notifications appeared:

"Diplomacy successful!"

"You successfully increased the value of the item sold through Diplomacy!"

"Appraise +1, Diplomacy +1."