Transaction

In a gray, hazy void, dozens—perhaps a hundred—pure white stone pillars bobbed up and down.

When Isaac opened his eyes, he found himself standing atop one of them. He lifted a foot and lightly tapped the stone pillar beneath him, but could not identify its material.

Looking around, he saw a figure standing on each of the surrounding pillars. Like him, they wore wizard robes of various colors and large wizard hats, their faces obscured from view.

Yet once they drew closer, their appearances became visible.

After all, though those present had somewhat stronger methods and somewhat greater nerve, they were still within the bounds of Formal Wizards. Their wizard robes had limited enhancement and only a slight concealing effect—at the very least, they could not hide anything from those gathered here.

Besides, there was no need to conceal anything. Mad sorcerers came from all corners of the world, perhaps not even from the same world. There was no need to hide their identities.

After sweeping his gaze around, Isaac was somewhat disappointed. There were not many attendees. The Mad Sorcerer Association had forty-three Formal Wizards in total, yet only thirteen had come. That was far too few.

Formal Wizards did not have much good stuff to begin with. With so few people here, what the hell was there to trade?

As for sorcery exchanges?

They were all rookies. What they needed now was not exchange, but trade.

Trade their sorceries with one another, strengthen their foundations, and speed up the cooldown of the Mana Boiling Period.

But if they were trading sorcery...

Isaac did not think the chances were good. Sorcery was unlike arcane arts; it was not so concise, divided into independent spells one after another.

Sorcery usually came bundled with a whole string of research materials, such as Demonic Heart Transplant Surgery and Totem Refinement.

Thus, few wizards learned a huge pile of sorceries. They generally delved deeply into related fields, constantly refining the sorceries they excelled at. Isaac's Flesh Nest was one such example. Of course, that was a shortcut made possible through the Demon God's Great Power; normally, it required slow and painstaking research.

So whether he could trade for sorcery depended on whether he encountered mad sorcerers whose research fields were similar to his own.

Given all this, it was no wonder so few people attended the Small Exchange Meet. It simply held little appeal. It had no value, so no one came; because no one came, it had no value...

A vicious cycle, plain and simple...

As Isaac pondered, the thirteen occupied stone pillars slowly moved, forming a circle.

Isaac gave them a rough look. Most appeared quite young, around seventeen or eighteen—the standard genius template. Of course, how many would ultimately survive was another matter. Outer Gods were not so easily fooled.

"Ahem." A young man in a black robe coughed lightly. The stone pillar beneath him then drifted to the center. "Everyone, long time no see. You all know the rules, so I will not waste words."

As he spoke, the young man glanced at Isaac, anticipation flickering in his eyes. He had failed to trade for sorcery at the last two meets, and his research progress had recently slowed. Now that a newcomer had arrived, he naturally had hopes.

But he did not say much to Isaac, nor did he even introduce his name.

As he had said, mad sorcerers were all geniuses, but they were also madmen. Outer Gods were no easy companions. Who knew when someone might be devoured by an Outer God because of their greed? There was no point in making friends for now.

Thus, he went straight to the point. "I specialize in Black Sorcery. I have five Black Sorceries: Ghostly Life-Claiming Curse, Life Drain, Blood Curse Kill, Flying Head Technique, and High-Level Incantation - Flesh Mutation. I wish to trade for Black Sorcery, or directly damaging High-Level Incantations."

Hm? Isaac looked at the black-robed youth in surprise. He specialized in Black Sorcery... and even possessed a High-Level Incantation... As expected of the Mad Sorcerer Association. But...

"How about I trade Biological Modification-type sorcery for your Black Sorcery?" Isaac asked when no one else spoke for a long time.

He was extremely interested in both Black Sorcery and High-Level Incantations. He absolutely could not afford to trade for the latter, and even if he could, he might not do so. Direct-damage High-Level Incantations were the most valuable, usually kept for personal use and rarely offered in trade.

But Black Sorcery was worth trying for.

Black Sorcery was sorcery made specifically for battle. So long as it killed the opponent, no method was off-limits. It was a relatively rare kind of sorcery.

Unfortunately...

The black-robed youth gave Isaac a regretful look, shook his head, and refused.

It could not be helped. Biological Modification was also a relatively complex branch of sorcery, requiring a great deal of related knowledge and experimental data. Such research, which required one to settle down and invest time, did not suit him.

After refusing Isaac, the black-robed youth saw that no one else had anything to say. He sighed and returned to his original position.

That was simply how Small Exchange Meets were. Whether one could trade for what one needed depended entirely on luck.

After the black-robed youth, another eight people stepped forward. Many of the sorceries they offered interested Isaac, but unfortunately, he could not trade for a single one...

Because no one was interested in his sorcery...

They did not even wait for him to list what he had. The moment they heard "Biological Modification," they avoided it like the plague...

"...I wish to trade for magic puppet-type sorcery. No Biological Modification!"

Isaac: "..."

With his words cut off before he could speak, Isaac felt rather helpless. He had not expected medicine to remain so difficult even after changing worlds. Could it be that, in this world too, persuading someone to study medicine would earn them thunder from the heavens?

Isaac did not know, but he quickly adjusted his mindset. It was fine if no one wanted to trade. He could treat it as broadening his horizons. Just learning the names of so many sorceries made the trip worthwhile. It had not been for nothing.

"I specialize in magic puppet construction and possess blueprints for four kinds of magic puppets. Two are orthodox Mechanical Magic Puppets, one is a pure Flesh Magic Puppet, and one is a Hybrid Magic Puppet combining flesh and machinery. I wish to trade for magic puppet blueprints or Biological Modification-type sorcery."

After speaking, the female wizard standing in the center looked toward Isaac.

"Hm?" Isaac froze. He had not expected someone to call him out specifically. But magic puppets?

Fine, he was interested in that too!

So he said, "At present, I have mastered Demonic Heart technology, Deity Species Refinement..." Mid-sentence, Isaac suddenly got stuck. Helplessly spreading his hands, he said, "Uh, that is all. Just those two."

He had actually also mastered Flesh Nest and Bloodline Essence Potion. But the former was his Innate Sorcery; others could only learn the Demon God version. That thing had an enormous pitfall, and since they were both mad sorcerers, she definitely would not want it. Bringing it up might even offend her. As for the latter...

All he could say was that there was no need to announce something so commonplace and embarrass himself.

"Hm?" The female wizard's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. What had she heard? Deity Species Refinement? Blinking, she said, "Deity Research Manual?"

"Hm? You have one too?" Isaac froze for a moment as well. "Mine is the Dissection Chapter. Which chapter do you have?"

"The Divinity Chapter. Want to trade?" The witch blinked her beautiful eyes. She had never imagined that a fragment of a Wizard Manuscript she had picked up by chance would turn out to have another portion here. What luck...

"Sure!" Isaac was equally surprised. "Where did you get your portion?"

"Someone gave it to me. But as far as I know, it came from the Wild Lands. What about yours?" As she spoke, the witch took a roll of Parchment from her sleeve and lightly tossed it to Isaac, then caught the portion he threw her.

"The original manuscript?" The witch looked at Isaac in surprise. Though her research had found nothing unusual about the Parchment, what she had given Isaac was still a copy. After all, what if?

What if her skill simply wasn't enough for her to see it?

So she had not expected Isaac to be so generous.

But Isaac was actually rather helpless too, because he had never intended to trade this thing. Who knew he would run into a second copy of the Deity Research Manual here?

Fortunately, he had already memorized its contents completely, and all the data had been recorded in the panel. It was not too big a problem.

"Yeah, but don't get your hopes up too high. Anyway, I couldn't see anything special about it."

Isaac was not lying about that. He had tried using it as a ritual sacrifice, but unfortunately, according to the Golden Finger's appraisal, it was utterly worthless.

The witch nodded, then hesitated before asking Isaac, "That Demonized Heart technology you mentioned... is it Heart Replacement Surgery?"

"Mm. It started as Heart Replacement Surgery, but I expanded on it to a certain extent. It can be used to cultivate Demonized Hearts, and it also has some effect on purifying and strengthening Demonic Beast bloodlines. Still, overall, it's fairly rudimentary. You want it?" Isaac was somewhat surprised.

That was because Demonized Heart Transplant Surgery, much like Bloodline Essence Potion, was common as dirt. Demonized Heart Transplant Surgery in particular was an antique among antiques. It was only after Isaac's research had expanded it somewhat that it could barely be brought out into the light.

The witch nodded. "Besides the Hybrid Magic Puppet, what do you want in exchange?"

Simple Heart Replacement Surgery was naturally not worth much, but an expanded version was different. Though neither of them believed the other would survive to the end, that did not mean they looked down on one another.

In truth, anyone capable of trading with Outer Gods at the Formal Wizard stage needed more than madness—they needed skill. Not just any stray cat or dog could make an Outer God's will descend. Everyone present was unquestionably a genius.

And a genius's research was absolutely valuable!

"A Flesh Magic Puppet, then." After thinking for a moment, Isaac took out a manuscript and tossed it to the witch, while catching a roll of blueprints she threw over.

And with that, the transaction was complete.

The others looked at the two, both laden with gains, with a hint of envy. Yet none of them spoke. They were very interested in that Deity Research Manual, but none had any intention of asking for it.

Yes, wizardry involving the domain of gods was incredibly powerful—that was beyond doubt. But this was Biological Modification, which did not align with their fields of study. There was nothing to be done about that.

Learning it from scratch would be more trouble than it was worth.

Having already revealed what he had to offer during his trade with the witch, Isaac did not go up again. No one was interested anyway. As for the Dragon Lizard...

After seeing how shabby this Small Exchange Meet was, he had already abandoned the idea of trading the Dragon Lizard. This bunch of paupers definitely could not afford one!

Normally, after the trades concluded, the gathering would move on to an official exchange of magical knowledge. But everyone here was a Formal Wizard; they were all greenhorns with little learning in their bellies, and their research schools differed too much. Naturally, no one felt like exchanging ideas.

So once the trading ended, the gathering dispersed immediately.

Seeing everyone else leave, Isaac left as well.

Before departing, however, he exchanged names with the witch. Their research fields were the closest, so they could keep sharing information in the future.

If she—or he—was still alive by then.

In the blink of an eye, Isaac left the Mad Sorcerer Association's special Dimension and returned to the basement. Looking at the two Wizard Manuscripts in his hands, the corners of Isaac's mouth rose slightly.

Talk about a pillow arriving just when he was sleepy. He had happened to finished learning everything he currently had on hand.

Both Demonized Heart technology and Divine Species research still had room to be explored further, but researching on his own could never match the efficiency of learning from others.

Back in the laboratory, Isaac looked at the Flesh Magic Puppet first rather than the Divinity Chapter.

The Demon Rat still needed some time before it could condense a divine spell, so the Divinity Chapter could wait. Right now, he was more interested in magic puppets.

Or rather, he had always been interested in magic puppets.

Magic puppets sold far better than potions.

The Flesh Magic Puppet he had traded from the witch was not advanced. It was a basic magic puppet—Flesh Mimicry.

Isaac was not surprised by this. The market price of magic puppet blueprints was already much higher than wizardry of the same tier. If he had not expanded upon Heart Replacement Surgery, it would not even have qualified for trade.

Flesh Mimicry was a semi-independent magic puppet with two operational modes. One was Independent Mode, in which it moved in a Slime-like form and could fight on its own. The other was Attachment Mode, in which it transformed into flesh armor to assist its wearer in battle.

There was not much to say about Independent Mode. It was a Slime, after all. Its combat power was just that; its only advantage was flexibility, allowing it to fight in all sorts of bizarre terrain. As for its fighting strength...

Do not expect too much. In a one-on-one fight, it could not even defeat a Quasi-Knight.

What was worth discussing was Attachment Mode, the puppet's core function. Besides enhancing the user's physical capabilities and magic power, Attachment Mode could grant different spell-like abilities depending on the Demonic Beast form it mimicked.

For instance, Fierce Bear, one of its three basic forms, could greatly increase strength and cast Mud to Stone once. Wind Rabbit could greatly boost movement speed and use Wind Blade once. Iron Armor Turtle could increase Defense Power and cast Iron Block once, further strengthening its defenses.

In short, it had many uses.

Furthermore, the mimicked Demonic Beast forms could be modified, allowing different abilities to be gained.

But that was not something Isaac needed to consider right now. He did not yet have that ability. For now, he should first learn how to make it.

"Tsk~ This is a little difficult~"

Looking at the dense fine print and lines covering the blueprint, Isaac shook his head. There was a lot to learn here. The Golden Finger's probability boost did not seem to be much use—success was success—but its ever-reliable function as a personal teacher that filled in gaps and corrected deficiencies was as powerful as ever.

"Let's learn!"

Isaac sighed, spread the blueprint across his desk, and began studying it carefully. If he mastered this, he might be able to make a fortune!

Because making Flesh Mimicry required only one material—Demonized Flesh!