Transaction

Lady Alsha picked up the feather pen on the table and made a few marks in the notebook.

"This notebook is an alchemy item with a synchronization spell. If you'd like to order some food or drinks, you can mark it here. The notebook will also display information others want to trade. You just need to leave a comment under the information, write your table number, and the person who posted it will know. Of course, you can also write what you want to trade in the notebook, and others will see it there."

Matthew was slightly surprised. The technological level of this world was about the same as the Middle Ages, yet this notebook had a function similar to a 21st-century restaurant's tablet ordering system. Magic really was convenient.

Lady Alsha continued, "These tables are all set up with small obscuring arrays. Only the person sitting in the chair can truly hear the conversation. To outsiders, it will appear as a different scene."

Matthew had noticed this when he first arrived. The tables with people all seemed to be scenes of lively conversation, with occasional light laughter drifting over. But if he listened closely, he couldn't understand what they were talking about. These were all illusions created by the obscuring arrays.

Not long after, a server brought over two glasses of red drinks.

"This is Red Iris Wine from Red Iris Manor. It has a unique flavor, and the annual yield is very small." Lady Alsha clinked her glass with his and said with a smile, "I hope you find what you're looking for at the exchange meeting."

After sharing a drink with him, Lady Alsha left. She would be busy today.

Matthew picked up the notebook, flipped past the menu pages at the front, and found that each subsequent page was an entry posted by someone else. There were items or information for sale, requests to buy, exchanges for spells and meditation methods, and even some bounty quests posted. This reminded Matthew of the quest panel in a certain online game.

He searched for a while, focusing on information about spells and high-level meditation methods, but after flipping through everything, he found no one trading high-level meditation methods.

Matthew decided to first get a look at this world's potions. He still had quite a few potions stored in his pocket and needed to pick out some that wouldn't attract too much attention to trade for spells.

He planned to use the items he'd obtained earlier to exchange for potion recipes. The function of that eyeball wizard tool overlapped with the magic he already knew—he had a spell that could see through invisibility.

He flipped back to an entry he'd noticed earlier: "Selling Tier 1 Healing Potion Recipe, Tier 1 Blue Water Flower Sobering Potion Recipe, Tier 1 Spell Invisible Hand. Price negotiable in private, or can trade for a Tier 1 wizard tool."

Recipes and spells could be sold multiple times, so an ordinary Tier 1 wizard tool could at least be exchanged for three Tier 1 potion recipes or spells.

That eyeball was a Tier 1 wizard tool. Wizard apprentices generally used Tier 1 wizard tools and Tier 1 potions.

Matthew picked up the feather pen and wrote below it: "Tier 1 wizard tool for potion recipes and spells. Table 16."

Not long after, new handwriting appeared on the paper: "Coming right over."

After a wait, a middle-aged male wizard arrived. His hair was messy, and he looked a bit unkempt.

"You're the one trading a wizard tool for potion recipes? What kind of effect does it have?" the middle-aged wizard asked directly.

Matthew nodded and took out the eyeball wizard tool. "This eyeball can see through invisibility."

The middle-aged wizard picked up the eyeball. "What's the range?"

"The radius is roughly 10 to 20 meters. The exact range depends on how much magic power is infused," Matthew explained.

The middle-aged wizard nodded with some satisfaction. "I'll trade you the Tier 1 Healing Potion Recipe, the Tier 1 Blue Water Flower Sobering Potion Recipe, the Tier 1 Spell Invisible Hand, and a copy of the Northern Apothecary Materials Illustrated Handbook for your wizard tool. Deal?"

Matthew thought it over briefly. It matched the market rates he'd seen from other people's buy and sell posts, so he agreed.

After the trade, Matthew left the great hall and returned to the lounge to inspect his gains.

After confirming there were no traces of surveillance, he first tried out "Invisible Hand." This spell required condensing 16 runes to create an invisible hand that could grasp objects or even attack enemies.

With the boost from the Pitch-black Fingertip Bone Wand, he could cast "Invisible Hand" in three seconds.

"Invisible Hand" had some overlap with the Levitation Charm. Matthew could also control objects with the Levitation Charm and float enemies in the air, but "Invisible Hand" allowed for much finer manipulation.

Additionally, he could use "Invisible Hand" to lift himself into the air. As long as he maintained the spell, he could stay airborne for a long time.

The Healing Potion he got from this trade could heal shallow wounds, while the Blue Water Sobering Potion could dispel abnormal states that clouded the mind.

From the potion recipes, he learned that the method of refining potions in this world was largely similar to brewing potions at Hogwarts, with many common points. However, most of the materials used in the Recovery Potion were ones Matthew had never seen before.

The main ingredient of the Blue Water Flower Sobering Potion was the Blue Water Flower, which he was familiar with. It required purifying the Blue Water Flower into an essence. Matthew had chosen to trade with this wizard precisely because he saw the words "Blue Water Flower." Perhaps the Blue Water Flower Sobering Potion would also help him with his practice of the "Aemon Basic Meditation Method."

Matthew put away the items he'd obtained and continued browsing the notebook in the lounge. He wanted to see if there were any suitable bounty quests he could take.

Then, he spotted a missing person bounty with an unusual reward: "Collect information related to the West Street Tavern Owner. This person is currently missing. Reward: 1 to 10 Northern Kingdom Gold Coins, depending on the value of the information. Long-term valid. Left by Link Watson, Kingdom Court Wizard."

It was a bounty posted by Link, and he'd even left his name on it.

Northern Kingdom Gold Coins weren't actually made of gold but were alchemical products. Gold was an alchemical material, and to avoid affecting currency circulation, the Northern Wizard Alliance issued coins made with high-level alchemy that had anti-counterfeiting features.

The smallest unit was the Northern Kingdom Silver Coin. One Northern Kingdom Gold Coin could be exchanged for 1,000 Northern Kingdom Silver Coins.

Low-tier wizard tools, potions, and spells could be bought with Kingdom Gold Coins. A Tier 1 spell was worth anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred Kingdom Gold Coins.

For high-tier wizard supplies, wizards preferred to trade with magic stones. A standard-sized magic stone fully charged with magic power was equivalent to about 1,000 Kingdom Gold Coins.

Magic stones were hard currency in the wizarding world. They were alchemical creations with many uses—they could store magic power and could also be used to engrave runic magic through "Magic Stone Engraving."

Moreover, the exchange rate between magic stones and Kingdom Gold Coins wasn't fixed; it fluctuated.

The magic stone Link had given Matthew, the one engraved with "Mage Armor," was a standard-sized magic stone. Link had given him the stone not only to apologize for Anna's impulsiveness but also to thank Matthew for saving Chris and his daughter. And since Matthew was young yet already formidable, Link also wanted to build a connection with him.