The entire Black Market looked harmonious on the surface, but beneath it, the currents had begun to turn strange and treacherous. Several eighth-rank Black Wizards had been asked whether they could attack someone. That was highly abnormal.
Anyone capable of surviving in a place like the Far North had some skill to their name. The several eighth-ranks had traded with Dole earlier and had been frightened by his terrifying alchemy prowess, so they had not agreed. But two eighth-ranks had accepted.
In principle, there was no clear boundary between the eighth and ninth ranks. An eighth-rank had also brought one rule to great completion and begun touching upon a second and third. Their combat strength was quite formidable. A ninth-rank merely had three rules at great completion, with slightly stronger spiritual power.
Thus, it was not impossible for eighth-ranks to join forces and kill a ninth-rank.
In principle, three eighth-ranks equaled one ninth-rank, perhaps even surpassed one. But combat power was not calculated like that. If three eighth-ranks threw a punch, each worth one hundred, together that made three hundred. But when a ninth-rank threw a punch, it approached one thousand—a gap of nearly tenfold.
Therefore, only with two ninth-ranks taking the lead would the other eighth-ranks stand a chance.
Within the Black Market, trading continued as usual, but beneath the surface, things had already started growing eerie. The atmosphere had become exceedingly strange as well.
Very quickly, half an hour passed. Dole had collected over a thousand tons of meteorite ore—slightly less than what he had gathered himself, but enough nonetheless.
Meteorite ore was a top-tier resource to most Wizards, but those capable of processing it were equally rare. Therefore, most Wizards treated it as a scarce resource to exchange with others. For example, Water of Life was also