Should I or Shouldn't I?

The Projection Spell was mainly used to test for hidden dangers and conduct risky experiments, but it couldn't be used recklessly. A projection was linked to its caster's mental power, and if it was destroyed, the caster would be directly affected.

Even if the caster suffered no physical injury, their mind would still be damaged. Sometimes that damage was worse than a bodily wound. So using the Projection Spell to create something like multiple shadow clones—assuming it was even possible—would be courting death!

A projection was already weaker than the original. If someone made that many and an enemy wiped them all out at once, the original would suffer a devastating blow. They might even end up in a vegetative state or die.

"You don't have classes this afternoon?"

"Classes are usually held in the morning. In the afternoon, students can do what they want." Petty explained that studying magic wasn't like going to school; they didn't need to spend the whole day in class. What they learned from their teachers was mostly the experience those teachers had gained.

After leaving the school, she glanced around and entered a narrow alley, where she summoned the Half-Rabbit named Didi. Zheng Yichen watched the summoning process intently. Unlike Projection Summoning, this time she summoned him in the flesh.

The Magic Array Pattern was still three-dimensional, but Zheng Yichen clearly sensed something different.

"An exchange teleportation?" he muttered to himself as he watched the Half-Rabbit take shape before him. Didi held a small pouch, containing perhaps only a tenth of the valuables from before.

"Can you send him back after summoning him this way?"

"Yes." Petty nodded. After giving Didi the snacks she had prepared, she took the little pouch he offered and ended the summoning. No Magic Array Pattern appeared this time. Light from her magic merely covered him, and when it vanished, so did he.

"Where are you planning to sell that stuff? A jewelry store?"

"They'd offer far too little there. We're going somewhere else," Petty said with a soft sigh. There were places in the city that bought jewelry, but to get a fair price, she would need proof it had been obtained legitimately. Without that, they would offer less than half its value.

"Not somewhere good, I take it?"

He had already noticed that Petty had gone out armed to the teeth this time. She had no magic wand, but she had brought a dagger for self-defense. A Summoner...

The Black Market... Before crossing over, Zheng Yichen had only heard of such places. He had never been to one. After crossing over, a girl under twenty had actually brought him there.

"How do you know about this place?" He shifted uncomfortably. Staying in her pocket the whole time wasn't pleasant, and observing the surroundings with reconnaissance magic felt nowhere near as comfortable as seeing them with his own eyes.

"A senior student brought me here once," Petty said nervously. The Black Market was no good place. The moment she arrived, several pairs of ill-intentioned eyes fixed on her.

It might not be a good place, but it had rules in the open. Anyone planning something underhanded had to do it out of sight. Act openly, and the market's "guards" would still punish them. If the place couldn't even guarantee safety on the surface, who would come here to trade?

Even setting aside the people Petty noticed herself, Zheng Yichen alone spotted four groups watching her.

"Twenty gold coins. I'll take the lot," said a Black Market shopkeeper, inspecting the quality of the jewelry Petty had brought with an indifferent air.

"This jewelry is worth at least eighty gold coins at market price." Petty glared at the Black Market shopkeeper.

"Heh-heh, little girl, this is the Black Market." The shopkeeper gave her a malicious grin. "You'd better take the money and leave. Otherwise, you might get sold too."

"Seventy gold coins."

"Twenty-five, at most." The shopkeeper waved a hand, and two thugs blocked the doorway. As a Black Market shopkeeper, he had a keen enough eye. Without one, he wouldn't have lasted here; sooner or later, he might offend someone he couldn't afford to cross and lose everything.

The girl before him, however, wasn't someone he needed to worry about offending. The moment she came in, he had gathered every scrap of information he could see. Her clothing and bearing were nothing to worry about. As for her apparent calm, it was only an act. It might have fooled others, but he could see through it at a glance!

Her strength was even less worth worrying about. He had a magic item designed to gauge a target's strength. It couldn't measure someone too powerful, but it was more than enough for his purposes here.

As for the jewelry, there was no need to investigate where it came from. Anyone choosing to trade in the Black Market was bound to have goods of dubious origin. Better still, none of these pieces bore any marks, making them several degrees easier to handle afterward.

Marked jewelry had to be stripped of its marks before it could be moved on, and that was no easy task. The slightest slip could damage a piece and lower its price. All of that added to the cost!

"Either take the money and leave, or stay here yourself." The Black Market shopkeeper toyed with a ring as he spoke evenly, as though he were merely stating a fact.

"..." Without a word, Petty grabbed the jewelry she had brought to sell and stuffed it into her pocket. She even snatched back the ring the shopkeeper was playing with. Throughout it all, he stood there dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the girl to dare do that when the odds were so badly against her.

Had he misjudged her this time?

Then he noticed the tension hidden deep in Petty's eyes and gave an inward snort, casting aside the thought that he had made a mistake. He signaled the two thugs at the door to act. The Black Market had rules in the open, but what happened behind closed doors was another matter. As long as no one saw him robbing her, it wouldn't be a problem. The rules here weren't that strict.

"Hmm... Mass Fear Spell... No, a single-target spell will do." Zheng Yichen flipped through the little spellbook in his hands, comparing the two Fear Spells he had selected. As its name suggested, the mass version affected everyone within a certain range except the caster. Even allies weren't spared.

Unless, of course, he cast a spell granting immunity to fear on his allies first... Magic like that was generally available only from the church.

Looking at the Magic Array Pattern he had traced out, Zheng Yichen suddenly had an idea. He tried feeding in more magic, splitting the strands of magical power in two.

Ho-ho, so this is dual casting? he thought with a quiet laugh. He hurled two single-target Fear Spells at the thugs stalking toward Petty with vicious looks. Their fierce expressions instantly collapsed into abject terror. One clutched his head and screamed, knocking over his companion before fleeing as fast as he could.

He had no idea why he was afraid, but this place filled him with an uncontrollable dread. All he wanted was to get away as quickly as possible!

That used enough mental power to cast almost two and a half Fear Spells... The magic cost went up too. Hmm, casting two spells at the same instant apparently costs extra, but the effect is certainly good.

"You!?" The shopkeeper stared at Petty in shock. The instant something happened to his thugs, the magic item he carried to gauge strength had grown searing hot.

A reaction that strong meant it had detected a powerful presence, and its source was Petty! It wasn't a magic item, either. Those produced a different sensation.

"Eighty gold coins. Do you still want them?" Petty glanced back at the shopkeeper. Once Zheng Yichen had acted, the tension in her eyes had vanished completely. Thinking about it, she had no reason to be nervous at all...

"Yes..." The shopkeeper nodded, stunned, and thoroughly suppressed his scheming. Perhaps Petty hadn't been the one to act just now, but that only meant her identity was no simple matter. If it wasn't her, it could be someone standing behind her!

It might even be someone who had entered the ranks. Otherwise, his detection item would never have reacted so strongly!